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Friday, December 28, 2012

Vicious Circles

Let me tell you a little story…

I took Matthew to the Department of Licensing to take the written exam for his driving learner’s permit.  Sounds easy, right?  Sadly for me, half way there, I remembered that I had forgotten his birth certificate at home.  
We turned around, drove all the way back home, and grabbed it.

You never know how long you’ll have to wait at the DOL, but when we walked in, we were first in line.  How nice!
The GRUMPY greeter asked me to state my business.  I said that my son was there to take his written test for his driving permit.  She gruffly informed me that DOL  no longer administers driving tests. She handed me a piece of paper with a list of driving schools who do administer the test.  She then promptly looked at the next person in line and stated, “ NEXT.”   

If I had questions {which I did} she was not about to answer them. 
I stepped aside and looked over the list.  There were some driving schools that were on our way home, so I had Matt call to see if he could come take the test. 

They really don’t make it very easy!  First we had to create an account on line with DOL, then we had to create an on line account with the driving school, and pay the testing fee on line.  Once confirmation was received by the driving school, we could then set an appointment. 
Problem:  Matt needs to present photo ID to the driving school.  Matt doesn’t have a photo ID.  He does not have a student ID card {because we homeschool}, he does not have a passport, he does not have a driver’s license {DUH}, he does not have a concealed weapons permit {another DUH}.

Solution:  Go back to DOL {in the morning because now it is closed}, apply for a Washington state identification card, present his photo ID to take the test, and be issued... a photo ID.
I think I’m dizzy!

{To avoid this crazy mess when it’s Hannah’s turn, we had her get her ID too.}


 P.S.
Matt passed his written exam with a 100%. The driving school uploads the results to DOL.  Back we go to DOL to get his permit.  The permit supercedes the ID card... which is now void. 

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

The last two days of Advent

Christmas Eve day we spent in the  kitchen together making varenyky.  When Eric was little he made them with his "little Grammy".  Now he has taught the children how to make them.   It's a fun family time in the kitchen. 

In the late afternoon we attended a special service at our church.  There was an adult choir and children's choir.  Scripture was read in between songs, some the choirs sang, some we all sang, which told the story of Christ.  

We came home from service and ate our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of shepherd's pie.  This year I made Karen's potato rolls.  They were scrumptious!

It's our tradition, once the kids go to sleep, we place their stockings on their beds.  When they wake up in the morning, they can open them.   I'm pretty sure I heard little feet and squeals of delight in the wee hours of the morning. ...It's Christmas!

Each year, Eric begins our Christmas morning with the reading of either Matthew or Luke's account of the birth of Christ.  I still stand amazed at all the prophecies fulfilled! 

COFFEE and gifts come next.  We open gifts one at a time, watching, oohing, ahhing.    When we are done, the littles play with their new things, while I get supper going.   Usually we have turkey with trimmings and we ALWAYS have birthday cake!

We make a special one with loads of symbolism.

A round chocolate cake
  {round = the world
   chocolate = black as sin} 

Frosted with white frosting
  {white = Christ's righteousness which covers our sin}

3 red candles
 {3 = Father, Son, Holy Spirit
  candles = Light of the world.

Green boughs around the cake
 {Ever green = ever lasting life.}

I couldn't find red candles anywhere so I put 3 piles of red sprinkles on top; and I forgot the ever green boughs.  Kicking myself for that. 


Merry Christmas!

This next week, we'll take down the tree, pack away the decorations, and give the house a thorough cleaning.  I LOVE to organize, and I often go through the closets since new things need a home. 

I will also take some time to review and revise our daily schedule and lesson plans.  I also set goals for the next year - though I've often thought about doing it monthly.  I like how you can see your success or failure in bite size chunks. 

I wonder what 2013 will hold the Blanchet Family? 







Saturday, December 22, 2012

Candy canes, Christmas lights, Chex Mix and a shipping container

Been kinda busy....but a good busy.

I read The Candymaker's Gift by David and Helen Haidle to the kids on day 19.  We also made little "candy cane" ornaments using red pipe cleaners and red and white pony beads.  Abbie really enjoyed making them. 

