Gingerbread Cake with Pears

December 28th; the quiet after the storm; our first day this week with absolutely nowhere to go. Time to get caught up on the blog...

I've been making the above named recipe for a couple of years now, and have no recollection of where I got it. It is always received with glowing reviews and so I have promised several people that I would post it on my blog...so here goes. It's not a quick recipe, nor does it follow my desire to reduce my sugar intake, but definitely worth the effort, and I bet you could replace the sugar with fructose, or even honey and get very similar results (I just haven't made the attempt yet...)
If there are two ingredient options, the first is what I use, the second is from the original recipe.
ENJOY!!!

Line a 9 inch spring form pan with parchment/waxed paper.

In a small pan gently heat until bubbling:
4 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp margarine/ unsalted butter
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pour into cake pan and swirl to coat the entire bottom.

Peel and cut 3 (Anjou) pears into eighths, lengthwise (removing the core) and place in a small pot. Add:
1 cup water (1/2 water, 1/2 white wine)
1 cup sugar
1 stem of ginger, peeled and cut into large pieces
Cover with parchment paper and bring up to a simmer. Turn heat down slightly and cook until pears are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. Arrange pears, small points in the center, around outer edge of the cake pan.

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, cream together:
1/4 margarine/unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar

In a small bowl combine:
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup molasses

In a medium bowl combine:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt

Stir molasses into butter mixture. Add flour mixture.

Add:
3/4 cup boiling water

Beat in:
1 egg

Gently pour/spread batter over the pears. Bake for 35-40 minutes until a tester comes out clean. I found that to end up being a little dry, especially at the outer edge, so I take it out a little sooner. Allow to cool (20 minutes).

Undo spring form pan. If the cake has risen in the center, you can trim off a bit, so that it sits flat on the plate (otherwise it tends to crack, not great for presentation points) Turn cake onto serving plate and peel of parchment. Serve warm or at room temp. Caramel ice cream is a great addition!

First Corinthians 13 - A Christmas Version

2 things I struggle with (well there are many more but Blogger does have a memory limit)

ONE: One of the greatest joys of home schooling is that you have your children home with you all day, everyday. You watch them learn, hear their stories, comfort their pain. One of the greatest downfalls to home schooling is that you have your children home with you all day, everyday. They constantly have questions, a trip to run errands is a huge production, and you can rarely go to the bathroom without being interrupted.

TWO: Christmas is a wonderful time of year. What a great thing to celebrate; the coming of our Saviour!!!! But the line between the Christian celebration and what the world has made it out to be has become so blurred I'm not even sure where to begin at sorting out what is part of which side.

At this time of year these two really seem to clash together.

This morning one of my home school newsletters posted the following, which really spoke to me. Guess I'm not the only one working on this issue; and of course, the answer is always found in the Word.

Think I'm going to go and spend the day snuggling with my kids!

First Corinthians 13
Christmas Version

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows,
strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls,
but do not show love to my family,
I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen,
baking dozens of Christmas cookies,
preparing gourmet meals and arranging
a beautifully adorned table at mealtime:
I'm just another cook.

If I work at a soup kitchen,
carol in the nursing home,
and give all that I have to charity;
but do not show love to my family,
it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels
and crocheted snowflakes,
attend a myriad of holiday parties
and sing in the choir's cantata
but do not focus on Christ,
I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love does not envy another's home
that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love does not yell at the kids to get out of the way,
but is thankful they are there to be in the way.
Love does not give only to those who are able
to give in return; but rejoices in giving
to those who cannot.

Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things, and endures all things.
Love never fails.

Video games will break,
pearl necklaces will be lost,
golf clubs will rust,
but giving the gift of love will endure.

--Author Unknown

Snow Day

Today the storm hit. Although it wasn't snowing too hard when we woke up, the wind was fierce and freezing and all predictions were that it was only going to get worse, so we decided to stay home from church. As it turns out it was a good decision. We were soon unable to see my parent's home (only a field away) and it hasn't let up all day. Mark just went to put wood in our outdoor wood stove and had to trudge through drifts that were up to his waist. Our dog Chewie had to become part kangaroo just to go for a pee! We enjoyed a great family day (after going back to bed for a while...) and decided to open our Christmas presents. New toys and games are always welcome when you're snow bound!

