Adventures in Unsell Land: My Simple Diary~ Week 2 of 2011

Outside my window... very, very cold. Below freezing temps. We had an ice storm that began yesterday afternoon around 3pm and continued through the night. We were hoping for a good snowfall but only had some snow at the start and then it switched over to all ice and continued to rain down ice on us until a few hours ago. I wish I had thought to take a picture of our yards before it all started melting as they were both a huge sheet of solid ice. It was beautiful! I have been very surprised that we didn't loose power as you usually do here in the deep south with ice storms.

These icicles are so small compared to others we have seen but it was still fun to see them hanging from our house. When we lived in Tennessee we had several really severe ice storms that hit and had icicles 3-4 feet long hanging after wards. One of the storms knocked our power out for 9 days. The longest icicles that I believe I have ever seen were during my childhood when our family lived in the mountains surrounding Bakersfield. Tehachapi got really cold winters with lots of snow and our house had a long walkway up to the front door. I have vivid memories of the icicles that hung along that walkway. They were so big and beautiful! I am positive there are pictures somewhere of those icicles though I don't have any myself. No matter the size though, I have always thought icicles were so beautiful!

Our front yard but this picture was taken long after it all started melting. I love how ice/snow looks on a yard.

I am thinking... about the week ahead and the things we need to accomplish for school this week.

I am thankful for... the storm that hit yesterday even though we didn't get the snow we were hoping for from it. It has been nice to have Bryan home from work today and to have the really cold temps. I love winter! I am also thankful for a gift certificate that I won in December from a blog contest. It was a gift certificate to Novica. I LOVE Novica! I love that the products are handmade by so many artists from around the world. I had such a difficult time trying to decide what to get with my gift certificate. It literally took me several weeks to decide as their site has so many beautiful products. I finally decided on two handbags that I had been wanting for a while now.

I am wearing... My comfy PJ's. Surprised? LOL! Never left them today.

I am remembering... all of the fun snow storms that our family has experienced through the years.

I am currently reading... Angel Harp by Michael Phillips.

I am currently working on.... lesson plans for a unit study on California to do with the kids next month prior to our trip out west.

I am hoping... that Houstons cold gets better soon. He's been sick for a couple of days now.

On my mind... our upcoming vacation. We are taking the kids on a cross country trip back to our homeland of California in a just a couple of months (March) and Bryan and I have been spending a lot of time planning the trip out on paper. It's so hard to narrow down the things you long for the kids to see the most in each state but we are really having fun working on our plans and very much looking forward to showing the kids Bakersfield, CA, where Bryan and I grew up. We look forward to taking them by our old houses, schools, etc. and of course at the top of our list, seeing dear family and friends.

Pondering these words... Life should be full of living-
"When I say that life should be full of living, I mean that we should be in touch and able to relate with some genuine interest no matter where we are, what we hear, or what we see. This kind of interest isn't something we give to children. In fact, we'd prefer that children never say that they've learned botany or chemistry or conchology or geology or astronomy, or whatever. The question isn't how much a student knows after he's completed his education, but how much he cares, and how many categories of things he cares about."
~From Charlotte Mason, volume 3, pg 171

In the kitchen... I've been baking our favorite chocolate chip cookies this afternoon, Chewy Maple Chocolate Chip cookies. There is something about cold weather that makes me want to bake things.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

• In a bowl, cream shortening and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, syrup and vanilla until well mixed. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to the creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Yield: 3 dozen.

For dinner tonight I am making homemade Ham Fettuccine, a favorite for our family along with my homemade bread (recipe below) that is rising as I type this.......

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons instant active dry yeast

Place ingredients in order listed in bread machine pan and set to dough cycle. Once ready transfer to a bread pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350. I double the recipe to make two loaves for our family.

I have chicken wings (a favorite of Bryans) marinating in the refrigerator to do tomorrow and a homemade cranberry sauce cooking in the crockpot to pour over and cook with a roast tomorrow as well for those of us who are not that fond of chicken wings.

Around the house... I have been trying to catch up on laundry. It's amazing how behind on laundry I always get over the Holidays. Of course, I am never fully caught up on laundry.

One of my favorite things from this past week... Celebrating our Allys Suzannes 7th birthday. Her birthday was actually on New Years Eve but we had her celebration yesterday, Sunday. It seems like just yesterday that she was born in Memphis, TN. It's hard to believe that my youngest girl is 7 already! Photos to come this week from her fun birthday celebration but here's a teaser photo.