So Cute Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies

Dancer turned 16 dozen of these.....

into 16 dozen of these. 

She baked about two dozen almost every night for about the last week and half.  We took two dozen to our homeschool co-op Christmas party and then I need 14 dozen for a homeschool mom's cookie exchange.  I really appreciate that she did all this work.  We didn't use Grandma Shirley's cookie recipe (our tried and true peanut butter cookie recipe)  because that one is too dry for shaping their heads so we found this one which is just perfect for these cookies.  She can make these without looking at the recipe now she made so many batches.

Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies

3/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
3 T. milk
1 T. vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
chocolate covered pretzels (we could only find these at our local fleet supply store, aren't these suppose to be a Christmas staple?)
chocolate chips
red M&Ms

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Combine sugar, peanut butter, shortening, milk and vanilla.  Blend well.  Add egg and beat until just blended.

Combine dry ingredients and add to cream mixture just until blended.

Form the dough into one inch balls.  Pinch the bottom of the ball slightly and gently flatten in your hand.  Space about two inches apart on the cookie sheet and leave enough room to get the antlers on without touching each other. 

Bake about 7 to 8 minutes or until just when they begin to get brown. 

Immediately after removing from the oven add antlers, eyes and nose so that they melt onto the cookie.  Let them cool for a few minutes and transfer to cooling rack.

Out Of This World Salmon Recipe

Let me start out by saying that I don't like salmon.  When my aunt and uncle would come to visit, my mom and her brother would sit with two spoons and a can of salmon between them and lick the can clean.  No, they didn't lick the can but they sure enjoyed their treat.  Repulsive, or so I thought.  That all changed when Dad brought some salmon home from work that a co-worker gave him from her trip to Alaska.  Now I don't think that Alaska salmon and canned salmon come from the same family tree. While I thought canned salmon was akin to cat food, Alaska salmon is made for the gods.  Dad made this recipe and it was good hot, cold and straight from the fridge the next day. 

1 clove garlic, chopped
2 T. olive oil
4 salmon fillets
1/2 C. butter
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. lemon juice
1 t. pepper
1 t. garlic salt
1 1/2 t. herbs
1/4 C. chopped dill

Saute garlic until soft in olive oil.  Melt in butter.  Remove from heat and add Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, pepper garlic salt and herbs.

Place the salmon, skin down, on broiler pan sprayed with nonstick spray.  Spoon 1/3 of the butter over the fillets and sprinkle with dill.

Broil in preheated oven for three minutes.  Turn salmon so that the fillet is up and baste with 1/3 of butter sauce.  Broil for three minutes.  Turn the fillets and baste with remaining 1/3 butter sauce.  Broil until salmon flakes easily with a fork, about three more minutes.

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek

This is the first paper Spark has written where he had to take notes on important facts and then write about a person.  I wasn't sure how this was going to go but he did a good job right out of the gate with almost no help from me except to point out a couple capitalization changes.  He took notes this week and last night spent a couple hours at the computer very seriously typing away.  The best part was I didn't even tell him to do it last night, he just got his notebook out and jumped right in (I thought I would have remind him over and over next week to work on it so I was thrilled when I saw him doing it on his own).  I think he has hidden abilities that he isn't letting on that he can do.  Time to raise the bar :)

ANTONI VAN LEEUWENHOEK - by Spark

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek is important in history because he saw microscopic life using microscopes he made himself.

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek was born in Delft, Holland on October 24 1632. His father made baskets. He had four sisters and his dad died wen he was five. His mom remarried in two years. At 16 he learned cloth making. He worked in his masters shop for six weeks and then became a master himself.

Leeuwenhoek married twice, his first wife died and so did his second. He had five kids and four died. His daughter Maria was the only one that lived, she never married and took care of him and their house in the years when he was doing all of his research.

In 1667, he went to London to learn about microscopes. He liked to look at mold, bees and lice. He also found small animals in water and he was the first one to see bacteria. He found bacteria in tooth plaque, he also discovered red blood cells. He inspected the lens on the end of the eye and he studied body parts like: bones, skin, eyes and hair. He found life begins with a sperm and an egg cell for all animals, it didn't just appear in rotting materials which is was people thought before.