We haven't seen a plow since early this morning so the road also has quite a thick blanket on it. I hope we're awake tomorrow when it goes by...that should be quite the show!

So for now we're going to snuggle back down, and wait to see what the morning brings (and the clouds overnight)

Imagine...winter is still 7 days away!

Winter Wonderland

Just some of the fun I've been having with the new camera...

God's snowballs

Yesterday we had a really strong wind, and God made snowballs all through our fields! A phenomena we've never seen before!

They are about a foot in diameter but unfortunately when the boys went to see if they could use them to make a snow fort or man, they just broke into powder in their hands.

Thought I'd better take some shots while I could...they are calling for up to 60 cm of snow tomorrow!

Our Christmas Tree Excursion

In reading the blogs of family members it appears you are supposed to post pictures of your outing to get your tree. So, here are ours. We just started going to cut our own tree last year, and the kids just love it. This year was a bit of a challenge as the snow was up to their waist in places, but they trudged on, determinded to help mom and dad find one that was "just right." Seems they've all inherited some of the perfectionist genes. When Shannon had finally had enough she just laid down and made a snow angel.

I Think I'm Hooked

Christmas came early for me this year. We finally bought a digital camera. I figured I wouldn't want to be learning the in's and out's of the camera during the busiest photo taking time of the year, so I was able to receive the camera early. Then I also bought Photoshop Elements so that I could do my scrap booking on the computer. And I only had 30 days to return the software so I HAD to try it out right away...right?!?!?

So this morning I sat down and made my first scrapbook page. Flexibility at it's peek!!! Pick a colour from your photo and instantly create matching paper; crop, re-crop, enlarge, shrink, enlarge, crop again; correct spelling mistakes, add in an extra thought; and the kitchen table remains clear and ready for the next meal! I may have to look into scanning the 4 boxes of photos I have waiting to go into albums!

Here's my first page. Miles away from what can be done, but not bad for a quick first attempt...IMHO.

Today's Science Lesson

Half a glass of milk, propelled by a fast moving limb (eg: an arm) can cover an extremely large amount of floor and wall!

Our First Break...

Well, I guess it was bound to happen one day.
Yes it was Devin, doing what he does best, playing sports...this time it was football.
Our home school group decided to do a variety of team sports this year. We have such a large group that we are able to break into two: 6-9 year olds and 10+. Age wise, Devin belongs in the younger group, but ability wise belongs in the older, so he sort of floats between the two. He was playing with the older guys this time (instead of playing dodge ball with mom in the gym) and ended up at the bottom of a pile while diving for the flag. He came in to see me all white and pasty, gently holding his arm, and trying hard not to cry. He sat in a chair for the remainder of the afternoon...my first clue that something was wrong.
When we got home, it was still sore, so we called the telehealth nurse. She walked us through some moves and when he cried out in pain, confirmed that we should take him in for X-rays.
Fortunately Mark was on his way home so we waited for him to watch the other 3, and Devin and I headed out. He was pretty nervous.
We accidentally went through the wrong door and ended up taking a self guided tour through the ER (which was absolutely empty) and tried to figure out what all the different machines did. That started to lighten his fears. We finally got registered, and then proceeded through the different stations...triage nurse; waiting room; doctor; waiting room; x-ray; waiting room; and finally the confirmation that he did indeed have a tiny buckle fracture, and would need a cast for 4-6 weeks.
Those words broke his heart; no hockey, no wheel chair basketball with his best buddy on Saturday etc. etc. He finally let all his emotions out, and cried the whole time the doctor was putting the cast on. We sprang for the extra $20 to get a lighter fiberglass cast instead of plaster, but his only choice of colour was blue, blue or blue. At least it was blue - not pink!
An hour and a half later we were back home (ahh the joys of a small town hospital, only 10 minutes away!)
This morning, it's still pretty sore, and of course awkward, but he looks forward to doing school orally for the next while...when we decide to get back at it. I think we may just call this week, "mid-fall break" (and honestly...I didn't think of the pun until I typed it!)

Devin Has Met His Match!

