Can you say OCD?

Yes, these are guns... a few of them are realistic looking guns (gasp!!)... and they belong to my 9 year old son. I come from a family of hunters. I grew up going to the Rifle Range. I grew up with an entire gun case in our basement filled with rifles and guns of all sorts. And we were taught the rules of safety. I never ever saw a gun left out accidentally. I never picked one up and handled one without the supervision of my father. They were never loaded at home. I was taught the proper respect for guns. I was also taught that guns don't kill people...people kill people. And I believe that today. And guess what? I married a hunter! Thankfully he demonstrates the same safety and responsibility that I grew up with. And we will pass that along to our children. My oldest son has been hunting with his dad for the past several years, and the little one is ready to go when Dad gives the go ahead! That being said, Brennan has been into cap guns lately. The two on the left end were cheap cap guns that don't work very well. Lesson learned is...don't buy cheap cap guns. So I went to Bass Pro and bought the one on the bottom. Now THAT is a cap gun!!! Leave it to Bass Pro to carry the good stuff!! Cap guns are hard to come by these days!

Anyway, this picture truly says "Brennan." I had to smile when I saw it. I came home from dropping the boys at school the other day, and saw his guns neatly arranged on the floor- ready for play after school.

in answer to a question...

That kool-aid playdough  recipe here does not stain hands. Even when I made it and kneaded it, it did not stain my hands, and it does not stain hands when played with! It's good stuff!

...

Isn't this exactly what you want in your Easter basket????

update your blogger editor

I love blogger and I think it is pretty easy to manage for the most part. I am definitely not a computer wizard by any means, but I am learning all the time. I love my blog, and I really enjoy being able to go back and read all of the posts I have written. It has been a great journal. That being said, I don't really want to have to pay for another host site that may offer more options. A couple of the things I have been frustrated with in blogger is that I can't always post my pictures as large as I want and that when I upload, they always load on at the beginning of the post and I have to drag them down around my text (if I don't upload one at a time : ) Anyway, I came across this post in my google reader helping me update the blogger editor which makes the uploading of pictures so much easier while you have also have the ability to make your pictures larger! I experimented with it in my last post (Easter), and it is awesome! What a great addition! Maybe some of you have already done this on your blogs, but if not, do check it out!

Easter 2010

Koolaid playdough

This is my absolute favorite playdough recipe- in fact, it is now my only playdough recipe!

With my job at church as a children's ministry assistant, I had planned several games and activities for Easter Sunday. One of the those was a playdough table. I made lots of spring colors, bought a $1 package of Easter cookie cutters, and the kids loved it. It was a hit!

This recipe is easy and quick to make, inexpensive, and I love that the packages of Koolaid give it great colors and makes it smell yummy too! I used lime for the green, grape for the purple, berry blue tropical punch for the blue, black cherry for the red, and obviously orange for the orange. It keeps for a long time in Ziploc bags so you can get lots of use out of it.

Koolaid playdough

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup salt

2 packets of koolaid (choose to determine the color you want)

2 Tbsp oil

2 cups boiling water

Combine in a large bowl. Stir with a spoon, and then let cool for a few minutes. Place on countertop and knead with hands until clumps are gone and consistency is to your liking. Feel free to add more flour as you knead if it is too sticky. Have fun- dive in and make some creations with your kids!

bacon bread

BACON BREAD

This is absolutely one of the best bread recipes ever. I got it from Quick Cooking magazine several years ago and no matter where I take it (and I often take it to small group, family gatherings, and anywhere I have to take a dish!) someone always asks for the recipe. It's easy and doesn't require many ingredients- my kind of cooking!!

INGREDIENTS:

12 bacon strips, diced (or more if you prefer)

1 loaf (1 pound) frozen bread dough, thawed

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil, divided (I usually use a little more)

1 cup of shredded mozarella cheese (or more if you prefer)

1 envelope ranch party dry dip

Cook bacon. Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Brush with 1 tablespoon of oil. Cut into 1 inch pieces and place in large bowl. Add the bacon, cheese, dressing mix and remaining oil. Toss to coat.