  
Thursday night {day 20} we drove around looking at Christmas lights. It was such fun. There are now a lot of round-abouts on the roadways in Washington. Eric had our heads spinning 'round and 'round as he went 'round and 'round.
There is a house that goes all out with lights and Trans-Siberian Orchestra playing, but we couldn't find that house this year.  There were lots of other houses to oooh and ahhh over.

Friday nights in our home are often our family movie night. We thought we'd watch a Christmas movie for our day 21.  We couldn't decide between White Christmas or It's a Wonderful Life, {neither would hold the attention of the Littles} so we decided to watch a few episodes of Get Smart. {oddly enough, that does hold the Littles' attention.} Not very Christmasy, but very funny.  We laughed out loud and enjoyed munching on Chex Mix and having a cozy fire to warm the downstairs! {It's a chilly 40º.}

Today we gave a bit of ourselves.  A sweet family in our church has moved here from Germany.  Their shipping container with ALL of their belongings was to arrive yesterday afternoon.   They boys drove to their house and waited with others to help unload it.  This huge 40' container must be unloaded in only 2 hours.  After that time, they are charged by the hour.   However, the truck was stuck in traffic so it didn't arrive until late last night.  Since that was no fault of our friends, they were allowed to have it through the weekend with no extra fees.  All the helpers headed home and returned early this morning.  They hustled and unloaded it within 3 hours amidst rain drops.  Our family also provided a simple, but satisfying meal for them.  I remember how hairy moving day can be.  A homemade meal is such a blessing.  One can only handle so much take-out pizza!

Tomorrow, after church, we are making gifts for the neighbors for our day 23 Advent activity.  I found a recipe for Cardamom Cake and it is really yummy.  We will make mini bundts, place them on a small, red paper plate and wrap with cute Christmas cellophane.   I will also be making lots of mashed potatoes for Varenyky!

Here's the recipe for the Orange Cardamom Cake

Cake:
3 cups + 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1-3/4 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
2/3 cup oil
1 Tbsp. grated orange rind
2 tsp. grated lemon rind
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 large eggs

Glaze:
1 c. powdered sugar
4-1/2 tsp. fresh orange juice
1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice


1. Preheat oven to 350º.

2. To prepare cake, coat a 10" tube or Bundt pan with Pam spray; dust with 1 Tbsp. flour. Set aside.

3. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamom, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in center of mixture. Add 3/4 c. orange juice, oil, orange rind, lemon rind, vanilla and eggs to flour mixture, beat with a mixer at low speed until well combined, scrapping sides of bowl.

4. Spoon batter into prepared cake pan, spreading evenly. Bake at 350º for 55 minutes or until tests done with toothpick. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pan.
Cool completely on a wire rack.

5. To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, orange juice, and lemon juice in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk.   Place the cake on your desired serving plate or cake stand;
Drizzle glaze over warm cake.

Enjoy! 


Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Day 18: Create a Nativity scene. 
I took the easy way out on this one.  I didn't have any clay or play-do as the card suggested for us to use, but we do have this Playmobile nativity set.  


It's a Christmas favorite for all the kids.  The older children no longer play with it, but remember it fondly.  The younger children love to set up all the people and animals just as they imagine it would have been on that most amazing night.



While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.   And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.



In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.



 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Humor me while I think out loud

Just thoughts....maybe a bit of a rant out of frustration.

I wish I was articulate - especially now.

I have read many blogs in the last few days with posts of grief about the tragedy at Sandy Hook. I too was stunned and saddened. I look at my own children excited for Christmas, full of energy and life and can't imagine the pain the families are feeling, and I am so sorry for their loss.

BUT...

I just read a blog this morning where she posted all sorts of links to write your congressmen to ban guns. Really? Is that what people think will make a difference?

Guns are inanimate objects. They are neither good nor evil. The intent of the person who uses it directs the gun. Airplanes are inanimate objects too - 11 years ago they were used as a horrific weapon - so should we make airplanes illegal?

The problem is with the heart of man. The problem is SIN!

People don't want to take a hard look at their heart. They don't want to be honest and admit that they are deceitful and wicked and in desperate need of a Savior.

We are quick to compare ourselves with each other and conclude that "I am not as bad as that guy who shot all those sweet, little kids at school." However, the comparison is faulty!