Yesterday Devin had his first power skating lesson. It's a small group of 6 (ranging from 9-15 years old) with an incredibly qualified instructor. She was teaching them proper starting and stopping, sprinting, crossovers, backwards techniques, and even had them spinning circles with their heels together (toes 180 degrees apart...try just standing like that in your socks on the floor!)
Devin, being Devin, gave his all to keep up with the older (twice his size) guys, and did quite well. Their last drill was to skate around the rink and then sprint as fast as they could between the blue lines (with the coach yelling Harder!! Faster!!) The first time around, Devin was able to make a slight increase in speed, but the second time he "blue a tire" and fell face first on the blue line. But not one to give up, he picked himself up and continued for a few more rounds.

He dragged himself to the van and when we got home he thought he may need help to unbuckle his seat belt because he simply had nothing left to give. Once inside he drank a gallon of water and raided the fridge for anything that didn't move. At supper he asked if maybe we'd consider just letting him go to the public skating times and skip the power skating idea. This morning he's thinking he'll try it again, but without his hockey equipment...I'm sure that by the next lesson he'll be ready and eager to go.

Is this Exciting Enough?!?

Devin went to Anjo and Kathy's place for a little while after church on Thanksgiving. They arrived home to their (normally) quiet place (at the end of a dead end road) to discover a driveway full of cars (and their back field full of pick-up trucks).
No, they hadn't forgotten that they had invited the neighbours for dinner...a hunter had shot a moose and followed it through the bush until it finally died, right in their back yard!!!!
Devin adds: "It was a Bull moose, and it was HUGE!"

Let's Salsa

So this week I decided that instead of jumping right into the books I’d take it a little easy, just do a bit of school, and use the rest of the time to get my salsa made. Packed up the kids, went to the local farmer’s market to get my tomatoes, onions and peppers. Bought a fancy new pot from Costco. Blended all my ingredients, went to turn the stove on and discovered that the forecast was for a high of 32C for the next 3 days (with increased “feels like” temp due to high humidity) OOOOPS! Our Coleman stove was neatly packed away for the winter in the trailer, so we’ve just been battling the heat. 55 jars later, I’m done and enjoying the fruits of my labour (and sweat!) When we went camping earlier this summer I forgot to bring along a jar for our tacos and bought a jar…I knew I liked my salsa but had forgotten just how much better it is than store bought! Some things are just well worth it.

What I've learned from the Internet

I've recently discovered the following two sites that have made a world of difference in my daily life. Thought I'd pass them on and maybe they'll help you too...

#1 - What I DIDN'T learn in Kindergarten...

With the dawn of round shoelaces came shoes that never stay tied. I've found the solution. A new way to tie shoes! AND the kids find it much easier to tie and, since they're not double knotted, they're easier to untie too! What more do you want?!?

Here's the link: http://www.freedomknot.com/index.html

Just a hint we discovered...to untie, pull both ends at the same time and it won't end in a knot...

#2 - How to clean your house without spending all day cleaning your house

True confessions time...I hate cleaning. I can always seem to find someting else to do, or reasons not to do it (I'm sure I just cleaned that a few days ago (day's...weeks...who's counting...)) or don't think I have time (I only have 15 minutes, definitiely not long enough to do any cleaning!) And on the excuses go.
Well I've found the key that works for me! This system generated by motivated moms.com tells me what I have to do each day and breaks it into tiny little pieces that I can "bite off and chew" when I have time. And it even comes with a spot for my checkmarks so I can relish in my accomplishments. I could go on and on explaining it but it's a lot easier for you just to head on over and check it out for yourself. It even allows you to download a 2 week demo to try before you buy (It's only $4.00 when you buy it half way throught the year!)

Check it out! http://www.motivatedmoms.com

In Thanks of Grandparents

This past week my parents took Devin, Brent and Shannon camping! They were gone for 3 days and 2 nights and had an absolute blast. They went to a local “kid friendly” (or possibly more appropriately “grandparent friendly”) campground that came complete with a trampoline, pool, waterslide, craft time and hay rides. Not exactly a back-to-nature trip but a different kind of fun. When we tucked them in last night their prayers were as follows: Brent: God, thank you that we could go camping. Shannon: God, thank you that I could feed the seagulls. Devin: God, thank you that I can go to sleep!

