Knot So Fast!

Who loves a good game?

WE DO!

I am officially now a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team.  And our family is so excited to be receiving free products in the mail in exchange for a frank and unbiased review of them. 

Timberdoodle is an awesome company that offers great products for homeschooling families.

http://www.timberdoodle.com/

Check them out, and order a free catalog while you're at it!  I LOVE their catalog.

The game we chose to review is called Knot So Fast. 

http://www.timberdoodle.com/ThinkFun_Knot_So_Fast_Game_p/485-205.htm

When we heard this was one of our choices of games to review, we were so excited to get it in the mail.  Our boys have always wanted to be Boy Scouts - and now they can learn to tie those knots and have fun while doing it right here at home. 

Knot So Fast is a clever game packaged in a cylinder, which I love!  No more stacking board game boxes that get crunched flat in no time.  It's easy to store, and easy for the kids to pack back up.  I love how portable and small the game package is as well.

For the first couple days, our boys ages 8 and 9 just practiced the knots using the demo cards.  When they felt confident enough, they began to play it as a game using the directions.  How ingenius!  This game is pulled out usually twice a day, and is a big hit with our oldest kids, and will be for our girls in the years to come as well.  

To play, you pick a card, place it on the holder in the middle of the two players or teams and race to be the first player or team to complete the knot.  After the first player/team finishes their knot, they yell, "finished!" then they start the 30 second timer and the other player/team has a chance to finish their knot in that time for a chance to win some points. 

But "Knot So Fast!" can be called on the fastest finisher if his/her knot is not just right...  even though you finished first, doesn't mean you're going to get points that round.  If you get called out and your knot isn't exactly like the picture, you don't earn any points and the 2nd place finishing player/team can snag some points! 

There are several variations to the game, which is nice too.  Also, one might fear that the ropes might end up a tangle of knots... not so with these ropes.  They are just the right size for young hands (and old hands) and are easily untied over and over again. 

I love that there are different levels of knots.  Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Expert.  I'd never heard of most of them, and some of them are SO hard!  I'm so happy to have a game that is not only fun, but is challenging as well.  They definitely give their fine motor skills a workout...

Our boys loved the scoring system too.  It's like a good old fashioned game of tug of war...

The first team that gets enough points to pull the rope all the way over to their side wins the game! 

Very fun, and very creative. 

Of course, our family gives this game a hearty thumbs up!  Way to go Think Fun and Timberdoodle, it's fantastic and one we'll play over and over again. 

Check out Timberdoodle's awesome selection of educational and family games:

http://www.timberdoodle.com/hands_on_games_s/26.htm 

Gabrielle is 6 months!

Our sweet little girl is 6 months old... 

It's hard to believe that just 4 months ago, she wasn't here with us. 

These past 4 months with her have seemed like an eternity, and we're so thankful for that. 

We love you big (little) girl. 

  Gabrielle is now the proud owner of a Jumparoo!  (thanks, Jess!)



And is gobbling up solid food.  She's a tad messy, but manages to most of it swallowed.  I LOVE THIS GIRL!

She:

rolls both ways

is starting to get her knees up and under her

sleeps 12-13 hours each night (praise God)

loves her family

is very attached to Mama (praise God)

loves her exersaucer and jumparoo

gives great kisses

loves to eat her bottle and solids

has GREAT hair

looks really good in bright colors

but is our only child that can pull of off white clothes too

makes us laugh

makes us smile

makes us sigh peacefully

makes us shake our heads in amazement

makes us PRAISE God



And can I get a hip-hip-hooray? 

Gabrielle will be officially adopted in early January!

We can't wait to sit in court with her that day. 

love them

These six right here have my heart. 

We went on a walk recently.  It was the last one before the snow flew and it was still semi-warm outside.  It was wonderful.  I love my family.  I feel so thankful each and every day for them.  There are so many moments where I want to freeze time and just sit and relish the moments.  But we can't.  So I'll just try to treasure each moment.  And I wish I had a better camera to capture their adorable unblurry faces.  But such is life.  There are more important things than that. 

my sweet kindergartener



my silly girl and her "gog"



 third grade is treating him well

whew!  this boy's gonna be in double digits soon.  yipes

little miss gabs and her daddy

I'm the queen of nicknames... so Gabrielle's are:

Gabi, Gabs, Gabby Babby, and Barferella

Isn't that last one so sweet?  Well, she does spit up a lot, so it suits her.  :)  Part princess, part barfer. 

