True story

A mustard seed in the applesauce jar 11/30/2010

This morning I made my famous buttermilk pancakes for the kids. I went to the grocery store last night just to get applesauce to put on them today. All those golden little pancakes smelled so good and were ready for the yummy apple topping they were to receive. The big problem now was, I couldn’t get the jar open! I tried and I pried, and I tapped and slapped, but that lid would not budge. I tried a paper towel to grip it, and my t-shirt, but nothing happened. So then I sat down on the couch in the living room and but the jar on my lap to give me some leverage. I cranked on that lid till my hands were red and I was out of breath. Nothing. I was getting nowhere, and I really wanted applesauce instead of sugary syrup for breakfast! So I did what I usually do in sticky situations where I can’t figure out how to do something on my own. I said a prayer. I prayed out loud so the kids could hear. I said “Father in Heaven, I can’t do this by myself, but I know that with thy help I could do all things. Please help me open this jar.” I close in the name of our Savior. Then, I opened the applesauce. The lid simply twisted off in my hands as if were oiled! Friends, I testify that these things are true. God lives. He loves us. He answers our prayers. We just need faith as a grain of mustard seed, and we could move mountains, or open applesauce jars for our children’s breakfast. This morning I found a mustard seed in the applesauce. I felt to share with you because these things bring me joy. Have a wonderful day everyone! –Love Cyndi

Mt. Saint Helens part 2, finally!

We went on a walk near the visitor's center. There was a boardwalk over a marshy lake. The girls are looking for "fogs" as Natalie calls them.

There was a really neat playground at the forest learning center, although the center itself was closed at the time. Brian is seen sporting some of the Brown and Haley's Mountain bar he had on the drive up. We thought it would be cute to eat Mountain bars on the mountain.

Here you can clearly see into the crater with the bulging lava dome. It's actually steaming a bit here!

Being "sworn in" as junior rangers.

As promised, here is the picture of my attempt at a fun fall dinner. It's NOT the Canadian flag!

And a yummy chocolate cake which turned out really messy looking, but fun to make.

Katy Lady

Katy's first lose tooth came out tonight! They grow up so fast! She also got bangs a couple weeks ago. I'll try to post pics soon. I am so bad at that!

Home school field trip to St. Helens

Here are the kids with Jeff and Reid at Mt. St. Helens Visitor Center on a gorgeous fall day!

Very large mural of the eruption in 1980. Ten days before I was born!

Katy participating in an Earth-moving hands on exhibit.

Jeff learns about the Pacific Ring of Fire along with every other volcano on Earth.


Look at all these artifacts Mom! Is this what we came 2 hours in the car to see? Wow! Cool!

Brindy descends into the bowels of Mount St. fiberglass exhibit. OOOOhhh! The horror!
As her children enter the volcano model, Mom is too busy with her fancy camera work to realize that the sign says exit only. Good work Mom!

Deep down in the basement they have a decent representation of magma bubbling away.
Look how much volcanic ash fell in different northwest cities! We are learning and touching!
Look at this old tree cross section. Is there a national monument somewhere that does not have one of these? (See staycation pics from 09 - visit to Mt. Rainier)
Make your own Earthquake by stomping and smacking this delicate exhibit and set visitor center staff and Sunbeam mom on edge! Yippee!
How many layers tall are you Jeff?
There is a volcano in the background. I promise.
Me and the kiddos. The mountain is even harder to see in this one. Don't worry. There's more. I will have to make a part B to this post. There are just too many pics and it's late. I have to read six chapters in Alma before I can go to bed. Tomorrow I will put up more volcano pics and the neat dinner I made for the missionaries tonight.

Corn bread recipe

For those who wanted the corn bread recipe I use, here it is. (This is my modified version of Carol Mugleston's recipe. She uses four teaspoons of baking powder.)

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup corn meal
1/2 cup sugar
2 teasp. baking powder
1/2 teasp. salt

1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup oil

Sift dry ingredients, add egg, milk, and oil. Spoon into greased muffin cups. Bake at 425 for 12 minutes.

Playing in the kitchen.

Came up with a healthy and easy corn dog by using mini muffin cups and my favorite cornbread recipe. I put some on a skewer for the photo, but my kids just gobbled them up as they were. I chopped up a package of hot dogs and added them to the batter, but I suppose you could just slice into thick chunks and press into the batter once you have spooned some into the pan.

Better than building blocks!

Natalie found the toilet paper package and had a ball building this tower on top of the coffee table.

Fresh squeezed goodness!

I found oranges on sale this week, so I bought two huge bags. This afternoon I made about a quart and a half of fresh squeezed orange juice! Oh so good, and hopefully it will help my kids fight off the germ bugs that are causing runny noses etc. I think we'll add some bananas later for an orange julius type of smoothie. Mmmm. . .

The garden is beginning to grow, but I can't use my computer with the new camera card, so no pics yet. It isn't that impressive anyway. There are a few sprouts here and there.

Heading off to spend a night away from the kiddos tonight. I know that doesn't sound like it has anything to do with home school, but really, it does. If you are home all day every day with the kids always with you, you need some time away every once in a while. Spend time with your sweetie pie and then you will be a better teacher and mom for your little ones! Tomorrow is my first 8k and it starts at Mt. Si high school, so we are spending a night in North Bend at a bed and breakfast. Sounds relaxing? Yeah.

Spring gardening!

I haven't posted all school year. Shame on me! Here is what we are working on now. Brindy is taking weekly spelling tests. Each Monday she gets six new words to learn. She has to write each word six times each on Monday, use them in sentences on Tuesday, and do an extra spelling activity like type her words on the computer, or write them in shaving cream for her Wednesday spelling work, then she takes an oral pre-test on Thursdays and finally, a written test on Fridays. If she gets them all right, she gets a new book. She is reading the Magic Tree house series, and also a series about fairies. For math she is working on place values, and perfecting counting by twos.
Katy gets a few words to sound out each day and she has to draw a picture of what the word says. Then she has to practice writing her name because she still reverses sometimes.
Brian is working on writing his name and any other letters he wants to take a stab at. He is at a different level as far as small muscle coordination. He also has a harder time sitting still than the girls do. (Which is normal for his age from what I have read)
Natalie is learning to use sentences and sing songs. She knows all the major body parts and many animals and their sounds. Ask her what a pig says sometime. It's really cute!
We always cook something together during the week, and sometimes we have a project or field trip. This year we have tried weaving with yarn, growing crystals, and baking bread. We have gone on trips to the childrens' museum, the zoo and aquarium, the spring fair, and of course the library!!! We have also done some observational art: making pictures of things we see. Brindy made a neat oil pastel drawing of the fish in his tank.
That should pretty much bring us up to date except for one thing: The GARDEN!!!
For Easter the kids got Veggie Tales seed packets. They planted their seeds today. We have cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, green beans, peas, pumpkins, and a zucchini! I can't make my new camera work in my computer so I can't post pics until Brandon loads them into his computer. We are having so much fun learning from daily life and nature and being together as a family!