January 31: Rice Krispie Treats

It'd been years since I'd made Rice Krispie treats, so I figured it was high-time the kids were introduced to this tasty snack.  Tysen was super excited about all the marshmallows we had to use, but after taking only one bite he claimed he didn't like them.  He did, however, LOVE eating the Rice Krispies! 

This recipe may not be the easiest to make with kids since most of the time is spent melting the butter and marshmallows over the stove top.  Ty really wanted to help, though, and he did a great job keeping away from the heat while still tossing in the marshmallows.  It helped that we shot the marshmallows in the pot like basketballs into a hoop...it was fun and kept us away from the heat.  Once everything was melted, Ty poured the Rice Krispies into the mix and we worked together to stir it.  Then we spread it in a pan and let the treats cool.  While Ty refused to try one, Koen gobbled one up after he got home from school.  I must admit I enjoyed tasting one after such a long time.  :)

Rice Krispies Treats Original
3 Tbs.  butter
1 pkg (10 oz. about 40) regular marshmallows or 4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups Kellogg's Rice Krispies or Cocoa Rice Krispies cereal

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat.  Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.  Remove from heat.
2. Add Rice Krispies cereal.  Stir until well coated.
3. Using a buttered spatula or waxed paper, press mixture evenly into a 9x13 pan coated with cooking spray.  Cut into 2-inch squares when cool.  Best if served the same day.

January 28: Playing with Isaac

After I picked Koen up from school, I brought all the kids over to Uncle Justin and Auntie Lindsey's house where Grandma Davies and Isaac were waiting to play, play, play!  The boys were so excited about spending time with Isaac at his house for the evening...and the bonus was that Grandma and Grandpa Davies were going to be there, too!  I forgot to send a camera along to capture all the fun, but after hearing all about it, I know the kids had a great time! 

January 27: Project Day a Day Early: Marble Painting

Mixing the marbles in the paint.

Project Day is usually Friday, but with plans to play with Cousin Isaac tomorrow we decided to do the project today!  I'm not sure where I first saw the idea, nor do I know who should receive credit for this as I've seen it in numerous books and on a variety of websites:  Marble Painting! 



Marble painting with ALL the marbles...
and with gusto!



First, I found a 9x13 pan and taped a piece of white construction paper to the bottom.  Then, we took little paper Dixie cups and squirted a little paint in each one.  Then we dropped a marble in, swirled it in the paint and dropped the marble in the pan.  Ty shook the marble around the pan and was delighted with the pattern it made.  All told, he made three marble paintings and probably could have made more!  He made two of them using one marble at a time, and the third we put all the marbles in at one time...that one didn't turn out as well as all the paint began to smear together. 

This project had very little mess associated with it as we simply threw the Dixie cups away and dumped the painted marbles into a cup of soap and water.  The pan had a few paint marks which washed up easily and quickly.  I'm sure we'll find a day to do this again as Ty has already asked about it.

Marble painting with one marble at a time.

January 25: Library Day

We couldn't stay long at the library today, but it sure was exciting...Misty Island Rescue...a Thomas the Tank Engine movie had finally arrived for us after placing it on hold!!!

January 24: Brownie Peanut Butter Cups

This is a recipe I clipped years ago but never made.  I knew the kids would like the idea of candy in their brownies! 

Brownie Peanut Butter Cups
1 (21.5 oz) package Pillsbury Fudge Brownie Mix
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
18 miniature milk chocolate-covered peanut butter cups

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 18 muffin cups with paper baking cups.  In large bowl, combine brownie mix, water, oil, and egg; beat 50 strokes withs spoon.  Fill lined muffin cups 2/3 full.  Press 1 peanut butter cup into batter in each cup until top edge of candy is even with top of batter.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes or until brownie is set.  DO NOT OVERBAKE.  Cool completely. 

This was a great recipe for kids to help with -- everything from dumping things in to mixing it up to adding the candy (not to mention licking the spoons) was easy for them to do.  And of course, they're very excited to EAT these!!!  Yummy!!!

January 21: A Thomas Tunnel

Carefully painting.

Waiting for it to dry.

This project has been their FAVORITE project to date!!!  The boys receive the Thomas and Friends magazine (courtesy of Uncle Justin, Auntie Lindsey, and Isaac), and the most recent issue had the directions to make a tunnel for Thomas!  When Ty saw that in the magazine he immediately said, "Let's make a project!"  We didn't have all the materials (nor was it our designated "project day"), but I promised Ty we would make it after we got all the materials.  For us, finding a shoe box was the toughest part of the whole project!    



