Play It Again: 10 Things I've Learned From My Kids

I've been pretty busy lately, but I think that I'll be caught up soon!  In the mean time, please enjoy this post that was originally published in August 2008.  Funny -- when I read through the list after more than a year has passed, I still thought, "Yeah -- totally!"

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1. When you go at a task with enthusiasm, it makes it a lot better. My kids get so excited when I "let" them dust (they pretend they have their own secret agent cleaning company) or I allow them to help me cook or bake. They are so excited for some of the tasks that I would rather not do. I need that excitement.

2. If you like the music that's playing, then dance. Dance with your whole body, and don't worry about what you look like.

3. The most fun games are the ones you make up when you aren't even trying.

4. Going through the car wash is like an amusement park ride if you make excited noises while you're going through it.

5. Always give great big hugs to the people you love when they leave the house and to greet them when they come home. Even if they have only just run to the grocery store -- let them know how happy you are to see them again.

6. Being able to receive Communion every week makes us pretty lucky people.

7. Winning isn't everything. Sometimes, it's more fun to let someone else feel like a winner. (This, of course, doesn't always happen in our house. But, every so often, someone will obviously throw their win, just to let another sibling feel good. And, you can always tell that it meant even more to the one who didn't win than to the one that did.)

8. It's okay to get mad sometimes. But if you're going to blow up about something, it's better to yell it out by yourself behind closed doors. (Yeah, so we have to tell Jack to go into his room to do it, but we've learned from him that it works.)

9. It's okay to sit around and just play all day.

10. Big vacations are fun, but sometimes, it's just fun to go stay in a hotel just because it's a hotel.

What is Mumbling?

The kids were talking in the van as we were getting out, so I said, "What?"

 

Noah replied, "Jack was just mumbling to himself." 

 

This made Molly ask, "What is mumbling?"

 

Noah answered, "Mumbling is when you are silently saying something to yourself but somebody else hears and asks what you said.  Then you tell them, 'Oh, nothing.'"

 

Apparently mumbling only happens in very specific situations.

 

Free Home Depot Kids' Workshops

A couple of months ago, Eric took the boys to Home Depot to complete one of the Kids Workshops that they offer.  The boys came home pleased, and also had a completed project, a pin (with a graphic of that month's project on it), and a certificate of completion. (Oh, and some orange aprons that were very small, but Molly enjoyed those.)

Home Depot offers these workshops for free on the first Saturday of each month from 9 am until noon at their stores.  The workshops are for kids aged 5 - 12.  Expect that you will be helping your child to complete their project -- they don't do the project with the kids, but just have the kits, tools, and space to work on them.  The projects are easy to complete, and the boys were very proud of what they were able to complete.

I like that the website shows the next two projects, so that you can decide if it's something that you're interested in trying out with the kids.  Their next project day is Saturday, October 3rd.

I really liked that they made sure that the kids used a variety of tools, so that they could feel like they really made something.  Eric enjoyed the chance to spend some time with the boys, and they definitely enjoyed spending the time with him! 

So, let's see.  Time with parents to complete a project: Cool.  A nice variety of projects: Cool.  No need to register ahead of time: Very cool.  The fact that the project is free: Totally cool.








This post is linked to: Works for Me Wednesday, Finer Things Friday, and Frugal Fridays.

Homemade Cake Donuts

Although I last made these before Christmas, with Autumn starting today, it seemed perfect to post about cake donuts.  This recipe is one that my Mom used when we were growing up.

Before I post this recipe, please know this is from an old cookbook.  These are not low cal donuts.  Hang on, are there low cal donuts?  If so, please let me know!

To start, you'll mix up your dough.

1. Beat 2 whole eggs well.

2. Beat in 1 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons soft shortening.

3. Stir in 3/4 cup buttermilk.

4. Add the following ingredients together (before putting them into the mixture):

• 3 1/2 cups sifted flour (shhh...I didn't sift it)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

4. Stir in the #3 ingredients into your egg, sugar, shortening, buttermilk mix.

5. Chill dough for two hours.


Okay, so now you have the dough, let's get started on making the donuts.


Flour the kitchen surface of your choice.  They say a cloth, I did wax paper.  Either way -- flour it.

Roll out the dough to about 1/3" thick.  Then cut out the donuts with a donut cutter that has been floured.

While you're cutting your dough, make sure to start heating oil for frying.  It should be about 370 - 380 degrees when you are actually frying the donuts.  This is much more easily done in something where you can set the heat.  We ruined one thermometer (the one in the picture) and then had a difficult time with another.  This is because we were having a hard time controlling the heat. 

Next time I make these, I will definitely be using something where I can set the heat.  But, that's just because I enjoyed the hole whole process of making it, but got a big headache with the actual frying because I worried so much about the heat.

Using a special donut cutter, you can make donuts and donut holes at the same time.  Personally, we liked the donut holes best.  I don't know why -- we just did. 

Me admitting this apparently shocked the donuts.

Once the oil has reached the correct temperature, start setting the donuts into the oil using a spatula or something that allows you to place the donuts in and not worry about being splattered by hot oil.  Or, you know, to get drops of it on a black shirt that you really like, like I did.

Only put in as many donuts as you can easily get in to flip the donuts.

Turn the donuts as they rise to the surface and start to brown a bit.  You're going to fry them for about 3 minutes to brown them completely on both sides.  This is why oil temperature is important.  If it is too hot, the donuts will brown before they properly cook inside.  If it is too cool, they'll take longer to fry and soak up too much oil.

When the donuts are done, take them out of the oil and place on a plate with paper towel (or the like) to soak up excess oil.

Hello my little sweeties.

Donuts can be eaten plain or covered in sugar, cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar, or some type of glaze.

We went with sugar.  So, we just put some hot donuts in a brown paper bag and shook them around in the sugar.

The recipe says this makes 24 donuts that are 3" in size.  Ours were slightly smaller, so they made even more.  When I make them again, it will definitely be before some kind of event or to send in to Eric's work, because there were just so many. 




 

This post is linked to: Tasty Tuesday, Kitchen Tip Tuesday, and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.  (I'm also posting it to Tackle It Tuesday, even though I didn't tackle it this week, it was something that I wanted to do for so long and then put off over and over.  So, it was a great tackle.  It just wasn't recent.)