Solar Competition

I randomly saw an ad for a solar competition and decided to look into it.  An FPL solar facility was hosting the competition for their grand opening.  It seemed like an excellent learning opportunity.  So, why not?

Nicole invited a new friend, Cecilia, to participate with her. They decided to compete in the solar cooking competition which judges you on your solar cooker and your food.   Together, they spent one day a week for about a month building solar cookers and testing them out.  Both also worked diligently at home to fine tune their cookers.

Cecilia's family had much better success than we did.  With the help of her mom and dad, they were able to build a beautiful solar cooker that got up to 300 degrees!  We couldn't get ours over 150 degrees :(

It was time of dedication, despite our constant failures.  Nicole (and I) built  8 or so different ovens...none of them worked.  Until...until we tried a funnel design using a windshield cover from walmart.  Unbelievably, it worked!  We got our quinoa to cook in just about 2 hours.  Quinoa never tasted so good!

The girls met at the competition near Bradenton, FL at 8:30am and started their prep work.  The competeted against 20-something other teams in the area.

They cut their veggies, cracked their eggs, and set it all up.

Then, they sat and waited.  While waiting, they were interviewed by judges on the design of one of their cookers.  They checked out the other competitions taking place and the nearby solar fields.

With their veggie frittata done cooking, the moved it into the warmer (otherwise known as Nicole cooker that won't get very hot!), and started making the lemon cupcakes. They quickly put them together and placed them in the heated solar cooker.

About an hour later, 6 beautiful cupcakes were ready to be topped.  The girls began to hustle to plate their food for the taste test.

They prepared three plates for the three judges.  One was a local chef, one was a local news anchor, and the other....well, I can't remember what she did :)

The girls stood in front of the judges, explained their food, and answered their questions.  The judges were quite impressed and said, "This is the best thing we have tasted all day". This was after the high school and middle school teams went!  The girls were so incredibly excited!

We had to wait about an hour for the announcement of the winners.

The girls won 3rd place in the solar cooking design.

And FIRST place in their food taste!  Woohoo!!!

They won a total of $400 to split to be used for STEM classes or supplies for school...and they were invited to participate in the state wide solar competition in May!

This was not an easy project, in fact, it was much more difficult than I anticipated.  We had to persevere through failures, and revamp our ideas over and over again.  It was hard.

But it paid off!  What a great experience.

Oh yeah....AND, the girls had a little article written about them in a local parenting magazine.  That is super fun too!

Children's Business Fair- Round Two

The kids' very favorite activity last year was the Children's Business. Fair.  As soon as it was over, they started plans for their booth the next year.  Well, it finally came!

Hannah started working on her business back in December.  She made "Busy Bags", quiet bags of games for toddlers.  She diligently worked, a little bit at a time, for several months.

Jeremy's business was one of the sponsor of the event.  So, even daddy had a booth to man!

Hannah's display.  She had two tables set up and used Orange and Blue as her colors.  

A sweet surprise visit from Papa.  I'm thankful he is around and enjoys supporting the kids and our shenanigans.

Nicole was going to make some pillows, blankets, and hand sewn toys.  However, she got really sick that week and couldn't complete them.  So, she set up a Lilla Rose booth.  It was the busiest day she has ever had, and she did it all without my help.  It was amazing!  She nearly sold out of several sizes of clips!

The judges were visiting with Hannah.  She did a beautify job explaining her business.  

Such a great job, in fact, that she won $50 for "Most Marketable Business"....in other words, hers was the one chosen for having the best real world business potential.

There were 90 booths of children at the event.  Amazing!

Hannah's Busy Bags.

Pizza Palace- includes a full menu of pizza that the children have to put together.  The kids count the topping and follow the directions.

Waffle Weaver- totally her idea.  Weave the ribbon of syrup in and out of the waffle holes

Fish Forever, magnetic fishing in a bag!

Nathan sold his paper airplanes again.  I guess I don't have any pictures of him.  Sorry Nate!

The kids were also featured in a local magazine!  How cool is that?!?

Lilla Rose- We met John Dorsey!