Carefully placing the tissue paper
 on the roof of the tunnel.



Project day is on Friday which is a school day for Koen, but I knew he'd want to be involved with this particular project.  Ty and I started it earlier in the day by cutting the tunnel out and painting the top and sides green, and painting bricks on the front and back as directed (though we did use different colors than the magazine suggested just because our shoe box was so dark).  The paint was dry within a few hours, so after supper we drew the cobblestones and added the "foliage" by gluing crumpled up green tissue paper to the top.  The magazine instructed us to add them to the sides as well, but the boys agreed they just wanted it on top. 



Crumpling the tissue paper with gusto.



Another difficult part of the project was waiting for it to dry -- first the paint and then the glue!  The boys could hardly wait to play with it, but since they've gotten the OK that it was dry, they've made it the center of their train stories.  I must admit that it did turn out pretty well and it really wasn't difficult to make. 





They are so proud of the finished tunnel!

January 20: The Fort



Koen, Ian, and a pants-less Ty in their super-cool fort.

 It's amazing how much excitement can be generated out of a few tables and blankets.  The boys love, love, love to build a fort and stock it with all their favorite movies, toys, and pillows...soon there's barely room for them!  Their friend, Ian, was over to play which made this special activity even more special!  We usually leave it up for a few days before I get sick of the mess and then it comes down, much to their disappointment.  Don't worry, this time the fort was just moved to the basement and now the fun continues. :)

January 19: Train Time!

Usually Ty is content to play trains on his own, but today I was invited to play with him.  We built a new track, shunted freight cars, crashed off the track and rescued one another, and just laughed together.  I realized that when I play trains it's always with the two boys and rarely is it just with Tysen.  Koen, as the older brother, is quite skilled at telling Ty how to play trains...which train should be doing what, etc.  Ty had so much fun creating the stories himself and just playing without his older brother telling him, "No!  That's not right."  I honestly enjoyed my time playing trains today. 

January 18: Library Day

Our usual Tuesday morning routine is to attend our church Bible Study and then go to the library.  Due to the two-hour delay for schools this morning, Bible Study was cancelled.  We still got to the library around the same time, the boys played with the trains, and we selected some books and a movie.  After we'd been there an hour, our usual amount of time there, I started warning the boys that we were going to leave soon.  Koen looked at me and asked, "Why?  Couldn't we stay a little longer?"  We had no reason to leave, Brielle was doing fine, so we stayed for another hour!!!  Koen and Ty played a Clifford game on the computer, they selected a few more books, and spent more time at the train table.  What was my hurry?  Finally, Brielle did need to go home to eat and nap, but we enjoyed our leisurely visit to the library. 

January 17: No Bake Cookies

We hadn't had these cookies in a long, long time.  I thought this would be a great recipe to make with kids, until we started and I realized most of it was over a hot burner or mixing the HOT melted ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Ty helped me mix the ingredients to be melted and then took off to play with Koen and Koen's friend who was over to play on this day off from school.  It was probably better that I finished this recipe on my own...not the safest one to make with kids.

No Bake Cookies
1 cup milk
10 Tbs. cocoa
1 cup oleo (I used butter)
2 cups sugar
2 pinches of salt

Mix together and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and add:

6 cups quick oats
1 cup coconut
1 cup peanut butter
2 tsp. vanilla

Drop on wax paper and refrigerate until firm.

January 13: Bowling!

We finally made it to a bowling practice!  I took the kids to meet Seth at the bowling alley while his bowling team practiced.  It was a bit loud, especially for Brielle, but we were there about an hour.  Brielle was passed around among the bowling kids who oo-ed and aw-ed over her (this bothered Koen...he wanted me to hold her the whole time!).  Koen and Ty each got to bowl a ball, and they loved their snack of Reece's Pieces.  Koen said he didn't have fun because he didn't like the girls (from the bowling team) teasing him, but his running around the alley and smiling face suggested otherwise.  Tysen kept asking to roll the ball again and again...we may have to go out as a family to bowl sometime.  I like it when the kids can learn a little more about what Seth does.  They often hear that Daddy has a bowling practice or match, and now they have a better idea of what that means. 

January 12: Polar Bears!

Messy fun!

Getting the hand full of paint.



Making the print.

