Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt

One of my kiddos favorite things to do this time of year:  head out to Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt for some frog catching.  We have been coming out here since my son was three.  I will never forget my first foray into frog catching with my kids.  Polk County Conservation offered an activity called Catch-n-Croakers.  My husband did not want to attend, so I hauled my then three and five year olds out to Chichaqua for some frog fun.  The first part wasn't too bad.  We listened to a conservationist explain the different types of frogs and the different sounds they made.  She explained where we could look, and what we might find.  I was totally unprepared for the second half, however!  It was basically pitch black when we headed outside.  Here I am holding on to my kids, a flashlight, a bucket, and a net wading in stinky pond water, catching NOTHING!  It was pretty awful to me, but my kids loved it.  So now we head out to Chichaqua during the DAY, which is so much better in my opinion:)  Over the years we have had tons of fun, lost several boots in the muck, and caught all kinds of aquatic pond creatures.

I must admit, this time we only caught three frogs...poor indeed...but in our defense we pulled into the park behind three school buses from Des Moines.  UGH!  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but there were several times I though some middle schooler was going to hook us with their poor casting skills!  I will say, I was greatly impressed with the spread Polk County had for the school kids to do.  They went round robin style to different activities.  From what I could tell they had hiking, fishing, canoeing, pond study, and geocaching.  

I found it funny that several of the kids asked why our kids weren't in school.  To which we replied, "We homeschool."  Their response, "You're cheating.  You shouldn't be out here; you should be doing school."  I found this particularly funny, since they were not in school either:).  Whatever.

Cookie Thursday

I started making an Insane Goal List back in 2012.  I had seen the idea on the Simply Rebekah blog.  It sounded fun so I gave it a shot.  Fast forward to 2014 and I am on my third Insane Goal List.  I love making this list.  I don't get everything accomplished, but I am amazed at how much I can get done.  In 2012, I really wanted to bake more cookies.  I felt like I never baked cookies for my kiddos, so I set the goal of baking cookies every week for the year.  It morphed into a different cookie recipe every week for the year, and it was so much fun I kept it up for most of 2013 too!  I dubbed that saga Cookie Thursdays.  

My husband thinks I should have Cookie Thursday for my blog (not sure if he is thinking about the blog or his tummy), but I do miss making cookies weekly.  In honor of husband I am making his very favorite cookie, Hidden Acres Monster Cookie.  Every year we camp at Hidden Acres, and they have some of the best cookies!  Here is a photo of my man during one of our family cookie bakes there...

 

Hidden Acres Monster Cookie

• 1/4 lb. butter, softened
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Peanut Butter
• 3 Eggs     
• 1.5 teaspoon Baking Soda          
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla            
• 4.5 cups Oats                      
• 1 cup Chocolate Chips    
• 1 cup M & M's            

Mix butter and sugars together.  Add peanut butter and mix completely.  Add eggs one at a time, combining completely after each egg.  Mix in everything else one at a time in the order given.  Bake for 10-15 in a preheated 375 degree oven.  Makes about 2 dozen large cookies.  

I make some with my largest scoop, and then some more bite sized with my smallest scoop.  Here is one of the babies:)  So Yummy!

Author New to Me...Willa Cather

I have completed my second book in the Back to the Classics challenge.  This time I have chosen the author new to me category.  Originally, I had thought I would read Jules Verne.  I tried to read From the Earth to the Moon, but I just could not get into it.  So while walking through Barnes and Noble one morning with the kids, I came across their classics section and Willa Cather.  An author I had not heard of, let alone read.  I ended up choosing her novel O Pioneers! which was written in 1913.  Willa was born in Virginia, but moved to Nebraska with her family at the age of ten which gave her ample memories to pull from for her story.

The story follows our main character, Alexandra Bergson, from a young girl through her life in Nebraska.  The back cover sums the story up like this, "A gripping saga of love, murder, greed, failure, and triumph, O Pioneers! vividly portrays the hardships of prairie life.  Above all, it champions the belief that hard work is the surest road to personal fulfillment.".  It's a good summation. 

