This afternoon after church my sister in love came to have lunch with us. She was here until about 2 pm. When she left, R went into M’s room to play video games with him, and the two “little girls” went into their room. We didn’t really know what they were doing until about 2 hours later when they both came out with an invitation to a concert. Here’s what the invitation said…. (I am leaving their whole names out and using the abbreviations that you all know 
…..and I’ll be typing it exactly as it was written ……guess we need to work on spelling more this year )
H and r’s consert!
When: tonight.
Time: after dinner.
Why: Just for fun!
What are we doing?: Are favorite things in the hole world sing and dance
So as soon as we were all done with dinner, they “set the stage” in the living room…..they set up folding chairs on one side of the living room, and their CD player and a “mic” (which was actually a flashlight rubberbanded to a music stand base) and put their costumes on. They came out and each sang a song by themselves, then H did a beautiful dance (she’s never taken any kind of dance lessons yet she showed us such grace and beautiful dance moves….may have to talk to Daddy about the possibility of ballet for this naturally talented 10 year old!), then r did a fun crazy little dance, then they sang 2 duets together. It was so sweet, so cute, and SO MUCH fun! They put so much hard work into all afternoon…..it was just precious! I’d love to see them do this again!
Do/did your kids do this too?
a bowl of shrimp that is marinating in 3 Tbsp. lemon juice, lemon zest from 1/2 lemon, 1 tsp. hot sauce (I prefer the flavor of Franks Red Hot Sauce), and 4 cloves of garlic (I cut the shrimp in half, so it looks like it’s actually more than it is….this is 5 oz of shrimp)
a cutting board full of cut up veggies (1 whole bell pepper, 1/2 red bell pepper, 1/2 sweet onion, and 2 stalks of broccoli)
3 grilled salmon filets that were seasoned simply with smoked salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 oz finely grated parmesan cheese (this is parmesano reggiano)
1 pound organic whole wheat spaghetti
a screaming hot wok, courtesy of Freecycle … oh how I LOVE our local freecycle group!!!!!
and a BEAUTIFUL 15 year old girl….
??????????????????????????????????
So, what do you get?
hmmmm…… here are a few more pics to get your curiosity peeked just a bit more
and please excuse the mess on the counter beyond the stove…..it is all glass containers that are waiting to replace the plastic containers in my pantry…….
Oh, and how can I forget my 10 year old taste tester/pesky little sister/assistant chef
Soooo, what do you think we did with all of that food?
I’ll tell you! And oh my goodness was it delicious!
This was such a fantastic, and heart healthy and light (well, heart healthy and light if you reduce the parm) pasta toss…..it was easy and YUMMMMOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We all loved it! Even our little 3 year old dinner guest enjoyed it!
So here’s the recap/recipe…..
Smoked Salmon and Shrimp Spaghetti
From Lori4squaremom (http://lori.scottdomain.com)
Serves 6
3 salmon filets (preferrably wild, sustainable salmon, not farm-raised…but that’s what I had)
1 1/2 tsp. smoked sea salt
5 oz. shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed, and cut in half
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
lemon zest from 1/2 lemon
1 tsp. hot sauce (we prefer Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, but use what you like and have)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 pound whole grain spaghetti (preferably organic to avoid those nasty GMOs)
2 stalks broccoli with broccoli florets cut off and into small pieces (again, preferably organic to avoid nasty pesticides)
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into thin slices (yep, you guessed it! preferably organic)
1 green bell pepper, sliced into thin slices (do I need to say it again? preferably organic :))
1/2 sweet onion, sliced into thin slices (yep, preferably organic :))
salt and freshly ground pepper to season veggies as they are stirfrying/sauteeing
2 tsp. grapeseed oil (you could definitely use less, I used this much because I’m not used to this new wok yet)
1 1/2-2 1/2 oz. finely grated parmesan cheese
30 minutes before you begin the prep work for this meal, you are going to want to season your salmon filets with the smoked salt and freshly ground pepper (if you don’t have the smoked sea salt, you can certainly use regular salt of your choice….I like the smoked sea salt because it gave me the smoked salmon flavor without actually smoking the salmon). And start marinating shrimp in lemon juice, lemon zest, hot sauce and garlic. Let both of these sit for 30 minutes before you begin your dinner prep.
