Blessings, Sandwich

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2012-01-13T11:47:00.002-06:00

Banana Boy, 9; Pepper, 11; Sunshine, 6; Chaya, 1; Daisy, 13 and Rose Bud, 16

(organized? on-time? with-it? When have I ever been! --Yes, today is January 13!)

THANK YOU!!!!! NONNY!!!!!!

2011-12-21T16:57:00.000-06:00

We Work Real Hard at the Chocolate Factory

2011-12-17T08:22:00.002-06:00

They'll make about 2000 pieces of candy in 2 days. Then they'll pack it and deliver it. They look forward to this all year--and not for the licking. They truly love to help!

I Have to WHAT?!

2011-12-04T18:40:00.001-06:00

The other day Daisy, Pepper and I went to visit a friend with a 2 week old baby. As I got out of the shower, I yelled downstairs, "Are you girls wearing clean clothes for holding the baby?"

Pepper looked at Daisy with horror and said, "We have to HOLD the baby!?"

I Just Love This Boy

2011-12-04T18:31:00.001-06:00

I know I'm his mom, but I think he's just so cute! I love the way he says "wheels." Someday I'll be so glad I made this video.

(It's not quite 3 minutes, so plan your time accordingly! )

Don't Put All Your Eggs in One....Oh, Nevermind!

2011-11-16T16:37:00.001-06:00

Banana Boy came home with a puzzle worksheet--you know, one of those with a riddle at the bottom to be solved by working the problems at the top. The answer was, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."

Pepper asked, "What does that mean, anyway?"

I tried to lead them to a discovery. "Well, what could happen if you put all the eggs into one basket?"

Pepper: "Why would you take two baskets out"

Me: "Well, why might it be better to have them in two baskets?"

Pepper: "What if you fall down with TWO baskets?"

Banana Boy, interjecting: "What if there's a dead cow in the middle of the road and you have to stop and move it and you drop your eggs?"

Wha---?

Nevermind.

Crying in My Scary Green Pants

2011-10-17T07:51:00.001-05:00

If you were to tune in to the live Sandwich Cam today, you'd be treated to this enticing ensemble. Love my scary green pants! I used to babysit for a little boy who LOVED that story (what IS the real name of it? We always just called it The Scary Green Pants). It's in the Sneetches book by Dr. Suess. Anyway, he, William, was two and had scary green pants. And being two, I had to wash his scary green pants every day so that he could wear them over and over and over. Every day. He was so cute. We also had to read the story 98 times a day.

Anywho.

Daisy and Pepper are spending a week with Grandma and Grandpa. Lest you think they are on an utter vacation, they will be washing and wiping a lot of dishes. And Grandma informed them that they (the three of them) would be fall housecleaning the upstairs! Good times! They also get to go to the Y and swim. Poor them.

Rose Bud drove away in the truck with Sunshine this morning for the first time. I stood and watched and cried.

Banana Boy hopped on the bus.

And I am alone in my house, wearing my scary green pants. Let the cleaning and organizing begin!!!!

And Now Back to Our Cooking Blog

2011-09-22T20:15:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to mention that after watching all those dosa videos (see below) I gathered up the courage to actually MAKE dosas!

Two years ago, at Camp Masala, a lovely lady showed us how to make dosas with potato filling. Yum. She gave us the recipe and everything. But since it involved making the dosa batter from scratch and fermenting things, I never was brave enough to try.

This summer I got up the courage to buy the ingredients when I was at the Indian grocery. They sat in my cupboard for 3 months. Until Dosa Video Day.

So, without further ado, here is the recipe.

Dosai Batter

1 part lentils (Urad Dah)

3 parts Ponni rice (Ponni rice is best, but you CAN usebasmati rice)

Soak these, separately, for at least 8 hours. (Lentils should soak 1 part lentils to3 parts water (or 1 cup to 3 cups) and Rice should soak 1 part rice to 2 partswater).

Blend lentils and water in blender and then rice andwater. (They take different timesto blend, so it is better to do them separately). Should be like a thin pancake batter.

Pour together into a bowl and let set for 24 hours or so atroom temperature to ferment. (Inthe winter, you might need to give it a head start – preheat your oven to warm,then turn it off and put the bowl in there until it just starts to ferment).

When you are ready to cook them, heat your skillet tohigh. If you are not using anon-stick pan, grease lightly. Pour approx. 1/3-1/2 cup of batter on skillet. Using scoop bottom, spread the batter thinly to about an8-10” diameter. Drizzle approx. ½t of oil on the top.

When the dosai starts to brown and the edges curl up, flipit over and brown the other side (just for a minute)

Fill with potato curry or serve with chutney (or both!)

Batter stores in the refrigerator for 3-4days. You may need to add somewater if it’s been sitting.

I also watched this video to help.

I did add the fenugreek seeds. The grinding (in my blender and I used all the soaking water) really did take as long as in the video. 20 min. for the dal and 15 min for the rice. I had to do the rice in two batches. My batter sat for 30 hours, covered with a dish towel and did nothing except get a layer of water on top of the rice/dal. I went to work and when I got home late that night, ta-da! It was fermenting! I was so excited! So be patient with the fermenting.

I did not have a flat-bottomed scoop to use for spreading the batter on the pan. I watched another video where the guy making the dosas just swirled his pan around as you would with crepe batter. I tried this and it worked perfectly.

I used 1 c. dal and 3 cups idli rava with the above mentioned ratios of water and it made LOTS of batter! I think I had 15 dosas. Then I made idli TWICE (my idli maker holds 16 idlis) and then I still made about 5 more dosas the next day for lunch before I used up all the batter. By the end, those last dosas were very tangy tasting, even tho the batter had been in the refrigerator.

All in all, it is not so much difficult as time-consuming. You need to soak the dal and rice for 8 hours. Then grind. Then ferment (took 36 hours or so). Then cook all the dosas standing at the stove, one at a time.

But, mmm, were they good!

A Few of My Favorite Things

2011-09-21T15:44:00.001-05:00

Another disgusting picture. A foodie blog, this is not! But it does provide an introduction to a couple of things I've been wanting to share for a while.

Chickpeas (chicken peas, my kids call them)
(there are also kidney beans, or "kid beans" in this salad, and although I love them, I was not particularly going to talk about them today. I just wanted you to know how cute, or weird, my kids are, renaming everything)

ANYWAY....

Some of my favorite things:
chickpeas
crock pots
tupperware
Owlhaven

First, chickpeas. I just love them! Is there a more perfect food? They are salad, they are chole, they are oven-dried and crunchy, they are hummus. They are wonderful! Oh, and if you buy them dried and cook them yourself, they are also cheap! Which leads me to

My crock pot. I.LOVE.my.crockpot(s)! Yes, (s). I own 4 of them, none of which I actually purchased, btw. You haven't done anything until you've stuck a crockpot under your jacket and snuck out of Target!

KIDDING!!!!

One was a wedding gift, one was a Christmas gift, was was part of my inheritance and one came from my mother when she downsized. Two of them hold 5 quarts of stuff! Those are my favorite!

So anyway, if you ever thought cooking dried beans was a pain in your bean, you have not cooked them in a crock pot! If you have ever tried to read about doing it online and thought even they made it sound complicated, you have not cooked them in a crock pot.

Here is what you do:
Dump dried beans in your crockpot (it IS a good idea to rinse them and/or lay them all out on a cookie sheet first. I really HAVE found little stones and little hunks of dried mud in my dried beans! If you don't like the idea of that, pick them over first, like the bag says. However, being lazy, I often skip this part.)

For a normal-sized crockpot, I'd start with a 1 lb. bag. I buy mine in bulk and just dump until my eye says it's right.

Cover beans with water. The water should cover them by an inch or inch and a half. We have a water softener and I use soft water (the hot side of my kitchen faucet). I think I've forgotten and used the hard water and it's been fine, but the soft water has never failed me.

Add salt. I like salt. I add a tablespoon or so.

Add bay leaves. I like bay leaves. I use 2 or 3.

Cover crock pot and turn on high. Go away for 4 hours. Actually, you should check it ever 2 hours or so to make sure there is still enough water. If you need to add more, add HOT water. It takes too much energy and time for your crockpot to heat up the cold water you dump in.

Taste beans. Mine are usually done in 4-6 hours.

Drain well. Dump in ziplocs and freeze. I like to make sure they are spread out flat in the bag. It makes it easier to break off a hunk if you don't need the whole bag when you take them out. Ta-Da! Beans you can use anytime! No muss. No fuss.

I do black beans, pinto beans, white beans and garbanzos (chick peas). I buy my kidney beans and red beans in a can. Conventional internet research says if you don't heat red beans hot enough, there is a toxin in them that is harmful. A crockpot wouldn't heat them enough, I don't think, so I just buy them canned.

Ok. Onward and upward. What was next?

Tupperware. Oh, I just wanted to mention the container that my ugly salad is in. I bought a whole bunch of those containers when my sister, who was Tware consultant, was ending her consultantship. I got a great deal on them and I use them all.the.time. Love my Tupperware.

And Owlhaven. I have her cookbook Family Feasts for $75 a Week and it is seriously one of my favorite cookbooks! There are so many recipes in it that I make all the time. I can't speak to the $75 part, as I don't follow that part of it. Can you feed your family for $75 a week? She says you can. Most of the tips in her book I already did before I bought the book so I guess they are good and useful!

But you should go buy her book so you can make Easy Pizza Rolls and Thai Chicken Curry (with homemade Thai Red Curry Paste, yum!), and Orange Chicken and Chili Corn Pone Pie and Chicken Pot Pie with Cheesy Biscuit Topping and Spaghetti Carbonara and she has crock pot recipes and rice cooker recipes and Cheesy Garlic Biscuits and oh!

And this ugly Chickpea Salad you see in my tupperware above.

It's only ugly because my chickpeas are still frozen, but when they thaw out, it will be so delicious! This is the second time this week we are eating it.
My modified Owlhaven recipe:
Chickpeas (about 3 c.)
a can of kidney beans
a can of black beans
half a red onion, sliced
a whole mess of attracting-fruit-flies-sitting-in-a-pail-in-my-kitchen tomatoes (about 2 c. diced--yours do not need to have fruit flies on them)
a big handful of black olives, sliced in rings
1/4 c. or so fresh parsely, minced
1/4 c. or so fresh basil, minced
2 cloves garlic in the garlic press
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
3 T. lemon juice
1 T sugar
salt and pepper

Mix the dressing ingredients and pour over the ingredients that are not part of the dressing. Let stand on your counter or in your fridge several hours to blend flavors. YUMMERS!

yeah. This is why she makes the big bucks writing cookbooks and I don't. But try it! This is so good!

A Whole Lot of Blogging Going On

2011-09-21T15:10:00.002-05:00

3rd meet

This is a huge meet --there were 121 runners in this race and there were TWO varsity races. Rose Bud was at first disappointed to find she had finished 43rd, but was more pleased when she heard her time was 16:52--that's a 6:48 pace! Her personal best so far!

This is a picture of a very sick Rose Bud (and a sympathetic dad) on her way to WATCH her teammates run in their home meet. There were some tears as she struggled through the decision (hers, not ours!) to not run today. Her legs were sore and weak, she was coughing and her nose was stuffed up. I think she still had a sore throat, too. It's the first meet she's missed. Ever.

This is a feeling-much-better Rose Bud during homecoming week. Each day has a dress-up theme. Today's was Under the Sea for sophomores and, can you tell? She is a jellyfish.

In case you are in need of a very cute costume for the upcoming holiday, this was SO easy!

---this is the part where my blog becomes a craft blog--

We used a clear garbage bag which we lined with purple plastic wrap taped down with clear packing tape (I only taped the shoulders, bottom and a spot in the middle).

I laid strips of clear packing tape (sticky up, in case you are supremely craft-challenged) on my diningroom table and stuck the ends of 3-ft (estimated) lengths of curling ribbon about ever 3/4" along the strip. Then I stuck the beribboned packing tape all along the bottom edge of the garbage bag (the open end). Ta-da! Tentacles!

Cut a head hole in the top (this is the actual "bottom" of the bag) and arm holes in the sides and slip the plastic bag over your child's head! This was the scary part. You know, how you KNOW you shouldn't lick the frozen flagpole, but you want to, just to see if all the stories are TRUE! Pull the bag down so the head pops through the head-hole.

Oh, I also poked slits about every 2 1/2" along the tentacled edge of the bag and threaded another piece of ribbon through. This we cinched tight like a drawstring after we pulled the bottom up to waist level. This made the jelly part puffy.

---end of crafty section of blog---

This disgusting picture is the inside of Banana Boy's mouth. Shining on the left side there are his brand-spanking new crowns! He was unblessed to be born with cruddy enamel on all his baby teeth (Rose Bud has this too, on her permanent molars) Thankfully, his permanent teeth all are beautiful and lovely so far. Anyway, these crumbly baby teeth are crazy-prone to decay. About a fourth of that front crowned tooth was gone by the day we had this done.

Banana Boy handled the dental work like a champ! He lay in his spa-chair watching Madagascar while our wonderful pediatric specialty dentist (who also put on Rose Bud's crowns and pulled out Sunshine's dead front tooth) sang BB little songs about how wonderful he was. BB was pretty annoyed by the numbness afterwards and had some pain as it wore off, but a couple of doses of ibuprofen and a lot of iPad time distracted him nicely. I was so proud of him!

First Day of School

2011-09-14T11:06:00.002-05:00

This year we have 2 in one school district (Rose Bud and Sunshine), one in a different school district (Banana Boy) and two at home (Daisy and Pepper). Call me crazy, but I think it's going to work very well.

Banana Boy and Sunshine's first day of school. Rose Bud is a sophomore this year and at the high school, only the freshmen and new students have to attend the first day.

Banana Boy is in the window to the left of the emergency window (the one with the white bar at the top) The first day, the bus backed into our driveway. Now it stops on the road to pick him up and drop him off, then turns around at the top of the hill up the road.

After we watched BB get on the bus, I drove Sunshine for his first day.

I also picked Sunshine up from his first day so we could see BB get off the bus. Sunshine was so excited to see his big brother get off the bus! Chaya thought this might be a good opportunity to slink down to the road.

BB's 2nd day of school was Rose Bud and JayHay's first day (remember, they're sophomores). We always take pictures at their house for the first day. We drove over to watch the kids get on the bus there and then I drove BB to school. Here are BB and his best buddy, Little Hay.

Rose Bud and JayHay. I remember when they were just kindergarteners!!!! They don't put their arms around each other for the photo anymore.

Homeschoolers, Daisy and Pepper (apparently in their homeschool uniform! ??) and LayleyHay.

Rose Bud 10th, JayHay 10th, Daisy 7th, Layley 6th, Pepper 5th, Little Hay 3rd, BB 3rd and Sunshine 1st. Lined up by age (which no longer matches height!)

AND Then THIS Happened...

2011-09-09T12:13:00.001-05:00

Out of the blue. With no warning. Nothing hit it. There were no sticks. No branches. Just a loud crash interrupting a peaceful morning of reading (and Indian street food video watching).

My advice to you is that if your glass-topped patio table is more than 12 years old, give it the old once-over. And maybe put a tarp under it. It will make clean-up that much easier!

Frittering Away the Day Watching YouTube Videos of Indian Street Food

2011-09-09T11:14:00.001-05:00

Check out the ants crawling on the bamboo "cutting board"! Love it!

Watch this guy's face! He's so cute about being videoed! He is clearly an expert at dosas!

We were hungry for dosas, can you tell??

Cross Country Season is Back!

2011-09-06T14:41:00.001-05:00

The season began with time trials on 8/27. Much of last year's team consisted of seniors and a good portion of the underclassmen did not return, so it's a brand new team this year. I think there are only 3 returning team members.