We pushed our project day up a few days since I'm going to be gone on Friday.  It worked out that Koen was home from school by the time we got to work on our project, so he got to participate, too! 

Last week, we made footprint penguins, and after we finished that Ty asked to make polar bears next.  I didn't have the materials ready, but I'd seen an example of a handprint polar bear on the Handprint and Footprint Art website, so I'd promised Ty we'd make polar bears this week.  Unfortunately, I didn't take the time to review the website post before we did the project, so we missed a few details, but they still turned out pretty cute. 



I made the first one, showing the boys what to do.  Both boys surprised me by smearing their hands in the paint with no hesitation.  They both made a white handprint on blue paper.  After washing hands, Ty said, "Let's make a black bear!" so the black paint came out and we smeared our hands in black paint.  Ty and Koen were ready to make blue, red, and green bears next, but it was time to get ready for bed so we simply left our papers on the table to dry. 



Koen's polar bear.



Ty's black bear.



The next morning, I double-checked the website so I would know how to draw all the details on the handprint to make it look like a bear.  It was at that time I realized I'd missed using their fingerprints to make ears and a tail, but we managed to finish our bears anyway.  We used a thin-tip permanent marker to draw on the bear claws, ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. 

They boys really enjoyed painting with their hand, and I have a feeling you'll be seeing more handprint and footprint projects in the future! 



Adding the details.

January 11: Another Day at the Library...

The boys were super excited to head back to the library today!!!  I told them I had reserved Misty Island Rescue, one of the newest Thomas movies, and that it was at the library waiting for us.  What I didn't realize was that I had reserved the book based on the movie...Koen was so disappointed!  It helped that I got on the computer at the library and reserved the DVD right away, but he was so sad I had made such a tremendous mistake!  Contrary to popular belief, Mommy's aren't perfect.

January 10: Protein Snacks

I found this recipe years ago when Food.com was still Recipezaar and have made it many, many times!  It's easy to make, easy to keep, and easy to eat!  The boys LOVE these peanut butter balls -- that's what we call them, though I still prefer my peanut butter ball to be covered in chocolate! :)

As I made this batch with Tysen, I realized that while it is easy for me to make, it's a little trickier for a kid.  The peanut butter and honey are messy, messy, messy!  Not that Ty minded, he really just wanted to eat spoonfuls of peanut butter (I wonder where he got that idea!?!) 

The original recipe says it yields 8 balls, but I usually roll them into 1-inch balls and we get 20 or more each time.  Beware, though, these don't last long!!!

Peanut Butter Balls (previously labeled "Protein Snacks")
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dry milk
1/4 cup sesame seed
1/4 cup honey

Mix all ingredients together and roll into balls.  Chill.  Enjoy!

January 7: Penguin Project

A while ago I found a neat website called Handprint and Footprint Art where each craft uses the child's handprint or footprint.  I finally got to try one of the blogger's ideas with Tysen for this project day -- a footprint penguin!  The body of the penguin is Tysen's foot trace on black paper and cut out.  I then cut an oval circle for the tummy, Ty snipped off a corner of some orange paper for the beak, and then we glued on some eyes.  I thought it turned out so cute, and apparently so did Tysen because as soon as we finished he said, "Let's make another penguin!"  



Standing on the black paper
for Mom to trace his foot.

Cutting the beak.

For the second little guy, I again traced Ty's foot on black paper.  He's had so much fun cutting slices in paper, that I thought I'd let him try cutting out this penguin.  I held the paper and moved it for him, but he made all the slices.  This second penguin is a bit shorter as Ty accidentally chopped off the heal portion of the foot tracing.  :)  He also cut out the oval for the tummy in the same way.  He cut another beak and we added the eyes to finish off the second penguin.  (I think it looks more like an owl with the flat head!)  He wanted to make more, but we'd run out of black paper so maybe we'll finish our penguin family another day. 



The first finished penguin.





Two little penguins!







January 6: Special Day...Change of Plans

Thursdays are designated as the day to do something special.  I was coming up short on ideas when I thought about bringing the boys to Seth's bowling practice, meeting the kids on the team, and bowling a bit.  I had it all set up with Seth that we'd meet him at the bowling alley after school.  I hadn't told the kids what the plan was because sometimes Koen decides in advance that he'd rather not do something and then of course Ty follows suit.   

Ty said he was sad,
but he really just didn't want to wear mittens.

