Happy Veteran's Day

Fly your flag today.
It is Veteran's Day


Define a Veteran:

Whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America for an amount up to and including their life. That is HONOR, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.

~~~Author unknown~~~

Toasted Marshmallow Day: August 30

Today is Toasted Marshmallow Day!  Yum, yum, yum.  Marshmallows have to be one of my ALL TIME favorites.  Whether toasted or made into treats makes no never mind to me.  According to yahoo news,

The second-to-last day of August provides a great excuse to have a bonfire and toast up the remaining summer marshmallows. Whip up some Double-Dipped Marshmallow Sticks or classic S'mores. Marshmallows are an abundant and cheap summer treat, but that was not always the case. They were "once so rare that that only pharaohs could eat them" according to Campfire Marshmallows. Ancient Egyptians mixed the sap of the marshmallow plant was mixed with honey to create a sweet treat in 2000 B.C. Today's marshmallows are made from corn syrup, sugar, water, dextrose and air.

"The marshmallow plant is native to salt marshes and shorelines in Asia and Europe and is now grown in the eastern United States "according to Campfire Marshmallows. The plant, specifically the skin of the Althaea officinalis plant, can be used to treat irritated skin.

Make a mini unit to do with your picklets...they will have fun, learn and remember the hands on fun!

Read:

How Stuff Works:  Marshmallows
The History of Marshmallows 
The Marshmallow Story (good for around a campfire)
How Did the Marshmallow Get It's Name?

Make some yummy treats!

Homemade Marshmallows
Toasted Marshmallow Shake
Chocolate, Peanut Butter Cookie Dough, Toasted Marshmallow Cupcakes
Warm Toasted Marshmallow Malted Milk S'mores 
Toasted Marshmallow S'mores Cake

Marshmallow Crafts

Marshmallow Building
Marshmallow Faces
Holiday Marshmallows
Marshmallow Tea Cups
Halloween Marshmallow Heads
Make a Marshmallow Popper
Make a Marshmallow Shooter

Art
Marshmallow Art
How to draw the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
Art lessons from Mr. Marshmallow

Get Active with Marshmallows

Marshmallow Kick, Throw, and Blow Activity
Tie pillows onto your arms, legs and body.  Race down the sidewalk.  Give s'mores awards.

Watch:
Ghostbusters

Parents:
Test your kids!  We tried this once.  It was a disaster.
Marshmallow Experiment 

Science

Marshmallow Masher
Monster Mallows
The Anatomy of a Marshmallow
Marshmallow Catapult
Marshmallow Tower
The Marshmallow Machine
Marshmallow Lab

Have a fun, stick, gooey day!

Mother's Day 2011

I meant to post a Mother's Day wish for everyone yesterday but time got away from me. A little late but I wish you all great memories, huge hugs, lots of love and little spoilin'.

My Mother's Day started the same as any other Sunday. I got up, fought with the kids to get up and delivered papers. You woulda though they would get up without telling me they don't want to on Mother's Day, but they didn't. ;-) It turned out to be a perfect day regardless of the wretched paper delivery.

Some highlights of the day were Chicago Dogs for lunch (no picture...they went to fast!),


planting 24 tomato plants and oodles of peppers,



lettuce and spinach,

cilantro, parsley, catnip and chives

and the worlds most crooked apple trees.



We found the bleeding hearts blooming. They are about to be wiped out by the ferns so will have to be replanted soon.



The doorbell rang mid morning. Whoda thunk that FedEx delivers on Sunday but they do! Beautiful flowers from the picklets and Cool along with a box of chocolates.

They dug in and this is what is left. Happy Mother's Day??







Along with the flowers I received this picture of a bear cub from Dill, straight from curb shopping last weekend and Chip downloaded one of my favorite videos onto my iPod. Sweet says she still has something to give me but it will have to wait until Tuesday or Wednesday.




















And as a Mother's Day gift to myself I started deep cleaning the kitchen.

I scrubbed the insides and outsides of the cabinets,



I threw things away,



and organized.



