It's that time again! I'm posting to Simply Radical Christmas for the season of Advent. If I have stories that are not Advent related, I will tell them here. We will see how many posts make it to publish. Last year I didn't have any! Oops!
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Friday, November 23, 2012
Viking Ships, Video Chats, and Other Thanksgiving Joys
Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! I know it was yesterday, but we continue to give thanks today. In fact, I have a rather severe chest cold, which meant that I am not participating in Black Friday this year. I'm SO thankful for the excuse to stay in my jammies all day, blogging and watching football. It's cheaper this way, too. :-)
There are a few fun stories from this week. The boys have been learning about the Vikings in history. On Monday they spent time coloring pictures of Viking longships. I confess that I started the Christmas music on Monday also. My chest cold had started and I needed the pick me up. At least that's the excuse I'm using. The results were the multi-cultural experience of listening to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass while coloring pictures of ancient Viking sailing vessels. Educational fusion, people. It's the latest thing. Okay. I made it up, but it sounds good, doesn't it? I made a video, but it won't upload. Perhaps I'll post it on You Tube and share the link...
In addition to the picture of the Viking longship, Luke also made a cut-out paper version. It turned out pretty well. Luke was especially excited to learn that the Vikings sometimes used gold to cover the scary dragon heads on the bow of their boats. A bright yellow colored pencil took care of that business. Check out the results.
On Tuesday, the boys were able to do a video chat with Grandma. She read to them and showed them the cacti in her Palm Desert garden. They had a blast.
Thanksgiving was a great day here. We started with the creation of the traditional Bangsund Thanksgiving Tree, a process that begins with the cutting up and crumpling of MANY brown paper grocery bags.
Once the tree begins to take shape, the leaves begin to appear. Luke finished his first. You can't see it in the picture, but this leaf says, "I'm thankful for my brother" in super sweet seven-year-old handwriting. It also includes a stick figure drawing of Paul.
And I'm pretty sure you can clearly see that this leaf says, "Paul is thankful for Super Mario 64." Yes, it's a video game. And yes, he's holding a bowl of Chex Mix. I love Thanksgiving.
Our tree continued to collect leaves over the course of the day, but my favorite addition was the bird's nest in the crook of the lowest left limb. In January of last year, my friend Betsy gave me a jar with some pretty slips of paper and a pen for recording and keeping answered prayers. The slips of paper in the nest are all the prayers I remembered to record the answers to from our little lives. Many shared God's provision for homeschooling, Roots, and BSF, some showed His comfort given in difficult circumstances, and one shared the Lord's hand over Erik's job, protecting him from layoff this past January.
Here we are ready to eat our Thanksgiving meal together. We used paper plates because I found these turkey plates in my bin of fall decorations. Love it.
Later in the day, we Skyped with my sister in New York. It was crazy. Imagine my boys plus Nikki's boys (Joe, almost 6, and Rory, 3) all in the same room and able to see themselves on screens. Oh. My. Goodness. All four boys spent most of the time interrupting each other and the parents. It's not really about the conversation, is it? It's about Joe sharing his passion for trains and Paul joining in while Rory runs around in the background and Luke makes faces at himself.
We finished our day by heading to the Willseas for dessert eating, game playing, hymn singing and hard laughing. It was awesomely awesome. We were there until just after 9pm and the boys were absolutely stellar. No arguments. No fussing. No whining. Paul did not want to leave at the end, but other than that, he did great. What a huge blessing! The boys really love these people, and I can pretty confidently say that these people love them. At one point, the 8-year-old girl led our boys and the 3-year-old boy through the dining room wearing animal hats. She is clearly a very capable zoo keeper. Meanwhile the adults played games, including a new favorite called Suspend, sang hymns, and enjoyed great fellowship. I shared with John and Holly as our evening drew to a close that this is one of the only houses on the planet where we are able to extend our evening like this. Our friendship with them is simply one of Jesus' sweetest gifts to our family.
Today we continue to be thankful for all we have. We awoke to a rather cold house because the furnace had stopped working sometime in the night. It was about 62 degrees in the back half of the house. BRRR! This turn of events made me crazy thankful for my warmest sweater and the fact that we are not homeless, out in the cold and the elements. We have all stayed bundled all day, and Matt, our personal heating and cooling expert from Petra Heating and Air Conditioning, is coming by in about an hour. Pretty awesome.
There are a few fun stories from this week. The boys have been learning about the Vikings in history. On Monday they spent time coloring pictures of Viking longships. I confess that I started the Christmas music on Monday also. My chest cold had started and I needed the pick me up. At least that's the excuse I'm using. The results were the multi-cultural experience of listening to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass while coloring pictures of ancient Viking sailing vessels. Educational fusion, people. It's the latest thing. Okay. I made it up, but it sounds good, doesn't it? I made a video, but it won't upload. Perhaps I'll post it on You Tube and share the link...
In addition to the picture of the Viking longship, Luke also made a cut-out paper version. It turned out pretty well. Luke was especially excited to learn that the Vikings sometimes used gold to cover the scary dragon heads on the bow of their boats. A bright yellow colored pencil took care of that business. Check out the results.
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| A boy and his boat |
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| The boat's permanent home on Luke's dresser |
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| Chatting with Grandma |
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| This guy likes to cut and crumple stuff. |
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| As does this guy. |
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| Nothing sweeter |
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| I'm saving this leaf forever because it cracks me up. :-) |
"Praise be to you, Lord,
the God of our father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
11 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
13 Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name."
the God of our father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
11 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
13 Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name."