Arrange pieces in an oval on a greased baking sheet, layering as needed. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or until doubled. (I usually just place it on a back burner as the oven is preheating).

Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Then cover with foil and bake 5-10 minutes more or until golden brown.

this and that

I finally downloaded some pictures tonight! Now I can share a bit of what we've been up to these last few weeks.

These pictures are from the state spelling bee Bren was in at the end of March. It was located in Sioux City- why a state spelling bee would be located on the northwestern edge of the state is beyond me, but whatever. It was a rather stressful drive to get there. We had gone to Gary's mom's retirement party in Chariton and then jumped into the car at 8 PM and drove in a snowstorm the whole way there. That would have been bad enough, but we had to take a vehicle from Gary's work to the Omaha area so I had to drive our car separately while he drove the work car. I was in tears at one point trying to drive through the snow and wind in the wee hours of the night. We finally arrived at our hotel at 1:30 AM exhausted! The spelling bee began at 9 the next morning. We checked Bren in and the poor thing was a nervous wreck! They gave the kids a practice round and then they had to take a computer test. This weeded the 102 competitors down to 60-70 who would be able to come back after lunch for the rest of the spelling bee. Brennan did not make it past the computer round. He was devastated. We were SO PROUD of him for making it that far! It was tough competition as this state bee put 1st-8th graders all up against each other (which I didn't quite get). There were only a handful of younger ones out of the 102 as most of them were middle schoolers and junior highers. Overall I think it was a good experience, and I hope he will look back at it as a good opportunity. Right now he's still reeling in the devastation of not making it past the first round. We're still not allowed to talk about it around here!

Yes, you are seeing correctly. That is my 14 year old son behind the wheel ready to take his first driving lesson with his father. Even though he turned 14 in January, he took his permit test over spring break. With the horrible snowy, icy winter we've had, I would never have let him drive! But unfortunately (in this case ONLY) the snow melted, and it's time to let my boy grow up. He passsed his test easily the first time, and his first time behind the wheel was in our VERY LARGE EMPTY church parking lot. I was a tad (OK a little more than a tad) nervous as he had Bren's and my life in his hands, but all was well. He only drove into the grass once in our first little adventure! I thought he had a bit of a lead foot as well. I was reflecting back on my first time behind the wheel and I specifically remember thinking, "How does anyone drive 55 mph? That is SO fast!" Needless to say, I don't think that thought was going through his mind! He has been doing very well. I have lightened up and given him several chances to drive, and his father is always willing to hand him the keys. My anxiety level goes down the more experience he gains. But then I start thinking about him driving at night, driving in a downpour, driving in heavy city traffic, driving in the kind of snow I drove in to the spelling bee, driving in unfamiliar areas, and I start hyperventilating... I have determined that it definitely doesn't get easier as they get older. I just need to up my medication : ))

This is career night for ELP class. ELP (extended learning) used to be TAG (talented and gifted) back in my day. Anyway, Bradley had a big project choosing a career of interest, interviewing someone in that career, researching a college that specializes in that major, researching the job responsibilities, pay, and demand and then put the information together on a display board. They were to dress in their career attire (hence the football shirt and shorts) and the parents got to come to school one evening to view the finished projects. He did a career inventory and teaching was one of the careers that came out on top for him. Law was another one, and those are both things he is interested in (although I think the coaching is more of an interest right now than the teaching). He really likes his PE teacher, who will also happen to be his high school basketball coach, so he has a good role model to look to for that. He researched UNI as that is a great teaching school (I know first-hand!). His presentation board may have had a smidge of help from his scrapbooking mother, (hee hee : )but overall I think he did a good job. I must say there were a few rough nights around the Hydorn household trying to get him to complete this task, but I think it was well worth it.

Alrighty enough for now- I have lots I'm hoping to share with you in the next week or so- Easter, a recipe, and I've been documenting a "day in the life of Oreo" for your viewing pleasure. I'm sure you're all waiting with baited breath now for that installment... How exciting can a day in the life of a cat really be anyway?