Speedy Art

Tim had one of his students come to our house to show us her cool talent. She plays MJ's song Beat It while painting this picture in under 5 minutes. The coolest part is that she paints it upside down! I guess its called "speed art".

Springtime Welcome

Daffodils By William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazed--and gazed--but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.

Bread Will Bring Us Together

Charlie has been working on learning Pachebels this whole year. 

I am so glad they get to spend the day together.

Sometimes they like to talk about life... while eating No-Knead Bread. 

Thank you Cammy for the recipe. 

Jane has been keeping us supplied with fresh bread every morning for a week.

Making No-Knead Bread

Park

If you live in the Edmonton area and need landscaping done, you need to check out Park Landscaping. Here is why:

• Park excels at creating natural landscapes with the use of native plant material and 'real' products.
• Park has a comprehensive range of landscaping services. 
• Park maintains competitive prices.
• With designers on staff Park is truly an innovative company.
• Park guarantees friendly staff that is easy to work with.
• Park's booth won the 2011 Home and Garden Show award for their category.

Visit the Park website to see their expansive portfolio.

Here We Go

If you haven't seen this DVD you need to watch it. Historical, educational, inspirational, motivational, thought provoking, moving... all on 7 wonderous discs. I especially love the Abigail Adams part of it.  Now don't let the 7 disc thing hinder your curiosity. Once you pop in the first disc it won't be daunting, you'll be so into it. Its like Harry Potter, you're so sad when its finally over. I have one warning though- there is a tar and feather part (in the first one or second, I can't remember) that may have scarred me for life. Only boys should see that scene. Then there's the part where they saw that guy's leg off. I'm not old enough for that part yet either.

On a lighter note, this is officially my favorite children's book. I've probably posted this book before but we've been reading again lately and its one of those books that gets better and better the more you read it. The illustrations fill my soul, it rhymes, and the story line is super clever. 

Am I Weird Or What

Grinding wheat is certainly not my favorite pastime- its LOUD and messy and time consuming, but nothing makes me happier than a full pail of freshly ground wheat. Its sort of like a full tank of gas or an empty dishwasher. If I ever get too busy to get this done then I'll know its time to slow it back down.

Spring School

It was hard to get a picture but meet our two new froggy friends, Poetry and Element.

 Jane is always finding dead creatures. I overheard them oooh-ing and ahhhh-ing over this birdy. They loved its "chubby cheekies". It got a fancy burial in our backyard, wrapped in a peacock patterned cloth with glitter, butterflies and flowers.

 This was a large project for an average afternoon. Between diapers, food and just our normal routine it took hours!! I was so happy when it was finished. Making sure the kids take part in things sure makes it go a lot slower but that's the point so we just go slow. We had a few pots tip over but there's nothing wrong with basil growing in every pot anyway. This plastic covering for the shelf totally works. Its toasty in there.

I painted a chalk strip on all the pots so we can get rid of the popsicle sticks and I think it looks fancy. Thanks to the BB for all the terra cotta pots.

ole

The kids have been having Spanish lessons on Saturday mornings. I cannot believe how fast they learn and how impeccable they pronounce the words. Even little Jacob can say the spanish alphabet at lightning speed. At the end of our Mexico unit we had a Fiesta with some friends. It was so fun to have friends come party with us.

 We had stick on mustaches for everyone.

Charlie came up with the mustache cut in half and put in the armpits idea...

 then the eye brows...

We made corn tortillas and had tacos, cactus juice, polvorones (mexican cookies) 

and Mexican hot chocolate.

The kids performed the Macarena and played pass the sombrero, colored a Mexican flag, and even haggled with each other using their Monopoly pesos.

Hello

My two favorite things:

Marshmallows + Etsy

They come in decadent flavors and a subscription for a year.

January: Extraordinary Vanilla 
February: Pink Cinnamon Sugar
March: Double Cocoa Swirl
April: Lemon Meringue Pie Swirl
May: Toasted Coconut 
June: Marzipan Swirl
July: Rainbow
August: Fresh Strawberry
September: Apple Pie
October: Marshmalloweens
November: Cocoa Hazelnut Swirl
December: Candy Cane Swirl

Dragon Eggs

I made dragon eggs for Easter. Its baking clay with a gemstone hiding inside. Pretty exciting to crack open.

Elder Lynn G. Robbins - What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be?

In helping children discover who they are and helping strengthen their self-worth, we can appropriately compliment their achievement or behavior—the do. But it would be even wiser to focus our primary praise on their character and beliefs—who they are.