SO what did the mouse do while the cats were away?!?!?! I did some scrapbooking, went out for a Thai dinner followed by a Chai Tea Latte with a dear friend (who I don’t see often enough), did some more scrapbooking, had guests for dinner (I even put a table cloth on the table!) and went shopping, followed by tea at my cousin’s house (a random bump into in the Costco parking lot!).

Yes, a good time was had by ALL. Well, Mark still had to go to work, but he did get to enjoy the fruits of my culinary labours…

Kangaroo Milk Anyone?

Our first camping trip in our new trailer was at the end of June. We headed up to Green Acres in Waterloo, and joined all my relatives on my mom’s side for a weekend of fabulous fun and fellowship. Shannon was the youngest in attendance and received much attention and provided much entertainment. For example:

Shannon goes to visit Aunt Tess in her trailer and politely asks for some juice. Aunt Tess informs her she only has “Kangaroo” milk (because life is never normal when Aunt Tess is around!) Shannon agrees to try some. When asked if she likes it: “Yeah! It makes me HOP!” And she proceeded to hop all around the camp site.

Shannon had a great time with all her older cousins. None of them could resist when she would grab their hand and say "Come on, lets go play!" I don't know how many times I heard "She just doesn't stop! She's tuckered me out!" And that coming from those under the age of 15! At one point she had Allison pretending to be soldiers and they were marching all around. "One, Two, Three" I noticed a sigh of relief, followed by laughter when Shannon suddenly called out "COMPANY HALT!" When I asked her where she learned to talk like that she replied: "Well, I'm a soldier, and that's what soldier's say!" At ease, Private!

Welcome Facebookers!

I finally figured out how to work Facebook, so due to constant nagging from many family members I'm now an FBer. But I still intend to keep most of my updates here on the blog so...

"Hello" to all my new visitors thru Facebook! Happy to be back in touch!

Campin' Happy

YIKES! My last post was about hockey?!?!?!? Sorry for being silent for so long…

(Although, since our team made it to the STANLEY CUP FINALS hockey wasn’t really all that long ago for us…but a lot has happened so here ‘goes…)

CAMPING HAPPY!! As per our 2006 Christmas letter, last summer we (we’ll mostly Mark) had a love/hate relationship with camping. We finally agreed to re-caulk the top of our ’75 Bonair, give it a coat of special “rubber-like” paint that’s supposed fill cracks, and hope for dryer weather while camping this summer. Then Mark suggested that we pick up a used awning (that actually worked) and life would be good again (for at least another summer). BUT as he was setting it up, and fighting with this and that, a reliving previous unpleasant experiences, he decided to do some surfing to see what was available.

Well, long story short, we are now camping happy in a ’97 Coleman Sun Ridge. It comes complete with a 12 foot box plus a 2 foot storage compartment at the front, 2 King beds plus a table and couch that fold down, and a full screened add-a-room. Tonnes of space for people and stuff! All this, AND you don’t have to stuff grocery bags in the holes to keep out mosquitoes, and you even don’t have to do a dance on the roof to squish it down enough to close the clamps! And, best of all, it has a one-piece roof, that is guaranteed never to leak!!! (Oh, and did I mention we kept looking over our shoulder as we drove home, expecting the police to pull us over and charge us with “theft?” It was a deal that simply could not be passed up.) Many exclamation marks; we have been blessed again!!!

WE (STILL) LOVE THE SENS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, we all stayed up late to watch the game (actually the boys have stayed up to watch all of the final round games).

Yes, we made posters and covered our walls with

GO SENS GO!!!

Yes, we had flags on the house and stickers on the van.

Yes, we all put on our Sens caps, shirts and jerseys.

Yes, we all cheered, clapped, shouted, and bit our nails.

And, yes, we shed a few tears when it didn’t end the way we had hoped (well, some of us did…)

BUT we still love the Sens, will wear our shirts proudly and if they weren’t arriving at the airport right when the boys have to play soccer we’d be there to welcome them home and thank them for a great year along with 1000’s of other fans.

WE (STILL) LOVE THE SENS!!!!!!!!!

On Spring...and kids...and frogs

It has been a glorious week. Our thermometer has tipped close to 30 and the flower beds have sprung to life with purple violets and grape hyacinths, pink and red tulips and of course the sunny yellow dandelions! Shannon has fallen in love with picking flowers and routinely brings me bouquets for my table (usually with Omoe's guiding hand). Since May is MY month, celebrating Mother's Day, my birthday, and our anniversary, I'm happy to oblige and accept them graciously...even the dandelions!

