I'm not getting paid to share this with you. It is only out of the goodness of my heart that I'm letting you know.

I love to read a good magazine! I love magazines that enhance my life and my family's life. I love to create. This new magazine is exactly what I love. Can you tell I LOVE Living Crafts Magazine?

This summer's issue has designs for stilts, weaving paper baskets, knitting a red riding hood cape, lots of ideas for creating travel backpacks with fun, entertaining the kids items and so so much more. If you love crafting naturally at all, check this out. I will not share my copy or any of my back issues. Sorry it won't happen. I'm selfish, I know. I just can't risk it.

I can't wait for the new Fall '08 issue. I hear there will be tons of felt fun in there to create. Ahhh bliss.

Chaiya's home again. Yeah!
On Saturday we had a patriotic celebration where all my little primary kiddos were supposed to sing to wonderful songs. It was hot outside and they gave their best effort. Sweet little Liberty English complained for all of us and emphatically stated she wanted to go home. I totally love that girl!! Of course her dad promptly scooped her up and took her away. It was a great little program but I felt really conspicuous. Not only was I leading the music, but I had to stand to be "honored" as a veteran, then I had to give the closing prayer. I so would rather not be standing out like a sore thumb.
Today at sacrament meeting I ran into an old friend! Sis Skousen, of course she's not Sis Skousen anymore she's Sis. Smith. She looked awesome! I always associate the word JOY with her. She used to boost my soul so much when I first was divorced all those years ago. Her and her new husband are fixing to leave on a mission to Mexico. I'm so excited for her. It is so great to see old friends.
It's been a wonderful weekend and I'm so glad that everyone is back home for a little while.

Sunshine Muffins

These are my new favorite muffins!!

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup water
1 cup finely shredded carrots
1 cup drained crushed pineapple

Oven : 350 degrees

Mix all dry ingredients together well. Add oil, vanilla and water mix with dry ingredients. Fold in the carrots and pineapple.
Cook in greased regular sized muffin tins (or lined) for aprox. 16 minutes.
We cook them in mini sized pans too for 11 minutes.
We made these for our celebrating the sun week.

They are great for breakfast and snacking! I think I'll go make some right now.

That look

Yesterday we were in the check out line at Target. I was helping Quayde purchase something he really wanted with his own money. Michael was behind us with Thayne, who at the time was sitting quite quietly in the basket. Something that rarely happens. Thayne was being a wonderful little boy. He was being almost perfect!
Then a little old lady got in line behind us and started gushing over Thayne.
"Oh he's cute! Look at those eyes. He has that look about him"
I lean in closer thinking that this sage old woman is seeing something wonderful in his eyes. Something deep and spiritual.
"What's his name?" She asks.
Michael and I both answer at the same time, "Thayne"
She's says ,"No! No, that's not it"
We are COMPLETELY puzzled.
Then she's says seriously, " It's Dennis...Dennis the Menace. That's the look he has"
We just crack up laughing 'cause of course she is correct.

Maliea's bird, Diamond, died over the weekend, so she has been quite sad. I went in and cleaned out the cage and fixed up the area where it was for her because it was too hard. I think today she is feeling a little better though. It's always hard when you lose a pet you have loved for a long time.

Chaiya left this morning for EFY in Flagstaff. She drove up there with her friend Sarah. It's kind of hard to know how much to let go and let them have adventures at this age. The momma side just wants to still take care of all the details but the other side of the coin requires you to say 'be careful and have fun!' She took the requisite talisman of a jar of peanut butter.

So this evening as I was thinking of Chaiya being away, I got all the stuff out that I have been gathering for the past 6 months and put together the mini 72- hour kits for the truck and Chaiya's car. Michael and Chaiya are gone from the house a lot so I want them to be prepared to handle things if they are away. I am still trying to figure out exactly what food will handle being in the car(ie...heat and cold). I will rotate it every 6 months but will a Cliff bar last that long? We made a list of all of us; our full names, birthdays, cell phone numbers and a picture of what we look like. It is in every pack. We are still gathering and working on perfecting our in-home packs.
The old ones were from before Michael and Thayne joined our family. Anybody want some really old gum?

