Favorite Finds - Kids' Math site and garden find

Flash Reader http://exstatica.net/flash/psychic.swf-- Ok the first find is courtesy of Isaac. He came home from school and showed me this incredibly fun math site for kids. Isaac spent at least an half-hour on it. The whole time he was adding and subtracting -- practicing math for fun. Isaac seriously hates math. But he loves this site. What happens is you do this equation and the answer corresponds to a symbol. You do the math in your head without telling the computer what equation you are doing and then the computer's "crystal ball" guesses what symbol corresponds to your answer. My explanation may sound complicated but it is way simple. And it totally freaked me out, because the website picked the right answer every time. Tom is like, "it's just simple math." Whatever accountant. I don't know how it works but it is really cool. Isaac was even playing phone tag about the site with his friends while they were playing it.

My second favorite find this week comes from the gardening catalog Dutch Gardens. I love to garden but I am no green thumb when it comes to containers. I can't lay out my flowers beautifully. They don't grow all that great. It is just frustrating when I see everything else in my yard growing just fine. Well I found this handy little container helper. The bulbs come all laid out in the bulb tray and apparently grow to look like this. Plus bulbs come back every year. I totally love the look of Alliums and have ordered some for other places in my flower beds, So I ordered this little helper. I plant them in my pots this Fall and so the work is already done come Spring. They have tons of other flower combos and you can also put these trays in the ground. If you need help with your pots too go visit Dutch Gardens at http://www.dutchgardens.com/Allium%20Bulb%20Bed%20for%20Pots/22738,30790,default,cp.html. I am still trying to figure out how to make my links into words.

Talented Thursday -- Halloween Carols

I know it is a little early for this but I wanted to share this with everybody. A family friend of ours (Kristen Lawrence for those of you who know her)just released her first CD of Halloween Carols. Sounds wierd hugh? But I actually love these songs. They have this eery clever beauty. She is a composer and organ player and I think she has come up with some amazing original Halloween music. I am not a huge Halloween fan but I am still going to get her CD. I know Halloween is still a couple months away but hey go have a listen at her link.http://cdbaby.com/cd/klawrence You may decide you want a CD too. I mean I love Monster Mash but it does get a little old when it is one of the only songs that gets played at those Halloween parties.

Talkative Tuesday

Monday I acheived a milestone. I had my first 2 1/2 hours of all my kids being in school. It was breathtaking; as in I took a huge gulp of air and let it out in relief. As much as I am not ready for Lia to be in school every day, I love that she got to start preschool this week. She goes two days a week, which means I have five hours of time all to myself every week. If you don't think I know what to do with all that time you are truly mistaken. I have so many ideas of ways to fill that time; painting, writing, sleeping, cleaning out the basement, throwing old dolls into the DI box, reading. I also really love the program and her preschool. It is through the Iron County School District and is great. Lia was pulling me and begging me to hurry all the way to the classroom. She is so happy to be in school like her big brother and sister.

Saturday we watched Tom's band, officially dubbed "Forbidden Donut" perform at a battle of the bands in Enterprise, Utah. It was called Cornfest. Enterprise grows lots of corn. Yes this is an itty bitty town but there were several bands from all over Southern Utah there. I really think they should have won one of the top three prizes and I like to believe that they took fourth place. We had a blast hanging out with the kids listening to bands, dripping popsicles and chowing down on dutch oven dinner. I'm already looking forward to Cornfest 2009, and I am not even being sarcastic.

The rest of the week is filled with soccer. Isaac won his first game this week and will play again on Thursday. Becca has a game at the same time so I am grateful Tom will be in town so we can play musical soccer games together. I really love soccer but the schedule is truly kicking my butt this year.

My kids will finish their first week of charter school. Becca seems to love it but the jury is still out on what Isaac's experience will be. He does like Spanish and Art. I am a little bit fed up with the school's pick-up policy and must say I am a little bit of a rebel. I refuse to wait in that gas guzzling, sun beating down on me snail pace of a car parade to pick up my kids. Oh no I am done. I am just going to park and walk into the school everyday to get them. I am excited about the charter school but their pick up method has a few kinks to work out. I totally respect all those patient parents willing to wait in the car line for their kids to be brought out to them at the curb. They are saints.
Anyway that's it for my update on Talkative Tuesday.

