Happy Birthday, Rora Grace!

Last Wednesday my eldest daughter turned the ripe old age of eight years old.  It has been so fun and quite an honor as her mother to watch her the last six months as so many things started to 'click'.

Birthday Pie!

We decided to have a friend party on the Saturday, when all those that attend school could come, so for our family party she chose to have pie.  Pumpkin pie.  And she was happy.  The gifts from the grands were opened and loved, gifts from sisters played with, and gift from Mum & Dad delighted in.  This is the gift I hunted down:

She outgrew her 1/8-size violin awhile ago, but having the money for a new one proved very tricky.  I did, however, recently discover a great guy named Todd who sells violins out of the back of a church 30 minutes away, and only charges $65-$75 for the violin, bow and case.  That is where I got this beautiful violin (the picture can't do justice to the beauty of this instrument!) for the extra $10.  Hoorah!

Saturday's party was sort-of based around the American Girl dolls.  For invitations I found a fun picture online with with eight first dolls all listed with their dates and a caption above that said, "Choose your favorite American Girl".  Well, the challenge was on!  I added Aurora's picture on the side with the year of her birth (2004, the four matched the fours in the dates of all the dolls), and bigger than the other dolls.  If I have energy to put a picture on at some point, I will.  The info was at the bottom of the invitation.  Aurora handed these out to her favorite people, including our 25 year-old neighbor and two couples that are in their sixties and winter in Arizona.  The winter visitors were such sports to come; I made them quiche in appreciation. :-)

Aurora's favorite doll is Kirsten (it's the doll she owns), so I turned our Holly Hobbie cake pan into as close an approximation of Kirsten as I could.  (The yellow frosting is meant to be her braids....)

I decided to play a couple of games from America's past with the children who came.  We played one called "Corners" (there are four corners the children run to while "it" counts to ten with eyes closed, then calls out a number.  All children at that corner are out and must come to the center.  You play until there is one left...if you can get there within a few calls) and another one she requested called "How Many Miles to Babylon" (a variation of Crack the Whip with a dialogue-d rhyme at the beginning).  After those games, we had a relay race.  This is where it comes in handy to be the wife of a reenactor.  I hauled out our dresses and aprons and had the girls race by threes to put them on, then run back and tag another girl (or boy, we had one at that point), run back with them, undress while the next girl dressed, and then run over and build a log cabin out of lincoln logs.

Here are some of the kids with the dresses...












                 ...and building the log cabins!







The last project before having cake was to make a journal, since the best way to know about anyone from history is reading their journals.  These were my own invention and really easy.  I cut some white paper about 1/2" on two sides and then used card stock for the covers.  Take five pieces of paper and one cover, fold them all in half.  Center the white papers inside the cover paper and the Paper punch one hole in each end, through all the paper.  Take a piece of string (about 18" long) and thread the paper from the inside so you can tie it on the outside.  I tie in a square knot first, then put on a bow.  Last part is to decorate the cover however you choose.  One ended up looking like this:

Ending in cake and presents, then giving each girl a baggie and letting them raid the leftover Valentine's candy rounded out the party and each girl left happy.  And I don't have to be creative like that for another few months...the twins are old enough now to ask for a party all their own and haven't had one yet so I don't mind.  

A couple of things Rora got for her birthday are books about baptism.  That is our curriculum for the next two weeks: learning all about baptism, its covenants, and its meanings.  She's excited and eager to learn, which makes me excited to share with her all of my love and knowledge of the subject.  Yippee!

A New Year, A New Resolve

Our family has been working diligently to get on a regular schedule with our stewardships.  The girls have been trying hard to remember to keep things tidy and help clean the house.  We have officially combined a few different "chore" systems to help the girls manage their stewardships: Accountable Kids, HAnnDi Household Work System, with ideas from Values Driven Family, and "The Parenting Breakthrough" as well as a checklist I made myself (yeah, how ever did I do something myself with all these books and systems to guide my path?) and the combination just might work.  We'll see!  At least the downstairs has maintained a level of tidiness it hasn't seen in a while (since Aurora grew old enough to drop things wherever she wanted to on the floor and would do that repeatedly until the floor could no longer be seen - all within the space of one minute).

