USS Shanester

Each year, at Shane's school, Heritage Christian Preschool, at Heritage Church of Christ, they have a Drive in Movie Day.  Parents and kids dcorate a car for kids to sit in during the movie.  This year, Shane and Steve created a boat!


Here was last year's Race Car and Shane and his friends Mackenna and London at school.

roto-copter fun

Although Shane enjoys stay home days with Mommy and Daddy, he usually gets bored.  We always have cleaning, bills to pay, paperwork to sort, emails to send out, etc.  So Friday, Shane and I made rotocopters (a future Girl Scout activity) and launched them from the upstairs window in the playroom that overlooks the living room.  After running down the stairs  many times to retrie ve the copters, Steve came up with this basket on a string system, so that Shane could pull them up without coming downstairs!  If you look closely, you'll see that Shane is still in his Incredible Hulk pjs.  Just one of the bonuses of stay home days!!

Blueberry Whole Wheat/Oatmeal Pancakes

Had a craving for blueberry pancakes this morning, and didn't have any mix.  Found this recipe on allrecipes.com and changed it a bit.  Great pancakes!  May not buy that boxed stuff again.

Ingredients


1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1-2 tablespoons wheat germ

1-2 tablespoons flax seed

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

2 cups milk

3 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup frozen blueberries (chopped)

Directions

1.Preheat a lightly oiled griddle over medium heat.

2.In a large bowl, mix whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, wheat germ, flax seed and salt.

3.In a small bowl, mix oats and milk. Whisk in eggs and olive oil. Pour into the flour mixture all at once. Continue mixing until smooth. Gently fold in blueberries.

4.Pour batter about 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared griddle. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, until bubbly. Flip, and continue cooking until lightly browned.

My kids ate these with sugar-free syrup.  Shane even asked for a 2nd pancake!!

Shane's thoughts and questions about turning 5

I cannot believe that my baby turned 5 today.  That makes me feel so OLD!!  We had a party at McDonald's yesterday for his school friends.  He had a Bakugan themed party and cake.  A few days ago we talked about the cake and he said that he wanted brownies like his Daddy instead of a cake.  Then we found a Bakugan cake he wanted to order it.  At the party, he asked me where the brownies were.  The little turkey, he did not eat his cake at all.  (But, he didn't complain, etither.) 

Today, as soon as he woke up, he asked me "Mommy, do I look taller?" How funny it is that kids want to be bigger so badly, while we as adults, seem to wish time would slow down.

We went to Sarah's basketball game and then had donuts for breakfast.  Midway through the morning, he told me "If I get in trouble and have to go to time-out, I will have to stay 5 minutes instead of 4."  Were he a little older, he would realize that that is not a bit of info that he should remind his mother of...  At 12:15 he said, "Mommy, I haven't been to time-out since I turned 5."  He actually made it through the whole day!!  We met Grandy and PaPa for dinner so that they could keep the kids while I went to a wedding reception.  We enjoyed a chocolate-chip cookie cake. 

As he was getting ready for bed he said, "Maybe I'll lose a tooth tonight."  This one took me awhile...Sarah lost her first tooth the summer that she was 5.  Now, that he is 5...he assumes that he, too will lose a tooth.

It really is true that kids really do say the darndest things...I love having this blog and being able to capture these priceless moments before I forget them.

We've got COOKIES!

Well, it is day three and we have so many more to go with selling Girl Scout cookies.  When the first boxes arrived on our street, Shane started chewing on the Thin Mint box.  Sometimes, he is more dog than boy.  Of course I had to let him open it and eat some.  We have since finished off some Peanut Butter Patties and are well into a box of Caramel Delights (my favorite...caramel and coconut).  So day three, and I have purchased three boxes....this is going to be a long and fatty six weeks.  But it's for a good cause, right?

Anyway, if you want some cookies, we got 'em!

http://www.abcsmartcookies.com/cookies.asp -- Here is a link that describes the cookies we have. Carmel Delights, Lemonades, Peanut Butter Sandwich, Peanut Butter Patties, Thin Mints, Shortbread, Thanks-A-Lots, and Daisy Go Rounds. $3.50 a box.

