Conceal and Carry Permits

B-real and I got our conceal and carry weapons in 2013.  We went to a very 'affordable' class given by a guy in his basement.  His wife fed us her homemade chili for lunch.  It had to have been one of the oddest experiences of my life but we got our permits and it only cost $37.50!   The instructor really beat into his students that you should only use a gun if your life is in absolute, 100% certain danger.  I think they want to scare you a bit.  And that's o.k. by me - guns are serious business.  The other thing he scared into us was that even if you are found innocent by a judge or jury, the person who you shot can sue you in civil court and try to take all of your money. I respect guns and feel that all people should learn how to handle a gun safely. Guns are scary, but they become a little less scary if you know how to properly use them.  I enjoy going shooting with my dad and brother.  I find the sport of shooting challenging.  For Father's Day this year my brother and I took my dad shooting and out to breakfast.  He said it was his best Father's Day ever because he was able to share a hobby with both of his children.  In the past month I've spoken with two male friends who've said their work teams have wanted to learn how to shoot.  For their Xmas parties this year they have gone to Bill's Gun Range and one of the experienced gun owners has shown the others how to use a gun.

Here we are at the range on a date night...

And here we are reporting for our permits downtown...

This van was parked outside the government building where we applied for our permits.

Proud Moment over Gingerbread

While we made gingerbread houses this weekend,

we listened to the Christmas song radio station.    I mentioned to B-real that I thought the particular song on the radio was by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.   B-real and I were pondering what song it was set to when Big C announced it was Canon in D.   A proud moment for her mommy.  Then I remembered she also recognizes Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus. 

She's done the same thing with music -- she'll tell me a particular song is a waltz because of which note is taking the beat. 

I don't know where she learns these things but I am happy she is learning so much about music! 

Yes, that is B-real rolling out his fondant and using a pink ruler to make sure it fits properly on the top of his gingerbread house.  He and Charlotte's village had dog poop and section 8 housing in the back.  And then he combined two houses to make a giant church/school for his people.  It's funny, I don't usually think of him as creative but he came up with the ice rink idea too.  He used gum to make the rink sides and icing to make the ice.  And then he was flicking sugar all over to make it look like snow in his village.  A funny guy, he is!

Homade Buttons/Dots

It was a daddy/daughter hour or two for B-Real and little c today.  Big C and I went shopping to see if we could locate something for her to give to her sister for Christmas.

little c is a candy addict and loves anything and everything sweet.  Yesterday she had a hankering for those candy buttons/dots that come on waxed type paper.  The only place I've seen them as of late is Michael's and we were not going to head out to Michael's just to meet her candy fix.  I speculated we 'might' be able to make them at home and after a little Google search I discovered we were in luck.

Unfortunately yesterday got away from us and I told her we'd make the dots the following day.  Well B-real was the lucky guy who got to participate in the activity with the Queen of Candy!  I think they had fun together and want to make more so they can experiment with different flavors. little c wants to try lemon now. 

Here's the recipe if you have a hankering for some homemade candy! They reduced the quantity considerably.  Mostly because who in their right mind has SEVEN CUPS of powdered sugar at their disposal? 

Recipe: Candy Buttons (from what will we make today blog)

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp meringue powder (or 2 egg whites)
• 6 Tbsp water
• 1/4 tsp almond extract (use vanilla, lemon, peppermint, coconut for different flavors)
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar (1 pound = 7 cups)
• decorator bags or sandwich bags (1 for each color)
• food coloring I used gel, but any kind will do. Four colors is about right)
• paper cut into 2 3/4" by 10" strips. (The dynamic duo used parchment paper)

If you are using egg whites, separate the eggs.

Whip together the confectioners' sugar and the egg whites (or meringue powder and water) on low speed for one minute.

Add the flavoring and about 1/2 of the water. You may wish to add more water later to get this to the right consistency, but start out with a little less then you think you need.

Whip mixture for 10 minutes on high speed. If the icing is too thick, think it out with drops of water until it is the consistency of sour cream. A drop should hold it's shape and slowly smooth out to create a smooth button.

While the mixer is whipping the icing, cut strips of paper into 2 3/4" by 10" strips.

You may want to use a template for candy dots if you wish.

Divide the icing into small bowls. One bowl for each color.

Pour each color into a decorator bag or sandwich bag and seal.

Cut a VERY small corner off of each bag.

Squeeze a drop of icing at a time onto the paper.

lace the strips on baking sheets in a cool dry place, uncovered, to dry overnight. 

Math

If you are looking for a fun math program to use on the computer, look no further than

Hooda Math

I heard about it from the Minnetonka Navigators Program.  It's not a math curriculum but fun, logic based math games for kids.

