Rachael Eliker's Blog, page 18

Two-Hour Delay

We had the first two-hour delay yesterday and wasted no time enjoying it. Jack is home from work this week and the snow was p-e-r-f-e-c-t for everything from sledding to snowman building. After letting everyone sleep in (at least who wanted to sleep in), eating breakfast, and using playing in the snow as an incentive to get the kids to clean up on of the rooms they'd messed up, we wriggled into our snow gear and drug the sleds out to the back of the pond. Freaked the horses out listening...

A True Gem

She's nine!Where Evelyn took her sweet time joining our family, Claire practically kicked down the door to start her mortal adventure. She was born when we were pretty poor college students and her birth marks my adventure as a stay-at-home mother. Like all of our children, I have a hard time summarizing how amazing they are but there's one thing we know for sure: we're sure happy she's a part of our family.
Always good for a laugh!If you know Claire, you know how lucky you are to have...

Make Do and Be Grateful

We pulled off another delicious Thanksgiving meal!One of my personal mottos for this year has been Make Do and Be Grateful. It's been a reminder to me that despite the hardships I face personally and as a family, that things are better than they seem, that we'll get through it, and that we're exceptionally blessed, even when things are difficult. I love, LOVE to see my children smiling.Like most at Thanksgiving, I like to reflect on the wonderful life I'm living. I have a...

Go, Evelyn!

Friday night, we were at Kate's very first ballet recital and Saturday, we all went out to support Evelyn in her very first swimming competition. When she expressed an interest in taking swim lessons, she was very clear that she did not want to compete but after a few weeks of swimming and running as part of the training, and doing well at it, she decided to give it a go. So, we signed her up for the first meet at her own pool and went out to support her.
Go, Evelyn! As a newbie swim...

Tiny Dancer

Kate, our tiny dancer.Way back at last Christmas, Kate was gifted ballet lessons but because all the studios near us only start new students along with a new school year, Kate had to wait until August to redeem her present. After months of waiting, it was finally time to go to class. She was ready in her ballet clothes the second her backpack dropped on the floor when she got home from school.
Zoey's excited for her big sister, too. Every week while Claire is at gymnastics, Kate's down the...

Better Together

We've been doing this a little more often than I like...waiting for Jack at the airport.This time of year, a lot of Jack's work trips are all clustered together. He's gone a week, back a few days, then leaves for the next conference or visit to a military base or meeting with a customer, over and over and over. While we manage to survive, it often involves a lot of bribery  to keep the kids from having meltdowns. Sometimes, it's to keep me from having a meltdown. Single parenting in all its forms is...

New York-Style Bagel

One of our favorite breakfast foods are bagels but they don't always make it onto the grocery list. Good thing these bagels are not only delicious, chewy, and crunchy, they don't take a lot of babysitting to get right. Cut in half, toast them, and serve with cream cheese, or scramble some eggs and fry bacon to make a yummy sandwich before heading out the door.

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons yeast
1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 cup warm water
3 1/2 cups flour
2 Tablespoons vital wheat gluten
1 1/2 teaspoon salt

In a mixing bowl, combine w.../>In/>
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Climbing Will Continue

Whaaaaaa.....? How?I remember climbing trees as a kid, but even that was pretty limited. With my crippling fear of heights (which I have mostly conquered thanks to A) Jack repeatedly pushing me onto rooves and B) having to climb ladders to get home improvements done. A lot), I didn't do a lot of getting my feet off the ground. My kids take it to entirely new...(wait for it)...heights.

Halloween Rice Cereal Treats

Almost too cute to eat!If you're looking for a quick treat to make for Halloween, these rice cereal treats are almost too cute to eat! I measured, the kids dumped, stirred, shaped, and decorated. They packed them in their lunches for a week to show their friends, and were continually gushing how cute they turned out.

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons butter
40 large or 1 bag of small marshmallows
6 cups rice cereal
Food coloring
Decorations (black frosting, candy eyes, candy corn, etc)

In a large, microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter. Add the marshmallows and mi.../>In/>
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The Irony of Autumn

Fresh cut flowers from the garden...and warming up with hot chocolate after picking them. Ironic, huh?There's something I enjoy about every season--the newness of spring, all the free time and excitement of summer, the end of winter (