Prayers -Inspirational Thought

This week our community suffered a terrible tragedy. We lost 10 of us in a horrific airplane crash. With Cedar City being a small town, many of us knew at least one of those killed in the crash. Both me and my children had been treated by the doctors killed. My husband and I know surviving family members. It has been a shocking event. I never know what to say to those who are mourning. What can you say? I only know that I will raise my thoughts and voice in prayer this week for those who have lost love ones.

Today at church we talked about meaningful prayers. As I sat there and listened I knew this was the topic I needed to write or reminisce about today. Lately, my busy hectic schedule has caught me praying less frequently, less sincerely, more quickly. I feel as if there is something missing in my days, as if I am forgetting something vitally important.
Prayer has always been a source of great strength in my life. There has been so many pivotal moments in my life that center around prayer. There have been so many moments of strength and comfort found in prayer. Indulge me for a moment as I reflect on some of these times in my life, I need to remember how central prayer is in my life.

When I was attending college I found myself confused about what subject to pursue. I prayed many nights and days to find direction. I finally discovered that after praying about pursuing journalism I felt motivated and excited. I knew this was the answer to those prayers. I have been forever grateful to the answer to this prayer.

I have found true solace and comfort from prayer: When someone very dear to me was struggling with an abusive marriage and her life was often threatened I would stay awake for hours worrying for her safety. I have never felt so utterly helpless to protect someone. Unable to sleep I would plead for her safety. There were nights I could not fall asleep until I felt the still small whisper: "She is safe. I am watching out for her." I could then drift off to sleep knowing a higher power than me would keep her safe for another night.

I have found the faith to be healed from prayer: When I became ill last year, I was unable to take care of my family the way I wanted. The illness and the surgery to cure that illness were both uncommon. I worried that the surgery would have complications. I feared I would not be able to get well. I prayed fervently for the faith to be healed. I have often been sick in my life. At times I have just felt that I don't have enough faith. This time I went to my Heavenly Father and told him I had a family who needed me. I knew he wanted me to be a mother and a wife and a caretaker. I needed him to heal me and I knew my motives were just. I felt an overwhelming peace that all would be well. I knew there would be no complications and that I would recover enough to care for my family again. I had found faith to be healed.

Every day as my children grow I am confronted with an array of problems I don't know how to solve on my own. My own impatient nature doesn't allow me to always choose the most kind, loving gentle path of mothering. I have often prayed for a sense of humor, patience or the wisdom to say the right thing to a child struggling with a problem. I have often felt extra strength given to me in these areas. I know my Heavenly Father answers mother's prayers for their children. We did accept the job after all.

I know that our Heavenly Father loves all his children. He will give us what we need (not always what we want) when we earnestly ask for his help and listen carefully for his answers. Sometimes my Dad calls me on the phone and simply says," "That's better, I just needed to hear your voice." I am sure our Heavenly Father just wants to hear from us sometimes. Sometimes my Dad needs to have a longer more meaningful talk with me. I am sure that sometimes our Father in Heaven needs a more meaningful conversation with us also.

This week I will pray for many things, but I will add my prayers to those of other community members pleading for comfort for those in need of comfort and I will spend a moment mourning with those who mourn.

First Day of School

Notice the collars. We have a ton of collared shirts now, due to my kid's school dress code.

I just want to say thanks for all the awesome advice on my last post, especially from those who have daughters. I did talk to her, apparently she is not the only friend doing this. She did say it would make her feel bad to know she moved down someone's list. I pointed out that if you have several "best friends" you can refer to them as "one of your best friends" without assigning them a number.

My kids started school today. What a relief. The drop off and pick-up system was a little wierd and they definitely have some kinks to work out or it is going to be a giant traffic jam everyday. My kids didn't want me to walk them into the school, even though it was their first time inside. I had Lia with me and she was dressed up in her fluffiest dress-up gown (already at 8 a.m. in the morning). They were embarrassed to be seen with her. At least that is what they told me. So I drove up to the curb as instructed per the school's drop off requirements, they jumped out, I made one of the traffic helpers take a picture of them and then I drove off. It was a little disconcerting. By 2:00 I was a nervous wreck, wondering how their day went. Would they be totally wierded out by the new school? Would they be begging me to take them back to their old school?

