The BR Clan: September 2008

Monday, September 29, 2008

Science experiment: Does water change size??

This is a fun little science experiment that Liv really likes. We read about it from a science book that belonged to Brad when he was a kid.

1. Start with an empty, disposable water bottle, and fill it with Hot water. Make sure it is filled all the way to the top.

2. Let it stand, and watch to see if the water level changes as it cools down.

Can you see that this picture (above) shows the water level slightly decreased?

3. Put the bottle in a water filled pot on the stove, and bring to a gentle rolling boil. Watch again to see if the water level changes now that the water is getting hotter.

We found that when the water got heated on the stove, it got bigger and began to overflow out of the bottle.

Our conclusion: Yes water does change size: Hot water is larger than cold water.

I love family

There is something about being surrounded by family that makes me feel great. Brad and I are really lucky to have great relationships with our family on both sides. We heard early this week that Brianna, Jon and Rza (the granddog) might be coming up for the weekend, so we all looked forward to their visit. We all spent Saturday together. It was the perfect, cozy, relaxed Saturday. (we spent the day mostly inside because of the Hurricane...which missed us by the way.)

Jon was great with Ginny. She looked so sweet and little when he was holding her, and he did a great job coaxing her to be happy. He knew all of the bouncing tricks and she seemed to like it =0).

Liv was happy that Brianna let her help make cookies, and we were all thrilled that Brianna is such a cookie master, and that she LOADED them all with chocolate chips, and let us eat as much cookie dough as we wanted!

We took advantage of the little girls taking naps and played a long game of RAGE. Which none of us had ever played before.

Gwen and Nora both woke up while we were still playing. We brought them downstairs with us to look at some books, and while we were all looking the other way, they miandered up to the third floor to look at the stuffed animals. They each brought up a book as well, when they got up there, they each took a pillow off of the bed and sat on it to look at the pictures in their books. We snuck up to check on them and they were looking at their books. Gwen was saying, "Look Noa....Look Noa." While pointing something out to her. We left them up their to play while we finished our game, and they stayed up there for quite a while. Such cute little girls!

Liv loved playing with one of Brad's old toys called the "Questron." It is a little battery opperated gadget that allows you to read books and answer questions. The Questron tells you whether or not your answer is right. She was just the right age for it, and it kept her attention for hours. Nana was nice enough to help her out with it.

Then we all went outside and took a walk to see the pear tree. It was dripping with fruit. The branches were so heavy with pears that they were falling over. Our girls loved picking and eating them.

Somehow time went by so quickly. Before we knew it, it was time to take the girlies home for bed. What a fun fall day. Thanks for making the trip Brianna and Jon, we love seeing you!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Crashed, but thankfully not Burned.

I was up late a few nights ago, and I got the bug....the bug to change things around a bit. I made the above blog banner on a whim, posted it, and then thought about changing it, and that is when our computer froze. I turned it off {I thought successfully}. And then found that it would not restart..... So, that is where we are at now. A broken computer =0(. Hopefully it will be fixed and up and running soon. The good news is, we haven't lost all of our information. It is backing up to an external hard drive as we speak, and then hopefully it will be fixed after that.

What I learned from the experience: I am so glad most of our pictures are backed up on the web. However, I haven't posted some of my favorite pictures because they don't go along with a story...etc. Now, I plan on posting them anyway, just as an extra back up. I am eager for everything to get up and running, so that I can get back to documenting our girls and our BR Clan adventures.

-Betsy

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

This Post will Stay at the top...Scroll Down =0)

I have gone back and forth with this. I really don't want to do it, but I am starting to feel the need to go for it.... The BR CLAN will be going PRIVATE. Please leave me your email address here so that I can invite you to still join in.

Thank You!

P.S. Let me know if you want me to remove your email address and I will
P.P.S.- This post will stay at the top for a while........so scroll down =0).

This picture makes me wish time would stand still =0)

Oil Painting

I've been really homesick today for some reason. I think it is because last week was my mom's birthday and I wish I could be there to make it really fun for her. I've been trying to busy myself, doing things that I find satisfying, to get my mind off of missing my family. I cleaned my house, ripped down the last of the wall paper (half of a wall in our garage), colored with Liv and Gwen, paid bills, cleaned off my dry erase board, cleaned out the bottom of our coat closet, vacuumed, organized our tupperware, played on the swings with the girls, cooked soup for dinner {which always comforts me =0), and started oil painting.

I have wanted to start oil painting for a very long time. I feel like the biggest hurdle for me and any kind of art, is finding something that speaks to me. I really need to be excited about it, or it will undoubtedly turn out blah. I had been scared off of doing what I really wanted to, because I know painting/drawing people can be hard. Well, I finally decided that I am painting for fun, I am just learning, and what I really want to paint is my kids, so I am just going to do it. Ever since I made this decision, I have been really excited about the whole thing, but just have had other priority projects.

I made the time to start tonight. I haven't ever oil painted, except for the other small canvas I started a couple of weeks ago. I like knowing that I haven't ever done it before, it takes the pressure off. Brad came down while I was starting and chatted with me for a bit. He asked if I like painting, and I realized that Yes, I really do like it. I even find the sound of the brush very soothing, as well as the motion of putting the paint on the canvas. {By the way, thanks to my mom and Annie for giving me advice on how to use oils!}

2 1/2 hours later, I am finished putting the first coat of paint on the canvas. I am really happy with how it is turning out. I am going to have a hard time waiting to paint again (I need to wait for the paint to dry, and oils take days.) I am still feeling homesick, but I also really enjoyed painting, and as I go to sleep, I'm pretty sure I will think about painting, and not about how I miss my fam. I probably ought to start thinking of what I want to paint next =0).

The Cook-off

I think I could be accused of being over eager when it comes to the changing of seasons. Last October, I became a closet Christmas Music Listener. And now, I have embraced the idea of Autumn. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE summer, but I also love the idea of Autumn days at the park, yummy food, comforting candles, game nights, and all of the other things I love about the next season. And somehow, the prospect of it being around the corner has gotten me excited =0). Friday night we hosted a Pumpkin Dessert Cook-Off. We ate the Yummiest food, laughed until our bellies ached, and enjoyed the fact that we have such great friends.

What we ate:
Dinner in a Pumpkin (YUMMY, we'll definitely have it again this Fall)
Moist Pumpkin Cake with perfectly drizzled frosting
Yummy Pumpkin Bars
Pumpkin Cheese Cake with Carmel Pecan topping
Pumpkin Dip with Apples and Ginger Spice cookies

The Winners:
A tie between the Pumpkin Cheese Cake and the Pumpkin dip

The Prize:
Two pumpkin decorations that I learned how to make here

We Played:
To Tell the truth
-Everyone writes a sentence summary of 2 experiences from their life that they think no one else in the room knows
-The mediator calls up 3 people to be in the hot seats (one of which is the writer of the experience)
-The players in the hot seat must then all take turns telling (and trying to convince) the audience their version of how this experience happened to them.
-Then everyone votes who they think the experience really happened to
-and Lastly, the person who it happened to reveals themselves.

We figured out:
that I am a terrible liar...

Recipes:
Spice Cookies with Pumpkin Dip (Recipe Courtesy of Bridgette...a must try!)
1 1/2 c butter
2 c sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c molasses
4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp salt
4 c flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs. Add molasses. Add all dry ingredients and blend only until mixed. Chill overnight. Roll in balls, sugar and bake at 375 for about 6-7 minutes.

Pumpkin Dip:

1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese softened
18 oz can pumpkin
2 c powdered sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger

Cream all ingredients together. Serve as dip with cookies, apples, graham crackers

Dinner in a Pumpkin (Thanks Jill!)
1 small to medium pumpkin.Cut off top, clean out seeds and pulp.

Lightly brown 1 lb. of ground beef

Add:

½ c. chopped celery

½ c. chopped onion

¼ c. diced green onion

1 tsp. salt

Dash of pepper

-Cover and simmer over low heat about 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add:

2 c. cooked rice

1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup

4 oz. sliced mushrooms

2 tbsp. brown sugar

3-4 tbsp. soy sauce

-Put mixture in pumpkin, replace lid, place on baking sheet in a 400 degree oven. Bake until pumpkin is tender (allow 1- 1 ½ hours). Cut in sections or scoop out to serve. Be sure to scoop a little of the cooked pumpkin with the filling.

