Things to be thankful for on Thursday

Hello, everyone! We actually got some rain! It is like 68 degrees out. I love it! Why do I feel such good energy with this kind of weather? =) Yesterday afternoon, I was standing in the front doorway, waiting for the boys to get to the car so I could pick up the girls at school. It was a golden and crimson kind of afternoon, and the most delicious fall breeze--spicy, cool, apple cidery, was gently blowing. A really delightful moment that I wanted to can in a quart jar so I could open and enjoy in February. I made pumpkin muffins with dinner--'tis time for pumpkiny goodies! I read a quote last night that said something like, "It's better to enjoy each changing season than to be only in love with spring."

My garden beds look pretty spent. I need to cut the raspberries back. I have one giant, towering sunflower in the tomatoes, which is cool looking. The tomato plants themselves look bad, but the fruits continue to ripen. My pathetic pumpkin plants performed like they always do--they look great, grow vigorously, bloom profusely....then in fall, they mildew, and I only get 2 actual pumpkins.

Zach is doing math, and William is watching Nemo for the zillionth time. I exercised on the treadmill for 40 minutes, which I feel good about--2nd time this week! I really have to make a conscious effort to use it cuz of time and things like the sweat issue and the William issue. But of course, I need exercise, and I feel great and proud when I do. William really does NOT tolerate outdoor walks too well. He showed us that recently when I tried walking to school to get the girls and on Saturday, when the kids, my Dad, Kristi, and me went for a walk at their house. William just gives out and cries and cries when he's sick of it, and all you can do is endure till you get home, or speak sternly quite a bit and carry his heavy body home. So, I'm thankful for the treadmill!

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful." Colossians3:15

Chris survived the "Wonderland Trail"

Chris returned safely from his camping trip, thank God. I invited him to do a post, but he DOES NOT WRITE, so I'll just say a little. It won't be as good as if HE wrote it , but anywho. It was a super advanced hike--like 8 or 16 miles. (I told you it wouldn't be as good--I can't even remember how many miles). There were 5 or 6 guys, including Chris. They packed everything up they needed. They climbed up to like 5500 feet--this was in the Mt. Rainier vicinity. There was water at the site, but it needed purifying. Everyone had a hefty pack which they had to put clothes, food, small tent, and anything else they would need for 2 nights. I think he said it weighed 65 lbs. Chris borrowed his boss's dad's, and it had one of those fancy water packs with a tube so you can suck water as you walk without the huge inconvenience of lifting a bottle to your mouth (rolling eyes). There was a beautiful lake, Mystic Lake, which was freezing, but they all went in anyway. Chris was not warm enough at night, and he got a wretche sleep both nights. His favorite part was "hanging out with the guys." He came back sunburned, exhausted, sore, almost sick, and very happy. I massaged his back and neck for a few minutes, and boy, was he KNOTTED AND TENSE from carrying the pack! He took care of his stuff, got a shower and dinner, and slept for probably 11 hours Sunday night. I was glad to have him back. I became a bit depressed and apathetic with him gone, which was an unwelcome surprise. Like, he's a motivating, welcome presence, and there's quite a gap when he's gone. I must admit, being more sloppy was kinda cool, but not worth the loneliness.

An easy section of trail 

Wow! 

Mystic Lake 

CRITTERS CHOMPING

I've got the house to myself tonight. The three youngers are at Grandma's, and Zach's at a sleepover. It's just me, the cat, and the neighbor's DANG BARKING DOGS!!!! Why are they barking?!! It always makes me think there's something to be worried about, but whenever I look, I see nothing. Hmph!! They're having a fit about something, and it makes me uneasy.

My mom brought me the most delicious cookies and a small box of chocolates from See's when she came and got the kids. As if she wasn't doing enough! It warmed the cockles of my heart! The cookies are the perfect texture, and they have white chocolate, coconut, dried cranberries, and maybe something I'm forgetting.

When I was heading to my car in the parking lot tonight, there was our resident raccoon under its large tree home, chomping cat food!! One of the guards had just fed it! I got relatively near it, and said "Nice night, huh?". But it didn't have very good manners--it chomped loudly with its mouth open and made a rude hissing kind of face at me.

Hopefully Chris is warm enough tonight, camping somewhere in the vicinity of Mt. Rainier. Hopefully he hasn't been eaten by a bear or fallen into a crevasse.

I had an unusual dream this morning. It was caused by a combination of my chatting last night with Chris while he packed and something I've been worrying about; I dreamt that I was at a cabin in the woods with friends and/or family. I chanced to look down a steep hill near the cabin and saw a bear at the bottom of the hill chewing on something. It looked up at me. I was freaked out and ran back to take precautions. And my ridiculous precautions? Hook chains to orange traffic cones to keep out the bear! Der!!