I think it might also help that I have more vocal/piano/violin students and my new children's choir classes meeting here and I have to stay more on top of making sure they follow through with putting things away (and only getting one item out at a time).  Hopefully we will all get the hang of the newish system relatively soon so that we can get more actual school time in.  We've been slipping in our school time because I can't think in chaos and I've needed to get rid of clutter and mess.  Goodwill has profited greatly from my need to be less cluttered!

Speaking of my new choir classes...I am rather pleased with how the first classes went this last week.  We went over proper posture and breathing; matching pitches; listening and following directions; then we learned "Hot Cross Buns" (our first technical piece).  At first I didn't know how quickly we'd be able to progress, but I have great hopes of moving quickly...if I can get the youngers to gather some better focus.

Aurora is starting to get serious and worried about getting baptised (and yes, I know that is spelled "wrong" according to American reasoning, but you will discover my British spellings scattered throughout this blog when the mood hits me!).  We are going to be spending a lot of time the next couple of months talking about the doctrines and principles and ordinances of our faith, then defining terms and defining those definitions and writing it all down, then reasoning everything and writing that down until she understands as well as possible the commitment of baptism and wants to make that commitment.  (We are also studying the virtues of honesty and kindness in the same manner....)

The twins are so excited about learning, and that makes me excited again!  It's been so long that I've been struggling with Aurora's antagonism toward "official" learning that a lot of my spark disappeared.  It's returning in full force (partly because of my house becoming a nearly livable space, too, I admit) and my time is spent gearing up for some exciting prospects.  One plan is to start a trip around the world: I am making passports and world adventure books for the girls, so we can begin our journey soon.  Other plans are a bit more hush-hush for now, but it's good to be excited again - thanks Aria and Belle!

Back from Vacation

Not really a vacation, but rather a forced hiatus of over a year!  My poor laptop gave up the ghost about fourteen months ago, and my time online has been very limited since.  But thanks to the unexpected receipt of a check from a lab company due to overpayment of charges five years ago I have finally been able to obtain a new, wonderful, beautiful laptop!  My obsessive researching capabilities found me just about exactly what I wanted for less than half the original price.  Yippee!  I am one with the living yet again!

That said, a year of stolen moments on the computer has taught me just how unnecessary much time on the computer is.  My time now is very measured when I make time to get on the computer.  I must now complete a schedule that allows me to accomplish the work that needs to be done on the computer with a running list of those things so that I don't forget and aimlessly wander or fall into careless ways.

But the purpose of this little entry is to give thanks for a way to continue this blog so that family and friends might be able to catch up with our little family.  (But not so late at night, because thinking and writing gets supremely difficult when one's brain is half-dead.)

Conference Days

Don is in California selling art again this weekend (and hopefully making LOTS of money that we can use to keep the wolves from the door) and the weather is reminding me that we are in Arizona by maintaining 100*+ temperatures.  We have been going a little bit stir-crazy, but we are enjoying Conference as much as our lap top and its hearty efforts at maintaining a live stream.  We lost it a couple of times today, and spent a good five minutes figuring out how to get audio when the Church team forgot to turn on the speaker's microphones for their stream (finally ran radio.lds.org with the video from new.lds.org until they realized and turned on the volume).  Aurora had fun with her Conference packet (I downloaded every possible packet and printed my favorite) and even sneaked into her daddy's office and watched the last session wrapped up in a blanket in Daddy's chair, alone with his large-screened computer.

Tomorrow we are headed to the Stake Center to watch on the BIG screen (and get out of the house...and feel a bit more Sabbath-like).  I'm excited.  Conference packets for the twins all ready to go and Rora has her scripture tote ready to go.  (Bought her a new set of scriptures (her first) and a nice scripture tote (looks like a lunchbox) for school.  She's excited about it.  I love it when my children get excited about anything religious!

The Memory Box

I read last year about someone who had a good system for memorizing, but it involved a box.  Boxes for 4x6 index cards can be really pricey!  I hunted for months for one that I could afford (basically, next to nothing), but couldn't find anything.  Finally, I asked my husband if he could make me a memory box and showed him what I needed.  It was the best present I've received in a long time when he finished it for me!  A couple of pictures and explanation about how I use it.

This is the box.  It looks and feels heavy-duty with the wood and large brass, doesn't it?

