Daddy's Back

Jon has been in Omsk the last few days and we've all missed him.  He will leave again this Wednesday for California so we will be missing him again.  Jojo thought it would be a good idea to have cinnamon rolls waiting for him when he got back this morning. 

 

While he was gone I thought a lot about single moms and how hard it must be for them.  I only have to do without Jon for a few days or a couple of weeks but single moms never get a break.  Usually by the time Jon gets home from work I am pretty tired of having to deal with the boys fighting or whining.  He takes over since he's boss #1.  I have to confess though that I do enjoy the solitude when Jon's gone but things just aren't the same without him and I'm so glad he's back even if it's just for a day and a half.

Keeping Him Busy

One of the biggest challenges of homeschooling for me has been to keep Naynay busy and happy.  When Jojo was in Kindergarten, Nana was young enough to not be interested in what we were doing.  In the fall when we started first grade it quickly became apparent that this year was going to be different!  At first I kept Naynay busy with videos, but that didn't work too long because he isn't interested so much with sitting there and watching a movie.  Plus, Jojo would rush through his work hoping that if he finished quick enough he could go watch a movie. 

Then I brought Naynay in the kitchen with us and he was happy to be occupied coloring and cutting papers.  This actually worked for a while until Jojo just kept getting so distracted by him. 

Recently I've had to pull out some old tricks out of the bag.............things I used to do with Jojo when he was little.

 

Nathan loves playing with water and so did Jojo at this age.  I 

basically just set up two bowls with water and he transferred 

dinosaurs back and forth.  This actually kept him satisfied for

an hour and he was actually having a blast.  Another day I put 

yellow food coloring in the water in one bowl and blue food 

coloring in the water in the other bowl.  He was quite surprised

when the water began changing to green.

 

Another day I got out our tub of dried green peas with little toys

hidden inside.  He basically just sticks his hand into the tub

and pulls out the little toys.  He also gets spoons and mixes the 

peas around.  This little activity kept him busy for up to 2 hours

the first day.  The rest of the days he played with the tub for at

least one hour.  Of course water has spilled, clothes have

gotten wet, dried green peas on the floor, etc. but at least

it has kept him busy.  He is also in the kitchen with us but I

keep him away from the table so Jojo isn't distracted and yet

Naynay feels like he is getting some attention.

Another Year!

Tuesday was my birthday and as always Jon did his best to make me feel special on "my" day. 

 

When I woke up there was a gift waiting for

me on the kitchen table and when the boys

woke up there was another gift in their room

that they brought out to me.  It was really 

sweet and as you can see in this picture

they had just woken up but were so eager 

to get the gift to me. 

Then it was just a typical day.....cleaning,

schooling, cooking, etc!

 

I made dinner and Jon brought home my favorite cake!  We then 

had our family time and the boys went around the table sharing

nice things about me.  We kinda had a rough day on my birthday

with some discipline issues, and lack of interest from Jojo in school,

etc................like I said it was a typical day.  I lost it a couple of times

and when Naynay shared something about me he said that "mommy 

got upset today but then she said sorry".  Yep, nothing like the little one

to keep me humble!

 

Then Christina and Zhenya showed up!  Christina made tiramisu.....

which is one of my favorite desserts ever!  She said it took her two 

days and it was absolutely delicious.  One of the best ones Jon and

I have tasted.

 

And she gave me this real cool container for our teas!  Love it!

 

Then we all played the Wii because Jojo said that's what I wanted

to do for my birthday!  Really?  That's ok, as I get older I'm realizing

that my birthdays don't really have anything to do with me and that's 

fine by me!

Happy 10th Birthday To My Niece!

Today my niece Madi turns 10.  One of the hardest thing about living overseas is missing out on my family's birthdays.  Usually in February we would all get together since my oldest sister, niece, and myself all turn a year older in February.  Madi and Jojo have grown up together during the summer months and Jojo loves his cousin dearly. 

Madi, if mom shows you this post, I want you to know how much I love you and wish you a happy, happy birthday.  Wish I could be there to blow out the candles on the cake with you and Tia Alex!

 

 

 

 

Sweet Boy

     Nathan absolutely has our sweet tooth.  The kid loves frosting, dough, chocolate, etc!

 

Valentine's Day

We usually don't celebrate Valentine's Day in our family but since Jon and the boys have been pretty sick lately I thought that I would make Valentine's Day a little special.  The holiday in Russia has only gotten a little popular in the past few years.  You can find Valentine decor here and there but nothing like the States!

