Christmas 2011

We had a great Christmas.  We went to the children's vigil mass on Christmas Eve.  Then we came home and made pizza.  We let the kids open the gifts they had each gotten each other. Only one present each.

This is Nathan with his Jedi opened on Christmas Eve.

Then the kids got ready for bed and prepared to toss and turn until finally falling asleep sometime around midnight.  Mike and I stayed up kind of late.  I hung snowflakes from the ceiling in the living room.  So the kids would be surprised in the morning.  Mike watched as I hung them.  (Thanks Mike) ;-)

 Noah opening his gift from Nathan.  Jedi to replace the ones he has broke the lightsabers on.

 The tree with presents from us under it.

 Then off to bed we went... we were awaken at 2:30 AM, but the kids were promptly sent back to bed.  Then when Nathan got up at 7AM we all got up and started the unwrapping.  In an effort to extend the fun of opening gifts.  We really moved things along slowly.  Each unwrapping one at a time and then stopping to really look at each present.  We took a few breaks for making breakfast and then eating it.  I made a breakfast pizza.  It was delicious.  Nathan really was fun this Christmas.  He loves Star Wars Jedi figures and anything Star Wars.  He kept asking if the presents had Jedi in them.  If he opened one and there weren't Jedi in it.  He would drop it and make a pouty face.  He recovered quickly and then would pick up the non-Star Wars toy, but was clearly disappointed if it wasn't a Je

 Before Santa

After Santa

 Mike looking through his stocking.

 Nathan opening Jedi figures

 

Noah opening his Harry Potter Snatcher Wand.

 Mike's heated throw blanket.  He got this from me and the girls for Christmas.

 I made Maddie a dog training apron.  She can put treats and stuff in it. She loves this!  She kept asking for a dog training kit, to train Sulley.

 Grace got an ice cream shop play food set to use with her American Girl dolls.

 A little wooden table and chairs for her dolls.

 Justin Beiber CDs for each of the girls.

Anakin light saber for Nathan and a Luke one for Noah.

 Nathan got a stuffed Curious George and some Curious George books and a puzzle.

Noah  holding his favorite new Beyblade that came with this DS game.

Here I am trying on my new sweater from Mike. It's very nice and warm.  I wore it on our walk at the battlefield  yesterday and it is such a good warm sweater.

After all was opened, we got cleaned up, I put on my new clothes from Mike and we tried out Madison's cotton candy machine!  It works great and is a lot of fun!

Everyone then went off to play with all their new stuff.  

Our Elf: Day 4

Buddy surprised the kids with this wonderland this morning.  He cut out flowers from paper and hung them from the ceiling.  Then planted flower lollipops for them to eat later today.  The snowman seems to be his best friend, we may have to give him a name if he keeps showing up alongside him.

The Elf on the Shelf

Our Elf comes out each Christmas season to listen in and report back to Santa on the kids' behavior.  This year our elf has become a little more creative.  He has been getting into trouble and having a lot of fun!  The kids are really enjoying his antics.

The first day we found him in the bathroom with Rudolph.  He had gotten into the toilet paper and made a little mess.

The second day we found he had sewn a pilot's hat and goggles and boarded a plane.  Darth Vader was either after them or trying to get them down.  We aren't sure.

The third day we found him playing black jack with a couple Disney Princes and a snowman.  He had left the kids dollar scratch off tickets so they could have a little fun too!  No one won anything, but it was still fun!

Trick or Treat 2011

Happy Halloween! 

Well we are all in for the night and they have brought in a huge stash of Halloween candy that will have to be dealt with at some point.  I hate all that candy it's so tempting!  I usually have to just get rid of it or we all eat it when we shouldn't.  I let them enjoy it for a little while.

This year Nathan dressed as a baby duck.   He was diagnosed with a double ear infection this afternoon, so I only took him to five houses in our cul de sac and then we handed out candy.  He just really wants to eat the candy now that he's had a taste of it.  It's hard to tell him no, because he's so darn cute, but it's so bad for him.  I let him have a few dum dums or "lollies" as he calls them.

Madison, Grace and I went as witches. Maddie dressed in purple and black and Grace in neon green and black.  They both were thrilled when I got them some purple hair spray for their hair.

Noah went as his favorite book character, Percy Jackson.  From Percy Jackson and the Olympians. We got his shirt from Etsy, and I made his necklace.  I hand painted each bead.  Each bead represents a year at camp (each book).  The character wore one in the book. Noah really loved the way it turned out.  I was particularly proud of the golden lamb, representing the golden fleece.

I hadn't really decorated the front porch for Halloween. I knew what I wanted to do, I just never seemed to find the time.  So today I put it all together.  I think it turned out cute.  I just removed the summer flowers, they had been done in by the frost on Sunday morning.  I added branches I found in the back woods, I even found the leafy branches laying on the path in the back.  I added ghost lights and some orange lights.  I hung the witch flying past the moon up under the light.