We can't compare a rotten apple with another rotten apple and say, "well, this one isn't so bad." The fact is they are both rotten. We need to make a comparison of a perfect apple to a rotten one.  So - we compare the Holy, Perfect God with ourselves, and suddenly, our rottenness is painfully clear!

Signs posted on a school fence stating that area is a "gun-free zone" will not deter someone with a depraved mind set on hurting others. "Oh gee, I think I'll leave my gun at home since this is a gun-free zone." It just lets him know that all inside are unarmed, unable to defend themselves, making them an easy target.
{Obviously - the sign didn't stop him!}

Taking away gun ownership rights will not stop the crimes. Bad people do bad things because they can!

Why are you saddened over this incident at Sandy Hook?

Because precious lives were lost?

Yes - precious life.

However, I don't see people posting links on their blogs to their congressmen to make abortion illegal.

That's killing babies...precious life! Why are we not saddened over this?

I don't see cries going out to make euthanasia illegal. That's killing our seniors...precious life!  ~ Why are we not grieved and saddened over this? 

~ Who decides whose life is precious?   ~ Why is not all life valued?  ~ Why do we have a sliding scale of measurement? ~ Why are guns always the villain rather than the person abusing it?  ~ Why can't we be honest with ourselves about ourselves?

Just thoughts I had to vent. Thanks for listening.


 

Monday, December 17, 2012

Snow White

I thought I would make paper snowflakes with the kids today. {using this tutorial}  Instead the kids may want to go out IN the snow.


It's really coming down.  It feels like we are inside a snow globe and someone just swirled it around. 

Snowflakes are little miracles, no, really!  Have you ever studied them in depth?  My brother told me about this Caldecott Award winning children's book about Snowflake Bentley.  It's a true story about a man who marveled at God's creation of the snowflake and purposed to photograph them.  You can check out this book to see his actual photographs.  I promise you will be delighted and utterly amazed at our Creator!  


 
Cutting was a little challenging for the littler hands in the family so I got out a hole punch.  Good idea, but still hard to punch through all thicknesses.


Yep, it's a snow day - inside and out!

Photobucket

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Wreaths, stories, and gingerbread houses


I think symbolism is really cool.  It adds so much depth.  Christmas is full of symbols - all meant to tell the Gospel story.

Do you know the symbolism behind the wreath?  It's made of greens to symbolize life and it is in the shape of a circle which represents eternity.  Put together it is meant to symbolize the eternal life we have in Christ.   There are so many types of front door decorations one could choose, but I'll stick with the traditional evergreen wreath as a precious reminder. {Day 13}

Day 14 and 15 - we read more children's Christmas picture books.  We bought a new one this year at Costco called Song of the Stars - A Christmas story by Sally Lloyd-Jones.   It's the story of the birth of Jesus from Creation's point of view.  As the animals peer in to see the newborn babe, they say, "The One who made us has come to live with us!"   Love that! 

Today {Day 16} we Hannah and Matt made a gingerbread house.  I bought this inexpensive kit from Trader Joe's.  


 Those two always have a lot of fun together.  Even after the house was finished, they kept laughing and joking because even though the finished house looked cute, it did NOT taste good.  We all agreed that homemade is the only way to go.  Matt noted that not enough candies or icing was supplied, so it was close to impossible to make our house look like the super cute one on the box.

Honestly, I've never been big on gingerbread houses.  Something about them being left out, growing stale, collecting dust and germs....ew!  
.

I highly doubt we will make any more gingerbread houses, but gingerbread men?  Now we are talking!

Saturday, December 15, 2012

A Golden Birthday

Along with all our Advent activities, Hannah celebrated her golden birthday this year...14 on the 14th. 

She made a special dress with 2 jackets to go with it.  Aqua blue is beautiful on her.


She also really wanted her ears pierced.  We left for the mall bright and early on the chilly morning of her birthday.   She picked a darling pair of blue topaz (her birth stone) daisy stud earrings.  She was so thrilled.


Some sweet girlfriends arranged for a fun surprise at Starbuck's afterwards.


Sarah was able to stop over for some special sister time.  Birthday dinner, dessert and gifts came later once all the family could gather again that evening.

Hannah means "graceful" and she is that in every sense of the word.  She loves the Lord Jesus and has such a tender heart, a sweet spirit.  We are so thankful that God blessed us with sovereignly putting her in our family.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

We are still counting down the days until Christmas. 