 

The boys kept asking who was coming over for dinner because the

table was set up "fancy".  Dinner consisted of broiled honey lemon

chicken, broccoli salad (Jon's favorite), crab salad (Jojo and Naynay's

favorite), parmesan garlic potatoes (we all love it), and heart shaped

toast.  Oh and can't forget the Crystal Light fruit punch.

 

My Sweet Valentine and son.

 

And for the piece de resistance (to be read in a French accent).....

chocolate gooey cakes! 

 

I also bought Jon a box of chocolates, I made a frame, and got 

him a cute card.....all in efforts to cheer him up a bit!

Future Best Actor

Here's Naynay acting out a movie for me.  Not sure which movie he is referring to but he is definitely passionate about his acting!

Pizza Roll

I've been kinda tired of regular pizza lately and when I came upon this recipe on one of the many blogs I follow I knew I had to try it.  I baked one for Jon's surprise party and it came out great except that I didn't seal the edges on the roll so everything kinda spewed out.

 

I know, I know it really doesn't look very good!

Saturday night I thought I'd give it another try and it turned out a bit better.  I also switched up the filling a bit.  Once again it was a big hit!  We finished off the whole roll and poor Jojo kept asking for more.

 

I wish I could give the proper credit on the recipe but here it is anyway:

Pizza Roll Up

Dough:

1 package of dry active yeast
1 cup warm water
Pinch of sugar
1 1/4 tsp. salt
3 1/2 cups flour
1 T olive oil

 Filling:

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup coarsely chopped baby spinach
1 cup sliced mushrooms
Roasted peppers
Chopped red onion
Fresh basil
1 T  olive oil
Salt & Pepper
1 egg-for the egg wash

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Dissolve the yeast in warm water, sprinkle with pinch of sugar. Let stand for five minutes.
2. Combine flour and salt in large mixing bowl. (We do this in our Kitchenaid.) Pour half of the yeast water into your bowl and add in olive oil. Mix briefly. Add the rest of the yeast mixture. Mix until combined and switch to your dough hook. Let the machine knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Take the dough ball out and make sure it is smooth and not sticky!
3. Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Turn it over to oil both sides. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth/towel. Let rise for about 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
4. Divide the dough in half. You can freeze one if you want.
5. Roll our the dough on a lightly floured surface. It should be a 12-14 inch circle, about ¼ inch thick.
6. Sprinkle 1/2 of the mozzarella over the dough. Arrange the spinach over the cheese in a single layer. Sprinkle with the mushrooms, peppers, onions, basil, and then top with the remaining cheese.
7. Roll the dough into a thin cylinder, gently tucking in the ends. Brush the entire roll with the olive oil & season with the salt & pepper. We also brushed it with an egg wash to help the browning process.
8. Place the dough, seam-side down, on the baking sheet & bake for 25 minutes until the top is golden brown.
9. Cool the roll for 5 minutes, then use a serrated knife to cut it into 3/4-inch slices

Snowman Part 2

So today Jojo finally got to finish his snowman.  He is still under the weather but he reached deep inside himself and put on the final touches to his snowman.  Here are the end results:

 

Nathan wanted his snowman to have one black

eye and one green eye.  I don't know why!

And he only wanted two buttons!

 

Jojo also said he wanted one black and one

green eye just like his brother Naynay but I

talked him into only green eyes. 

Snowman

We have had a lot of snow and cold temperatures once again.  Trying to keep the boys happy can be a little challenging sometimes.  Jojo has come down with a bug so I thought it would be a great idea to keep them occupied with a craft.  I've been wanting to do this one for a while but just hadn't gotten around to it.

 

First we painted a couple of toothpicks orange for the snowman's nose.

 

Secondly we got the dough ready.

 

Then we put some sticks in for arms and the orange noses......

 

and then we placed them in the oven to cook!  You have to wait for 

the dough to cool off before you can paint them white and decorate 

them.  Naynay painted his yesterday but Jojo wasn't feeling too great

today so maybe tomorrow we can finish off his snowman!

I got the idea and recipe for the salt dough from this great blog!  I'm

also thinking that the dough would be great fun to make so many 

other things.  My boys love to paint so maybe for Valentines we can

make some hearts, for St. Patrick's Day some shamrocks......you

get the idea!!!

Josiahisms

Jojo has been saying some funny things lately such as:
"Mom, can we adopterate a cute baby girl?"

"Mom, when are the stores going to start selling Rocky Way (Road) ice cream?"