Gingerbread Cookies

Two of Bumble and Stinger's cousins spent some time at our hive on Friday.  While the boys played together (you will see more of that in another post) the girls made Gingerbread cookies.  Here is the recipe...

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


First combine the dry ingredients (flour, ginger, cinnamon, salt, cloves, and nutmeg) into a bowl.  Here Bumble's cousin is measuring out the flour...

 

Then stir all the dry ingredients together.  Bumble is trying really hard not to get flour out of the bowl...

Next using a mixer beat together the butter and brown sugar.  Then add the egg and mix well.  Next beat in the molasses and vanilla.  Now it is time to combine the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients.  Slowly beat the flour mixture into the wet mixture until everything is combined. 

I have cookie pans just for Christmas cookies.  This is what we used to make the shapes instead of rolling out the dough and using cookie cutters.  Here Bumble and her cousin are putting the dough in the pans to make the Christmas shapes...

 

Then bake the cookies in a 350 degree oven for 9 minutes. 

 

Now what are we going to do with these gingerbread cookies?  Decorate them of course.  Be sure to stay tuned to see all the fun!

 

 

The Bee's Christmas Tree

Our tree is finally finished...

I had to do some rearranging since Bumble and Stinger decorated it first, but I love how it turned out...

 

Oh, and by the way, Stinger had a "ball" decorating the tree...

 

 

   Needless to say I had a good laugh, but I did remove them. 

The Bee's Start To Decorate for Christmas

Look what the Bee's are doing...

 

We are putting up our first ever big Christmas tree. 

 

This is the time of year that the Bee's were all "pine"ing for.

 Bumble and Stinger were so excited to help...

Well, I guess I will have to move some of these ornaments up higher on the tree, but at least it's a start.

Want to see our finished tree?  The Bee's will be de"light"ed to show it too you; however, you may have to wait a couple of days.  It isn't quite finished yet!

Queen Bee's New Frying Pan

Look what Honey INSISTED that I buy after he cooked his many eggs...

 

A new frying pan.   He thought my old one was too far gone to keep using.  Here is a picture of my old one.  What do you think?

 

 

I have to admit I was kind of attached to it.   Especially it's movable 180 degree handle.  I knew just how to hold it so nothing would dump out.  The handle had been tightened so many times that Honey finally gave up on it.  I felt bad throwing it out though.  I used it every day for many years.  I didn't buy a new one myself because I was waiting to see how this one "panned" out!  Oh well, I guess I will give this new one a try. 

 

Hmmm... I should let Honey bake some cookies tomorrow.  I would love to see what he has to say about my mixer!

Bumble and Stinger Find A New Niche

 This weekend I took everything off of our fireplace bookshelves to make room for Christmas decorations.  Later, this is where I found Bumble and Stinger...

 They LOVE laying here!  I am surprised they didn't think of this before now!  Just for the record, I wasn't going to start decorating for Christmas yet.  I was going to wait until after Thanksgiving, but somebody in our hive just couldn't wait any longer.  No is wasn't Bumble or Stinger bugging me to put up Christmas decorations....it was Honey! 

The Bee's Kitten Update

Remember the kitten Princess Snowball and Happy had over for a sleepover?

Well, he never went home!  Meet Stormy...

 

He actually is an adorable kitten.  He LOVES milk so much he sticks his head in it while Bumble pours the milk in his dish. 

 Bumble's cat Princess Snowball is doing well.  She is earning her keep by catching mice.  Here is Princess Snowball in action...

 

That brownish gray thing is a mouse.  Bumble watched Princess Snowball catch it, play with it, and then devour it!  Hopefully there will be no mice in our hive this winter.

     Stinger's cat Happy is doing fine as well.  Sorry that I do not have a recent picture to show you.   As you can imagine the job of being Stinger's cat is quite stressful so she is in hiding most days!!!

The Bee's Get Hungry

     I had bad headaches all last week, which is why I didn't post much.  The headaches were so bad I went to the ER and asked them to scan my head!  Because of the pain, I will admit I did not cook much.  In fact, I did very little around the house.  For some reason this sent my family into panic mode.  Honey went to the grocery store to get a few things we needed.   He came home with these...

Five dozen eggs!  I guess he thought I was going to let him starve!

And finally I knew it was bad when Bumble prayed at bedtime,
"Dear God, Please help us remember to eat supper tomorrow!  Amen."

What Does The Fox Say?

     It seems like everybody in the world is obsessed with the question, "What does the fox say?"  If you have no idea what I am talking about then you do not have school age children or know someone who works at a school.  I thought it was time to answer this question, so I went straight to the source...

Yes, the Bees have a fox living in their backyard, which would explain why we never see any wild rabbits!

 

So Mr. Fox, everybody in the entire world wants to know..... what is your sound?

.Just what I thought. No answer.   Now let me ask him a more important question.  Mr. Fox, do you eat little Bees?  How about little kittens? 

The Bee's Electric Bill

    Dear PP&L,

Look what just arrived.  I can hardly contain my excitement...

 

Thank you for mailing it in such a lovely robin egg blue envelope so I wouldn't miss it.  Our first electric bill in our new hive.  Just think...six months of electric bills all in one!  Thanks PP&L.  I can't wait to see what is inside! 

