Sunday, February 28, 2010

Passport on a Plate: Germany




This week we got to learn about Germany and it's history. We read some fascinating books about world war II, the cold war and life today in Germany. We topped the week off with some awesome food from there. For breakfast we had apple-cinnamon pancakes with whipped cream. Dinner we had Sausage hot pot, Crispy potato pancakes, spaetzle noodles and for dessert apple nut strudel with whipped cream. Yum!!! The meal was a huge success. The kids cleaned their plates and asked for more of everything. I had many requests to write down all the recipes and make them often. Our next trip is to Italy. 2.28.10

Monday, February 22, 2010

2009 rewind

Ok so 2009 was a really pathetic year for my blog with only 61 entries the whole year(compared to 267 in 2008). Pretty sad I know. So I am going back and filling in some of the holes from last year since I am caught up right now on 2010. I will post all of the old events and then put them in chronological order in a week or so. Enjoy the fall & summer pictures....which is nice in the winter :)

Easter Wishes from the kids 2009

We got to babysit our neighbor's baby chickens from her 1st grade class. Here are some pictures of the kids holding them. 4.2009

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Happy 90th Birthday Grandpa


First off my grandparents are awesome! They are such great examples of love, faith and generosity. My grandpa celebrated his 90th birthday in February this year. It was great to have the family together to celebrate a wonderful man. 2.21.10

Monday, February 15, 2010

Jumping& Climbing Fun








Oh, how we love RiverFest in Riverside Mo. The festival has a great parade and lots of activities at the fair grounds and the best part is that it is all free! This year they had a rock climbing wall and a jumping harness as well as all of the blow-up jumpy things. Here are some great pictures from the day. Isabella was the only one that made it to the top of the climbing wall and got to ring the bell. Dominic made it about half way before he decided that was high enough. Michael and I both got to the last part of the adult wall and were one step away from ringing the bell when we fell. There was a really hard ledge to get over at the very top and neither of us made it but it sure was fun to try. 9.19.09

Sunday, February 14, 2010

The return of our pet squirrel: Pizza




Last year we befriended a squirrel that Dominic named "pizza" the squirrel gets more daring every day. He now comes up to our door in the morning and puts his little paw on the glass and scratches until someone comes over and opens the door. He then sticks his little head in the door crack and takes whatever food we offer to him. It is pretty cute. The kids gave him a Valentine's cupcake for Valentine's day. Click here to see pictures of him eating our gingerbread house last year. As soon as the weather warms up he stops pan handling for food but he returns in December for his handout. 2.14.10

Happy Valentine's Day


Here is a picture of the kids from Valentine's day after church. Don't they look sweet in their red? Isabella got the new dress from Grandma Margie who got to come and spend the weekend with us. 2.14.10

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Family Roller Derby








Our local Catholic Homeschooling group rented out the roller rink and we had a free skate for a couple of hours on Sunday. This was the first time that Michael and I had been skating together since we had our first "date" 9 years ago (wow how time flies). Needless to say it took both Michael and I a bit of time before we were balanced on wheels. The kids were all over the place. It was very difficult to try and balance myself and a wobbly 4 year old. We ended up moving him back to the skates that fit over his shoes so he would have some more control. After about 30 minutes Isabella started doing pretty well on her own. She had a very bruised tushie after many hard falls but she had a great time. We have two more Roller-Nights scheduled for this winter so we should be pretty good by spring. I really do love our Homeschooling group there are so many awesome resources and activities within it. 1.24.10

Monday, February 8, 2010

New Baby Stella


Our neighbor's just had their second baby, Stella. We got to meet her finally after we got home from Colorado. She is adorable. Isabella is feeling pretty confident with her baby holding skills after being around baby Gibson for a few days. She is quite the little momma. Here is a picture of week old Stella and Bella. 1.20.10

Here Kitty Kitty





The boys were having a great time chasing the dog around with flash lights laughing saying "here kitty kitty." They had a blast, giggling. Amazing how entertained kids can be with flash lights. 1.18.10

