April 30, 2017

Jed is finished with his Classical Conversations homeschool class for this school year!

He had exams on Thursday.

CC only lasts 30 weeks, so we still have several weeks of school work to do to meet the state requirements, 

but what we're doing now, besides math and grammar, 

is all the fun stuff we didn't have time for during the year.

We had an end-of-year program with our CC group, which is pretty small...
Jed had just 3 other boys in his class, which is just about perfect.

Mrs. Peterson called each boy up to give him a certificate for completing the year, 

an overview of all the work accomplished during the year in each of six strands,

and a gift.

She also told a little about what it was like having Jed in her class.

None of it was a surprise to me, since I've had him in my class for 8 years.

She was a good sport about it, though.  :)

Then each of the boys read a persuasive essay they had written for their Rhetoric strand.

It's the most nervous I've ever seen Jed - he was fairly hyperventilating - 

but he did a great job in spite of it.

I was pretty impressed.

I remember one time I was speaking in front of a group of about 250 people

and I started hyperventilating so badly I thought I was going to pass out.  :)

The gift Mrs. Peterson gave the boys was so neat!

She picked out a different movie for each boy, something she thought they would be interested in,

and included popcorn and candy.

We have a movie night scheduled for next Friday...

if you call, leave a message.  :)

April 29, 2017

Look what we woke up to this morning!

The snow has finally started to taper off this afternoon, while I enjoyed a hot cup of tea.

I don't know if I'll ever like the sight of snow on leaves and flowers.

April 26, 2017

A while back I bought a cookbook called Inspiralized,

and I did something my mom used to do but was new to me -

I sat down and read it like a book.

I'm so glad I did!

The author told her personal story and it was very inspiring.

Then I read every single recipe and bookmarked all the ones I wanted to try - 

and there were quite a few.

Then I bought an Inspiralizer from Amazon.

I'm trying to declutter and also trying to stick to a strict budget, 

so I didn't make this purchase lightly,

but I figured, with all the recipes I wanted to try, 

it seemed likely I would get a good amount of use from it.

I think I was right.

Already, in the past week I've made these:

Zucchini Manicotti

Chicken Carrot Noodle Soup

Bikini Bolgnese

So the Inspiralizer, as you might imagine, spiralizes vegetables.

You can see an example of that in the first picture - 

that's a whole zucchini, in one piece!

We could have played jump rope with it.  :)

I found out last year how hard it is to cut back on carbs,

but I've always liked using spaghetti squash as a substitute for pasta,

so when I saw something about spiralizing veggies,

I thought it might work well for me.

And it does!

I don't know why exactly, but I am loving this!

It makes the dishes more fun and interesting,

and I think that's half the battle.

Ham Casserole

I even made my own dish, which I don't often attempt...

I swapped out spiralized zucchini for pasta in one of my favorite recipes.

Still yummy!

And a lot more nutritious.

I haven't this much fun cooking since, well, probably never.  :)

April 25, 2017

I just realized this morning I hadn't taken a picture of our Easter eggs yet.

You might have noticed I haven't been posting as much...

photography has taken a back seat lately.

I'm hoping that will be changing in the future.

Update:  today is April 26. 

It was cloudy yesterday when I took the first picture... 

it was sunny today so I decided to try again. 

I like the warmer look to the colors in today's picture.

Update: today is April 28.

Another sunny day, but this time it's later in the day,

and the surface is different (floor vs table).

It's amazing to me how much lighting changes

and how much lighting changes the object as well.

I like the darker colors in this shot.

April 24, 2017

Happy Birthday to me!  :D

Tracy surprised me with a cake...

that's the nicest sort of surprise.  :)

April 23, 2017

Jed was sick last weekend with a nasty virus...

so sick he didn't even want us to give him his Easter basket.

He was miserable.

So we celebrated Easter today instead.

He got a new thing in his basket this year - sour watermelon peeps.

Yum!

He was also pretty happy to get a solid chocolate bunny instead of the usual hollow one.  :)

April 22, 2017

I went to dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant in downtown Denver 

with these lovely neighbors this evening...so nice!

After dinner we went to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts 

to see the musical production of The Secret Garden.

Jed and I read the book for his homeschool class earlier this year.

I hadn't read it since I was a girl.

It's hard to say whether it was a benefit to have read it recently...

the musical didn't follow the story line as much as I would have liked...

but the music and singing were exceptionally well-done.

The performing arts center is incredible.

There are three theaters inside the atrium-like structure,

and there is an open-air feeling to it all.

These pictures are borrowed from a google search.

The theater we were in - so cool!

April 20, 2017

So Jed dissected a frog in his homeschool class today!

He was super pumped about that.

LOL
(he's the one that looks the least enthusiastic)
(the one on the right)

April 12, 2017

Our annual Easter bunny cake.  :)

Our annual Easter party with the neighbors.

Although it doesn't look like it here,

they really did have a good time!  :)

Flowers these very thoughtful children brought with them for the hostess.  :)

April 5, 2017

We've had such a mild winter this year compared with last year's snow, 

and so far this spring isn't looking much better.  

The foothills get most of their snow in the spring, 

and it's an important source of water for the region.

We were delighted to wake up to this scene this morning, 

both for the water table's sake 

and the sake of our own enjoyment.  :)

As much as we love snow, though, it's still strange to see it on flowers and blossoms.

April 2, 2017

If you don't love quilts, this post is not for you.  :)

Two friends from our church in Boulder, a mom and her daughter, 

drove down after church and lunch this afternoon 

to see the current exhibit at the Golden Quilt Museum.

These are my favorites.

Some of the pics are close-ups of the details. 

Click on any picture to enlarge it.

 I love these tree branches!

 This quilt was my favorite, and the quilter is a local.

I love the detail and the inclusions.

 

I thought this was crocheted, but it's actually fabric instead of fiber.

Marsha and Becki, my companions for the afternoon,

in front of a 200 year old quilt.

We were wondering about the shape of this quilt - 

does anyone know why it would be cut the way it is?