Carrie's photo hunt pic

The subject for this week was bugs. So thinking outside of the box brought me to a box. Although I am not sure that having buggy pasta is a good marketing technique.

Our solar oven project

So far we are having an great week!! We have learned all about the composition of the sun, solar winds, solar flares, sunspots etc...

Our poem that is really speaking to us is the one by Irene Goodman from the book "A Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme"

Poem to the Sun

Great, pure and shining orb

Celestial in thy might

Let lowly earth absorb

Thy wondrous healing light

Feeling thy mighty ray,

Descending from on high

Summon all life thy way

Ascending to the sky

Pour out thy bounteous balm

On man and beast and tree

That each may by thy charm

A purer being be.

We have done the fable about the North Wind and the Sun and illustrated them in our main lesson books.

Today we have the most fun yet! We built our portable solar oven. We started baking at about noon. It was a hot day today over 90! Words of advice: have hotpads right there because it does get as hot as an oven! Sunglasses are helpful too.

First we prepared our sun shade from the van. I used safety pins, instead of sewing velcro on it, to hold it in place. We had spray painted a disposable aluminum cookie sheet with flat black paint and wrapped foil around a baking rack.
Then we went in and mixed up some sugar cookie dough. We baked two dozen. The first dozen we left on the oven for about 20 min. they were done but didn't have a real cooked flavor. So the second batch we left on for 30 min. they were great.

We just baked them on a normal small cookie sheet. The key to cooking here is that we are using a oven bag, like the kind one might use roasting turkey.

Then we tried eggs. Which is basically like poaching them. It took about 25 mins. Then we got really ambitious and decided to try rice.

Now that is not the best picture of the rice. It made great sticky rice. I hate sticky rice but Chaiya loves it and said it was good and Lydia is eating it. It think I might try it a little differently next time. It took 3 hours. We talked about Africa and how helpful this would be to family if they didn't have to always go out to find firewood. We also discuss solar energy and how it would be a much wiser choice to develop the ability to use 'free' sun energy compared with building new nuclear reactors.

Our next big project is most likely working on creating a sundial in the backyard. Although Quayde says the best part about all of this is the food.

It's been a fun but hot day...just like a boiling pot!

You must do this....

If you live any where close to the tri-city area , you must go visit the FREE exhibit, Fighting the Fires of Hate, at Yavapai College Art Gallery. It's still on now through June 24th, closed on Sunday. Please take your older children. The exhibit is excellent! It's small and impressive. It's about the book burnings that the university students and nazi groups consciously staged to 'purify' German culture. I took my older kids this afternoon and then this evening I attended a viewing of one movie that was released in 1940 called the "Mortal Storm". We also had the privilege to hear from two men that were children in Germany and Poland during the war and what their families did to help them survive. Three and a half months, that's all the time it was from Hitler being installed as Chancellor to the book burnings, setting up of a concentration camp, and the atrocities to begin. 3 1/2 months! The only way to keep from repeating history is to learn from it. I hope I never become complacent and take my freedoms for granted.

My baby's third birthday!

On June 14th 2005, when I was in labor with Thayne, although I'm not sure 5 to 10 contractions can be considered labor, the Spirit told me that I must suspend disbelief!

Even after three years, I am still in disbelief that I birthed a 12 lb baby boy. This amazing child who honestly tests my patience everyday; is such a blessing to our family. He reminds us of wonder and childlike amazement. He helps us be present and centered. I am so grateful he chose to stay on the earth and be part of our family.

Here he is after helping me mix up his chocolate birthday cake batter. Since it has no eggs , he was able to lick the bowl and whisk!

Right after blowing out his candles, he promptly face planted his cake!

We spent his birthday celebration up in Groom Creek (one of our favorite relaxing spots). He played on the rocks and chased his siblings and ran, ran, ran! He is so much fun. I think his favorite gift was a little wooden carved owl that whooos when you blow through it. I got it from a wonderful online toy store called A Toy Garden. I love ordering from them! They have so many amazing things.

My happy fabulous three year old wonder!!! (yes that is Christmas wrap lol)

Michael and his meat!

