De-Railed by Cornstarch and Water

I was extremely tired yesterday. It took me all day to just clean off the kitchen counter, I didn't make dinner until 8:00! Still sleepy today but I need to get up and move. I don't want to admit that I've been de-railed by cornstarch and water. It was a very messy, yet, very fun night of camp fire this last Wednesday. I think it sucked the remainder of my weekly energy allowance, because I am beat!

I have to get ready for a short nature hike tomorrow with the kids. That will probably finish me off for the weekend. I am really excited though, they should learn a lot. If it goes well I think we'll do the hike every month so they can observe changes on the trail from winter to summer.

Wish me luck!

Dominic Playing With His Train Set

Play Dough

Made some play dough today for the kids. It's not that hard to make and it's just like the store bought stuff.

1 c. flour
1/2 c. salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 c. water
2 tbsp. oil solid (like crisco)
1 tsp. food coloring any color you want

Combine all ingredients, except water and oil, in a saucepan.
Gradually stir in 1 cup water and oil, add food coloring.
Cook over medium/high heat, stirring constantly untill ball forms.
Remove from heat, place dough on table and knead untill smooth.

Feeling Good

So I've been busy the past few weeks... I've kept up with my project a day goal for almost 3 weeks now and the house now actually looks like someone could live here without contracting some horrible illness. I finally got the kitchen organized. When we moved in we kind of dumped everything in the kitchen and never really took the time to organize it. Partly because I'm lazy, partly because Nic was in a take everything out of the kitchen drawers and spread them out on the living room floor phase. But now that Nic's kitchen destruction is down to less than once a week, it's time that the drawers actually have some order to them. Kenny's happy, finally clean socks every day. I hope this blog doesn't jinks me. I really have been doing well. Maybe, when the ground thaws, I'll get back into moving dirt again. I'm not really looking forward to doing that alone, but then again it'll be great when it's all done.

I've really been feeling pretty good, pretty happy about my accomplishments. I got an award in the mail last weekend for being a great Camp Fire leader. I was pretty surprised, but again It was something to make me feel good about what I'm doing. It is tough programming activities for the club so far away from the council base. I have some awesome stuff planned for the kids this spring. Some trips to the local wildlife refuge, an Arbor Day barbeque and a camp out are just a few of the things I got planned. Hopefully, I'll keep up this routine. The project a day is nice because I never feel overwhelmed and I can immediately see what I've finished. As we say in Settlers of Catan, "Instant Payoff!"