After that 30 minutes has passed….
Start pasta water and bring to a boil. While you are waiting for your pasta water to come to a boil (I like to put a lid on it to get it to boil faster….saves gas) get out the remainder of your ingredients and prep them and grill your salmon filets. The remainder of this can all be done while your pasta cooks. Start by sauteeing your broccoli, peppers, and onion (in a very hot/preheated pan) until it is just crisp tender (I season with a little salt and pepper while it’s cooking). Push veggies to the side and cook your shrimp (with the marinade). Once your shrimp is opaque and starting to turn pink, mix with veggies and let it cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. By this time your pasta should be finished cooking, so drain it and add to your pan with the shrimp and veggies. Toss well, turn off heat and add 3/4 of the parmesan cheese, give it another good toss to incorporate the cheese into the pasta goodness. Now you will want to place your grilled salmon filets on top and as you serve the pasta, grab a piece or two of the salmon with your pasta and veggies and shrimp. Sprinkle with a little of the remaining parmesan cheese and serve. This is YUMMY and a fast meal to put together!
Last weekend I got a fantastic deal at Target on real Playdough…the Mattell brand…. :) My kids (yes, they ARE 7, 10, 12 and almost 15, but they still find great joy in squishing and squashing their way through playdough and making and creating) were so thrilled to have the real stuff and some new neat playdough tools (instead just my old rusty cookie cutters ). Anyhow, I babysat for a dear friend last week as well, and her two little daughters were thrilled to have new playdough to play with as well. The problem is, the little one (she’s only 3) was getting the colors mixed together. SO, after my kids voiced their concerns to me regarding this issue, I promised them that I would make some homemade playdough for this week when the girls came back to play, and they could all play with homemade playdough when we have guests, and the “real” playdough would be just for them :) When the little one woke from her nap this afternoon she asked if she could play with playdough……so I sprang into action! :) I made my kids (and mine, because it is so easy to make) favorite homemade playdough. I love this recipe because it is easy to make, doesn’t require cooking, and it smells SOOOOO good! It makes a lot of playdough and is soft and silky and wonderful to put your hands in
Since I know that I do have some readers that have littles that like to create, I thought I’d share my favorite recipe with you all. I got this recipe when R was in the 2s & 3s Sunday School class back about 12 years ago. This is the playdough that their teachers made for their class. So, once again, my thanks to Teacher Sarah and Teacher Diane for sharing this recipe with me oh, so many years ago. I have shared this recipe with many many others, and have made it and given it as gifts to my own children, as well as other children. It is a much loved recipe! And it really does make a great gift if you put it into little containers and put them in a basket with cookie cutters and a little plastic rolling pin. (And maybe a laminated placemat to keep the mess on the table to a minimum?)
Kool-Aid Playdough
(When I make this recipe, I usually divide the ingredients in half and make it in two different bowls with two different flavors/scents of the kool-aid so that I have a variety…..I don’t really need that big of a batch of one color/scent of playdough, unless I’m making it for a Sunday School or Preschool class)
2 1/2 C. flour
1/2 C. salt
1 t. alum (this acts as a preservative….I actually leave it out because the playdough gets played with enough in my house that I have found that I don’t really need to add the alum)
2 pkg. kool-aid drink mix (you can use any brand, but make sure it is the UNSWEETENED type…..no sugar or sweeteners at all)
Mix all of the above ingredients together in a large bowl until well combined.
Add:
2 T. vegetable oil
2 C. boiling water
Mix and add more flour until nice and thick and kneadable. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead in more flour until the dough is smooth, silky, and no longer sticky at all. Store in an airtight container for your little lovies to create to their hearts desire.
