The Peterson Culinary Institute is now OPEN!

In response to the younger girls wanting to learn to cook, we have opened a Culinary Institute on the premises. Each day they will have a cooking assignment like making muffins, salad, etc. Culminating each week with making dinner and dessert on Saturday. This week they made a GREAT chili, and a chocolate pudding which needed some work. Ahem. Guess you can't be good at everything all at once.

Try it at your house... your girls will like it!

Homeschool Convention...

One last post for today, then I really need to get back to decluttering my kitchen. Anyway- My friends Amy and Misti and I are planning on going to the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention in April. Eric the Wonderful is even going to let me stay for TWO WHOLE NIGHTS! That's three days of blissful wandering amongst all those books. Wow.

Anyway- When I went to check out buying a ticket, (which needs to be done in the next couple days for the best price...), I saw that if we blog it, we can get entered in to receive free tickets, etc.

So here's what I am doing. I am blogging it right now (duh, Carri.) I am buying the ticket anyway, so if I win, I will raffle off the extra ticket right here. I reserve the right to keep the money and hotel room all on my own, OK? Anyway, go check it out and sign up.

They asked that we, "Be sure to reference the HUGE Exhibit Hall, the INCREDIBLE Speaker Line-Up and the very AFFORDABLE REGISTRATION."

I'll let you know in April if they are speaking the truth about it! ;)

Oh yeah- if you are going, let me know. I'd love to meet up with you all!

Frugal Friday - Cheap Spelling

I have found a great website for spelling practice... it is www.spellingcity.com . You can enter your child's lists into the site, and they can play games and practice all they want. They can even take a practice test! My children have been loving it, and I have seen scores rise when they have used it regularly.

I have even taught them to enter their own lists... saves a step for me!!!

Go check it out! And check out the other Frugal Ideas here!

A Series of Firsts

I have NEVER, ever, in my whole parenting experience, seen this happen. I have never even heard of it happening.

Bethany is 6 months old. She cannot even sit up yet. BUT SHE IS CRAWLING. And not only that, she has worn a hole in the KNEE of one of her little jumpsuits.

Crazy. But something tells me she's going to be an energetic, spritely little thing!

See the photo above? See what is in her hand? A carrot. A carrot she crawled from across the room, and under the table to get during dinner the other night. Not a soft, cooked carrot, but a hard, raw carrot. Not the thing you normally give a 6 month old to teeth on. Especially if it had been on the floor.

I guess, unless you are #9 in your family and need to make your mark on the world. Then you crawl before you can sit, wear holes in your jammies, and teeth on raw carrots.

Sheesh.

Birthdays

We have 11 people in the house... that makes 11 birthdays every year. 6 of them are between Christmas day and March 17. This is Birthday Season 1. Birthday Season 2 is between July 2 and August 2... 4 of us have our birthdays in that month. Poor Anna is all by herself in October. We'll have to do something about that someday. ;)

So how are Birthdays celebrated in the Peterson Household? In some ways, with great fanfare, in others... very simply. This makes for days everyone looks forward to, but really doesn't stress Mama out too much.

The birthday child (today it's Matt...) is allowed to pick his favorite breakfast and dinner. We used to do lunch too, but it really seemed no one was too hungry after the huge breakfasts they always pick. Usually it's eggs, sausage, biscuits (either Bisquick or whomp-um... sorry all you southerners... I don't make those good, flaky biscuits...), and donuts. They also get their choice of cake. By the end of Birthday season 1 I am BEGGING for someone to have ANYTHING except cake... a sundae bar or root beer floats have been done in the past.

We let them go to the Cake aisle of the store and pick ANY CAKE THEY WANT. They love it, and it's easy. This was from when I was in survival mode and didn't have time to bake a cake, and I have never known how to decorate one... So they enjoy this. (Misti- don't tell them your kids have wonderfully decorated cakes on any theme they want... )

Dinner is usually pizza, although sometimes they pick something else. Today we are having some of Matt's buddies and their families come over for dinner, so we will order out, and the extra expense is actually part of his gift.

The kids all wrap gifts for the Birthday child... they may be some things I have bought that they choose to give, or they may be from the Dollar Store. They will often wrap stuffed animals from their rooms, so it LOOKS like there are more gifts than there really are. It seems, upon observation, that it is understood that these gifts are not really permanent... they end up back with their original owners.

But I really don't care... the point is that the children love to GIVE... they enjoy watching others open them.

Right now, the children are making poetry clues to tell Matt where they have hidden their gifts. He's banished to his room playing K-Nex with Nate. Emma made a crown for Matt to wear. Judging from the giggles of the conspirators, they are enjoying themselves. They have made happy birthday signs and put up streamers... life is good.

The next time we watch a movie (only once a week or so) Matt will be the one to choose it.

Oh yeah- and EVERYONE gets the day off school if your birthday falls on a school day.

So now I am off to make sausage and omelets... have a great day. I'll try to post photos later.

Quotable Quotes

Josiah after a haircut yesterday: It went really fast, Mama. Know why? 'Cause I brushed my hair every day this time. That made it much faster.

Ahem... there you have it.

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Nathan (Why is it that most of the funny things are said about him these days?!): I'm going to marry you when I grow up, Mama.

Me: I'm already married to Papa, and anyway- you cannot marry your Mama. You have to marry a Young Godly Babe.

Nate: Well, then I'll marry Sara. She's a Godly Babe.

I didn't bother to explain that you cannot marry your sister, either... even if she's a "Godly Babe."