Children's Classics ::: Katy No Pocket

One of our favorite classics is the sweet story of Katy No Pocket, written by Emmy Payne. Katy is a mama kangaroo with a Very Big Problem. She doesn't have a pocket! How is she going to carry her baby Freddy? Katy and Freddy go on a quest to find out how other mothers carry their babies ... maybe then they can find a solution. Unfortunately, what works for other mothers doesn't work for Katy. She and Freddy head out of the jungle in search of answers and find themselves in the big city. With a little help from a kind man on the street, Katy is back up and running with pockets to spare!

My girls love this book. Some of the attraction, I believe, is because it is about kangaroos. In our house, kangaroos are just cool. :) They are different and not something that you normally see in our neck of the woods!

I was drawn to this story by the sweet pictures in the artwork. I was wonderfully pleased when I found out that the illustrations were done by H.A. Rey - the man behind Curious George! (George is also a big deal in our house. He is very curious, as my N1 would say). :) The pictures are simple and cartoonish, but provide lots of detail for small eyes. Something I learned about Mr. Rey's style of illustrating - he originally planned to illustrated the books that he and his wife Margret wrote with watercolors, but because of color separation in printing, they switched to the cartoonish style that has continued on in his books.

This story has gotten a workout with our girls and we all give it two thumbs up if you haven't met Katy yet!

For more children's classics or to post one of your own, head over to Five Minutes for Books!

Peanut Butter Hummus

Whenever I mention my love of hummus on my blog, I usually get several responses ranging from "me, too!" to "I've never tried it!" So, I thought I'd share my recipe. There are many recipes and many variations out there ... this is just the one I started with and I've stuck with it.

Peanut Butter Hummus

1 can chickpeas (15-19 oz)
1/3 cup warm water
4 T. peanut butter
2 T. olive oil
3 T. lemon or lime juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 t. salt

In a food processor, combine all ingredients and blend to a dip consistency. If it is too thick, add more warm water 1 T. at a time.

Serve peanut putter humus immediately or store in refrigerator for up to 3 days. Serve with fresh celebry, carrots, and broccoli. Warm pita or french bread cubes also do well. My favorite is with apple slices.

Enjoy!

Simple Woman's Daybook ::: January 12

Do visit Peggy's to see all the other daybook posts this week!

FOR TODAY

Outside my Window ... cold, but light is creeping in. Hoping to open the windows and enjoy the sun this morning, even if it's too cold for us to get out in it.

I am thinking ... that I need to get myself organized for the week today. Lists need to be made as I have a fair amount of church that needs to work its way in around home and family.

I am thankful for ... the fact that I get to stay home with my girls. Last week, being our first week back into a normal rountine after holidays and travel, I really tried to stay home as much as possible and, boy, did it help get us back in shape around the house. Looking forward to another week of limited outings again.

In the learning room ... We are getting back in the swing of a little school every day with N1. Last week we got two days of table work in (our Explode the Code books and we started Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons). The girl is READY to read. I'm so excited. This week, I think we are going to loosely look at penguins. For the month of January, I have several weekly themes in mind, but truthfully have not done much to flesh them out because we seriously needed a breather after being so busy.

From the kitchen ... I'm back on the menu planning bandwagon after flying by the seat of my pants for a few weeks. This week will include chicken enchiladas w/ rice & beans & salad; crockpot fried chicken; some taco soup (one of my favorite cold weather comfort foods); and I think a breakfast night. Yum.

I am creating ... a Project 365 photo album. More on this...

I am going ... to do a ton of laundry today. And find the top of my desk. We moved some furniture around last night and it got buried. AND I'm going to make some time today to do some reading ... meaning, I'm not going to wait until after kids are in bed and we're winding down for the night. At that point, reading = dozing.

I am wearing ... jammies. I.e., a large t-shirt & yoga pants.

I am reading ... a couple rereads, hence the need to sit down today and make a reading plan. I got all sorts of new books for Christmas and birthday and they need me.