Anyway, Rose Bud ran 2nd among the girls in the time trials, earning her spot on the varsity team. Her time was 14:01, an improvement of a minute and a half over last year.

The first meet was a 3200K or 2 mile race. She again ran 14:00, again an improvement of 1:30 over last year at this race. She placed 22nd overall.

The second meet was a standard 4K and they ran in a thunderstorm. Rose Bud was thrilled to find that she cracked the top 20 for the first time, earning a medal! Her time was 17:31 (last year, 18:31) and she finished 19th!

Way to go, Rose Bud!

Test post

2011-08-10T21:25:00.000-05:00

We went to Old World Wisconsin and petted a horse. Then my camera battery died. Now I'm testing blogging from my iPad. The end.

Not useful so far. Rats.

Evolution of a Farm Wife

2011-08-06T11:21:00.000-05:00

Leslie, the bloody pics are at the bottom. I'll warn you when to walk away! :D

What a difference a year makes. Not only are we faster, but we are way less grossed out! We also had an audience today.

We butchered the first 12 chickens today and will do 12 more in 3 or 4 weeks. It was 8:00 before we got started and the whole thing, except for the wrapping, was finished in 2 1/2 hrs.

We use as our guide How To Butcher a Chicken. Super website with clear directions and lots of pictures. The only quibble I have with him is that I think he makes getting the lungs out sound way more difficult than it is. Rose Bud and I even got lungs out in the first handful today. We seldom had to go back in and scrape them out.

The kids, especially Pepper, helped catch. Mr. GT did the chopping and Sunshine and the neighbor boy watched. Mr. GT also dipped them in the hot water. The first 6 grossed Banana Boy out so much he couldn't touch them. By the second batch, he was carrying them from the scalding bucket to the plucking table and showing the neighbor boy how to pluck (J. did gingerly pull out a few feathers with his fingertips!)

My kids are so territorial! Rose Bud doesn't let anyone else do the feet. That is HER job. However, once she discovered how exciting it was to gut, she happily turned over the last 3 (well, 6) feet to Daisy. Rose Bud can do every part except the head-chopping.

Daisy is the gizzard expert and cleaned all those. She found that one chicken had eaten two small pieces of glass.

Pepper was all squeamish this year and wouldn't touch anything. We made her run the hose and rinse.

Sunshine filled the coolers and plucked. And watched the chopping. He also cheered whenever they caught a chicken.

One interesting note was how ungross we all felt (except for Pepper). I was covered in bloody water because the corner of the table where I was gutting was lower than all the rest and it kept dripping all over me. Last year I couldn't wait to rip off my clothes and shower. This year I could have sat around in those clothes for awhile. I had to find the little kids and ask them to change and Rose Bud went for a run in her chicken clothes and will throw them in the wash when she gets back.

The real hero was Chaya who was so bored by the whole thing. Mr. GT wanted to tie her up while we butchered, but I said let's wait and see how she does. She just lay in the shade and only ate few small bits she found (we're not very messy). She wasn't nosing around or eating every feather in sight or licking up blood. What a good Dogger!

Here come the pictures, cleanest to bloodiest.

Chicken Crew

Filling the coolers

The next candidate

Suddenly brave

Plucking

J. Plucking

Pepper only rinsed

Bloody one, coming up next...

Not sure what this is about. My mom was the photographer, but doesn't she look proud?????? :D

Thinking About Babies with Sunshine

2011-06-17T15:29:00.000-05:00

Sunshine: I wish we had a baby

Me: What kind of baby?

A plain baby.

A baby from India?

No. With this kind of skin. Touching my cheek. A girl baby.

Why do you want a baby?

Just because.

What would you do with a baby?

Feed and dress it. Feed it supper and lunch.

What about when it has a poopy diaper?

It have a diaper change.

Who's going to change it?

YOU!

Why not you?

Cuz, it stinky!

Summertime

2011-06-16T11:33:00.000-05:00

The first week of summer has gone by so slowly! It's heavenly!

Rose Bud has been treating herself to the luxury of doing nothing. She's read about 10 books already. Other than running each day, she just lies around. And she earned it. Her report card came. A 4.0 for her first year of high school. She definitely takes after her dad. Whereas I slouched around in high school and put in a valiant effort the night before a test or paper was due and got good grades, he studied and planned and organized and budgeted his time and got straight A's. She is a budgeter and an organizer and a planner and a worker.

Today she went to volunteer at the food pantry. And she works 4 nights this week. Other than that: lying around.

Daisy and Pepper are doing homeschool-lite. They each have Bible, Math and Science every day. Daisy is also keeping up with her Spanish. For science, they are working together through a botany book and really enjoying it. One day this week they got out the cutting board and sharp knives and dissected a flower. They pulled out the microscope and Rose Bud helped them look at an onion cell and some of their flower parts (having just come out of Biology, she's a microscope expert now--more than I am anyway. It's been 25 years!) Today they made a flower out of Sculpey clay and are baking them. They are also keeping nature journals.

Daisy is working on her latest short story, The Orphan Boy. She won't share more than that until it is finished, but every day when she works on it, she wriggles and exclaims, "I can't wait until it's finished so I can READ it!" We had a little virus scare with the PC the other day, so now she's backing it up on a flash drive.

Pepper spends the rest of her free time playing with Charles, the runt chick, or Alexander the Gray, our $300 barn cat. Or her brothers. Or the dog. Or the pigs.

Banana Boy has summer school these two weeks, along with summer classes at his dance studio. In summer school, he's doing a Reader's Theater class, a class where they bike a mile out of town and then read a book and eat a snack, and a class about knights and castles. At his dance studio, he's taking two classes, acting and voice. He is in heaven!

Summer school is nice for him because he's getting familiar with the school building, the teachers and some of the kids for next fall when he goes to public school.

Yesterday when he brought his castle home (made from toilet tubes and a pizza box, he got all the wedding people (Playmobil) knights and princesses out and set everything up.

Sunshine is homeschooling with me and it takes 2 hours every morning. That is going great and his reading is really taking off, but he's still adjusting to the new schedule, or lack thereof. He's fine while we're doing school, but then free time hits and he doesn't know what to do. Especially with everyone else involved in their own projects, he kind of has no one to play with.

Today we're going to sign up for the summer reading program at the library and bring home a boatload of books.

Oh, and I almost killed the dog today. She is such a mellow and quiet thing, never fusses. She rode along to drop BB off at school. She sits in the middle seat of the van (the only time she's allowed on any furniture). So Rose Bud (who drove) and I got out of the van and Chaya snoozed away on her seat. Neither of us thought of her. A little over an hour later, I was looking for her and was calling and calling her outside. She has this nice habit of hanging out at the pigpen, licking the pigs. She didn't come and didn't come. Suddenly, I remembered she'd ridden in the van with us. And there she was, still sleeping on her seat. She was hot, though, and thirsty. Luckily, it's only about 70 outside! Poor Dogger!

Our Little Brush With History

2011-06-04T10:19:00.001-05:00

Political leanings aside, it's not every day you can get your picture taken with the governor.

Photo from the Wisconsin Historical Society

I had my picture taken with Governor Dreyfus (in his red vest) one time. I was 12 or 13 (you do the math) and it was our 7th grade field trip to the state capitol. Unfortunately, the picture was lost. I have other pictures from the trip--my group and I on the steps of the capitol, sleeping on the floor of the bus (eww!), but the proof that I touched history is gone. I'm still not over the loss.

Years later, Mr. GT and I were having ice cream at Wilson's in Ephraim (really? You've never been there? Go get a cone! Sit on the bench across the road down by the water. Look under the bench. See! Everyone else who doesn't like their jellybean throws them on the ground too!) Anyway, we were having ice cream one day and guess who else was having a cone? In his vest! He still wore one years later, although it wasn't red. Mr. GT wanted me to go over and get a new picture, but I was too chicken. So I have those two images only in my mind.

Sunshine also got his picture taken with a part of the detail set to keep Governor Walker safe, or something.

Mmmm! Dairy!

Persons Offended By Parts

2011-06-01T16:21:00.001-05:00

UPDATE: scratch the not sharing with the public school teacher part. A third person who is NOT offended by parts, dropped his pants on the playground and showed his to another student, who WAS offended by said parts. I got a not-so happy email from the teacher. :(

Really. This is becoming over the top.

This morning a certain unnamed Person Who Is Offended By Parts (PWIOBP) said, while sitting next to me listening to me read the Bible:

PWIOBP (interrupting): "AARGH! I am so mad! I hate this!

Whips down garment covering offending part and displays it.

PWIOBP (in a disgusted voice): "This goes up and it annoys me! And you can't do anything about it! The bones in it get all straight and you can't bend it back down because you'll break the bones! Aargh!" Replaces clothing.

Me (slightly shocked at having had to see said part and trying not to laugh): "Mmm hmm. It happens to everyone (of your gender)."

PWIOBP: "Not DAD!"

Me: "Mmm hmm." Return to Bible reading, wondering where Dad is at a moment like this.

One hour later....

PWIOBP #2 (whips up article of clothing in the middle of grammar lesson): "Mom!!! Feel these!"

Me: "I felt them last week. They look fine. You can't do anything about them."

PWIOBP #2: "But they hurt! No. Actually they don't hurt anymore. They just feel all blubbery."

Me: "Mmm hmm. They're growing. Everybody (of your gender) has them." sighing

Modesty is obviously in short supply in this house, although in each case PWIOBP and I were the only people in the room.

Apparently, this is why I homeschool.... I wouldn't trade these precious memories with anyone (and I'd sure hate for the public school to have to share them!!!)

We Are Home!

2011-05-27T15:52:00.000-05:00

Daisy and I are home and very thankful!

She had a good night and we both got some sleep (as much as you can with the nurse coming in every 1-2 hrs). Daisy actually slept through all the checks from 7pm to midnight.

She had very little pain, only a 1-2 compared to 5-7 before the surgery. She did not need anything beyond IV Ibuprofen for pain. She was able to drink shortly after we got back to our room at 4:30 yesterday and she had juice and a popsicle then. At midnight she ate green jello and at 4 am she had pudding. I hope she doesn't stick to this feeding schedule. Takes me right back to her nursing days!

This morning she wasn't very hungry, but she drank lots and had a vanilla milkshake, then some more juice and lots of water. She's a very easy patient. Most cooperative!

We had to wait until 12:30 for the surgeon to come sign her out. She finished the movie she began yesterday and read on the Kindle and rested while we waited. She ate a bowl of potato soup and a roll for lunch and then the nurse released her.

She got to ride out to the parking ramp in a wheelchair and now she's all set up on the futon in the living room. She feels much better already and is able to walk around some. Right now she's got a teenage robin outside her window being cared for by its parents. They are catching and feeding it little bugs while it hangs out at the base of a maple tree. It's big enough to fly, but not quite big enough to be out on its own.

Pepper and Banana Boy made a big welcome home banner. Daisy opened her bag of treats from Auntie G.

Banana Boy and Mr. GT and Chaya have gone for a hike and will pick up Rose Bud and Sunshine from the bus. Then we'll all be together once again. It feels good.

Thank you to everyone who called or prayed or helped out in anyway! It meant so much to have all that loving support!

The appendix has left the building!

2011-05-26T17:39:00.001-05:00

She's all good! She went in at two o'clock. Mr. GT came at 3:00. They called us down to recovery at 3:30 and we were back to our room by 4:30.

She had a cutely inflamed appendix. Isn't that sweet? Actually it was "acutely.". The surgeon said it looked nice and angry.

It's 5:30 now and she's drinking grape juice and water and she just finished an orange popsicle. Now she wants jello.

Mr. GT is still here entertaining her. She's already been up and walking to the bathroom.

What a trooper!

If you ask her how she feels, she'll tell you: "stopit!!!". She's only been asked that 500 times in the last 24 hours.

We have a picture of the offending part. Maybe I'll post it to the blog tomorrow.

Or not.

She's In!

2011-05-26T14:14:00.000-05:00

They took her in at 2:00. She was all loopy from the Versed (calming drug) and she "couldn't get her 'thinks' out."

She was very calm and not frightened. All the staff are wonderful here. She was still laughing almost up until they took her in to surgery.

She looked so beautiful with her curls on the pillow and her sweet metallic smile. Love her.

Postponed to 1:30

2011-05-26T11:34:00.000-05:00

"I want my surgery so I can get better and EAT! Probably half my pain is from hunger!"

PJ and Dave D were here to visit and pray with us.

Classification of an Apple Pie
Kingdom - food
Phylum - desserts
Class - pies
Order - pie dough crust
Family - baked filling
Genus - fruit
Species - apple

Obsessed with food, I tell you!!!

Report From the Spa

2011-05-26T09:13:00.000-05:00

Daisy feels all lovely (her words: Weird)on her morphine.

She asked for hand lotion. It's very dry here. She said it feels like spreading shortening on her hands.

We brushed and braided her hair. She brushed her teeth (shhh! Don't tell! She didn't swallow anything.

She enjoyed my breakfast immensely. Smell only. She smelled bacon, an omelet and hash browns. "Ohhh! You got a COOKIE!!?" Yep, I smiled.

She said she can pretend she's doing the 30-hour famine again.

"The good thing about having appendicitis, Mom?" (there's a GOOD thing??). "You don't know if it's your stomach hurting or if you're hungry." She's a little obsessed with food right now.

She's very annoyed by her IV.

SUNSHINE, we watched Handy Manny!!! He got a new tool. It's a flashlight named Flicker.

We drew sunglasses on the pain guys on the white board.

The chaplain came and prayed with us.

Today's parting gifts include socks, a tube of Vaseline, a bottle of shortening, I mean hand lotionand a prayer card.

Surgery is currently scheduled for noon.

It's an Appendix!!

2011-05-26T00:48:00.002-05:00

Daisy will shortly be joining that esteemed membership--those who are missing their useless bit of intestine.

Go, Daisy!!

(I'm a little punchy. It's nearly 1 am). We're waiting to hear if the pediatric surgical team will come here or if we must be teleported to their hospital. It will come out tonight, though. I mean this morning.

News Flash. We're doing it here. Will update later.

1:30 update. We're getting admitted and having it done midday Thursday. Met the surgeon. He's super nice.

6 am. We got up to the room and all settled in just before 3. It was some work to dispose of the residents who wanted to chat about siblings and grades in school and vaccines for college (we haven't slept in 24 hours, people!!!).

So now it's 6:00 andand we had about 3 hrs. Sleep. Daisy's pain is down since she's on morphine. She's such a trooper! She declined pain meds all night until we got up to the room and I encouraged her to take something so she (we!) could sleep.

Funny moments: (she's been cracking jokes all night)
Me giving a sip of her 40 oz. of barium/Crystal Light to Bearedith (her bear)
Daisy: Drink it all, Bearedith!!

Uh, there were more funny moments but I can't think of them.

Will keep updating.

Regionals

2011-05-23T23:25:00.000-05:00

9th in the 400, but ran her best time: 1:05.30

4 x 400m was 8th with THEIR best time of 4:18.33

She didn't jump, but her best jump would have gotten her 10th.

Conference Track

2011-05-23T20:14:00.001-05:00

Conference is done and the girls were 3rd. Rose Bud ran in the 4 x 800 and their team was 3rd at 10:38.90.

Long Jump held preliminaries and she squeaked in to the finals with a jump of 13' 10". Then in the finals, she only jumped 13' 10.5" to finish 9th out of 9. Not her best night. This was the field with the freaky board.

4 x 400m was 3rd with a time of 4:23.97.

Overall, the girls' team was happy with their performances. They've been hanging 3rd or 4th in the conference all season, so to finish this meet in 3rd place was quite nice.

Next up, Regionals.

