January Handiwork

I finally finished my second rag rug and put it out at my sink area this week.

I also finished Deb's scarf. She wanted one after she saw me knit one for her dolls. She picked out the color herself.

And last, but definitely not least, we have a cheesecake for my dh.

Chicago Trip

Spontaneity has its time and place*. And this past Saturday was our time. My dh and I found out a week ago Sunday that there was an amazing exhibits on maps at the Field Museum in Chicago that would end on January 27th. Then most of us got sick and we didn't think about it. On Friday, once we realized that we were all well, it wasn't going to snow much, and there were still tickets available, we decided to go to Chicago.

*(for 5 points, tell me which movie contains this movie quotes. 10 points if you don't consult the Internet for the answer!)

We got up at 6 am and were on the road to Chicago about 6:45 am. We made great time and were at the museum in time to have lunch there, see Sue...

..., the plants of the world exhibit, the mineral exhibit and of course more dinosaurs. We had to walk through a ton of evolutionary stuff which we didn't bother to read and went straight to the dinosaur hall.



The museum had some great fossils of insects, birds, and reptiles also. Since we had just studied how fossils were probably made, the children enjoyed looking at them.

I didn't get any pictures of the map exhibit because we couldn't take any pictures in the exhibit. It was an amazing exhibit. There were about 130 maps there. They ranged from small hand held maps to a giant atlas made for a German duke that was probably 4 x 6 feet! I don't know how he read it.

We saw imaginary maps like the original map from Treasure Island. We saw religious maps that pilgrims used when they went on pilgrimage. We saw many maps that were beautiful works of art. The one made by Leonardo daVinci looked like a watercolor painting. My favorite section (and my dh's as well) was the section which showed maps that made invisible facts visible. There I saw Dr. Snow's map that helped him determine that cholera was waterborne and not airbourne. We also saw three survey maps by presidents: Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln. We spent 2 hours in that exhibit. I was so glad that we went.

A definite added benefit of a quick trip to Chicago was a visit to my sister. On the way to her house, I took this great picture of the Sears Tower.

The children had a great time playing with Caleb, Kristin's 1 year old. It was a quick visit, but a fun one.

Fire and Ice

My mom sent me an article about a man who lives in Alaska and who makes ice luminaries. So I had to try it out. I put about an inch of water in some containers and let it freeze on the back porch. Then I put a smaller cup into the container and poured water around it. After two days, I brought them inside and let them thaw until I could get them out of the container. Here's what they looked like with the tea candles in them with the kitchen lights on.

Here's what they looked like with the lights off. Pretty cool! Mike, I thought of you and all the nifty pictures you would have taken. Maybe I'll try some artsy pictures with the next batch.

It was hard to get a good picture of what they looked like outside plus it was about 16 degrees and I was cold but here is a slightly blurry picture of them on the front porch welcoming my dh back from his business trip to Florida.

Big Bugs

On Monday while Nathan and I were enough under the weather not to do school, I got out my box of things "to do sometime". In it were two bugs that grew if you put them in water. Here is Deb with the spider before 72 hours of soaktime. I forgot to photograph the caterpillar.

And now after 72 hours...

A Snow Day

We got a lot of snow last night. Here's the view out the back window well.

But despite all the snow, it is still a school day for us. Especially since yesterday we took an official sick day and relaxed. Both Nathan and I were sick and/or had no energy. But today we're on the mend.

My dh plowed us out before leaving for work.


I'm trying something new here. This is a video of my dh plowing with his beloved John Deere.

Why I haven't blogged lately

We've had sickness hit the household this past week. At first when Aaron was sick, I just thought he had eaten too much for supper. When Stephen got sick, I began to think that the 24 hour flu was going through the house. Stephen had to sleep on the mat in the laundry room last night but is on the mend today. I took a picture of him reading a book under the sheet this afternoon. I guess it was more fun than just reading it the regular way.

We're having a self imposed rest day today. Stephen and Nathan (number 3 to succumb) need the rest and I hope that the rest of us may avoid it by taking the day easy. Especially me. Since moms aren't supposed to get sick.

Woodworking Class

The boys are taking a woodworking class at a local woodworking shop. Nathan and Stephen have made baseball hold-alls (they hold two balls, two mitts, and two bats). Aaron is making a bird feeder.

Deb's Tooth

Deborah lost her first tooth at lunch today!

Artisan Bread at home

I tried this "Almost No-Knead Bread" recipe from Cooks Illustrated. It worked like a charm. Except for the first 10 minutes or so of cooking when the kitchen smelled like hot cast iron. But the result was definitely worth it.

The crust was crisp and the inside moist and chewy. And it did take hardly any kneading. You mixed it in a bowl and let it sit overnight. Then you kneaded it about 10 times and let it rise. The trick to making it look like bakery bread is to bake it in a hot Dutch oven.

Princess school

Isn't doing math wearing your princess cape and hood the best way to do math?

Happy New Year!

Today we had our traditional New Year's Day meal. See entry below for why we are having it on the 5th of January. This is our fourth year of creating tapas dishes for dinner. This year, my dh and children made 8 dishes.

First course was Deborah's Thyme Scented Green Olives.

And Stephen's Chorizo wrapped in Bread and Leaves. You take the lettuce leaves off of the bread before you eat it. The lettuce is supposed to keep the bread moist and help it absorb the flavors of the chorizo.

An inside view of Stephen's dish.

Second course was Nathan's Tuna Balls in Wine Sauce. Very tasty. They had almost a buttery taste even though there was no butter in the recipe.

Third course was Aaron's Chicken Wings in Beer.

Fourth course (getting hungry yet?) was Nathan's Fried Cheese with Shallot Dressing - very tasty. The dressing made the friend cheese taste very different.

Fifth course was the famous Potato and Spinach "Sandwiches" made by Aaron.

A close up of these wonderful sandwiches. All the children liked them. Despite the fact that the name of the recipe contained the word spinach.

Sixth course was Stephen's Shrimp in Spicy Tomato Sauce. So popular that we had absolutely no leftovers from this course.

Dessert course was Deborah's Frozen Almond Cream. She and her daddy made it last night and froze it. Very creamy and just perfect after all the salty and savory dishes.

My dh started cooking this food extravaganza at 9:30 am. We started eating around 4:20 pm. We finished eating around 7:30 pm. We would eat a course, then wait while the child and their daddy worked on finishing up the next course. This was a particularly successful meal. The children liked every one of these dishes.

A bloggorific day (and more to come)

Since my dh was sick with a cold on New Year's Day, we had to postpone our traditional New Year's Day Tapas meal until today. The tradition is that we pick some tapas dishes and my dh prepares them with each of the children. This year we have picked 8 dishes. Here is Aaron helping prepare Potato Sandwiches.

It is a spinach puree sandwiched between potato slices. They will later be fried.

Stephen is making Chorizo balls and bread wrapped in Lettuce. These are little bits of Chorizo sausage, wrapped in dough and wrapped in lettuce leaves. They will be baked later.

Nathan is preparing cheese cubes for the Fried Cheese tapas.

My dh making the Tuna Balls in Wine sauce. Look good? You should smell the house right now!

The Ultimate Toy

The new mattress for the guest bed arrives tomorrow. So today is "bounce to your heart's content on the old mattress" day. What joy!

A Cold Start to the New Year

It snowed a little Tuesday night. So bright and early (or at least early), the boys were out shoveling.

The ninja snow shoveler.

Now it's a little lighter. Morning boys!