I only got three cabinets done though. I really think I have adult onset ADHD. I just couldn't finish something without getting distracted.

For supper we had chicken on the grill, grilled asparagus and Yukon gold potatoes with onions. It was so nice to spend the time at home being productive. We don't get enough of that anymore.

I hope your day was just as delightful as ours was!

(c) 2008-2011 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines

Happy Monday

Hope everyone had a great Easter!  We had a day filled with friends, family and lots of love.  Can't beat that.  My God-daughter was confirmed yesterday morning.  It was a beautiful sunrise service.  She had me in tears when she mouthed "I love you." to me while she stood in the front of the church.  I do love that girl!

After the second church service we headed to my aunts house for dinner.  We spent a lovely afternoon with Gaga and ate way too much!  Shark surprised Chip with a birthday cake with a tank on it.  Everyone knows how he likes CAP.  While cutting the cake Chip realized the tank was actually a transformer.  Everyone had fun taking turns playing with it.

Tomorrow is Chip's 17th birthday.  Since tomorrow is a very busy day for us we have cancelled all activities for today and are celebrating instead.  Omelets for breakfast, nachos for dinner and beef stew for supper.  His requests are reasonable and easy to fulfill...except for the iPad he requested.  He isn't getting that...sorry babe!  Guess I shouldn't call my 17 year old son babe anymore...sorry bud!  I will give you the day off school tomorrow instead.  I am reasonable after all.

Better get going...gonna be a busy day.  I have yogurt in the crock pot and need to get cracking on the beef stew and strawberry cake and laundry and dusting and every other thing I can possibly fit into a day at home! 

Wishing you a great Monday.

Happy trails~~~

Happy Easter

I found this while cleaning out some old boxes. It was an Easter card I gave Cool many eons ago. I'm guessing early 90's.

Origin of the Easter Egg Hunt

This Easter egg I carry well
that's wrapped in lace and bow

But there's a tale that I must tell
of Easter long ago

When bunnies had their travel stopped
by one larger burdened egg

Thru rugged hills and streams they hopped
sometimes just on one leg!

But on they trekked thru hill and dale
with eggs upon their back

They tried their best to never fail
to always keep on track

But there were days when bunnies felt
defeated by the strain

And all their precious eggs would melt
like chocolate in the rain

But when one made it up the hill
with Easter in his heart

The kids would all get such a thrill
to know the hunt would start

So close your eyes, these eggs I'll hide
And now you know the reason

Why Easter bunnies take such pride
In this, the egg hunt season

HAPPY EGG HUNTING SEASON!

This Day in History: April 1, 1957

Videos are stronger than words. Happy April! FYI: After this was aired the station was flooded with requests for instructions on how to grow these trees. The stations response was hysterical! "Put spaghetti in a plate of tomato sauce and hope for the best." And that my bloggy friends is a great April Fools Day joke!

Happy Valentine's Day

It is a gorgeous day here in Iowa. The sun shone brightly, the temperature rose up to the 40's this afternoon and the snow is melting! Doesn't get much better than that. ;-)

We had a full day of school with math, science, research, literature, read alouds, keyboarding and other scholastic stuff. I recently started using Skedtracker for a tracking system and the picklets are really taking to it. They follow what needs to be done and make notes as they go. It will be a great evidence of learning at the end of the year.

Right now Chip and Sweet are at gymnastics while Dill and I are watching Wheel of Fortune. It is one of Dill's favorites. I never have cared for it but I play along for the lad. Of course he whoops my butt each and every time!

Tomorrow is our busy day. I am trying to get my ducks in a row tonight so I know what I am doing. Trying to get organized and actually follow a schedule is very hard but the end result will be well worth it. It is hard to get to that point after so many years of schooling in our pj's.

Wishing you and yours a love filled day with plenty of memory filled moments.


© 2008-2010 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines

Happy New Year!

Wishing you and yours the bestest of new years filled with health, happiness, love and peace!

This new year we are learning to say "Happy New Year" in different languages. I find this much harder than the picklets do. Different languages come much easier to them than me. My French and Spanish teachers could have told you 20 or so years ago that I would never speak any language besides English fluently.

