July 2009

Propaganda

July 24, 2009

The other day the kids and I were ~~hanging around the house~~ cleaning the house like crazy and listening to music. “The Sharing Song” by Jack Johnson came on and he sang, “It’s always more fun to share with everyone.” My three year old got a funny look on her face and exclaimed, “Hey, he said it’s more fun to share! It is NOT more fun to share!”

The way she said it and the look on her face was if she was saying, What is this propaganda your spewing at me mom? We all know it is no fun sharing.

While I would contest that is definitely good to share and something we strive to teach here at the circus, I guess I can concede that is isn’t always more fun to share. But then again, we don’t share b/c it’s more fun, we share because it is kind and being kind towards others is one way we can glorify our Lord. Sometimes the fun is a great byproduct, sometimes it isn’t fun at all.

How about you? Do you agree with Jack that it is always more fun to share or are you in agreement with my daughter?

{ 5 comments }

I am Not Sure What Has Come Over Me

July 23, 2009

in Homemaker

Something strange must be in the air here at the circus,b/c this week I’ve been cleaning like I haven’t cleaned since I was nesting. Seriously, last night at 9:00 Scott came home from sailing to find me scrubbing the baseboards of our bathroom with a toothbrush. If he hadn’t heard the kids screaming for him from their bedroom, I am sure he’d have thought he went into the wrong house!

I know I have been negligent on the blog front, but let me tell you on the home front I have scrubbed the walls and baseboards, cleaned the bathroom top to bottom (including the itty bitty corner behind the potty), washed the dog, stayed on top of laundry, cleaned and organized the toy room, cleaned (and dusted) my bedroom, gone grocery shopping, grated a zucchini, and baked some zucchini bread and muffins. Still on today’s to do list is to mop the entry way and kitchen floors, finish my dad’s father’s day gift (ya know since it’ll be August next week and all), order some pics to be printed to update my frames, and finish putting away laundry. Tonight we have a double date with some friends to see the new Transformers movie. Then tomorrow I just gotta scrub my sink and stove, clean off my counter top, and bake and decorate my daughter’s birthday cake… oh and buy the last minute food for her party on Sat.

I am not sure the exact motivation for this deep clean, but I am taking full advantage of it while the mood is here. My son asked me yesterday why I cleaned the dog for his sister’s party and never for his birthday. I tried to explain that all this cleaning isn’t just b/c of her party. Her party is my deadline b/c I need self-induced deadlines. I have a whole list of stuff to accomplish in August so I can feel like my entire house is spic and span and organized so I can home school in the fall. Yea, b/c somewhere in the state requirements for homeschooling it says you must start the year with a clean and organized home…(note rare use of sarcasm by the circus mom)

Whatever the reason, I am happy with the result and hopeful we can maintain the new state of cleanliness here at the circus! (I’ve always been an optimist)!

PS: Have no fear, for those of you that have missed my regularity in blogging and commenting, I have plans for getting back on top of that soon… already know what I want to write about for Fri and my weekend thought for Saturday. Incase you were wondering!

{ 9 comments }

Up Close and Personal

July 21, 2009

in God's handiwork,Works For Me Wednesday,zoo

Last week we took the kids to the local zoo. We have tried to go once a year for the past several years. We go in part b/c we want to give the kids a chance to see the exotic animals up close. It’s so fun to watch their reactions. But, I’ll be honest, we also go b/c I love to see the animals up close! It is amazing and awe inspiring and I don’t think I could ever tire of it! (And I am not even an animal person).

Three preschool kids at the zoo in Maryland in the heat of summer. Why, you might ask? Well, that I’ve already answered that, it’s fun. How? We have a strategy that has worked really well for for us. We don’t attempt to see it all. We don’t make it a day long affair. We pick the few select animals we want to see, we take our time and enjoy them, and we leave happy. I don’t try to “get my money’s worth” and see every single animal in the zoo. I feel I get more than my money’s worth by enjoying the select ones we do see. One year I’d like to get a zoo membership and try to go back often and gradually see them all. The past two years we’ve been pretty fascinated by the same select few.

