August 29: PB&J bars

Koen had his friend Josiah over to play today!  Of course, Tysen considers Josiah his good friend as well, so he wants to do everything the big boys do, but he's been naughty all day (mainly just not listening) and he was just naughty enough to bother Koen & Josiah.  So I suggested to Ty that we make some bars for our snack later, but Josiah and Koen heard that plan and wanted to help, too. We ALL made the bars and then Ty went back to bugging the other boys. 

These PB&J bars are ones I've been wanting to try for a while.  I found them in Family Fun Magazine (one of my favorites).  I'll include the recipe here in case you'd like to try them.  Koen decided he didn't like them, but he's been on an anti-jelly kick for a while, so who knows.  Ty didn't want a snack after all, Josiah seemed to like them, and I thought they were OK.  When Josiah's mom came to pick him up, she commented that they smelled so good.  Then shared that she had a recipe very similar to this one only the middle was CHOCOLATE instead of jelly.  YUM!  We'll have to try that another day...soon! :) 

PB&J Bars
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter at room temperature (1 1/2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups creamy or crunchy peanut butter
1 1/2 cups seedless jam
1/2 cup salted peanuts, chopped (optional)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease & flour a 9x13 pan.  In a medium-size bowl, mix the flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, then set it aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat the butter and both sugars until well blended, about 2 minutes.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter.  Beat them until well blended.  Slowly add the flour mixture and beat until a soft dough is formed.

Spread two thirds of the dough over the bottom of the prepared pan, then spread the jam evenly on top.  Scatter small mounds of the remaining dough over the jam layer and sprinkle it with the peanuts.

Bake the dessert until golden brown, rotating the pan halfway through, about 45 minutes.  Let the dessert cool before cutting it into squares.  Makes 18 bars.

August 27: Grandma and Grandpa's House

I hadn't planned anything official for this "Special Day," so it was nice when the boys were invited over to Grandma and Grandpa Smits's house overnight.  Grandpa Smits came over to help Seth work on the basement some more (it's looking really great!), and then he took the boys home with him.  They came home with new treasures (aka Thomas movie, back pack, and game) and stories galore.  They particularly loved swimming in the "pool" -- the cooled off hot tub.  They also got to go the the Holland Christian football game although it sounded like they were excited about everything except the game!  It doesn't matter what they do...it's just special when it's with grandparents!

August 26: The First School Project

Koen received an envelope in the mail from his Kindergarten teacher!  Inside was a letter introducing herself, a list of dates-to-know, and a boy-shaped cardboard cutout.  The instructions asked Koen to color the cutout as himself and then have Mom or Dad write a bit about him on the back.  Koen diligently worked on his cut out.  He's really been taking pride in his coloring and drawing these past few weeks.  The face he drew on "himself" was the best face I'd ever seen him draw, so I asked him where he learned to color like that.  Without looking up at me he replied, "Preschool."  It's funny how I never saw him do that before and three months after preschool ended he displays his drawing skills. :) 

Before I let Koen start on his cutout, I had used it to trace one for Ty to work on.  Tysen had great fun giving himself green and pink hair, on his tummy of course, and coloring all over his boy.

August 25: The New Library!!!

We waited until Seth got home from his golf tournament and went all together to the NEW Kent District Library (Kentwood Branch).  The library building is beautiful!!!  It's a huge improvement over the prior building, but not everything about the place is a huge improvement (in my humble opinion). 

I was disappointed in the layout of the children's section.  In the old building, the books were in a L-shape around the play area making it very easy to watch the kids while looking for books for them.  In the new building, the play area is farther away from the stacks which will make it more difficult to look for books while keeping track of the kids.  We'll see how that goes in future visits.  Also, nothing was labeled.  I'm sure they're still trying to set everything up, but there weren't even temporary signs up on the lower level.  The volume of materials was down, too, though I'm sure that had something to do with them extending the due dates for all materials during the two-week move.  They certainly have room to grow, though, so that's exciting!  And the view!  The view behind the library is a beautiful field...complete with blue sky, a setting sun, and white puffy clouds on the evening of our visit.

While the train table, a highlight from the previous location, didn't make it over to the new place, neither Koen or Ty said anything about it!  There are a number of play things to keep them busy during our upcoming visits:  an airplane-shaped play area, white board complete with magnets, and a grocery store area (although the shopping cart was taken away from some kids while we were there).  I wonder how long it will take before they realize the library doesn't have trains anymore!?!

Seth and I each took a turn venturing upstairs into the adult sections.  We didn't have much time to look around, and I'm not sure how often I'll be trekking upstairs with three kids in tow when we go it alone.  I liked the all-on-one-floor layout better, but that's just from a parent's point-of-view. 

I'm sure we'll all grow to love this new library, but change always time some time to get used to, doesn't it?

August 24: A Non-Baking Day...

