What's for supper tonight....This afternoon the kids and I made caterpillar dinner rolls for supper (to go along with our baked chicken.) They love to dip the flour, turn the mixer on and off, watch the yeast proof, etc. They also love to form the rolls! The little ones were still napping so Lenna did the honors today when the dough was ready.She created caterpillars in honor of our butterfly science project:) She used Fettuccine Noodles (uncooked) for the antennas (stick pretzels would have worked great but we were out.) The eyes are pepper corns, the nose is a gold crown icing sprinkle, the lips are red sprinkles. Lenna added legs and feet as well- they are held in with an uncooked piece of spaghetti noodle and the feet are elbow macaroni that we colored with food coloring,(we'll just have to make sure we remove the noodle leg before eating.)Any yeast dinner roll recipe will do. Here is the one we used today...

Honey Dinner Rolls (adapted from the
Essence of Kansas Taste Three 4-H Cookbook)

3 T. honey
2 eggs
1/4 c. shortening
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. powdered milk
1 tsp. salt
1 T. yeast (I always add a bit extra)
2 c. warm water
5 c. white flour
2 c. wheat flour
*** 1 T. milled flax seed- the recipes doesn't call for these,
I just always add it because it is good for you:)

Pour yeast in warm water and set aside. Mix eggs, shortening, sugar and honey together in mixer, add powdered milk and salt. Then add yeast/water mixture. Add flour to the desired consistency ( not stick to the bowl), knead for about 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl and allow to rise until it is doubled. Punch down the dough, and then form into small balls and allow to rise again. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from over and brush with melted butter (optional step but it sure makes them very tasty and keeps the crust soft!) Make about 24 rolls.

Very Hungry Caterpillars... soon to be butterflies!

Just wanted to give you our caterpillar/butterfly update! We have had very hungry caterpillars! The kids had a blast watching them eat and grow! One night they grew over 1/4 inch over night! As they grew, Lenna observed that they became more colorful as well! Here is a link to our favorite butterfly lifecycle website...Two nights ago, we found our caterpillars were starting to hang from the top of their small house. Yesterday morning, 2 of the 5 had formed their chrysalis and the other 3 were getting ready to do so. We went to the library yesterday afternoon and when we got home, 2 more were in their chrysalis hanging from the top of the container.

The really fun part was yesterday evening, Lenna and I actually watch the last one form his chrysalis around himself! Shawn and I got them moved to their butterfly house last night so they will have room to move when they reach their final stage as butterflies! The kids have really enjoyed this process, God's creations never cease to amaze me either!

Today we will be doing lots of FUN butterfly activities for school! We'll share more later! But for now... here are a few photos (sorry they aren't the greatest, taking a picture through the cup and then the netting has been a challenge:)
A fun fact... we are using the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle today for some of our activities again. 2009 is the 40th Birthday of this book! It was first published in 1969. There is currently a special edition of this book available that includes 3-dimension pop-up art from Eric Carle!

***someone ask if this project was worth the approximately $20 it has cost us. For sure!!!! It has given us great opportunity for us to butterfly specific science activities!

Can't have snow without a snowman
(or snow woman in our case :-)

Lenna rolled the snowballs, the middle part of the body was so heavy that I had to cut it in half to lift both pieces to get it up there then we stuck them back together!

A few pictures as we headed inside...Eli was the first one in, little did I know he was making snow of his own in the kitchen:( I couldn't stay mad long so I snapped a picture:) I had just bought a new 25 pound bag of flour and was separating it into bags to freeze and he found the open bag.

Nate's "Slide"

We rode out the blizzard well....

We spent yesterday at home, reading stories, watching movies on the wall, making brownies and drinking hot chocolate as the wind whipped outside. Often times during the day, could couldn't see the house next to us for the blowing snow! The kids were anxious to get out in it and play, they struggled to understand that they couldn't go out in a blizzard!

The winds and snow stopped this morning and left 12-14" of snow behind, not far from us places are reporting 20-28" of snow! The kids have loved it, being a spring storm, the day warmed up quickly and it started to melt! We have built snowmen, had snowball fights, shoveled snow and Nate figured out the the drifts were high enough (about 4 foot) that they are wonderful slipper slides for him! I'll post pictures later of our wonderful day.

I'm trying to finish Chinese dumpling soup for supper and getting the kids warmed up again. They want to go out one more time before the sun goes down:)

Another giveaway... go check it out!