Tuesday's child plays with foam paint

I've been realizing that William really needs more creative preschool type stuff to do during the day, especially when Zach's doing his school. I recently bought him his own hot wheels cars, which he loves. He wanted to always get into Zach's huge collection kept in a case that closes. Well, Zach REALLY didn't care for that, so now Will is happily playing with his first 6. I've got a vintage Fisher Price garage thing he plays with. Where did I get that?! It's about as old as me, and the elevator only works if you pull outward on this twine my dad attached whilst turning the lever.

Thanks to an idea from Christiancrafters.com, I assisted Will with some "foam painting" a little while ago. I took a dollop of acrylic paint, a dollop of bubble bath, some water, and I whisked them all together to make foam. There was still some liquid at the bottom, but plenty of foam at top. For maybe 15 to 20 minutes, this had him very absorbed. I started him off on printer paper, cuz that's about all I had. I gave him a wide foam brush and then let him at it. He enjoyed pretty much stroking the foam over and over in the same spot, which the paper couldn't really handle. So I got a big piece of foil, which also added crinkle and shine to this "multisensory" activity. He enjoyed mixing the colors, but would sometimes try to lick the bubbles off his hand--not tasty. Now I'm interested in getting him some cheap containers and toys to play with sand and water outside. You can buy tables, but I don't want to pay that much for flimsy plastic. I need to get him some puzzles and things to string beads and some stuff to match and sort. I made a list from some web site that says what 3 year olds like to do--I needed to be reminded! Plus, we've gotten rid of so many toys the others wore out and/or weren't using.

Chris is going to go backpack hiking with some buddies from work on Friday and Saturday this weekend. So now he needs to get a backpack. He's really looking forward to this and has wanted to do something like it for a long time. My parents have courageously agreed to watch all 4 kiddos Friday night while I'm at work.

Zach and I started a book for school called The Golden Goblet. What's interesting is that it was kept downstairs at our main library, and someone had to retrieve it for me! It was published in 1961. I'm just wondering how many other old books are down there--especially ones I grew up reading from my old library! You don't see too many old books out. Do they move them all down there to make room for new ones, or sell some of them at their library sales?

Got the kids a bunch of clothes they desperately needed at Goodwill yesterday. Every time I turn around, I see a need for a coat or a sweatshirt, or pants or shorts are too small or worn out, shoes need replacing, and there's a severe sock shortage. How many times have I already mentioned my sprees at Goodwill and Value Village? It seems like I'm going once a week now. Zach also got a brand new, high quality skate board and a Halloween costume. And on my way to the cash register, I spotted some adorable shoes for 3.00 (for me--bonus!) which I snagged. Trips like these are complete doldrum-busters. I know some of you know what I'm talking about. =)

It's good that life doesn't stink all the time

Well, it's late Sunday night. Everyone's in bed asleep, but I'm not quite ready for that yet, so I guess I'll fill this wind-down time by stringing a few words together. Okay, done! Just kidding.

This was a really good, weekend, thank the Lord (following an interminably long, tiring week I didn't think I was going to survive). I got all my peaches canned, cookies made, floor mopped, embroidery worked on, some laundry done. I got in a quick trip to Good Will, where I picked up canning jars ,a toy for William, and a small pink, hand painted lamp shade for the girl's room. Chris did some good yard maintenance--he really tidied up the yard, with Zach's help. They got toys picked up, mowed, weed-ate , swept the concrete slab. Then Chris set up our chairs that are always getting knocked down or used as stepstools for the tree-swing, and we had a fire in our fire pit, aka, Weber. All of us were out pretty late having a relaxed happy family time. Enjoyed the full moon and the clouds giving way to clear sky and the resultant dramatic shadows. We ate popcorn, and burned up maybe the last of our wood. I was eyeing purposefully some trees at church that were cut down and lying there to make room for expansion.

Today, our pastor talked about the value of being interdependent and involved with the people in our church community. Chris and I were socialed out, so we enjoyed the community of family this weekend. The girls did get to go to a birthday party at an indoor pool last night. We had to go to Build a Bear at the mall to get an outfit as a gift. So Jessie was able to purchase an outfit for her own bear at the same time. I 'm pretty dumbfounded by the popularity of these stuffed animals and their outfits. They really don't do a thing for me, but plenty of kids these days seem to go ga ga for them! Stuffed animals were what I liked when I was a kid, too, but I guess mine were nudists.

