Blackberry Bars- The Beginning

I have long pleaded to Dave that we should live in a place where 'bars' were the normal fare.  I told him I though we would like the type of people that make bars, and we would massively enjoy coffee and bars.

Then as we became Methodist there was a welcome dinner for new members and at this delicious dinner ambrosia was served WITH the meal, then there was dessert.  I joked how ambrosia WAS dessert in our house, and one of the pastors and his wife sitting at our table mentioned how moving to South Dakota met them with some *differences* in foods... Like when she went to a friends house and instead of the toddler of the house enjoying the normal cheerios and applesauce, this little one had Fruity Pebbles and cherry pie filling. 

Anyhow back to the bars; at the dinner one of the outreach groups mentioned they are always looking for persons able to make bars.  Dave and I looked at each other.  

I realized I don't think I even have any bars recipes.  So I went to Pinterest.  There was a wealth of recipes.  Where to start?  Here is the beginning of my Bars Venture.  

I used the Old Fashioned Raspberry Bars recipe.

I substituted blackberry for raspberry.

And I really enjoyed the simple clean-up.  HELLO wash seven things and get dessert- YES.

waiting for them to cool was torture.

The bars were delicious.

Everyone agreed.

.....That is, everyone that actually got to try them.

Next up I think I'll give Lemon Bars a whirl.   

Switcherooo

I recently mentioned that during our first day of spring break we changed the guest and Nate's rooms around.  Giving Nate the larger room makes a lot of sense and the current gray paint works well too. I bought him some green curtains (green is his favorite color, I'm sure you already knew that).   The floor space is pretty amazing.   

In his other room the toy box had to be kept under the loft bed which made it cluttered to get toys out.  Another HUGE benefit is that this room has a ceiling fan and is always comfortable.  The smaller room he was in was always warm; sweltering in the summer, even with a fan going all year round, and the heat vent closed during the winter.  Oddly enough the ceiling fan is both the reason we wanted to switch him, and the reason we held off for nearly a year.  We were worried about the ladder being too close to the fan blades.  However, once we put him in there it is plenty low enough, and he understands he is never to reach out to the fan.  

So the loft bed stays!  I love that the loft bed has a desk and bookcases!  That eliminates the need for two other pieces of furniture in the room.  The drawers are awesome too, although they are too tight to keep all of his clothes in it.  I think I could make it work.... but I'll have to pitch it to Dave. 

The walls are pretty bare, only his map and NASCAR pennant are hanging up.  I left some decorative shadow box shelves up too.   I have a glow in the dark space quilt wall hanging I'm going to make next month.  I think it would be really neat to have maps; space, world, and state maps.... of course they are quilted so I'm sure that will keep him out of any gangs for a few years to come. 

I wanted to mention that even with the change we still have a guest room!  So you can come visit.  We plan to paint... but even with the blue it's still kind of nice in there.  I've been using it for a napping room.  

Once this room has a ceiling fan we are hoping it will be much more comfortable, but I've noticed just having the door open keeps it way cooler than it had been. 

Good changes.

Break

I wasn't planning to take a Spring Break since the weather was pretty wintry still.  If it's cold and we are stuck inside we might as well do school.  However, the forecast turned nice and I decided we should take a week off from school. 

Dave took a few days off too so it was a really nice time together!  Monday we swapped the guest room and Nate's room.  We've been toying with the idea for awhile but just couldn't commit.  We decided to just go for it and it's working out great!  Nate's loft bed, dresser and toy box fit so nicely in the larger room leaving TONS of space to play! We've set up some cleaning guidelines which Nate is following because the reward will be Legos allowed in his room.  The neighbor boys had Monday off from school also so Nate was out playing all day.  We took him and one of the neighbor boys to dinner at Culver's and they had a really fun time.

Tuesday we drove to Spearfish.  Hit up the fish hatchery which is free to enjoy. 

It was a nice walk around the ponds and creek.

You can feed the trout.

And watch the big trout swimming.

We walked the grounds and read up on the history of the facility.

Watched the geese and ducks.

 Then fed the fish some more.

On the other side of the parking lot was an AWESOME park.

We played around.

Nate complete the 'obstacle course' a few times.

After the park we had lunch then drove back to Rapid.  It was such a nice day.