Both my girls, ages 7 and 10, enjoy it and we've shared the website with other friends who like it too.

Making math fun...one computer game at a time!

Also, check out: 

Zoombeanies

This computer software is available through Amazon.com and is about $9.  It is MAC and PC compatible and is similar to Hooda in that it's not a math curriculum but is logic games with a math foundation.

A fellow math teacher told me her students love using it.  I like when math is fun and not a bore for children. 

One person in our family may be getting Zoombeanies as a Christmas present this year!!

Goings ons

One of the absolute best benefits of homeschooling your children is the homeschool ticket prices at The Children's Theater Company.  We have been fortunate to see many a matinee performance, alongside regularly schooled kids, for a mere $8-10/ticket.  And we always get awesome seats beause the performances are typically not sold out.

This week my sweet mom took us to see Cinderella.  We'd gone as a family to see it a few years back and absolutely adored it.  B-real and I laughed out loud; it was so funny for adults not just children.  Except for the play Matilda, when I saw in the West End of London, it's my favorite play I've seen.  And I've seen quite a few on Broadway.   My mother in law had never been to the Children's Theater Company so my mom invited her as well as my dad's mom to join us.  We planned to make it into a girls day and get lunch after the performance.

We had some nasty snow on Wednesday when we planned to go but the three hours I spent in the car were still worth it to see the play for a second time.  Sadly, Big C was feeling under the weather and decided to stay home with daddy.

If you have the chance to see a show this year, this is the show to see.  The stepsisters in the show are played by men.  The cast really involves the audience in the production.  They throw things into the theater --cake from Patrick's Bakery, tshirts, candy.  So fun!

They also do a little shout out to different school groups in the audience.  Wouldn't you know they decided to do a shout out to the my homeschool.  So my last name followed by Homeschool and the lights pointed right towards us.  My 'homeschool' that day consisted of one cute little girl, one 91 year old grandma, myself, and two ladies in their 60's.   It was just a tad bit embarrassing because these good rates are really for the kids; not for you to bring everyone who's related to you for the cheap price!  And my mom and mother-in-law both stood up and who-hooed!

I am hoping we won't have been put on some black list of families who take advantage of the student rates and we'll able to continue to see more plays here in the future!

Love

I love the Pacifica perfumes they sell at Whole Foods.  Granted, I can't recall the last time I went in a Whole Foods but my friend Gretchen had a little case of rub on perfume (cool, huh) the other night and it was delightful.  I will be taking a trip to my local Whole Foods sometime real soon and picking up one of these tiny packages!

The perfume Gretchen had was unlike anything I've seen before.  It was a solid perfume.  It came in a little metal tin and will work nicely in my purse.  Much easier to do applications throughout the day than my large bottle of Ralph Lauren Romance.  Which, BTW (as little c says), I just bought at Von Maur this week.  This is definitely the time of year to restock your perfume.  The perfume counter told me the best perfume deals are around the holidays.  Normally a large bottle of Romance is priced at  $84 but the gift box they had for the holidays was only $4 more and included a large bottle of body shimmer spray, lotion, and bath and shower gel.  B-real was still a bit shell shocked that my lovely scent costs $84/bottle.  I assured him it lasts for a whole year or more!

O.K., back to Pacifica. It will be easier to carry with me than a large bottle of Romance.  And speaking of price, one of their cute tins is only $9.  I am not sure yet how long it will last but the initial investment sure feels right, especially in regards to trying a new scent. They are also all natural (using sustainable raw ingredients), vegan, cruelty-free and come in recyclable packaging.

Gretchen had the blood red orange fragrance and it smelled nice. It will be fun to see what other options Whole Foods has.  And maybe I'll pick up some Doritos while I am there...wink, wink...

Traditions

One of our family traditions is to cut down our Christmas tree on the Friday following Thanksgiving.  We trek, although it's less of a trek now that we live further from the city, to a place called Z's Trees in Waconia.  After parking we ride the hay wagon out to the field of trees and search for the perfect one!

Quickly after getting off the wagon I found one that struck my fancy.  It was a little less traditional because it was a lime-ish color.  B-real was not sold and felt like we should walk around a little more before making a decision.

We have a hankering for things in the small variety at our house -- people, packages, trees maybe?  All of our ornaments and tinsel would not fit on this cutie...maybe it will be our tree in a few years?!  

After enough complaining on the part of the females in the home regarding the cold and lack of feeling in our toes, he relented and agreed to Limey.

Brent used those 'big' muscles of his to cut down Limey and he lugged it to the wagon. 