Today's Lunch Coversation

2011-05-19T12:02:00.000-05:00

Backstory: A very sweet stray cat has made his home in our barn. We think maybe someone dumped him here because he doesn't belong to any of the neighbors and he is very tame. He doesn't even mind the dog (much). Last weekend, he disappeared for a few days only to be found in the back of the garage with a half-dollar sized raw wound on his hip. We took him to the vet and $88 later, he is now our cat. He is currently confined in a pen in the barn while we give him antibiotics (which he SNARFS down in a spoonful of canned cat food) and watch him to make sure he doesn't have rabies. And so that he doesn't ooze wound goo all over my house. Once he is well, we'll have him neutered and bring him inside where he'll, hopefully, get along with Saffron. His name is Alexander the Gray

And now back to today's lunch:

Banana Boy: Is Alexander going to get well?

Daisy: He's already getting well. His wound looks much better already.

BB: And then he's going to be our house cat! But first he has to get his tentacles out.

puzzled looks from the rest of us.

BB: You know, so he doesn't spray Saffron!

Daisy: His Tentacles. eyebrows go up

BB: EWWW! I'm eating! Don't talk about Tentacles!

Daisy: YOU brought it up!

BB: EWWWW! I'm glad I don't have Tentacles.

Me: Actually, you don't have Tentacles. Octopuses have tentacles. But you have Testicles!

BB: EWWWWWWWWWWWW! Stop! Stop!

Me: But you don't have to get yours out.

BB: EWWWWWWW! covering ears

Pepper: under her breath. Heh. Then you'd be a eunuch.

Track Catch-up #487

2011-05-17T18:55:00.000-05:00

Track Meet #7

We never got any written results for this meet, so I have to guess. The 4 x 800 team won. They were the only team. :D

Rose Bud was 3rd or 4th in the Long Jump. This field had an actual board for the board and it wiggled and freaked her out. She didn't jump very well.

In the 400m she was 2nd.

The 4 x 400m relay won. The girls' team lost this meet by one point.

Track Meet #8

This was a big 11-school meet with medals (very exciting!) Rose Bud ran the 400m and was 6th (out of 16) with a 1:05.66 (best time, I think). She was 4th in the Long Jump with a jump of 14' 6.25" and their 4 x 400m was 4th out of 9 with a best team time of 4:20.54. So she got 3 medals.

Track Meet #9

A 2-school meet on a beautiful, warm and sunny afternoon. Grandma and Grandpa traveled down to watch. Rose Bud was 2nd in the Long Jump with a 14' 9.25", 3rd in the 400m with 1:05.65 (she was ahead until the last 50m!), and the 4 x 400m won in 4:21.96.

Track Meet #10

Another big meet with 10 or 11 schools. The 4 x 800m did really well at 3rd with 10:35.00. She didn't run the 400m. The 4 x 400m didn't do very well. Rose Bud tripped over another girl in the hand-off and it slowed her down. They were 5th of 6 with a time of 4:26.13. Her Long Jump was good and she was 3rd with a jump of 14' 4".

Next up: Conference.

The other kids do stuff too!

2011-05-17T18:15:00.000-05:00

Kindergarten Spring Sing (it's actually their only sing)

Amazed by all his adoring fans! (he's in the blue-striped shirt)

There's a dog in school, OH NO! What are we going to do? He'll have to learn his alphabet, too!

Kindergarten Farm Field Trip

Touching the disgusting poop-covered milking machine (get the hand gel!!!) That's me in the baseball hat.

Feeding hay to a cow (in case you couldn't tell)

AWANA Awards Night

Banana Boy got the Sparky Award (finishing the 2nd book), a Book Review Emblem (reviewing all the verses in the book) and and Extra Credit Pin (doing another book full of verses)

Pepper got the Excellence Award (finishing the 4th grade book) and Silver and Gold Awards (completing an extra 32 activities, projects and memorizations)

We call this the crying award. Many tears were shed over having to do ALL THOSE projects. Now that she has the pins, she's glad she did it. It was the same story last year.

Good job, everybody!

Oh, and if you were wondering about Daisy, she just lays around all day composing music on the piano and then writing lyrics for it, working on her novel, and teaching herself Hindi. I wish she'd accomplish something, too!

A Story About Gardening

2011-05-09T11:16:00.002-05:00

A Story About Gardening by (Banana Boy)
5/9/11

    Gardening is working in a garden with vegetables, flowers and other plants. I garden with my dad. We plant vegetables, flowers and trees. Gardening is fun.
    You use special tools for gardening. You use shovels for digging. Hoes are use to dig ditches. My dad uses a rototiller to plow the gardens.
    You should always plant your seeds in moist soil. You should water them the first day you plant them. Soon they will grow and you will have lots of vegetables, trees and fruits.

Track Meet #6

2011-04-29T19:06:00.002-05:00

It was far to wet and COLD to take any pictures. I wore leggings under jeans and a long-sleeved shirt under a fleece sweater under my winter coat under a rain coat. And a blanket over all that. Under an umbrella. No pictures.

Rosebud had a great meet, though! Her first event was the 4 x 800m Relay. Their team won (out of 2 teams...) They were told by the coach to take it easy in this race since they "knew" they would win, so they didn't push it and therefore their time was 12:04.51.

Right after the 4 x 800m, she had to rush over to the Long Jump pit to do her run-throughs and then jump. They get 4 jumps in Varsity and she jumped 14' 1.25", 14' 9.5", 14' 1" and 14' 4": all really great jumps! The winning jump was 15' 8", so she came in 2nd.

Next up was the 400m and she ran a 1:07.33 and finished 3rd out of 6.

The very last race at every meet (yay, us) is the 4 x 400m. Since this was only a 3-school meet, and one of the schools had hardly any participants in any race, they ran only one heat, so there were 6 male teams and 2 female teams. Rosebud ran the first leg against a super-fast runner and the 3 girls who followed her were a) having an asthma attack, b) and c) not feeling well. Even so, they ran a 4:38.98. They were, of course, 2nd out of 2 female teams.

Any time now we are ready for a sunny, warm track meet. I'm beginning to feel like they compare with the Packers, running on the frozen tundra. Bring on those Southern teams! We can beat them in the sleet!

Catching up on Track Meets

2011-04-27T19:28:00.002-05:00

Meet #3, 10 schools

400 m 1:06.99 (personal best thus far)
10th out of 19, fastest on team

4 x 400m Relay 4:27.04
team was 6th of 9, she ran 2nd and liked that position

Long Jump 13' 1"
first time jumping this year, 15th out of 21, best jump on team
personal best is 13' 9" (8th grade)

Meet #4 Dual meet (one other school only, super cold and windy)

400m 1:09.07
3rd of 4

800m 2:47.16
first time ever running this event, 2nd of 4

Meet #5 Triangular Meet (2 other schools) This was a really good meet. The girls' team won the meet.

4 x 800m Relay 10:58.53
ran 2nd position--funny story: she got WAY behind her competitor in her leg and was really worried that she couldn't keep up. Came to find out later she ran a 2:46ish and the other girl ran a 2:18! No wonder! Even so, their team won the race.

400m 1:07.06
2nd place out of 8!

4 x 400m Relay 4:35.5
team 1st place

Long Jump 14' 8.25" !!!!
previous best jump was 13' 9" (8th grade)
2nd place! (1st place jumped 14' 10")
(her other 3 jumps were 13' 8", 13' 11" and a scratch)

So, there you have all the gory details for grandmas and aunties and other people who are interested and I can find all the stats when I'm ready to scrapbook her season. Ta da.

Slurp

2011-04-10T18:20:00.002-05:00

Shouted from upstairs bathroom: MOOOOOOMMMMM! I drink water!

Me, shouting from downstairs: Don't drink the bath water! It's yucky!

From upstairs: Tiny Tim drink it!

Me, still shouting: You're not Tiny Tim!

Upstairs: Oh. (pause for thinking) Ok!!!!

Track Meet

2011-04-07T20:51:00.000-05:00

On your mark...

Finishing 3rd in the 400m with a personal best time of 1:07.6

In the 200m (first time running this race) she does the cartoon circle-feet thing. She was 2nd in the JV race. (her other two races were varsity)

The 4 x 400m relay team finished first! Rose Bud was the anchor (the 4th and final runner) and she finished very strong! Her time was about 1:09.

As befits an early outdoor meet, it was FREEZING! I made Mr. GT buy me (and himself--he was colder than I was!) a 50 cent coffee made from hot water and a coffee bag (like a tea bag) in a tiny styrofoam cup. Then I made him go back and get me more hot water for my coffee bag, just to warm me up. I liked holding the hot cup. At least it wasn't raining. And I'm really glad we made the kids stay home! They would have been popsicles!

Chicktures

2011-04-02T15:59:00.000-05:00

Daisy holds the light over the box to keep them warm while we wait for Mr. GT to bring water. We dipped each one's beak in the water as we took them out of the box to make sure they all knew where the water was.

Violet came in to check out the new babies. "Would you like a little family like this?" Daisy asked her. "A LITTLE family!?" Pepper shouted. There are 27 chicks in all!

What Violet REALLY wanted was their food.

Aren't they beautiful?

There is one Polish (the dark one in the center of the photo with the puff on his head) There are also two "rubbernecks" as the kids call them. They have no down on their naked little necks. Mr. GT is going to take the catalog out later and they're going to try to figure out which kinds they all are.

Banana Boy, you can name some when you get home!

Willing It To Be Spring

2011-03-28T16:57:00.000-05:00

Or not...

Track is Back!

2011-03-20T13:03:00.001-05:00

Rose Bud had her first track meet yesterday. She ran the 400m and the 4 x 400m relay.

She was 12th in the 400m with a personal best time of 1:09.09 (out of 46 runners).

Their relay team finished 11th out of 16 with a time of 4:45.11. Rose Bud again ran 1:09 for her leg (she was the lead-off runner), which was really good for her, considering she'd already run the 400 that night AND they ran at 11pm!

My Big Boy

2011-03-19T12:23:00.000-05:00

I no longer have any babies. The last vestiges of babyhood have gone.

Spring Life Jackets

2011-03-15T15:36:00.000-05:00

Sunday on the way to church we were talking about how warm it was getting. I excitedly mentioned to Sunshine that after church we'd get out his Light Jacket and he could wear it to school this week.

He wasn't much impressed. In fact, he was unusually quiet. The rest of us moved on to a new conversation.

After a few minutes he suddenly asked, "Mom, we swimmin' at recess?"

Huh? Thinking he was thinking about playground puddles, I asked what he meant.

"We goin' swimmin' at recess on playground? You get out my LIFE jacket after church."

Spring

2011-03-15T15:28:00.000-05:00

It's 50 degrees and the snow is almost all melted!

Time to go barefoot!

Support Wheels for Noah

2011-03-02T09:43:00.001-06:00

Noah is the son of a fellow homeschooling family, the Estes, who own Hands and Hearts, the company that makes the awesome hands-on history kits. We own a bunch of these kits and they are great. Hands and Hearts just got great news that he Consumer Product Safety Commission voted to extend the stay of enforcement on the CPSIA through December 31 of this year. If you recall, the gov't was requiring extensive testing on all small toys and parts used in toys, even in educational kits. For small businesses, this would require an enormous cost for the testing and it threatened to put H&H out of business. Their business HAS suffered, but it's good news that they can continue to sell their fun kits.

The Estes are parents to 8 children, one of whom has a progressive genetic mitochondrial disease. I have followed 4 yo Noah's story for, well, 4 years and he is an incredible little boy, in spite of his major health issues. Recently they were able to get a wheel chair for him since mitochondrial disease makes kids super tired. In his wheelchair, Noah is able to get himself around the house to play in short bursts and to be with his family where ever they are, rather than having to just rest on the couch.

The Estes have a 15 passenger van to transport their family, but because of the type of wheelchair Noah has (it doesn't fold flat like a typical limited-use wheelchair) their isn't room for the chair AND all of their family in the van. Some of their blog readers and friends are hosting a fundraiser to help the family raise money for a transit bus. This vehicle will have room for Noah's chair (and will have a lift! It takes 2-3 adults to lift the chair into their current van!) and the whole family.

Please click on the picture of Noah to go to their online auction and support this wonderful family! There are all sorts of neat products and homeschool items there. If you aren't interested in any of the items, consider making a donation.

This family is such a blessing to everyone around them. They have shared the love of Jesus, through Noah's trials, on their blog, in person at hospitals or just around town with him. They have an incredible faith in the goodness of God and his plan for Noah in spite of the pain and suffering he faces here on earth, and they are not shy about sharing it. God is surely using this little boy and his story to further His kingdom in a big way.

The online auction will start Wednesday, March 2 and end Saturday, March 5 at 10 PM Eastern. All items are FREE SHIPPING with the donors paying the shipping to the winners.

Different in India

2011-02-08T09:32:00.000-06:00

Pepper had to choose a missionary to learn about for AWANA. Then she had to learn more about his or her country and write a one page paper about it. Here is what she came up with. (I helped with the format for the 5-paragraph essay, but the ideas are hers.)

Different in India

Have you ever been to India? If you have, then you know that many things in India are different than in America. Some things that are different are the animals that live there, the clothes they wear, and the driving on the roads.

Both familiar and unfamiliar animals live in India. Dogs in India are very skinny and roam the streets. Cows are also very skinny because they eat garbage. Cows are considered holy so the Indians don’t eat beef. Peacocks are India’s national bird. Indian elephants are smaller than African elephants and sometimes people ride on them. Indian cobras are very venomous. Over 2500 Bengal tigers live in the Indian jungles.

The clothes people wear in India are not like the clothes we wear in America. A sari is a long piece of colorful cloth that women wrap around themselves. Mostly women in the north wear saris. Salwars are like dresses worn over pants and come in many beautiful colors. Women in the south wear them more than saris. Men wear kurtas, which are like long shirts and they wear pants underneath. A lungi is a length of cloth that men fold around their waist. They can wear it long or short. They wear it long to show respect and short when they are working.

Driving is much more interesting in India than it is here in America. The roads in India are very crowded with big trucks, cars, buses, bicycles, and tractors. You would also see auto rickshaws, cows, dogs, herds of goats, camels and ox carts. It would seem strange to us that they drive on the left side of the road.

If I went to India, I would like to wear a sari or a salwar instead of my regular clothes and see an elephant in the street. I think it would be interesting to drive on the Indian roads. I think it would be fun to compare Indian life to American life. I hope I can go to India someday.

Deep!

2011-02-02T08:52:00.000-06:00

Daisy and Chaya in their snow tunnel

The ginormous drift by the barn--it's almost as tall as the greenhouse!

Pepper got worn out (actually, she rolled down the hill)

The impenetrable drift across our sidewalk

I have the coolest kids!

2011-01-24T11:26:00.000-06:00

Guess what we had for lunch? Salad, homemade sourdough bread (REALLY sour!), Laughing Cow cheese, and we polished off 3 cans of sardines.

Sardines: Not just your lunch but a science experiment, too!

One Night When We Got Silly

2011-01-03T19:44:00.001-06:00

No Matter How You Say It

2010-12-24T16:45:00.001-06:00

Glaedelig Jul --Danish (where I lived for a semester in college)

Froehliche Weihnachten --German (All of my heritage and half of Mr. GT's)

Mithag Crithagsigathmithags --Jibberish (which my kids think they speak)

Shub Naya Varsh --Marathi (the first language of Sunshine)

God Jul --Norwegian (what Mr. GT says we are, now that we've lived in Southern WI for 20 years)

Puthuvalsara Aashamsakal --Malayalam (Banana Boy's first language and how my grandpa would have said it when he lived in India)

Feliz Navidad --Spanish (how Rose Bud will wish you)

djoyeus Noye --Walloon Belgian (half of Mr. GT's heritage and one-fourth of the kids)

Hosa Varushada Subhasayagalu --Kannada (the language of BB's birth place)

No matter how you say it, may you be blessed by the birth of the One who came to save the world. He was born for You and for Me.