I had everything set to go for baking a new recipe...peanut butter and jelly bars...but no one wanted to help me!  Maybe next week...

August 23: Uno and War!

A few weeks ago I hosted a show for a friend who sells Simply Fun games.  One of the game packs has the company's own versions of "War," "Crazy 8s," and "Go Fish," and since seeing that I've been so excited to teach the kids how to play these games (using a regular deck of cards).  I had suggested we play war last week, but Koen informed me that he'd played in in Minnesota (at the family reunion), and he wasn't very good at it so he didn't want to play.  I was surprised at how disappointed I was at not playing this old game. 

So this week, I suggested we play some card games.  We started with two rousing games of Sesame Street Uno (Ty calls it "oh-no") where Koen -- without any help -- handily beat Ty and me (a team effort on our part).  I realize some of the game is just the luck of the cards, but still.  After winning twice he was in a good mood, so I suggested we play war.  He went for it and I divided the deck of cards.  Of course, he won this fair and square too (although I'll have you know he only played one round, so I may very well have made a come back, but probably not).  He was delighted with the large pile of cards in front of him and decided that war wasn't such a bad game after all.  I liked the math practice he got while playing...I asked him which card won each round, and he was pretty good at picking the bigger number and figuring out the winner. 

He was finished playing games after that, so while Ty and Koen ran off to play trains again, I set up a game of Solitaire for myself...hadn't played it in years but it was such fun again!

August 20: A Birthday Party, A Friend Over, And An Airport Viewing

This Special Day Friday was a very, very busy day!!!  For our first event, our neighbor Sadie celebrated her 5th birthday, and had her party at Chuck E. Cheese and invited the boys to come!  Koen wasn't sure he wanted to go at first (no real reason why), but after we shopped for a gift (he was quite proud of his selections of "girl toys": A Princess Color Wonder book, Princess lip gloss, and glow-in-the-dark color stars) he was excited to go.  The party was a huge success as the kids got to run around "spending" their tokens.  They really didn't even need the pizza and pop...just the fun!

Ty -- awaiting this plane's take-off.

Our next "event" was having their friend Ian over to play.  The moms got to (try to) scrapbook while the boys played together.  Always a fun time!

Koen -- racing up the hill after watching an aircraft land.

And last, but not least, we had a picnic supper at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport Viewing Area.  This area is maybe a five-minute drive from our house.  We've gone before, but hadn't been there yet this summer.  We were fortunate that the heat had broken a bit and there was a cool breeze.  Seth and I feasted upon Subway cuisine while the kids ate PB and honey sandwiches, Goldfish crackers, and cups of applesauce.  There are quite a few picnic tables in the viewing area and a great hill for the kids to run up and down, up and down.  The traffic wasn't heavy on the tarmac, but we were able to see four planes land and four others take off.  It's always amazing to watch such a huge machine lift off the ground, seemingly effortlessly.  We all enjoyed our evening out! 

August 19: Gaines Township Library -- Take Two

The Kentwood District Library was still closed for this week, so the plan was to head back to the Gaines Township Library.  This visit went just as smoothly as the last visit, which, if you recall, did not go smoothly at all. 

Tysen located his blankie and paci and announced he wanted to go to his bed just minutes after I told Koen we could head out to the library.  So while Koen and Brielle waited patiently in the van, Tysen and I had a WWF-style wrestling match to get his sandals on.  During this event, Ty hid behind the couch, a lamp fell off the table, his kicking knocked Brielle's 8x10 picture off the table and shattered the glass, and I was kneed a number of times in a variety of areas.  I think we could have charged admission and people who enjoy these kinds of events would've walked away happy.  So I finally wrestle him into the carseat without shoes on (you can't win them all, right?) 

So off to the library we go.  Ty sonics the whole way there and again starts fighting when I try to put his sandals on (he's now mad because I didn't take his racer shoes --aka tennis shoes).  So I figured he could walk on the hot, scratchy parking lot and he'd be begging to have his sandals on by the time we reached the door.  Nope.  He was just fine in his bare feet.  Of course, the librarian who saw us as we entered the library was not "just fine" with the situation and asked that his shoes be on his feet.  I said I'd try but that she could expect some screams from the children's area. 

So I told Ty that the library lady said he had to have his shoes on.  He whimpered the word "no" about four times and then was totally fine...sandals on.  He made me sound like a moron after telling the librarian she could expect screaming, after all, that's all I'd heard for the past 30-45 minutes.  I think I'm going to start using this logic at home -- "Ty, the library lady said you have to pick up your toys."  "Ty, the library lady said you need to get dressed now." etc.  Maybe it'll reduce the number of battles we have.  Who knows?

So after all that, we had a lovely time at the library.  Maybe trips to the new Kentwood Library (open next week) won't be quite so dramatic.  I'd be OK with that.