The polar bears.

The giraffe

The elephant

And the leopard.

This year, we had a few exciting moments as we got to feed the giraffe, watch the elephants drink water from their trunk, and watch and listen to the leopard pace and growl. Because we saw only a few we spent a good deal of time observing them. We saw more than just these 4 animals, but these were by far the highlight for the circus crew.

Follow the links for more fun with pictures (some more wordy and some less). And for more helpful tips, visit here.

{ 26 comments }

Working Hard (or hardly working)

July 21, 2009

in Darndest Things,Homemaker,Motherhood

My son is quite the little entrepreneur. The other night after dinner my husband was reading the girls a book and I sat on the couch to read a little myself. I looked over to see what my son was up to and discovered he had put all the dishes in the sink, and was scrubbing the dining room table. He even asked where the sandwich bags where so he could bag up the leftovers and put them in the fridge. Needless to say, I praised him for his hard work and the big help he was to me. As I sat down reading my book, I thought to myself how I could really get used to this. Then my son piped up, “Mom, I’m doing this b/c I want to make some money.” So much for being motivated to serve out of his love and devotion to dear old mom. I promised him that this week Dad and I would talk about allowances and chores.

Of course the next day when I asked him to clean the table up after breakfast, he complained that he wished he had never told me it was fun and he didn’t want this to be his job anymore. He then wanted to know if he could “take my flute and a hat and go play for money so he could pay someone else to clean the table.”

Looks like Dad and I definitely have to sit down this week and talk about chores and allowances. We gotta set some rules and standards here soon. He’s obviously old enough to work and I think he’s old enough to have some money of his own as well. We just gotta decide how the two relate to one another.

{ 7 comments }

The Sweet Taste of Success

July 20, 2009

in Gardening,recipes

Those of you that have been part of the circus for awhile, know that I seriously lack a green thumb.

I guess you could call me naive, but this spring I decided to try again. Much like peach picking, my goal in gardening is to teach my kids. So, I didn’t go for huge garden with hopes of providing a summer’s worth of produce. Instead, I opted for a few plants that we could watch grow and hopefully taste the fruits of our labor.

Last night I took a look at the garden. Now I know a seasoned gardener would have been checking up on her plants all along. But you all know I am not a seasoned gardener.

We’ve got some tomatoes and peppers that should be ripe soon!

But we don’t have to wait any longer to enjoy one of our sweet successes!

Check this bad boy out!

I was delightfully surprised when I uncovered this zucchini!

The kids and I will be baking some home made zucchini bread tomorrow using my mom’s recipe. Every time I make it, I laugh. In high school, my good friend Jami came over and we devoured an entire loaf of bread. At that time, my mom used to make tons of low fat recipes from weight watchers, and I assumed that this one was low fat as well. I told my friend it was fat free so we could just keep eating and eating. Years later when I made it myself, I realized I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Not exactly low fat, but it is delicious!!

Mom’s Zucchini Bread

makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

3 eggs                                                       1 cup oil
2 cups sugar                                           3 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated, unpeeled zucchini
3 cups flour                                            1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder                       1 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon                                      1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips (technically optional) But, I say they are a must!

Beat eggs slightly; add oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in zucchini. Add dry ingredients. Mix well and pour into two greased loaf pans.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until bread test done in center with a toothpick.

Makes a very moist bread!!

{ 7 comments }

Weekend Thoughts: What do you think?

July 18, 2009

in Weekend Thoughts

I’ve been hosting this little carnival of mine for a few months now and was hoping for some feedback. I am wondering how often you think we should run weekend thoughts? Is once a week too much? Would you prefer once a month? Or every other week?

Any other suggestions for improving the carnival? Anything I can do to make it easier?

For those that have linked up in the past, thank you. I have loved reading your thoughts and getting to know you better. Please link up below with your thoughtful post.

For those that haven’t linked up, I still greatly appreciate your comments for improving the carnival.

{ 4 comments }

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