Becca made it through a whole day of first grade -- which she thought was boring. They went over all kinds of behavior directions. The kids get to move through the class rooms a lot more than in their previous school and the teachers took the time to really teach them proper etiquette about going up and down stairs, moving their chairs, etc. The kids felt a little silly. I tried to explain to them that they get to move around a lot more on their own in this school and it was important they learn how to respect their environment. They kind of got it.

They still seemed to enjoy some of their first day. Isaac thinks his German art teacher is cool. Becca really likes the fish and water frogs in her classroom. And she already made a new friend. I really liked the orderly pace of my day. Well almost orderly. We did have a few backslides in the potty training department. Still I was excited to have them back. So far they haven't begged me to take them back to their old elementary school.

Just Words Wednesday or Just Numbers

I have a crashing headache yet again, so I am going to make this short, kind of.

My six-year-old Becca recently let me in on a little secret. She ranks her friends. I am more than a little disturbed by this. The only friend that doesn't move around in the ranks is her best friend since she was three. This friend gets to be number one. I don't think she tells her friends their rankings it's just her own little friend filing system that she keeps to her self.
Last week one of her friends slipped to number 7 because she told Becca she was not funny at all. Apparently this is an insult to Becca. If you insult her you get rearranged. If you are nice or she just happens to see you more often that week you get booted up the list. It's a constant fluctuating phenomenan.

I know this is a horrible thing to confess about your daughter. It almost sounds like something off the "Mean Girls" movie. I just can't fathom where this friend ranking thing came from. Is this normal for six-year-old girls? What should I do? Should I have a friendly talk with her or just let her outgrow it? Of course it may just be that she is a number oriented girl. She could add before she could read. I am completely confused about what to do here. At least there is only one of me so I get to be her number 1 Mom.

Write A Little - Find a Moment

This week's writing prompt. Maybe you are a morning person. Maybe you are a night person (that would be me) maybe you are a 1:30 p.m. person. Pick your favorite time of day sometime this week. Find a favorite outdoor spot and sit for half-an-hour and do nothing. Just enjoy a moment of stillness or splendor or a view. Write what comes to your mind.

Summer Nights
Sometimes I forget how happy I am. And then I take a moment to revel in the synergy of a Southern Utah summer night. It is amazing what happens to my soul when I watch the warm breeze tousle and dance with the gray branches of bushes back-dropped by mountains crowned in a distant lightning storm. Everyone should find thirty minutes to watch clouds unscroll themselves over the mountain tops; sit still and anticipate flashes of lightning. Patience is rediscovered in the slow steady lifting of a cloud front. Stillness is found listening to a solo cricket belt out its song above the cacophony of a cricket orchestra. Perspective is achieved watching nature when all is shadowed, only to be illuminated by stars and electric bolts miles and light years away. Finally, when my mind is still, I remember how blessed I am to be surrounded by beauty, how happy I am to have a yard teeming with life, how lucky I am to have big porch with a panoramic view.

Tagged by Trinity

4 random things I like about my husband:
His smile.
He is an awesome musician.
He always watches the Sound of Music when it is on TV.
He can lift all those heavy things I hate to lift.

4 movies I'd watch more than once:
Becoming Jane (It's embarrasing how many times I have already watched it.)
Fiddler on the Roof (Even if it makes me ball every single time)
Enchanted
Strictly Ballroom

4 TV shows I watch:
American Idol,
Frasier reruns,
Glen Beck,
Rachel Ray 30-minute meals

4 places I have been:
Bali, France, Caribbean, New York

4 people who email me regularly: Colette, my Mom, Michelle, Nancy

4 favorite foods:
Dark Chocolate, Strawberries, Cheese, Rosemary bread from Costco.

4 places I would like to visit:
Hawaii, Italy, Switzerland, Morroco

4 things I am looking forward to in this coming year:
My kids attending GPA charter school.
Cleaning out the basement.
Finishing a fairy/Haiku children's book with my sister.
Making peach jam with my Becca.

4 people I tagged Heidi, Stacy, Stephanie and Melinda

Favorite Finds - PA Shrimp

I promised Melinda I would post my Pennsylvania Shrimp recipe on Friday, so here it is. I almost didn't post today. It has been way too crazy.
You can buy the shrimp like this in huge amounts at the grocery store in PA. We love it. Tom has his own version which I actually like a little better, even if it is more fattening.

