Alison's Biography Project

For their most recent book report, Mrs. Harman had the 4th graders pick a biography and do a presentation. Alison picked Joan of Arc, and enjoyed learning about her. Today was her presentation, and I went to listen. This is the costume we figured out:

She really likes the dress and wanted one without the breastplate.

And her presentation was excellent. My favorite part is all her asides.

All City Choir Concert

Caitlyn participated in All-City Choir, and the concert was last night. It was pretty fabulous. All the groups -- elementary school, middle school, and high school -- were fantastic,  and Caitlyn said that even though it was stressful and a lot of work, the end result was worth it. I agree.

She's in the bottom left hand of the screen. Sorry it's so washed out; I was recording from the first row of the balcony.

Getting from Point A to Point B

It's usually just a straight line, right?

Well, this week's straight line included a whole lot of pit stops and bumps. Mostly because we had a whole lot going on.

Some weeks are just like that.

Caitlyn was the busiest. Not only did she have All-City choir practice and singing lessons, she stayed after a few days of school to practice for Wilburpalooza -- which is, essentially, their pop concert for the year. The practices were horrible, and she didn't come home happy, but the concert Friday night actually turned out really quite well. Alison and Kristen had a grand time (it's always more fun when you know the songs, right?) and the kids all performed really well. She also went with the Girl Scouts to volunteer at the food bank on Tuesday. It really was a busy week for her; no wonder she was exhausted yesterday.

The girls did have Monday and Tuesday off, even though I didn't. Russell stayed home on Monday and "supervised". Alison had a sleepover (at our house) Monday to Tuesday.  We've discovered that Alison likes the idea of sleepovers, but not the execution of them. Even so, they had a great time. It helped that it warmed up on Tuesday, and was actually nice enough to play outside.

Alison and Kristen had half days for the rest of the week due to parent-teacher conferences. Yes, they're doing fine. Yes, they're brilliant. And they even managed not to argue (too) much during the afternoons they were home. Alison even managed to make box macaroni and cheese the one afternoon I had to work until 3. She only freaked out once because she had let the water boil too long, and couldn't get the lid off. She called me, and I talked her through it, and she did the rest herself. Yay!

Russell took a van full of students to St. Louis for Model UN this week. Unlike last year, there were no major bumps getting out there and they had a great time. He did sound like he was having a good time, anyway.

And today was stake conference. A lot of talk about having faith and sharing the gospel. We all sang in the family choir (the rehearsals have been an exercise in hating mom for volunteering us), and it turned out really nice. They're all glad it's over, now.

Heart Attack 2014

The hardest part with the heart attacks, after doing it for 9 years, is coming up with new places to put it. I think I may end up sticking it in the refrigerator in a few years....

This years installment ended up in the basement. And stayed up for a few days, because it was actually pretty festive. And made us happy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sister Missionaries Rock

In so many ways. We love our pair right now.

Olympic Junkies

What we wanted to do: watch Olympics.

What we did: watch Olympics. Mostly. Generally, the rule is no screens after dinner until 8:30. But with the Olympics, the TV went on at 7 p.m. and didn't go off until 10. Most nights, anyway. We love the slopestyle (especially the snowboard), still love the speed skating, and what was with the male figure skaters?? We missed the halfpipe (sad) and too much speed skating, and in the end, didn't get ENOUGH. I'm a bit miffed at NBC, not only because of their commercials, but because they've tied their web site to having cable. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO FREE TV. Corporations.

When we weren't watching Olympics, we were running places. Caitlyn had practice for All-City Choir, Alison and Kristen had school and piano. We all had church, and the sister missionaries came over for dinner on Thursday. Saturday, Alison and I had our book group and Kristen had a baptism preview meeting at the church. And the town started digging out when the temps began rising. It was in the 60s today, and the snow is almost gone. The girls tell me I can't declare it spring, though. It just might snow again.

It doesn't sound like much when written down, but it was a pretty crazy week. And this one is just going to be more of the same: the girls are off tomorrow and Tuesday, but Russell's leaving Wednesday for St Louis and Model UN. Fun times!

Snow Break 2014

We have one a year, generally speaking. (I think there were a couple of years when we didn't...) A week, where the snow comes down, and the town decides that it just can't handle anything so EVERYTHING shuts down. Watermark closed early on Tuesday (oh, joy, I got to close. Which wouldn't be so bad, except I haven't closed -- done the money -- in a year! In other news: we're finally going to get a science fiction/fantasy section. I have secret hopes of being in charge of it, but I've already got my hands full with the kids' stuff. That said, it's nice being known as one of the geeks on staff), as the roads became impassible. Not because of the amount of snow -- only 8 inches here in town -- but because, for some reason, they forgot How to plow. Whether it was the temperatures or something else, it's been nearly a week, and very few roads are actually clear. (They've got sand on them, though. Does that count?)

Monday night when they canceled school, there wasn't a flake on the ground. (Wow! The meteorologists were right?!) So, the girls -- well, Alison and Caitlyn -- called friends on Tuesday and had them over for a mid-week sleepover. Which is something you can do when you know there's not going to be school the next day. It was fun, and they were glad for the company. Wednesday, we got outside to play a little, but that Arctic Vortex made it down here, and the high was in the low teens (don't laugh!) and we didn't stay outside for long.

Thursday, Russell and I both had to work (Russell got Tuesday and Wednesday off), so Caitlyn was nominally in charge. Though she wasn't up when I left. I told Alison to let her sleep in until 9:30 and then get her up. At 9:35, Alison went and woke Caitlyn up. And felt proud, because she let Caitlyn sleep in five whole minutes longer.

