Biscuits for Breakfast!

This morning, I heard lots of banging around in the kitchen from back in our bedroom. When I came out to see what was going on, Kenzie and John were well on their way to making homemade biscuits! They were delicious!
 
 

Thumbs...

Today Kenzie was studying joints in science. One of the activities was titled "I Can't Live Without My Thumbs." She spent some of the afternoon experimenting with what life might be like if she did not have thumbs. We are finding that life would be much more challenging. Here she is trying to put her hair into a ponytail followed by a picture of the finished product. Usually, Kenzie is very talented at putting her hair up!

 
 

Johnny Cakes!

Kenzie and I finished up a novel unit on The Sign of the Beaver today and decided to wrap it up with a cooking experiment. We made something that was mentioned in the book...Johnny Cakes! Kenzie measured out and mixed all of the ingredients which were then placed in a buttered skillet. We enjoyed them with blackberry jelly and honey! It was a fun way to end the unit and spend some quality time together!
 

The Hunt

The following pictures were taken during the youth hunt in Jackson. As you can see, Kenzie got really excited about the lack of deer and the steady rain that was falling! John said she fell fast asleep, but since he didn't see any deer, she didn't miss much. The following day Mason went with John, but yet again the deer did not show up. Thankfully we already had two deer in the freezer for the year! I told John and the kids that I will be pushing them out the door to go hunting as soon as deer season starts up again. We ordered a meat grinder for the deer John got this year and future deer so we can begin processing them ourselves! You may be looking at the exclamation point at the end of that sentence and asking yourself, "what woman would be excited about that?" This frugalista sure is! I think there is something rewarding about eating the deer that my boys have provided for us, and look forward to adding to that when we have put in the work to process it too.

 
 
 

Organized!

My handy man installed this wonderful shelf system in our pantry, which allows us to put things we use regularly in the door for easy access. Oh how I love to be organized!!!
 
 
 

Brownies with Sprinkles!

Kenzie and Jaycee made a menu, took orders and prepared a sweet treat for us one night!
 
 
 

What We Found...

 
 
 
 

A Day of Exploration!

 
 
 
 

Playing in the Pacific!

After we left the aquarium and had lunch, we went for a stroll on the beach. The kids had fun playing around on the rocks and trying to out run the surf!
 
 
 
 

Aquarium Part 2 & Lunch

 
 
 
 

Monterey Bay Aquarium Part 1

We all had a blast at the aquarium!
 
 
 
 

Day after Christmas Party

The day after Christmas, there was a big party, where we ate too much food! John got several great pictures, including some really neat ones of the sunrise! Here's one of the sunrise, one of the kids, a classic shot of Jackie and Grandpa being silly and John's Grandparents, Gram and Grandpa, by the tree!