3:00 Snack Attack

Man, we have been trying to eat better, but my sweet tooth sure gets the better of me around 3:00 p.m.

Sometimes we make these yummy purple smoothies. 

We just throw in some spinach, frozen berries, a little orange juice, a splash of vanilla, a squirt of Agave Nectar, and a banana. 

Blend it all together and Voila!

 

They are really good, but a person needs a little chocolate now and again.

We recently discovered this wonderful recipe for Granola Bites and use it as a substitute for chocolate chip cookies.  You might say, come on, a substitute for chocolate chip cookies, yeah, right, we are talking cookies here.  But they really are pretty darn good.  I mean, even Matthew likes this recipe.  And if Matthew gives them the thumbs up, there has to be something to them.

 So.....

In a large bowl, stir together
1 1/2 C. oats
1/2 C. crisp rice cereal
1/4 C. ground flaxseed
1/8 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 C. mini chocolate chips

In a separate bowl, stir together
1/2 C. no-stir natural peanut butter
1/4 C. honey

Then combine all the ingredients and stir until well-combined.
I usually end up using my hands to mix everything together.

Form the dough into 1 inch balls. 
If the dough is a little too sticky, refrigerate for 15 minutes to allow it to stiffen.

Store the leftovers in the refrigerator.


We added pistachios to a few.  They were yummy too but I think we prefer them without. 

Our 3:00 snack attack is now guilt free....Kind of.

Try them.  I bet cha like them. 

Homeschool

 

It's been cold

and it's been the holidays

and we've been catching up on much needed rest.  

 

So, we haven't gone on any homeschool field trips lately.

 

But we have been going to school. 

All kinds of wonderful learning going on in that unstructured and well, lets face it, quite messy environment.   

 

 

 

 

 

First attempt at a descriptive writing about a concrete object. 

They were hungry so they both choose a snack to write about.

 

 

Rice Crispy Cereal - Caleb

 

 

I like rice crispy cereal.  I see the colors white and yellow and just a little speck of black on a few pieces.  When the cereal is in the shade the yellow color disappears.  It is made of tiny little pieces the size of ants.  The pieces are loose and not stuck together and they are mostly oval in shape but a few are circular.  I would like to eat it.  It is crispy like potato chips.  When I smell it,  I think of wheat.  It makes a crumbly sound like fall leaves.   It tastes sweet like sugar.  At first bite it feels tickly, then hard, then mushy.  One bite is not enough and I want more. 

 Strawberry Yogurt- Hannah

 

When I look at yogurt, I see mostly pink with little specks of red strawberry pieces.   All around the edge there is a little white.  It looks like one sticky lump and goopy like playdough.  When I touch it, it feels like gel and is as cold as snow.  When I smell it, it makes me think of strawberries.  This makes me happy because strawberries are my favorite fruit.  It makes me think of the three little tiny strawberry plants I got to start my first patch.  When I stir my yogurt it sounds squishy and slushy like when you get water in your shoes.  It tastes similar to a bowl of strawberries and milk but with a sour after taste that lingers in my mouth.   I really like yogurt.       

 

Egyptian Death Masks

 

Reading

 

 

 

A model of the cell  

And then we threw on some extra organelles (toppings) and ate it for dinner. 

Hannah keeps the music playing from the ipad or her ipod for most of her work time. 
Music is definitely one of her passions.   

Working on a snow leopard report.  That boy sure does love snow leopards.   

Caleb and Hannah watch the birds out our kitchen window.
They are a nice diversion when school gets a little tiresome.     

Caleb is out there feeding the birds in his PJs before he's even had breakfast.

O' how we love those birds! 

That's just a few things we've been up to recently but there really is so much more. 
Science experiments, Greek and Roman adventures, art projects and being able to build these kind of things in between. 
They even did some of their work in there for a few days.

What could my little engineers be sending me.....

A note.

Guess I will stop taking pictures.

And send back a little something. 

 They loved that!

 
Well, that's home school lately.

 

 

Jonathan

 We loved having my brother, Jonathan, visit us over his Christmas break. 

 

Whenever Jonathan is around, Hannah and Caleb get the opportunity to experience just what it's like to have a big brother. 

Man, how they love Him!  Jonathan doesn't get a moment's peace until the two go to bed because they expect him to entertain them 24/7.  And he selflessly does.  They can talk his ear off too.  And in Caleb's case, talk a lot of smack.  And I mean, a lot of smack.  What is it about boys and male bonding?   

 

  

 

Let's see, what did we do..... 

 

 



Tried out a well known restaurant called pi.

 

Obama put this place on the map.  It's his favorite pizza.  Sorry, I know that ruins it for some of you.

 



The pizza was original and really yummy to all except Caleb.  
He made sure to let everyone in earshot know that he is a pizza hut kind of a guy.

Checked out Washington University. 

What a beautiful campus.

Following in Uncle Jon's foot steps. 

Hannah is just a shivering because ice rain can be pretty darn cold.

 

I could see you here, Jon.  And maybe you too, someday, Caleb.

But I can see you both wherever you "put your foundations"

 

 

Visited Historic St. Charles.  

 

 

Is that a Celtic Santa? ....He's got to be cold, if ya know what I mean. 

Nana Jane...hum....maybe that's what I'll someday have my grandchildren call me. 
O' but then they would probably just think up their own name for me anyway....probably something like ... BamBam.

 

Home to bundle up and get warm.

Sorry, Jon, I just had to put this picture in.  Hee Hee   
You kind of look like mom did back in her babushka picture.   Hee Hee 

But it's just payback for this kind of stuff! 
              "Hey, we'll have none of that!" 

 

 

 



We loved having Jon with us for Christmas! 

 

 Christmas Eve morning, we met up with some friends to check out the St. Louis City Museum.  It wasn't much of a museum at all but one wild and crazy indoor playground for adults.  The kids had a blast until Hannah crashed into the wall going down a 10 story high slide!        

 

 

 



After we cleaned up all the blood, we decided to slow things down a bit and let the kids go outside to roast marshmallows. 

 

It was nice having an extra person around as we acted out the Nativity.   

Jon was a good sport about Caleb dressing him up.  

 

 

Now its Caleb's turn.

 

 

 

 

A little friendly competition between these two in some Christmas games.  

 

Christmas morning.

Jonathan and my sister Jennilyn decided to have a good laugh at us.  Jenni had Jon put her gift in this box so we would think we were getting a "Family Blankeez".

 

It worked and he sent her the video.  Ha, Ha.  Just wait.  We will get you all back. 

 

 

 

 

Jonathan gave the kids (and Matthew) a remote control helicopter. 

 

We sure had fun with that thing.

but it stopped working properly, so, we exchanged it for a big truck the kids named "RED".  It was like Christmas all over again. 

 

Trying "RED" outside to see how she does.

 

We forced Jonathan to go get Kolaches with us.

 

It was so warm that we stopped at the park on the way home.  It's December people!

New Years Eve
We head off to Greece.

Played several board games.

 

Took Red out for a spin 

and inside for a spin.

Played Guesstures.

Watched a movie.

Lit fireworks and rang in the New Year!

Man O Man we sure had a lot of fun with Jonathan but we, also, just really enjoyed his company.
 
Sometimes so much can be said and experienced just being together.

We are so glad he came to see us.

Miss him just thinking about it.

 

"Only those who care about you can hear you when your quiet."  -Kushandwisdom 

26 years ago today Jonathan entered the world
And it has never been the same since. 
How grateful I am for that. 
Love you Jonathan. 
Forever.

 

 

 "To the outside world, we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time. "- Clara Ortega