My friend, Joanna, is having another giveaway on her blog. This is another beautiful treat from the Solomon Islands! Run over there and sign up! While you are there, take some time to read about this amazing family and their work in Bible translation to a people group that does not have the scriptures in their heart language! They are preparing to move out to the islands where this people group live and Joanna's husband has been working hard to make their small home beautiful for his family. All so people can come to know the Lord and have HIS word!

I know, island life sound wonderful and beautiful but life is hard there... no electricity (except for that that is collected through the solar panels, and saved into batteries...), no grocery store to run to for the things you need (you learn to stock up on powered milk, flour, sugar and make it from scratch... these supplies are available after a really long boat ride and then bought in bulk... unless your friends are willing to send you care packages with some pre-packed American treats in them! Hink, hink... they love packages) Not only is daily life labor intensive, but they have 4 kiddos running round that they homeschool, Joanna does and amazing job and I love to just read about their adventures in school! They also are learning new langauges and most of all... they have given everything to the Lord to serve Him with!

So while you are visiting Joanna... take a moment to pray for their family, the people they serve and that God will continue to preovide for their needs. Then add your name to the pot for this beautiful giveaway! The remember to stop back by in the days to come and leave them some words of encouragement and prayers as they serve! Just tell her Gayly sent you:)

Good Morning WINTER!!!

We have spent the last several months in our part of the world without much winter! Our only snow this year was a little over an inch a few days after we returned home from China with Nate in January. All winter the kids have waited... It was beginning to feel like spring, actually summer here for awhile... shorts and t-shirts came out the drawers, running around without shoes on playing outside... until this morning...

The weather man started predicting snow... first a little bit... then a lot... this morning we woke up to a blizzard warning! Blowing snow, estimate accumulations from 8 inches to 16 inches... my children are overjoyed and praising the Lord! We'll let you know how it turns out!

Please pray for Thomas....
****UPDATED****

I just got a message from China that Thomas was not able to have his surgery. He has CHICKEN POX now! Please pray for him that this will pass quickly and that he will not develop some of the complications that can come with sick little ones and chicken pox. His surgery has been rescheduled to take place in 3 weeks! I also will try to add an updated photo of Thomas later this evening!
I'll keep you posted!

We spent a lot of time with this precious little boy in Xian, Shaanxi, China when we were there in January to bring Nate home. We shared and apartment with him and his caregiver for the week. He is precious and my children absolutely adore him (as do we!) Thomas has multiple medical issues, some of them very severe. Please pray for this tiny treasure of the Lord's! He is in Shanghai (China), preparing for major heart surgery in the next 36 hours. The surgery will be very difficult and is risky but without it, this little guy will not survive. Please pray for him, his caregiver (Gigi, who adores him as well) and the medical staff caring for him during the surgery and in the weeks to come. I'll keep you posted as soon as I know more about how the surgery has gone.

Hope Through Me

Hope through me, God of Hope,
Or never can I know
Deep wells and living streams of hope,
And pools of overflow.

Flood me with hope today
For souls perverse, undone,
For sinful souls that turn away,
Blind sunflowers, from their Sun.

O blesséd Hope of God,
Flow through me patiently,
Until I hope for everyone
As Thou hast hoped for me.

By Amy Carmichael, Missionary to India

I have been reading some of Amy's poetry lately, I love this one I was reflecting on today and it has challenged me deeply... God offers HOPE when nothing else can, He asks us as believers to be open to Him, to be willing to serve Him... to not give up...

I Heart Faces- Week 11 (no Flash) Photo Contest...

I have not joined this before but thought it might be fun! Here is my kids entry:This picture was taken outside in the snow a few days after we returned home from China with our littlest man in January... No flash, outside in the snow. I'd love photography comments on it, ideas to improve, etc.! Go over to I Heart Faces to see other entries!
Thanks!

School Days & Science Fun!

The kids were very excited yesterday when the FedEx Guy delivered a box that said this on top....We are going to try our hand at raising Painted Lady Butterflies and Chinese Praying Mantis:)

We have 5 caterpillars that we hope will eventually be butterflies! We ordered our live insect kits from Insect Lore. We'll keep you posted on progress...Eli was excited to set up our butterfly house! Each year, butterflies migrate through our region of the country and the kids love to spend time outside watching them. We thought this would be a great activitiy to learn more about them! A the bottom of this post are some fun activities about butterflies!

We also have a mantis egg case that we hope little mantis will hatch from in a few weeks. The kids are excited because you feed mantis other bugs!Other random pictures from our school day:)
Butterfly activities

Painted Lady Butterfly Life Cycle- Enchanted Learning
Fun Butterfly Crafts and Activities
Butterfly book list & Craft list
Free Butterfly Lap book info
Other butterfly lapbook resources

Creative Kids....