Our cat, Max, caught a sparrow Saturday. I rescued it, named it Jack, and let Zach play with it for awhile. It even flew to the perch of a birdhouse in his room! Zach also found out, thanks to Max again, that his recently escaped snake lives in a crack in the ground right outside his window!

Chris, William, and I all had naps this afternoon. I made the most delicious dinner, which I found on recipes.com, a real source of inspiration. It's called Sweet and Sour meatballs, but it calls for canned peaches! And it has a rich, complex sauce! You could make your own meatballs, but I gave up on that a long time ago, and use Costco meatballs. Ikea's are the best, but they're too far away. =)

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

1 lb 1 oz ground turkey or beef
1.5 oz oat bran
1 lg egg, slightly beaten
1/4 tsp ground allspice
3 T light brown sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 c. canned peach slices in juice, drained (reserve 1/2 c. juice)
1/4 c. cider vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)
1/4 c. ketchup (I used chili sauce)
1 T. soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c. sliced green onions

Preheat broiler. Combine meat, bran, egg, and allspice. Shape into 24 meatballs. Place on rach in pan 4 inches from heat; broil 3 min. on each side.

In 12 inch nonstick skillet, over med. heat, combine sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in reserved peach juice, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce and garlic, stirring until cornstarch dissolves. Bring to boil until thickened, about one minute.

Add meatballs, peaches, green onion, stirring to coat with sauce; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 12-15 min or till meat is cooked through, stirring occasionally. Great over white rice.

It's sprinkling pretty good outside-really feels like fall! Only a few weeks ago, I was wearing capri pants, cuz it still seemed liked summer. Now I'm ready to turn same garment into a quilt. No, really. You should see me when I get hold of some worn out article of clothing that is quiltworthy. I tear into it with my scissors and cut out all usable parts, fold it neatly, and put it into my quilt fabric pile with a satisfied smile. Yesterday, I spent quite a bit of time researching feed sack quilts on the internet, because I am really enamored with them. Then I stumbled on to a surprising number of offerings on ebay, including some vintage feed sack quilt squares, 2 lots, that were found in an attic. I am bidding on both of them. I would just have to sew them together and then add filler, backing, and then quilt it! Also bidding on an "Albers Mill" feed sack, which I would like to make into a couch pillow. Chris and his coworkers actually contributed to the local Albers Mill renovations. It's not a mill anymore, but rather condos on the waterfront. So, it would be meaningful, and its the only Albers feedsack I saw.

Yesterday, I managed to can 5 quarts of peaches--Elbertas. That's a good feeling! I have a lot more to do--must get more sugar and maybe more jars. The only way on the planet to eat canned peaches is to eat the home canned ones. And I add cinnamon to the light syrup. I shudder to think of the "taste" of the storebought ones. They taste like canned green peaches. Lame!

Well, this was an interesting day. William was the world's biggest handful pretty much all day. He woke up a tyrant, demanding cocoa, which, to him, is "the PRECIOUS." His pacifiers are his other "preciouses." He is not easily diverted away from his firm goals. We still haven't gotten a microwave yet, so we have to heat milk or water on the stove. I was trying to rest a few more minutes before stopping the indignant demands and yellings of my terrible two-dler. I don't think he has heard the instruction on "yielding rights" yet. ARGHHHHH!!!!! And he wouldn't take a nap!!!! And I tried several times!!!! Preschool sounds like the most excellent idea ever--especially when I'm trying to teach Zach and Will is wanting to be Mr. Universe--Mr. Center of the Universe, that is.

Since when do squirrels try to steal egg salad sandwiches in the middle of the day through an open window when people are in the next room? That actually happened today!!!! One of these fuzzy, gray fellows scuttled through a kitchen window to steal a quarter sandwich that had been sitting there all of 2 minutes!!! The nerve!!! What was he going to do with it, bury it next to his walnut stash?!