He sent 26 microscopes to the Royal Society after his death. Before that he really didn't let people look at his microscopes and had only give a couple away prior to his death.

English Christmas Crackers

We made these for a 4-H project to learn how to say Merry Christmas in different languages.  At the meeting everyone stood in a circle and every other person had a cracker.  Spark, who is the president, and the Vice President learned how to say Merry Christmas in eight languages.  They would teach one and every one with a cracker would pass it to the person on their right and say Merry Christmas to practice saying it in the language.  We passed it about five or six times for every language.  When we were done we passed out crackers to everyone who didn't have one.  There was a lot of laughing and everyone enjoyed opening their crackers which contained candy and a rubber duck key chain.

To make these we save toilet paper rolls for a long time.  I wrapped paper around them, twisted one end and tied with a ribbon.  Spark stuffed them with the prizes and then I twisted the other end and tied.  To fancy them up a bit I cut the ends with a scrapbook scissor.   

Secrets

This box has been causing such a stir at our house since it arrived last Saturday, so long ago to Spark that he took it upon himself to draw a face on it using the Amazon logo as a smile.  Spark was sure it was for Dancer and well, Dancer couldn't decide who it was for.  Today Dad let it slip that it was for Dancer. 

To entice them even more about the box I made up a song for it.

O Amazon, O Amazon
Your secrets within delight us
You are exciting when Christmas days are bright
You make it hard to sleep at night
O Amazon, O Amazon
Your secrets within delight us.

Even though Spark knows it's not for him it is still driving him crazy that it is just sitting there so he made up a song to the 80's Devo tune of Whip It

Wrap it, wrap it good, you must wrap it.

Dad and I gave in and wrapped it, twice so there could be no peeking.  I think we are going to have a lot more fun with this present before it is opened than after.

Homeschool Co-op Christmas Ornaments

We had our co-op Christmas party on Tuesday.  Each family brought a snack and an ornament or project to do.  The kids split up in groups of two or three and went around to each table to make the ornament.  As soon as they were done eating and crafting they ran into the gym to play some games.  Every chance they get they are running to the gym, it is definitely the highlight of going to co-op.  One boy brought a remote control car they played with and the they played a couple of tag games.  It is nice that they get themselves on teams and start playing all on their own.

Here are all the crafts.

Clear bulb stuffed with cotton balls and face drawn on with Sharpie markers.  By Spark.

Clear bulb with a squirt of glue and glitter.  Roll around until the inside is covered.  By Dancer.

One family just got back from Florida and brought back these beautiful shells.  They were nice enough to share them with us.  Cardboard circle, glue on shells, sprinkle with glitter, attach bow and hanger. This one is really pretty it just didn't show up on the picture like it is real life.   By Dancer.

Clothes pin painted brown with a strip of little garland woven back and forth in the pin.  Glue on star, buttons, etc. and hanger.  By Dancer.

Fire started for the outdoor enthusiast that has every thing.  Fill an egg carton with small animal bedding and pour wax over the top.  This wax made the room smell soooo good.  Cut the egg cups apart for six starters.  By Spark.

For the birds.  Pine cone smeared with peanut butter and rolled in bird seed.  This one is really pretty I wish it wasn't gooey and we could hang it on the tree.  By Spark.

Fun Frugal Manicure

All you need for those fancy tipped nails is two colors of nail polish, a scrapbook scissor and a roll of masking tape.  Dancer picked green and silver, she has every crazy color under the sun.  Her motto when it comes to nail polish is that a girl can never have too many colors.  Brush a couple coats of polish on and let dry for several hours so they are good and dry.

Cut a little piece of masking tape in half using the scrapbook scissor.  Stick the tape on the nail.  Put the second color on and take the tape off before the nail polish drys so that it doesn't stick to the tape and tear the polish.

Voila!  Those fancy nails without the fancy cost.

Brrrrr!!!!! Baby It's cold outside.

The indoor/outdoor thermometer says it is .6°, it's our coldest night of the new winter season.  We have had a warm fall so it seems especially super cold.  Even with winter gear on our fingers were numb and/or aching by the end of chores.

At times like these I go on enviously about the pictures on other blogs, like swimtaxi234, were there are still leaves on the trees and they are doing fun things outside.  Then Mom reminds me that down south they have nasty bugs, snakes and temps in the 100°'s for days on end.