 

Here's a group shot of us.

And one with daddy and a sad Nathan.  His poor little bottom has a bad diaper rash developing.

Coney Hot dog Spaghetti

   I came across this on Pinterest.  Someone has posted a photo of hot dog slices with spaghetti pushed through them.  I thought the kids would love it!  So I made it last night.  They were thrilled!  They couldn't figure out how I made it.  Can you?

  
It's pretty easy.  Just push the spaghetti noodles through the slices before you cook them and there you go!  I threw the pasta and hot dogs in the boiling water together and they cook up just fine.

I couldn't figure out how to top it, so I went to the pantry for inspiration.  I found a can of chili and thought that could work.  Coney Pasta!  The kids loved it!  Nathan was a bit put off by the noodles through the hot dog, but he loved the chili.
  

This could be a fun dish to make for Halloween, as it's kind of creepy.  Maybe even shorten the noodles to give it more of a spider appearance!
  
Try this out with your kids, I bet they'll love it!

I Changed the Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal!

Okay so yesterday, I posted a recipe for Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal after I made it that morning.  I liked it, but I felt it could be better.  So this morning I made some changes.  I want to pass the changes along, so you can benefit too.

It's pretty much the same with a just a few changes. I'll underline the changes.



Ingredients:

1 3/4 C Vanilla Soy

1 C old fashioned oats
1/3 C pumpkin puree

1 Tbs butter
2 Tbs Brown Sugar (or to taste, I added a tiny pinch more) 
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 cup chopped pumpkin spice almonds (or plain if you like)


Bring the vanilla soy milk to a boil and then add the oats.  Cook for 5 minutes and allow to sit (if needed) to reach desired consistency.  Then add the butter.  Add the brown sugar and spices next. Last add the pumpkin puree.  Then top with Almonds and mix if you want.


I thought the pumpkin puree was just too much last time.  So you can see I reduced it by just a little. I like to taste the spices.  So I added a little more nutmeg.  I really felt it needed to be a little creamier and have a hit of vanilla, so I added the soy milk.  See what you think!

Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal

Today I tried out a recipe for Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal.  It is delicious, I think I'm going to experiment with the recipe and see if I can't make it more delicious.  I think it needs a little less pumpkin and more spices.  It's very good though.  Someone else suggested dried cranberries.  I didn't have any, but that could be good too!

Even though this is my photography blog, I thought I'd share this here anyway.  I did take the photos.


Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup water
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup chopped almonds (I used Planters Pumpkin Spice Almonds)

Bring the water to a boil and add the oats.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Turn off the burner and allow to thicken if needed.  Stir in the pumpkin puree, butter, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice.  Fold in the almonds, or any other toppings you think are delicious!  Enjoy!

My Fall Decorations

I have my fall stuff up.  I actually put it up early September.  I love the fall colors so much!  It's one of my favorite seasons.  I would like to add a few things.  My dining room table doesn't look good.  I want to fill the blue box with pumpkins, I just haven't gotten around to it. I also want to make a fall banner to hang above my big window.  We'll see if I get the time.  But anyway,  here's a look at my house in the fall...

The fireplace mantel.  Simple, just a stick I picked up in Monterey, crows, a few pumpkins, leaves, a string of orange lights and a pumpkin man. My mom actually came up with this idea.

Above the sink.

This is above my TV armoire.

I love this witch!

This needs a cute banner hanging above the big square window.

Back to School

We are officially back to school here at the Mandel house.  Noah and the girls started back to school on August 25th.  It was actually supposed to be on August 24th, but the 5.9 earthquake delayed the opening of school by one day!  I don't have any photos of Noah going back to school, he didn't want to be embarrassed by his mother at the bus stop.  He is doing great, and loves his new school.  He enjoys his band class.  He's learning to play the clarinet!  He enjoys P.E. and especially likes the food court at his school.  Here you can see Maddie working on her Math, while Nathan plays nearby.

As for homeschooling, it's going really well.  I'd say that after years of doing it, I finally feel like I've got it down.  I have a good curriculum that I pieced together myself.  I have a schedule for the whole year written out, which I also put together.  I'm kind of proud of myself.   It took about 3 days to get the whole year scheduled.  You can see Grace is working on the computer for math. We are using Tecahing Textbooks, this year. It's a great computer based math program.  It keeps her engaged and she is doing well with it! 

We are using a new (to us) science program this year, called Apologia Science.  We are studying anatomy and physiology.  Our first unit was about cells and a little history of science.  We really enjoy this science.  We have a big experiment kit, and have done some fun stuff already.  The girls used jello and candy to make a model of a cell.

This is our diagram of a cell's parts.  Grace took her test yesterday and new all the parts of the cell!  She's doing really well in school.

We are saying Madison is in Kindergarten, but I am using first grade material to teach her.  She is at a first grade reading level and math level.  She shares science and history with Grace, and is working on her penmanship.  She is doing really well too!