Ashby Boys




Here are some pictures of the Ashby boys, baby Gibson, Colton and Kaede. 1.18.10

Colorado Landscapes





We had some sick kids so we didn't get to go see Red Rocks National Park like we planned but Dominic and I did get to stop and see this beautiful landscape not far from Gina's house. Isabella and Michael were at Gina's playing cards. Oh, well maybe next time we go to Colorado we will get to see more. We also got a surprise when we found Buffalo on the way. 1.18.10

Sweet Baby Gibson


Isabella was in baby heaven when we went to see Gina's family. She spent most of her free time holding baby Gibson. She had a hard time when he was napping. The wait to have baby time was more than she can stand. She is quite the baby lover! Just like her momma was at her age. 1.15.10

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Passport on a Plate: China


This week we got to learn all about China. This was of real interest to Isabella because she was so fascinated with China after the summer Olympics. I have to admit I was really looking forward to cooking all the Chinese food all week long. Chinese is one of my favorite foods. We made Mu Shu Chicken (it is the one in the tortilla or "pancake" as they call it), Lo Mein noodles, peanut noodles, terriaki asparagus, sesame broccoli, crab rangoon (ok I kinda cheated here since this really isn't a traditional Chinese food....but I figured since I already had wontons I might as well make some with crab rangoon filling right?), pork & shrimp wontons, and steamed rice. Laura and Mitchell (the Newlyweds) came on the adventure to China with us and they brought dessert so we didn't have to settle for fortune cookies we got to have yummy brownies and Oreo ice cream (not exactly Chinese but we didn't mind). Next week we are headed to Germany. This is so much fun. I LOVE homeschooling. 2.5.10

Passport on a Plate: Africa


The great thing about homeschooling is that we have such a open field for study. One of the things that we are doing this semester is called "Passport on a Plate." We spend a whole week learning all about a country or continent, the geography, culture, family life and FOOD! This was the first week of on the adventure and Africa was the destination. We learned a lot about the large continent and we got pretty adventurous when it came to our African meal. We had ground nut stew (this stew had sweet potatoes, bananas, cabbage, peanuts, peanut butter and some other seasoning....it sounded kinda gross but it was pretty tasty) and jasmine rice. Fu fu balls (these were like a bread & potato ball that was soft), Kenyan nutty bananas, and Little yam cakes for dessert. African food is very filling and pretty yummy too. 1.29.10

Colorado Rodeo 2010






Gina's husband, Andy was pretty excited about the rodeo being in town and thought it would be a lot of fun to have all of us go with them to see the ropin' of the cows. It was my first rodeo that I can recall going to. The kids seemed to be amused by the constant changing shows. Isabella said she didn't ever want to go to another rodeo again because "they were treating the baby cows so bad." I have to agree with her. It looks pretty painful to have someone rope you while you are in a dead sprint. She spent almost the whole rodeo holding or entertaining baby Gibson so she was pretty happy in the end. It also helped that we treated the kids to some cotton candy.
We also got to tour the grounds after wards and Dominic got to hold a read chicken in his hands. That was enough to make him giggle! 1.15.10

Sweet Reunion




What a blessing to have my best friend, Gina move within driving distance of Kansas City! We can now spend a short 9 hours in the car and be together....or a cheap flight. Although it would have been more fabulous for them to move to KC, I guess it is pretty nice to have them in a place we can go to for a get-away in the mountains. I am sure this will be the first of many trips to Colorado to spend with her family. Here are some pictures from the top of a little mountain we were able to hike. We took two of her kids, baby Gibson and Kaede with us on the journey. Gina was quite the trooper hiking with a baby front pack! 1.15.10

Colorado Mountains







Gina took us to see some of the beautiful Colorado mountains while we were out to visit. We were in luck that the weather was nice enough to get to climb to the top of one of the small ones. We were able to take some pretty amazing pictures from the top of the mountain. The kids thought it was great fun getting to climb up and see snow on the top. So glad we had the chance to see the mountains early in our trip since most of our family and Gina's family was not feeling so good at the end of our stay. I guess we will just have to head back for another visit when we have more time to see the wonders of Colorado. 1.15.10

Cooking with Colton


During our visit to Colorado we got to stay with Gina& Andy. The kids had a blast playing with her three little boys. Here is a picture of sweet little Colton showing Isabella a few pointers on kitchen floor cooking. 1/14/10