About a year and a half ago, I signed up as a Lilla Rose Stylist, but not for me....for Nicole.  She had been wanting a business, but none of her ideas were things we could do.  We found out about Lilla Rose from my good buddy, Teri, and quickly signed up.  Nicole and I have had fun working at Farmer's Markets, doing in home Style Boutiques, and sharing these beautiful hair accessories with our friends, and their friends!  Nicole has learned communication skills, marketing, budgeting, business, finances, and more.  It's been a terrific way to spend time and learn together.  www.lillarose.biz/GulfCoast

Teri has worked her way up in the company, rather quickly.  She has a team of more than 100 stylists under her.  She decided to throw a party for her Lilla Rose team.  We were excited to attend and celebrate our success with the other stylists in our area.

Nicole made this adorable fruit tray Flexi clip- Florida style.  Can you see the flexi clip, with the palm tree in the middle?

She also made cute Flexi  Clip earrings out of perler beads for the occasion.

 As the party was just getting started, we were surprised by the appearance of John Dorsey, the Creator of Flexi Clips and Owner of Lilla Rose!  I'm pretty sure a house full of "star struck women" ensued.  We could not believe he had just walked in the house.  I'm a dork and had tears in my eyes!

We were stunned!  This man is so kind and humble.  He was genuine and it was a true pleasure to meet him.  I can't believe Teri kept this surprise from all of us!

Nicole is posing with her sweet friends, Madelyn and Angelina, who also sell Lilla Rose with their mom....and of course, sister Hannah :)  Madelyn and Angelina had met John Dorsey earlier in the day when he surprised them at their market.

John kindly listened to Nicole share her ideas of future clips, and the fun she has with Lilla Rose.

My buddy Teri and I....she's pretty great!

 It was such a fun evening, and even Jeremy got to be there to meet Mr. Dorsey.  How cool is that?

Christmas 2016

As the kids are getting older, I am realizing that I have less and less time with them because they are getting older and older.  I am working toward being more purposeful in the free time I spend with the kids and creating memories during special occasions, like Christmas.  This was a sweet year!

 The kids and I put our massive counter top to great use by having several baking and cooking days.

When I designed this kitchen a few months ago...these were the moments I envisioned.

We got Yaya in on the cookie decorating action as well.  

I just like being silly with my kids!

The kids also made their home made Christmas ornaments. 

We had a friend host a very fun Ginger Bread House decorating party.  With homemade Gingerbread, shaped into little manger scenes.  It was so fun, and smelled yummy!

We were all geared up and ready for Christmas day after all those fun festivities.

 Christmas Day was wonderful.  I couldn't have asked for anything better!

 We had a fantastic morning, just the 5 of us with a custom planned and cooked breakfast by Nicole.

 I LOVE that our kids were more excited about Nicole's breakfast than about presents.  Nicole thought and planned for a week, typed a menu, and did almost all of the work herself.

 She took orders, delivered our food, and even helped clean up.

Once breakfast was over, we had a fun time opening gifts.  Again, I love how excited the kids are to think about, plan, budget for, purchase or make the gifts they give.  They are just best and sweetest kids ever!

Fun with stockings

Hannah made me a hand sewn wallet

Nicole is SO excited about a bucket of buttons!

I was so excited to give the girls these presents.  Hannah got a pair of rollerskates, and Nicole got a pair of rollerblades.  They have both really enjoyed them, and I've enjoy watching them.  I loved skating when I was their age.

Yaya, Papa, and Uncle Justin came over for the afternoon once we were done.  We had a great time with them.  We ate an amazing steak dinner together.

Filet Mignon with Boursin cheese and home made onion strings, apple cider salad, twice baked mini potatoes, steamed green beans with bacon, and honey butter bread.  Mmmmmm

After dinner, we played some fun games like Shut your Mouth and Pie Face.  Many pictures to follow.

This might me my all time favorite picture of Hannah and papa.

This is exactly what I hoped for on Christmas Day.  Special time in the morning with the kids and then allowing them time to just rest and play.  Great food and lots of laughter with extended family.  It was perfect :)

Merry Christmas!