August 18: Sticker Books

I stumbled upon these sticker books at Aldi's a few weeks prior to this project day.  The store had a number of activity books for preschool/kindergarten age, so I picked up two of them.  On this project day, I randomly handed the two books to the boys, but in retrospect, I would have looked more closely at them before giving them out.  Koen's book focuses more on colors, numbers, letters, etc. which is fine but may have been better for Ty who needs more practice with these things.  The other book is divided into subjects like rescue vehicles, reptiles, insects, which might have been more appropriate for Koen, but each is happy with his book the way it is. 

I had hoped these books would be such a source of intrigue and joy that we would spend 30-60 minutes playing with them, but after about 10 minutes the boys were ready to move on to something else.  Oh well.  Since they've had them, the boys do go back to them for little bits of time to add more stickers; I guess we're just getting our money's worth out of them! 

August 17: Banana Muffins

We had extra-ripe bananas today, so banana muffins was the no-brainer choice for baking day.  Tysen devours muffins, so he was thrilled we were making them ,but Koen opted out of the baking session meaning he didn't get to enjoy them.  Bummer for him because they were great as usual!  Here's the simple recipe we usually use.

Banana Bread

1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
2 very ripe bananas
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
     In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and baking soda. 
     Put all the rest of the ingredients into the blender - the butter (I usually soften this first), the bananas, and the eggs - and let 'er rip!  Blend this until smooth.
     Pour the blended banana mixture into the flour mixture and stir until thoroughly combined.
     Spoon the batter into a well-greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.  If you want, you can bake this in muffin pans instead.  Grease the cups (or use paper cups), fill them almost to the top, and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
     Makes 1 loaf or about 10 muffins.
(recipe from Clueless in the Kitchen by Evelyn Raab)

August 13: Frederik Meijer Gardens

Running around in the tree house.

This Friday was particularly hot and humid with no breeze to be had, but we ventured off to the Frederik Meijer Gardens with a group of friends from church.  It'd been more than a year since we'd visited this amazing place, and I hope it won't be that long before we return!  We spent most of our time in the Children's Garden where we played in the water with boats (yes we got wet - bring extra clothes), ran in the tree house, and wandered in the maze.  The boys were so excited to run around with all their buddies and didn't even seem to notice the hot weather.  After about two hours, though, I couldn't take it anymore so we took off. 

As we were leaving, though, Koen asked if we could go through some of the other indoor gardens.  We did walk through the largest one (as we walked into the room, Ty said, "Oooh, a rain forest!"  --  very cute!).  We missed so much of what is there; the place is amazing!

Through September they have the Chihuly exhibit which are amazing glass sculptures.  I would love to get back there specifically to see these as we didn't really focus this visit on anything other than the children's garden. 

August 12: Gaines Township Library

Our Kentwood District Library (KDL) branch is currently moving locations, so it's closed for two weeks.  Since Thursday is library day, we decided to try a different KDL branch to see what it had to offer.  We could have gone to the Wyoming branch, but we chose the Gaines Township branch since it was a little closer (only 10 minutes from home).  I had just told Koen that we could go to the library when Ty came downstairs with blankie and paci in hand asking to go to bed.  Not good.  He was not interested in going anywhere, but of course Koen was planning on going and already had his shoes on.  Since we're trying to cut down Ty's naps I decided to try to head out anyway. 

During that 10 minute ride to the library, Tysen fell asleep.  If you've ever had to wake Tysen up from a nap, you know it usually is not a pleasant experience.  So when we arrived, I woke Ty up and what followed was just embarrassing.  He cried and threw himself down on the parking lot which means he got hurt.  He wanted to be carried into the library, but with Brielle and the diaper bag, that just wasn't going to happen.  More crying ensued.  I finally half-dragged him into the entryway where he screamed.  We sat outside for about five minutes until he kind of calmed down.  We finally got in the the library, found the children's section, and he was as happy as could be. 

This "new" library had the usual books and movies we loved, but instead of a train table, it was home to some Duplo blocks and table, a fabulous wooden doll house, and puppets with a small puppet stage.  The boys played contentedly for a good half-hour!

On our way home, I asked the boys if they liked this new library and Koen said it was a lot of fun!  It just goes to show, you don't need a train table at the library to have an enjoyable experience! :)

August 11: Puppy Chow

Puppy chow is such an intriguing (and addictive) snack!  When I was still teaching, a number of students selected this recipe for their demonstration speech, and it was always tasty!  I thought the boys would have fun with this recipe, but as soon as Koen heard the name of it he was out.  He wanted nothing to do with anything called puppy chow, even after I said we could call it "Koen Chow," "Tysen Chow," or "Mommy Chow."  I knew he would regret not making it once he saw everyone else enjoying it (remember the rule:  if you don't make it, you don't eat it).  But he stood by his decision, so Ty and I had a blast mixing it all, licking the spoons, and shaking the bag.  Here's the recipe we used...

