Birthday Fun Part 2

The Gateway Arch

St. Louis Science Center

Crazy Birthday Fun Part 1

Birthdays are a big deal here...not really with presents but just celebration.

We started off with a trip to St. Louis to visit family. We finally found a time to visit and it happened to be near Ellie's birthday!

Part 1: The Magic House

Summer trying to be a serious judge

Climbing the beanstalk

mmmmmm. I was so hungry.

Dairy Tour

One of the best ways to educate children on food and nutrition is to introduce farm to table foods.
Food is very interesting, whether it's growing it, preparing it, eating it, or even metabolizing that gets you excited there probably is at least one aspect of food that you or your children can get interested in.

We recently visited a local dairy farm, Shatto Dairy.

The tour was exactly the farm to table concept. If you decide to go, check and double check the route. Getting there was a bit of a challenge for us.

Thank you to Karlye for organizing this! It was a great day that the kids still are talking about!

Deep Thought For Today

Most emotions have a good side and an ugly side. Pride has a very ugly side.

It's good to be proud to be an American or proud of your children (within reason).

Ugly pride builds senseless walls, it is hurtful, and it stops us from becoming better people.

It just makes us look stupid.

It is a time waster.

It is a dream killer.

It's embarrassing when I think how ugly it looks on me, for I have worn it too often.

It also robs us of a beautiful relationship with God.

Pride is ugly, humility is lovely.

We are all people. People are both beautiful and flawed.

Humble people admit their shortcomings and are thankful for their strengths. They look to God to see their incredible value, not from other people.

That reminds me of this book
.

Proverbs 13:10
By pride comes nothing but strife,
But with the well-advised comes wisdom.

Don't be driven by pride. You are too beautiful to waste your life on something so ugly.

39 Reasons Why I Love Him

1. His name is Sook. He says it's like "John" in Laos, but in America it is "what?"

2. I've always like dark skin.

3. He looks good with no hair.

4. He looks kinda mean....unless he smiles, then I just want to go pinch his cheeks and kiss 'em.

5. He likes me.

6. He loves Jesus.

7. He can play the guitar.

8. He can box.

9. His smile. He has a big mouth.

10. He makes me laugh.

11. He is content.

12. He can relate to an introvert.

13. He makes beautiful kids.

14. He is a great dad.

15. He can play drums.

16. He can admit when he is wrong.

17. When he is not wrong, he stands his ground.

18. He is loyal.

19. He is my friend.

20. He is not perfect.

21. He knows I'm not perfect, and he is okay with that.

22. He buys me Pepsi.

23. He works hard so I can stay at home.

24. He values family.

25. He is healthy.

26. He is thankful.

27. He loves the USA.

28. He trusts me.

29. He is okay with no TV, no video games.

30. He gets me.

31. He makes me feel safe.

32. He makes me feel smart and valuable.

33. The kids love him.

34. He is a great cook.

35. He does laundry and dishes.

36. He understands when I need help and does not complain.

37. He understands that I have a very had job and values it.

38. He will work through any difficult situation.

39. He is my husband, and he does the best that he knows how at it. I love him more than ever!

Happy Birthday!

Call Me Crazy

 Our theme this month is the cirlcle of life. At the park the other day, I told them they could play but they had to find one thing relating to the circle of life. We came home with a bag full of walnuts, hedge apples, acorns, and leaves.

We saw walnuts on the tree, green walnuts, brown walnuts, rotting walnuts, and walnuts that just had the hard middle shell remaining. The same was found with the acorns and hedge apples. One had been partially eaten. Ellie suggested that we sit in a circle and look at them. I have not had a chance to do that yet, so I put them in a pretty bowl as decoration until the time is right.

Look at all the beautiful textures and patterns! I love it. It attracted some gnats since we have left the door open quite a bit lately, so I sprayed it with Eight. It seems to have worked.

And the leaves....

We have a leaf bowl, reserved for only the most beautiful leaves.