We used this website to learn how to pronounce Happy New Year. The picklets were bummed Cantonese wasn't on there but were psyched that Mandarin was.

They also watched the below Youtube Video. I can't attest to the accuracy of it since "different" is spelled wrong on the front page but it did give the picklets an idea of the different pronunciations.

What did you learn for the New Year??

(c) 2008-2011 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines

10 Gifts for a Happy New Year

1. The Gift of Listening...
Try listening to someone in need. And you must really listen. No interrupting, no daydreaming, no planning your responses. Just listen.

2. The Gift of Signs of Affection...
Be generous with your hugs, kisses and gentle squeezes of the hand. Let these tiny actions demonstrate the love inside you.

3. The Gift of a Note...
It can be as simple as "I Love You" or as creative as a sonnet. Put your notes where they will surprise your loved ones and friends.

4. The Gift of Laughter...
Just cut out a cartoon, save a clever article. Your gift will say, "I love to laugh with you."

5. The Gift of a Compliment...
A simple "You look good in blue" or "Good supper" can be of greatest value to those who may feel they are being taken for granted.

6. The Gift of a Favor...
Help with the dishes, run an errand, etc...

7. The Gift of Leaving Alone...
There are times in our lives when we want nothing better than to be left alone. Become more sensitive to those times and give solitude.

8. The Gift of a Cheerful Disposition...
Try to be cheerful around those around you.

9. The Gift of a Game...
Offer to play your loved ones favorite game. Even if you lose, you'll be a winner.

10. The Gift of Prayer...
Pray for your loved ones and let them know you pray for them.

~~Author Unknown~~

Bloggy Break

Taking off the rest of the year. Cool is off work for until the 3rd. We have had a rough couple of weeks and need time to renew our spirit. We need to get rid of dead cars and buy new ones. We need to do a ton of washing and buy a new washer. We need us time.

Wishing you a great rest of 2010 with much love, happiness and above all, peace.

Happy New Year!

See you on the 1-3-11!

A Visit From St. Nicholas

Written in 1822 by Clement Clarke Moore

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Countdown to Christmas: Day 10

We are due for a winter storm of sorts this weekend. Blowing snow that can make the roads slick as snot. We had a storm like that a couple years back. I had to drive home in it. I pulled over to the side of the road and cried. Twice. Cool, who was driving the car in back of me, called me to find out what was wrong. I cried and cried, telling him I couldn't do it. I just couldn't drive anymore. He talked me into continuing because we were almost to our turn and then there would be no more oncoming traffic. I agreed.

So, we continued driving and turned onto our county road. Headlight upon headlight kept coming at me. I pulled over again, trembling and crying. Cool called. "You can't just stop here! There is no shoulder. You have to keep going!" As I blubbered, "You told me there wouldn't be oncoming traffic! You lied to me!" We made it home but I will never live down the day I pulled over and cried. Twice. When Cool heard the forecast for this weekend he said, "Sounds like another one of those storms where you will have to pull over and cry." I eyed him something fierce but concurred.

No slip again today. I need to fill up the rest of our countdown house. I have just been lazy. But we caught up on everything and baked more cookies.

1. The Cinnamon Bear
2. A Bach Christmas Advent Calendar
3. Silent Night Illustrations
4. Nativity set for Grandma and Grandpa--I printed this and thought it would be a nice way to send a nativity to my parents for the camper. Plus it adds a personal touch because the picklets are coloring them.
5. Listened to The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause We listen to this every year. It was recommended to me from the Santa at the mall years ago. He would hug the kids and say, "I love you more than the brightest star." I don't know, it has just stuck with me and we love the book.

That's about it. Sweet had gymnastics. Dill spent time at my MIL's house. I spent the evening at the coffee shop sipping a chocolate banana smoothie and listening to the Mama Mia Soundtrack.

Countdown to Crhistmas: Day 9

Pretty slow day again. I think we are all tired. There was no slip today because I didn't put one in the door. So we did a little catch up on things. Here is what we did. Don't have pictures because I left my camera at my mom's house.