Since our biggest snake is smaller than my forearm, we have fewer bugs (though still a few trillion mosquitoes) and we only had a few days over 90° this year I guess she has a point.  Maybe the the point is we always complain about the weather where ever we are. 

Mario Kart Marathon

Spark rotates from Wii game to Wii game, sometimes hourly and sometimes after several days.  Lately, for the last week or so, the game has been Mario Kart.  When he needs a break from school or just wants a little breather he will play a quick game, often Dancer and I will play with him.  The common denominator is though that it is always quick.  Until last night that is.

We sat down the play a game after dropping Dad off at work and Spark says, "Do you want to play all 32 levels?"  Sure, why not, I didn't think it would take that much time and we really hadn't done much together all day as I was busy with other things.

Wrong!  It took four hours to play those 32 games, we were up until after midnight.  I did do a few other things in between so it wasn't solid playing time.  We had gotten a turkey off our turkey card (when you buy a bazillion dollars worth of groceries in the months of October and November at a local grocery store they give you a turkey), which I discovered had thawed in the back of the car.  Needing to roast it up a.s.a.p. I had this bird that needed to be deboned and packaged for later us.  I did this in between rounds of play.  Dancer was also making cookies and so I helped her take the cookies in and out of the oven  and decorate them when they came out.  There was also a couple of phone calls, bathroom breaks and the like.

Whew, the next time I agree to a Mario Kart marathon I will make sure I have time aplenty on my hands.  Maybe Christmas vacation?

Paper Sphere Ornaments

When I wasn't able to find enough hoops for the woven Scandinavian ornaments for our co-op Christmas party I had to quickly shift gears and find something else.  I saw an instruction sheet for these hanging by the scrap booking paper and decided we would make these instead. 

Supplies needed for these are scrap booking paper that is printed on both sides.  I picked some up at the store but realized that we needed more.  When I went to another store to quick grab some they didn't have any paper printed on both sides.  Lesson learned the check before you buy them, I did thankfully, but now have to  make another trip to get the right paper. 

Cut out nine circles from the paper.

Fold each circle in half and place them in a stack.

Staple them together at the top, middle and bottom of the fold.

Using glue dots or double stick tape, glue the outer edges of each piece together alternating top and bottom.  When they are all glued they should make a sphere but it may take some bend of the paper to get them symmetrical.

Spark Is Sort Of Famous

Back in November of 2008, seems like a life time ago now, we made pomander balls.  Months and months ago a library out in Massachusetts asked if they could use one of the pictures from that post for a program they were doing.  "Sure," our egos said.  Who doesn't want one of their pictures used in a semi professional manner?  We kept looking on their web site but it was never on there so we just assumed they weren't going to use it.  Today, on a whim, I thought I will check again because maybe it will be a Christmas something or another program.  Sure enough his smiling little face is on their page.  You can see it at the Springfield Library site.

Here is that pomander ball today, it is in really good shape.  Actually I think they last forever once they dry.

We made it a fancy holder and it hangs along side our living room curtains with a string of gold beads that we never took down from a Christmas many years ago.

Candy Cane Christmas Wreath

We made this and brought it Grandma and Grandpa tonight as a house warming gift for their new town house.  They are moving from Arkansas but only have a few of their Christmas things here.

This project was a little labor intensive just because there is a wait time for the glue to dry.  Glue together ten sets of candy canes back to back.  Since the canes are wrapped in plastic, we let them sit over night so they were completely dry before moving on to the next step so that they wouldn't get uneven when handling them.  Tie red ribbons on the tops, just before the curve, in square knots and cut off the ribbon tails.  For the next part we used a glue gun.  Lay all the cane pairs out and keep adjusting them until they are in a circle with their "hooks" and bottoms touching as close as possible.  Be liberal with the glue on the back of the wreath or it tends to bend where the joints are.  To finish tie a ribbon on top for hanging.  Cut off any extra long pieces of plastic candy wrappings.  I did this after I took the picture because it was with the flash that I saw how much they stood out.

Cute for Christmas but I also think you could leave it up through Valentine's Day.

