An ice time

The kiddos got ice skates from Stan and Lorna for Christmas, so of course we needed to try them out! I picked up a pair of beat up hockey skates for myself too, much more likely to take them if I can skate too :) We can also skate at a free outdoor rink now too.



It was fun! We will definitely be going more frequently now that we have skates.

Christmas leftovers

I bet you thought this was going to be about food? Nope, I finally got around to looking at the pictures from Christmas morning and couldn't resist posting a few.

This was taken by Kyle a few days after Christmas while trying out a new photo program, but I think it is too cute. :)

AR got an American Girl doll from Santa, can you tell it was just what she wanted?

Santa brought Liam a new iPod, also the top of his list.

Merry Christmas!

Reading THE story :)

Baking time

Rose had a not-so-good time decorating cookies in her class yesterday. There was not enough decorations to go around, and some kids didn't share very well...she also forgot the special decorations she brought in her back pack. Poor kid, that meant she really wanted to make cookie with Mom by the time we got home form Girl Scouts. Rose picked out the recipe and helped with every part from mixing to baking, especially the decorating!

Liam needed to bring a dish for a potluck to finish his travel project at school. He picked Australia to study (surprised, right?) So after much drooling over food, he picked ANZAC biscuits as the easiest to share with his class.

He made them from start to finish, with help from me to find ingredients and measure correctly. Such bakers, my kids! :)

We helped decorate Mom & Dad's Christmas tree on Saturday. They cut an Alaska one so the ornaments hang so nice, and it smells soooo good!

Some Daddy and girl cuddle time.

So pretty :)

Like

AR had her Christmas program today. She didn't really want to do it, but we sure enjoyed the songs they sang. Rose is still a little shy. I think she had a good time goofing with the friend she was standing with though! :) Also she and I made her shirt! On our freezing rain day on Monday, Rose was in need of a project. So we cut up some of my old clothes and made new ones for her.

A lot

A note to Amy: This is the best shot out of about 15, the picture taking in a group doesn't get any easier!

look

to

begining

The last pic was the reflection of the tree from the inside, and you guessed my theme :)

It's

2003

I was thinking about how big our kids have gotten...

Bull(moose)gogi

One of Liam's favorite foods is Bulgogi. We have found a really good recipe in this book (recommended by Jessie and Justin) We have tried this with chicken and beef but this version has so far been the best. The moose was so tender and the more game-y taste went really well with all the garlic and soy. This is my bowl eaten with stir fried peppers and onion and home made kimchi over jasmine rice. So good!
P.S. The reason I am posting about it today is we ate it as leftovers to take a break from the turkey marathon. I was too busy to take an pictures yesterday but it was wonderful as usual :)

Rose's Athabascan Project

Rose just finished her Athabascan unit at school (they are the local native peoples.)(Incedentaly, the dictionary on blogger had the incorrect spelling for Athabascan!) This is the diorama portion of her end report. They were supposed to pick an item from Athabascan culture to make a model and short report on. Rose chose a dog sled.

A moose! In Athabascan culture, dogs were originally used only for hunting or carrying packs. The fur traders from Russia showed them how to use dogs to pull the toboggans.

Sled with a happy Athibascan.

The dogs were harnessed single file to wind between the trees. In science, they are studying digestion so each dog has a mouth and anus (AR says butt hole!), gotta be accurate with these things!!

Adventures in food

I finally made some ice cream! Vanilla soy with dried cherries and chocolate. Not my fave recipe, I will have to try again :)

Gnocchi!

Miso soup to warm up after ski club.

Honor Roll 11/8

Liam was on the Honor roll for the first quarter of 8th grade! His assembly was yesterday:

His team teachers hand out the certificates. The grades are split into two teams. Each team of students has a core group of teachers that work together to support the kids and coordinate homework, tests, large projects, and field trips.

Pretty good grades!

Carnival day

Yesterday we dressed up and went to the Fall Festival at Weller. Rose's class had three booths to run so I ended up working for 2 hours...thank goodness for Lily and Jennifer who came to have fun with my kids :)
Our costumes: Liam-steampunk inventor, Abbie Rose-evil rock star, Leigh-rosie the riveter

I'm melllllllllting!

Today we had some un-winter. The previously snow dusted pumpkins are now starting to ooze through the table. So, all the really squishy ones got stuffed into an empty feed sack. I am hoping the other ones will firm back up soon!

Pumpkin time!

Yesterday we had a massive pumpkin carving extravaganza! After we had such fun last year, Stan took stock of our tools that worked well and made us some really great carving tools. Smallish saw blades work well for carving intricate designs without the risk of slipping and chopping of your finger with a knife. Stan made us a range of different sizes (all with ergonomically shaped handles!) and some scooper scrapers to clean the guts out. We each got our own with one sideways guy for a joint project.

Liam measured his so It would look like a Minecraft jack-o-lantern.

Rose planned hers on paper and then chopped it herself! Only small amounts of help with the hard bits, hers was thick.

A great time was had by all and they sure do look cool all lit up! Thanks, Stan and Lorna!!!!

And they made 2 big bowls of pumpkin guts for my chickens ;)

Science

I gave each kiddo $50 to spend of their dividend, the rest goes into their investment accounts. Liam bought a new x-box game (surprised?). Rose after shopping 5 stores and online, chose to buy a kids microscope. It has quickly become her favorite activity. She has investigated most of the plants and hairs she could gather from outside and has started on any veggies I am cutting up and her stuffy hairs. She is even keeping a science journal and planning out her science fair project :) Liam has been building some new lego models also, his latest is a lock box with three tumblers. He has even gotten the robotics kit back out in preparation for this years competition. So scientifically minded, my kiddos!

EGG!

Taco?

I was going to name this post the Italian word for taco, but evidently it is 'taco'! Yesterday was national taco day, but I had a recipe for an Italian flat bread, called piadine I wanted to try. Soooooo, if a taco had an Italian cousin, this might be it:

Piadine flat bread with moose London broil and tomato bruschetta.

Or the carnivorous way, just meat.

And the boy way, light on all that tomato-y stuff.