Once arriving back where we parked out car, we partook in a some warm apple cider and waited as the employees at Z's shook out our tree and bagged it for us.  We learned, after our first time at Z's that they only take checks and cold hard cash.  Poor B-real had to drive into town to find a cash machine.  I don't think either us were quite expecting the premium one must pay to locate, cut, and lug your own tree.   B-real told me he found a similar sized Frasier fir at the local hardware store for $40 less than our lovingly cut beauty (my edit there).  Memories, B-real, memories!  

Charlotte was happy to be in the warmish car and to drink her apple cider.  She may have had so much cider that she needed to use the port-a-potty.  I am thankful both girls are now old enough to use those babies on their own. 

I asked the girls if they wanted to cut our own tree down again next year and they said they were o.k. with buying it somewhere inside instead.

Last year our friend and realtor, Andy, was kind enough to offer us a free Christmas tree.  I 'think' it was probably for customers who had done business with Edina Realty agents.  Although Andy did take us to look at 100 houses or so we never bought a house with him.  So it was especially nice that he invited us to have a free tree and get photos with Santa at his office.

For next post I will relay why he did not call us again this year with another offer for a free tree.  It may have to do with a certain little person sending him a thank you note, per her mother's request, and including some sort of litigious type remarks about the free tree nearly killing her!  The mother may or may not have reviewed the letter before it was inserted into envelope, sealed and delivered.  Oooops...

Something embarassing

Since I am on the topic of beauty products, can I tell you something just a teensy bit embarrassing that happened to me recently? 

My mother-in-law said she liked my blush and asked where I had bought it. She also wanted to know the color.  Well the color was...dah.dah.dah...orgasm!   Nars makes a cream blush in a stick called Orgasm. 

You would not believe the color pink my mother in law's face turned when she heard that word slide out of my mouth.  And then to top the whole thing off, she wanted me to take her to Sephora, and help her find the color!  Mother in law in tow, I had to approach the salesclerk at the store and inquire as to the location of Nars orgasm. 

The things I do in the name of beauty!  

Favorite Things

One of my favorite things to use during the winter months is oils instead of lotion on my body.

I use vitamin c and vitamin e on my face during the winter months because I feel like it helps my face have more of a glow.  While in France I visited a beauty place and the employees told me French women are all about the vitamin e.  My friends at Sephora told me us Americans are all about putting vitamin c on the face.  Below is the product I bought and love to use. 

My new favorite product for my body is something I picked up on our trip to Hawaii.  It's called Oils of Aloha Kukui Oil.  Gosh, do I love it!  It is good for people suffering from eczema as well as plain old dry skin.  The scent is lovely too; mine is called Tropical Breeze fragrance.  B-real assured me I can buy it on Amazon when I run out.  I was 'hoping' I would have to take a return trip to Hawaii...wink, wink...

I also use macadamia oil in my hair.  After I blow dry and use my straightener, I smooth in a tiny bit of the oil and it makes my hair look shiny and healthy.  It does a real number on the girls hair too; who have natural wavy hair that is prone to the frizzies.  Added bonus is the peaceful smell.  I began using this product before our Hawaii trip but know that Hawaii and macadamia nuts go hand in hand.

So step outside the box of the usual lotions and experiment with oils during the winter!   But if you really like your lotions, you should check out Mayo Clinic's line of lotions.  The lotion is called Vanicream!!

Rainbow Loom Bracelets

B-Real is out with the guys from our old neighborhood, he calls it G-N-O (guys night out).  He just sent me a text to say most of the dads were sporting Rainbow Loom bracelets.  Awesome!!

Mine Craft School

My girls love Mine Craft!  I don't love it all that much!  A friend told me about some classes (for home school kids but could probably work for any child) that are offered online. 

Mine Craft Homeschool

All your child needs is access to a computer and one of those geeky headsets (with headphones and a microphone).  The time requirement is about 2 hours on their server per week plus one hour of additional homework/research.  The classes are based on certain time periods in history.  I signed my girls up for two of the classes that begin on January 6th!  I will report back as to my opinion of the classes.

If you are looking for an educational and productive way for your children to use a fun computer program, this may be it!

Christmas Cuties

We did a little photo shoot today at my parents' house, after the girls helped them decorate their Christmas Tree.  My parents wanted a photo of the girls to use on their Christmas card.  It was fun but challenging especially since one of my Christmas cuties likes to strike her own poses rather than follow my direction.

ABC Family 25 Days of Chrismtas

A favorite around our house is to print out the movie schedule for ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas.  We circle the movies we'd like to watch and look forward to having a fire and curling up around the TV to watch some funny Christmas movies.  Enjoy!