He Won!!

Okay, in an effort of full disclosure, I have to admit that only 2 or 3 first graders entered projects in the History Fair. But having said that, I still think it's pretty impressive that Ethan won first place. I kind of wish I would have known about it and could have been there because it was announced during an assembly and he got a metal and everything. He was so excited.

Today was Moms and Muffins at the elementary so I went up after school to get Ethan and have a muffin with him. He was waiting for me in the classroom so excited to show me his metal. Because the fair was only required for 4th and 5th graders, we got to take his project home with us. We didn't get a muffin because the line was WAY too long, but we went to Grandma Tobler's and got a cookie to celebrate.

History Fair

Yesterday was the judging for the History Fair and then they opened the exhibit up to the public to see. After I taught piano lessons we piled in the car and met Bryan at the elementary school to take a look. The topic of the History Fair was "People in History and what effect they had on the future." There were papers, exhibits and some computer projects. It was interesting to see all the different people the kids had chosen (some were odd, but most were pretty interesting). There were exhibits on the Prophet Joseph Smith, Walt Disney, Hitler and Isaac Behunin (our ancester who named Zion Canyon). One of my piano students commented on Ethan's project. He told me that all the kids thought it was cool. Ethan got a kick out of that. I'm glad he wanted to do it and had such a good experience. He did a lot of the work.

Red Teeth

This week is Teeth Week in Ethan's class. On Tuesday, his teacher sent home a tooth care package. It had a new toothbrush, 2 toothpaste samples and 2 sets of teeth dying pills. The note said that parents should do the teeth dying pills with their child so they can talk about proper brushing. So Ethan wanted me to do it with him right after school. So we went into the bathroom, crunched up these red pills in our mouth and then tried to brush it off. Ethan freaked out and hated the fact that his teeth were all red. I thought it was fun until he started spitting red dye all over the bathroom. But Ethan worked really hard to get all the dye off his tongue and teeth. I thought it was pretty fun but he doesn't ever want to do it again.

Say What?

Courtney was "practicing the piano" this morning (which really means that she was banging on the keys while changing piano books) and decided that she wanted to sing. So she began to accompany herself. She sang "I am a Child of God" and "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" and then she began singing a couple of songs that made me really laugh.

"Shall the youth of Zion HOLLER in defending truth and right"

I just had to laugh. Then she went on to sing:

"We thank thee, O God, for a Prophet to guide us in these SATURDAYS"

It was pretty funny.

Bread Recipe

Here's the recipe to the whole wheat bread my mother-in-law worked with and perfected. It's made in a Bosch and it really good and easy!!

Wheat Bread

Combine and let sit while you grind your wheat:
3 cups hot water
oil (just enough to coat the 2/3 measuring cup you are using, I usually just spray my measuring cup with Pam)
1/3 cup honey
1 1/2 Tbsp yeast

Add:
3 cups flour
1 Tbsp gluten

Mix this for 3 minutes and then let sit for 10-15 minutes.

Add:
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp dough enhancer
1 Tbsp tofu drink mix
3-5 cups flour (start with the smaller number and toward the end, add the flour 1/2 cup at a time until it reaches the right consistency, you don't want it too dry)

Knead bread in Bosch for 5 minutes.

Divide into 1 to 1 1/2 pound pieces (depending on the side of your loaf pans) and put into loaf pans. Let rise as normal. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. This recipe makes 2 loaves in my pans.

Welcome to the 21st Century!

We bought a new TV! This is the first TV we have bought in our married life. When we were first married, we had 2 televisions (one from Bryan and one I inherited from my Grandma). When those died, my parents gave us an extra one they had that had a DVD/VCR combo in it. We had a pair of bunny ear antenna that we have used and it got a few channels (we don't have cable). We were fine until channels started changing to digital and the TV's DVD quit working. It was pretty sad. With a bit of our tax return we decided to get a new TV and a VCR/DVD player. We originally put it in our room and it got some great reception with the bunny ears. Ethan and Courtney loved it. They said it was just like being in a hotel because you could lay in bed and watch TV (some of the channels were new to us so it was really cool!). But our room was thrashed and we really don't want babysitters watching TV in our bedroom, so we moved it into the living room where we thought it would get better reception...NOT!! We only get a few channels now, so we are going to hook up an antenna on the house so we can get better reception. But it's pretty neat to be "in" with everyone else! According to Ethan, all we need now is a Wii. ;)

History Fair

Ethan's school is having a History Fair this week. It is only required for the 3rd-5th graders, but when Ethan heard about it, he wanted to do a project too. For the 1st graders, it becomes a "family project" so we all got involved.

He is fascinated by the Titanic so we did some research, watched some NOVA movies and read some books. The History Fair is on a person in history and what impact they made on the future. So we chose the captain of the Titanic and wrote about what mistakes he made and what was changed. Then we made a Titanic front sinking and an iceberg. Ethan was thrilled with the results and I thought he did a great job.