Then it snowed all day, and at the time school was getting out it was looking pretty bad.  Rather than go out unnecessarily, Seth and I agreed that I'd take the boys to practice on another day.  So, what else to do except go out and play in the snow?  We actually started out shovelling and ended up playing.  Ty got cold after about 10 minutes, so we took all the snow gear off and he went in, and then he wanted to get everything back on and come out again.  Next, Koen was ready to go inside, but at that time our neighbor girls came out to play, so he stayed out a bit longer.  All told, the driveway got shoveled, boys burned off some pent-up energy, and we all got some fresh air.  Perfect.



Pausing for a little snack...his shovel made the perfect spoon!





Koen was actually quite helpful!

January 5: Puzzles!

We took the time to pull out some puzzles today, something we haven't done in a while.  I was impressed with Tysen putting part of one together himself...it was a linear ABC puzzle, but he started with Z and worked backwards!  I don't know if the pieces were just in order in the box (I wasn't watching as I needed to tend to Brielle for a few minutes) or if he actually knows his ABCs backwards!  :)  I think he holds out on us sometimes...never truly revealing how much he knows.  He has that sly smile that makes me think he knows all his ABCs even though he won't sing the song or say them with me.  He'll fill in the blanks if I say them and stop at certain points, but he has yet to say the whole thing by himself. 

January 4: Library Day

It's been a while but we finally made it back to the library!!!  We tried to go on Christmas Eve day, but they were closed, much to the kids's disappointment.  The highlight of this visit was the NEW TRAIN TABLE!!!  We spent over an hour at the library this afternoon and most of that time they boys were in front of the train table.  The new table hosts Sir Topham Hatt in his car, Spencer (and tender!), Thomas, Percy, Lady, and a few generic trains.  Koen and Ty were thrilled! 

What thrilled me was what happened when we returned home.  I ran upstairs to put a few things away and when I came down this is what I saw...

They sat like this for almost 20 minutes!  Love it!  It's amazing what a new book can do.  Ironically, Koen came home with an assignment from school where he was supposed to count the number of books on his bookshelf.  Seth helped him a little and we discovered the boys currently have 224 books on their book shelf!  WOW!!!  That's not counting the books in Brielle's room, downstairs, and those in the basement!  We certainly are blessed with books!!!  And yet the discovery of a new book is still exciting!  Koen even read a book or two to Ty, but as soon as I came close he got quiet or stopped altogether.  I'm not sure if he's shy or embarrassed to read in front of me or if it's something else.  I'm just thankful they love to read, and I pray that love continues as they grow older!

January 3: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ty helps clean up!  His favorite part!

Back to the basics...baking day today!  I hadn't planned anything to bake this week, but I found all the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies!  This recipe is off the Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chip bag.  I've saved it after the first batch turned out so well.  We didn't have the Ghirardelli chocolate chips this time, but I figured it'd still work.  Unfortunately, the cookies didn't turn out very well this time...I'm pretty sure it wasn't because we used the wrong chocolate chips...must have been over-baked or another ingredient wasn't up to par. 

Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (or any variety) :)
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 374 degrees.  Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside.  In large mixer bowl, beat butter with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until they are creamy.  Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mix on low speed until incorporated.  Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.  Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown.

2010 Reflection

Over the past five years, Seth has encouraged me more than once to plan more activities and educational things to do with the kids.  I always wanted to do it but never started because I was thinking too big...more like when I was teaching and needed lesson plans.  Too overwhelming!  Once I finally figured out it only had to be a little thing each day I felt much better about tackling it and had fun planning it.  I think the kids have really benefited from the structure, the activities, the projects, and the outings.  I'm planning on continuing our flexible schedule into 2011 and hope to keep up this blog so that family and friends can keep up with our family a bit.      

December 30: Snowflakes

Well, we never finished our Christmas activities.  I had them planned, but the boys didn't want to do what I had planned, so we just played,  I did have plans to make and decorate a Christmas/Birthday Cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but our flooring project limited our access to the oven, so we'll have to wait until next year for that one. 

The boys seemed ready for something different to do, I brought out some snowflakes.  I picked these kits up from the after-Christmas clearance bins at Meijer  I had hoped the boys would spend some time on them, but after five minutes Koen and Ty were on to something else.  Koen decided to create his own design and Ty wanted to follow the picture the kit came with, but decided he was finished before actually completing the project.  Maybe after working on these we'll actually get some real snow so the boys can go outside to burn off all this energy.

