Family Fun in February

Get ready for a lot of pictures because we've had lots of fun this month!

Ready... set... GO!

 J helped make holes with a toothpick...

 I added the top of the egg carton... (recognise that tape?! End of the roll.)

 A bit of potting mix...

 And a top up...

 Some water sprinkling...

 And we have a great seed-raising tray.  Today I've just transplanted the little sprouts to bigger pots.

Proof that packages can contain more than the sum of their parts: 'butcher' paper stuffing = laying on the floor and drawing around J, C, Mum (and guessing Dad's outline 'cause he's at school) then colouring them in.

 And the box itself = a great indoor sled - "Again, please Mum? Please-please?"

 Chef J making gingerbread men

 C making sure there are differently abled men...

 The "babies" get stuck you know.

 And C made one obese man, one pinch of dough at a time! (Mum re-rolled him for even cooking purposes.)

 They tasted good no matter the technique.

 This game gets just as much use as a dress-up item as it does as the official 'guess what's in the Cat's hat'!

 Lego/Duplo is popular.

 We made Valentines with salvaged toilet roll tubes and paint.  The librarian loved hers!  I'm still trying to get stains out of one t-shirt.

 Dad bought a funky pair of headphones to share

 Though I think the novelty is really holding the iPod.

And, contrary to photographic evidence, C enjoyed helping me make cookies while J played with stamps (read: distraction tactic until J wanted to cook).  But what would really have been more fun (in his opinion) is if Mum had let him play with the new camera.

 Yes, this is the right way up!  C has learned to 'bend' and I took the photo 'bending' down too (though my hands and head weren't touching the ground!)

 Our box 'sled' became a car.  Those are pillow wheels, blanket seatbelts and a lid steering wheel you can see.

 More cardboard fun: a cereal box house, and toilet roll monsters.  J named them Dace and Grob, and then we made 'babies' named Bob, Rob and Gob!

 J can finally blow his own bubbles...

 While C is learning not to tip the whole bottle over himself  or the ground every time.

And finally, Mum's cleaning gloves contribute much more fun to "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands."

Book Review: One Thousand Gifts

In the hectic life of raising two boys I have set myself the goal of reading 13 books in 2013 that push my horizons a little beyond my standard fare of crime novels and recipe books.  This is my response to #7 on my list: One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

Source: amazon.com

I had read the first chapter of One Thousand Gifts online and was keen to read more.  Voskamp's faith journey, as she undertakes a dare to list one thousand gifts or blessings in her day to day life, is told in a humble and gentle way.  Her mantra - "eucharisteo" - is a Greek verb meaning "to give thanks."  Each chapter unfolds a new layer of understanding she finds while she keeps her list of one thousand gifts and beyond.  She quotes many notable Christians (throughout history) as she discovers the blessings of giving thanks, changes her perspective of her difficult life experiences, and grows closer to God.  And she as a busy, homeschooling mother of six, I could identify with some of her daily challenges quite easily.

I struggled a bit though, with her writing style.  Don't get me wrong! It is beautiful, poetic, and draws the reader in, layer by layer, through her journey of deepening her relationship with God.  The problem is more that the way I read at the moment is in snatches - five minutes here, ten minutes before nap time ends, at the tail end of the day when my brain is fuzzy...  This method does not lend itself to poetic appreciation on my part.  I just wished she'd get to the point more directly!  

Having said that, I believe this was a timely read for me.  As a pragmatist, I often am quick to critique situations, and find a more charitable, optimistic perspective hard to maintain.  Voskamp has caught my attention enough to prompt me to exercise more thanksgiving in my life, so since the season of Lent begins today, one of my Lenten disciplines this year will be to start my own list.  Maybe I'll keep it going after Easter; maybe not.  But I'm hoping the posture of gratitude will be more firmly established in my attitude come March 31st.  And I'll be back to read it again sometime, when I can more deeply savour the style along with the message.

January Round Up

I thought I should get around to posting some of the pictures from January (post-birthday party).  So here's the round up:

 The chef's hat is mandatory when helping in the kitchen at present (according to J).

 We went to the park as a family and tried out J's t-ball set after swinging and sliding and climbing.

 It is warm enough in mid-winter to sit out on the patio area for afternoon tea - that's Texas for y'all!

 I got a haircut for the first time in ages.

 We swapped date nights with friends and our boys loved hanging out together.

 C discovered he could blow bubbles in his milk until they popped when they touched his nose.

 This was a source of delight for a good 15 minutes!  Not sure if much milk made it up the straw. ;o)

 C played with playdough for the first time.

 Note that the 10 colour pack we gave J for his birthday is now a uniform 'greywacke' grey!

The party tablecloth is now officially part of the playdough experience.

So there you go.  Not the best pics ever, but a sample of our month.

Mr Castle would be proud

For Christmas J was sent a book (complete with CD) of Margaret Mahy stories which included one of my favourites, Jam.

Source: amazon.com

It tells of Mr Castle, an extremely competent house-husband, who decides to make jam from the plums falling from their backyard tree.  The problem is that he refuses to waste a single plum and,consequently, every receptacle in the house is used to hold the jam.  They cheer when they can reclaim the teapot for tea, to go with their "scones, pancakes, roly polies and sponge cakes." And so they go on eating the jam.  I won't spoil the ending for you.

I have been enjoying reading and listening to the stories over the past month, especially Mahy's Kiwi accent! The excesses of Mr Castle's jam-making always seem to come to mind when I am midway through preserving a big batch of produce.  I'm sure the fruit multiplies when I am cleaning, trimming and chopping it; so it is gratifying to finally have it in jars, sitting in my pantry at the end (when it has usually returned to its former proportions)  Nevertheless, it is satisfying on many levels to consume.