But yesterday, the children discovered an even greater love.

We were outside reading, and Devin suddenly stopped and said, "I can't concentrate with those crickets making all that noise!" "They're not crickets" I told him. "Those are frogs, living in our pond."

Needless to say reading was over and we quickly switched to science mode. We ventured over to the pond (which we had instructed them to stay away from...until now) to discover "spring."

They soon realized that many buckets were needed, shoes were tossed, pants were changed to shorts and the fun began. Cries of "I got one!" "AAAK! He's trying to jump out!" "Oh no, my foot is stuck in the mud" "Here's another one!" filled the air for hours. In the end they had captured 12 hopping friends, and quit only because it was lunch time!

But of course they couldn’t come in for lunch as they were. On went the garden hose, out came the Sunlight soap and everyone had a great time soaking each other (aka cleaning up). It has been catch, mud, clean, repeat, ever since!

I thank God for piles of dirty laundry, for it means my children are well clothed, and are having a GREAT time! (I also thank Him for automatic washing machines!)

(And yes, I did catch it all on film for a great scrapbooking page, but since we haven’t entered the world of digital photography you’ll just have to wait for the film to be developed !)

On Spring....and HOCKEY!!!

Today begins the third round in the quest for Lord Stanley’s Cup.

And while John Ferguson’s Blog (the Leaf’s GM) is all about watching future prospects playing in the World’s and the Toronto headlines are still full of discussion as to whether Sundin needs hip surgery or not…for those of us East of Toronto it’s….

GO SENS GO!!!!!

Now I realize that we also have Buffalo and Detroit fans in our circle of friends and family, who are also still cheering on their teams so…GAME ON!!! to you.

And by the way…WAY TO GO TEAM CANADA!!!!!

What's in your CD player?

Ok, so I'm not totally with the times and don't own an Ipod or MP3 player (and am really not sure of the difference) but I am putting all of my CD's onto the hard drive of my computer. I've dumped them all into one rather large "Worship Music" playlist and now have over a day's worth of music at my disposal without having to change a CD. That, to me, is quite cool.

So, back to my question, what's in your CD/Ipod/MP3 player? What's your favourite house cleaning music, or just sit back and enjoy CD? Post them right here, just click on “comments” at the bottom of this post.

Here are a few of my favourites. I won't call them my TOP picks because there are so many I love for different reasons. Let's just say I'd take them with me if I knew I was going to be stranded on an island!

• Since Easter is just past, I have to include "The Majesty and the Glory of the Resurrection." From the album cover…“It blends the poetry of traditional hymns and the dignity of sacred classics with the inspiration of contemporary gospel songs and praise and worship choruses. From one glorious selection to the next, each complements the whole as choir and orchestra leas us in worship.” It is a powerful celebration of the redeeming, risen, reigning Lord. There is also one for Christmas and one of just hymns that are both equally great.
• “In Christ Alone” by Keith and Kristen Getty. My cousin Deb introduced me to this one after she attended a workshop with Keith at the Worship Symposium at Calvin College. It’s an album of contemporary hymns, with words that are meaningful and music that is beautiful and easy to sing along to. I haven’t been able to find it in Canada but you can order it from worshiptogether.com or gettymusic.com. (better have them ship it to a friend in the US though…or you may pay more for shipping than for the CD itself!)
• “See the Morning” Chris Tomlin. So many great songs and lyrics on this CD. “How can I keep from singing your praise…I know I am loved by the King and it makes my heart want to sing!”

Honey Garlic Meatballs

I often make these meatballs for potlucks and have had several requests for the recipe so I thought I'd just post it here for all to find and enjoy. They are both recipes that I got from elsewhere but I have revised them so much I don't think there should be any copyright violations any more!

(To save your writing hand you can copy directly from the blog screen and paste into your word processor...)

Bon Appetite!

First, the meatballs:
Mix together:
2 Tablespoons soya sauce
2 Tablespoons water
some (1/4-1/2 cup) chopped onion, very fine if you have fussy kids
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger

then add:
1 lb hamburger (the leaner the meat, the better the taste)
1/2 cup oatmeal

Roll into balls, place in single layer in a baking dish (I use a cake pan) and bake at 350F until done. (I have no idea how long...)