We got a new couch today, hallelujah!! I did a Labor Day sale, pay nothing for 18 months deal. Yes, I am evil for buying on credit. Our other couch was great, except for the glaring hideous cracks all over the vinyl seats!! My dad helped us get this couch for a song from one of his old neighbors. It had like 2 small slits in it when we got it. Well, Chris diligently repaired the slits with a special kit--twice--but it just weakened the vinyl and caused it to explode in cracks!!! NOT COOL!! So now we have a lovely brown leather couch. Chris and I pretty much killed ourselves getting the old one out and the new one in!! It was right before dinner, and all the kids and one of the obnoxious neighbor girls (bless her heart), were hanging around gawking. Chris and I got just a teensy bit testy with all of them after I collapsed to my knees with our old 3,000 lb behemoth. It sounds bad, and it looked bad, but amazingly, I didn't really get hurt. I dropped onto the grass, not the cement walkway. What had happened was, I tripped on a cord coming from the couch and just sank to the ground with the couch still in my hands! We both really had to wrestle it out, down the stairs, and out the picket fence. We both hurt our hands, and I dropped one or both of the couches, several times. I didn't drop them hard, but my hands and arms just kinda gave out. I thought I was strong--but that was a challenge. Only a few more years until my strapping 11-year old son will be strapping enough to take over this kind of thing--Lord, haste the day--but I do treasure these last few prepubescent years with him, believe me. So we put the old one next to the street with a "FREE" sign. And guess what, within hours, it was gone!!!! For people who don't mind living with blankets covering the seat, it is a great couch with lots of life, and very comfortable. It even had reclining seats. Too bad it wasn't leather, or it wouldn't have gotten all stupidly cracked.

William learned what else can go in a potty chair this evening, for the first time. Apparently, he thought it was something to finger paint with, because Chris had to do a lot of cleanup afterwards. And I was at work and had to miss all that fun--poor me!

My mom made this Dorothy costume for Zoe--isn't it adorable?! A neighbor girl gave her the red sparkly shoes first, and then Zoe wanted a costume to go with it. =)

There's no place like home! 

Jill, the name of our curriculum is Learning Adventures. Dorian Holt, wife of John Holt (big in home education), created it. The website is Learning-Adventures.org. We started it today, and I have a really good feeling about this. We're starting with Egypt. What we did today was, we read Genesis 37:1-36 about Joseph. Then I asked Zach a bunch of comprehension questions, which were written out. He had just one vocabulary word to write on a 3x5 card, and his writing assignment was copying the events we had just read about Joseph in chronological order. His vocabulary word was chronos. Then we looked at and read some of our library books. For social studies, we read about the people of Egypt--what they look like, wear, eat, etc. For science, he read about deserts. One of Dorian's big things is the connectedness in real life of things and how when you're curious or interested and have freedom to do a lot of your own research and reading, you can learn SO MUCH. For example, if you're interested in taking pictures, you would get a camera. You'd probably research what kind you wanted, and that might lead you to a photography class, and that might lead you to learning to develop your own photos, and that might lead you to entering a contest or cutting your own mats....when you're interested, not FORCED TO READ THIS TEXTBOOK FOR THIS LONG--NOW STOP--NOW STUDY FOR THE TEST--NOW THE NEXT CHAPTER--AND YOU DIDN'T RETAIN IT NOR DID YOU GET TO DO ANY PERSONAL RESEARCHING OR HANDS ON PROJECTS BECAUSE WE HAVE A SCHEDULE TO KEEP, DANG IT..... Learning Adventures is the opposite. And I don't just get to throw the lessons and books at Zach and head to the mall ( actually a bed would be the more tempting choice). She has me reading out loud to him and being pretty involved. And there is a lot of flexibility about what books you can get, although she gives you lots of specific ideas, including some required literature. So, I personally learned a lot more about Egypt today, in 1 day, "teaching" my son, than I ever knew before!! And I thought it would be fun to make some Egyptian food for dinner, so I looked up on the internet how to make Egyptian bread and lentil stew. Zach helped me with the bread, and we wove a bit of math in there, since I was doubling the recipe. For math, he did math-u-see. He's almost done with the focus on multiplication book--it's one of those Greek letters, can't remember which. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's learning--and that feels really good to say that, rather than, " I hope I can make sense of this complicated lesson plan and COVER and FORCE down his throat these 79 subjects, so I can check off the boxes!" Of course, today I didn't have any errands to do, so on days where there are errands, we will have to be more flexible. Yes, I know it's REALLY EASY to be elated at the beginning of something, and 1 month later be crying in your latte cuz you're behind or sick of it, or whatever. NEVERTHELESS!!!!! I still think I'm on to something!

I made a SUPER cake Sunday. It's rich and sweet and moist and comforting. Good for a near fall weekend. Try it! Or invite yourself over and ask me to make it. We'll have a little party for all the kind people who comment on my blog! So if you are one of those lazy people who only READ blogs ( and CRRRRRRITicize like the old rich Aunt? from the Anne books)......THEN NO CAKE FOR YOU!!!!