My day is a little happier when I stumble across something so beautiful and available yet unseen by so many such as a beautiful orange leaf. I was excited to use my beautiful bowl, too!

We were able to work in conversations about the circle of life as well. I enjoyed this one a little more than the dead turtle we found with maggots crawling out of the cracked shell. From dust we came, and to dust we shall return.....

Lunch Idea

I was trying to find out if the original of this recipe was in the old Ebenfeld cookbook- but I can't find it! *GASP* Mennonites are pretty good cooks! I need to have it in my collection!

Oh wait! I think it was in my Mom's "Meals at the Field" cookbook. Excellent for harvest time. It is also excellent for a busy day just at home.


1. Tear a piece of foil for every serving.
2. Form hamburger patties. I stick to the rule that a serving of meat is about the size of the palm of your hand...or the palm of whomever is going to eat it. Place each patty in the middle of the foil squares.
3. Slice veggies. Onions, carrots, and potatoes. I added broccoli for color and to add a little more nutrition.

4. Place veggies over patties. (This is where the kiddos can help)
5. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bring sides of foil up to wrap in food, leaving a small gap for steam to escape.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. I would check it around 45 minutes, though. I thought mine got a little done.

Be careful when you open these for steam. Let cool a bit before serving.

Easy cleanup!

Rainy Day Clay

Improvising....we do that a lot around here!

The girls found a recipe for "Sunny Day Clay" that they wanted to try, and when we finally get a chance, it's raining.

Therefore, we made "Rainy Day Clay" instead:


2 cups baking soda
1 cup corn starch
1-1/4 cups water

Heat on medium heat and stir until it looks like mashed potatoes. Cool.
Divide and add food coloring. Here is a chance to teach kneading the color into the clay, similar to kneading bread.
Form in a ball, push down with the heel of your hand, then fold and repeat until color is even.

For Sunny Day Clay, you let the sun dry it out. For Rainy Day Clay, place on a greased baking sheet and put the oven at about 200 degrees for about an hour or however long it takes. The colors faded a little but it did dry out.

I like to have a "superstar" necklace around to have someone wear if they do something incredible- like give up their toy so someone else could play or care about how someone is feeling.

Our last one broke so I made one today. I just made the letters backwards and then rolled the bead over it. Then I used a bamboo skewer to poke holes in them.

It worked!!! Yay!!!!

Yes, I Would Call This Educational!

You might already know how much I love Phil Vischer, What's in the Bible? and Jelly Telly.


Jelly Telly uses these guys, The Fabulous Bentley Brothers, to tell about the books of the Bible. They do an excellent job. Who knew you could teach kids the names of the Judges and Kings of Israel??




So, as I was searching for them on You Tube the other night, I realized they also go by Rhett and Link , and it was confirmed by cousin Claire. I watched some of their other stuff, also funny and well done.



But here is what made this educational. You can also watch this video forward. Did anyone else watch this and think, "I wonder how they got it to look like that?" Well, I did. So we watched the forward version as well...



Several times. Backward, forward, backward, forward....

Especially Summer, who loves acting and video.

The girls learned how to make a backwards video,

and I thought about replacing my pillows.

Birthday Soup

I didn't have much for lunch....a few ingredients leftover from previous meals.


So, we decided to throw together a soup.

Ground beef,

                 some potatoes,

                                                               green beans,

                                                                                                             tomato juice,

and a few spices.

Ellie peeled the potatoes, Savannah cut the green beans,

and Max came and left his mark.

This reminded me of a story, "Birthday Soup".

We read the book while we let the soup simmer...
"I think my friends will come,
but I do not see a birthday cake.
My goodness- no birthday cake.
What can I do?

The pot is by the fire.
The water in the pot is hot.
If I put something in the water,
I can make Birthday Soup.
All my friends like soup.

Let me see what we have.
                                 We have carrots and potatoes,
                                  peas and tomatoes;
                                  I can make soup with carrots, potatoes, peas and tomatoes."

Then we acted it out.

Then we ate the soup. Everyone had seconds!