High School Fall Camp

Posted on September 15, 2012 by Maddie

Since 9th grade has started life has for sure been a whirlwind. The high school fall camp was about 2 weeks ago and although my team only got 6th place out of 10 teams, we had a blast. It started with the whole high school leaving on a 6 hour bus ride to the camp site, yes the bus ride was so long and boring, but I was thankful to spend some catch-up time with Jessie.

By the time we got to the site it was dinner time so we didn’t do many activities except for a night game. The next day we played a lot of team games and performed our team skit in the evening. Personally, I had the most fun on this day because the games were fun and the skit went great. Finally, the third day we packed up and bussed all the way back to TIS (our school). Although fall camp seemed to go by way too fast the time we did have together as a high school was great. Here’s a photo of me with my team (I played an old lady in the skit, thus the greyish hair color).

As of Late

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Jessie

As of late, we have all been caught up in the whirl-wind activity of a new school year! Personally, I feel like I have jumped on a boat that I am trying in vain to steer through churning waters, (Anyone else?). So what’s been so crazy about the beginning of this school year? – the real question is what hasn’t been crazy about the beginning of this school year?

For starters, dad, Maddie, and I had our annual Fall Camp, a high school retreat, last week! Maddie is discovering the “joys”of a high school homework load, and I am discovering the “joys” of three AP classes.

Over in Hong Kong, Michael just returned from a church retreat which was very encouraging for him as he begins his sophomore year at Hong Kong University!

Rachel has been busy as a bee at home. She’s our “sweet little fairy,” baking delicious desserts, working in the blog room on her goals, and supporting us in school. Rachel too has been unusually busy this week; it seems that the news of her baking skills are getting around. This week she has baked 2 layer cakes, pavlovas (tonight to satisfy me and Maddie’s meringue craving :), and biscotti. Sadly, the only above dessert we get to try is the white fluffy cookies in the oven now. The birthday cakes were made for a friend and a client!

On top of ALL of that, add the usual homework load, dentist appointments, student council work, and time spent with friends then you’ve about nailed down our lives as of late!

Me and my Fall Camp team during the campfire stew competition! ~Smokey~

The 3-layer Lego cake that Rachel baked for a boy in our community turning ten. It is a vanilla cake with multi-colored layers (red, blue and green), meringue buttercream filling, and marshmallow icing on top!

Michael’s Church retreat – seems like he had fun!

Cake Challenge: June

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Rae

This is the first pound cake I’ve ever made and my first “successful” attempt at the bundt cake-shape. The dense texture of this cake was a much needed change from my usual 3-layer butter cakes. I think the best part of this baking experience was taking photos… finally, a cake that is both delicious and effortlessly beautiful. Bundt cakes are so pretty on their own without much fuss about icing colors, decoration ideas, or touch ups. I totally recommend this recipe if you’re looking for something quick and relatively simple.

Other Cake Challenge Posts:
January
February
March
April
May

I’m Lovin’… Turquoise

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Maddie

Connecting Four has become very real and important to me lately. With Michael’s passion and work on it over the summer as my foundation, and the blog office renovations coming along (see Office Project) I am feeling more determined than ever to whip posts out. Although school has been a lot to handle, balancing my time between academics and blogging has been a good challenge and learning experience for me.

This week I was inspired to pick a more unique color, rather than the generic “red, blue, orange or green.” The first color that came to mind was turquoise. At first I was going to add a beach theme into the mix (notice the fish-painted plate and earrings), but as you can see it then evolved into this! I think I’m learning because this post didn’t take me long to create which is surprising as it normally take me quite a while to finish these kinds of posts (I know… it’s lame). I hope I will be as inspired to work this hard next week as I was today!

Check out my other color collection post here!

Sources: 1: Chuck Taylor Side Zip 2: Are You Happy? 3. Pastel Swirl Cake 4. Turquoise Fish Earrings 5. Anthropology Plates

Construction in Progress!

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Jessie

The chilly breeze that met me this morning as we hurried to the bus stop reminded me that fall is on it’s way. You know what that means, the whirl of business is upon us! Fall and Spring always seem to me like the busiest seasons and right now I am definitely feeling it. Student Council retreats, upcoming SAT exams, AP homework, and school trips are overtaking me like a tidal wave! However, I know that if I work at it little by little and rely on my Helper and Provider I can ride this wave. Speaking of which, I have here a few of the projects I am working on right now – you could pretty much say that time management consumes my life right now! I am currently working on four different art projects, my beloved Elk painting, a “start ship”, an oil pastel parrot, and my little squid friends…

This elk portrait was a spur-of -the-moment project. Michael and I got inspired when visiting a construction material market. The goal was to create an art piece on transparent plastic with a leaf, silhouette border. After many discussions, lots of paint, and a thistle broom, an Elk emerged from the plastic!

