Flower Bouquet and the Egg Yolk Room

Yahoo recently wanted to paint and boy did I jump on that! She never wants to paint which is so different than the way Yip and Yap were when they were 4 years old. When they were this age we painted all the time. But the other day she had it in her head that she wanted to paint and she wanted to paint on coffee filters. First she merely wanted to draw on them with markers and spray them with water.

A cool project if you can get kids to color the entire coffee filter, which I knew Yahoo wouldn't have the patience for (since we'd done it before) so I convinced her paint was the way to go.

Pull it together, a twist of the pipe cleaner...

...a gorgeous spring bouquet.

She was being just a bit silly with the camera trying to hide from me. Goofy girl.

Have you noticed my new walls yet? Yep, I finished painting room number 2 in my house a couple weeks ago and now I'm trying to get it all back together.

DR isn't too fond of the color I chose. He says now he knows how it must feel to be in the middle of an egg yolk! I didn't think it was that bad. It does make the room feel lots bigger.

What do you think of my corner shelves? I did have a bookshelf in that room where the kids kept art supplies and those corner shelves sure opened up the space. I found a great tutorial on how to build them.  The problem is...my house isn't square...HA! I made them fit but if any carpenter took a close look they'd be greatly disappointed in me. 

This room is pretty much done except for this wall. I'm just not sure what to put here. 

Next up...my kitchen. And guess what, it's going to be yellow too!! Another egg yolk! 

Dem Bones, Dem Bones...

Yahoo was drawing all over herself the other day.

But then she explained why and I couldn't help it. I let her do it some more. She had a very convincing argument!

(Sorry it's sideways)

So, did you catch any of that?

Earlier in the day she and I were looking at a children's science book with anatomy diagrams. You know the kinds; skeletal system, digestive system, nervous system, etc. We looked at the pictures and talked about what is inside your body and what some of our body parts do. I didn't think much of it but then she comes up to me drawn all over, basically saying that she drew a line on her skin where there was a bone inside her. Pretty darn good for a 4 year old, I say. So I let her draw on her legs and face too.

May be educational, but it was a pain at bathtime!

Please, no more Cardboard!!

Funny story, our town library recently went through some renovations; new carpet, new paint, new lights.

Okay, THAT's not the funny part. The funny part is that ALL the books in the library had to be moved.

ALL. THE. BOOKS. Okay, not really funny.

Whew.That's a bunch of books to box up (with some semblance of order) and then get reshelved again. I helped out when I could. And boy were there boxes. The librarian must have went to every business in town for weeks gathering enough boxes for all the books. Finally every book was out of the library in a storage trailer.

After about a week our wonderful little town library had new carpet, new paint, and new lines....and empty shelves. Time to put back all the books. ]

ALL. THE. BOOKS. IN. ORDER!!!

I helped with that a bit too and gotta say, there were times when I was questioning my knowledge of the alphabet. I caught myself singing the ABC's waaaaay too many times!

As the books went on the shelf the cardboard boxes went to the alley. ALL. THE. BOXES. I thought, eh, I'll make Yip and Yap do some work and help me load up all the boxes into the truck to take to the recycling garage in town.

What was I thinking? Couldn't I remember the MANY times that cardboard boxes have invaded my house? The NO GIRLS fort? The boat, pogo stick and machine gun? Not to mention all the other cardboard creations I HAVEN'T blogged about?

Yip couldn't resist a PILE of cardboard boxes...but I limited it to three! And look what he made.

His cardboard man is about as big as Yahoo.

I gotta say, Yip has skills...a master of the glue gun at such a young age. He's really making me wonder what he's going to create the older he gets!

 But please...no more cardboard. I need a break... for just a little while!

Foody Friday - Homemade Yogurt

I'm loving this recipe for homemade yogurt I found on Pinterest. My husband HATES it when I say any phrase that contains the words, "...i found on Pinterest..." but really, it isn't all just a huge time waster. Okay, a lot of it sucks the hours from my day for no practical purpose but this yogurt recipe really is worth it.

It's just plain yogurt and when I did the math it costs me roughly the same amount of money to make as it does to buy. Why do I make it then? Well. I like plain old boring non flavored yogurt and the grocery store down the street doesn't sell that kind. Therefore my only other option is to drive to town, 45ish minutes away to go grocery shopping. If I can help it, I try to only do that once a month. Yeah, I guess I could stock up on yogurt but I really don't have space in my fridge.

Have you ever tried the popular crockpot yogurt recipes? My sister and I both have, and have both been poorly disappointed. When I found the yogurt recipe for the stove I was excited to try it out.

First you heat about 1/2 gallon milk on the stove in a heavy saucepan or dutch oven stirring often to avoid the milk scalding on the bottom. When little bubbles appear, or just about 190 degrees, turn off the heat.

Then you allow the milk to cool until the tip of your finger in the milk is warm but not uncomfortably hot, about 110-115 degrees. I put my milk in a bowl of ice water to help it cool quicker. While this is going on, preheat your oven to it's lowest setting. Mine is 170 degrees. As soon as my oven is heated I turn it off and keep the oven door shut.

Once the milk is cooled scoop out about a cup of the warm milk and whisk in 1/2 cup of yogurt. You have to have a yogurt starter to get all those good bacteria to make the rest of your milk yogurt. Good thing about this process is that you can save a cup of yogurt back from every batch from now on to add into the following batch. I've made 4 batches of yogurt and only bought one container of yogurt to start it with.