Day 11's card of our Advent calendar said to light candles, turn off all, but the Christmas tree lights and talk about our favorite childhood Christmas memories.  We kind of already do that anyway.  My sweet friend in California sent us her homemade candles as part of our Christmas gift .... just in time.  Her candles are THE BEST.  She sent gingerbread, and mulburry.  It was fun to light them for this occasion.  My house sure smelled good. 

On day 12 we all wore Christmas socks.  Trying to get a photo of them all was pretty funny since some of the patterns are only on the leg part, not the foot part - so taking a shot looking downward didn't work. 

I couldn't find Christmas socks for the little girls.  I bought a women's pair for Ellie in hopes that they would be ok.  The black heel practically goes halfway up her calf, but she loves them.  For Abbie and Mary I bought anklet socks with a cute ruffle and added jingle bells and red and green buttons.
{From left to right:  Ellie's striped penguins, Hannah's red and green penguins, Abbie's ruffled socks, Mary's snowman pj's {that counts, right?} Mom's singing angels, Dad's red, white and green deer, Dan's sledding snowmen, and Matt's snowflakes and snowmen.  Sadly, Caleb's dancing snowmen aren't in the picture, he had already gone to bed - his midnight shift comes far too early!}

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

12.12.12


Something fun…  Something a little crazy...  Something spontaneous… {ok not so spontaneous since we've been brainstorming on what we can do to make a memory on 12.12.12.}

Eric's idea: Pick a direction. Head 12 miles and do whatever is there for 12 minutes - try not to spend more than $12. 

The challenge:  We live IN THE COUNTRY! I guess that's where the spontaneity will come in - since I've no idea what is 12 miles from our home.   Will we eat?  Will we shop?  Will we just run in a field with cows and horses?

The kids are up for a little adventure, me too.   I'll take my camera.....




You'll never guess where we ended...
 
 
It's kind of comical, really.
 
 
No, it wasn't a field.
 
 
 
Yep, Good ol' McDonald's. 
 


We never go there anymore.  The olders reacted with, "Oh, McDonald's, it's been forever since we've been there."  The youngers were just plain perplexed, "What's McDonald's?"
Pretty funny.  We went in and ordered from the dollar menu.  A couple of them chose a chicken sandwich, most of them chose the fudge sundae. 





Just silly fun and a good time with the kids on 12.12.12.

 

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Day 9:  Jingle it.  Wear bells, sing Jingle Bells. Jingle throughout the day.

It reminded me of Psalm 150,
"Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse.
Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre.
Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.
Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals,
Let everything that has breath prasie the Lord.
Praise the Lord!


A few years ago Hallmark had this snowman for sale. 


He sings jingle bells and the dog wiggles to jingle his bells.  The snowman's friendly smile, makes me smile.  Everytime someone walks by him, they discreetly press the button and away he sings.  Last year, Mary was afraid of it, but not this year.

Day 10: Read any Christmas book. 
We chose to read the Tale of Three Trees.  You already know why from my earlier post.  Another favorite Christmas story is The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by  Susan Wojciechowski.  Tears come every time I read it.  I think it's my favorite of all our stories.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Cookie exchanges are such fun.  Hannah and I each baked and baked.  She made a delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.  Not "Christmasy" but such a great basic cookie recipe to have. 

So - do you know how they work?  You bake 6 dozen of one type of cookie.  You are able to leave with a sampling of all the other cookies brought by others to total 6 dozen.  It's a terrific way to get a large assortment of Christmas cookies without having to bake 12 or more different recipes.

Look at all those cookies!
Fellowship and fun with good friends during the holiday season....it was a lovely day. 

Later that evening we enjoyed a piano recital.  What fun to sing some carols and listen to the many children play skillfully on a beautiful grand piano.  (A sure delight for Hannah!)

Hannah played "The First Noel".

Daniel played "O Come All Ye Faithful".
 
Singing carols was what we did for Day 7 of our Advent calendar.
 