Tysen's snowflake ~ Koen's snowflake

December 18: Trains, Swimming, and Christmas Party

This Saturday was a BIG day!  Since Grandpa and Grandma Smits were going to Arizona for Christmas, we celebrated Christmas with them this weekend.  But it wasn't just a Christmas party!  Before we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house, we stopped in Zeeland at the library for the annual train show.  This is a spectacular display of trains and our boys LOVE it!  Last year they visited the display twice...once with Grandma and Grandpa and once with us.  We finally made it this year on the last day.  It really is mesmerizing to see the displays and trains! 

After meeting Uncle Steve, Auntie Lori, and Henry at Grandma and Grandpa's house a while later, we all set off for the Holland Aquatic Center.  The whole center, including the Splash Zone, was much busier than when we were there a few months ago.  But the kids still thoroughly enjoyed playing and splashing.  We spent over an hour having fun while splashing around.

And finally, it was time for presents.  It was funny to see each kid's response to all the excitement:  Brielle just observed, Henry was happy after one gift, Ty was excited about everything, and Koen thought it should be his turn to open a gift all the time.   We missed having Uncle Mark, Auntie Jane, Evan, and Annika with us!!!  Every year I'm reminded how blessed our family is...not just with gifts given to us and the gifts we're able to give, but in the time we can spend together as a family and missing those who aren't there. 

December 17: A Christmas Story

"You'll shoot your eye out!"  If you've even seen A Christmas Story, you'll recognize that quote.  It'd probably been two years since I'd seen this movie, but I remembered a number of the humorous scenes that I knew the boys would find funny, so for a special Christmas treat we watched the movie as a family.  I should have previewed it before watching it with the boys as there were a number of things that were not the most appropriate for them, but they went over their heads...thankfully!  While there's no religious connection in the movie, it was wonderful to spend family time during this busy season. 

December 16: Frederik Meijer Gardens






The Canadian Christmas Tree.

Entering the Gardens.



 




Every year the Frederik Meijer Gardens has an amazing display of Christmas trees representing other countries.  If I remember correctly, they add a new one each year and this year there were 41!  Of course, these are simply representative...I heard one woman with a heavy German accent say, "This is not like our tree," as she stood in front of the tree designated for Germany.  I almost told her that the tree represented the United States didn't look like our tree, either, but I thought better of it.  :)  The trees were beautiful and the signs were so helpful explaining traditions native to each country.  The kids agreed to stand in front of the Canadian tree so we could share it with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Jono, and Aunt Elise.   



We talked a bit about how kids in different countries celebrate Christmas.  It's so easy to focus on what's familiar and forget that there are so many other people in so many other parts of the world celebrating the birth of Jesus.  



One of the trains in the Railway Garden.



Of course, Koen and Ty's favorite part of the visit was the Railway Garden.  Trains.  I wish I could have captured their faces as the watched the trains travel around the rooms...pure joy!  We probably spent most of our time in the three rooms that had the train tracks, but everything about the visit was enjoyable!  It's been five years since I'd been to this exhibit, but it won't be that long before we return! 



Grandma Smits joined us for the morning.







 







December 15: Sand Dollar Ornaments



I have my mom to thank for the materials for this project, although ultimately it should be my Uncle Glenn I thank.  He and my aunt have a condo in Florida, and he walks along the beach picking up sand dollars.  He gave a number of them to my mom earlier this year, and she passed them on to me with an idea for a project to do with the kids.  She had a sand dollar ornament on her tree that she had gotten from somewhere, and attached to her ornament was a poem reflecting in how the sand dollar can remind us of the meaning of Christmas. 

There's a pretty little legend

That I would like to tell

Of the birth and death of Jesus

Found in this lowly shell.

If you examine closely,



You'll see that you find here

Four nail holes and a fifth one

Made by a Roman spear.

On one side the Easter lily,

Its center is the star

That appeared unto the shepherds

And led them from afar.

The Christmas poinsettia,

Etched on the other side

Reminds us of His birthday,

Our happy Christmastide.



Now break the center open,

And here you will release

The five white doves awaiting

To spread good will and peace.

This simple little symbol,

Christ left for you and me

To help us spread His Gospel

Through all eternity.



The five white doves.



We had an extra sand dollar so we did break it open and there were five dove-shaped pieces...something I hadn't known before!  The sand dollar is more symbolic than my kids can probably comprehend at this age, but it's a great introduction and a great keepsake for them.