A Snowy Expedition

Here's my crew ready to go! :o) Couple items of note . . . the kids were so excited about playing in the snow that neither one noticed the fact that their boots were snug due to being last year's boots and at least 1-2 sizes smaller than their current size. Also, I was very thankful to find that their snow pants still fit them very nicely, and Hannah's will almost surely still fit next year. (Thanks, Grandma!) :o) I was not planning to play in the snow. I don't have boots. I have sneakers which are definitely not waterproof. However, as you will find by the abundance of pictures, I obviously did enjoy the snow with my family. How could I go back in and miss seeing their delight?!? :o) We all stayed outside about an hour. I was very cold when we finally came back in. However, I was quite glad to hear Hannah's only complaint was "I'm hot and sweaty!" And their feet were still warm and dry, despite tromping in slush. :o)

A Southern Sled . . . a carboard box and cooking spray. :o)

The driveway made an excellent sledding path with Daddy following close behind to keep up the momentum (and direct away from trees . . . )

After sledding, we investigated the creek.

In preparation for a "hike," Daddy located good walking sticks for the kids.

The right-a-way for the county sewer lines opens directly off our driveway, so we decided to go exploring. :o) During the summer, it's overgrown with poison ivy amongst other things, so we actually hadn't been down the trail since moving in.

We found that the first part of the right-a-way ends at the paved path leading into the county swimming pool. Nice. :o)

And here's the rather large culverts our little stream dumps out at.

And here's Daddy pulling his little ones home. :o)

A lovely snow day!

A Snowy Morning

As you can imagine, the kids were quite excited to see snow on the ground this morning. :o) All last night Hannah had been asking when the snow was going to start and how much were we going to have and when is it going to start and will it be here in the morning and when is it going to start and can we play in it . . . etc. etc. etc. I think you understand. :o) Anyway, they asked if they could put their coats over the jammies and go look at it from the porch. I obliged. :o)

It was funny hearing "Miss Experienced" keep telling Peter, "We're going to have so much fun playing in it, Peter!" I just kept praying that they would. Sometimes snow in SC isn't really all it's cracked up to be due to the ice which generally accompanies it. It was also drizzling something very cold and wet and non-snow when we first got up.

When I came back in from taking pictures, Peter was helping Daddy make breakfast . . . the house is cool in the mornings, so I guess Peter didn't see a need to remove his coat. :o)

And Hannah had made a computer. :o)

She picked the warmest workstation possible. :o)

Breakfast was simply a necessary preliminary for the fun to follow! :o)

Winter Wonderland!

We woke up to a winter wonderland this morning! :o) A major winter storm system just moved across the southeast. Our immediate area managed to miss the brunt of it, but we still got about an inch of a snowy/sleety/icy mix. Enough to keep us home and enjoy playing in, but not enough to cause a disruption to our electric service. :o) (We lost power for four days in the last major ice storm about five years ago. I was very glad to have the clock displaying the correct time when I woke up this morning!) :o)

So while Chris and the kids puttered about with breakfast and things, I bundled up to take pictures before it all melted on us. :o) (You never know in sunny SC!)

Here's our house with it's blanket of snow . . .

The back yard . . .

And picnic area . . .

A brave little pine branch . . .

Even braver signs of spring . . .

The remains of one of our firewood trees . . . :o)

Our front yard . . .

And the creek. The first thing I noticed about the creek was that it sounded "muffled." There wasn't any ice on it or anything, but it was definitely less bubbly than usual.

We actually had another "flood" a couple weeks ago. Not as bad as the one in December, but around 11 pm, the creek crested the road again. Our bricks which were to be a future retaining wall did not stay put. They are now scattered up and down the creek. Hmmm . . . I think I know what we'll be doing come spring . . .

And I must say it gives me a little feeling of gladness to be able to park the van under covering during an ice storm. :o)

It's pretty, but it's COLD.
I'm very glad to enjoy it small quantities once or so a year. :o)

Cake Mix Cookies

Baking cookies with little ones can be lots of fun . . . but I have found that we have lots more fun when I keep it simple. Low Stress for Mommy = Fun for Kids (and Mommy)

Hence, we make Cake Mix Cookies quite regularly. These are great for a number of reasons:

1. They're very quick to make (i.e. suitable to the attention span of small children and the time constraints of busy mommies.)
2. They're about as mess-free as homemade cookies can get. You don't even have to pull out the mixer!
3. The recipe makes about 3-dozen. Enough to enjoy but not get tired of.

Are they as healthy as possible? No. I could make "healthier" cookies completely from scratch using whole wheat flour and a variety of other better-for-you ingredients. But guess what? I get the gumption to do that about twice a year. So that means we have Aldi "oreos" in our lunch boxes the other 50 weeks of the year. By using a cake mix as the base, we enjoy both the process and taste of "homemade" cookies much more regularly.