I love my crew.  The.  End.



50 books = train trip!

Grandma Anita has challenged our kiddos to reading 50 books when they are 8 years old... and when they do they will earn a train trip and overnight fun! 

Well, Gavin got to reading and reading last winter/spring and by the time he was 8, he was done! (And might I add Grandma Marla Kay has a similar challenge and takes the kids out for their own fun too - our kids have great Grandmas.)

Gavin's trip was in September and was the last run of the train for the year.  Anita and Gavin took the train down, and Grandpa David drove and met them at their destination.  It was a beautiful day, as you can see... and Gavin had a GREAT time one-on-one with some of his favorite people. 

Thank you, Dave and Anita for quality time

spent with our son. 

Our dear friends need to be lifted up in prayer... could you join me?

typical conversation about homeschooling

Borrowed this video from Storing Up Treasures... I love it. 

I thought it was really funny that the little characters are talking in monotone
computerized voices.  It really tickled my funny bone while at the same time shared a very real conversation about homeschooling!  :)  Enjoy! 

And you know, I'm a little weary of being called supermom.  Because it just isn't true.  How do you explain in a short amount of time in a conversation like this that you're a great big mess in so many ways too?  I simply love my kids and love being with them, I think it's super, but it doesn't make me a supermom!

After years of thinking about opening an Etsy shop online, I'm gonna go for it this winter! 

My shop is called The Scarlet Paisley and I will be selling my knit, crocheted, and sewn items for babies, children, and women...

But in an attempt to save money and not make bad decisions in starting out, I've decided to not buy any new materials and only use what I already have here at home.  So that means I can only use fabric scraps, or fabric I've bought but never used, and yarn that already sits in my yarn dresser. 

So here are the usable fabrics I have to work with, and I have lots of yarn to choose from too.  I'm excited and I love that with Etsy, there is no pressure.  I only have to sell what I've already made, and I can shutdown at any time if needed.  I'm not sure yet what these fabrics will turn into...  hmmm.. maybe purses, pillows, potholders, blankets, aprons, jackets, doll clothes... etc...  And I'll be selling my knit and crochet hats too.  It'll be a bit eclectic to start until I know what sells and what doesn't.  Once I get my store up and running, I'll get you a link! 

What will this be?  Do you have any bright ideas?

harold

Yesterday, our family was sitting in the Costco food court grabbing a quick (and cheap) lunch of pizza.  Our kid count was up to six yesterday because our one-year old nephew Dylan was spending the day with us.  The kids and I sat down at the emptiest table we could find while Jeremy was picking up our order, but it was already occupied by an elderly gentleman who honestly looked a bit scary.  He had a severe hunchback and just looked a little mean.  Getting over my fears, and never wanting anyone to feel left out, I said hello and asked how he was doing. 

He smiled and said he was doing well, and commented with, "You have enough babies don't ya?" 

I replied with, "Well, maybe!"

He then offered to hold Gabi for me so I could go get the drinks, since the cups had arrived at the table.  I politely declined, but thought, How cute is he??  He obviously likes children.  He then proceeded to comment on how well-behaved our children were and was so amazed that we had six children. (so he thought)  We explained about watching our nephew Dylan, and about Gabi's adoption.  He was intrigued. 

While we sat there talking to him about how he came to live here, how long he'd lived here, and about his life, we learned that he came here in 1950 and was born in the year 1919.  When we asked what brought him here to our state, he looked around to see who was listening as if his answer would bring shock and horror.  Then he whispered,

 "A woman."

It took them two and a half months to drive here in those days from where he was coming from.  It reminded me of the wagon trains heading west.  He said they had so many flat tires that he lost count.  Then three months after arriving, the woman dumped him.  And he has been here ever since, 60 years later!  We also learned that he was in World War II, and fought the Germans in Africa.  He was wounded in battle, and had to be flown home to the states.  Drew was particularly into what he was saying, and had now come over to our side of the table to stand right next to Harold and hear the whole story.  He leaned over and looked into Drew's eyes and said,

"I hope you never see war." 

He said that several times to Drew.  And that he hopes he'd never be drafted like he was.

