A City Life For Me

Nolan recently achieved his 100th day of school, so of course we had a party!  Elaine was included in some of the activities, but not all of them.  She disappointedly pointed out that Nolan got to be included in her 100th day of K5 party, so he really gets to do it twice.  Problems of being the oldest child!  I did mix up the activities a little, and thanks to Pinterest I got some great printables!   We made pictures of what we will look like when we are 100 years old.  Fun!   Nolan loves to color, so this “Seek and Find” coloring sheet was right up his alley! I loved Nolan’s bucket list!  Number 1 was definitely “get a wife”!  He’s got his priorities straight!  Elaine sat there and said, “I don’t know what to write!”  Nolan kept prompting her, “Don’t you want to get married?  Don’t you want some kids?”  She opted for “Go to China” and “Ride a Horse” instead! 100 Glasses For access to my 100th Day Party idea...

Elaine is learning all about money in Math class, so to practice counting and adding up different denominations, we set up a pretend store.  I admit.. I think I had as much fun with this as she did! We set up the store while the little kids were napping.  Elaine prepared the price tags, and I made signs on the computer.  She wanted two aisles in her store, so we did that!   Cashier’s station, with phone, adding board, and change!  (She even stopped to answer the phone while checking out a customer!)   Adding up and counting back change…   This was a fun project!!!

:: Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls I haven’t followed Money Saving Mom for a few years, but this recipe for Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls makes the absolute best cinnamon rolls ever!  They are light and fluffy (thanks to the egg whites), and easy to make.  You can freeze them, or leave them in the fridge overnight and bake for breakfast.  We had them for Christmas and New Years breakfasts, and now Nolan is requesting them a lot.  One batch used to last for two breakfasts…but not anymore! :: Prismacolor Pencils These soft lead pencils are perfect for Bible marking!  I’m not a big “adult coloring book” person, but I have seen these pencils next to those books at Wal-Mart!  I really like the sharpener , which allows me to sharpen without getting such a long pointy tip which will easily break!  The sharpener has two different holes, so you can choose the tip on your pencil. :: Spearmint Iced Tea We used to drink Crystal Light peach tea…until we cut aspertame...

We are living in the Hudson River Valley, nestled against Schunemunk Mountain State Park.  So, we have had our fair share of snow this year!  The driveway to the church where we are living is over a quarter mile long, so everytime the snow is plowed, there is a good pile of new snow for the kids to enjoy.  We recently had two forts, and a tunnel built!  The kids loved playing in the snow, and I loved being able to send them out unsupervised, since we are secluded away with no neighbors! Snow fort #2, with tunnel entrance – Nolan, Elaine, Nehemiah, and Libs Liberty exiting the tunnel, with Elaine trying to dodge Daddy’s snowball arm. The house/church where we are staying.  We live in the little “popped up” part in the center of the top.  The kids have enjoyed roaming this area in snow and sun, on foot, sled, and bike.  It has been good for us to be here, but I am definitely ready to move on! This storm on Feb 10-11 dumped us over a foot, to the deli...

There’s not much new going on in the Hamilton household.  We are still living in Upstate NY (Orange County, about an hour north of the Bronx) while we wait on our house purchase to be completed.  We DID make a lot of progress on that this week, and now we are just waiting for the seller’s bank to grant an approval for the short sale.  To prepare for moving, we started packing up some of the extra stuff we have accumulated while the rest of our life is in the storage unit.  We are still plugging along in school.  I started teaching Elaine piano, though it’s been hard to be faithful in lesson and practice times.  We’re still working on that.  We also enjoyed a field trip to the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan.  It’s one of the museums that is “suggested donation” so it’s more economical for a big family to go.  I made a scavenger hunt booklet for the kids to keep their interest.  It worked up until the end, when the fact...