a troubling day in school

This morning Peanut and I  were reading about the Bedouins in the Arabian desert.  I was reading to her out of her history book, and this is the sentence I came to:

The Bedouin are Arabs who wander across the Arabian desert, herding camels, goats and sheep.

Peanut exclaimed, "That's terrible!"  I didn't see anything wrong with what we just read, so I asked her what she meant.  "They kill their animals!  That's so mean!"  Then I realized the source of her confusion.  I read "herding camels, goats and sheep," but Peanut heard "hurting camels, goats and sheep."  I guess pronunciation is extremely important!  :)

Later we finished reading Charlotte's Web.  Peanut has enjoyed the book during the past couple of weeks, but she was terribly disappointed in the ending.  "What?  Charlotte dies and that's the end?  How can they do that?  Who would make a book with such a sad ending?"  I guess she is learning books don't always have a "happily ever after."  But at least I know she's paying attention in school today.  :)

Read more...

Chocolate Fix

Lately I've been needing chocolate.  Unfortunately, I'm down to 1/2 square of Ghirardelli chocolate... and I hesitate to eat the rest of it, because once it's gone, it's gone.  So tonight I got online and did a search for "single serving brownie recipe."  A few weeks ago I tried making a chocolate cake in a mug, and that was a disaster.  It turned out rubbery and tasteless.  But I knew there had to be a way of making one serving of some sort of cake or muffin... I've had those little single serving chocolate cakes you can buy in the grocery store... you just add water to the mix, stir, and microwave.  I really like those, but don't want to pay for them.  So tonight I was on the prowl for something I could easily make at home, using the ingredients I already have on hand.

I ran across this recipe.  After my last attempt (and failure) I was a bit hesitant to try this one... but one thing I liked about the ingredients was that eggs were not on the list.  Since there are no eggs, I figured this would be easy to scale down to a half serving.  But since this was my first shot at it, I decided to make it as it's listed.  Well, I mostly followed the instructions.  The recipe calls for 3 tablespoons sugar, and I cut it back to 2 1/2.  That was plenty, it could even do with a little less.  Although I prefer my chocolate dark, so if you like the sweetness of milk chocolate, you may want to add in all 3 tablespoons.

I mixed everything up in a 2 cup measuring cup, since I was a bit leery of using my good coffee cup.  :)  But to my surprise, it turned out pretty well!  I heated it for 60 seconds, and according to the recipe 60 seconds is supposed to give you a molten chocolate texture.  Mine was cooked all the way through, but that could be because I used the 2 cup measuring cup.  Next time I think I'll half the recipe, and use a small 6-ounce cup, and see if that works.  The consistency was very soft, almost like a bread pudding, but not quite.  This could have been because I devoured it as soon as it came out of the microwave.  If I had let it cool for a few minutes it might have firmed up a bit.  Oh, and as I didn't have any vanilla ice cream, I enjoyed this with a nice cold glass of whole milk.

Now that my chocolate fix has been satisfied, I think I can get on with the rest of my evening.  The girls aren't home tonight, so it's just me and the cat.  I'm ready for a quiet evening.  :)

Read more...

Week 1

We have almost completed week one of our new year of school!  Our school days have taken longer than I anticipated, but we are reading some great books.  Soon I'm hoping to make a list over in the right column of our favorite books we are reading. 

So far Peanut's favorite subject is poetry and her favorite book is Favorite Poems of Childhood.  Butternut's favorite is math, although her favorite book so far is By the Great Horn Spoon.

It looks like this is going to be an exciting year!  :-)

Read more...

All Creatures Great and Small

I am not a spider person.  If there was some sort of plague that destroyed all the world's spiders, I'd count that as a good thing.  In fact, if something wiped out all the creepy crawlies, bugs and insects from this planet, that would be just fine and dandy.  However, I know there are animals that count on the bugs to survive, and plants also need certain bugs to pollinate and grow.  So it's a good thing God hasn't put me in charge of the earth's insect population, or we'd all be in a heap of trouble.

However, I have recently come to the conclusion that if the spider is outside and not in my direct path - for example, sunning itself on a flower, making a web in the bushes, or climbing a tree - I don't mind it.  I've actually begun to enjoy watching them - from a distance.  However - and this is an important issue that all spiders must understand - if any spider crosses the threshold and enters my home, he is as good as dead.  The critter will either find itself in a watery grave, or on the bottom of my shoe.  Or better yet, on the bottom of my husband's shoe.  That way I don't have to worry about my shoe getting all icky on the bottom.  That, and his shoes are bigger, so it just makes sense that I'd use his in exterminating said spider.

 But back to a more friendly note (after all, these are God's creatures, so I should respect them as such), I have begun to make friends with a little spider in our back yard.  My husband first noticed the little guy at the end of March.  He was hiding in the grill cover.  My husband looked this little guy up online and found it's called a crab spider.  They eat other insects, so this little fact helped me decide to tolerate the little guy.  He was a bit creepy looking, so as long as he kept his distance from me, he could stay.  :)


Now let's fast forward to a couple days ago.  Butternut had been playing outside for a while when she excitedly came in and said she'd found a big spider on the flowers.  I decided to go investigate, and sure enough, it was our little friend.  Only now he's not so little!

Isn't he pretty?  I see how they get their name of crab spider.  He was a little upset with my husband right then.  I don't think he wanted his picture taken.  Come on now, little guy, don't be shy!  :)

My husband went back out later to take some more pictures, and when we loaded them up on the computer we had a bit of a surprise.  Our little friend was enjoying an afternoon snack.  I guess they really do eat other insects!  In this picture he is feasting on a small bee.  So now it's official.  As long as he stays in the flowers, the little guy can stay.  Who'd have ever thought I'd be interested in something creepy crawly like a spider?  I went outside to check on him this morning, and he's still in the flowers.  I guess that's his new home.  He sits on the flower and waits for an unsuspecting bee to come along, then whamo!  He's got lunch!  I'd like to see him actually stun the bee, but I don't know if he'll do it in front of an audience.  I guess I'll just have to keep my eye out.  And please, pretty little spider, stay outside so I don't have to put an end to our beautiful friendship.

Read more...

expect changes :-)

For our anniversary my husband took me out for a drive into the country.  I love looking at farms and barns!  My dream is to someday have a small acreage out in the country with a barn.  I don't necessarily want any animals, I just love barns!  I've got fond memories of playing in the hay loft of my grandparents' barn, and I'd love for my girls to be able to experience the same thing someday.  So anyway, we drove around out in the country and looked at barns.  What a relaxing way to spend an afternoon!  We took some pictures, so I think I'll use one at some point as my header, instead of the mountains.  That's what I've been planning since I revamped the blog.  I took a few pictures, but most of mine are grainy and out of focus.  I'm not that great at picture taking.  :-)  However, my hubby took several pictures, and his are beautiful!  So I'm sure I'll be able to find a good picture for the blog.  


Well it's time to get the girls up and get ready for church.  I love going to church!  It's like walking into a family reunion every Sunday morning.  :-)  Have a wonderful day!

Read more...