Day 8's card was to read the "Legend of the Pine Cone".  Pine cones make for beautiful, natural decorations.  In fact, I used just a few for a simple porch decoation with some fresh greenery, but this "legend" was a bit ridiculous and has absolutely nothing to do with the birth of Christ. It did make for good conversation with the younger children as even the ridiculous can be a good teaching tool.   A much better story would have been The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt.  {though this story doesn't specifically state that the trees are pine trees - so not sure if the pine cones would correlate.}
 
 


Thursday, December 6, 2012

Day 6 of our Advent calendar ... Can you guess? 



Yep - Bake It! 
We have our annual cookie exchange tomorrow.  I chose this cookie because I love Susan Branch, and they sounded so yummy.  Molasses cookies are my favorite.

 
Unfortunately, the kids couldn't really help with this recipe because the dough was super sticky and hard to dispense from the cookie scoop. Even though I made the frosting as per the directions, mine was rather runny - more like a glaze than a frosting. 
So instead of "frosted molasses cookies" - in my opinion these are more like glazed gingerbread cookies, but they are yummy.
 

Wednesday, December 5, 2012


Ok, so posting every day isn't realistic!  Here is an update on the Advent days.
Day 3:  Decorate it! In addition to our “big tree”, we have a couple of little Christmas trees.  My favorite one has little shells on it. {Looks like one fell off the center of the bow...oops.  I'll have to replace that.}
 
The other one is plain and is perfect for a child’s room.   Some years we have kept it simple and sweet and only strung it with popcorn garland.  Other years we have put small ornaments on; that is what the small children did.   This year it is in the little girls' room, on top of the dresser {away from little Mary’s curious, chubby fingers.}
 

Day 4:  Give it!  This card encourages giving a gift to the teachers in your life.   Dan and Hannah made a yummy treat for our piano teacher.   {I don’t think he reads this blog, so I think I’m safe to spill it…} chocolate dipped pretzel sticks.   




Day 5:  This week is crazy busy with outside-the-home activities.    Even though tomorrow {December 6th} is technically St. Nicholas Day {not to be confused with Santa Claus!} we will hang our stockings today.   Stockings are a very fun tradition in our home.  Our first Christmas together, Eric and I had nothing by the way of Christmas decorations and hardly any money to buy them.  He was so sweet.  He found enough money to buy two knit stockings and he embroidered our names on them.   That man has the most tender heart.  
 

Our tradition has been to put their stockings at the foot of their bed, after they have gone to sleep on Christmas Eve.  They know that when they wake up on Christmas morning they can open them.   This "tradition" started when our older children were really little.  This kept them busy and bought us a little more sleep time after a late night of toy assembly or last minute wrapping.   Now, it’s just tradition.  We do it this way every year and the kids count on it!  Early Christmas morning, they usually gather all together in one of their rooms and open them up.  The stockings are filled with the whimsical, the practical, the useful, and usually the savory and the sweet too.   

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Day 1 & 2

Day 1 of our new Advent calendar had us get our Christmas cards ready to send.  I chose to make them this year.  It's a simple design - a postcard style with our sentiment on one side and a black and white photo on the other.  There really wasn't much that the kids could help with except lick the envelopes.  They thought it was a terrific way to help...so did I!


I went to the post office to buy Christmas stamps and they were out.  Can you believe it?  So, while at the grocery store I added 2 books to my order.  The stamps are kept in the cash drawer, but the only way for the cash drawer to open is to complete the transaction,  so there was no way to see the design that they had beforehand.   Wouldn't you know it - they are Santa stamps.  Whatever.

They are going in Monday's mail.  :-)

Day 2 - Tell the Christmas story as you put up the Nativity.   It was a sweet little time with the younger children.  As I carefully unwrapped the pieces, they each told me what they knew about the details of Christ's birth. 


 They even remembered that the wise men were not present at his birth - so we don't include them.  Ours is a bit of a mix and match set.   We also have a Playmobile Nativity for the kids.

When I read the side of the box of the Advent calendar it said there was a Scripture, prayer, and an activity for each day of Advent.  I assumed that each activity would help us focus on Christ, but it's not quite that way.  We'll stick it out to see how it is, but for the focus we want, we'll probably have to tweak it for future years.

We got our big tree this weekend too.  The boys went out into the woods yesterday and brought home a beauty.  We decorated it today.   The kids' excitement is contageous.

Daniel read some Christmas stories to his sisters while Eric and I strung the lights on the tree


Stay tuned for Day 3.