 

 

Sincerely,

A Bee that is glad she is currently on muscle relaxers and headache medication!

 

 

 

 

 

Queen Bee's Gluten Free Find

Honey and I went with the kids last week to the local bent and dent store.  We were searching for some cheap 99 cent orange juice.  Sadly, they had none.  However, I did see this for Stinger...

 

Gluten Free Pizza Crust for 50 cents a container!!!  It wasn't even outdated!!!  I made some and it actually is quite tasty.  I need to find some vegan cheese that melts to make it look like real pizza, but until then he will have to eat it like this...

 

  He didn't seem to mind...

 

 

which is good because I bought 10 containers!!! 

 

The Bees See More Deer

We saw more deer in our backyard this weekend...

 

 

There was a total of three deer that made an appearance.

I am pretty sure these are the same deer that ran in front of our car Friday night.  Thankfully, Honey spotted them and we made it safely to our driveway!

"Don't You Wanna Go To Heaven" Dailey and Vincent

The Bees Magic Balloon Experiment

Do you want to see a balloon inflate without having to blow air in it?  Here is a fun experiment you can do at home with your child.
You will need...

 

Small water or juice bottle, emptied and rinsed out

Latex balloon

4 Tablespoons vinegar

2 Tablespoons baking soda

small funnel or paper to make a funnel

First pour the vinegar into the bottle...

Then using a real funnel or paper funnel put the baking soda into the balloon...

 

Then, stretch the balloon over the bottle like this...

 

Then, slowly raise the balloon...

 

so that the baking soda falls out of the balloon and into the bottle...

 

Then watch what happens...

 

Pretty cool isn't it!...

 

Don't worry it won't pop!

So what is the science behind this experiment?  When the vinegar and baking soda combine you get a chemical reaction.   Combined, they produce carbon dioxide which inflates the balloon.  No I didn't know all this on my own.  Bumble's school lesson book helped me...

 

Who knew learning about science could be so exciting?!?

The Bees Like Perler Beads

Bumble has been really into beads lately...

I will let Bumble show you what she has made with them recently...

 

 

Hmm...nice toes Bumble but I think they want to see what you have been working on...

 

 

Ok, maybe it was a bad idea to let Bumble take the pictures for this post.

  Why don't I take the next picture...

 

Aren't they pretty!  Here is how you make them.  The perler beads come with pegboard shapes where you can design whatever you like. Grandma Bee started this one and Bumble finished it...

Next, cover it with the ironing paper that comes in the kit...

and iron it until the beads melt together...

Then wait until it is cool and then peel the ironing paper off and you have a "bead"utiful design!  (Warning: Not for small children. Unless you want to pick up 3,000 beads off the kitchen floor because a small boy decided it would be fun to dump them! Trust me, you do not want to!)

Queen Bee Has A Question

     I would like to start doing Bible story lessons with Bumble and Stinger.  Maybe something that would have an activity or worksheet that pertains to the lesson for Bumble's sake.   Before I start my google search, does anybody have any suggestions or used any good Bible story books in the past that their children really enjoyed?

The Bees and the Electric Company

Dear PP&L,

     Just to let you know in advance, I am calling your customer service number AGAIN!  Even though one of your representatives told me a month or so ago that I would be getting a bill in the mail, I am still waiting on one.  It has been over six months since we started electric service and no one at your company seems to care.  I am fine with free electric, but I know one day you won't be!  I tried looking on your website to see if you have an office somewhere I can drive to and speak to someone face to face, but could not find any.  So, I will call AGAIN, and I am sure I will be told by a recording that due to high call volume a customer service representative will call me back between this hour and this hour.  I will patiently await your call! 
                 
                                                                                                Sincerely,
            The Bees that just want to pay their enormous electric bill before it gets even more enormous!
            

"Lift My Life Up" Unspoken

It wasn't hard choosing a song to post this week.  Bumble had me play this song every morning for her this week while she ate breakfast.  This one's for Bumble...

The Bees Go To The Library

The Bees all went to the library on Thursday night.  It had been a while since I took the kids there. The last time we went Stinger threw a huge fit and I had to walk out of the library carrying 40 lbs. of books in one arm and 40 lbs. of Stinger in the other!!!  By the way, if you ever see a mother with only two hands trying to maneuver her kids, one of which is kicking and screaming, and a bag full of books bursting at the seams out of the library, offer to help her.  She would love you for it!  This is the toy similar to the one that Stinger didn't want to leave...

 

For some reason he likes to move these wooden balls back and forth on the wire.  Since then I found that he loves to string beads, which is almost the same concept. 

 

Well, back to our trip on Thursday night.  Honey sat with Stinger while he played with his wooden block.  I went with Bumble while she picked out books. You would have thought I took her to the greatest place on earth!  Her eyes lit up with every book she pulled off the shelf.  Here is a small sample of what she picked to read about....

 

Hmmm....Cockroaches, flies, kittens, horses, and bumble bees?  Can you tell I have an animal and insect loving daughter?  Besides these she brought home another 20 books to read. 

Honey convinced Stinger that it was ok to leave by promising him food!  We all walked out the door without any tears flowing! 

 

On the way home we left Bumble read one of her books about kittens.  We heard facts about them the entire way home!