The inside of the box has three compartments (next time I would probably go with four compartments; my only change).  The first compartment holds the memory items we go over every day.  The second compartment (right now holding our continent and planet flashcards) will hold items that we have mastered to the point that we feel once a week is enough.  I will put dividers in there when we are ready which each have a day of the week on them.  The last compartment right now holds pieces that we have yet to work on.  Later it will hold items that we only need to go over once a month (dividers for each day of the month).  My ideal fourth compartment would be used for what I am using the third compartment for now.  In the corner of each card, I put a letter to represent what that item represents: S for scripture, K for knowledge (general), M for music, P for poem.  Thinking about it now, I might change that around a bit...it's just something to help me quickly pull out a card from a certain subject.

The twins wanted to do school this morning, so they pulled out the letter flashcards and we went through them, covering the letters and all their sounds.  Then we pulled out the math manipulatives and counted circles, then guessed how many pieces would fill a circle (in fourths, twelfths, fifths, etc).  They can't get enough of learning, and it's exciting to watch!  Now if I can just rekindle that excitement in my somewhat lazy six year-old....

Turning Four!

Yesterday the twins turned the ripe old age of four.  This is a big step for my girls, which didn't go unnoticed by them.  As Aria informed me, "When you're four, you don't take naps; when you're four you don't suck your thumb".  A bit of nice self-motivation there!

To begin the day, I asked Daddy to make them some crowns to wear.  They kept them on the entire day (and even have been wearing them today).

After lunch we headed out, venturing into the heat to find some amusement for the afternoon.  I had printed off coupons from Chuck E Cheese (they have some great promotions if you check out their website and sign up for the birthday list), so we headed there for their twenty free birthday tokens.  They shared some with their older sister and played and played, even getting to "meet" the overgrown mouse in person!

(One great thing about homeschooling is that places like this are ALL yours during school hours!)

After the fun time at Chuck E Cheese, we drove on over to the mall and played in their playplace for a little bit, looked at the puppies, and got samples from the chocolate store.

We had one more place to stop at before going home: Walgreens.  It was there that I let them each pick out their birthday present.  The one and only thing that they have wanted and craved and begged for many months now: A Pillow Pet.  The mall had them, but at a much higher price.  So, $20 a girl and dreams came true.  Happiness for a four year-old!

I was a bit worried about what I would do for a "cake" since our oven is broken, but finally struck gold (after a suggestion from my  mother; thanks,  Mum!) at the infamous Waldemart when I happened upon a couple of loaf size angel food cakes.  Sliced in half, slathered in strawberry jam and covered in cool-whip and flower sprinkles and stabbed with curly candles, they each got a cake, making their day absolutely complete in their eyes.  (The cakes were strawberry flavored, so they were pink, and we served them with strawberries and strawberry ice cream.  See a theme yet?)

Aurora gave them each a princess puzzle and a birthday card, then gave them each a headband that she had decorated with barrettes and pieces of paper (there is no stopping that girl!) and our birthday celebrations were completed.  All in all, a good day (even if the drive was super hot, darn the broken air-conditioning)!

Sinful Pleasure

We made the most perfect recipe for a Godiva-like dark chocolate ice cream the other night and I just have to share it.

7 oz bittersweet chocolate, broken
1 1/2 c heavy cream
3 egg yolks
1/3 c water
1/4 c sugar

1- Whip the cream in a chilled bowl until soft - not stiff.  Set aside.

2- Beat the egg yolks until they appear to be the color of a lemon.

3- Dissolve the sugar in the water in a medium saucepan over high heat.  Let boil about 2 minutes, not letting the water evaporate.  Turn off heat and stir in chocolate until completely melted. (Will be thick.)

4- Add the hot chocolate mixture to the egg yolks; beat until smooth and thick.  Continue stirring until the mixture comes to room temperature.

5- Stir about 2 Tbs of the cream into the chocolate mixture.  Continue adding 2 Tbs of cream at a time until the mixture is the same consistency as the cream.  Then fold the chocolate into the rest of the cream.

6- At this point you can add to an ice cream maker and let freeze.  If you don't have an ice cream maker, you can pour into ice cube trays, cover with foil, and freeze for about 2-4 hours.

Absolutely lovely with a raspberry coulis.  Very rich and perfect in small doses.  We girls really liked it!