Merry Christmas!

Blast From the Past

2010-12-11T11:28:00.000-06:00

Here is a little Christmas Greeting from Sunshine from 2008. Wasn't he the cutest? And, WOW, was his speech delayed! I didn't realize how bad it was and how far he's come until I was watching old videos this morning.

Want a Free Kindle???

2010-12-08T15:32:00.000-06:00

Donate to Erin at Precious in His Sight and you could win one!

Erin has been called in a powerful way to minister to the children at Sarah's Covenant Homes! Her first trip coincided with our trip there in January 2010 when she stayed for a month. She went back again for 3 months this past summer and now she is planning to volunteer long-term beginning in February.

She has done some interesting things in her lifetime--she adopted foster kids, she worked in international adoption and now she's devoting her life to helping out in India. She does some administrative stuff for Sarah, organizing the kids' files and she also does medical trips up to Hyderabad with the kids. And she just loves on them!

She's a super nice lady--I met her personally when we were there and we've kept in touch.

And now she needs financial supporters while she lives in India. Did you ever wonder how missionaries do what they do? They generally are volunteers! They don't get paid for their "work." They have supporters at home who cover their expenses.

I can vouch that Erin lives VERY frugally while she is in India and makes very good use of the money she has. She has a crazy passion for these kids and God is most definitely in what she is doing.

So, if you'd like your very own Kindle, or if you'd just like to help Erin out, please hop over to her blog and make a donation for her expenses. There is a tiny yellow donate button on the right hand side (it's a Paypal button, but you can use your credit card if you don't have a Paypal account). She explains how many entries you'll get and the deadline to donate and be entered is Dec. 15.

If Jesus Was Born Today...

2010-12-06T15:54:00.001-06:00

a Christmas greeting from the Livesays, Haiti mission family I follow. They have an incredible ministry and an incredible blog. Follow them Here.

The video doesn't quite fit in my blog. You can click on the gray bar at the top (rather than on the play triangle) and it should open up on another page.

Heading Home Today

2010-12-04T10:23:00.000-06:00

BB looks MUCH better today. He's sitting up. The Dr. had a stern talk with him about drinking enough. He had a blueberry pancake for breakfast and some yogurt. He is reading a Boxcar Children book now. That's more action than we've had out of him in 10 days!

Can't say enough good things about the staff here. They've been kind, friendly, helpful, responsive and great with kids--a nice feature in a children's hospital!

Mr. GT and the kids are decorating the tree, so we'll have that prettiness to come home to.

Banana Boy in the Hospital

2010-12-03T21:24:00.000-06:00

Remember our pneumonia? Well, everyone has popped back quickly after beginning the Zithromax (except me--I got crushing headaches from it so after 3 days they switched me to something else. )

And except for BB. He has remained the same all week since getting the Z-Pack on Monday. The Dr. (love her!) called to check on him Mon. night and Tues. evening. Then she left for India for a month.

She had scheduled a follow-up for us for Fri. with the other pediatrician (who IS Indian!)so I was sort of holding out for that. Wed. BB was whiny but he didn't seem to have a fever and he said nothing hurt anywhere. I just assumed he was tired of being sick and tired of coughing and just generally feeling weak. Thurs. he seemed a teeny bit better. He got up off the couch twice on his own, he was sitting up, he ate a little. But in hindsight, really not where he should have been after 4 days on the antibiotic.

Ah, hindsight. They should make it available ahead of time.

So fast forward to Fri. morning. He woke up crying. Cried everytime I tried to move him. He did eat a bowl of cereal and drank some water, but his neck looked so thin! At 11:15 we left for our 12:00 appt. and he didn't even want to walk. In fact, he cried about having to leave the house for the appt.

At the Dr 's office I was surprised to find out he still was running a fever (do you see me not winning Mother of the Year here??). She listened to his chest and ordered another chest X-ray for comparison to Monday. Two arm sticks, one blown vein and a successful blood draw later, we were back in her office and she was talking admission. The X-ray looked somewhat worse and the CBC showed a mild white count elevation.

We hung out in the exam room for two hours while she communicated with the hospital and they got a room ready for a direct admit for us. That sounds awful, but he just laid on the exam table and rested. The alternative was to wait in the ER. No thanks!

Mr. GT had come by to switch his car for my van, I talked to Daisy and Pepper at home and explained to Mr. GT about getting Rosebud and Sunshine off the bus.

At 3 we left for the hospital and checking in couldn't have been smoother. I put him in a wheelchair at the parking ramp (he's too heavy to carry all the way up, even with the elevator, even having lost 2 lbs.)

So by 3:40 we were in our room answering 5 million personal questions from the nurse to help them personalize our stay. The pharmacist came in to hear about every medication he's ever had, the nurse and the student nurse AND the nursing assistant were here. We had the plebotomist for another CBC (didn't we just have one 3 hours ago?) The Dr., The resident. The IV inserter person (she didn't give her title). It sounds annoying but, really, they were all super!

The blood draw was not a popular activity, the IV even less so. Still he was very brave. The saline solution went charging through his veins and the antibiotics were begun. By this time Mr. GT was here with the bag we'd ordered from home. BB complained that his leg itched so we suggested he scratch. 5 more minutes passed and I glanced at his IV arm. Bumpy and red. I buzzed the nurse and within minutes she was here and we discovered the itch on his leg was hives too! She was going to let the Dr know, but I convinced her to turn the antibiotic off first.

Resident came in and everyone decided BB was reacting to the antibiotic. Note to future self: BB is allergic to Cephalosporin.

He got a shot of Benadryl and within minutes was asleep. Within an hour the hives were gone. The Dr.s will reevaluate tomorrow for a new antibiotic. He got most of this one before they shut it off.

Overall, everyone here has been terrific and VERY nice. This is a lovely hospital and he's getting great care. They're suggesting we'll go home Monday.

Grandchildren!!!

2010-12-02T13:12:00.000-06:00

The girls and I spent the whole morning playing Life (you know, the Game). We have a 1960's non-politically correct version that I got at a thrift store for $1.99. There's lots of gambling, catching a whale and something about selling shrunken heads to a museum.

The girls, who have never been baby-crazy--they like them and all, but they don't sit around dreaming about being housewives (I mean, they all want kids and they're all willing to have large families if that's how they're blessed, and stay home and some would homeschool, but they still want to go to college and have careers--you know, balanced)

So the girls, who have never been baby-crazy were SCREAMING like girls every time they landed on a baby! Rose Bud was the worst! She was clapping her hands! They even changed the rules so that the revenge space sent you back 20+ spaces to a baby space.

Rose Bud needed 2 cars. I made them name their children and she had:
August
April
June
January
Summer
and then she adopted Julian and Autumn (that's 7, in case you're having trouble counting)

Daisy had Samuel, Sarah and Seth

Pepper had Sapphire, Lotus, and her twins Jonathon and Joseph.

Oh, and I adopted Phoebe and Caleb from SCH.

Fortunately, I made it to the Millionaire Mansion first, so they all had a place to gather for dinner once the game was over.

I made Little Cheesey Meatloaves for dinner. 50 of them.

Randomness in the House of Pneumonia

2010-12-01T13:10:00.001-06:00

Pneumonia Checklist:
Sunshine--Check
Banana Boy--Check
Me--Check
Daisy--Check
Rose Bud--Check

Happy Thanksgiving, Daisy!

Cost of a Chest x-ray at our clinic: $134
Multiplied by 5= $670

Rose Bud, regarding Halls Breezers Pectin Throat Drops: "They're sweet and creamy with only a little air-conditioning." (the menthol)

Most consecutive days with a fever: 7 (tie between Daisy and Banana Boy)

The counter is so nice and cool

Most consecutive days missing school: 5 (Sunshine)

Pepper conveniently spiked a fever at the Dr.'s office while along with Sunshine for his appointment.

Curled up like a cat

Rose Bud conveniently complained of chest pain ("like a brick on my chest--only wider than a regular brick") while along with Daisy for her appointment.

Happy to have ONLY viral-induced asthma: Pepper (when will *I* get pneumonia, Mom????)

Root cause of all this sickness: Probably influenza, but possibly para-influenza

Enjoying??? putting together his new birthday robot

Number of days SOMEONE in this house has been sick with this: 30

The REAL hero: Mr. GT who has taken the puppy out in the evening, late at night, in the middle of the night and early in the morning in rain, wind, cold, bitter cold and generally yucky November weather

Number of nights I can sleep on Banana Boy's floor before my back gives out: 1

Smile, girls!! (We ARE smiling!)

The thing I regret taking for granted: Our previous HMO. Walk in, be served, be treated, be happy. No bills.

Banana Boy: "cough cough cough, moan."

Will she need a chest x-ray after a nebulizer treatment (she didn't)

Winner of the Never-Whines Award: Daisy

The thing I am most grateful for: antibiotics (and alternative antibiotics for when the first one gives me crushing headaches)

There's a boy with pneumonia in there somewhere!

Projected date of being sick-free: Sunday, Dec. 5. We're invited to Nonny's for Chinese and St. Nick and stockings

In Just 11 Short Months

2010-11-10T20:21:00.001-06:00

this child will be backing over all sorts of stuff with a real car.

I put her in the van a couple of weeks ago (on her birthday, I think) and had her go forward and backward in the driveway, up and down.

She has no sense of which way to turn the wheel for backing up. There's no intuitiveness yet.

So I ordered her onto the lawn mower, to spend an hour backing around our 8 acres.

Only the mower was hitched to the trailer and Mr. GT was using it. And he thought he'd just put her to work for him.

I tried to explain that she couldn't even back up a plain mower, let alone a mower attached to a trailer (which behaves in an opposite way than the mower itself)

But no.

There really is no animosity here. He's mostly making fun of her. And she's laughing at him.

I'll hold up the trailer. All you have to do is back up straight.

Straight!! STRAIGHT!!!!

Ok. Straight. I can do straight. I think.

You want to drive the VAN? You can't even back up a TRAILER full of weeds!

Ok. Straight.

Today's purpose for backing up.

Geronimo!

Forward is so easy. (Do you see Daisy's pumpkin protesting on the top of the pile there?)

CUTE! CUTE! CUTE! CUTE! CUTE!

2010-11-05T14:49:00.000-05:00

Are these DARLING, or what??? I ordered these 3 sweethearts for Christmas gifts from A Doll's Heart.

Lynda has been to SCH (Sarah's Covenant Homes), where Rose Bud and I volunteered in January, several times. She is making these cute dolls as a home business. She is a stay-at home mom (and I think a homeschooler). But she is also donating $5 from the sale of each doll to SCH!!

They are really well-made and--do you see--they have a little Indian flag heart on their chests!!

There are other countries available--China, Ethiopia, Guatemala. (not sure if the donation for those dolls goes also to SCH or to an organization related to that country).

But if you need a super-cute Christmas gift that also helps kids in need, run to A Doll's Heart and grab a couple or one. Lynda is very responsive and I had my dolls in less than two weeks (or I would have if I had remembered to send the check right away!). Shipping is also included, so in the end, it's a win-win for everyone involved!

This Child Still Lives at My House

2010-10-20T21:20:00.000-05:00

He loves kindergarten! He loves his teacher. He loves recess and math and getting a drink from the bubbler and his teacher and riding the bus and his teacher and lunch and snack.

He is already on a behavior chart--thumbs up or down for 8-10 different sections of the day-- but the last two days have been entirely thumbs up. He's been written up on the bus for standing on the seat, putting his arm out the window and then not staying in the seat the bus driver subsequently put him in. I am paying the neighbor girl 25 cents a day to supervise him. He has all the 5th grade girls completely wrapped around his little finger. They love him (and hey, they're keeping him busy playing Rock, Paper, Scissors all the way home so he can't get into trouble)

He hasn't lost his hearing aid.

He hasn't hurt anyone. Well, he pinched some boy on the Seal bus, but he did tell us about it.

His teacher loves him. His. Teacher. LOVES. Him. Thank you, God!

He knows the names of every child in his class and every adult with whom he interacts (and there are a LOT of them!) He can sing "Head, Thorax, Abdomen (Abdomen!)" and he's learning the days of the week. He writes his name with all the letters from left to right and all on the same line (still in all caps, though). He is pretending to read and to write all the time. He writes wonderful lines of scribbles and calls them words. He wants to know the title of every book. He knows how to "Stop, Drop and Roll."

He was good on his first field trip (it helped that he missed rest time and slept all the way home on the bus!)

He is working SO HARD! I can't even imagine how much work it is for this brave little guy every day to go to school and follow all those rules (that every fiber of his being wants to flaunt instead) and interact with all those adults (relationships to build with THIRTEEN different adults every week--that's a whole heap of people to learn to trust). Plus there is all that academic stuff!

No wonder he crashes in bed at 7 every night.

Love that little man!

Homecoming

We Interrupt This Meeting...

2010-10-19T15:36:00.000-05:00

On the way to church Sunday morning, as we crested a hill, 4 deer dashed across the road in front of us, followed by a pheasant running as fast as his little legs could go. Nine pigeons scattered in the other direction.

So what was going on????

Happy Birthday, Rose Bud!

2010-10-10T16:40:00.000-05:00

Rose Bud turned 15 today. It was a warm day for running--80 degrees by 10 am.

I was so busy watching her run that I never got an actual picture of her running, but here she is warming up.

It was a true cross country course on a farm out in the country. It was hilly, but a beautiful course with woods and a meadow and a creek to run along (and swim in afterwards!)

Rose Bud ran well. Her time was longer: 17:49, but she placed higher, percentage-wise, than she usually does. They ran one varsity race, but then they split the results into large schools and small school. So in the overall varsity race, she was 57 out of 162 which put her in the 35th percentile -ish. She usually runs just into the bottom half of the field.

In the large school standings, which were the ones that counted, she ended up 40th out of 95 runners and was 5th on the team (surprise).

We (including Rose Bud) were all a little concerned after the girls' JV race as they came into the finish looking really whipped and exhausted. Rose Bud was worried she'd be really tired running, but she felt ok after the race.

It was also homecoming this weekend and Rose Bud went to the dance with her girlfriends. 15 years ago I was resting in my hospital bed looking with awe at my newborn and wondering what I had done taking on this incredible responsibility of being a parent.

This night, I dropped that same firstborn off at the high school for her first high school dance.

She has made this parenting thing a walk in the park. She has always been a delightful companion, fun to talk to, witty with a dry sense of humor, observant and interested in the world around her. She was and still is a family-girl and loves to be a part of whatever we are doing (because we are an awesome family, obviously!). She works hard at whatever she does and sets high goals for herself. She's kind and compassionate and thoughtful (and way more patient than me!).

It's a pleasure and a privilege to be your parent, Rose Bud. Te amo!

Good-bye, Piggums!

2010-10-08T09:17:00.000-05:00

Meet Ham and Bacon

What's going on? What's that noise? Where did our gate go?

Hey, apple! Mmm. Mmm. Apple. Coming!

Mmm. Apple?

Uh, no. Nevermind.

How about some chicken feed? No, thank you.

Ooh! I'll have some chicken feed! Let me out!

After some clever maneuvering on the part of the humans with some old doors and gates, the piggums are safely stowed in the trailer.

Good-bye, Piggums! See you (in a slightly different format) next week!

All Rose Bud, All the Time

2010-10-08T09:07:00.000-05:00

It's homecoming week, so the high school has been having dress up themes every day and class spirit competitions. One day each class had a theme in time and the Freshmen, lucky ducks, were pre-historic.

Yes, that's a bone in her hair. She borrowed it from Sunshine's vet kit.

Today was obviously red and white day. Even the kindergarteners got involved. Rose Bud gets to ride on a fire truck this afternoon in the Homecoming parade for Cross Country. THAT should be exciting. We're going to watch the parade with the kindergarteners.