A couple of days ago I ranted about turkey prices this year. Well, in the midst of that rant (not only did I type my rant, I also verbalized it :)), the kiddos asked me a question about Thanksgiving dinner, and I gave a flip answer of “well, at these prices, we may be eating chicken”. My poor son (12 years old) thought I was serious, and didn’t hear the frustration/sarcasm (teaches me about using sarcasm, huh?) in my voice. That night when his AWANA leader asked his group what they were doing for Thanksgiving M told his group that we were going to be having chicken because I “couldn’t afford” (which isn’t the case, I just don’t want to pay these astronomical prices!!!) a turkey. Well, his leader told him that he didn’t understand that because one of the grocery stores on the other side of town from us has turkey for .44 a pound (THAT’s what I want to pay!!!! not .99-1.99 per pound!!!!). So, last night I had to talk to his leader about something else (we are helping him cook breakfast for the Jr. High and High School youth groups at church on Sunday) and he asked if M had told me about the turkey prices. I told him that yes, he had just told me about an hour before Mr. K called. He said that M was rather bothered that we were going to be having chicken for Thanksgiving. I told him that I was actually kidding and that I wouldn’t do that, and that I would talk to M. So when I sat down with M to ask him about if he thought I was serious or not, he got tears in his eyes (and if he knew I was telling all of bloggyville this, he’d just die!) and looked down at the ground and said “yes”. I felt horrible! This was one of those Mommy moments where you just want to be transported back in time to have a “redo” on what caused your little so much anguish!
SO, for any of my local friends that may have heard from my children that we are having chicken for Thanksgiving….rest assured we are not 
We ARE having turkey….and I’m hoping that Food Maxx is not out of the .44/pound turkeys
Our oldest daughter R is a frosh in high school this year, and she is taking Spanish 2 with several other homeschooled students in our area. Her teacher (who is awesome, by the way! We LOVE her :)) assigned the students to do a report on Paraguay. Well while she was doing her research to answer the questions, she found a lot of additional information. So yesterday, while she was working on this (she spent over an hour on the internet) she was only able to answer a fraction of the questions because she kept finding more interesting information! She was showing it all to me, and I said “well, attach it all to your report” She answered that she had already planned on doing that, but that she didn’t have all of the answers to all of her questions because of getting excited about the additional information she was finding! How’s that for a love of learning
Yay homeschooling!
Hi all,
I was just wondering, what is on your and your children’s summer reading lists for this summer? We are officially done with school on Friday of this week (even though R has one more week of Spanish) and I really would like to get the kids started on doing some summer reading…..we often do more recreational reading during the summer months, but I really want to have a plan this year
Personally, on MY list for reading for me:
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
Desiring God by John Piper
Romancing Your Child’s Heart by Monte Swan
(and if I can lay my hands on it…..)
Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt
For Read Aloud, I’d like to read:
The Hobbit
Tom Sawyer
Trumpet of the Swan
Generally I let the kids select their own reading materials for recreational reading, and I will continue to do this, but would love some recommendations on books that your children have read and enjoyed that they might recommend to my children…….they are completing 1st grade, 3rd grade, 5th grade and 8th grade.
What is on your summer reading list?
Our youngest daughter, r is just a few days away from being 6 1/2 years old, and she lost her first tooth last night! This precious child has had loose teeth since she was 4 years old…..we started feeling the first tight wiggles of her bottom teeth. The dentist told us at that time that it could be anywhere from 2 months to 2 years depending on how much r wiggled…..well, she didn’t wiggle it until it started getting noticeably (to her) lose……so it was the 2 year time frame :) But YAY! our baby lost her first tooth!
Here’s a couple of photos of our toothless sweetie pie
My youngest daughter, r has a very special friend, we’ll call her “E”. Anyhow, r and E enjoy occasional playdates, and they are always seen walking through the halls at church holding hands….they are just so dear to one another. Anyhow, r got it into her sweet little 6 year old head that she wanted to have E over for a dress up tea party…..well, E’s mommy and I finally got together yesterday at church and we arranged for E to come over this afternoon after school (she is in morning Kindergarten). So r and E (and H) dressed up in pretty dresses, and I set up a tea party complete with china teacups and glass serving pieces for the cookies and fruit.
Here are a couple of photos 
I haven’t posted photos of the kids and their daily life for a while….
Here’s breakfast today.