Then the sauce:

In a small sauce pan saute:
about 3 cloves of garlic, minced (I use a garlic press)
in 1Tablespoon of butter or margarine.

Add:
1 small can (sorry I don't have a can in the house right now to tell you the exact size) of tomatoe paste
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soya sauce

Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

I put the cooked meatballs (along with any juices they've generated...unless you use very fatty hamburger) in my crock pot, top with the sauce and cook for as long as I have. You can also just simmer the meatballs in the sauce on top of the stove for 5-10 minutes until they're kind of glazed.

This proportion of sauce to meatballs gives us enough sauce to serve with rice for a family that likes lots of sauce on their rice.

If you want to use them as "appetizer meatballs" you can double the meat to 2 lbs and still have enough.

If you're serving a crowd use 1 1/2 sauce recipes for 4 lbs of meat.

In Loving Memory

We called her “Omoe.” (although I’m not really sure why, when all the other Dutch kids call their grandmothers “Oma”) She was a great storyteller, able to make any regular day occurrence an adventure. She made amazing “Mocha Tarte,” and grew beautiful flowers. As long as she was able, she turned any piece of yarn or thread into something useful (or snuggly).

When I last saw her, I told her that she should probably buy a new dress for her 100^th birthday. (She had just turned 95 in January.) But she would have no part of that. For the past few years her desires echoed these words from Chris Rice’s song “Smile”:

“My journey's here, but my heart is there, so I dream and wait, and keep the faith, while You prepare our destiny, till You come back for me. Oh, please make it soon! Cause I just wanna be with You, I just want this waiting to be over…”

Her waiting is over... on the first day of spring, the Lord answered her prayer.

At her funeral we recited the words to Q&A #1 from the Heidelberg Catechism. Words that summed up her life. Last year my family memorized these words and in the process of saying them day after day they began to sink in and change my perspective too. My prayer is that by God’s grace I may live them out with the certainty and sincerity that Omoe did.

What is your only comfort in life and in death?

That I am not my own, but belong, body and soul, in life and in death to my faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven: in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to Him, Christ by His Holy Spirit assures me of eternal life and makes me whole-heartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him.

Changes to Our Blog

FYI - I've made changes so that you can now leave comments on our blog!

I was concerned about having "spam" posted but have found and applied some blockers.

Comment away, we'd love to hear from you!

Home Schooling Highs and Lows

(A post I've been mulling over for some time but finally took the time to type it out!)

One of the joys of home schooling your children is watching their little light bulbs light up when they finally grasp a concept. One of the frustrations, of course, is watching that light flicker, fade, flicker, fade, flicker…

But in this case I don’t blame the children, and honestly, I can’t really blame the teacher. I blame that which we trying to grasp, understand, and master. Our challenge…the English language!

When we first embarked on our journey we spent a fair amount of time learning the alphabet, recognizing that letters have names. Then we had to learn that those letters make sounds, which in some cases is the same as their name, but not always. This we mastered with little difficulty although the sound /a/ makes in “bag” is quite different than it makes in “can”, but we were able to adjust.

Then we had to learn that some letters make more than one sound, but once we understood that vowels say their names when they have a vowel partner or if the word ends in /e/ we were good to go. We were even able to master the hard and soft sounds of /c/ and /g/. I thought we were almost there. (Guess I should have noticed we were only on lesson 84 of 226 in their reading program! 2/3 left to go!)

Lesson 87 – break, grey, veil; What?!? Lesson 91 – read, and read? wind and wind? Can you tell which words follow the rules and which ones are outlaws? What about do and go? field and pie? All along remembering that it is strongly encouraged not to teach your children to sight read! /ow/ changes in now and snow. /ou/ changes in you and out. And /ea/ really messed them up going from pea to great to dead!!!

Then my brother sent me the following in an e-mail:

Don't delete this just because it looks weird. Believe it or not, you can read it.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsa ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?

GREAT!!!! Now I was really convinced we should switch our mother tongue to Korean…the most phonetically correct language in the world!

But we've plugged away, and through much reading aloud (snuggled on the couch, under Grandma's afghan...my FAVOURITE part) the boys have progressed quite well.