Honestly, even just looking at this meat in the picture makes me a little nauseous. I would rather eat zucchini and brussel sprouts. I did, for the sake of love, eat a little very very well done. I love my husband!!

Pic for Sam

Here's Quayde!

Happy Father's Day!

First I dialed a number, sang a little song because I got an answering machine, and wished my father a happy day. Then I thought about it for a few hours, and decided I would try again and call Dad. My concern was that maybe I had dialed a wrong number and some strange man would get a ringing chorus of ' My daddy is my favorite pal' on his machine. So I dialed again and it rang and rang but finally my dad answered! He had gotten my song and was having a great day.

My husband is having the best father's day ever I think because I went out and bought him real meat....steak! I didn't force him to have another Boca burger. Okay, maybe force is a little too strong. Basically I hadn't a clue at the meat counter and had to ask for some serious help from the nice people who work there. The lady said I couldn't go wrong with anything that said "...loin" on it. Oh gee...thanks. Michael was impressed and ate heartily. Chaiya, Lyd and I just smiled and enjoyed the fact he was a happy man. We also gave him a Netflix subscription, the traditional (what every man gets) bag of socks, a new pillow (so he doesn't steal mine any more) and the homemade things from the littles.
We are so blessed to have this incredible man in our lives. He does so much for each one of us and puts up with all our quirks and foibles. Happy Father's Day my sweet wonderful husband!!

Celebrating the Summer Sun Week

Carrie made some sarcastic comment about my summer planning so I thought I would post what we are going to do next week for our Celebrating the Summer Sun week.
Poems and Verses:
Poem to the Sun - Irene Goodman pg. 159 ( A Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme)
A Summer Morning - Rachel Field pg. 93 ( A Child's Anthology)

Songs and Music:

The Sun #68 , Dearest Sun # 4 ( Sing Through the Day songbook)

It's Hot # 23 (Sing a Song of Seasons songbook)

Mr. Sun pg. 174 ( Rise up Singing songbook)

Fables and Fairytales:

The Wind and the Sun - Aesop

From Greek Mythology: Helios and Phaethon & Daedalus and Icarus

Crafts and Projects:

Build a portable solar oven

Make a sun dial for the backyard / possibly personal ones

Fabric sun painting

sun catchers

Food and Treats:

Sunrise sippers juice drinks

herbal sun tea

sun shaped sugar cookies ( hopefully baked in above oven)

Summer Solstice cupcakes idea from Circle Round (veganized for Lydia)

Stories and Literature:

The Way to Start a Day - Byrd Baylor

Under the Sun - Ellen Kandoian

Anno's Sundial - Mitsumasa Anno

The Summer Solstice - Ellen Jackson

When the Sun Rose - Barbara Berger

Wake Up Sun - David Harrison

Hint of the day: Crushed pineapple doesn't work very well in green smoothies!

Old/New Pic

Here's this week's photo for Carrie's hunt. I've been creating our summer schedule and craft ideas. If you haven't already purchase Amanda's book ' The Creative Family ', you absolutely must! She not only has wonderful craft ideas but wonderful ideas and inspiration for every day family life.

Yum!

Summer! These lazy, crazy, wonderful days of Summer. I have to say this is my favorite season. Warmth, fun and yummy foods. Not only are fabulous fruits and vegetables in season but occasionally you need that cool treat.
Do you have some non-fat dry powdered milk hanging around? Here is a great recipe that we have been making. It originally (to my knowledge) comes from the Hillbilly Housewife site. It is a fun site with great recipes and ways to cut costs. Although a lot of the recipes fall into the S.A.D. diet category which we stay away from as much as possible.

Note: this is totally bad for you! lol

MAGIC MILKSHAKES:
1 1/2 cup to 2 cups ice water
1 1/2 cups non-fat dry powdered milk
2/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 trays of ice (I put several cups of ice in)
2 TB of veg. oil
5 second spray of non-stick cooking spray for the emulsification.

Blend all ingredients on high in heavy duty blender. Process for a full two min. Enjoy makes enough for about 4.