To make the original buy uncooked, unshelled shrimp. You will also need the secret ingredient, Old Bay Seasoning and vinegar. It is usually in the seasoning section by the butcher. Just follow the directions on the back.

Tom's version - Even Lia, our pickiest eater loves this shrimp.
Heat up skillet. Melt a couple tablespoons of butter. Add a few cloves of chopped garlic and saute until almost pink. Sprinkle liberally with Old Bay seasoning. Cook until pink. So so easy.
Tip Always make extra. This is a messy meal so have a wet paper towel ready for everyone.

Talented Thursday

I am not musically talented, but my husband is and my kids are quickly becoming so. Here are my musical prodigies in the making. I can't wait to sit in an audience and listen to all four of my talented family members perform together.

Lia is our little singer. I catch her singing to herself all the time.

Becca started piano two months ago. I think she is doing pretty well considering she just barely started. She only practices four to five times a day. Sometimes I have to beg her to stop when I am talking on the phone or it is early in the morning. On the other hand, I have to beg Isaac to practice.




Look No Hands. Isaac started his second instrument this summer. His aunt Becky is teaching him violin. He is already pretty good at piano and has even composed a few of his own songs.

So there they are my talented offspring. Excuse me while I brag.

Just Words Wednesday - Choice

I'm sorry but I am going to rant a little bit (maybe a lot). I try to steer away from complaining on my blog. But I am going to indulge myself and vent for a moment. You have all been warned.

Disclaimer:
I love Cedar. I would not want to live anywhere else.
That said, there is always room for improvement.
First, I am truly dissapointed in the actions of some middle school teachers and one principal in the Iron County school district. Cedar will start a charter school in a few days. In Utah, charter schools are public schools and they are free. Apparently some teachers are so threatened by this new charter school that they decided to visit middle school students enrolled at the charter school at their homes. Some of these teachers arrived on the doorsteps of said students, asked to speak with the students. Not the parents, of course. As a stranger they asked to speak to a minor and then proceeded to launch into a persuasive speech on how they should reconsider attending the charter school. How do I know this isn't a rumor? One of the charter school's board members had this happen to their own child. I'm sorry but it is just inappropriate to confront a minor as a stranger without the parent present.

To compound matters one of the elementary principals refuses to release parent signed school records release forms to the charter shool. That is more than inappropriate it is illegal.

And seriously, this is not a war. There are charter schools all over this state and country. They offer educational choices. Last time I checked our country is all about giving us a choice. I believe and know that we have fantastic teachers in all our elementary schools. I also believe that allowing parents and children a choice in their education should be and is a fundamental right. I am embarrassed for these self-appointed education vigil antes. They give their peers a bad name.

Secondly on a much more shallow level. I really wish Cedar had more shopping choices. I hate that I have two - maybe three choices of places to buy my son school shoes (he's very picky about his shoes and he already wears a hard to find size 7).
One of those choices has only one table full of shoes. The other choice has a wall full of $70 shoes. EEEK! The truth is I used to opt for the cheap Wal-Mart and Payless Shoes but they wore out before he grew out of them, and my son grows fast! So, every time I shoe shop for him or myself I whine and complain and wish that for just a moment Cedar was a little less small town.
So, tomorrow I am off to St. George, in search of shoes.

Write a Little.

My friend Nancy has a list of cool verbs on her writing blog spot. For this week's writing prompt I chose two of those verbs. Write a poem, a memory or a few lines using one or both of these verbs.

Evoke
Cleave

Restless dreams cleave me to slumber
holding me down in heaviness
even as skipping tiny feet
hurry down the hallway bringing morning
too soon.

Our busy Saturday

We had a great but very busy Saturday. My brother Jake came to visit, finally. So, we dragged Jake around with us all day. OK I know I am biased but Jake is so much fun. I haven't really seen my family in eight months so I was excited for a visit from my youngest brother. Saturday morning at 8:15 we traveled to Parowan for Isaac's first soccer game of the year. He is a great defender and he actually almost made a goal the last couple minutes of the game. We had an hour break before Becca's soccer game in Parowan, so I made Tom drive us out to the Parowan gap. I had never visited this famous local spot and I wanted to see the Native Indian petroglyphs on the rocks in the gap.

