Family Night

Patrick works for the church. Once a year they throw a fun activity for everyone that works for the church and their families. Tonight we went up to the Family History Library for the activity. We first did a scavenger hunt which made us go all over the building and helped us to learn about what work is done in each department. We also found some of our ancestors on the computer. The kids then got a prize (a bobble head pen). They had different activities for the kids to do. They made scrapbooks, rub drawings, and paper dolls. I was so impressed with everything they did. Usually at a church function they feed the kids way too much sugar and don't give them a choice of healthy food (which is really frustrating for us since we stay clear of refined sugars). At this activity they gave the kids cool prizes instead of candy (even my older kids liked these). They also had a snack buffet with real whole wheat bread, butter, cheese, crackers, lots of veggies and fruit. We had such a great time! Everyone loved it : )  

I can't believe how much my life has calmed down since soccer is coming to an end. WHEW!! I feel human again : ) You know, it seems like we sign our kids up for so many things that we don't have time to just be together and have fun. We miss out on so much by being busy. I feel like soccer has kind of torn our family apart. I signed my kids up (10 years ago) so they could have some exercise and we could spend time as a family. It hasn't been that way. Everyone is ornery because we are running to this game or that practice. We are all exhausted form the craziness. It's turned into a me, me, me, thing. I really need to rethink this whole thing. It won't be long until Matthew is gone and I want to make sure we have those memories that are most important. My kids are so close (best friends) and I want to keep it that way. 

Pizza....YUM!

Well.....Whew.. I survived yesterday and lived to make pizza today : ) I found a yeast free crust recipe. It's not as good as the yeast pizza but it's still good. We try to stay away from yeast because it gives Savannah and Brady cold sores. The kids all LOVED the pizza (though they are not very picky). They were happy that I had time to make a good dinner.

Brady rated the pizza an 8. He didn't really like the crust though. If I would have put meat on he would have liked it much better.

Tanner said the pizza was a 10. He loved the crust and even liked the pizza that I put spinach on.

Matthew said the pizza is a 9.5. Savannah was gone to a soccer practice so I didn't get a picture of her but when she got home she rated the pizza a 9 and 3/4.

Crust:
6 cups whole wheat flour
3 tsp Real Salt
3 tsp baking powder
Olive oil

2 1/4 cups water

Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and water. Knead on floured counter until the dough is workable. Don't add too much flour. Sprinkle corn flour on the bottom of the pizza pans or stones. Roll out the dough and put into pans. Spread some olive oil over the dough so the sauce won't sink in. Add sauce and toppings and cook at 420 for 15-18 min. This makes 2 large pizzas.

For the sauce I just get one can of tomatoes paste and mix one can of water together. I add garlic salt, Real Salt, oregano, and basil until it tastes good.

Roller Coaster Ride

Do you ever feel like you're on a crazy roller coaster ride! You see a bend and think it'll finally slow down but when you round the bend you go into an upside down loop. That's how my life is. I think to myself, things will slow down in a few weeks just as soon as a certain thing is done or over with. But every time I get to that date something else happens or starts up and I find myself saying again, if I can just get through this then it'll calm down. I woke up today and cleaned the house. At 9:00 sharp 12 teens arrive for English/History class. I sit in the class and make sure it all runs smoothly. At 10:30 the Biology teacher gets here. I think, Okay, I can have some time to relax for a minute but then I remember I need to watch the Biology teacher's little son. He's cute! I take him around the yard and introduce him to cat dogs, goats, and chickens. I let him feed the goats some leaves. We swing,  jump on the tramp, play legos, eat an apple, and get a drink. Whew, I've forgotten how busy one year 0lds are. Biology class ends late at 12:00 and the kids grab their lunches and head down to the park for the oil painting class. I feed my two younger kids and we all head down to the park. The class ends at 2:15 and I stay to clean up. Someone takes Matthew over to the debate/speech class. I come home and spent some time with Brady and Tanner. Finally, I collapse into a big heap on the couch. Whew, I have the rest of the night to just be home. I drift off into a 5 minute nap. I'm jerked out of my slumber by Matthew saying. "Mom. I need to be at my soccer game in 20 min. AHHH!! How had I forgotten that? So I jump up, make oatmeal for dinner. I didn't have time for anything else. We jump in the car and made it to the game with 1 minute to spare. It was cold! I forgot the kid's jackets. The game lasts around two hours. We get home at 8:00. My house is a disaster. The kids have mosquitoe bites from the game. Legos are all over the front room. The counter is a mess. My kids need to be brushed, read to, and put to bed. I need to put some laundry in the dryer and I shouldn't even be on the computer. Sigh....