Christmas letter

Sprowls News Herald -- 2009 Edition

Sarah – A second grader already? Sarah, 7, has finally decided that she loves reading (just like her mom, both grandmas, and her great-grandmother). She has made straight A’s both six weeks. (This is the first year she has received grades, and we are so very proud of her!) Last spring she played softball and this fall she played volleyball for the YMCA. She continues to love Girl Scouts and this year she is a Brownie. She spent a week at day camp and tried several other activities as part of Girl Scout’s Summer Extreme program. Sarah participates in Kid Serve at our church; this is a ministry where she performs puppets for Shane’s class. She is still very into Hannah Montana and anything creative. She has recently taken over the job of completing her own scrapbook pages. We enjoy working together to decorate the pages. We had the experience this year of having two pet hamsters (Princess, then Whiskers). Very cute and cuddly, but neither faired well health-wise, so we probably won’t get another one.

Shane – 4, is such a BOY! Always busy running, jumping, and climbing. He does stop to cuddle and can still barely fold his legs up so that he’ll fit in my lap. He attends preschool two days a week at Heritage Church of Christ again this year. He loves preschool, but doesn’t enjoy going to day care while Mommy works….partly because they make him nap and partly because he is spoiled and likes to be with Steve or me. He is looking forward to kindergarten next year at Sarah’s school. He played T-Ball both this spring and fall. He cannot wait to play again in the spring. He had a Star Wars birthday party and was a Storm-Trooper for Halloween. (Sarah was Princess Leia.) He still loves Disney cars, but has a new love for Hot Wheels and Battle Force 5.

Steve – still flies out of Dallas for Southwest. One of Steve’s favorite places to over-night is San Diego. We spent a week there this summer for a family vacation. We enjoyed the San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park, and most of all Legoland. Gotta love free airline travel! While in CA, we got to meet Darren Sproles, the running back for the Chargers. Steve loves to her “Sproles scored a touchdown” announced on the TV. He has thoroughly enjoyed being back in Texas and getting to watch the Cowboys live at the new stadium. It is unbelievable! Steve has continued to focus on working out and running. From the time he started in May ’08, he has lost 30 pounds. He was under 200 for a few days before Thanksgiving. Girl Scout nuts and pumpkin pie have pushed him back to 200. After Girl Scout cookies in Jan and his birthday brownies, I’m sure he will work it back off! He still works with the Air Force reserves to interview high school students that would like to go to the AF Academy.

Shannon – My days as a full-time mom only lasted one semester. In January, I took a job as a long-term sub for a 4th grade Language Arts teacher that had a baby. Mid-way through, she resigned, so I stayed the rest of the school year at Justin Elementary. This fall, I tried something new – first grade. I spent 9 weeks with the little ones, learning how to teach reading and writing from the beginning. I loved the age level of the kids, but as always, trying to balance work and family was hard. I finished just before Thanksgiving, and am glad to be home again (for now…) I am Sarah’s Brownie leader again this year and enjoy the simple pleasures of taking my kids to and from school. Of course, I still scrapbook, but find myself doing more digital books these days. If you have a chance, visit our BLOG at creativescrapper.blogspot.com

Until next year, Steve, Shannon, Sarah, & Shane

** PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR ZIP CODE HAS CHANGED TO 76244

Digital Scrapbooking

http://antiochcompany.cachefly.net/video/2009/02/09003_CM_Its_a_digital_life_FINALa.wmv

Just found this great 10 minute video that explains Creative Memories' digital scrapbooking software.  It can do so much; it is amazing!  Cut and paste the above link to watch it.  Creative Memories has many free predesigned pages to download where you just drag and drop your pictures to make a digital book.  This is how I made my first two digital books.  No cost until you are ready to print your book. 

Then I decided that I wanted to create a little more and I invested in Storybook Creator 3.0. I still start with the predesigned pages, but I add embellishments to make them more fussy!  My favorite sets are Celebration and Elementary School.