1. A Bach Christmas Advent Calendar
2. The Cinnamon Bear
3. Baked cookies
4. Signed 100 Christmas cards for our paper customers--writers cramp central
5. caught up on copywork from previous days
6. caught up on Silent Night illustrations
7. Celebrating the last day of Hanukkah we made honey puffs
8. Read a couple of crazy holiday books by Lemony Snicket
9. watched a book signing of Lemony Snicket
10. went to the library

Cool didn't have to work tonight and Chip didn't have CAP so we got to make it an early night. Cool and I stopped at the store to get some ingredients to make church window cookies tomorrow and decided to pick up something easy for supper. Being parents of the year, we got an industrial size can of Chef Boy R D ravioli and a head of lettuce. Probably won't be doing that again. Even the kids, who were as excited as could be over having raviolis from a can, thought they were pretty bad. The popular quote was, "These aren't like I remember them." And that goes to show that all the time I spend making wholesome, homemade food is paying off. Merry Christmas to me!

(c) 2008-2010 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines

Countdown to Christmas: Day 8

I coulda swore I made this blogpost yesterday. I don't know where it went. So, I will attempt to repost.

We are slowing down a bit this week. The reason is multiple choice. A) It is getting colder. B) I am getting older. C)Sweet is no longer sick and we are gone all the time. D) All the above

Day 8 was really slow. The reason is multiple choice. A) It is getting colder. B) I am getting older. C) Cool was home sick. D) All the above.

1. A Bach Christmas Advent Calendar
2. Cinnamon Bear
3. Learn how the International Space Station was built. This is a really neat animation. Plus there is a timeline on the right that explains what each part is.
4. Read facts about the ISS. Pretty interesting little tidbits.
5. Find out when ISS is going to be in sky. Total bust. Spent way too much time on this. All links are dead and searches produced nothing. Disappointing!

That was about it. Dill went to Tae-Kwon-Do and Hopkido. Chip and Sweet went to Intro to Parkour and open gym at Sokol.

(c) 2008-2010 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines

Countdown to Christmas: Day 7

Day 7. Time flies. Decided that a reminder of Pearl Harbor was needed today. We read through Remember Pearl Harbor and answered the questions at the end.

The picklets also baked some more cookies while listening to Cinnamon Bear. We bought some sugar cookie mix from Sam's Club from Krusties Brand that is completely awesome. After sharing with Sweet's gymnastics coaches, they are almost gone.

Sweet had gymnastic and Dill visited with his grandma and did chores for her. Cool and I went out for date night to Ruby Tuesday.

Nothing too exciting but I am happy we got history in. I think the rest of the week will be playing catch up. But that is ok

The True Spirit of Christmas

I received this in an email from my MIL. It is long but a very good read and I couldn't resist sharing it. To me, this spells out the exact character traits I want the picklets to have. The story is to be true, written by a person named Matt Miles. I don't know if it is but something like this had to have happened sometime in history. How couldn't it? I hope it inspires you as it has me.

"Pa never had much compassion for the lazy or those who squandered their means and then never had enough for the necessities. But for those who were genuinely in need, his heart was as big as all outdoors. It was from him that I learned the greatest joy in life comes from giving, not from receiving.

It was Christmas Eve 1881. I was fifteen years old and feeling like the world had caved in on me because there just hadn't been enough money to buy me the rifle that I'd wanted for Christmas. We did the chores early that night for some reason. I just figured Pa wanted a little extra time so we could read in the Bible.

After supper was over I took my boots off and stretched out in front of the fireplace and waited for Pa to get down the old Bible. I was still feeling sorry for myself and, to be honest, I wasn't in much of a mood to read Scriptures. But Pa didn't get the Bible, instead he bundled up again and went outside. I couldn't figure it out because we had already done all the chores. I didn't worry about it long though, I was too busy wallowing in self-pity. Soon Pa came back in. It was a cold clear night out and there was ice in his beard. "Come on, Matt," he said. "Bundle up good, it's cold out tonight." I was really upset then. Not only wasn't I getting the rifle for Christmas, now Pa was dragging me out in the cold, and for no earthly reason that I could see. We'd already done all the chores, and I couldn't think of anything else that needed doing, especially not on a night like this. But I knew Pa was not very patient at one dragging one's feet when he'd told them to do something, so I got up and put my boots back on and got my cap, coat, and mittens. Ma gave me a mysterious smile as I opened the door to leave the house. Something was up, but I didn't know what..