I really am grateful for all I have. I have a lot to be thankful for : ) I'm just soooooo tired as I'm sure all of you are. 

Here's to being a mother...... even amid all the craziness!

Healthy Brownies

I think I did it!! I made a whole grain brownie sweetened with Agave that actually tastes good. I figured out how to make chocolate frosting too. I've been working on making a good healthy brownie for a while.

When I make a new recipe, I have my kids rate it on a 1-10 scale. If it doesn't make it over 5, I won't make it again. The kids all rated the brownies at 10 or some huge enormous number beyond that : ) We'll definitely make these again!

Brownie:

1 cup Agave

3 eggs

1/2 cup apple sauce (I just threw some apples in the blender and made my own sauce)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup unsweetened cacao powder

2-2 1/2 cups white wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9 by 13 inch pan.

In bowl, stir together the applesauce, Agave, eggs, and butter until smooth. Mix in the milk and vanilla. Combine the cacao, flower, baking powder, and salt. Stir mixtures together. Pour batter in to prepare pan.

Bake for 25 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean.

Frosting:

4 Tablespoons of cacao powder

1/3 cup Agave

2 Tablespoons milk

2-3 cups dried coconut milk powder

1 tsp Vanilla

Blend together until creamy. Add coconut milk powder slowly (like you would powder sugar) until you get the right consistency.

Oil Painting Class

Here are some pictures of the art class. It went well today. We were a little late because
we were at the pond collecting pond water for Biology. I wish I would have brought my camera to the pond.....oh well : )

This girl wins first place for getting the most paint on her skin.
The girl is a good friend of Savannah's

Savannah and Shelby are having too much fun!

Savannah Painting her horse picture.

Here are some of the boys taking the class.

This is K. Nice rose.

Awesome tiger B!!

My Blog and My Matthew

Matthew has been helping me decorate my blog. It's so cute now : ) Thank you Matthew!! You're such an awesome kid. I wouldn't know what to do without Matthew around to help with all my computer stuff.

Patrick and I have to talk in church on Sunday. EKKKKK! I think I may pass out. Wish me luck.

Pictures

Brady found a friend.

For Labor Day a family in our ward took the kids horse riding. 

Ride em cowboy! YEEHA!

Savy's a natural on a horse. She's been taking lessons for about 6 months. She loves horses!

Brady's turn.

Here is what I picked from our garden and trees today.  It's taken a while to build our soil up. Our property used to be an orchard and I think that depleted the soil. I've added lots of organic compost and friendly bacteria and it's doing well this year. YIPPEE!

Crazy Day!

Today was crazy!!! It takes a while to get back into a school schedule. Whew! 

We had the classes at my house today. We started with history/English and discussed the pre-civil war time. The teens picked out the literature they wanted to read for the month. Their writing assignment is to write a (Civil War era) newspaper article and one other thing that would be fun to put into a newspaper. They came up with so many fun ideas. I can't wait to see the newspaper next week. Biology was next. It went smoothly and they seemed to really like the teacher. Next week they'll go to a pond and collect plants and look at them under a microscope. After lunch, the art (oil painting) teacher came. He is such a great artist and Savannah can't wait to get started. He painted a picture at the end of class. We were all amazed at how he did it. It looked awful at first but after a while it transformed into a very nice, detailed picture of Santa. You don't paint in the lines with this kind of painting. It racked my brain and I didn't even take the class.  After art, a few of the older teens went in a carpool over to another friend's house for a debate/speech class. Matthew came home excited and told me all about the speech he gave. I was running around like a mad woman collecting money and getting everyone where they needed to go. I think next week will be much less stressful....right? I'm starting to think I've over done it. I do this all the time. I need my friend (that just had a baby) to keep me in line : )

It seems like all I do is talk about school. I guess it's such a big part of my life right now. When things settle a little bit then I'll find other things to talk about. I guess I should have done a homeschool blog. I mostly started this blog as a journal. 

I'll post the newspaper next week. We have quite a few teens that are really into history and government so it'll be interesting.  I'd better get to bed.