Once you've whisked the yogurt with the milk whisk that all back into the warm milk.

Now it's time to incubate the yogurt. Cover your pan with a lid and wrap it with a couple of bath towels and put it in your warm oven and let it sit for 4-6 hours. I've even let it sit for 8 hours and it worked just fine. You want to keep the temperature of the milk at about 100 degrees that entire time.

Once the incubation period is over I take the whole pot and stick it right in the fridge, without even taking off the lid. Once it's completely cooled I'll drain off the watery whey on top of the yogurt. Then I'll store my yogurt in air tight containers.

For as much yogurt as I eat, it's a lot easier to make a batch at home than to try and stock up on tons when I'm in town. And really, most of the time the yogurt is just sitting...there really isn't a lot of actual work that I have to do.

(photo courtesy of thekitchn.com)

Some yogurt, honey and little fresh fruit...yummy!

Come hear our visiting missionary!

I'd like to take a minute and invite everyone reading this blog to come listen to a wonderful woman speak at my church. Amy Morrow lives and works in Zambia, Africa where she and her husband run the Kazembe Orphanage. You read all about her family's story in Africa here or read up on the latest happenings at the orphanage on Amy's blog. Or if you don't want to read :) check out some of their videos.

Amy will be speaking at the Montezuma United Methodist Church in Montezuma, Kansas on Wednesday, May 8th at 7pm. The school age kids in our town will be lucky enough to get a visit from Amy the day before. How often do most US kids get the chance to talk to someone who has eaten hippo?

This will be the second year that Amy has visited our area and I have the immense joy at co-hosting her during her visit. I've enjoyed reading all about her kids and how they are learning and growing.



This picture of her boys Elias and Johnny just cracks me up...don't they just look like they are ready and waiting to get into mischief? Love it!

What a lovely smile!

The Kazembe orphanage is home to about 27 kids from newborns to first graders. Kazembe isn't in the business of adopting out children, rather these kids are busy raised and educated at Kazembe as a family, and as their mission statement attests, they are truly working toward improving Africa's next generation.

Our mission is to improve the lives of those in need. Because children and youth are the hope of the future, we believe in investing in them by providing education, training and leadership. As we supply instruction in values, morals and practical solutions, we will enhance the quality of their lives and give them the tools they need to succeed. (Kazembe Mission Statement)

Some days I feel like I can barely keep my three kids fed and clothed; they are always hungry and growing. Can you imagine what it must take to keep up with 27 growing, hungry kids? Kazembe is always needing financial support and volunteers. Volunteers from all over the world have visited Kazembe for a couple of weeks to many months. We all have some gift that we could share with Kazembe whether it's our money, time or a load of clothes.

If you are in our area on May 8th stop on in, Amy has a great story to share. Amy also has other times available to speak in Southwest Kansas to anyone willing to listen on May 6, 7 and 8th. Would you like to hear her at your church or community event? Leave me a comment and we'll get something scheduled!

If nothing else, take a minute to check out one of her websites above. You'll be so glad you did.

Spring has Self Esteem Issues.

Today's forecast in Southwest Kansas is sunny, slightly windy with a high of 78 degrees. Aaaahhh...Heavenly! Time to kick the kids outside. 

It may be a gorgeous day today but I'm starting to think that poor Spring has some self esteem issues. Tomorrow's high in SW Kansas is only supposed to be about 57 and Wednesday? You'll never believe it....a high of 37 with a chance of snow! 

What's the deal Spring?? 

For the last three weeks it's been the same pattern! Weekends are warm and lovely and then bam! The weekdays arrive and winter cold temps push their way back in. I'm having a hard time getting excited for any garden work when I know these beautiful days only usher in cold winds. It's like Spring is afraid to stand up to Winter....the big bully! 

Ah well, at least the kids aren't arguing when I make them play outside. In fact when I show them the forecast they rush to get some fresh air. 

What's the weather like where you are? Is Spring as crazy there as it is here? 

I'm raising a risky little Monkey.

I had taken these photos way back in February when we had some exceptionally warm and sunny days. 

Warm enough in fact that it was comfortable being barefoot. Of course, we took advantage of the nice weather and spent some time at the park. 

You know sometimes at the park when some big kid has thrown the swing chains way over the top so the little kids can't reach them? Well, Yip found some that weren't attached to swings but had been thrown up around the top, probably for good reason, but he insisted that he could untangle them. 

The shoes had to come off to get a better grip on the slick pole. He spent a huge chunk of time on this endeavor. He must have tried climbing to the top a couple dozen times. 

Yip had to take lots of breaks to gather his strength. 

But eventually he made it and proudly untangled all the chains. 

I think our next home should be in a forest or a jungle, then my little monkey would feel more at home don't you think? 

Yeah, I know...."What if he fell and got hurt?" Well, then he would have fell and gotten hurt. But he didn't. Instead he learned that with perseverance he can accomplish any goal he sets his mind too. I'm never going to tell him he doesn't have the ability to do something. He learned that risk sometimes yields great rewards. 

He has a little sister watching too and I'm all for her growing up learning to take risks too. What will they ever learn if I protect them from every little possible harm? They'll learn that they can't do anything by themselves and that's not the kind of kids I'm going to raise!