Outside, I became even more dismayed. There in front of the house was the work team, already hitched to the big sled. Whatever it was we were going to do wasn't going to be a short, quick, little job. I could tell. We never hitched up this sled unless we were going to haul a big load. Pa was already up on the seat, reins in hand. I reluctantly climbed up beside him. The cold was already biting at me. I wasn't happy. When I was on, Pa pulled the sled around the house and stopped in front of the woodshed. He got off and I followed. "I think we'll put on the high sideboards," he said. "Here, help me." The high sideboards! It had been a bigger job than I wanted to do with just the low sideboards on, but whatever it was we were going to do would be a lot bigger with the high side boards on. After we had exchanged the sideboards, Pa went into the woodshed and came out with an armload of wood - the wood I'd spent all summer hauling down from the mountain, and then all fall sawing into blocks and splitting. What was he doing? Finally I said something. "Pa," I asked, "what are you doing?" "You been by the Widow Jensen's lately?" he asked. The Widow Jensen lived about two miles down the road. Her husband had died a year or so before and left her with three children, the oldest being eight. Sure, I'd been by, but so what?

Yeah," I said, "Why?"

"I rode by just today," Pa said. "Little Jakey was out digging around in the woodpile trying to find a few chips. They're out of wood, Matt." That was all he said and then he turned and went back into the woodshed for another armload of wood. I followed him. We loaded the sled so high that I began to wonder if the horses would be able to pull it. Finally, Pa called a halt to our loading, then we went to the smoke house and Pa took down a big ham and a side of bacon. He handed them to me and told me to put them in the sled and wait. When he returned he was carrying a sack of flour over his right shoulder and a smaller sack of something in his left hand. "What's in the little sack?" I asked. Shoes, they're out of shoes. Little Jakey just had gunny sacks wrapped around his feet when he was out in the woodpile this morning. I got the children a little candy too. It just wouldn't be Christmas without a little candy."

We rode the two miles to Widow Jensen's pretty much in silence. I tried to think through what Pa was doing. We didn't have much by worldly standards. Of course, we did have a big woodpile, though most of what was left now was still in the form of logs that I would have to saw into blocks and split before we could use it. We also had meat and flour, so we could spare that, but I knew we didn't have any money, so why was Pa buying them shoes and candy? Really, why was he doing any of this? Widow Jensen had closer neighbors than us; it shouldn't have been our concern.

We came in from the blind side of the Jensen house and unloaded the wood as
quietly as possible, then we took the meat and flour and shoes to the door. We knocked. The door opened a crack and a timid voice said, "Who is it?" "Lucas Miles, Ma'am, and my son, Matt, could we come in for a bit?" Widow Jensen opened the door and let us in. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The children were wrapped in another and were sitting in front of the fireplace by a very small fire that hardly gave off any heat at all. Widow Jensen fumbled with a match and finally lit the lamp.

"We brought you a few things, Ma'am," Pa said and set down the sack of flour. I put the meat on the table. Then Pa handed her the sack that had the shoes in it. She opened it hesitantly and took the shoes out one pair at a time. There was a pair for her and one for each of the children - sturdy shoes, the best, shoes that would last. I watched her carefully. She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling and then tears filled her eyes and started running down her cheeks. She looked up at Pa like she wanted to say something, but it wouldn't come out.

"We brought a load of wood too, Ma'am," Pa said. He turned to me and said, "Matt, go bring in enough to last awhile. Let's get that fire up to size and heat this place up." I wasn't the same person when I went back out to bring in the wood. I had a big lump in my throat and as much as I hate to admit it, there were tears in my eyes too. In my mind I kept seeing those three kids huddled around the fireplace and their mother standing there with tears running down her cheeks with so much gratitude in her heart that she couldn't speak. My heart swelled within me and a joy that I'd never known before, filled my soul. I had given at Christmas many times before, but never when it had made so much difference. I could see we were literally saving the lives of these people.