 And then we became Olympic Junkies.

We started watching snowboarding (slopestyle, which is way cool) and the team figure skating (which should have been TEAM figure skating: imagine synchronized swimming on ice) on Thursday and haven't looked back. We had fun with the opening ceremonies, though both Alison and Kristen crashed before the end of it. One thing: that digital floor? WAY COOL. The rest of it was fun, though I ended up thinking, "You know guys? Tchaikovsky wrote more than just Swan Lake.... " Firebird was a perfect ending. And then last night, more snowboarding (I just think it's fun to watch) and figure skating. I don't get to be a junkie tonight because Russell needs to watch the Beatles retrospective though...

(*sad*)

And that about sums up the week.

Valentine's Day Boxes

Thanks to Pinterest, I've discovered that 1) making Valentine's boxes are a lot of fun and 2) we can be quite clever with our valentine giving. Sure, it's cheaper to buy the box valentines, but these are so much more fun. I'm actually going to miss this when they get older.

Kristen's box: the valentines say "I get a kick out of you!"

She's giving out mini Rubik's Cubes with a card that says "A-MAZE-ing!"

It'll be kind of hard to get her valentines out, though.

This Year's Snowstorm

Because, you know, we take pictures whenever it snows. That's the way we roll.

I'm glad someone's enjoyed it.

Hostess Cupcake Knockoff

We had these last week, and I realized -- since we compiled the recipe from several different places -- that I needed to put it all in one spot. They're really quite excellent. Even if they don't look like the original Hostess Chocolate Cupcakes. 

For the cupcakes:
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's brand)
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
3/4 c. warm water + 1/8 tsp. espresso powder
3/4 c. buttermilk (or 3/4 c. whole milk + 1 tbsp. lemon juice, let stand for 5 min)
3 tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 1 cupcake pan with liners, set aside.
2. Make the Cupcakes: In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk or sift together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add eggs, warm water w/ espresso powder, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until smooth. Turn down speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Mix until smooth (no flour/cocoa pockets remain), about 3 minutes.
4. Divide batter evenly among cups, filling 2/3 of the way full. Place in oven and bake for 20-21 minutes, or until the tops spring back when touched and a cake tester comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake!
5. Remove from oven, allow them to sit for 3-4 minutes in the pan, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

For the Filling:
1 cup marshmallow creme
¼ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup powdered sugar

6. Make the Filling: Beat the marshmallow creme and butter on medium speed until soft and light, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar. Once it has all been incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and beat for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, or until very light and fluffy.

For the Ganache:
1 bag dark chocolate chips
1 bag milk chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

7.  Make the Ganache: Head the whipping cream until simmering. In a food processor, mix the chocolate chips. Add the whipping cream in a constant stream when the machine is going. Let process until smooth. Let cool until somewhat thick.

8. To assemble: . When cupcakes are completely cooled, remove a dime sized section from the top, and using a sharp knife (cut out a circle, keeping the "top" intact...you will use it as a plug), then make a hole for the filling (or if you have a cupcake corer, use that, but just make sure you have lots of room for filling- the more, the merrier). Pinch off the point. Fill the hole with a spoonful of filling (or use a pastry bag with a round tip). Then put the top back on. Frost with the ganache.

YUM.

Cool Stuff for a Cold Sunday

Post by Sun Gazing.

The Superb Owl

The conversation before dinner today:
Alison: "Go Broncos!"
Me: "I'm amused that my children, who know nothing about football, are actually rooting for someone in the Super Bowl."
Alison: "Mrs. Harman [her teacher] roots for the Broncos, and whatever she says, goes."
Russell: "It's only worth watching for the commercials anyway."

There you have it: one geeky family.

The last week was, well, much like the rest of January. Alternately warm and cold (my main issue with that is that when it's 60 degrees one day and 20 degrees the next, it kind of wreaks havoc with your immunity. PICK ONE PLEASE WEATHER.), alternately busy and not (there were meetings and school and work). Caitlyn and I went to an electives fair prior to registering for high school. (eeep.) She picked as her top three electives choir, drama, and French. Hopefully she'll get in. (I'm actually excited about the idea of her taking French. Maybe it can be an excuse for me to learn it!) And then on Wednesday. Russell and I went to another meeting a the high school on scholarship opportunities for Megan. The downside of the first kid: the learning curve. We learned that 1) we should have done this last year.  And 2) DANGIT SHE'S OUT OF THE COUNTRY. That said, we've talked to people at KU and looked at some websites and maybe there's some opportunities she can apply for. *fingers crossed*

Russell, Caitlyn, and I watched Quantum of Solace, which was a hot mess -- though it had a car chase, a foot chase, a boat chase, AND a plane chase. But no train chase. Thankfully, we didn't pay anything for it. And yesterday, we were REALLY lazy and after the stake choir practice (a family choir which I volunteered our family for, to much grumbling) we didn't go ANYWHERE.

And today, Church was nice enough. Russell and I got into an interesting side conversation about friendship with another person during Sunday School, and got glares from the teacher. But it was an interesting idea: the value of friendship and all. Perhaps there needs to be an after-hours Sunday School class.

And I went into work for their Book Club Sunday (because, you know, why not have Book Club Sunday on Superb Owl Sunday?) where I pitched my kids book group for 2 minutes. I was supposed to give a "what YA books should Adults be reading" but they forgot. Oh, well.

That's about it for us. (I think I'm over writer's block!)