I do still have 3 other children and we've been crazy busy with homeschooling. I have tons of great pictures to put up on the other blog. I just never seem to get around to it.

Winding Down

2010-10-02T16:34:00.000-05:00

Only a few meets to go before conference. Today was a beautiful day, albeit chilly!

She passed these two runners on the left just before the finish

Rose Bud ran her customary 5th on the team. She is nothing if not consistent! Her time was an excellent 17:15 and she was 61 out of 101 runners. The team was 6th.

The coach is unhappy, however, with the 5th place spot. He is justified, in the sense that because RB is coming in quite a bit behind the 4th place runner, an improvement would help the team in a big way. He wants someone to step up and improve their 5th place performance.

RB feels awful because she really feels like she is doing her best. She IS only a freshman. She also has run very consistently all season. She runs consistently in that 5th spot AND she runs consistently in about the 50th-62nd percentile of the field. She's not all over the place, running very well one week and terribly the next.

Part of it IS probably a head game. There is so much in running that is dependent on your mental state. If you believe you can, often you can. But there are the physical factors as well, and to just shave 30 seconds off your time is a HUGE change to make. As her time has improved this season, so have the times of ALL the runners and so she remains in that same percentile, just below 50.

So each week, she tries out some strategies the coach gives her to see whether they work for her. Some have, some haven't.

In any case, as her parents, we are incredibly proud of all she's accomplished this season!

umm...yeah! This is art! What a cool photo! Actually, I swung around as she passed me and I was trying to take the picture and see her time on my ipod at the same time!

Home Meet

2010-09-24T14:21:00.001-05:00

Stats for the home meet:

Rose Bud again ran 5th on the team. Varsity took 2nd place, as did JV.

RB placed 27th out of 76, which was her best place, and an improvement on her percentage. She's been finishing abouth 50% of the way through the pack, and this was about the top 3rd of the field. She's continuing to close in on the #4 runner, and the coach said this week that the team has narrowed their time between runner #1 and runner #5 to around two minutes. Still a ways to go, but she's just a freshman. Her time was 18:39--this was a slow course.

The bigger news was that the JV team finished an actual 1, 3 & 4 in their race. Rose Bud was still faster than the #1 JV runner, but only by about 20 seconds.

Here's how the times shook out:
V #1
V #2
V #3
V #4
Rose Bud
JV #1
JV #2
JV #3
V #6
V #7

The top seven run varsity next week.

That means there will be 4 freshman and 3 seniors running varsity this week! That's pretty exciting!

RB's goal is to keep ahead of the #6 runner (who did beat her in several races last year) and to keep up with the #4 runner.

Will keep you posted!

Banana Boy: On Sports

2010-09-24T14:05:00.001-05:00

Banana Boy: I LOVE Track! I love the long jump and those soccer goals.

Me: Soccer goals?

BB: You know--like soccer goals but they don't have nets.

Me: ????

BB: They run and they jump over them!

Me: HURDLES!

BB: Yes! Hurdles. I love those.

pause for reflection and dishwasher loading.

BB: Do they do anything else for cross country?

Me: What do you mean, anything else?

BB: Extra stuff. Like... handstands.

You all go off and picture that now.

Recent Two Meets

2010-09-17T08:32:00.001-05:00

Rose Bud continues to run varsity. At Saturday's meet, her goal was to keep the team's #4 runner in sight. In actuality, she almost BEAT her! They were neck in neck at the finish and #4 saw her coming and put on a little burst of speed to edge Rose Bud out by .6 of a second. RB's time was 17:34 -- a whole minute faster than last week!

Rose Bud is the red runner on the left

At the mid-week meet, it was set up for a Freshman/Sophomore race and a Jr./Sr. race rather than varsity and JV. She still ended up as the 5th team-runner, time-wise with a time of 17:42.

Of Wives and Wings

2010-09-16T09:11:00.000-05:00

Banana Boy: I hate being a boy.

Me: Why?

BB: You have to buy things for your honeymoon.

Me: Oh?

BB: And you have to buy your wife a computer.

Me: What do you have to buy for your honeymoon?

BB: You have to find where to go. And you have to buy soda probably, for your wife. And coffee probably.

AND...

BB, getting into his car seat: I HATE having wings!

Me, glancing at him in the rearview mirror: Just think how hard it is for real bats.

BB: Yeah, but they're USED to doing everything with wings!

Me: I suppose. They've been buckling up since they were babies.

BB, sighing wistfully: Yeah.

Flying

2010-09-04T16:28:00.000-05:00

53rd out of 112. This race was a true 4K (last meet was only a 3200m, or 2 mi.) and her time was 18:31 (last meet was 15:31).

She placed 5th on the team and looked great at the finish. She maybe has a little more in her!

I Heart Tomatoes. No, Really. Really!

2010-08-31T21:52:00.000-05:00

Oh. My. Holy. Tomato.

To say this was a bountiful season would be an understatement. Now, granted, Mr. GT planted tomatoes in 3 of his 7 gardens (75 plants, he said), but I have been canning tomatoes for 4 weeks now.

We've made Diced With Green Chilis.

Pizza sauce

Soup

Juice

Spaghetti Sauce

Salsa

I'll go down and take a picture of the shelves for you. But here is a picture of the girls playing Tomato Hospital.

7 five-gallon pails.

I washed and triaged. They hauled them in "ambulances" to their respective wards. Pepper was in charge of plum tomatoes (Did you ever notice, Mom, that tomatoes are all named after fruit? Plum tomatoes, strawberry tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, pear tomatoes, grape tomatoes).

Daisy was in charge of all other varieties. They each had a sick ward where tomatoes who might die soon were kept for observation. The healthy tomatoes (they decided there had been a bombing and many tomatoes had been hurt, but even the ones without visible injury had to be kept overnight) were separated for ripening, but still needed to be checked daily.

I promised them each $2 if they delivered all healthy tomatoes when I needed them. Any infected and oozing patients would be a 10 cent deduction. It was up to them to remove the dead members to the compost bucket. Daisy earned $1.80 and Pepper, $1.90.

Rose Bud learned to can tomatoes and can go from boiling vat of red lava to sealed jar of ruby tastiness on the counter all by herself.

Here is Sunshine "grinding" tomatoes one day.

Banana Boy just stands out in the garden and singlehandedly keeps the cherry tomatoes from overtaking the world. The boy is getting his daily of vitamin C!

So anyway, last week at work I ran into a lady with whom I had discussed gardening and canning one time about 2 years ago. She remembered that we had talked and I mentioned how I was drowning in tomato juice. She offered to trade honey (she keeps bees) for tomatoes and even to pick them herself.

Hot dog!

So she came over yesterday and picked up 4 pails of tomatoes (which Mr. GT had already picked for her) and left us with

3 brand new 5-gallon pails
1 qt. of honey
1 small honey bear
1 lb. of creamed honey
1 pt. of blueberry syrup (sweetened with honey)
and a half-pint jar of honeycomb

Jackpot!!! I really felt like we got the better end of the deal, but she said she felt like SHE had so that meant we were even. I can live with that.

She also asked about possibly keeping hives on our property in the future! Cool beans! I mean Bees! She was very excited about the restored prairie nearby.

So that's been my August. Tomatoes. Tomatoes. And more tomatoes. Come on over for spaghetti in winter!

And She's Off!

2010-08-31T21:31:00.000-05:00

A new cross country season has begun. Time trials were Saturday and Rose Bud made varsity for the first meet. Whether you are on the varsity or JV team changes meet-to-meet, based on your performance at the previous meet. So you can move up or down throughout the season.

Top seven runners (both boys and girls) make varsity. Rose Bud finished 5th, so she easily qualified, although 3 girls with potential to make varsity were not at the time trials.

In any case, she qualified for the season's first meet.

And the results:
Both varsity girls and JV girls finished 4th in team competition.

Rose Bud moved up throughout the race from 58th near the start to 46th about 3/4 of the way to finish 39th out of 75-80 runners. She doesn't have her official time yet, but I clocked her at about 15:30.

Varsity/JV placing is based on times. There were 3 varsity runners on her team who finished ahead of her and one of our JV runners (one who missed the time trials--a senior) WON the JV race with a better time than Rose Bud.

So time-wise, it LOOKS like she finished 5th within her team, which would put her on varsity again for Saturday. We'll find out tomorrow.

In any case, she ran great, felt great afterward and was very happy with her race. And she had fun.

All this after I dropped a dresser on her foot this morning.

We're moving bedrooms since Mr. GT and I are moving up to our now-finished attic. Daisy & Pepper are moving into our old room. Sunshine is moving into their room (from a shared room with Banana Boy). Rose Bud is staying put, but got a new dresser the girls no longer needed.

All week we've been hauling and packing and shuffling and moving. Today I was taking a dresser downstairs and it got stuck in the stairwell. I had RB helping me juggle it around and it squashed her foot on the stairs. Oops.

In her quest for ice for her foot, she jiggled something in the freezer so that it no longer closed properly. I started poking around in there to fix whatever was blocking the door when a popsicle fell out onto the floor. I bent down to pick it up and when I stood up--BAM!! I slammed my head into the corner of the freezer door. I felt the pain on the opposite temple, actually. Brain-jostling.

While I was hopping around screaming "OW," RB said, "Mom, look at me." I turned toward her and she said, calmly, "There's blood running down your head."

Payback, definitely, for smashing her foot. She stayed far away from the furniture-moving for the rest of the day.

The Trouble With Cats

2010-08-19T14:19:00.000-05:00

"First they claw you and bite you and attack you and you have to feed them.

Then they go upstairs and they claw you and attack you again until you give them wet food. Or tuna.

Then they attack you and bite you until you snuggle them. I like the snuggle part.

They mew and mew and mew about.

And then you have to clean their litterbox!

I Just Butchered 10 Chickens!

2010-08-07T12:48:00.000-05:00

There'll be a little bragging in this post. I'm a little proud of myself. And my clan.

Let me start with a story (because there's always a story). Butchering chickens is nothing new to me. At least seeing chickens butchered is nothing new.

We always raised chickens for eating, at least when I was very young. Each end-of-September, as far back as I can remember, my grandparents and aunt and uncle came on a Saturday for butchering chickens. And then, since everyone was there, we had a big dinner and celebrated our birthdays.

Yep. We didn't hire a clown or a pony. We killed chickens.

My sister and I (when we got older) would catch and carry the chickens, upside down by their feet to my grandpa who chopped off the heads and tossed them in an oil drum. After 10 or so, he fished them out one by one scalded them and bounced them around on the plucking machine.

Next they went to a table made of a piece of plywood balanced on two saw horses where my dad and my grandma gutted them.

Somewhere along the line, people who couldn't bear any other part of it got them and picked out the pin feathers with a paring knife. This included my mom, my aunt and uncle and, later, my step-mother.

My sister and I never were invited to help other than to carry the chickens (and we thought we were big stuff to do that!) I don't know why. I don't remember being grossed out by it. We watched. It smelled vaguely bad. The dog nosed around under the table for scraps. This whole enterprise went on every fall until I was maybe 14 or so.

The gizzards went to Mrs. Wardeck up the road.

There you have my whole childhood. Now to the present.

Mr. GT butchered 3 of our roosters earlier this spring. He too grew up seeing it done by parents and grandparents, but never helped. So to the internet he went, figured it all out, and one week when the kids and I were gone, he did the job.

And pretty much hated it.

This time I was invited to help. Mr. GT confided to me after we were all done, that he was terrified that no one would help and he'd be left to do the whole job alone for 8 hours.

Our setup. Left side: our old kitchen sink, a corian countertop piece (free on Craig's list) and the hose. Center back: the plucking station (plywood covered with plastic) and Right: the feet et al. table (another piece of free Corian)

I was squeamish about the gutting. It wasn't so much the rawness that didn't appeal to me, but rather the fact that it would be warm. I can do cold raw chicken any time. The more frozen, the better.

So Mr. GT fired up the propane turkey cooker and sharpened his hatchet. He had four hanging to bleed out by the time we all got out there.

Headless

(I should mention that Banana Boy, who is very sensitive visually, pet-minded and prone to bad dreams had been shipped off to Nonny's last night. HE was not invited to the butchering.)

I watched Mr. GT chop the head off the fifth one (He hates it. Maybe I'll give it a go next time. I once had to drown a nest of baby rabbits for him that had invaded his garden. He's too soft. However, if you need a possum whacked to death with a shovel, he's your guy.).

He dunked the first chicken and we brought it to the plucking table. Once you start plucking, the squeamishness for that vanishes. Plucking is fun! They sort of "unzip" right off the chicken. Getting all the little feathers and the broken "stems" is a pain, but really, not hard.

Dunking and Rose Bud holding the one on deck

Pluck, pluck, pluck

Next was the feet/crop/neck/oil gland table. The feet are super easy to remove (I'm sort of intuitive with this whole butchering thing, I was pleased to discover. That makes me a 3rd generation expert chicken-butcherer). The joint-finding, cutting, snapping, snipping thing was very "duh." Rose Bud quickly latched onto this task, calling all foot-removing for herself.

She also liked to pull the tendons with the pliers after the feet were off, making the toes move up and down. She had to individually play with each one.

The crop seemed a little creepy, but that became easy after about the 3rd one. We withheld food from them since noon yesterday, so the crops were all empty. We loosened each one and then went in to take out the neck.

A little different than "cropping" a photo

I would have loved to send Grandma a whole bag of necks, but sorry, Grandma. I made them all into broth. That's her favorite part.

Rose Bud also loved to cut off the oil gland above the tail and also called that job.

By the time we'd finished about 4 chickens, Daisy and Pepper joined us. They rather sissily helped pluck, using just their fingertips.

Pluck, pluck, pluck

The next station was the gutting station. Squeam-O. There's also the whole gall bladder danger you have to be careful off, but in reality, that turned out to be a non-issue, really. It's deeply hidden and protected in the gut-mass.

So Mr. GT sliced open the first one and I watched, then tried my own slicing. Two fingers top, two fingers bottom, open up the cavity.

OK. I am SO a natural at this. My dad would be so proud.

I was able to get my hand in and it really is not gross at all. And not as warm as I'd expected. Every Thanksgiving I loosed the skin on the turkey and stick my arm up past my elbow under the skin to rub herbs all over the meat. This was really no different (only warmer).

I was hesitant to pull the guts OUT, worried I'd break something, so Mr. GT had to pull out the first 3 after I'd loosened them, but after that, it was all ME.

ME. ME. ME.

ME.

I gutted a chicken!

Actually, Rose Bud had her hand inside by the 4th one (knock me over with a feather!!) She was able to loosen everything and stuck her hand into most of them (she liked slitting, opening and loosening) but she never did get any guts pulled out.

Rose Bud, deep inside a chicken

I taught Daisy to open and clean the gizzards. She loved that job.

Pepper dissected everything. Two months ago I bought frozen chicken hearts at the grocery store when we were studying the heart and the girls wouldn't even enter the room where they were. I ended up throwing them out.

Today, Pepper couldn't get enough of identifying parts and cutting them open and touching stuff with her finger. She loved the lungs and the kidneys best.

Pepper carrying a headless, scalded chicken to the plucking table. Isn't she CUTE????

Daisy carried raw hearts over to the heart/neck/gizzard pot for later broth-making.

So. That was the most amazing thing I've ever done! Seriously, if you've ever thought about it and been too squeamish, JUST DO IT!

Sunshine was at his most useful with the hose in his hand. He put ice in the cooler, filled the coolers, rinsed everything, and sprayed the hose any chance he got.

So the first 5 were practice. It took us (basically Mr. GT, Rose Bud and me) 2 hours.

The second 5 took just over an hour with everyone helping.

Just for fun, go read this step-by-step tutorial on how to butcher a chicken. It is amazing and spot-on. Very best directions on the web.

