Diamonds Are a Boy's Best Friend???

We have a new obsession at our house...diamonds and gemstones. Ever since our new neighbors moved in and showed the boys their collection of "diamonds" the boys have been crazed. They want to grow crystals and diamonds. Noah thinks they can sell everything and make lots of money. After Joshua brought home a book about diamonds and gemstones we've learned that they're not going to be grown with a kit from Hobby Lobby. I did make the mistake of mentioning Crater of Diamonds State Park (thanks Duggars) so Noah is planning our prospecting vacation. All Joshua wants for his birthday is a giant diamond. He said I could get it where I get all my other jewelry. Apparently, he thinks I'm a regular at Fred Leighton. 

After reading about the special qualities of birthstones the boys decided they would like to wear the few gems I have to give them special powers. For instance, diamonds are supposed to bring out a person's best qualities. They have taken this to mean that whatever you are good at you'll be even better at while wearing a diamond. Since they believe they are already really good on the DS, they think if I'd let them wear my diamond ring while they play they would be AMAZING. While I had my jewelry out Noah also suggested sending it in to get "instant cash 4 gold." 

I hardly wear jewelry anymore and am usually only concerned about losing it when Chino starts batting it around. Now I might need to keep a closer watch on my inventory. If it goes to Joshua's room, all that glitters will be gone.

Finally, A Joshua Post

Joshua and I went over to the hill by the school for a little sledding/tubing today. Joshua had a blast until he took one spill to many. Then he was done sledding and just wanted to eat snow. That's when I knew it was time to go home. (Sorry for the holiday music. It was too quiet without any music but you have to be a premium Smilebox user to select your own.)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

***In case you were asking yourself "Where's Noah?".... he was worried about bumping his head so he and Rich stayed home. For those of you that don't know, the kids and I were in an accident yesterday. We spun around and hit a pole on our way to the airport to welcome Mom and Dad back from India. Noah was the only one hurt when he hit his head on the window. No stitches needed, just a big scabby knot and a few scrapes. He's doing good except that he doesn't want to ride in cars anymore.  Thankfully we didn't hit anyone else but the side of the X-Terra is crunched up pretty good. We'll find out tomorrow if it's fixable. 

Fancy Toys

Joshua calls it Chino's new toy: a grocery sack with handles. She's been playing with it all week.

Win, Lose or Push

Upon walking out of his Sunday school classroom into the hallway filled with people Noah saw his dad and in his piercingly loud voice asked, "Can we play 21 with poker chips when we get home?" Now I enjoy a good game as much as the next person, but somehow this seemed a little inappropriate for church. The night before he had discovered the fun of blackjack with his dad, uncle and cousin and anything new for Noah can instantly become an obsession. I just thought it would be a fun way to practice math. 

With poker on the brain there were endless blackjack discussions that day (Usually ending with me saying, "I'm not talking about this anymore.") and of course, playing more blackjack with Rich and Joshua. Noah's obsession continued into his prayer at dinner that night. In an effort to make our meal prayers less routine and help us to think about what we're saying we have been disscussing additional things to pray about before we pray. This didn't happen tonight so Noah went out on his own. As Noah prayed his typical prayer he paused and added, "Please help me win at blackjack." Should I be concerned and does he know when to double down?

Chicken How-To

I have never broken down a whole chicken but I think I can now thanks to the video demonstration on the Gluten-Free Girl blog. For those of you that don't need to be gluten free you can still find loads of cooking info and recipes on this blog. The author is now married to a chef and they create and post many things together. A new feature to the blog is a weekly video demonstration and the first was how to break down a chicken. This week featured how to make dark and light chicken stock. Fabulous! I love to roast a whole chicken but had never done anything else with it. When you can buy a six pound chicken for under $4 how could you not give this a try? 

Nicole Needs...

I enjoyed this Google game on a couple of other blogs and so here are my results. If you'd like to play just Google your first name followed by the word needs in quotes (ex. "Noah needs"). 

Here are the top 10 things "Nicole needs" according to Google:

1. Nicole needs... a Boob job really??? this is the number one thing i need?

2. Nicole needs...no food when she can shop 'till she drops uh,  I don't think so

3. Nicole needs...a drummer makes marching so much easier

4. Nicole needs....a new computer if it's a laptop

5. Nicole needs...a good meal always appreciated

6. Nicole needs...photoshop yes

7. Nicole needs...to Live in the NOW thanks for the reminder

8. Nicole needs...a reality show hmmmmm

9. Nicole needs...to lay off the botox I didn't think anyone could tell

10. Nicole needs...dairy to protect her bones  helps with my osteopenia

 

Gotcha

Sushi Night

Last Saturday was Noah's half birthday and we celebrated by making sushi. Noah enjoyed the process more than the sushi rolls themselves. He helped make the sauces, stirred and fanned the rice until it was cool, peeled and sliced vegetables and put the rolls together.

Things learned for next time:

• Wasabi paste is fun to use to make your eyes water but too hot for kids, even in small amounts. (Noah and Joshua had contests to see who could hold their face over the bowl the longest.)
• Shrimp and cucumber will not make avocado taste better if you don't already like it. 
• Your brother will keep bugging you to help so you might as well let him.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

We had a sushi recipe book with great step by step pictures for pressing out the rice and rolling it up but we used recipes from Ming Tsai and the food network for our rolls. Rich and I would have really enjoyed these if we hadn't been attacked by strep throat from the kids. The boys would have like the smoked salmon rolls without the wasabi and the shrimp rolls without avocado. We'll get it right next time!

• Smoked Salmon and Jicama Maki Sushi Rolls
• Shrimp Sushi Rolls
• Soy Syrup - a must to drizzle on the plate and dip rolls into
• Wasabi Oil - a little goes a long way

Impressions

While Noah was home from school yesterday he had some math homework to do - subtraction with regrouping. While he was working I thought I'd clean in the living room and try to catch up on a show. Instead of the TV I kept hearing things like this: "Mom (long pause until I responded) does 43 - 17 = 26?" I would stop (mental math requires complete stillness), do the math in my head and confirm that yes, that was the correct answer. After about the third interruption and trying not to sound annoyed, I asked if he could do all the problems and we would check them when he was done. Feeling a little guilty I then asked if there was a reason he needed to tell me about each problem and he said, "Yes, I want you to be impressed." 

Just when you think they aren't paying any attention, kids remind you how much they need you.

Stress Relief

If you didn't watch The Office last night, you must. Now. I'm laughing just thinking about it.