It is not a very long book, making it a quick read.  You get a very good sense of what it would have been like living on the prairie in the 1880's.   I really liked the character of Alexandra.  She's smart,real smart.  She loves the land, and refuses to give up or give in!  I mentioned at work to a friend that I was reading Willa Cather as my author new to me, and she highly recommended that I try, My Antonia, by Cather also.  I will have to add that to my never ending need to read list.  

Reading Bingo

Last Summer, I made summer reading bingo boards for my kids.  I have all these books lying around, and no one was reading them!  So to remedy the problem, I created this...

A Summer Reading Challenge!  The kids formed certain bingos and received predetermined prizes...Yes, I was bribing my children to read; but hey, it worked!  Well, it sort of worked.  Both kiddos completed two bingos on their boards (there are a total of four bingos per board), and then they stopped.  That is until my son pulled it back out around the holidays and asked if he could finish it.  I agreed, like I would tell him no, and he finished his challenge.  I was happy, he was happy, and it has lead to him wanting another challenge.  Smiles. All. Around.

Classic Mystery Complete!

I have completed my first book for the Back to the Classics Challenge.  Yay!  Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles was my choice to fulfill the Classic Mystery, Suspense, or Thriller category.  I must admit, for a book written on a bet with her sister, Agatha Christie did an amazing job.  

Here's a quick summary:  The story is set during World War I in England.  Captain Hastings, our narrator, was injured in the war and has been invited to recover at his friend's home Styles.   During his stay, Emily Inglethorpe is fatally poisoned with strychnine.  To help solve the mystery, Hastings enlists the help of of his old friend a Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot.

I really enjoyed this book.  It was a quick read, that provided lots of twists and turns and red herrings.  The edition I read had the original chapter 12 reveal written by Christie included at the end of the book.  I must admit, I like the published version over the original.  The best compliment I can give is that I am looking forward to reading more Poirot mysteries!  

Back to the Classics Challenge 2014

One of my goals this year is to participate in the Back to the Classics Challenge 2014.  I am super excited about it, and am ashamed to admit how few classics I have actually read.  I swear sometimes I wonder what I did in all my literature classes!  You can find all the details for the challenge through the link above.

Here are my choices (as of right now) to fulfill the challenge....

1) 19th Century Classic: Emma by Jane Austen
2) 20th Century Classic: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett changed to Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
3) Classic in Translation: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
4) Classic By Woman Author: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
5) Classic by an Author Who's New To Me: From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne changed to...O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
6) Wartime Novel: War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

Optional Categories:
1) Classic American Novel: Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
2) Historical Fiction Novel: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
3) Classic Mystery/Suspense Novel: The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
4) Classic Book That's Been Adapted as a Movie: Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
5) Extra Fun Category: Write a Review of the Movie or TV Series adapted from Optional Category #4.

My Iowa

What to blog, that is the question.  Choose a topic they say, well: I sew, but there are tons of great sewing blogs.  I bake, lots of blogs about that too.  Homeschooling?  You guessed it, lots of blogs on that too.  So, I guess that leaves my life in Iowa.  There are blogs on life in Iowa, but not my life so I am going with it.  So here goes...

I love Iowa.  It's beautiful here.  I am not originally from Iowa.  Nope, I'm a transplant; but this place grows more than corn...it grows people too.  I am from Michigan originally, Detroit to be exact.  I am very proud to be a Michigander!  I always will be until the day I die.  However, I love Iowa.

It's beautiful here.  Not in a breathtaking mountain view way, but it is beautiful.  It's rolling fields of green and skies so blue.   In case you are unfamiliar with Iowa, it is NOT flat at all!  We grow corn and soybeans (and pigs), not potatoes.  Most of us live in the city, not on a farm; but I wish I lived on a farm.  Just a small one, nothing too big. 

What to expect from this blog?  A little of everything...some baking, some sewing, some homeschooling, and a whole lot of Iowa.  I hope you'll visit.