Last week when we were in Colorado, the kids had a blast playing in the timber around the cabin. One of their favorite books is Fritz and the Beautiful Horses by Jan Brett, a book our friends gave us a few years ago. Eli has a collection of plastic horses that he loves to play with and one looks like Fritz and they love to pretend with him. The kids came running to get me and show me what they had made for Fritz and one of the other horses...The first 2 pictures are the corral that they made... the ones below were the "horse wash..." similar concept to a drive thru car wash. It was a hoot listening to the pretend:)

A Simple Woman's Daybook
FOR TODAY March 23, 2009...

Outside My Window... The sun is shining brightly, with a cool spring breeze.

I am thinking... of the wonderful weekend we had in Lubbock! We met up with another adoptive mama and her beautiful little girl and we had a wonderful time celebrating the marriage of our friends! We also got to catch up with old friends from our Texas days which was a blessing!

I am thankful for... Sixtus and his beautiful wife, for his heart for his home country, Cameroon, and for all the exciting plans for this summer mission trip back to his home village to expand the clinic that the team started last summer!

From the learning rooms... writing our letters and working on sounds, finishing our missionary post cards to send, learning some new signs to increase our vocab for some praise songs, practicing piano recital music and more:)

From the kitchen... I haven't thought about this much we have been traveling so much. Today will be PBJ's with fruit and broccoli for lunch:)

I am wearing... A black shirt and some blue loose pants

I am creating... a lantern quilt that I hope to finish the top on in the next 2 weeks!

I am going... to the big city grocery shopping later this week.

I am reading... A mother's Rule of Life

I am hoping... that the wind will calm down so we can play outside today and work in our garden.

I am hearing... the chatter of children, Music from the A-Z songs of encouragement for little ones... "When I fall the Lord will pick me, the Lord will pick me up I know..." I hope my children truly come to learn this and trust in it!

Around the house... Laundry from our travels, library books to be re-read one more time and returned!

One of my favorite things... Kenyan Tea

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: School, grocery shopping, sewing

Here is picture thought I am sharing... (I will add it soon, I am bummed that we don't get pictures this weekend on our trip)

Run over to Peggy's to read some more Daybooks for the week!

Lubbock...

We are in Lubbock for a few days for a wedding reception of some good friends. Shawn went with Sixtus to Cameroon last summer to start a medical clinic in his home community. Our friendship goes back beyond that, Sixtus did part of his training in Shawn's office 3 /2 year ago. We were blessed to build a friendship with him during his rotation. We were expecting Eli at the time, as most of you know- Eli's delivery did not go as expected and he ended up in the NICU here in Lubbock.

I'll never forget that day... crazy delivery on the way to the hospital, Eli doing poorly, transferred to Lubbock, Shawn and I followed the ambulance in the car (I was an ER visit was all.) We arrived at the hospital, walked through the door and Sixtus was standing there to meet us, hugged us and showedus the way to the NICU. The next few days were rough and Sixtus helped us out and really cared for us in so many ways. He laughed and cried with us, set up a place for us to stay among other things. The last time I was in Lubbock was the day we took Eli home... a much healthier little guy than he was the day he arrived here!

We are glad to be here celebrating with Sixtus and his beautiful bride this weekend, we are looking forward to driving by the hospital and playing in the park we spent many hours in with Lenna while Eli was hospitalized. Most of all, we are thankful that we get to be here to celebrate this special time for our friends and how blessed we are to be able to call them friends!!!!

Hope you all have a blessed weekend as well!

Adventures in Odyssey (a few more pictures from our trip)

Every time we go through Colorado Springs, we arrange our schedule to stop at Focus on the Family. The kids love to play in "Odyssey" the remake of the soda shop, play area, etc. from the Focus on the Family Radio show- Adventures in Odyssey. This trip wasn't any different, except that Lenna is now tall enough to slide down the 3 story slipper slide that ends at the soda shop! She was so excited!

Mommy's Dream Home... This is a model of "Whit's End!" Daddy reading stories in the library..."Camp What-a-Nut"Nate on stage in the Odyssey dress up clothes:)In the Narnia Room- March 2009In the Narnia Room- August 2007 (Fun to look back:)In the Narnia Room (Feb. 2007)Our first visit to Odyssey with cousins at Camp What-A-Nut (August 2006) Lenna was 3, Abigayl was 1 1/2 and Eli was 11 months old!)