The space where the petroglyphs are carved on the rock is actually not very large. A short walk of 50 feet encompasses the whole rock show or story. Still, there is something so powerful in the images on these rocks. Even in this short distance there are hundreds of carvings. I spotted a deer and Isaac spied a snake and a sun. We also climbed into a little cave where we discovered some well worn symbols that looked a lot like crop circles. I found myself desperately wishing I could understand the messages and stories these ancient petroglyphs told. My brother Jacob suggested they were some ancient journal left by many different Indians journeying through the pass in the rocks. Whatever they may be an half hour in the Parowan gap left me intrigued and I am on a mission to find out more information about this area.

After our short visit to Parowan gap, where Isaac trudged around barefoot because he refused to wear his soccer cleats one more second, we drove back to the soccer fields and watched our little Becca play soccer. I have to admit she is really pretty good for a six-year-old, even if she does get tired fast. Good ole Jakers he yelled and cheered like any good uncle should. He didn't even act bored after two soccer games in one morning. We headed home where we all crashed and catnapped for an hour before heading out on another adventure.

Summer vacation is over in a week and I was determined to not waste this Saturday with Tom, Jake and the kids all to myself. We headed up into the mountains and the fresh air and amazing scenery brought me a refreshing feeling of peace. Of course we were headed to a not so favorite hike of mine. Tom wanted to return to Cascade Falls. Our last visit there two years ago was a little terrifying. The hike to these falls that shoot out of a hole in the rock is a narrow path on the side of the mountain. Last time we went we got stuck in a lightning/hail storm with a little baby and a four-year-old and a way too adventurous boy. I did not want to go back. Still there was not a raincloud in sight so I set off on the hike. I am so glad we went. It was still a little frightening but we all helped each other over the tough spots. The waterfall was beautiful and we all had fun playing on the rocks. I thought WOW! We made it. Of course we had to go back. And I have discovered with this hike the way back is often a little tricky. Tom trudged off with the girls while I hung back with Jake. Jake had found a tempting rocky climbing area that he stared at like a little puppy until finally he gave in and took off like a mountain goat. I didn't want to get too far ahead of him. I worried he would slip and fall. But no, I was to be the one who slipped on some loose rocks and fell. My lower back hit a sharp rock and I couldn't move for a couple minutes. My little Isaac had stayed with me, carefully watching to make sure I made it over the rough spots safely. He was a little frightened of the narrow path and apparently even more concerned for his clutzy Mom. As I was lying there trying not to swear in front of my ten-year-old, I hear loose rocks fly down the mountainside as my brother comes running up behind me, after he realized something had happened to me. I'm thinking, "great he's going to fall running down that path." But like I said before, the boy is half mountain goat. My brother and Isaac lifted me up and helped me limp to where Tom and the girls were waiting for us further up the trail. We all made it back safely. I'm a little sore and bruised. I wonder why we keep going on that hike. Something scary always happens. Still somehow we always learn something about teamwork and family on that little spot of mountainside. I always have some epiphany there. Last time it was about prayer. This time I realized that sometimes getting back is the tricky part, whether it is getting back to our car or back to our Heavenly Father. But somewhere, someone is waiting to help us, watching over us and sometimes that person is son or a brother or a husband, or our Savior.

The rest of the evening was relaxing. Tom and I cooked up some Pennsylvania shrimp - I'll post this recipe next Friday and some fried zucchini for Jake. We had to lure him down here somehow. I used food. We said goodbye to my brother this morning and spent a relaxing Sunday together.

Talented Thursday

I am a believer in developing talents. I really love to encourage others in their creative endeavors, their strivings, their growing. So I am going to devote my Thursday posts to the talent among us. I wanted to show a picture of my friend Taryn's beautiful crochet work. She is working on some custom pillows for me right now. She is not finished yet so you will have to wait for that post until later. Still, I discovered Taryn has another talent. She is a blogger techie supreme. She just ran over here at the drop of a hat to help me figure out how to change my blog background. Apparently she has been helping people with their blogs all day. Thanks Taryn, talented crochet girl, blogger extraodinaire and willing to help friend.

