BOOKS I FINISHED - MARCH 2014

Once again I can't get Blogger to cooperate when I try to include pictures of the book covers, so I'm just not going to try anymore.  Back to picture-less book posts we go!

The Boy Who Dared, written by Susan Cambell Bartoletti
Historical fiction/YA. A mix of fiction and fact, this is the story of a real person, a German teenager who struggled to find the balance between upholding the teachings of the Mormon church that were important to him and standing against things Hitler was doing that he believed were wrong. The end of the book includes photos and information about the characters in the story.  A pretty quick read that I enjoyed, especially knowing it was (basically) a true story.

Red: The Next Generation of American Writers -- Teenage Girls --- On What Fires Up Their Lives Today, edited by Amy Goldwasser
Non-fiction. This book is a compilation of essays from teenage girls all over the country, talking about all parts of life. Content, hurting, angry, passionate ... a little bit of everything.

p.217, ... if we're too impressed with someone else's life, then our own will just pass us by.

Keeping House, written by Margaret Kim Peterson
Non-fiction.  I have no idea where I heard about this book, but it was on my TBR list.  The point of the book is that the routine tasks of maintaining a household can be seen as ways of expressing one's faith. Sometimes boring (to me, anyway), sometimes insightful, sometimes practical.  One idea she mentioned, given in the context of nuns, but that I believe could be good for all of us, is to take a household inventory every year - count how many pairs of shoes, plates, books, games, shirts, and everything else we have. Whether or not one does an actual inventory of their possessions, I think it's important to be aware of what we have and deal with any excess (and I know that's subjective) in whatever way seems fitting. On page 87 she says, "It could be that we have more things than we need and can conveniently take care of and find room for." I totally agree! I firmly believe that our belongs should be blessings in our lives, not burdens.

p.3, There is a tendency, I think, on the part of those of us who are well fed, clothed, and housed to imagine that the needy people to whom Jesus refers in Matthew 25 are people we don't know - the sort of people who are served at homeless shelters and soup kitchens, at which we ought therefore to volunteer at at least occasionally.  But housework is all about feeding and clothing and sheltering people who, in the absence of that daily work, would otherwise by hungry and ill-clad and ill-housed.

p.18, If we are feeling the ill effects of being spread half an inch thick and going a million miles an hour, the solution is not to go even faster and be spread even thinner. The solution is to take a deep breath, identify what really matters, and do more of that and less of other things.

p.29, There remains, however, a lingering cultural suspicion that a real household, the kind that requires housekeeping, is a household with a marriage at its center.  Consider the ritual of the bridal shower.  The typical bride and groom of today have been out of their parents' house for years and have no need for household equipment; the challenge they face is how to dispose of their duplicate kitchen appliances.  The people who really need showers are the people leaving their parents' homes for apartment or dormitory life, but do they get them?  Not as long as they remain single. The operating assumption apparently is that as long as there is no marriage, there is no household and consequently no need for gifts of electric frying pans and sets of monogrammed towels.

p.45, Instead of nurturing dissatisfaction with the shortcomings of our present home, whatever we may perceive them to be, perhaps we can turn our energies toward receiving as gifts the homes we have and to creating in them enough order and tidiness to promote convenience and peace and hospitality.

p.164, But we all need homes in which the housekeeping is good enough, in which basic needs are provided for rather than neglected and in which welcome and care are routinely and cheerfully extended to both members and guests of the household.

America Through the Lens: Photographers Who Changed the Nation, written by Martin W. Sandler

Non-fiction.  This book is not only about photographers in history, but about photographers whose work changed the way people lived. The chapters are short and focus on one photographer at a time, showing some of their most famous or powerful pictures. It almost seemed more like a book about history than about photography and I enjoyed it.

Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem, written by Kevin DeYoung

Non-fiction. Excellent book for people who describe their life as "crazy busy".  I had started to make a list of quotes to share, but finally gave up because there were too many.  Just read the book.  It's a quick read and I was able to finish the whole thing in less than two napping sessions for the littlest Ws.  

The Year Money Grew on Trees, written and illustrated by Aaron Hawkins

Fiction/YA. It's the story of a 14 year old boy who has to figure out a way to earn $8,000 selling apples from a neglected orchard. I enjoyed it and had the big boys read it (one thought it was fine, one thought it was boring).

Elaine's Circle: A Teacher, a Student, a Classroom, and One Unforgettable Year, written by Bob Katz

Non-fiction.  This is a neat story of a ten year old boy with a brain tumor, his teacher, his classmates, and how they all turned what could have been a year of secrecy (some people think kids should be kept from knowing about hard things in life) or mourning (focusing lots of time on what was going to be lost) and made it a year of open communication (death is part of life) and just living life (focusing on the present, not the future).  I really enjoyed the book and think it would be a good read for anyone who is around kids a lot.

p. 115 - A better lesson, and one perhaps truer to King's (speaking of Martin Luther King, Jr.) spirit, was to stress how one person's deeds - a  person who is unheralded yet virtuous - can have a profound impact.

