Cute Little Bunnies!

In the Family Fun Magazine, we saw a craft to make little sock bunnies! Aaron helped the little girls make their own little sock bunnies this afternoon. They are really cute!

Step 1:

Find a missing sock!  ( good luck w/ that! lol!)

Step 2: Fill the sock up just past the heel w/ rice, or whatever..(the magazine suggested dried lentils)

Step 3: Tie off the sock at top of the heel, and just below to create the head.

(We used yarn, but the magazine suggested rubberbands.)

Then tie a colored ribbon around the neck for it's bow!

Step 4: Cut down the center of the top of the sock. These will be the ears of your bunny.

Step 5: cut one "ear" on the diagonal to creat a tapered look for the ear.

Step 6: Cut out 2 black felt circles for the eyes, 1 pink triangle felt piece for the nose, and 1 whit felt rectangle for the teeth. (For the teeth, cut the felt rectangle half way lengthwise to create teeth.)

Step 7:  Glue on the facial features! (Make sure the glue is dry before playing or messing w/ the bunny. I suggest stitching on the facial features cause they kept falling off...)

TaDa! A cute little bunny! :) You could even fill the sock bunny w/ potpourri and keep it as a decoration.

Saturday Dance

Hello all!
I had quite a lovely time dancing Saturday! (In the morning at least) Sadly I forgot my camera...

The dance workshop I attended was hosted by the Montgomery Library, & Boni's Dance Studio in the Woodlands.
The day consisted of 4 different types of dance. (Modern, Ballet, Improvisation, & Hip-Hop)

The Modern class was first. It was a good class. It was taught by Dan Cossack (sp?) who teaches at the Houston Ballet and Ad Deum. So It was nice to have a teacher who I've met before, & I know is a Christian. (since this event was not a Christian event.)

Ballet was after that!!! The teacher was Sarah Yarbrough, who also teaches at Ad Deum, and several other places independently. I loved the way she taught the class! (sadly, I forgot to ask which technique she used...) She was very sweet! The class lasted about an hour & a half, & I enjoyed every second of it! We did exercises and stretches that I already know, (since this was the beginners class for those who had 5 years or less years experience dancing) but It was nice to do them in a proper room w/ space & a proper barre & floor! (It's amazing how those small elements help in your dancing!) At the end of the class, Sarah commented on my line saying it was very good! Which for me, is VERY VERY encouraging!
I have only had one year of dance lessons, went to the Ad Deum Summer intensive 2 years ago, & have been dancing on my own as time & space permits since the end of 2008.) I was elated to know I haven't lost the majority of my technique & line! I even got my Frappe's down! (those can be tricky as they can be done very quickly, & in a combination of ways that confuse the mind! lol!)

If you don't really know what a frappe' is, this is kinda what it is:





How I do it is a little bit different... But every teacher teaches different combinations even with the same step, & every technique is different. If you want me to show you how I do them, I can at church on Sun. :)

After Ballet was lunch, & then a performance thing from a collage, & then the Improv. class. Improv was good. The teacher just taught you how to think on the spot.
After that was Hip-Hop.... That class was probably the worst.. I REALLY DON'T like hip-hop.... Ballet is more my forte'. I didn't think to call my mom before that class, but wish I had.. I didn't know the schedule since it was mentioned verbally, but it wasn't written down for the dancers to see, (& I didn't think to ask about it. Mostly cause it was class after class, & then I visited some with a girl who remembered me from the intensive.)

SO.... The highlight of my day was Ballet! The class I was really going there for! :) Thankfully it was a free
workshop!

So, that's how my Saturday went! Boy was I sore on Sunday! lol! All morning while I was getting ready I felt like I was moving in slow motion, I was so sore & stiff! lol! But it was a good pain! (Sounds strange, 
but being sore after I dance feels good to me.. We dancers are weird like that! lol!)

Thanks for reading! I'll post some pics of the "woman's touch" we've had around here the last 2 days, later
this week!

Innovative baking!

With us moving in a warehouse so my dad can work on an invention project, we have learned to make do without some lovely features taken for granted in a kitchen! Namely, an oven!
Our "oven" is our lovely large roster! Things have been taking nearly twice as long to "bake", but so far it's all turned out alright! (except for the gingerbread cookies...Those, not so much...)