A Classic

Today we experienced the classic event.

The kids got all ready to go outside.
(Note of gladness...my first winter of not needing to zip 3 zippers, don 3 hats, tie 3 scarves and put on 6 boots and mitts...YEAH!!! or is it YAY?!?! See "Homeschooling Highs and Lows" post...)

Off they went, all bundled up, dog in tow, to enjoy the snow with the beautiful warm March sun on their faces; numerous adventures awaiting. I sat down to enjoy a few quiet moments when just a few seconds later a small tap sounds on the door…growing increasingly louder…followed by the inevitable “MOOOOMMMMM! I have to go pee! Fortunately Shannon has a iron strong bladder and was able to wait for the "complete unveiling" to relieve herself!

Brent and dishes

And just in case you thought I was exaggerating how much Brent likes to keep things organized…and to remind myself that I haven’t pigeon-holed him…

Shannon received a small “kitchen” for her birthday. You know the kind…every girl loves to play with it; every person that comes within 1000 feet of it is treated to some sort of wonderful, invisible dinner and of course, it comes with all kinds of little dishes that get left lying all over for mom and dad to step on. The first night I thought I’d better nip the “scattered dish thing” in the bud, and asked Brent to help Shannon pick up her stuff. (Because he had been playing with it too…) Brent’s reply, “OK mom. Come on Shannon, and make sure you ORGANIZE them (emphasis his!). Let’s put all the plates on this shelf, the bowls in here…

I only hope some day some of that will rub off onto me!

And for those of you who we feeling sorry for our "princess" you will be glad to know that Shannon got a "real" crown for her birthday as well!

How Brent Watches Hockey

Devin and Brent both share their father’s love for hockey and faithfully cheer for the Ottawa Senators. This year Brent has figured out how to increase his fun by adding his own personality to watching the game. Our “little organizer” has started keeping stats.

Above is a copy of one of his stat cards. (They change slightly each time.) I’ll try to explain it for you. This one was made for a game against Tampa Bay (noted in the upper box on the far right; OTT at TB) He knows most of the abbreviations because he looks at our pocket schedule all the time to find out when the Sens play next and for the first few weeks of the season he would ask me 20 times a day what they were.

The numbers one to five along the top were for penalties.

Below that is the score, and beside that is a picture of a whistle…he counted 6 whistle blows.

In the next row he keeps track of the score in tally marks. He also tracked the score with G's (that look more like 6's...we're working on that...) along the left side.

Beside the tally marks he draws a line from the team to the “PP” every time they go on the power play (and then erases it when the PP is over). Beside that he has boxes for each period, Overtime and Shoot-Outs, to keep track of when the goals are scored.

The G on the bottom left refers to 'Goalie' and Ottawa’s goalie that night was wearing #1 and Tampa Bay’s #40.

C1, C2, C3 etc…those are the commercials.

Of course one difficulty he has is that he usually only gets to watch the first period before he has to go to bed. Sometimes he’ll ask Mark to fill it in for him, and is usually content if he just keeps track of the score.

I suppose some day we should let him know that you can get real score cards and keep track of a whole lot more...but why spoil the fun?!

Sens Fans Extrodinaire

They both love the game in their own way. The looks on their faces are a true likeness of their personalities. Devin: Passionate and Brent: Pensive.

I warned you it wouldn't be a daily blog...

...but these sayings were just too great to not get "on the air."

Brent...on poor choices
He was staring perplexed at his phonics book the other day. I approached him and asked what he was trying to figure out. "Well," he said, "I have to fill in the blank at the end of this sentence; 'If you are not in class, you are _________.' But I don't see 'homeschooled'!"
The answer they were looking for was absent.


Shannon...on the small things in life
In an effort to cut back sugar in our diet, we haven't had juice for the last year or so (except for very special occaisions). The other night I had a meeting and bought a jug of apple juice for those in attendance. I put the leftovers in the fridge for the kids the next morning. Shannon was the first up and, as is her normal routine, immediately went to the fridge to get her breakfast. She instantly spotted the juice, and with the door still open, and the jug still on the shelf, she gave the jug a hug and exclaimed "Oh apple juice, you're home! I missed you sooooooo much!"
Gives me a great birthday gift idea!