I am hoping ... for good things to happen in the lives of my friends. I have some dear, dear friends that are hurting and I hurt for them.

I am hearing ... the sound of my N2 getting to plan on the computer without N1 "helping" her. A rare treat. N1 & E are still sleeping as of yet, but I expect to hear from them shortly...

Around the house ... we've done quite a bit of furniture rearranging the last few weeks. Travis is working on a CD for our church worship team (insert giddy excitement here!) and his office is becoming a temporary recording studio. That said, some furniture had to come out to make room for other things and thus needed to find homes elsewhere in our tiny house for a few months. But the CD will make it all worth it. I'll have to see if I can share a sample of it later ... it's going to be very cool.

One of my favorite things ... my current breakfast addiction: vanilla yogurt with maple pecan granola.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ... My husband has several things on his plate this week, so in contrast I have very little. Balencing each other out. :) We have our normal activities: dance, Bible study, Awana; but otherwise, very little on the go-and-do-list. If it was warmer I would take the girls to the zoo, but I think I would freeze my little baby that has no fat on her body. So we wait for a warmer spell.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you ...

This is a picture from our hair cut day last week. I just thought it was super cute of N2 - she's a little unsure about all the hair cutting. :)

Happy Monday. :)

Our day...

Lots of cuddling. We have some teething happening here and someone is pretty pitiful. Hope your Saturday is a good one!

Friday Felicities ::: January 9

My first felicities of the new year. :)

• Our Friday Night family night ... especially looking forward to it as it's been a busy week for my husband and the girls are ready to play!
• This book. Such sweetness and wisdom all rolled into one. I love the idea of living seasonally and within that creating traditions and celebrations for our family to go with each one.
• This etsy shop. Seriously. I could download each and every one of their card templates. I ordered these for my girls for their Valentine's day cards. These will be my next purchase. :)
• This blog. A wonderful encouragement to this homeschooling mom.
• Hummus with apple slices. I could eat this every day right now.
• Curling up under a blanket with a good book.
• Creating new boundaries for myself. It makes me happy because I have an area that I need to work on and I'm excited about making this needed change. (Vague I know, sorry!)

For more felicities or to link up yours, head over to Becky's!

My Big Girls

Yesterday we spent a good portion of our afternoon running around and one of our stops was the hair salon. I've been going back and forth on getting N1's hair cut and we finally took the plunge. She LOVES it. It's going to be so much easier for her to take care of (and way less tangles for us to pick out of her hair!) Now I'm wishing that we had done it sooner. :)

The middle munchkin also had her few hairs cut and bobbed just like big sister. When did my girls start looking so big?

Speaking of #2, N2 has been a trooper today. We have been talking for MONTHS about how she will be starting Cubbies (Awana) tonight with N1 at church. And, when you go to Cubbies like a big girl, then you don't need to use a passie anymore. When she got up this morning, we put the passie away and other than a few initial tears, she hasn't asked for it yet! Right now she is having her rest time and is a little at loose ends while she is settling herself ... but not fussing! So proud of her today.

In all I do ... I honor You

This past Sunday I had one of those moments where my 2009 theme hit close to home. The music team at church ended the service with the song Amazing Love. The last few lines of the song are "in all I do ... I honor You; in all I do ... I honor You."

Right before these two lines, I was standing there watching the music team close the service and was feeling an intense sadness that I was not up there singing with them. For about 3 years I helped coordinate the music team at our church and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was serving alongside both my husband and my best friend - obviously a win-win situation. :) However, after E was born, it was becoming very obvious to both myself and Travis that it was time for me to step down from the position. The duties that I had with the music team were taking too much time away from the girls and/or I was having to get up earlier and earlier to get things done before they woke up, and with a newborn not sleeping through the night, I was struggling.

At first, when I quit, it was with MUCH relief. I was able to catch up on some sleep, had a better attitude with my girls, more time for our home, etc. However, over the past year, as I've watched my husband continue his involvement with the music team and my best friend has stepped back into a position of leadership after the birth of her 4th little man, I've been a little sad that I'm not getting to serve alongside them.

Don't get me wrong ... I absolutely, 100%, believe that I'm where I am supposed to be and serving where I'm supposed to be within my family and our local body of believers. I have peace about that. However, I haven't been very joyful about it. Not at all. Those last lines of the song on Sunday were a good reminder to me that when I am joyful, no matter my wishes and desires, I am honoring God when I am where He thinks is best for me. It honors Him when I am joyfully serving my family and supporting my husband (and friends) in their God-given ministries.

A good reminder for the first Sunday of the new year, I thought. :)

Saturday Links

• One of my favorite, favorite, favorite posts from Holy Experience. I think this is required reading at the beginning of every year.
• Several bloggers have posted their book lists - either what they read in '08 or what they are aiming for in '09. I'll be perusing these for some to add to my to-be-read list. :)
• Lessons Learned while on bedrest from one of my FAVORITE writers. Good, good stuff.
• If you are not a Company Girl then you should be. Rachel Anne suggests one small thing to do each day to make your home a sanctuary for your family.

Happy Saturday!

The last few pages ... Journal Your Christmas

I'm starting to wind down on my Journal Your Christmas project. I may do a few more of the prompts; I know I have skipped a couple, and there are a few days left to go, but we'll see. Anyway, here's days 30, 31 & the 1st. For the first, I just cut and pasted the text from this post, with very little change.







You can click any of these to see them bigger in Flickr.

The L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge

Carrie at Reading to Know is hosting a L.M. Montgomery reading challenge in January and I am all. about. that. L.M. Montgomery is one of my favorite authors (if not at the top of the list, then she would be at #2 or #3!) Her characters are so real that I could many of them as kindred spirits even though I have never once met them in flesh, but only chatted with them in the very tattered pages of my books.

I'm going to pick several of my favorite L.M. Montgomery books to reread this month and look forward to sharing them as I reaquaint myself with these old friends. On the list to read will be Jane of Lantern Hill, Chronicles of Avonlea, and Further Chronicles of Avonlea. We'll see what else gets added.

Visit Carrie to sign up or for more information!

Welcome 2009

One of the girls' Sunday School teachers gave them a neat little "I spy" beanbag for Christmas. It was filled with pellets and had little things hidden in there that they had to find through the clear side of the bean bag. The hidden items had a Christmas theme - a tree, snowman, the word JOY, a wreath, etc. The girls have loved playing with it. One afternoon, Noelle and I were searching with it, and she said, "Mommy, I can't find joy!"

One of those lighbulb moments.

For several weeks now, I've known that I need to move towards a focus of JOY for 2009. The last two years have been consumed with a focus to slow down and simplify life as we added girls back to back to our family and our tiny house. There has been much pruning of posessions, free time, and budget as we have adjusted, as you can imagine. Truthfully, though, I have not been joyful about much of it. I have fought to keep "my things" and "my time" all to myself - not looking to the greater good for our family. This year, I want to face things with joy whether it be a change of plans I was really, REALLY looking forward to; not being able to get that new whatever that I think I need want; or putting aside my agenda of things that do have to get done to focus on what the girls need, which is usually just 100% of my attention instead of less than my best.

With that, I humbly share a few goals for 2009, keeping in mind that I will strive (with God's leading and guidance) to do them with joy and bring that attitude forefront to my family:

• Looking for joy in everday life, even the hard days because I do not deny that there will be some.
• Documenting it and learning about joy with time in the scriptures.
• Preserving lessons learned and joyful times in my journal and our family scrapbooks.
• Bringing joy to relationships far and near by keeping in contact with friends and family.
• Being joyfully diligent and intentional in my care of my family and our home.
• Joyfully making changes to better my health and not being resentful about it.

Not a long list at all this year, but a focus that I truly feel is from the Father and a prayer that my heart is being conformed more like his. Grace & peace to you and yours as you welcome 2009. :)