1 Chronicles 29:10-13
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| Our lives are filled with answered prayers nestling in the branches of our Thanksgiving tree. We are grateful. |
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| Yum! |
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| I took this because both boys had turkey and cranberries on their plates. After the click, I saw Paul's face. LOVE IT! |
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| Three-fourths of the Lansing Fam with the Bangsunds teeny tiny in the corner. :-) |
We finished our day by heading to the Willseas for dessert eating, game playing, hymn singing and hard laughing. It was awesomely awesome. We were there until just after 9pm and the boys were absolutely stellar. No arguments. No fussing. No whining. Paul did not want to leave at the end, but other than that, he did great. What a huge blessing! The boys really love these people, and I can pretty confidently say that these people love them. At one point, the 8-year-old girl led our boys and the 3-year-old boy through the dining room wearing animal hats. She is clearly a very capable zoo keeper. Meanwhile the adults played games, including a new favorite called Suspend, sang hymns, and enjoyed great fellowship. I shared with John and Holly as our evening drew to a close that this is one of the only houses on the planet where we are able to extend our evening like this. Our friendship with them is simply one of Jesus' sweetest gifts to our family.
Today we continue to be thankful for all we have. We awoke to a rather cold house because the furnace had stopped working sometime in the night. It was about 62 degrees in the back half of the house. BRRR! This turn of events made me crazy thankful for my warmest sweater and the fact that we are not homeless, out in the cold and the elements. We have all stayed bundled all day, and Matt, our personal heating and cooling expert from Petra Heating and Air Conditioning, is coming by in about an hour. Pretty awesome.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Deep Sea Chase - A Shadow Puppet Play
If you read this blog regularly, you know that I am a BIG fan of Kiwi Crate. It's a company that puts together everything we need to do a really fun craft including the directions. Then they send it to us in a shoebox. A new one each month. I love it. Before I go any further, if this sounds like a dream come true to you, you can get $10 off your first order by clicking here. (Plus I get a $10 off coupon as well!) Anyway...the most recent Kiwi Crate provided the opportunity for the boys to make shadow puppets. SO much fun!
This all happened last week. The boys made their puppets and then they put on a show for us. It was precious. Here are some pictures.
For the record, Deep Sea Chase lasted about twenty minutes and mostly involved the shark chasing and eating all the other characters, including Paul himself who stood up to cast his shadow on the wall. It was awesome. We love Kiwi Crate.
This all happened last week. The boys made their puppets and then they put on a show for us. It was precious. Here are some pictures.
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| Luke told me what to write. Pretty cute. |
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| The ticket takers outside "The Theatre" |
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| Before the show, taking off their hats to show that they are no longer The Ticket Takers. Now they are The Actors. |
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| It's a shark! |
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| Watch out, little fish! |
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| The puppets after the show |
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| The boys share the fun with Daddy after the show. |
Baking Fun - Dark Chocolate Harvest Muffins
This post is a bit of a departure from our regularly scheduled programming.
We have been baking a lot lately. I wanted to have a recipe that I could throw together for guests or snack or whatever. I started with a recipe from allrecipes.com, but quickly altered it to meet our needs. We are still working on a name for our new creation, but so far we like "Dark Chocolate Harvest Muffins." Here is our recipe:
Preheat over to 350 degrees. Grease muffin pan.
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon clove
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Create a well in the center and add "wet ingredients."
2 eggs
1 cup butternut squash, peeled, cubed, steamed, and mashed (immersion blender works well for this)
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup molasses
Mix until dry ingredients are absorbed. Fold in 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips. Spoon into muffin cups so they are about 2/3 full. For mini muffins, bake for 15 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. For full-sized muffins, bake for 18 minutes. Cool in pan before removing.
For the record, I buy butternut squash with a very tall top part, providing LOTS of squash without the scooping out part. I will often peel and cube the entire thing and use my microwave steamer to cook it all at once. It takes about 10 minutes on high to make it ready for blending. When it's done I use my immersion blender to make it creamy. Then I freeze it in 1 cup containers so I can just pull it out and make muffins!
Pictures because otherwise the fans will revolt!
We have been baking a lot lately. I wanted to have a recipe that I could throw together for guests or snack or whatever. I started with a recipe from allrecipes.com, but quickly altered it to meet our needs. We are still working on a name for our new creation, but so far we like "Dark Chocolate Harvest Muffins." Here is our recipe:
Preheat over to 350 degrees. Grease muffin pan.
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon clove
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Create a well in the center and add "wet ingredients."
2 eggs
1 cup butternut squash, peeled, cubed, steamed, and mashed (immersion blender works well for this)
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup molasses
Mix until dry ingredients are absorbed. Fold in 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips. Spoon into muffin cups so they are about 2/3 full. For mini muffins, bake for 15 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. For full-sized muffins, bake for 18 minutes. Cool in pan before removing.
For the record, I buy butternut squash with a very tall top part, providing LOTS of squash without the scooping out part. I will often peel and cube the entire thing and use my microwave steamer to cook it all at once. It takes about 10 minutes on high to make it ready for blending. When it's done I use my immersion blender to make it creamy. Then I freeze it in 1 cup containers so I can just pull it out and make muffins!
Pictures because otherwise the fans will revolt!
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| Paul's smile as we turned on the Christmas music for the first time this morning. I know it's early, but it was an irresistible combination. Baking + Christmas Music = Awesome! |
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| Luke's happy face appeared as he heard the Christmas music from his room. Adorable. |
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| Finished Dark Chocolate Harvest Muffins! Powdered sugar is just for the fun of it. |
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