Is in case you were interested...

I just noticed this the other day and thought it was fascinating 

how much a night stand tells about a person. 

This is mine.

This is Timmy's.

Easter Story Countdown

• MARCH 31, 2010 BY SHANNON MILES

I recently came across an idea that reminded me of “the 12 Days of Christmas”.  Each day, your family will get to open a plastic egg containing a scripture and an object that illustrates the scripture. The eggs tell, chronologically, of the events of the crucifixion and resurrection. What is so great about this is it helps children and adults alike, focus on the real symbol of Easter… our Savior Jesus Christ!

Although this activity is very simple and easy, it is meant to help everyone deeply reflect on the true meaning of Easter and why we celebrate it. Your family can use this activity as a count down to Easter or during dinner one night during the Easter season.

I also want to encourage you to build the activity and store it away to be used year after year!

Here are the instructions:

1) Gather 12 different plastic eggs and number them 1-12.  When the eggs are filled, you will be placing them either in an empty egg carton or a basket.

2) In each egg you will put a piece of paper with a scripture on it.  You will also add a small item to represent the passage to be read.  (If you have more than one child, you might want to put double or triple the number of items in every egg so each child can each take something away from the activity.)

3) If you choose to count down to Easter, open one egg each day, starting 12 days before Easter. Read the message aloud to the family and look up the Scripture in the Bible. Don’t forget to pray together and thank the Lord for that particular aspect of the crucifixion and resurrection!

Here are the egg contents:

1. Bread or small cracker pieces – For the last meal Jesus ate with His friends – Mark 14:22 or Luke 22:14

2. Rooster (a picture of a rooster or a feather) – Jesus told predicted that Peter would lie three different times and say he didn’t know Jesus. – Matthew 26:33

3. Three silver dimes – Judas takes 30 pieces of silver money from some bad people then he helps them catch Jesus. – Luke 22:3-5, Luke 22:47-52 and Matthew 26:14-15

4. Thorns – People were mad that Jesus said He was the Son of God, so they made a crown of pointy thorns to put on His head. – Matthew 27:29-31 and Mark 15:17

5. Nails – Jesus was nailed to a cross. They left Him hanging there until He died, even though He hadn’t done anything wrong. – Matthew 27:31 and Luke 23:33 and Luke 23:40-41

6. The cross – (a small metal or paper one will do). They placed his cross on a hill between two other men who were criminals.

7. Dice – When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and played a game to decide who would get his clothes. – John 19:23-24

8. Spear (toothpick) – One of the soldiers pierced Jesus side.

9. Gauze or white cloth – After Jesus died, His friends wrapped Him up with cloth and lay Him in a special cave, a tomb. Luke 23:53 and Matthew 27:57-60

10. Cinnamon sticks (burial spices) – Three women brought special spices to anoint Jesus body. – Mark 16:1

11. Stone or a rock – The ones who had killed him put a large rock over the mouth of the tomb, the cave to make sure no one could get Jesus out. –Matthew 27:62-65 and Matthew 28:66

12. Empty! – Three days later, the huge rock was moved and Jesus was gone from the tomb. An angel said He was alive again! This day is what we celebrate on Easter Sunday. – Luke 24:3,6 and Matthew 28:2-6

If you would like to reduce this to seven eggs use the bread, three silver dimes, thorns, nails, gauze, rock, and empty!

Heaven

I love my Iranian heritage. I think its so neat and it explains so much of why I am how I am. These are some of my favorite pictures from my parents' last trip there. I think they are so beautiful.

I hope someday I will get to see it for myself and visit the family I have there.

This is where the real deal pita bread comes from. 

Jacob and Scarlet are OBSESSED with pita. We bring $40 worth of pita home 

from Edmonton each time now.

I can't imagine eating pomegranates as casually as we eat apples. I would LOVE that.

So many pomegranates!

Fruit stands make me really happy.

I love the architecture there.

Farmers Market heaven! My parents brought home cute elf-ish slippers for all of us. 

Timmy especially loves his.

Goats everywhere.

More markets. This is the Bargain Barn times 1 jillion.

This is a restaurant. Isn't it so enchanting.

This is how the food goes down. A long table cloth on the floor and lots 

of family and lots of the best food ever.

This is Persepolis. I can't believe my parents saw it in real life.

These spice shops call to me. I love learning about spices and collecting them. They just don't do it like this here. Isn't it genius the way they layer them so it looks so pretty.