Puppy Chow

12 cups of Crispix or Rice Chex (this is more than a box of cereal, so we threw in some open Corn Chex with our Rice Chex)
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar

Melt the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter (we just used the microwave).  Pour the melted mixture over the cereal.  Put the powdered sugar in a paper grocery bag.  Add cereal and shake til cereal is coated.  Enjoy!

Of course, in the end, Koen wanted to eat some.  I did let him try a few pieces to assure him that he did, in fact, like Puppy Chow.  Now, though, he'll have to wait for another batch.  And seeing that this first batch is about gone, I'm sure we'll be making Puppy Chow again sooner rather than later. 

Ty inspects his work.

August 9: Two minutes of Candy Land

The month of July got us way off this schedule I've been trying to keep.  Between being away from home and having family visit our regular activities just didn't happen.  So I'm trying to get back on track.

Monday is Game Day.  Well, when I suggested playing a game Koen was already coloring a Thomas picture and didn't want to finish it later.  Tysen, though, was excited and pulled out Candy Land.  Now his idea of playing Candy Land is taking the game pieces and making them jump all over the board until they reach the castle.  I thought I'd try to introduce him to the more structured version of the game today but that was not of interest to him.  He then abandoned the game and left with Daddy when Daddy said he was going to the tool store.  Literally, we "played" the game for two minutes...maybe less.

So much for getting back on track with our schedule.  I guess tomorrow is another day.  Of course, the boys are off the Grandpa and Grandma's overnight for the next two night, so we'll pick up later in the week. :)

P.S.  A bit later, after Koen finished his picture he said he wanted to play a game...on the computer!  Not with mom...hmmm...I guess it's still in the spirit of things!

August 7: Coopersville-Marne Train Ride

Coopersville & Marne coaches (we rode in the middle one)

I'm not even sure where I first learned about the Coopersville & Marne Train Rides, but I've been wanting to take the boys for most of the summer.  They only run Wednesdays and Saturdays right now at 11am and 1pm.  This Saturday's forecast was the best we'd seen in a l-o-n-g time, so Seth and I decided to surprise the boys with a real train ride!  

If you know my boys at all, you know it's an understatement to say they are obsessed with trains.  Obsessed!  So they were thrilled to be able to actually ride a real train!  

Getting on board with Conductor Cindy's help.

The whole event was fabulous!  We boarded the antique coach (circa 1920s) and were pulled by a 1950s diesel engine.  All the railway workers are volunteers, and our Conductor, Cindy, was so pleasant and great with kids!  It was about a 30 minute train ride to Marne.  We were then invited to detrain to watch the engine get coupled up for the return trip to Coopersville.  Of course the boys knew what it meant for a train to be coupled up thanks to their Thomas the Tank Engine resources.  Once we were back at the station, we asked if we could explore the other coaches and that was no problem at all!  One of the other cars was another coach and the other was a dining car with tables and chairs.  Both Koen and Ty thought the whole experience was so cool!  

Seth with Tysen

Valerie, Brielle, and Koen

Apparently, the railway has a number of special train rides throughout the year...a train robbery (I think we'll wait til the kids are older for this excitement), the bunny train at Easter, the pumpkin train at Halloween, and the Santa train at Christmas.  One of these might be a fun excursion in the future.  

August 5: Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

I don't remember if I made these as a child, but I do remember eating them occasionally!  Koen thought these were SO COOL!   He was excited about making these from mixing to decorating.  I couldn't believe he even filled most of the ice cream cones himself -- and he did a great job of it!  I frosted the cupcakes, but Koen decorated every one with great care and intensity!  Tysen slept through most of the process, and when he woke up he was not in the mood to decorate. 

 

The "recipe" is included for your enjoyment:

 

Ice-Cream-Cone Cupcakes (from 365 Games Smart Toddlers Play by Sheila Ellison)

Materials:

• Flat bottomed ice-cream cones
• Cake mix
• Can of frosting
• Cake decorations
• Muffin pan

Yields 12-15 cup cakes

Prepare the cake mix according to directions.  Spoon the batter into the cones until they are 2/3 full.  Place the cones in the muffin pan and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  When cool, frost and decorate.

Note:  I had purchased our ice cream cones from Aldi (LOVE this place!), and apparently they are smaller than the usual ice cream cone.  We had 12 ice cream cone cupcakes and still had enough batter for 12 regular-sized cupcakes!  I'm not complaining...the smaller size is perfect for the kids!

 

FYI -- We stored the cupcakes upright in a cake saver, and by morning they were falling over!  I don't know if it's because of the humidity or just the moistness of the cake, but the cupcakes started sagging and falling over.  We decided to just lay them on their sides, but then some of the decorations fell off.  Any ideas on how to better store these?