Bald Mountain

We spent our day yesterday hiking Bald Mountain. It was perfect. Liv was such a champ. She hiked the whole thing all by herself {and enjoyed it!}. The blue berries held out for us. They were nearly gone by, but we had fun searching through the bushes for the few clusters that were left. Liv was a cutie; she and I picked together and she decided that she should pick for me and I would pick for her. Gwen was so patient in the back pack. Whenever we would ask her how she was doing, she would say, "Dow Pease." (Down Please), and then we would tell her, "not yet." and she would wait patiently until we stopped again, she never complained. The view from the top was beautiful. We saw a group of hawks flying nearby, we could see forever into the distance. Liv kept talking about the kids that were playing in the back yard of a house that was way off in the distance. It was way too far for Brad and I to see anything. When we asked her what they were doing, she said she thought they were playing with their dog {maybe she inherited my dad's great eyesight=0)}. We sat up at the top for a long time while the girls explored all around. Gwen kept finding little bits of broken glass. We would ask her not to, and she would say, "OK, mama." and then the next thing we knew she was off hunched over another pile of it. One time, she picked up a piece and then came over to me saying, "ouchy, mama." I thought for sure she had cut herself, but when she showed me, it was just blueberry juice that was dried onto her little finger =0). I wiped it off and she said, "all better." =0). I have been thinking lately that living in Maine reminds me of living in the mountains in Utah, only with the ocean near by. This hike made me think that even more. There will definitely be more hikes for our family in the near future =0).

On our way up we saw this smiley face someone had made on the trail =0). {Liv's eyes are closed because the sun was so bright.

I love this picture, because if you look closely you can see the flowers Brad tucked into the back of his hat for Gwen to look at =0). What a cute dad.

SWING SET!! YIPEE!!!

I don't know who in our family wanted a swing set the most....Probably ME! Thanks to Brad, and his hours of labor, we now have a swing set all our own. It has already accounted for hours of giggles =0). Have I already said YIPEE?? YIPEE, I'm so excited!

My handsome hubby, working away

Liv and Livie, just before the inaugural ride down the slide {Liv proved that the slide is VERY fast =0)}

Gwen showing off her very own ramp....bed head, dress up and all =0).

Adding Insulation to our Attic

So Brad and I spent last Friday morning blowing additional insulation into our attic. The process went a little something like this. Brad shimmied up into our attic {which is short enough that he can't stand up straight in it} through the 2 foot square access opening which exists over the top shelf in Gwen's closet. I then handed him one end of a 100 foot hose and a flash light. The hose then went out of Gwen's second story window and dropped down to the ground where I now stood near a large blowing machine, which consisted of a large barrel with a mixer inside of it. The top of this machine is open....and that is where I dumped the insulation after I opened the packages. I would dump in the insulation in segments so that they were able to churn sufficiently, and then it would blow all over me, up the hose, into the attic, and all over Brad in the process. Brad and I communicated via our cell phones (until mine ran out of power...) When comparing our messiness, after our project was complete, we deduced that at my end, the debris made me look like giant fuzzy dryer lint covered snow man, and on Brad's end he was clouded with dust.

Somewhere in the middle of our project, it came time to pick Liv up from school. Mind you, we were both covered with fuzz and dirt, and I was dressed like a working woman.....in one of Brad's old XL T-shirts, and an old, old oversized pair of pajama bottoms... with bed head. I called Brad and said, "I nominate you to go pick up Liv." Well, I ended up going to the school to get her......Maybe it had something to do with shimmying down out of the attic while covered in a dusty mess.

The good news is that our project is done now. The track of dust that Brad brought down from the attic is mostly gone now, {thanks to Brad and our handy vacuum"} And our house is now energy efficient....or at least closer than it was before.

Here are a couple of pictures. If only you knew what color his clothes started out as.... You would better appreciate these pics. =0)

Here are a couple of pictures of Brad post project.

Pumpkin Patch!!

I really thought I would be leaving summer kicking and screaming, but we are really enjoying the idea of autumn around the corner. Today seemed like a true Autumn day...brisk. Brad and I spent the morning putting more insulation in our attic {pictures to come =0}. Then this afternoon, we took our girls up to a huge pumpkin patch. We picked our fill of pumpkins, and then found out they sold raspberries too! Gwen and Liv LOVED picking the berries off of the vines and eating them =0)....yum! I am dreaming up what we are going to do with them =0).... I'm actually in the mood to cook! That hasn't happened in a while =0).

Notice the shoes!.....Yes she really did wear these while we picked raspberries and bought our pumpkins =0).

Small Town Fair

We went to our town fair last weekend, and had such a fun time. The girls thought the bounce house and jumbo slide were great fun. Liv's highlight was her pony ride, and Gwen's highlight was taking her shoes off whenever possible =0). I'm really going to have to come up with a plan.... when the snow comes Gwen is really going to have to wear shoes other than the dress-up variety! Anyway, back to the fair.... it was full of live music, balloon yo-yos, a pancake breakfast, face painting, bean bag tossing, a bike auction, and a farmer's market. We saw tons of people we know there....All of the things small towns are made of =0).