CARAMEL APPLE COFFEE CAKE

3 eggs
2 c. sugar
1.5 c. oil
2 tsp vanilla
3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp bs
3 c. chopped, peeled apples
1 c. chopped pecans

TOPPING

1/2 c. butter
1/4 c. milk
1 c. packed brown sugar

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs until foamy; gradually add sugar. Blend in oil and vanilla. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda; add to egg mixture. Stir in apples and pecans. Pour into a greased 10-inch tube pan; bake at 350 for 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove cake to a serving platter. For topping, combine all ingredients in a saucepan; boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly pour over warm cake. (It does seem like a lot, but it soaks in some).

We have too many @#$%^&* flies in our house!!!!! And no, I don't keep a litter box in my house. The neighbors do have chickens, though. I'm really tired of flying, buzzing, impertinent, ugly flies. In summer, they do their stunt flying in the middle of the rooms, but now that it's cooler, they're all mellow and languid. You might look at the ceiling and see 7 of them trying to do charades of constellations. There are 2 flies in this computer area right now just ambling about drunkenly over my screen. This is not Amityville, ya wee beasties!!!

Okay, if I have to retype quite a few of my words, it's obscenely past my bed time. Goodnight, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite! Or those really big spiders that come out at night and run REALLLLLLYYYY fast.

This is not officially our cat, but it thinks it is. The neighbors, whose cat it "really" is, unless we want to spring for vet bills for its shots etc., named it Solito. I call him Mr. Cacklings or Mr. Cacks. He's quite calm and cute, gets along well with our other cat, Max, and has a high-pitched, cute meow. He hangs out at our house a lot, eats our food, sleeps here!

I got my curriculum today and spent some time looking at it and coming up with some lists of what I need. Then I went to the library to get some books I need. It's based on the Bible and books you check out or buy. I'm really looking forward to this, and so is Zach. I need to get him his own NIV Bible. We'll be starting out learning stuff about Egypt, deserts, Joseph, with all sorts of related goodies and language arts and science woven in. There will be some cooking, like lentil stew and even some kind of Jewish feast or something at the end of the section! He'll be doing a diorama of the layout of Egypt. Each section gets 30 days. He'll also be studying Rome, Greece, the Explorers, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Reformation! I have a strong feeling I'm going to be learning a ton along with him.

My parents had the three older kids overnight and then took them out to play miniature golf and to lunch! My kids' grandparents are better than your kids' grandparents!! =) It doesn't look like the kiddos will be swimming in Gma's pool anymore--the thrill is gone, don't cha know. I guess they went in for just a wee bit this morning, and then spent a LONG time soaking in Gma's deep soaker tub FULL of hot water!

I picked some blackberries today, over by a nearby school. But they were mostly overripe, and I didn't get enough to make the jelly I wanted to. Plus, William was with me, and he thought I had taken him into a man-eating forest. He was no help and quite fussy. So I froze my berries--they say jam actually tastes better when the fruit has been frozen first. Now, I'll just need to find some more, maybe on Monday.

I'm very happy it's a three day weekend. I was completely sleep deprived for the last 3 days, and we got out at 1:00 from work this morning! Tuesday, when we go back, it will also be a long one.

God bless you, each one!

Mr. Cacklings 

Well, we all survived the first day of school! It's kinda like turning 30...you fuss and fret about it, but then after you're there, it's not a big deal. Zach doesn't have his unit study curriculum yet, but I showed him the website and what it's gonna be like, and now he's really looking forward to it. We then looked at a website that has fabulous art projects. We picked out a paper mache chicken! The one on the site is actually a Native American inspired bird, but Zach really wanted a chicken. He started that today. We reviewed multiplication tables and wrote out ones he struggled with. Then I had him write a bit about what he did this summer and corrected it for capitalization and spelling. William was a champion interrupter, but I actually got my book started and walked on the treadmill at the same time for 15 minutes!

Heard the TV referred to recently as "the Great Life-Suck"! Isn't that great!?

Did you know that Da Vinci said, "Small rooms discipline the mind, large ones weaken it"? I feel very triumphant and disciplined in the mind, then, because we have a house of pretty small rooms! Yay! I think even a lack of storage disciplines the mind, too, because if you see the messes and can't just throw it into a cupboard, you're forced to come up with an intelligent solution. Yes, I am still heady from my recent fall cleaning upstairs. =) I remember watching this show on TV awhile back where this very wealthy family in Arizona was going to build themselves a HUGE, sprawling mansion because they were "outgrowing" their old mansion. And they had only 2 very small kids. I remember commenting to Chris that it must be nice to just build a huge new place to store your ever accumulating stuff rather than sort, get rid of, throw out, and give away your stuff like the rest of us peons!