(And, we're having beef tonight, in case you were wondering!)

Thursday: Cheap Thrills

2010-07-23T18:33:00.000-05:00

We lazed around this morning, not getting out of the cabin before 9. Mr. GT was chomping at his bit. Well, we were busy having a big fancy breakfast of eggs, bacon, fried potatoes and toast, the latter made especially for you by Sunshine. He was so cute on a little stool, dutifully putting new toast in and delivering the finished toast to a plate! The toaster is just the appliance for him!

After breakfast (“This is GOOD, Mom! You should make this more often!” shrieked Banana Boy), we had to work on the 500-piece puzzle begun last night. And get dressed. And brush teeth. And put on sunscreen. And put away laundry.

So it was 9 before we left. We headed west for Manistique and its surrounding attractions.

First up was Big Springs, or Kitch-iti-kipi. Ok. Wow. We were going to see a big spring. Cost: (keep track here!) $8 for daily state park admission.

Ooh. Ahh. Big deal.

We hiked out to the spring, which is 300 ft. long by 175 ft. wide by 45 ft. deep. Big. The first thing we noticed was that it was incredibly clear. Along the edge you could see the fallen tree logs through the water which was a beautiful teal color. Cool.

Out we went onto the covered dock, perched out over the spring. Under the roof was an open area through which you could look down into the spring. Cool.

Two older couples joined us on the dock, just as we wondered about the big wheel and the locked gates and the giant lever. And the steel cable across the spring. Wha???

Then we figured it out! This was not a dock! It was a RAFT, locked to the dock. The big wheel moved the raft out across the spring via the steel cable. Oh. WOW. Way cool!

So we followed the directions to unhitch our raft from the dock and propel ourselves out across the spring. The kids fought for who would power us with the big wheel, while the adults oohed and ahhed over the magnificent spring beneath us. You could see the waters bubbling through the sand 45 feet below through the crystal clear water. It was the neatest thing ever!

OOH!!! AHHH! This is very cool!

Fortunately, our traveling companions were good sports and didn’t mind a very slow ride and very enthusiastic fellow passengers. They’d been here before and weren’t quite as impressed as we were.

We bought some maple syrup for $10 at the gift shop, to use for tomorrow’s French toast.

Next we doubled back and hit the fish hatchery on the way back to Manistique. The kids hated the fishy smell of the fish pellets they feed the fry, but they loved the computer simulation where you raise one of 4 kinds of fish from egg to release in the wild. They also were thrilled by the raceways of fingerlings swarming over each other trying to stay in the shadowiest place. They had fun finding the full-grown fish in the finishing pond and exploring the nearby stream and marsh. Cost: Free.

Now they were hungry, so we headed back to Manistique for lunch. Everyone agreed we were hungry for pizza, so Pizza Hut, it was. Their special today was any size pizza, any number of toppings, $10. What? Seriously? Yep. Any pizza, any number of toppings. Our cheapest lunch yet: A chicken taco pizza and pepperoni with green and black olives and onions. Oh, and free wi-fi. Can you say paradise? I got the blog all uploaded with tons of pictures from yesterday and even read the local news from home.

Oh, and next door was a winery. I told Mr. GT we ought to get some blueberry wine and he said no one made blueberry wine. Ok. Whatever. He said we’d stop on the way home (ie: back to the cabin) for wine tasting. Fun! Fun!

After lunch we headed west once more to Fayette State Park and their historic townsite. The town of Fayette was a company town of the Jackson Iron Company, which smelted iron ore for 24 years during the 1800s. We learned about smelting, charcoal kilns, life in a company town, life of immigrants in the late 1800s and archeology. Cost: Free if you count the $8 state park fee toward the big spring we’d already been to.

Trying to pick up pig iron

T-levers on the pig iron

We spent about 4 hours here, the kids running to and fro among the buildings. They put on a play in the town music hall, dressed up in period clothes, went to the town school, cooked a meal and did dishes in a laborer’s cabin. Rose Bud challenged Mr. GT to a long game of checkers, something she’d never played before (yes, we are bad parents). They also wailed about not being able to keep a piece of the slag rock covering the beach. Poor Pepper and Daisy!

Presenting the Daisy-Pepper-Banana Boy-Sunshine Show!

Checker Challenge

In the laborers' cabin

They don't look all THAT sad that they can't bring this piece of slag home...

At the gift shop, I bought a children’s historical fiction novel about two boys who live in Fayette during the time the town was alive. Daisy is devouring it on the way home.

We didn’t finish the townsite until almost 5pm! On the way back through Manistique, we stopped at the winery, left the kids in the car like dogs with the windows cracked and had ourselves a wine-tasting! Mmmm! Blueberry wine! I told you so! We also got cranberry, North Shore White and a Big Red.

For supper, spaghetti was on the menu with hamburgers for tomorrow, but after much discussion and a vote, we decided to put the hamburger in the spaghetti and eat leftovers tomorrow before we leave, then hamburgers at home.

Mr. GT and Sunshine went off to town in search of ice cream (and had their own adventure). At the first shop, there was only vanilla, so they went to the next grocery store but they couldn’t get in because the owners were moving a cooler out the front door, so they couldn’t go inside. Then they tried the gas station, but they only had ice cream bars, so back to the first grocery store for the vanilla. Then back to the gas station for candy bars to go with it.

Meanwhile, I got the whole supper made—hamburger fried, noodles boiled, beans snapped and cooked and zucchini fried. Wondered by the zucchini where the boys had gotten to!

So after supper (which we ate at 8:00!) we had ice cream. The girls had begun a new 1000 piece puzzle on the floor in the sunroom and after supper, we put the boys and the little girls right to bed but Rose Bud and Mr. GT and I stayed up to work on it awhile. Rose Bud faded at 9:30, but we stayed at it until the mosquitoes were dive-bombing us at 11 (not sure why all of a sudden the place filled with moskies at 11pm…..)

We were so busy with our puzzle, we never got to drink our wine!

Wednesday: Extreme Adventure Sports

2010-07-22T12:19:00.000-05:00

Today’s blog post will be brought to you by the little Green Thumbs.

Sunshine: “We go to lake and see sand. Come back home make supper.”

Banana Boy: Yesterday we went to the sea which is called – what is it called? Which is called Lake Superior. We went there and wanted to swim so we waded in the water to see how it felt and then we went to get our swimsuits and we swam in the water and the girls found cool rocks. Then I was lying on the rocks because it was nice and warm then Pepper and Sunshine and Mom buried me in the rocks. Later they buried me in the sand. Then they took a picture of me then Dad took a picture when I came out of the sand and rocks.

Lake Superior is very cold and I didn’t want to take a bath in there cuz mom had to wash out the sand from me, so I had to go in the cold water and I was crying all that time and it was fun. (note: yes, he DID say “fun” here. It makes no sense to me either). Then we went home at the cottage and ate supper and then we played charade (note: just one charade, apparently) and I tried to make Dad play badminton. The End.

Daisy: We climbed up and down the sand dunes.

Sunshine and I are partners and he always wanted to go on the sand dunes with me. It was fun climbing up the sand dunes. Sunshine and I would slide down the sand dunes. It was cool to look at the water when you were up on top of the sand dunes because you could see really far. Then we went to ---where’d we go next? Then we went to the log slide where you could run down a long sand dune and it took an hour to climb back up. We didn’t do it.

(Mr. GT: It took me only 40 minutes to do and I was EXHAUSTED!) (note: he did NOT either do it! He just likes to interject comments)

Still Daisy: Then we went to 12 mile beach and I found a bunch of cool rocks but we couldn’t take them home because (DANGER! DANGER! chants Sunshine, interrupting) it was a National Lakeshore and if you took the rocks, then they wouldn’t have any rocks.

Then we put our swimsuits on and we swam. The water was really cold. After I got out I laid on the rocks because the rocks were hot (“I now have burns in the shape of the rocks,” interrupts Mr. GT). Then we went to Pictured Rock and looked at ….. the rocks. (They had pictures on them :Mr. GT) Then we had ice cream and went back to the cabin. (Mr. GT: That about sums it up!)

And now Rose Bud will tell about yesterday:

(“Je’tem beaucoo,” interjects Mr. GT)

Primero vamos a el agua que està cayendo.

Caminamos al lago y corrimos arriba del un montòn muy grande de (sand).

Yo corro abajo de el montòn y cuando estoy en el final, cayo en los rocs. Los rocs me duelen mi pierna.

Vamos a un montòn mas grande que el uno que subimos.

Para ir arriba de este montòn, necessitas mas o menos un hora. Papà dice que no tenemos tiempo para ir arriba de este montòn.

Pepper quiere a ir abajo y entonces arriba. Ella està muy triste.

Despues de esto, vamos a la playa de doce milas. En este playa, no podemos traer los rocs atras del coche. El parque dice asì.

Nadamos en el lago acà. El lago es muy frio. Yo no nado para mucho tiempo.

Yo duermo en los rocs a causa de estos son muy calientes.

Cubrimos Banana Boy con los rocs.

Conducimos en el coche a los rocs grande y pinta.

Vemos el roc de castle y el agua bonita. Conducimos atras de la casa, pero despues de llegamos acà, impedimos para helado. Entonces vamos a la casa. Al Fin.

There is a translation, but Rose Bud will not let me share it here.

And now, Pepper, in brief: “We hiked and swam and drove and climbed.”

And now, excerpts from Pepper, collected by me throughout the day:

“We need to wash our hands and brush off our hands. We don’t want to eat the dead people in Lake Superior, now do we? Oh, no!” (“dead people” being all the sailors lost in the shipwrecks we heard about several days ago)

Adventure Pepper: “There’s the trail! You used to be able to walk there, right next to the falls! Look at that trail. Now you have to walk on this wooden trail with big railings. I see the old trail! There it is! It goes under the wooden trail. Now where did it go? Here it is! It comes out here! WHY can’t you walk there any more?”

Adventure Pepper: “We can go down the log slide! It won’t take us long to come back up. Look how pretty the water is! See, it just goes right down and then we’ll climb back up. It was easy on the other sand dune. WHY can’t we climb down? It looks easy! How far is it? How far? I WISH we could go down there. Sigh.”

Adventure Pepper: “This is fun! Look at the big wave! Here comes a really big wave! Aww, why aren’t there any more big waves? Hey? Why did everybody get out? It’s not cold! I’m not cold. This is so fun! Jump in the waves with me, Mom!”

Adventure’s in Breaking the Law Pepper: “WHY WHY WHY can’t we take the rocks home? They’re SO pretty!!!!!!! It’s not fair that we can’t take the rocks! But WHY won’t they let anyone take the rocks? WHO says that we can’t take the rocks? I don’t understand WHY we CAN’T take the rocks! What HAPPENS if you take the pretty rocks? When can we go to a place where we can keep the rocks? What if they aren’t pretty there?”

Tuesday: A Vacation Day

2010-07-21T16:01:00.000-05:00

When asked for this blog post what day it was, Mr. GT shrugged and said, “A vacation day.”

When I went shopping the other day for the few groceries we needed, two boxes of cereal were going to cost over $9 (and would have lasted us for two breakfasts) Really, the prices up here haven’t been as ridiculous as I had expected, but this was ridiculous! So instead, I opted for the $5.68 container of Quaker quick oatmeal. (at home we eat from a 50 lb bag of thick-cut, steel-cut organic oats, but, hey, we’re on vacation!

Anyway, the oatmeal has proved to be wildly popular. Rose Bud has been eating oatmeal for snack and for breakfast and they all couldn’t get enough oatmeal this morning. Mr. GT ate his homemade chocolate chip pancakes alone.

We reached Tahquamenon Falls about 9 and there were only 4 or 5 other families there. I had joked that the place would be choked with tourists. Mr. GT commandeered the camera to take 3 million nature photos today.

We hiked down the paved trail and down the 96 metal steps. At our first view of the falls, we overheard a man talking about walking behind the falls. I asked him if this was the falls that you could walk behind as I had gone behind a waterfall in Upper Michigan with my parents when I was Daisy’s age. It was such a cool experience walking along the ledge behind the power of the enormous falls.

The man explained that this DID used to be the falls you could walk behind, but that the ledge behind the falls had since eroded and you no longer could go behind. (not only could you not go behind, but you also could not get near the edge, nor walk down the wooden steps, nor walk along the river at its edge. Guard rails lined the entire length of the hike and new, metal steps were built over the old wooden stairs (as Pepper noticed).

We explored the trails of the falls for over an hour with Sunshine in the lead. At the end we took the nature trail to the parking lot.

Mattel CEO??

In the park was a brew pub and restaurant so we ate lunch there. I had a small raspberry ale. Mmm.

After lunch we hit the gift shop for postcards (watch your mailboxes in about 2 weeks!) and a tiny rubber pasty for our vacation Christmas ornament (we buy something for our tree every time we go on vacation).

We headed next to the Lower Falls, which are more boring and farther away. I captured the camera back from Mr. GT. The kids were tired of falls and anxious to hit the shipwreck museum, so we only had a quick look at the lower falls.

Quick! The Lower Falls!

Next up, a 22 mile drive to Whitefish Point where we thoroughly enjoyed the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. It was pricey, for what there was and I have some suggestions to make it better, but the displays they had were nicely done.

We watched a 14-minute film on the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and the raising of its bell 20 years later. The bell is housed here as a memorial to the 29 sailors who died in that tragedy. A fact I didn’t know was that the EF was the last of the Great Lakes freighters to go down in the Great Lakes. That was in 1975.

The museum’s focus was on sinkings around Whitefish Point, which was a most dangerous area because of the narrowing of the lake along with the amount of freighter traffic and the unpredictable and dangerous storms and fog. I was reading the display aloud and explaining this to the girls, who were more interested in this topic than anything I’ve ever seen (!!), and the docent was listening in to our discussion from her desk.

When I finished, she said she had never heard any parent or teacher explain it better and she liked how I checked in with the girls to see if they understood the vocabulary. Truly, it was no different than any discussion we have on any school topic (or really any topic we discuss). To me, this is the fun part of learning and homeschooling and I love best when they ARE so interested in a topic. Even Rose Bud, who remains a homeschooler at heart, was in on the discussion—I’m so glad she hasn’t lost her curiosity and love for learning by switching over to public school.

The museum had several components: the museum with shipwreck displays, the film about the EF, a search and rescue museum and the lighthouse museum. The lighthouse here is the oldest working lighthouse in the United States. They had restored the lightkeepers’ homes to show how they and their families lived and what their work entailed.

Of course, we also had to walk down to the beach, where the kids went nuts finding lake-polished rocks and driftwood. Giant white thunderheads had blown in directly over us (but not to either side, just over us) and it was very lightly misting. Sunshine waded in the icy Lake Superior water while the rest of the kids collected.

When it began to sprinkle, we headed back to the car, with a short detour to the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory for Daisy. On the way back to Paradise (no, really! Paradise! It’s the only town up on Whitefish Point!) it POURED. POURED! But only over the road, not on either side. Much.

It stopped just before Paradise and the sun came out overhead, until we found the ice cream shop and parked. Then it poured again. So we waited in the van until it abated a bit. The second we had dashed into the tiny ice cream shop, it stopped and the sun came out.

We didn’t buy fudge today, but we did eat Mackinac Island Fudge ice cream.

Some words:

Sunshine: “When is Nonny coming? I just LOOOOOOOVE Nonny!”

Pepper: “I DON’T love the mosquitoes, but they love ME!” (it’s true, she’s on Benadryl at night and Zyrtec in the morning)

Daisy: “Daaaad!”

Banana Boy: “Today are we going to Upper Michigan?”

Rose Bud: “I’m hungry!”

Sunshine: “We almost THERE???”