I soon had the fire blazing and everyone's spirits soared. The kids started giggling when Pa handed them each a piece of candy and Widow Jensen looked on with a smile that probably hadn't crossed her face for a long time. She finally turned to us. "God bless you," she said. "I know the Lord has sent you. The children and I have been praying that he would send one of his angels to spare us."

In spite of myself, the lump returned to my throat and the tears welled up in my eyes again. I'd never thought of Pa in those exact terms before, but after Widow Jensen mentioned it I could see that it was probably true. I was sure that a better man than Pa had never walked the earth. I started remembering all the times he had gone out of his way for Ma and me, and many others. The list seemed endless as I thought on it.

Pa insisted that everyone try on the shoes before we left. I was amazed when they all fit and I wondered how he had known what sizes to get. Then I guessed that if he was on an errand for the Lord that the Lord would make sure he got the right sizes. Tears were running down Widow Jensen's face again when we stood up to leave. Pa took each of the kids in his big arms and gave them a hug. They clung to him and didn't want us to go. I could see that they missed their Pa, and I was glad that I still had mine.

At the door Pa turned to Widow Jensen and said, "The Mrs. wanted me to invite you and the children over for Christmas dinner tomorrow. The turkey will be more than the three of us can eat, and a man can get cantankerous if he has to eat turkey for too many meals. We'll be by to get you about eleven. It'll be nice to have some little ones around again. Matt, here, hasn't been little for quite a spell." I was the youngest. My two brothers and two sisters had all married and had moved away.

Widow Jensen nodded and said, "Thank you, Brother Miles. I don't have to say, May the Lord bless you, I know for certain that He will."

Out on the sled I felt a warmth that came from deep within and I didn't even notice the cold. When we had gone a ways, Pa turned to me and said, "Matt, I want you to know something. Your ma and me have been tucking a little money away here and there all year so we could buy that rifle for you, but we didn't have quite enough. Then yesterday a man who owed me a little money from years back came by to make things square. Your ma and me were real excited, thinking that now we could get you that rifle, and I started into town this morning to do just that, but on the way I saw little Jakey out scratching in the woodpile with his feet wrapped in those gunny sacks and I knew what I had to do. Son, I spent the money for shoes and a little candy for those children. I hope you understand."

I understood, and my eyes became wet with tears again. I understood very well, and I was so glad Pa had done it. Now the rifle seemed very low on my list of priorities. Pa had given me a lot more. He had given me the look on Widow Jensen's face and the radiant smiles of her three children.

For the rest of my life, whenever I saw any of the Jensens, or split a block of wood, I remembered, and remembering brought back that same joy I felt riding home beside Pa that night. Pa had given me much more than a rifle that night, he had given me the best Christmas of my life."

mm

Countdown to Christmas: Day 6

I guess we were tired last night. I fell asleep about 5:30 and woke up this morning at 4:10am. Sweet fell asleep before me and slept until I woke her up to deliver papers. She fell asleep again after we delivered. Worn out!

We have to catch up on A Bach Christmas and The Cinnamon Bear this week because we didn't do it on Sunday. Here is today's list:

1. What day is it? Check your shoes! This one was tricky because I fell asleep early last night. Soooo...St. Nicholas left a note and hung it on the Christmas tree.

2. Lable a map of Germany.

3. Learn about St. Nicholas and take quiz.

4. Copywork

5. This day, in 1964, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer debuted on NBC. Watch Rudolph.


6. Enjoy Rudoph sandwiches. :-)

Cut two peices of bread into 4 triangles. Spread 4 triangles with peanut butter. Place two mini preztles on the flat top of the bread to resemble antlers. Top with the other 4 triangles. Add raisin eyes, cherry nose and thinly sliced apple slices for mouth.

7. A Bach Christmas.

8. Illustrate Silent Night for paper quilt project.

9. The Cinnamon Bear.


(c) 2008-2010 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines

Countdown to Christmas: Day 5

Papers were late this morning. I hate when that happens. Especially when the papers get delivered a little before 5 and we have to be in town at 6. We split up, took two cars and got it done in about half an hour. We got to town about 6:15.

