Sweets and Treats

One of Wayne"s favorite Christmas gifts is this (unofficial) Harry Potter Cookbook. He's got a lot of recipes he wants to try, including Chicken and Ham Pie, but his first recipe was Peppermint Humbugs. You cook all the ingredients, mainly sugar, to a certain temperature, let it cool a bit, and then you are supposed to pull and twist the warm sugar into ropes and snip off into 1 inch pieces.  Wayne's candy hardened up too quickly to do any pulling and twisting, but he did manage to cut it into small squares. They tasted very good and I love the color.

The other day, Wayne and Cole went over to Dante and Fintan's house to join a group of friends playing Dungeons and Dragons. Apparently, it's making a comeback!  Heather and I spent that afternoon outside, enjoying the snow before the bad weather came on.  We armed her snow fort with a stock pile of snowballs, so she can be ready to battle her brothers at a moments notice.  Then we decided to make a snowman treat for the chickens. We built this small snowman near the chicken coup and decked it out with stale crackers and cereal. The hat is a leftover pancake from Christmas morning breakfast. I don't know how healthy that is for chickens, but I do know they'll eat just about everything. We also sprinkled some leftover corn and beans on the ground to lead them over to the snow man. (Actually, it seems more like a snow lady)

They liked the corn and beans, but eyed the snow lady suspiciously. They didn't go over while Heather and I were watching, but maybe later they worked up some nerve. 

Christmas Music at P&J"s

A little Christmas music for your enjoyment.

Spike Walks in the Woods

I've been feeling a little cabin feverish after the ice storm and snowfalls we've had over vacation. I decided to go for a little snowshoe excursion to get some fresh air and exercise. Wayne and Heather were over at Joanie's house making a special holiday treat and Cole does not believe in doing any physical exercise before lunch, so Spike and I were on our own. Thought I'd share some pictures of our winter wonderland with you.

Last summer's wind and thunder storms destroyed this old maple.

In the woods Spike saw a rabbit run across our path.

Here are its tracks.

 Beaver pond.

 Many, many trees are still bowed under the weight of ice and snow.

 

 By the time we got over to Joanie's area of the woods, the sun shone a little.

 We stopped and said hello to Joanie, and the kids making their treat. Then headed back the way we came. I tried to capture the way the sun glittered on the branches.

 Sometimes it's hard to appreciate this time of year, so I'm glad I had a chance to get out and see how pretty life is right now.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

We hope everyone now has power and that you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Now That the Power is Back On...

Here is another video of the school concert that I didn't publish the other day. You might recognize someone playing the guitar. Cole is in the group singing. (It seems I have the dubious distinction of being the only member of the family who does not play an instrument.)

We are happy to have power back! Although the power company has announced that as it gets colder and things freeze up, there could be additional outages. We're hoping for the best. 

While the power was out, we finally put up our tree. Of course we couldn't test the lights before we put them on. There always seems to be a strand that doesn't work each year, but we just went on blind faith and strung them up. When the power came on the tree lit up and every single light was working. It's a Christmas miracle!

We passed time by making paper snowflakes and reading aloud from The Hobbit.

I also wrapped almost all of our gifts, so we are well on our way to Christmas.

Now for a few photos or our ice encased world yesterday:

This entire side of the house was covered with a sheet of ice with a million tiny icicles.

As the kids played outside, all around, deep in the woods and nearby along the drive, we could hear trees and branches snapping, popping, crashing and shattering to the ground. It was very eerie.

Earmuffs from Aunt Julie to keep Heather's ears warm. Thank you!

Glad to see all the emails of everyone gathering safely with their family and loved ones. 

Have a wonderful Christmas.

A Lot of Holiday Music

Wayne, Cole, and Heather recently had their school winter concert.

Wayne played keyboard accompaniment to "Carol of the Bells."

Cole's 4th grade class sang and danced to "Don't Worry, Be Happy."

I had technical difficulties embedding the video of Heather's first grade class singing "Frosty the "Snowman " but here is a pic of her with her friend Anya.

And here she is playing a duet with her piano teacher at a recital a few weeks ago.

First Major Snowfall

We've had some snow this year, but last night and into this morning we got our first major accumulation. Too bad it happened over the weekend - no school cancellations except Catholic CCD classes.

Google + automatically added this effect when I uploaded.

Looks like we'll have a white Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We are just about to head over to Joanie's house for the big feast. Wayne is heating up his latest delicacy, "Squirrel Stew" and I am transferring my sweet potatoes cooked in applesauce to a serving dish and then we'll be on our way.

Yesterday, Heather and Cole also made these turkey treats.  If you can spot one with the head on upside down, you'll know that it's one of Cole's.

If we're not seeing you today, we are thinking of you anyway, and hoping that you are having a wonderful time, wherever you are.

Deer Camp

This morning Wayne set off for his first weekend at deer camp.

 The tradition continues.

(I believe the jacket and pants used to belong to Calvin. I wonder if the hat was Grampie's) 

Spectacles

Have you heard the news? Cole recently acquired glasses.  When we went to pick them out, the first thing he said to the lady was, "Where are the ones the smart kids wear?"  We think he looks like Jacob.

 And he is smart, so he needs that smart kid style. He got straight A's on his report card, except for art in which he only got a B+. His classroom teacher says he is really very strong in math. Her only complaint with him is when he raises his hand to answer a question and answers in an alien voice, or when it's his turn to lead the morning greeting and he does it the secret language that only he and the other boys in the class know how to speak.

This is the opening weekend of deer season, so Wes is away. The kids and I spent part of the afternoon trying to make homemade peppermint patties for a CCD (Catholic "Sunday School") bake sale. There is a funny website called Craft Fail which features craft projects gone miserably wrong. Well, these peppermint patties were our bake sale "bake fail."

 The recipe seemed so easy on paper. Just mix 6 cups powdered sugar with a can of sweetened condensed milk and a bit of peppermint extract. Roll into balls and flatten to a disk and chill. That all went pretty well, but a lot of trouble started when it was time to dip those into the melted chocolate. As soon as the white center hit the warm chocolate, it just immediately began to melt into it. The whole project became a melted chocolate nightmare.  If CCD manages to raise enough money to get a new laptop, it won't have anything to do with me or my peppermint patties.

They taste better than they look. 

Happy Halloween

Here are 3 trick or treaters before they headed out on a rainy Halloween night. Cole is Dracula, Heather is Queen Amadala, and Wayne is a baseball player.

Hope you all are having a spooky night.

Don't eat too much candy.

After School Running Club

Wayne, Cole, and Heather have joined the after school running club, organized by their PE teacher. It meets once a week after school. He teaches them proper running technique and the importance of stretching properly. Then they run laps around the school property and soccer field, increasing their distance each time. It gives me a workout too, since any student in first grade or younger has to have a parent accompany them.

Every once in a while, the "coach" teacher throws in a weekend activity. This weekend he invited the kids to meet up with him at Lake Region for a 2 mile run. The course included a lap around the track, then a twirl around the cross country course, ending with another lap around the track.

I took this picture and that was the last I saw of Wayne and Cole, as they took off, leaving Heather and me in a cloud of dust.

 The cross country trail was beautiful, with what's left of the foliage and a 60 degree morning.

 Below, I tried to get a picture of Wayne and Cole as their trail looped back passed the one Heather and I were on, but you can barely see them on the left.

 Heather did a great job, jogging along, but sometimes she wanted to walk a bit. Hey, she's only 6.

 I tried to capture the view as we emerged from the wooded trails, but this picture does not do it justice. This is where W,C and H will go to high school in a few years.

I was so proud of them all. Cole really surprised me. When the running club meets during the week, he doesn't take it too seriously. It's just more time to goof off with his best friends Zephyr and William, spending very little time running. But since they weren't there today, he loped along at a steady clip, coming in second only to Wayne (this was not a race) and even accidentally running an extra half mile along the way. It seemed so easy for him, and you would never know he expended any effort when he was done. He was not tired at all. I think he inherited the family running genes. He's a natural.

All the kids who finished the two mile run were awarded a gift certificate for a creamy.