My most recent session was making jam from nine pounds of strawberries (closer to 8.5 after we snacked on some.)  I ordered the fruit from our produce co-op and invited a friend to come over and help the next day.  We prepped 5 lbs of strawberries that afternoon, made 2 batches of jam, and I mixed up some to macerate in the fridge overnight.  Over the past week I made that lot up, and made two more batches with the remaining strawberries.  Phew!

I used the following recipes, with varying degrees of success, but they all taste great. I didn't buy new jars, just reused ones with rubber seals in the lids.  On the whole, my attempt to reuse baby food jars was NOT successful. So much for saving so many.  I'll be hunting on Pinterest for some other projects I think.

Plain Ol' Strawberry Jam: I did a half batch and then a whole batch.  I didn't bother processing the jam (Shock, horror! Call the food police!) but just cooked it until it was a soft setting consistency.  The total yield was 4 large [18oz?] jars.  Even the large jar that was still 2 inches below full had enough residual heat to create a vacuum and seal. Yay!

Strawberry and Ginger Jam:  A search for a recipe was prompted by a friend mentioning her German mother-in-law's amazing jam.  This yielded 1 large jar and 1 baby food jar.  The latter refused to seal so we have been sampling it.  I'll make it again.

The entire yield from 8.5lbs, minus 3 baby food jars consumed already.

Strawberry Basil Jam: I had bought some basil for another recipe and decided to use it up when I saw this mentioned.  As an experiment in water-bath canning I tried processing baby food jars in my largest pot, and this was my big fat failure!  Two jars came open while they were in the water bath, two made that satisfying 'pop' sound as the seals depressed but sadly they weren't sealed when I checked them the next morning.  Because they were being processed I didn't cook the fruit as long so the jam is more syrup than spreading consistency.  All 7 little Xs below are this yield and are now in our fridge.  The downside: I didn't have a deep enough pot to process a large jar so I only used the baby food jars.  The upside: strawberry basil syrup tastes great on pancakes!  I'll try this one again but cook until setting point is reached.

Strawberry, Ginger, Bay, Black Pepper and Lemon Jam: I made a half recipe with the last 2 lbs of strawberries. I didn't have quite enough black pepper (despite raiding our collection of little sachets that come with plastic cutlery on airplanes and the like) and I doubled the lemon zest.  This yielded 1 large jar and 1.5 baby food jars. Again the baby food jars didn't seal.  I think I'd like to make this again with more pepper.

 

All in all, a mountain of strawberries now in jars of deliciousness.  Mr Castle would be proud!

13 Books for 2013

I've noticed a lot of bloggers posting their goals for 2013.  I'm not that brave!  I do, however, want to broaden my reading selection to something more than the crime novels and recipe books that inevitably catch my eye at the library.

So here I am, proposing to read 13 books this year that I have not read before.  Some have been on my list for a while.  Some are recommended by others.  Some caught my eye in the 'newly published books' magazine that the library promotes.  Some I have read other books by the author.  Some will hopefully get my Regent juices going again.  Some might help me understand more of N's papers when I proofread.

In no particular order:

1. Life Together - Dietrich Bonhoeffer This was one of the texts my housemates read for their internship when we lived in community in Vancouver.

Source: amazon.com

2. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy  I figure I should read it before I see the movie - even though N has shared most of the plot with me before. ;o)

Source: amazon.com

3. Jesus and the Eyewitnesses - Richard Bauckham  On my list of 'things to read' since it was mentioned at Regent a lot - and we have it on our bookshelf!

Source: amazon.com

4. Ratlines - Stuart Neville OR Watching the Dark - Peter Robinson  It's hard to resist the crime novels, and these caught my eye in a review magazine that I picked up at the library - BookPage.

 

Source (both): amazon.com

5. Guns, Germs and Steel - Jared Diamond  This has been on my 'to read' list since N recommended it at least 7 years ago!  Diamond's other books, Collapse and The World Until Yesterday, also look good.

Source: amazon.com

6. Me Before You - Jojo Moyes  Another recommendation I noticed in BookPage.  The blurb reminds me of 'The Intouchables'.

Source: bookpage.com

7. One Thousand Gifts - Ann Voskamp  Somewhat of a blog-world sensation, I've read some of this online and want to see if the rest is as good.  I've seen and heard mixed reviews.

Source: amazon.com

8. Habits of the House - Fay Weldon  Touted as a book for fans of Downton Abbey - I fit the bill - this looked interesting.

Source: amazon.com

9. Listening Prayer - Leanne Payne  Meg recommended this at Moms Talk.

Source: amazon.com

10. Hokey Pokey - Jerry Spinelli  I had to have a kids' book somewhere!  I've led a novel study on another of Spinelli's books, and I like the title of this coming-of-age novel (though I think he's referencing the song and not the icecream flavour).

Source: bookpage.com

11. Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light - Mother Teresa and Brian Kolodiejchuk  Another recommendation I picked up at Regent, which explores the 'dark night of the soul'.

Source: amazon.com

12. Fall of Giants - Ken Follett  Having read two of Follett's other epic novels, Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, I'm keen to see how he traverses the 20th century.  This is the first of his new Century Trilogy.

Source: amazon.com

13. Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire - William T. Cavanaugh  One of the books N seems to refer to frequently in papers and one that likely will be part of his dissertation.  It looks pretty approachable, and it's already on the shelf too.

Source: amazon.com

So there you go.  Thirteen books for 2013.  The first request (#7) is waiting at the library already.  Wish me luck!