All Things Supercinski

We often get questions from friends about starting their own vegetable garden. While we most definitely aren’t experts, gardening is one of those things that you learn through trail and error. What we do now is far different from what we did a few years ago, and we seem to improve every year. One of the greatest tools for us has been Texas Gardener Magazine. We were given a subscription for Christmas a couple years ago by my dad and Debbi–who are expert gardeners to us and perhaps they were tired of answering our questions–and we have learned so much. What makes this magazine unique is that it is just for Texas and breaks our state into zones so you know what and when to plant for your zone. Planting on time is a very important aspect of gardening, and this takes a lot of guesswork out of it. A great price and a fabulous resource. Perhaps it would be a good Valentines gift for the gardener in your life?

White Whole Wheat Flour – Did you know that there are different types of wheat berries that are ground into flour? The traditional whole wheat flour is made from hard red winter wheat and has a stronger and more bitter flavor. This isn’t always that tasty and your hubby and kids might complain a bit if you use it in everything. You can find flour made from the more mild hard white wheat berries. It is not bleached or stripped of the germ or anything like all-purpose flour, still whole wheat, but not nearly so bitter. I have been using it in just about everything these days and no one in my house knows the difference. It is great in muffins, pancakes, waffles, cake, you name it. I find it in the King Arthur brand at my grocery store. Compare the nutrition labels of the white whole wheat and the traditional whole wheat–they really aren’t very different at all.

No More Trouble Zones workout dvd by Jillian Michaels – First of all, can I just say how much a dislike names like “saddlebags” and “muffin top”? I have enjoyed hearing how many ladies have jumped on the 30 Day Shred bandwagon! I picked up this dvd after I got bored with the Shred. This is a great circuit training workout that focuses more on strength training than on cardio intervals like in the Shred. You won’t be doing any jump squats or mountain climbers in this one–in fact, the only jumping jacks are in the warmup.

This workout is just 40 (actually more like 45) minutes of hammering your “trouble zones”. You do mostly compound moves–squats with shoulder raises, lunges with bicep curls, etc. There are seven different circuits–each with five moves that repeat twice in each circuit. The circuits are: quads and shoulders, chest and abs, biceps and bottom, quads and triceps, abs, upper body bore and lower body core. She recommends using three pound weights. While the workout is long, it is worth waking up a little early to do it. I sweat a ton and definitely feel the burn, and I have seen great results from doing it. And for those of you with a Jillian-aversion, you have the option of doing the workout without her voice, just music. She is a lot easier to listen to in this one and her pointers are really helpful. I saw it on sale at Target yesterday for $10.

(Eek! I just saw that Jillian has a new Yoga dvd set to come out March 2nd!)

Josiah had a pirate party last weekend in honor of his fourth birthday. We originally planned to have his three sets of grandparents present for a small and simply family party, with lots of fun games. Two sets of grandparents were unable to come at the last minute, so we invited our homeschooling buddy. It was such a fun day!

Our little pirate:

Our big pirate:

Yes, Thomas dressed up as a pirate. It was hilarious, and thankfully none of the kids were afraid of him. He borrowed the costume from a coworker.

Josiah and his pal had a lot of fun with the games. We had a bean bag toss into a treasure chest, pin the flag on the X of the treasure map, a coin hunt (coins hidden all around the room, the kids hunted them, this was great for Annalise and her little pal), walking the plank (pictures below) and a treasure hunt. For the treasure hunt, I gave them a clue which led them to their next clue and so forth until they found the treasure. For example, “Even pirates have to eat. Look for your next clue in a place where your family keeps food.” It was taped inside the refrigerator. Their treasure was a chest full of party favors. Here is Josiah walking the plank:

I had too much fun burning the edges of this paper greeting:

The birthday boy with his pirate ship cake.

And another shot of the cake. It was much easier than I expected.

It was so fun! I’m glad we are still keeping the parties simple–I’m not ready to entertain masses of kids yet. Just keeping these two in line was hard enough. :) They are sword-fighting here:

Josiah,
It is hard to believe that you are four years old. You continue to amaze me with the new things you learn, your independence, and your love for others. Your laughter electrifies a room and brings smiles and laughter to all of us. You have such a sense of humor and love to tell us jokes, sing silly songs, and do just about anything for a laugh. You bring us such joy, Josiah.

You have become so brave over the past year. No longer the cautious and shy toddler, you are now a fearless little boy–ready to talk anyone’s ear off, climb on anything and then jump off of it. You love to talk with me and hear stories. You amaze me with your memory. You seem to remember everything from the plot of all of the Happy Hollisters novels you have listened to us read you to the time you threw up on your pillow at Grandpa and Grandma Mary’s house when you were two. This baffles me and makes me realize how important my job is.

You love your sister and play with her so sweetly sometimes. She adores you and wants to be just like you.

You are sensitive and compassionate–aware of others’ emotions and feelings with some strong feelings of your own. Your creativity and love for making things amazes me. I love to see the things your little brain and hands make!

You have gotten so tall lately–I have a hard time seeing the chubby little baby you once were in the midst of these long legs and arms. I keep telling you to stop growing, to which you reply, “but God is making me grow so big!” You are right, and God has certainly given me a wonderful gift in you. I pray that we raise you to love Him with all of your heart, soul, and strength, like your namesake.

I love you, Sweet Boy!
Momma

A few tidbits of hilarity from our oldest child as we near his fourth birthday.

After coming home following one of my Bradley classes, Josiah wanted to hear all about what we did while he was gone.
Josiah: Did you have fun with your teacher friends? (students)
Me: Yes.
Josiah: What did you do? Some wrestling? Tackling?
Me: (Speechless for a moment…) Um, no… we sat and talked about taking care of new babies.
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At Christmas, we spent some time discussing showing thankfulness to people who give you a gift, no matter what you think of it, even if it is clothes. I noticed that the lesson seemed to stick when we heard Josiah say, as he opened a shirt from one of his grandmothers, “Wow! This is just what I wanted!”
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Josiah loves playing with his Lightning McQueen cars, and recently got The King, whom he refers to as McKing. Get it, McQueen, McKing…
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Speaking of cars, we were recently driving and came upon a school zone. I slowed down for the school zone and then even more for some children crossing the street. From the backseat, Josiah asks, “What happened? Did you run out of gas?”
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Josiah loves to create things and seems to enjoy more mediums than mere crayons, paints and paper. The latest craze has been scotch tape, which he uses to make all kinds of interesting projects. Here is an example of one I found on the arms of our desk chair, making it into a rocket ship chair complete with buttons on the top. I have no idea what purpose the little man or golf ball serve, but it was a hilarious sight.

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While walking through the house wearing my running shoes, I heard Josiah say, “Whew! I’m running a half marathon!”
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We were running some errands as a family, and let Thomas out (in the rain) to run into the store to return something.
Josiah: Can I go in there and help Daddy?
Me: No, Josiah. It is raining and he is already in the store.
Josiah: Aw, give me a chance! Come on!