Today I made some Pumpkin Apple Muffins! (SOO YUMMY!) I got the recipe from Mia's blog.
I doubled the recipe when I made it, but the recipe below is just a single batch. The single batch can make 2 loaves.
I thought I would blog my process since I haven't posted anything since before Christmas!

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

In a large mixing bowl, mix together 3 cups of flour, 2 tsp. of cinnamon, 2 tsp. baking soda, & 1.5 tsp. salt

(whisk together to remove lumps)

In a separate bowl, combine 3 cups of sugar, (don't decrease the amount. I ran out of white sugar, so I substituted with brown sugar. So, I needed 6c. sugar, I used 4c. white, & 2c. brown!)

15 oz. Pumpkin puree, 4 large eggs, and 1/2 c. of vegetable oil. Combine.

Next, add 1/2 c. apple juice (she also suggests apple cider!) Mix.

Add your wet ingredients to your dry, & combine. (don't whip or mix to fast. This creates gluten, and makes the muffins dense/stiff, or something!)

Chop 1 large apple and mix into the batter. (I did large pieces)

Now it's time to bake!

Grease a muffin tin. (or use muffin cups. We didn't have any, so just used Crisco, & it worked out fine!)

I did two scoops of a papered chef scoop in each muffin spot. (about 3/4 full I would say)

Lydia happy to have helped scoop the batter into the muffin tins! (Liana helped mix everything & even cracked two eggs by herself!)

We like to shake things up a bit ;-) lol!

Bake the muffins in an oven preheated to 350* for 20-25 minutes.

 (or in a roaster @ 450* for 35 min or till done when poked w. a cake tester or toothpick.)

The finished muffins! The lighter color on the muffins are the apple chunks.

This was the first batch and was eaten up before they had a chance to cool! lol!

Now, onto some other projects!

For Christmas, Caley & I got some lovely suede fabric from our grandparents, & a skirt pattern!

The color of the fabric I got is like a soft sage green, & Caley got a lovely cranberry/Christmas red! the pattern is Simplicity  # 2516. I plan to make style D, & Caley chose A. (D is the long pinkish color, & A is the long black one.

So far I have the pattern pieces cut out. All I need to do is find my sewing scissors, & then I can cut out the fabric! I can't wait to begin!

(Don't worry! I haven't forgotten about my jean skirt project! I hope to get that finished soon, too!! lol!)

I also had to post some pics of our kitty, Trinity! She's such a character!

Playing with a piece of yarn.

About to catch some yarn!

5 Reasons NOT to Send Your Kids to Government Schools

5. YOU DON’T HAVE TO

4. AMERICA’S SCHOOLS ARE AMONG THE WORST IN THE INDUSTRIALIZED WORLD

3. AMERICA’S SCHOOLS ARE MORALLY REPUGNANT

2.GOVERNMENT EDUCATION IS ANTI-CHRISTIAN

1. THE BIBLE COMMANDS CHRIST-CENTERED EDUCATION

Click here to read the full article by Voddi Baucham.

Encouragement

I follow a blog by Jasmine Baucham ( Joyfully Home ). Today she posted about how we plant seeds in peoples lives even in our every day lives!
The blog post is HERE.

I hope this will be an encouragement to you today! :-)

Baking...MMMM!!!

The other day I got an update on a new post from Growing in Grace Magazine, & it was a recipe!
The recipe was Challah Bread. By reading the ingredients & directions, it sounds yummy!!

Well, even though it's made to eat on the Sabbath, I decided to try it today. I made two batches before I realized one batch made two loaves! lol!
Well, we tried one loaf, & it is soooo yummy!!! We put bread on it & when you eat it when it's warm, you can taste the honey that's in the bread, & it's just enough sweetness, & it doesn't overpower it! It's really good!

Now, some of the directions were a bit vague, but other than that, it's a really simple recipe.
Now, it calls for 4 eggs, but it doesn't say if you use it for the top of the bread, or inside the bread. I just used 1 egg for on top of the bread before you bake it. It says to do that towards the end of the recipe, so I'm guessing the 4 was a typo, & is supposed to be a 1...
So just use 1 egg for the top of the bread right before you put it in the oven.

You can view the recipe HERE. I highly recommend trying it!