Wednesday the boys power washed things after breakfast at Denny's.  After dinner Dave, Nate and the neighbor boy went to see The Lego Movie.   Today Dave is back at work, but spring break continues for us with a trip to Reptile Gardens after lunch!  

These slow paced family days have been a nice glimpse at the summer break to come.... and our summer trip to Michigan.  Can't wait to spend more time with these guys!

Spring

I'm sure we will still see a little snow, but it seems that spring is on it's way in western South Dakota.

The birds are busy at the feeder all day long.  I even had a blue jay stop by a few mornings ago, the first I've seen in South Dakota.  

Our neighbor's grass is really green, which I think is the cause of my need for Claritin.  Our yard is starting to green up, but we fertilized a couple weeks after our neighbors so we will have to be patient.  Plus, we have female canines that 'go' everywhere and they have a male that marks his ONE spot, saving the rest of their yard.  Dang it.

We've seen lots of bunnies around the yard.... silly rabbit.  Obviously his father never got to warn him never to enter our yard because Bonnie ate his father..... 

Our seeds have all sprouted now.  Two weeks after planting and my green peppers just emerged, while my tomatoes have got their second leaves goin on.  I'm so hopeful.  The rhubarb is getting big outside, my bleeding heart is growing, and it seems some of the mums I planted last fall, only to have them die 3 days later, are growing in my front yard! 

Anna has been enjoying laying in the garden dirt, but soon the fence will be going up, chicken poop will be going in, and the seeds will be planted!

Field Trip and a Mental Health Day

Last week we took a little field trip!  In science we had learned about planes and about how the elevator, rudder, and aileron work.  It wasn't too deep for his age, it was just basically this moves the plane up and down and these make the plane bank this way or that.  

The great thing is that Dave just so happens to have access to a plane.  So we met him at his work and he called to get us cleared to go out on the flightline and up into a B-1.  Nate and I had gone out before when Sandy and Sean came to visit, but Nate had not gone up inside the plane.   So Dave showed us the B-1's rudder, elevators, and ailerons, then took Nate up to see the flight controls and which controls move the rudder, elevators and ailerons.  

It was a pretty awesome way to show in real life the stuff we had just read about in the book.  I love when I have the ability to make that happen.  After the flightline tour we went to the Air and Space Museum that just happens to be right outside the gate and we walked around some other planes pointing out the...you guessed it - rudders, elevators, and ailerons.  

Here is a different type of elevator... and a plane with two rudders.  

Then inside the museum we found the perfect display of how rudders, elevators and ailerons work! (Is aileron a part of your vocab now? It is mine)

It was a fun field trip which was amazing because during our book work that day we were having a tough time.  So tough I was seriously having 'I'm sending this kid to public school next year' thoughts.  It's pretty odd that I react that way, because in the past 29 weeks of school I've had maybe 4 or 5 of those days scattered throughout the weeks.  And in the ratio of awesome days vs rough days it's a no-brainer that homeschooling is awesome.  

I declared the next day a 'spring break' day and we skipped school.  We had breakfast at Sonic, then ran some errands, came home and played Jenga and Wii Bowling and a card game.  

It was nice to have a fun day together.  And when we were in the car heading home after running out to toys-r-us I asked Nate what fun thing we should do when we get home.. he said, "SCHOOL!"

Everything is fine.

So It Begins

I started my seeds this past weekend.

Despite the fact that it looks quite wintry outside.

I'm doing everything the same way I did last year.  Crossing my fingers that I'll have the same success!  I've been dreaming about starting these seeds since I picked all of my green tomatoes before the blizzard last October.

I'm sure spring will come soon.  It has to!

Wish us luck!

Random Cleaned Things

Even though my method is scattered this year, things are progressing...

Before

 The cabinet above the computer- tossed a lot of junk!

After

One morning after putting something away I purged the fridge

...And the freezer too!

I cleaned and purged my sewing area... I ended up pitching two trash bags of stuff and I swapped nine of my quilting books that I'm done with!

before

I had never cleaned this before in the three years of owning it, and I nearly vomited.  

after

Still on my list- dust the ceiling fans, vacuum the top of the pantry, purge the master closet, and straighten the pantry shelves.