I was inspired to create this “star ship” by Michael. In this post you can read a little more about the process and idea behind it…

Above is my oil pastel parrot which I am quite pleased with so far. This piece has definitely been a learning experience for me, being my first time using oil pastels. Using this medium gives the feathers a very vivid color

You may recognize these squids from my Aquatic Sketches that I posted earlier this summer. They were my inspiration for this piece, incorporating three squids ascending into a UFO.

I’m Lovin’…Yellow

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Maddie

Summer is flying by pretty fast yet as the days shorten and cold months crawl in, the color yellow remains vivid in my mind. The thoughts of lemonade, the big bright sun, and playful yellow finch’s come to my mind alongside memories of my summer in America. I miss Crab Hunting with cousins, Family dinners at grandpa and grandmas, late night conversations with my favorite aunts, and most of all, all the loving hugs I got from the most important people. Returning home to visit family and friends was such a blessing and I will cherish the times I spent with them. I miss you guys!

I’ve decided to start a Color Collection starting with (obviously) yellow.

sources: 1: crown, 2: horse, bright side, grapefruit, 3: yellow dress, 4: Rain Boots, Lace Pumps

Office Project 04

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Rae

I’ve moved in! Shelves are up, pictures are hung, my desk is clean, and work begins. I’ve begun mapping out my year and making goals for myself, after a long summer I’m very thankful for this sense of routine living again. Most of my time each day is spent alone as my sisters head to school each morning and my Mom works half-time. I use this time to think about the future, research schools and careers, read my Bible and seek His Plan, and study Chinese. I am so thankful for this year to take life at a slower pace and aspire towards what is ahead.

So if you’ve already seen my desk… who’s is this? It is Dad’s. He set up a temporary work-place for himself- I can’t really blame him, its such a wonderful place to work 😉

I’m Lovin’… Baked Bree

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Maddie

As I began to write this post on Baked Bree, a cooking blog, I discovered so much more about the author and her personal blog Bree Hester. I also found out that she has created her very own cookbook. As I learned more and more about this blog I believe that Baked Bree is one of my favorite sources to find new recipes. She explains things so well and her layout is super helpful for anyone who needs some helpful steps along the way. One of my personal favorite dishes from this particular blog are the chicken skewers, I’ve made them about 3 or 4 times and they have always turned out delicious! I definitely recommend this blog for any of you cookers out there needing a fresh recipe to try out. From the whole experience of searching out this blog I learned a lesson, I need to research more about the backgrounds of blogs the author, their life, type of blog, etc.

Sources: Bakedbree.com

Cake Challenge: June

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Rae

I’m still trying to catch up on all of these “terribly late” cake challenge posts. Today we’re revisiting the fresh start of summer, June. I made this cake at my grandparents house in South Dakota while enjoying cool whether and great company 🙂

You can find this cake recipe here!

If you recall, in my January edition I vented about some of the mistakes I made while baking my first 3-layer cake. Well, to tell you the truth the rest of this year hasn’t gone much better. Once I feel confident that I’ve mastered a certain skill, another mishap awaits me around the corner. I never expected baking to be quite so… difficult. For example…

If I heat egg whites and sugar together with no mistakes (for meringue per say), the butter I add to make a buttercream is mysteriously the wrong kind (salted instead of unsalted.) If I do a wonderful job of melting my dark chocolate (brought all the way from America)- making sure it doesn’t scorch- the Korean corn starch I add to the mixture causes the whole shebang to seize immediately. Getting the picture?! If my skills are good, my ingredients don’t work; if my ingredients are perfect (-ly expensive!), my skills ruin them. Each new cake brings new frustrations, and sometimes disappointment. However, the more mistakes I make, the more knowledge I gain, I have to admit, its been a completely enlightening experience! And the more I learn, the more I crave to be in the kitchen watching mousses and meringues fluff up to form mountainous peaks in my little mixing bowls, smelling moistly baked cakes ready to be cooled, and arranging the end products for photographs! I am so blessed to have the time and resources to bake with, and more than that, to have such an incredible family who will graciously eat whatever I make (no matter how it tastes!).

Other Cake Challenge Posts:
January
February
March
April
May

Tianjin Memories

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Michael

I’ve been back to Hong Kong for a week, and getting back into the swing of things has been difficult. Looking through my photos for this post made me miss Tianjin and remember the summer and all the adventures I had.

I remember the huge construction materials market-and dreaming about new projects.

I remember the hundred year old architecture in downtown Tianjin, where I spent times with my sisters, mom and friends.

I remember brainstorming with Jessie on her art portfolio and working in the blog office.

But I guess most of all, I remember the times I spent with my family. I miss you guys.

This post is part of my Memories Collection-revisiting places where Connecting Four really connected and explored the world together. See my Thailand Memories post here. See my Guilin Memories post here.