Pepper: “Feel this ear. Now feel this ear. This one has only a little crack, but the other one I can put my whole finger under almost. It’s so fat! I HATE MOSQUITOES!!!!!”

Pepper: “Get that mosquito! DAD! GET IT!”

Everyone: “CLOST THE DOOR! YOU’RE LETTING THE MOSQUITOES IN!”

Monday: Michigan Places That are Hard to Pronounce

2010-07-20T16:10:00.000-05:00

We intended to be out the door at 7 this morning, but no one woke up before 6:30.

Originally, the plan was to go to Tahquamenon Falls, Whitefish Point and Sault Ste. Marie today. We thought we’d go to the Soo Locks first until it warmed up some and then head for the beach area, but after finishing the locks at 11:00, we decided to do Mackinac area instead and then spend a whole day later in the week at Whitefish Point et. al.

We arrived in Sault Ste. Marie at 9:15 thanks to our able navigator, Pepper, who has commandeered the map and will not relinquish it. We get all sorts of helpful driving tips like, “The next road is a thick one with a shield on it!” and “Only 15 more miles to SALT STEE Marie.”

Viewing the locks is free, but subject to government search. Fortunately, we didn’t bring in with us any packages, bags, packs or firearms, so we didn’t require frisking. We checked in at the desk and found out the next big ship scheduled to traverse the locks was in half an hour, so we went up to the lookout platform and looked out at the locks. Then down the steps to kill 30 minutes. We looked at the fountain, the models of the locks, climbed on the big anchors, ran around the trees and generally frolicked. When we next climbed the platform, the ship was already entering the locks, but not in the nearest one. Bummer. It was an 850+ ft. cargo freighter downbound (headed from Lake Superior DOWN to Lake Huron). While we watched it creep at a snail’s pace into the lock, a snappy little tour boat zipped into the lock nearest us and in the time it took to get the big ship into the lock and drop it to the appropriate level, we also got to see the tour boat enter, rise and leave. Double the fun!

Watching the slow ship

Before the ship had completed it’s slow exit, we had had enough, so we crossed the street to buy fudge. We decided that since we’re in Da U.P. and since everyone in every town here feels entitled to cash in on the Mackinac Fudge bonanza, we might as well eat fudge every day. And twice on Mondays. We’re not going to Mackinac Island anyway (and who REALLY has the most authentic fudge?) so we’re not going to sweat the real stuff. We are not fudge snobs.

So we began in Sault Ste. Marie with Double Chocolate.

Having decided to now blow the rest of the day on ordinary tourist attractions, we headed south for St. Ignace. On the way, we held a contest to guess the length of the Mackinac Bridge. Pepper, with some help from Daisy, did not blindly guess, but used the scale on her map to research and come up with the correct suggestion of 5 miles. She won the extra piece of fudge (forgone by Rose Bud who said Double Chocolate was too boring to eat—correction from Rose Bud: “What I said, was, ‘Double Chocolate reminds me of chocolate cheese, which is disgusting!’”), which she thoughtfully shared with Daisy.

In St. Ignace, we promptly found a pasty place and ordered up 5 chicken pasties and one beef, which we took “to go.” We drove a few blocks to the Father Marquette Memorial and picnicked on the curb in the parking lot with a few hundred seagulls. There was actually only one until Rose Bud threw it one of her rutabagas. Within seconds every gull on the Great Lakes was circling over our heads. Who knew rutabaga was so popular amongst seagulls? The kids made sure to save plenty of scraps for when they were finished eating (because I declared a moratorium on ANY more feeding of the gulls until we were done. Who wants seagull poop on their picnic????) I seem to distinctly recall, from the 2006 East Coast trip that seagulls also like lunchmeat….

Pepper looks up with horror and Rose Bud protects herself with a styrofoam box from the thousands of seagulls descending on her rutabaga

The Pere Marquette Memorial was fairly boring, but we had studied him in depth in our American history studies, so why not visit one more place he stepped foot in?

Next we crossed the Mackinac Bridge, 5 miles long. The kids couldn’t understand why crossing the bridge in itself was a tourist attraction until they were on the bridge. It’s pretty cool with its suspension cables and cool breezes. Crossing it will set you back $3.50 each way.

Just off the bridge, on the Lower Michigan side, is Colonial Michilimackinac. Say that 10 times fast! We bought the family pass for $65 --about $15 more than the individual admission, but it gets us into 2 other sister-sites and is good until October. In case, you know, we come back. Actually, we DID go to the historic lighthouse next door (would have been an extra $25 or so) and if I can convince Mr. GT, we may go back another day to the Historic Mill site. Might as well get our money’s worth.

So Colonial Michilimackinac is cool! It’s on the site of the old French fort which then became the old British fort during the French and Indian War. They’ve been restoring the fort since 1959 and are still doing archeological digs there. We watched the digging for a while and asked lots of questions of one of the archeologists. Rose Bud remembered when we gridded out our sandbox back in 1st grade and she dug stuff up.

The kids LOVE this history restoration stuff and they explored every building (Daisy even likes to read the exhibits with me). We watched the musket firing demonstration, they got to participate in the reenactment of the landing of the voyageurs, wash laundry on a washboard, see how all the artifacts were discovered, eat cornbread and sourdough bread cooked on site and watch the cannon firing. Oh and dress up. There was lots of dressing up.

Acting in the voyageur reenactment (Pepper in blue hat, Daisy, Sunshine & BB carrying the 90 lb bale)

Soldiers of the Crown

It was very hands-on and very worth the price. We were here with Rose Bud when she was two and I think they’ve improved it quite a bit since then.

After CM, we went to the lighthouse next door, where Sunshine was too short to climb to the top. He and I waded in the Straits of Mackinac in the shadow of the Mackinac Bridge.

Tiny Me and Tiny Sunshine wading in the Straits of Mackinac

After the lighthouse tour, we went in search of more fudge. MACKINAC fudge. Fortunately, we didn’t have to search far as there were two fudge places directly across the street from Colonial Michilimackinac. I stayed in the car and tried to connect to somebody’s free wi-fi while Mr. GT took the kids in to buy fudge. Couldn’t connect.

Finally, on the way out of town, Mr. GT made a wrong turn to the interstate (remember? The thick road with the shield?) and had to turn around in a parking lot. With wi-fi. So I made him stop while I quickly uploaded to the blog and downloaded my email.

BB and Sunshine slept all the way back (a little over an hour). When we got back, I warmed up the chicken tacos and Spanish rice I’d made last night and at 7 pm, we ate. (If you know us, you know that we are an eat-at -5 kind of family!)

And that was our day!

Sunset Bay, outside our cabin

Sunday: A Family Circus Vacation

2010-07-19T16:22:00.000-05:00

Rose Bud, and to a smaller extent the girls, LOVES The Family Circus. We own about 2/3 of the books about a large family of young children and their daily, just-the-way-it-really-is moments in life. A recurring theme in Bil Keane’s chronicles is the family vacation. Each year the family loaded their station wagon to the gills, piled the kids in the back and headed off with great excitement to the beach or some famous destination. And every time the children end up wistfully pressed up against the hotel window watching the rain pour down while the harried parents contemplate 3 wet days trapped in a hotel room with four young children.

It could have been like that, but we actually had a very pleasant day in the cabin while the rain poured down in a steady, gentle shower.

Sunshine slept until 6:30, which felt wonderful because the clock said it was so (even though in his internal system it was really 5:30, just as if he was still at home). We leisurely got ready and were at the community building in town at 8:34, ready for our Lion’s brunch.

Oh. My. Goodness. YUM.

Mr. GT handed over $20 and we were handed heavy china plates while we stood in line. Behind the counter in the kitchen the Lions and Lionesses bustled frying sausages, pancakes, eggs and potato slices. They had electric griddles right there on the counter with the pancakes and eggs. In the back, someone was breaking two eggs at a time into Corelle coffee cups and the egg lady would pour each cup of eggs onto her griddle. The sausages and potatoes were in Nescos.

The meal was all-you-can-eat, but everyone was satisfied with just one huge helping. The coffee was weak, but there was also orange juice and make-your-own toast.

We had planned to attend the Baptist church in town at 11 am, but The Lutheran Hour happened to come on the radio on our way to breakfast, and they listed the sponsoring churches, which included a Lutheran church in Newbery, 15 miles away.

Off we headed on a roundabout tour on a gravel road through the North Woods. Eventually, we ended up on a paved highway and in Newbery. The Lutheran church was an old, white, wooden-steepled affair, filled with old, white-haired ladies. But the organist was VERY enthusiastic and took on some wonderful, beautiful traditional organ music. The pastor, who told us later she was from Wisconsin, gave an inspiring message on Mary and Martha and everyone was very friendly. They sang lovely, traditional hymns and it was a wonderful time of worship.

On the way back to the cabin, we stopped outside the Newbery Chamber of Commerce to use their free wi-fi (wicked fast – happy day!)

While I posted the first blog post, it began to rain and it continued on all day.

For the rest of the day, we hung out in the cabin and just relaxed. Sunshine took a nap, the kids made more bracelets, Mr. GT watched a movie and I finally began to real Eat, Pray, Love which people have been telling me for two years I need to read.

I do like it. I love her imagery! It’s a very soothing book to read that makes you feel beautiful as you glide through her words, with a chuckle refreshingly located every 3 pages or so. Her writing style reminds me of my friend (who doesn’t know she’s my friend) Rae, who blogs at Journey Mom. Rae will have a book coming out next year and I’m excited to read it. I’m hopeful it will be reflective of the writing style on her blog.

Other rainy-day activities in the cabin included a pom-pon animal craft kit from Nonny (HUGE, HUGE hit! Thank you, Nonny!), Chinese Checkers, puzzles & reading. The girls went crazy with the pom-pon animals and made a veritable zoo. Pepper has a particular talent for creative pom-pon animal ideas (her menagerie included a goose and 3 goslings, a monkey with a ruffled neck, a cat with whiskers and a buffalo. Rose Bud made a cute penguin, which she deposited on a model sailing ship on a high shelf in the sunroom. Daisy placed her lion in a lighthouse on the TV. The cabin owners will be a little surprised at all the pom-pon discoveries they’ll make next time they are here.

Late in the afternoon I put the chicken in the oven (with a half a bottle of Mike’s Hard Limeade overtop—I put the other half of the bottle out of its misery. No sense wasting it) and made garlic mashed potatoes with the new red potatoes we brought from home. We also had broccoli and cucumbers from our garden (still to appear on the table this week are green beans and peas).

The sun finally came out about 6 pm and the kids went out to play croquet and badminton (BB has the hang of serving now!) until the mosquitoes drove them in for summer.

The shower was interesting, to say the least. It has only two settings—scalding or ice. Mr. GT had to help the boys, but the girls were soon adept at flipping the dial back and forth to avoid being burned or frozen. In any case, it makes for a quick shower.

Rose Bud and I did a couple of Logic puzzles together before she went to bed, then Mr. GT and I read for an hour before we turned in.

No one was disappointed by the gloomy weather and everyone enjoyed spending a whole afternoon with no responsibilities. Everyone got along and played nicely together. I’m so proud of these kids. I love that they have such simple needs, that they are friends with their siblings and that they find joy in very basic adventures. It’s a pleasure to spend a week in a tiny cabin with them!

Saturday: To Da U.P.!

2010-07-18T11:04:00.000-05:00

Mr. GT are so excited to go on vacation, that we are awake at 4:30. Mr. GT gets the animals all set and I pack the coolers and the car. Mr. GT forgets to take out the trash. Mmm. Week-old chicken packaging…

We’re on the road by 6:30 in the sunshine. At 9:50 we pull in to Grandma’s where Rose Bud comes racing to see us. Daisy is in the house and comes racing to see us when we get in. The other 3 are nowhere to be found—out in the back 40, likely.

Finally they appear from the back of the property, sauntering toward the house, heads together, Pepper in the middle. They are deep in discussion about something. They are almost to the house before Banana Boy sees the van and shouts, “Mom’s here!” (because it’s always about the mom). They race to the house and into….. Dad’s arms. They haven’t seen him in a week, remember.

They all share the news of the week and the adventures they have had and the treasures they have found. Pepper, especially, has news!

Brand new pierced ears!

Grandma graciously feeds us leftovers so we don’t have to stop for lunch and we’re on the road by 11:30.

After a long hour’s drive, we check out the map and discover we still have a long, long way to go. Well, Mr. GT is discouraged. The kids are busy making bracelets in the backseat and Sunshine is playing with his vacation presents from Nonny. He also ate a snack, watched movies on the computer and took a nap. Other than asking every mile “We almost there?” he was really good.

When we got within 10 miles of the cottage, and we told him we really were almost there, he started shouting, “Me so ‘CITED! We almost on ‘CATION!! Me SO ‘cited!! We almost there?”

I would like to mention that the roads around the lakes up north do not go straight, nor do they really match the map.

We are just 2.5 miles outside a teensy little town called Curtis. Teensy. One street, 3 grocery stores, a few restaurant/bars, 4 churches and some gift shops. And lots and lots of cottages.

Ours is right on South Manistique Lake, which is a good lake for growing reeds. I think we’ll be swimming in the Great Lakes. It does have a beautiful, huge lawn and the cabin is very nice. There are 3 bedrooms—two downstairs, each with a queen bed (one for us and one for the boys) and a large bedroom upstairs with two doubles (for the girls). From the beginning, however, BB has been insulted that he is considered among “the boys” and will be sleeping downstairs. So when we arrived and discovered that there is a catwalk, he acquired a new “room” upstairs, much to his delight.

Banana Boy sleeping in his bridge

The kids ran around and explored the cabin, then raced to unpack the van. Once everything was in we went down to check out the lake. They can’t wait to go out in the paddleboat.

The chicken was still frozen (it wasn’t THAT long of a drive), so we had hobo dinners instead. Mr. GT started the grill and I made up the foil packets and the kids played croquet.

Once I had the packets done, I ran into town to pick up the few groceries we needed (in addition to cabin stuff that there isn’t enough of: toilet paper, paper towel, laundry soap, dish soap)

I stopped at the Chamber of Commerce on the way back to the cabin to see what was going on. Hot Dog! The 3rd Sunday of the month (that’s tomorrow!) the Lions Club has a Sunday brunch in town. All you can eat. Pancakes, Potatoes, Sausage, Eggs & Beverage.. FIVE BUCKS! Under 10…… FREE!!! We are going to brunch tomorrow!

We are also going to be Baptists. 11 am.

After supper, we played badminton on the lawn (Rose Bud, Daisy, BB & me) and Mr. GT, Pepper and Sunshine played shipwreck on the overturned motorboat down by the lake.

When the mosquitoes got too bad, everyone got jammies on and the girls worked on bracelets while the boys snuggled with parents in rocking chairs. After the littles went to bed we and Rose Bud watched Fried Green Tomatoes on the VCR.

Everybody slept like little rocks and that was our first day on vacation!

Blech

2010-07-13T08:03:00.000-05:00

I woke up last Saturday morning with the worst sore throat ever and a headache. Gettin' a cold, I figured. No biggie.

So today is Tuesday and I still have a crazy sore throat and I won't even describe to you what it looks like in there, cuz it's GROSS!

And I feel that bad, too.

Thankfully, I'm able to muster short bursts of good-mommy funness, since we're on vacation, sort of, at Grandma's. Today we're going to the creek to go crayfishing--the old-fashioned way. The way we did it when we were kids. With your fingers. Couldn't find any nets yesterday.

Then I'm going to come back and take a nap.

Grandma is keeping the kids Thurs and Friday, and my guess is, I will be spending the time seeing the doctor and figuring out what nastiness I have. That and getting the cat well. (He has grossness, too.)

sigh.

Summertime

2010-07-12T12:44:00.004-05:00

Ice cream

Skinned elbows

Snapping beans

Berry picking

Hammocks

Corn taller than your head

Sunflowers

and Popsicles

Life is GOOD!

Of Course!

2010-07-12T11:57:00.003-05:00

Not only perfect, but Belgian, too!

We're visiting Grandma and Grandpa. Our drive up was fast and uneventful. Even Rosebud said it seemed to go fast. Sunshine slept most of the second half and everyone else listened to stories on their ipods (well, Rosebud watched Castle)

We met them on the grounds of BD. Grandpa and Uncle were working the beer tent. We couldn't find Grandma at first, but she soon turned up. It was one of those afternoons where the sun would be shining one minute and the next it was a quick shower of gigantic raindrops. All the 11 & 12 year old baseball players would run off the field into the dugout and in 5 minutes the sun was shining again.

I bought the kids ice cream sundaes and I ate Potato Jutt. I can't believe in all these years I never had it. It was ok. Not bad, but nothing earth shattering, either.

Auntie was at home, so, since there was nothing to do there (playground was wet and the music was loud), we took our bucket of Booyah and went to Grandma & Grandpa's.

The kids told Auntie all the news, we ate the booyah, and by 5:30, Grandma was done working and came home. Grandpa didn't get home until after bedtime.

We watched the Funny Show and everyone went to bed. Big, exciting day!

This morning Sunshine was SO good when he woke up--very quiet. So at 6 I let him get up and watch Curious George. Kids ate cereal and by 7:30 they were out riding bikes up and down the driveway.

Grandpa had to go back to take down the tents and clean up the park, so Grandma and the kids and I went in search of butterfly nets so we could use them for crayfishing. Didn't find a one. We did buy groceries and also found a natural foods store that carries Sunshine's vitamin juice. He wasn't the same boy this morning with out it!

So, lunch, popsicles, the appointed 2 people washed dishes (the old-fashioned way!) and now more playing outside. It's a pretty lazy life at Grandma's!

Our Little Houseguest

2010-07-10T16:36:00.000-05:00

We have been kitten-sitting for a tiny 6-week old kitten. For his stay, we renamed him Liberty and oh, is he CUTE!

He is also prone to nap attacks. Here he fell asleep in his food dish.

Another nap attack. This time he was standing up one second and literally the next second he fell over, sound asleep.

He's like a toddler. When he sleeps, he SLEEPS! Rose Bud picked him up and he didn't even flinch, move, wake up or stir.

Sometimes he is actually awake and he loves to play. Here, he and Rose Bud are having a "moment."

One final adorable nap attack.

Pepper with Hiccups

2010-07-09T13:32:00.002-05:00

"I HATE when my diaphragm bounces up and down!!!!!"

More News for Rose Bud

2010-07-01T14:27:00.001-05:00

Today's action comes from Sunshine.

Sunshine and his rock.

Sunshine, his rock and the car.

Because the van, remember, is in the shop getting a new starter.

Sunshine, the artist.

Drawing little pictures.

All. Over. The. Car.

With a rock.

sigh.

While Rose Bud Was Gone...

2010-06-30T07:31:00.001-05:00

Rose Bud is away at Bible camp this week. Here are a few things she has missed:

Saffron caught a squeaking baby mouse. Dad chased him all around the house with it calling, "Drop it! Drop it, I say!" Dad eventually prevailed and won the mouse for himself, but not before a trip upstairs, through the library and to the basement.

Pepper dreamt it was snowing in the summer and a cold wind was blowing over her (because it was--it got down to 47 one night and her window was open!) Even though she was wearing a snowsuit (we all were) she was still cold.

Daisy dreamt SHE was working on her pioneer house and she woke up because she couldn't WAIT to mud her chimney! She really is building a small model pioneer house with leather hinges on the doors and a stone and mud chimney. In her dream, she was really in the house.
Daisy shot Banana Boy's bow and arrow and lost the arrow in the day lilies around the tree where we park the car. When she parted the lilies........ FIFTEEN eggs, all laid by Cafe!

It was too cold to swim in the pool.

The van refused to start and after some diagnoses and a hammer, Tracey determined we need a new starter. Last week brakes, this week a starter. sigh.

That's just through Tuesday!

Pepperism

2010-06-27T19:53:00.000-05:00

Pepper walks into the living room to announce:

"I have been chewing and sucking on nature!"

Why am I not surprised?

"I had a grape tendril (2 actually!), lemon sorrel and alfalfa. Mmm mmm mmm!" She gives a thumbs up and walks out.

It Was Like a Pillow Fight -- and We Couldn't Find the Liver

2010-06-23T21:48:00.001-05:00

Rose Bud got hit in the head by a bird. A Cedar Waxwing, to be exact, although we didn't know it until later.

We were peacefully driving down the street on the outskirts of town with the windows open because it was a beautiful day.

Suddenly, all at the same time there was a thud and Rose Bud ducked and yelled, "OW!" and I saw something white zip through my peripheral vision and then there were feathers everywhere. Little ones. Blowing all around the car.

And Rose Bud said, "A bird! It hit my head!"

And none of us could believe it.

We didn't see anything in the car. Everyone was looking all around them. We all were sure that SOMEthing had gone into the car. We FELT an object had moved through. But no one could see anything.

I found a street to pull over onto. I got out and looked in the back of the van. Pepper thought maybe it had fallen back there. Rose Bud and Daisy got out and looked between their seats and the door.

Nothing.

All the way home I alternated between cracking up and worrying about a bird decomposing in my closed-up-148 degree van once we got home. We kept looking all around.

At home I pulled into the garage and opened Sunshine's door. And SCREAMED. There, sitting under his feet, LOOKING AT ME, was a Cedar Waxwing. I'm sure it was just as upset as I was. More, maybe.

It sat. We all stared. It stared. Pepper got Daisy some gloves and she carefully eased in to pick it up. Just as she was about to grab it, it flew out, bumped the ceiling of the garage and flew to a nearby tree.

Where it stayed for over an hour. (can you see it there on that bottom branch, right next to the trunk?)

Rose Bud is fine.

We're not sure about the Mr. Waxwing.

We began our day with Pepper lying on her bench upside down, peering inside and wailing (do you detect a theme here with Pepper? She has only two voices: Giggle and Wail) "I CAN'T FIND MY LIVER!!!!"

It took about 5 more minutes of searching before we discovered the poor liver, along with her stomach between her binder and an old lapbook.

Did I mention we've been studying the human body? And that we're making a life-size paper body? And that they color and cut out their organs and glue them onto said paper body? Hence the need to find the missing liver.

And here was the excitement in Daisy's day:

Yes, they are green. Neon green. Mr. GT wanted to know how she would know if she had lettuce in her teeth now.

And that was our day.

Facebook

2010-06-16T09:18:00.000-05:00

If you wonder where I've gone (again), I've quit (for real this time!). While I appreciate the easy access to friends, especially those who are far away, I've always had a niggling issue with all the info out there on FB and I've never REALLY trusted their privacy policies and claims. Then I read this: 10 Reasons to delete your Facebook account

Whether it's true or not, I'm just tired of feeling uncomfortable about all the info/photos/relationships out there. I like to be anonymous. Mostly.

The last time I "quit" I didn't really quit because FB only lets you deactivate your account, not DELETE it. Unless you find the secret button mentioned in this article. And honestly, I hope that really did delete me. Probably it still retains everything I've ever posted there. sigh. I did delete everything in my account before I quit it--pictures, private messages, relationships, etc.

I don't know. Whatever. Maybe I'll get back to blogging more here.

But in the meantime, if you need to find me, you probably already know how and I'm happy to email with you.

Blessings.

Not Tough

2010-06-03T08:33:00.000-05:00

Daisy, in her school journal: "last night we ate Basil (one of the roosters we butchered this spring). He wasn't at all tough."

Farm kids!!! LOL

No Matter What We Do, He Loves Us

2010-05-25T14:46:00.001-05:00

When I hear this song, it is always God speaking to me:

I've Always Loved You, by Third Day

I don't know how to explain it
But I know that words will hardly do
Miracles with signs and wonders
Aren't enough for me to prove to you

Don't you know I've always loved you
Even before there was time
Though you turn away
I'll tell you still
Don't you know I've always loved you
And I always will

The Seagull Still Soars

2010-05-18T20:18:00.000-05:00

6-school meet (rescheduled due to thunderstorms a couple of weeks ago--it should have been 13 schools.)

Rose Bud ran her best 100m in 15.46s

Her 400 m was slow at 1:14 and she was 3rd in her heat--the other heat was faster.

She placed 2nd in the long jump with a jump of 12' 6 1/2". She jumped over a foot better than 3rd place. 1st place was 12' 10".

She is disappointed though because her jumps keep decreasing and she's jumped farther than 12' 10" before. She's thinking she should have had first. She's hard on herself. It was good enough for this meet.

Cookies

2010-05-05T10:18:00.000-05:00

By Sunshine

3 c. Baking soda
4 c. Flour
1 c. Butter
2 eggs
rice: a big cup
chawky chips: a big cup
sugar: a big cup

Stir it up. Put chawky chips in. Put in oven really hot. Cook 3 minutes.

Edited only to not include the van as an ingredient when he began to get silly.

3rd 3rd

2010-05-03T18:45:00.001-05:00

Track Meet 4

100m 4th in her heat, time: about 14.7
400m 3rd but they didn't get a time on her. She thinks, based on the runners behind and in front, it was about 1:12.5
Long Jump 3rd with a jump of 12' 2" (top jump was 13' 3") She's not feeling her jumps and is frustrated that they're decreasing. It WAS really windy. She wants Mr. GT to rototill up a new jumping pit for her. (he planted her other one!)

The 400m

The Dandelion Relay

Track Meet 3

2010-04-26T19:19:00.001-05:00

Still a seagull!

Long jump: 1st place with a jump of 13' 1/2"
100 m: 4th place (a good finish for her!) Time: 14.81s
400m: 4th place Time 1:12.4 (this was her best time this season and this was a very fast race. The top 3 times were 1:06, 1:10 and 1:10)

Her coach wants her to sprint more in the first 100m of the 400m and she's been resisting, saying she is too tired to finish well if she does. But we have a 13 school invitational coming up and so she's going to try that (since she won't likely place there anyway) and see if it makes a difference in her time.

In her 100m race, she was in the first heat against a very fast teammate and that helped her--she pushed hard this meet!

Good job, Seagull!

She's a Seagull!

2010-04-22T21:18:00.001-05:00

That's what we used to tell her before she jumped last year.

9 schools

13' 9 1/4"

2nd place

Difference between first and second: 3/4" !!

THREE-QUARTERS of an inch!

Pretty awesome!

She also finished 7th in the 400 m with a time of 1:12.6 . Top 6 finishers got ribbons.

100m didn't place.

Previous meet:
Long Jump 13' 5" for 3rd place (the winner jumped 14' 8 1/2" !!! Wow!)
400m 1st place! with a time of 1:13
and 100 m 3rd in her heat (there were no times as the gun didn't go off)

HELP!

2010-04-14T13:11:00.001-05:00

In the past two weeks, 2 of Sarah's sweet girls have died.

Elizabeth, who was 2 1/2, died on Good Friday

Evelyn was 10 or 11 and died this week

They both had epilepsy and cerebral palsy and seem to have died of seizures, but they don't do post mortems in the town where Sarah is (and probably no one besides Sarah and the people who loved these girls even cares why they died), but several other children have been sick with fevers and now Jaron (remember Jaron?)

Jaron when he first came to Sarah's

Jaron, now (look how chubby he's gotten and look at that smile!!)

is on his way to the emergency room in Hyderabad (that's a 7 hr drive, btw!) because he is vomiting blood.

The second little girl, Evelyn, who died WAS taken to the emergency room in Ongole the night she died. In fact, she was taken to TWO emergency rooms. But it was Sunday night and there, uh, weren't any doctors. In the emergency room.

Please consider, just for a moment, the emergency room care you have available to you. Yes, you might have sat for 6 hours in a emergency room once. And, yes, you might have gotten poor care (I know everyone complains about the ER), but did you have to drive 7 hours over bumpy roads while vomiting blood to get there? And when you got there, if you were really, REALLY sick, there WAS a doctor there, right?

Now the help part. All of the 40 (well, 38 now) new children are unimmunized as of yet. Sarah has not had the funds to pay for it. She needs $175 PER CHILD to cover all the necessary immunizations. What's your copay for your child's immunizations? (without getting into a debate about universal healthcare)

Maybe there is something going through the home. Meningitis? A mosquito-borne disease? TB? Hepatitis? Even if it's not a disease which killed these children, because they are medically fragile to begin with, immunization is even more important to them.

If you were not in a position to give in January when I was collecting donations for SCH, please consider helping now.

8 people at $20
1 person at $10
1 person at $5

= 1 child immunized

There is a Chip-in (Paypal link) on Sarah's blog where you can give for immunizations. If you can't do Paypal and you know me personally, contact me and we'll arrange for your donation to get to SCH.

Please help. I've met all these children personally. Each one is a precious individual, a child of God, precious in his sight.

And spread the word. Link to Sarah's blog. Share her story on Facebook. Blog about it on your blog. The more people who can pray and give and share, the sooner we can save lives.

Blessings,
Sandwich

Weeds

2010-04-10T07:53:00.003-05:00

While braiding Pepper's hair:

"Ow, Mom. You're pulling my hair out by the roots like a weed. Only my hair is not a weed."

He is Risen!

2010-04-04T10:55:00.003-05:00

He is risen indeed! Alleuia!

And here's a message from Sunshine:

He's singing (to the tune of "Where is Thumbkin?")

Where is Jesus? Where is Jesus?

In the tomb. In the tomb.

Now the stone is rolled away. Now the stone is rolled away.

He is risen! He is risen!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Indian Dinner Party

2010-03-28T21:38:00.001-05:00

Mmm. Indian food. We had 6 friends from work over for dinner tonight (along with 3 extra kids) for India Fest. Three of my kids went to bed crying because they are so full! LOL

I made:
Crockpot Chicken Tikka Masala
Rajma
Muttar Paneer
Coconut Cauliflower
Curried Potatoes (this isn't the one I made, but it's a good recipe)
Raita
Indian cabbage
Chai tea

Mr. GT made:
homemade naan (surprisingly easy. I'll try to get the link for the recipe)
kheer
mango cheesecake

I discovered the secret to a successful Indian dinner party is the crockpot (of which I own FOUR, thank you very much!)

On Saturday, I made the chicken tikka masala, all but the yogurt; the rajma, the cabbage, the sauce for the muttar paneer, the sauce for the potatoes, and the cauliflower (slightly undercooked).

On Sunday, the chicken, and rajma went into crockpots on low to warm. I peeled and cut up the potatoes and put them raw with the sauce and a little water in another crockpot on high. The potatoes didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, mostly because they needed more salt. They were cooked just right, though, and I think I'd do them in the crockpot again. I love them, but they are annoying to cook. The potatoes always stick to the pan or get too mushy on me.

The cabbage & cauliflower just got reheated on the stove. The muttar paneer sauce received peas, sour cream and paneer and it was done. The naan went into the oven.

The tea I made in the fourth crockpot just before we sat down to eat. I heated the water in my coffee maker, then put the hot water in the crock with the milk, sugar, chai powder and 7 tea bags. For just guessing, it turned out perfectly.

Not authentic methods, but it tasted great! All my sauces were cooked on the stovetop in the "right" manner, just done ahead.

There were 3 extra kids here, so all 8 of them went outside to play tag in the dark. It was a fun night!

Lovely

2010-03-24T15:24:00.001-05:00

"So my life work is first to practice being loved. He is loving, so I am lovely."

Oh, such beautiful wisdom from Rae in this post.

I just love Rae and I love Rae's blog. She is one of my good friends, even though she doesn't know I exist.

And she makes the most wonderful Rajma. I know, because I made it, too. Mmmmm.