So, here's the recipe for those who would like to try it. I promise--it's about 20-25 minutes from start to clean up--even with little ones helping! :o)

Cake Mix Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil (trying olive oil next time . . . )
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1 box cake mix
• 1 cup "mix-ins"

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients and roll into balls.
2. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 12 minutes at 350 degrees.
3. Let sit on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes after removing from oven before moving to cooling rack.

You can definitely get creative with these. Here's the combinations of cake mixes and mix-ins we've tried:

• "Double Chocolate Chip" - chocolate cake mix, 1 cup chocolate chips
• "White Chocolate Craisin" - yellow cake mix, 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, 1/2 cup Craisins
• "Chocolate M&Ms" - chocolate cake mix, 1 cup M&Ms (any flavor, but chop first if you use bigger ones like peanut or peanut butter)
• "Chocolate Peppermint" - chocolate cake mix, 1 cup peppermint baking chips

If your family likes peanuts, you could add those, and there's lots of flavors of baking chips available. Sometime I plan to buy peanut butter baking chips . . . or maybe Reese's! Mmmmm . . . :o) Also, I just use the chocolate/yellow cake mixes from Aldi. Nothing fancy. They were 69 cents a piece, although just this week I saw that the price is up. Anyway, just get whatever one is least expensive. It doesn't have to be name brand or anything.

We've been doing these weekly over the past month, and Peter's actually gotten really good at making cookie balls! A month ago, every cookie turned into a snake, so I had to discreetly reroll them. Now I can hardly tell the difference between his cookies and Hannah's!

Hope you enjoy! :o)

PS - The original recipe called for a stick of butter which can be rather expensive (and calorie-rich). Using a substitution guide on a package of Betty Crocker cookie mix, we successfully used the vegetable oil instead today. I actually like the results a little better. However, if you'd rather use butter, it's 1 stick of melted butter and just 2 TBS of water in place of the oil/water in the recipe above.

Our Fearless Explorers

We stopped at the grocery store on the way home from school today, and I gladly obliged the kids' request to play outside while I unloaded groceries. When I heard Hannah tell Peter that they were "going exploring" I made clear my rule that they stay within sight of the screened porch, and then they were off.

It's the first time they've really ventured beyond the swing tree on their own. I took pictures just so I could remember how small they looked.

Zoomed in 4x (as close as my camera would go) . . . they still look pretty small. But they were having fun.

When they returned, each with walking sticks in tow, Hannah informed me they had been looking for bears. Hmmm . . . we've been reading the "Woof" stories in a collection Aunt Barbi gave us for Christmas, and Woof gets chased by a bear in Woof's Bad Day. I suspect I know where the idea to look for bears came from . . . :o)

And another picture to remind myself someday when he's towering over me that he was once little.

Hannah was sharing her plans for continuing the bear exploration right after breakfast Saturday morning. However, they're predicting a mess of sleet, freezing rain, and possibly snow. Chris gently explained that the bear exploration might have to be delayed. "That's okay. We can do crafts instead."

A New Computer!

We're very thankful the Lord provided a new computer for an excellent price!

Of course Daddy was investigating the inner workings. :o) Now we just have to find the time to transfer all of our files to the new machine . . .

And a fun way to end the day . . .

Counting in the Kitchen

We've been having fun "counting" in the kitchen recently. It's amazing how many things lend themselves to that . . .

Things like putting 5 Oreos at a time into the blender to crush them for Oreo Pudding Cake . . . (and learning that we'll need to do that 6 times since we have a total of 30 Oreos . . . word problems anyone???) :o)

Tonight she counted out 20 bags and filled each with 5 M&Ms to celebrate "100 Day" at school . . .

Last Saturday we enjoyed a quiet day around the house. For a while both of the kids were downstairs helping Chris with a project, but Hannah wandered upstairs for a snack and decided to help Mommy in the kitchen when she learned I was making Oreo Pudding Cake for dessert for dinner. :o) After doing that, she wanted to make something special for Daddy and Peter. Something very special. For lunch. And it was very important. Critical.

Now, I had been working in the kitchen most of the morning and it was already nearly noon, so I was racking my brain for something simple that would satisfy her definition of "special" with next to no effort on Mommy's part. Yikes. I definitely felt the Lord had blessed me with a stroke of brilliance when I thought of icing graham crackers with a can of my nearly free frosting and decorating each with 5 M&Ms. Perfect! :o) Super simple . . . accomplished independently with success by a 4-year-old . . . and surprisingly good! :o)

And this has nothing to do with either counting or kitchen work, but I wanted to remember her diligent efforts to assist Mommy with laundry as I tackled a four-load backlog earlier this week. She cheerfully folded all of the dish towels for me quite nicely. Thanks Hannah-bug! :o)

And finally, do you know why it's called "Big Lots"? As we drove by the store the other afternoon, Hannah read the sign and commented, "I know why it's called 'Big Lots.' Because it's big and there's lots of stuff in it." :o)