No more training wheels!

We have been through the whole "take the training wheels off", "put the training wheels back on" mode for a while now, but this last weekend Hannah finally learned how to ride her bike!

(getting her knee pads on)


(getting her helmet on)


(make sure mom is watching!)

There she goes!

I'm so glad we live on the deadest street around, so my kids can practice riding their bike up and down the street without much worry of traffic.

I told her I wanted to cry because my baby girl is getting to be such a big girl these days! Where does the time go?

Happy 9th Birthday Micah!

It's amazing how each year the kids come up with a new idea that they want for their birthday cake! Even though Micah's birthday is on St. Patrick's Day, this is the first time he has asked for a shamrock cake! Last year he wanted a butterfly cake, and when he was younger and liked Thomas the Train, I made him a train cake. Without looking back, I can't remember the other ones, but someday I'd like to gather all the cake pictures together and scan them onto here or Facebook. I enjoy making my children's birthday cakes!

Anyway, Micah gets to go to the homeschool office today for his last Lego Machines class he has been taking. Then we'll probably go to Coldstone Creamery for his birthday ice cream. Happy Birthday Micah! We love you!

Homemade Granola

I love to make my own granola from time to time.


Mix together 2 C. old-fashioned oatmeal, 1 C. sliced almonds, & 1/2 C. sunflower seeds. (Sometimes I will toast the nuts and seeds for a few minutes in the oven first.)


In a small bowl, combine 1/4 C. oil and 1/2 C. honey.

Stir it into the oats, nuts and seeds. Mix well, then spread out in a large baking pan.

Bake at 300* for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden brown.

Pour back into the bowl, then add dried fruits to it. I added 1/2 C. dried apricots (chopped), 1/3 C. craisins, and then threw in maybe 1/4 C. both light and dark raisins.

Mix the dried fruits in, let the granola cool, then store in a large ziploc bag or an airtight container.

We like to have a bowl of granola for cereal, or use it to top yogurt, or just snack on it right out of the bag.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We found the recipe for these cute cookies here: http://annies-eats.com/2010/02/12/conversation-heart-cookies/

My little cookie helper!

These were big hit at our house!

Cinnamon Rolls

Okay, so I've been thinking lately that cinnamon rolls sound good, so I cheated the other day and bought some frozen ones to bring home and bake. Did it work? Well, they did get ate, but they did not fill the bill for me. So, today I made some from scratch and they were so much better! I used this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/cinnamon-rolls-recipe/index.html. I follow the recipe almost exactly, but I cut the filling ingredients in half and I don't use any nuts or raisins in mine. Now I just have to make sure there are some left when my husband gets home!

Our Little Fisherman

Or is it fisherwoman? Fisher-girl? We went ice fishing over the weekend and Hannah caught her first fish!


She was trying to hold it up for a picture, but it got away from her!



She was so excited to catch her first fish!

Gingerbread Houses

Last year we made some little "gingerbread houses" out of graham crackers. This year we bought some gingerbread kits that were on sale because we waited til after Christmas. Hannah was working on some gingerbread cookie pops:



Micah was working on decorating a gingerbread house that came pre-assembled:



Jeremiah got a gingerbread house that came un-assembled, so he got to assemble it first and then decorate it:


Here is Micah's decorated house:

Here are Hannah's gingerbread cookie pops:

And here are a couple shots of Jeremiah's gingerbread house:

We also got a mini gingerbread village, but we haven't worked on it yet. It is supposed to make 5 little houses or whatever, and we thought since we are a family of 5 that we each could do one. So we are waiting for an evening when daddy is able to participate! The kids have been just having a blast with these though!

Balance

.......that is what my goal is for the new year!! Learning how to balance everything : reading my Bible, praying, being a wife, being a mom, housekeeping, excercising, homeschooling, trying to find time to enjoy a few "fun" things. It all sounds overwhelming doesn't it? What are your goals for the New Year??