I just discovered that my friend Trinity has a talent she has been hiding. I already know she is an amazing interior designer. I ask for her advice all the time. I keep waiting for her to send me a bill. She just smiles and says I can help her sometime. She is absolutely phenomenal with kids, and she is a great cook. We recently took an oil painting class together and she is amazing. Reading her blog I have discovered that she is a talented closet writer.

I could literally go on forever about all the talented people I know. Too often we as women measure ourselves against some cardboard cutout. Do we fit the mold, do we have the right skills and talents? "So and so is so much more talented than I am." We spend way too much time measuring, comparing and knocking ourselves down. I can't think of one single person I know that doesn't have a gift or talent that makes them uniquely them. If you are struggling with recognizing your talent please come see me. You see that's one of my talents; seeing the strengths of others.

I have mentioned my love of daylilies in my blog already but I want to expand on this theme a little bit. I am grateful my world is filled with so many different talented people. I love my friends who uplift me, make me laugh, stretch me, listen to me, teach me. All of the people in my life are unique. Each person carries their own talents and personality. I revel in their differences, differences that make them beautiful. I could never live with a garden that only had one color daylily. I am thankful I am surrounded by beautiful talented people who make my life colorful.

Talkative Tuesday

I feel a little talked out today. So, I won't write a long post.
What have we been up to the past week. I watched my kids play in the rain, flushed two dead fish down the toilet (prizes from the 24th of July carnival, made bread twice, went swimming - in the rain, bought a new five dollar fish to replace free carnival fish, tucked my kids into bed each night, cried over other people's broken hearts, rejoiced over other people's long awaited victories. Now I await my husband's return from a week long male bonding trip so I can unload a thousand saved up conversations -- poor Tom.

Write a Little: Try something new

On Mondays, I want to stretch my writing muscles a little bit. I am going to post my write a little prompt of the week on my Monday post.
Henry David Thoreau said "How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live." So this week go out and try something new and then write about it. If you are proud of your adventurous spirit come let me know what new thing you tried this week.
I tried sushi for the first time this year. My sushi loving husband finally got me to try it and I must say I am hooked, except I still won't eat those little orange fish eggs on top of the sushi or raw eel sushi. Still, I tried the raw tuna and I did not die of food poisoning. Since, I am also experimenting with writing Haiku poetry lately. I'm going to go silly on this writing post and do a sushi Haiku just to see if I can pull it off. Hey if you can write a Haiku about your new thing this week let's see it. Haikus are three lines of poetry. Traditionally the lines have the following syllable rythmn 5/7/5 or short/long/short


colorful fish bites
courageous pops in my mouth
cultural tidbits.

Ok I have definintely read and written better Haikus than that.

Favorite Finds - Crockpot Bread and Purple Daylily

This week I had a victorious moment. I made homemade bread. It rose. It tasted delicious. I am still reeling from the shock. I am not a bread baker. I just can't seem to make it work. I made this recipe in the crockpot. I am going to post it here because I think, if I can do it -- well anyone can do it. It does come out shaped like a round cake and is a really hearty bread. But hey, I can't make cake either so, I feel like I just killed two birds with one crockpot.

Honey Whole Grain Bread.
2 Cups warm whole milk (not hot)
2 TB canola oil
1/4 Cup honey
3/4 tsp salt
1 pkg active dry yeast
3 Cups whole wheat flour/divided
3/4 to 1 cup all purpose unbleached flour, divided.

Spray 1 quart casseerole, souffle dish or other high sided baking pan w/nonstick cooking spray. In large bowl or electric mixer combine milk, oil, honey, salt, yeast, 1 1/2 cups wheat flour and 1/2 cup flour. Mix at medium-low spped for 2 minutes

Add remaining 1 1/2 cups wheat flour and 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup flour. Here is the trick, getting the right amount of flour. I add the flour slowly until the dough is less sticky. Transfer dought to prepared pan. Place pan in slow cooker; cover and cook on High about 3 hours or until edges are browned. Remove from slow cooker and let stand for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

My second favorite find this week is my deep purple daylily. I love day lilies. My yard has them in at least eight different colors. I like to find things that are a little different.

Last year I ordered these purple daylilies and they just bloomed for the first time a week ago. They are gorgeous. I ordered them from a catalog/online gardening site which has some unique flowers.
Here is the website www.waysidegardens.com
This particular daylily is called jungle beauty. They have some amazing varieties of standard plants.