I absolutely love the elderly.  I couldn't believe, that we were talking to a 91 year old man who completely had all of his wits about him and was totally healthy.  He said , "I'm 91 or 92 something like that... and I'm not sick at all.  There are no signs of sickness in me." 

We introduced ourselves, and he asked my name and said, "that's beautiful..."  Love him. We also talked about homeschooling because he noticed that we had school-age kids that were not "in school" and he thought it was very nice that we taught our children at home.  Love him more!

I pried a bit and asked what brought him to Costco today.  I had to make sure he was okay.  He said he came with the people he lives with, and that they were buying groceries.  But he didn't need anything, so he was going to sit in the food court and wait for them.   I was trying to figure out if he lived in a rest home or in a house or apartment somewhere.  But he said he pays room and board to his friends, and is happy there. 

I hoped he wasn't lonely. 

I hoped he knew Jesus. 

I hoped he had a great place to live, with people that loved him. 

I hoped he had family to depend on.  He doesn't.

I was a little sad to leave Harold.  Drew was too.  He wanted to know if we could give Harold our phone number and address and if we could ask him for his.  I said no, (because after all, he is a stranger..) but secretly wished we could keep in touch.  There was a glimmer of tears in his eyes when we said goodbye, and I really wished that we could have sat and talked with him the whole afternoon. 

But with 6 kids in tow, it just wasn't going to happen. 

Something that was charming about Harold was his manner of dress.  He had on a black nylon trench-ish coat, a white crisp dress shirt, black dress pants, and a black fedora style hat.  I'd imagine he'd been wearing this same type of style when he moved here in the 50's.  He was sharp.  He almost looked like a mobster in hiding.   And he chose the right place to hide.  hee hee

I'm so glad we decided to reach out to this man.  It would have been easy to ignore him and remain frightened of him.  But wow, what a gift he gave us.  The elderly are a gift.  They are a time machine back into the days of old.  And need our love, care, and attention.  Hmm.. I'm thinking our family needs to make a trip to our local rest home and make some new friends this winter. 

I was feeling ambitious...

Yesterday was a great day... I know I mentioned that before.

It was great because some of the health issues/back & neck issues I've been dealing with were nearly non-existent.  It was wonderful.  I felt so good, that I became extremely ambitious.  Those kinds of days have been rare, so I needed to take advantage.  We had a great school day,  I was feeling nostalgic, I had chicken noodle soup in the crockpot at noon, then decided I could give canning blueberry jam a try!  Jeremy has been canning things a couple times a year for the past few years... But truly?  I've never had an interest in it.  And why should I?  Jeremy cans for us!  Well, after visiting my good buddy Jess, who had just made jam a couple weeks ago...  I had it in my brain that I would surprise my husband by making jam with all of the blueberries we picked a couple months ago.  He would be THRILLED and impressed too.  :) 

Mostly, because it's like him deciding to spend hours at Target just milling around.  That's what I like to do, but it's something that makes him want to run for the hills. But if he knew it would make me happy, he'd do it.

So I knew he'd be really happy at the sight of me putting all the effort into canning something. 

So, here's me canning...  and, by the way I just popped open a jar for the first time, and it was SO yummy!  I sorta thought that it wouldn't set properly, me being a newbie and all.. and just not that into it.  But I do plan on doing it again in the future.  It was really fun.  (well, after I got my screaming baby to bed... I chose a really bad time to start the process... not sure why I didn't wait a few more minutes!?)

It was just so satisfying to pick something, can it, then eat it! 

 Look at these beautiful things!

I was so excited to show Jeremy, that I led him into the house and made him close his eyes.  He was a very good sport.  I wonder if he thought I was going to show him a positive pregnancy test or something..  ha ha.  Because that is something that I would have done in the past!

 this is all you need...  it was extremely easy

I probably could have chosen a better method for smooshing them.. but this worked just fine.  I tried the blender to mash them a bit, but they were frozen and didn't have enough liquid in them to get anywhere. 

thankfully we already had all the supplies... 

 And this water bath canner was my Moms!  It was the one she used when I was a girl.  Ahhhh...

