Signs of spring

It's been an extremely cold, snowy winter (the snowiest on record!), but today I see signs that it's coming to an end. 

 The creek is flowing.

Buds on the trees

 A robin in the backyard

A full-grown fly?!  Where did he come from?

 Noah playing basketball with the neighbor.

Sarah on the trampoline.

School at the library

I took the kids to the library this morning with no agenda, just to browse.  They both picked out books.  We had a conversation about history and classical music with one of the library workers.   Noah used the computer to look up a book and then found it on the shelves.  Sarah had a nice, friendly chat with a woman from Indonesia who said she couldn't read very well.  Sarah gave her some book recommendations and helped her find them on the shelves.  I noticed later that the lady checked out those books.  We checked out some books about ancient Egypt to supplement what we've been learning in history.  There was total silence on the way home as the kids were reading their new books.  It was a great trip!

The peaks and valleys of homeschool

Yesterday was a horribly, unbloggably bad day at school.  There were sutdent AND teacher meltdowns.  Enough about that.  Thank God that His mercies are new every morning!  We started fresh today.

I was quizzing the students on the continents, and Noah asked what continent the North Pole is on.  I love how he makes me think about things I've never considered before.  I looked it up and told him that the North Pole isn't on a continent; it's just a floating sheet of ice in the Arctic Ocean.  He asked if anyone lived there.  I said, "Just Santa and the elves and reindeer."  He rolled his eyes and smiled. 

She loves me

I was having a difficult exchange with Sarah, and I said, "Do you even love me at all?" and she cried and said, "I love you more than all the hearts on Valentine's Day."  I'm writing it down because I want to remember it. 

Chili

After my braised pork debacle, it's time to blog a more successful meal.  The only chili I used to make was a rather elaborate, time-consuming, high-calorie recipe.  I recently abandoned that recipe and struck out on my own to make a simpler, healthier, cheaper version. 

 If I were the only eater, I would leave out the meat, but for my carnivorous family, I start with ground turkey.   I got this package at Aldi.

 onion, garlic, celery (leaves and all)

 My can opener.  He's singing.  :)

 I cook the disgusting turkey with the vegetables,

 then add a can of beans (drained because bean juice is gross) and a big can of crushed tomatoes.  I'm using crushed, because Sarah doesn't like tomatoes, so if there are no big tomato chunks, she does better.  These are from Aldi too.

 It's pretty thick. I might end up adding a can of tomato sauce later, but I'll see how it looks after I cook it for awhile.  

 I put in a little cayenne pepper (just a sprinkle, because Noah doesn't like it too hot), a whole bunch of cumin (because it's one of my favorite spices), a couple tablespoons of chili powder, and a dash of salt.  I added a little black powder too.  Bring it to a boil and then simmer for a long time.  Tonight I'm serving it with spicy hot cheese bread for the adults who can handle the heat.

 Whenever Kroger happens to have these two items on manager's special, I make spicy cheese bread.  The cheese spread is called Three Alarm Cheddar or sometimes Buffalo Bleu.  It's made with jalapeno peppers, spicy cheddar cheese, mayo, buffalo sauce, and bleu cheese.  You could make it yourself, but the spicy cheddar is darn expensive.  I only buy the spread when it's marked down, about to expire. 

Spread the dip on the bread and bake it at 400 for about 10 minutes.  It would probably be better to broil it for a minute or two, but...ok, I'm about to reveal something nobody knows about me.  I'm afraid of the broiler.  I have never broiled anything and don't even know how.

White as snow

I'm starting a ministry.  I'm not so good with people, but I can make laundry detergent, so the ministry is giving homemade laundry detergent to the guests of my church's food pantry.

In our house right now, we have 10 boxes of washing soda, 7 boxes of borax, and 8 big bottles of Dawn.

This Saturday, my family and I (and hopefully others!) are hoping to make 200 gallons of detergent at the church.  I thought I should make a trial batch before that to make sure I can do it and it works. The kids and I made this gallon.  It turned out well.

We camped out in front of the washing machine to watch the inaugural load.  Noah made popcorn and brought pillows for him and Sarah to sit on while they watched the show.  I told Noah that it reminded me of how he used to press his face up against the washing machine when I was washing his security item.  He would snatch it out as soon as it would done and couldn't even wait for it to dry.  When I told him that, he said, "Hey, that's how we should be waiting for Jesus to come back, eager and watching!"  It's one of the many times that the Holy Spirit has spoken to me through Noah.  Then he started a play-by-play of the laundry.  He was yelling things like, "Now the jeans are pushing to the front, but wait...the penguin pants just fell on top of them and now Dad's underwear is in the lead!  My dress shirt is overtaking a sock....but here comes a flash of pink...it's Sarah's coat!"  He only dresses up for funerals and weddings, so I asked, "What dress shirt?"  He said, "The one I wore to Grandma Opal's funeral."  I said, "Grandma Opal's funeral was two months ago.  Why is your dress shirt just now getting washed?"  He explained that he was moving some clothes in his closet and noticed the dress shirt and (for some reason that I don't comprehend) decided it was dirty, took it off the hanger, and threw it in the hamper.   His running commentary kept me laughing through the whole cycle, and the clothes came out clean and smelling fresh. 

  

Happy heart day

 I like Valentine's Day.  What could be better than celebrating love?  A little treat awaited my kids when they woke up this morning.

 This was Sarah's idea.  My hand on the left and hers on the right.

 Sarah wanted big heart-shaped chocolate chip waffles for her and small ones for McKenna for breakfast.

 She made a cute little sandwich for Noah for lunch.

 I rescued her scraps and made sunshine toast.

 Noah pretended that the only thing he likes about Valentine's Day is the candy, but he's the one cutting banana slices into heart shapes.

 Sarah making valentines for the neighbors.

Happy Valentine's Day from Marty!