My alterations: Even though Hillbilly Housewife says it won't work well without following the recipe exactly, I have successfully made some adjustments.
I have cut the oil to 1 TB, cut the sugar to 1/2 cup and done a 3 second spray, the trick is I think that I add more ice.
These come out like a frosty drink from the red-headed girl fast food place.
The cooking spray has soy lecithin in it, that makes it thicker. I spray it in as it is blending at first.
Does this make sense?
Try it and enjoy. Let me know if you did!

Missionaries for Dinner - a little like escargot

Ahhhhh, what can I write about the dear sweet missionaries that came for dinner. They stayed for 3 hours! We talked about everything (or listened) and they quite politely riled up Thayne and got him all crazy. Thayne fell asleep promptly 2 mins after they left. Elder Woodward from Utah probably never wants to play ball with Quayde again as there was a low-pitched ball that had the Elder sitting on the sidelines for a few minutes. Maliea answered all the church based questions and they probably think none of the rest of us ever reads the scriptures. Elder West thought he lost his medicine but Elder Woodward told him it was left in the bathroom, maybe he thought he was moving in 'cause the medicine chest was open when I went in there. We served our traditional Lasagna dinner and we learned all about their past companions. Michael and Elder West spent A LOT of time trying to figure out if they knew common people as he was from Mountain Home, Idaho. It was a great evening!
Chaiya left for camp Saturday morning after dragging a sleepy father to Prescott Valley at 6:00 am. When no one was there, they then drove to several buildings trying to locate any girls going to girls camp. She was a hour off. It's a good thing Michael is a patient loving father! I am not so sure I would have been so nice that early.
Quayde leaves tomorrow at 6:30 am for Boy Scout camp. He's excited but nervous about being away from home for a whole week. He wanted to bring 2 rolls of toilet paper but we talked him down a roll. He also bulked up on shower gel which is interesting because he doesn't voluntarily take showers here.
I'm sure that they both are going to have a blast but it might be quite a quiet house for a few days. Hmmm. BLISS.

Quayde's ball

Quayde wanted a day scene and night scene. I made the beach because he had such a great time in CA. He loves nighttime things like owls so I made the tree with the owl and a tiny mushroom. He loves it!! Chaiya was joking about it not being to 'scale' as the crab looks like it will go attack the boy.

Vicky's mailbox

For Carrie's photo hunt... I choose the coolest mailbox I could find. I love the old fashioned horse and above it says, "Letters".

I've been creating lately. More wonderful felted balls. One for Lyd, Quadye and ?. This is Lyd's. She wanted a ladybug ball with no face! Quayde's is still being given details. Right now it has a beach scene and the other side is a night scene. The other ball is a secret. These takes quite a bit of time but they are so fun to create. Chaiya just informed me that I have to make her one with a sneetch and a truffla tree on it. That girl! I love this stuff.

So I awoke this morning with the "Poly Waddle Doodle All the Day" song running through my head. What???? I must have this alternate universe that my sub-self goes to in the middle of the night because sometimes I just don't get it. It's like when my husband looks across the table and says he is always amazed at just how much is really in my brain. I think that was supposed to be a compliment, although I was teasing him about the Dewey decimal system at the time. So back to American folk songs. I swear that in part of the song it has something about 'fair thee well my fairy- fey". I need to look up the words. Fairies are traditionally an European import so how did this get into a 'classic American folk' song? Better yet where the heck did my brain pick this up and sing it to me all night long?
Maybe I need meds.

Today I am grateful for two wonderful ladies who filled in as pianist for our two singing times. I had the whole entire sharing time which generally runs about 30 minutes each plus our AOF song. These ladies didn't miss a beat or a note I should say!! I found that our little group of children do not know the father's day songs at all which is a little challenge. They also need to learn two patriotic songs for the end of the month. I am tempted to go to every one's house this week to help them learn. I'm not sure how I would schedule that in though. LOL
I love teaching the music. Sometimes the kids don't want to sing. I hope I make it enough fun so they will remember and have the songs written on their hearts as they grow older. Sometimes I worry that because I love it so the powers that be might move me to something else.
This week is 'get ready for camp' week. Both Quayde and Chaiya will be headed off for some camping fun. The summer has begun!