Woven Scandinavian Christmas Ornaments

The plan was that we would make these next week for our co-op Christmas party.  I ran into a little snag when the craft store only had five hoops and I need 15.  Good thing I didn't wait until the last minute to get the supplies because I needed to come up with another craft.

Since we had already picked out all the ribbon, and I love how these look, I got two hoops so that Spark and Dancer could each make one for our tree.  Spark's is on the left, Dancer's on the right.

To make these, take the hoop apart.  On the outside of the inside hoop put double stick tape, this makes it easier to weave the ribbon and keep it in place.  Weave different colored ribbons, as loose or full as you like, over the inside hoop catching the ribbons on the tape.  When done with the weaving put the hoop back together and tighten.  Dancer had a label that didn't want to come off neatly on the side of hers so she put the double stick tape around the outside and decorated with a piece of ribbon. 

Watering Wednesday

It became apparent today that we have all become a little obsessed with the little African Violet that sits on our counter.  It is a violet that Dancer started from just one leaf last spring, more about it here.

Every week, either Spark or myself, will ask Dancer if she has watered her violet on Wednesday.  Some weeks I will sing a little song to ask her and one week we even made up a "It's time to water the violet?" dance. 

This morning even Dad asked Dancer if she had watered her violet, he has gotten violet fever too. 

We not only wonder about if she watered it or not, we also spend a lot (well a lot for a plant) time talking about the violet and counting how many leaves it has.  When it gets a new leaf it is time for celebration!  Yes, we live a simple life.

The Cleaning Crew

Our homeschool co-op  meets at a church that doesn't charge us for meeting there.  One of the ways they decided to not charge us was by us taking a turn cleaning the church one time.  Here is our crazy group posing after our cleaning session.  This photo goes to show that our group has good time together no matter what we are doing, playing or working. 

In reality there really wasn't much to do.  For one thing there were 14 of us to do an job that usually one or two people can handle easily and we cleaned on a Tuesday so it had only been used one day since the last cleaning.

Beaded Glass Christmas Ornament

First new ornament on the tree, actually the only ornament on the tree because the tree is up but we haven't pulled out the ornaments out of storage yet. 

Super simple, rub glue all over a glass ornament and sprinkle on seed beads for spectacular results.

Giving Thanks For Friends

Especially ones who invite us over for a big Thanksgiving dinner, play games all night and send us home with cookie dough. 

Hand Print Turkey Year Six

It was done a day late but done none the less, the annual hand print turkey.

Now it will go up on the wall in the hallway and join the other turkeys from the last five years.  The kids were kindergarten and third grade when we started this and I cherish them all, only wish we would have done it from when they were babies.

A New Fridge, or The Ice World Hoth

Today we went to get a new refrigerator as ours inconveniently quit working

Wednesday afternoon.  Especially unfortunate as we just bought new tires on Monday.

After the new appliance arrived I started putting in food, which had been stored in coolers on the front porch.  There wasn't much to go into the freezer, most of that stuff was transferred to the big freezer, eaten or thrown out.  When I opened the  freezer door to toss in a bag of corn I was surprised by the following sight: 

An odd Star Wars diorama had already claimed the space. As told by Spark--The evil Emperor Lorg stole the robotic data pig and is holding him in a cage in this ice cave.  Jonathon came to fight the evil emperor and rescue the data pig.

The cook.  Suspicious that a chef would come along to a pig rescue.  Is that a treasure chest or a portable oven?

Jonathon fighting Emperor Lorg.

The poor imprisoned data pig.

How Late Can You Drink Coffee?

It's 4:15 and Dad made a pot of coffee.  "What are you doing?" a shocked Dancer asks. 

"Making coffee" a confused at her reaction dad responds.

"But I can't have any!"

"Why not, are you not having caffeine any more?"

"It will keep me awake and I won't be able to go to bed," the still shocked Dancer replies.

"What, you will be up until 4:00 a.m. instead of 2:00 a.m." Dad states the obvious.

He had her there, she is an extreme night owl.  Point taken, she is going to enjoy a cup of coffee. Well, sort of, coffee to the kids means more of a cup of cream and coffee flavoring or Da Vinci syrup with a little coffee thrown in for good measure.  A lot closer to the Starbucks definition of coffee than 'I just take mine black, thanks.'