Sokol's pancake breakfast was this morning. Cool organizes it and we are his reluctant...er eager helpers. We finally got home about 4:00. I am ready for bed. Yep.

Knowing that we had the pancake breakfast today, today's slip was pretty light.

1. Look at Christmas lights.

Well, nobody wants to go look at lights. Everyone is tired. Everyone wants to watch TV or play their game or just do nothing. And they want to eat. Eat something besides pancakes.

We will look at lights some other night. :-)

Happy Trails~~~

Countdown to Christmas: Day 3

Today was a rather sad day for us. My mom and dad left for Texas for the next four months. They just called and are in Kansas City for the night. I asked Missouri or Kansas and they didn't answer. I presume Missouri since Kansas would be farther west than Texas. Our activity list reflected our mood today. Very layed back.

1. Go to Grandma and Grandpa's. Help Grandma finish loading the camper. Say goodbye.
2. Watch G-dcast Spins Chanukah. This is a informative little animation that, I think, is geared more for the older child. It does not go into detail but gives a general sense of the history.


3. A Bach Christmas advent calendar.
4. The Cinnamon Bear
5 Watch 8 Crazy Nights.

This is not a kids movie but they have watched worse with Cool. I know that isn't an excuse for letting the picklets watch something that isn't necessarily the best BUT, in my defense, the movie has an excellent moral in the end. I actually found the whole movie on youtube in 8 different segments.
6. Illustrate Silent Night for quilt.

That's about it for the day. There was some Wii playing, some vacuming for Grandma and some volunteer work at Sokol while we were in town.

Happy Trails~~

(c) 2008-2010 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines

Countdown to Christmas: Day 2

Our slip read the following:

Hanukkah started at sundown last night. Let's learn about this 8 day Jewish holiday.

1. Watch Lights: The Miracle Of Chanukah --This was a cute little animated movie narrated by Judd Hircsh explaining how the Greeks came to Jerusalem and took the light away. It says up to12 years old. I would rank it for maybe up to 10 years old.
2. Read aloud for the day: Alexandra's Scroll: The Story of the First Hanukkah --this is a pretty good novel about a little girl named Alexandra who lives in Jerusalem. The king has made it llegal for Jews to be Jewish forcing her and others to sneak. She, through the encouragement of her parents, has decided to preserve what is happening by writing about it.
3. Peanut butter "dreidel" sandwiches for lunch.--these didn't turn out as well as I had hoped they would but the picklets had fun making them. Cut a peanut butter sandwich in half and shape it like a dreidle. Take colored cream cheese and put a symbol on it. A pretzel sticking out of the top finishes it up.

4. A Bach Christmas advent calendar--we listened to a bit about Leipzig (in Bach's time), read 4
poems about Bach and read about Mass in B Minor. The picklets are jotting down notes about what they are learning. We also listened to some Bach music selections that were on the site today.

5. Listen to the next episode of "The Cinnamon Bear" --Judy and Jimmy were taken prisoner and were being lead to the giant ink bottle! Will they escape? We must tune in tomorrow to find out!
6. Learn to play dreidels--I wasn't sure how this was going to pan out but the picklets LOVED it. I bought a pair of dreidles at Target for $2.49. The instructions say to give the kids equal amounts of nuts to use in the pot. I figured since I got them started gambling yesterday they should just continue. So they played with pennies. Soon enough pennies got boring and nickles were used.

The next thing I knew quarters were in the pot!

I don't think we have laughed this hard in some time. I know this will be played quite a bit through the holidays.

7. Make latkes for supper.




8.. Silent Night illustrations--day 2 of illustrations for our "quilt"

Throughout the day the picklets also:

• played Wii Sports Resort
• watched it snow (re: complained that it is snowing because it makes
  delivering papers hard)
• picked up the yard so things wouldn't get buried under the snow
• hung up more decorations
  
  
• played more bingo
• worked on handicrafts

And that was day 2! We action packed it and had a ton of fun!

(c) 2008-2010 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines