Catching Up: Christmas activities

Lily has been taking piano/music lessons from one of Jacob's violin student's mom. We trade lessons and it's worked out great for Jacob to teach the daughter in one room and Lily to have her lesson in another. Lily's been learning composers, rhythm, theory, fun songs and games. She loves it! She had her first recital right before Christmas. There were 4 or 5 other kids her age/level and they performed two songs in the recital. Lily did great and didn't have any stage fright. I was preparing myself for her to get nervous because I HATED recitals when I was taking piano lessons, but she was just excited and didn't act nervous at all!

The last storytime at the library before Christmas break. My kids love going to storytime every Monday morning! The teacher is so great to keep their attention and do really fun things.

Singing to elderly friends and family. We missed going singing last Christmas because Ava was just a month old and it was freezing cold. The kids had such a good time this Christmas! They know lots of the Christmas carols so they joined in singing. So precious!

Our kid's co-op Christmas party. We do a twice a month co-op with some other families at church. We do a different theme each time - not super structured because our kids are still young. Myra's mother-in-love came with salt dough ornaments and helped each child paint a couple ornaments each. 

We also acted out the Christmas Story! We were missing some children because of other obligations, so some of the kids were shepherds and wise men. :)

There is this awesome trail of Christmas trees in a nearby city where you can walk through for free. All the trees are decorated with a different theme. We went one evening after Christmas and really enjoyed it. There were some really creative decorations!

Right by the trail of Christmas tree is an outdoor ice skating rink. The kids had never been skating before, but they wanted to try. Asher tried for about 2 minutes and then cried until we took his skates off and let him sit on the side and watch the others. I didn't skate, so I kept Asher and Ava on the side. Jacob, Lily and Levi had a blast! L&L pushed the green push thingys and they whizzed around the rink. There is a homeschool ice skating day each month at an indoor rink closer to where we live, so we are thinking of trying that since they had so much fun.

Sweet Levi!

Blurry Lily going the wrong direction on the rink. Haha.

We had so much fun making memories over Christmas. I'm thankful for everyday I get to spend with my family. 

Catching Up: The Nutcracker

I'm going to be doing a few catch up posts from Christmas. I want to have the pictures and memories saved here, so bear with me :)

Lily got to go to The Nutcracker performance with Grammie and Aunt Elizabeth again this year (I think it's going to be a yearly tradition - at least Lily hopes so!). 

It was a school performance so there weren't designated seats, but Lily was really happy that they got to sit on the front row! 

Lily with Jacob playing in the orchestra pit. During the intermission, Jacob took Lily down to the pit to see what it was like. She thought that was pretty neat! One of the other musicians commented to Jacob after the performance about how mesmerized Lily was the whole time - sitting on the edge of her seat watching every move. :)

Sweet girl and her Daddy!

Homemade Pasta Sauce

I made up this recipe tonight while making sauce for Eggplant Parmesan. You won't believe how delicious and full of robust flavor this sauce is! The oils give such a better flavor than dried or fresh herbs. 

Now, just a disclaimer - I am not suggesting that you go and buy Basil, Oregano, and Rosemary oils at the health food store and use them in your food - many of those are labeled for aromatic use only and/or say DO NOT INGEST. Young Living essential oils have supplement labels on them (if you peel up the corner of the label) and are GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) for ingestion. If you would like more information about Young Living click here or email me. :)

Homemade Pasta Sauce

1 lb. ground beef or turkey

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 28oz can tomato sauce

1/4 cup water

1-2 drops Young Living Oregano essential oil

2-3 drops Young Living Basil essential oil

2-3 drops Young Living Rosemary essential oil

Cook meat and onion until browned. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 20-30 minutes. I added my oils one drop at a time, then tasted the sauce before adding more.

Here is the Eggplant Parmesan recipe too, because I don't want to forget it. It was that good!

Eggplant Parmesan

2 small eggplants, peeled

1/2 cup flour (I used white spelt flour)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2 eggs

2-3 Tablespoons olive or grapeseed oil

1 recipe of pasta sauce (recipe above)

2 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 cup Parmesan cheese

Cut eggplant into very thin slices (no thicker than 1/4 inch). Salt slices and let them soak in cold water for 30 minutes.

Drain eggplant and rinse in cold water to remove salt. Pat dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil (for easy clean up) and let preheat in the oven.

In a gallon sized bag mix the flour, salt, dried oregano, dried basil, and garlic powder.

Crack eggs into a shallow dish and beat with a fork.

Once baking sheets are hot, carefully remove them from the oven and drizzle oil evenly on them. Tilt the pan to spread the oil to the edges.

Quickly dip eggplant slices into egg and then dredge in the flour mixture. Carefully place each slice on the hot baking sheet.

Bake for 5-7 minutes, then flip slices and bake 5-7 more minutes or until lightly browned and crispy.

Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees.

In a 9x13 baking dish spread 1 cup of pasta sauce. Layer with half of the eggplant slices. On top, add another cup of sauce. Spreading evenly over eggplant. Top that with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and 1 cup Mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers of eggplant, sauce and cheeses.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until cheese is golden brown.

10 on 10

10 pictures on the 10th of each month. I have always loved when friends do this, but I've never participated. Now I have a reminder set on my phone each month, so hopefully I'll remember. :)

Early morning quiet time with Jesus.

Diffuser started for the day with some of my favorite oils. I love that my oils can benefit my family's health while making my house smell amazing!

Girls playing dress up.

Boys playing ball. ha

I'm thrilled that I was able to finish all four of these books last week when we were on vacation. Now I can start the year with a clean slate and fresh books. (side note: Jacob and I read Beyond Ordinary together)

Headed to the grocery store by myself.

I love finding produce marked down!

Silly faces with our 14 month old girly. She loves sweet peppers for a snack just like her mama. :)

I'm addicted to pomegranate seeds. As much as I eat them, I really should look up the health benefits and make sure I'm doing my body good. ha

Baby snuggles. The last of four babes to be snuggled into bed tonight.

Happy Birthday, Lily!

Miss Lily is 5!! She is sweet. She is stubborn. She loves to craft. She wants to be an artist when she grows up. She loves to help cook and clean. She says exactly what she thinks. ha. She is a little mama to Ava. She loves learning about Jesus. She loves to sing. She loves dress up. She has a strong will that I know the Lord is going to use in great ways someday!

Lily requested "protein" for breakfast - fried eggs with cheese, bacon, and toast. She is a crazy girl! We had a family party for her and Levi on Lily's actual birthday. I will post those pictures soon...hopefully! 

Family Day 2014

Every December we dedicate a day (or part of a day) to be "Family Day." Jacob is so busy during this season, it can sometimes be a challenge to find a time when he's free. 

We started our day with a small town parade. It was so fun!

Then we headed to a Christmas tree farm. It was our first time to do this and it was a lot of fun! 

We picked our tree and Jacob worked for awhile to cut it down with a dull hack saw, but that didn't work so well. Haha! One of the workers came of with a chain saw and cut it with one swipe. 

There were free pony rides and a small petting zoo, so we took advantage of that. Lily and Asher rode the pony - so fun!

We decorated the tree. This year we used colored lights for a change. 

After our traditional homemade pizza supper, we decorated penguins (in past years we have always done snowmen, but we used the last of the snowmen last year and the kids wanted the penguins this time. :)

The kids opened their Christmas jammies and then we watched Charlie Brown's Christmas. :) Ava's jammies were Lily's first Christmas pjs. We like to give the kids their jammies early in the month of December so they can enjoy wearing them all season.

I'm thankful for the memories with these wonderful, crazy people!