And as a treat for me when I was done, I stuck the leftover mashed blueberries in the blender with some vanilla yogurt, and coconut creamer, and boy was it ever yummy! 

old friends with a new passion

This is Jeromy and Stacy, old friends from our college days.  We saw them the other night for the first time in 12 years!  They now live in a different state, and it was so great to catch up and talk adoption with them. 
I found them on facebook a few months ago, and couldn't believe that they have adopted too!  They have two beautiful girls by birth, and two adorable sons through adoption from their local foster care system that they brought home as babies.  They are a beautiful family, and it was so amazing to reconnect and have lots in common even after all these years!  Check out their blog here.

Thanks for a great visit, Jeromy and Stacy, wish we could do it more often... 

it was a GOOD day

You know those kind of days where you feel so nostalgic, warm, and fuzzy?  

Today was one of those days.  I wanted to capture it, so I wouldn't forget it.  As I was putting Gabrielle down for her first morning nap, she was just being so amazingly cute.  As always.  And I felt like I was overflowing with love and joy.  Isn't she so cute all swaddled up?  It really calms her down in an instant.  And she sleeps so well in it.  By morning, her arms are always busted out... but it stays while she's sleeping, that's what counts! 

After closing Gabi's door, I thought I'd snap a picture of what the other four were doing at that moment.  See?  More love and more joy in my heart...  Aren't they so cute?  Well, I love 'em, and am so thankful they were entrusted to Jeremy and I. 

After this scene, and a bit later on in the day when Gabrielle was in her second nap and Annika was taking her nap, I got adventurous/brave/Martha Stewart-y and did something I've never done before..

Can you guess what I did??? 

Find out tomorrow!

a few of my favorite things

Ever since Gabi came home to us, I've been wearing my hair curly much more often.  I really love curly hair on other people, but my own curly hair was such a pain to me.  It never looked good in my opinion, and I think I just didn't have the right products that would make my crazy, frizzy, eneven curls look good!  So I just straightened it, or wore it curly and then put it up and out of the way... but now I've found DevaCurl....  yep, I sound like an infomercial.  But really, it's great and just what I needed I think to get me to happily wear my hair curly. 

This is the DevaCurl diffuser attachment, that I think I'm gonna put on my Christmas list...  Letting my hair hang wet is fine, but sometimes I need it dry in a hurry when we're going somewhere.  Especially with winter upon us...

This is the trial pack I picked up the other day... so glad I can try it without spending both arms and both legs on it. 

Another one of my favorite things is this girl here!
Morgan can eat circles around her brothers... she is always done first with dinner, and always has seconds.  In this picture, we had company over and she was on her third round before the boys were done with their first!!!  I love her so much... and she can eat just like her mama.  Her poses say it all. 

If you have a baby and a toddler, you've probably come across this scene in your home.  I often find Annika's precious "Dog" buckled in Gabi's carseat... and sometimes her baby doll too.  It always makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Jeremy has been canning like crazy these past two weekends...  2 weekends ago, he canned crab apple juice concentrate.  It's so yummy!!  Just add water or 7-Up to make punch.  Then last weekend, and this weekend he has been working to cook/grill 60 pounds of chicken and can it.  So now, dinners will be a breeze.  Cooking/chopping chicken is my least favorite thing to do... my time is so limited come dinnertime, that thawing, cooking, chopping chicken BEFORE actually making the meal is a killer.  Jeremy got a great deal on all this chicken from work, and I'm SO thankful for all of the hours he put into doing this for me. 

I hate to mop.  I despise hauling the mop up from downstairs, making sure I have a clean/empty sink, and wet mopping our kitchen floor.  That's why is doesn't happen very often.  Usually I'll grab a rag or paper towl and spot mop... until now!  My buddy Carly gave me a swiffer mop, because she bought one and didn't realize she already had one.  Score!  I'd actually been wanting one, but didn't want to spend the money on it.  So all I had to do was buy the above pictured mop cloths and we're good to go!  I love to mop with it, and so do the kids. 

Okay, my last new favorite thing is the Basil Countertop Spray from Mrs. Meyers.  I LOVE it.  It smells so my yummy.  Jeremy loves it too.  I did a poll on facebook a few months back, and asked folks what their must-have cleaning products were.  My friend Vanessa mentioned this, and I knew I had to try it. 

Eventually I'd like to get the rest of the Basil line, but for now I'm satisfied with my basil-y countertops and bathroom.