Smokey the Cowhorse,written and illustrated by Will James

Newbery, 1927. I liked the story well enough, but this book seemed to go on and on and on.


THE BOOK I BAILED ON

Gay-Neck,The Story of a Pigeon, written by Dhan Gopal Mukerji
Newbery, 1928. I have been slowly making my way through the Newbery books, but I changed my plan of attack this month.  Some of these books are a chore for me to work through, I just can't get into them. Rather than continuing to plow through them anyway, I'm going to use the 50 page rule I use for other books. If I'm 50 pages in and still not enjoying it, then I'm going to move on to something else. I have too many books on my TBR list to spend a bunch of time on a book I don't really like just for the sake of saying I read every book on a list ... even if it is an award winner. I read more than 50 pages of this book, but I eventually closed it up.

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MEN AT WORK

Sometimes Tim is working, but Teebs wants to be held by him.  Problem solved.

MENU: 3/29/14 - 4/2/14

I got sick quite suddenly on Wednesday night, then spent all of Thursday in bed with a fever.  Needless to say, menu planning and cooking got bumped to the bottom of my priority list.  We've eaten more leftovers during spring break than anticipated and had a planned meal we still hadn't eaten, plus a friend brought over some chicken veggie soup this morning, so it's actually worked out just fine.  However, this menu is late and will only be for five days ... then we'll get back on track.

There weren't any new recipes on our last menu, however my sweet tooth kicked into gear last night and we made chocolate chip peanut butter bars. I had made too much almond butter for our spinach salad with almond butter dressing earlier in the week, so we used the extra instead of peanut butter in our bars.  Not a huge taste difference, really, but still good. 

BREAKFASTS
* doughnuts
* oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, raisins, fruit, huh-koe-pee milk, and energy mix as optional toppings 
     - with cottage cheese and fruit x1
     - with yogurt, fruit, and spinach smoothies x1
* scrambled eggs (ours are always made with a ton of chopped spinach, sometimes some chopped tomatoes, a bit of pepper, and always a sprinkling of some type of cheese)/toast 
* apple buttermilk bran muffins (from the freezer)/smoothies

SCHOOL DAY LUNCHES
* meat & cheese sandwiches/carrots/apples
* tuna/crackers/olives/apples
* beans & rice with sour cream & salsa/pea pods/carrots

DINNERS

* leftovers

* tacos (seasoned meat and crockpot beans from the freezer) 

* rice/buffalo slaw
* coconut chicken soup/simple bread
* baked potatoes with sour cream, cottage cheese, mozzarella, butter, seasoned salt, and green onions as available toppings

SNACKS & DESSERTS

* produce

* nuts - pistachios & dry roasted almonds

* popcorn (kernels from the Winco bulk department & a West Bend Stir Crazy to pop them in)

* crackers/green hummus
* apple cinnamon cake with homemade apple pie filling from a friend

TEEBS WAS HERE

Why is our shoe rack empty again?

Because Teebs likes to put all the shoes in the basin next to the shoe rack.

Here's what happens when the littlest W gets into the produce bins.

Evidently we have a new tape storage system.

And a new place for keeping plastic forks.

If one straw is good, then seven must be better.

3/25/14 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for the sounds of birds chirping in the yard.

What's something that you're thankful for?

I LOVE OUR HOUSE #9

I really like being able to see trees from my bed and this is the view I get where we currently live.

That shot certainly won't win any photography awards, but you can see all the blossoms on the tree outside our window  I love it!

WORKING, HIKING, PLAYING, EATING, TALKING

Yesterday was fantastic! It started off  by everyone sleeping in until they woke up on their own, then eating waffles that Silas, who woke up earlier than he'd anticipated, decided to make for everyone's breakfast. Then we all headed outside to do some work in the yard for an hour and half.  It was still a little cool, but the sun was shining and it was great to be productive in the nice weather.  Two Ws left for an appointment about 11:15 and the rest watched science videos on Youtube.

Next up?  A hike at Magness with the whole family. Various portions of our family have been there over the years, but we hadn't gone as a family since our pre-Teebs days when we took a pneumonia-ridden Silas for his birthday.  (Good parenting, huh?)  This hike isn't particularly long, but it has steep elevation changes close to 400 feet. We all love it! Teebs rode on Tim's shoulders for part of the hike, but did really well walking on his own over half of the time.  The route we took is two miles and the time it takes varies. I've done it alone and with Tim in 40 minutes, but we took an extra hour yesterday so we could take time to play in the creek and with a slower pace and a couple rest stops for short legs.

This kids think this sign at the trailhead is funny.  I think they're right.

Here are a few shots of the scenery.

And a few shots of the Ws. A girl with a funky posed smile and yours truly.

A toddler throwing rocks into a creek and a dad making sure the toddler doesn't follow the rocks into the water.

Two boys talking while walking.

We finished our hike, then headed to Boones Ferry Park to check out a bike path we've always been curious about. I threw Teebs in the stroller, Naomi grabbed her scooter, and Devon joined me walking a little over a mile from Boones Ferry over to Memorial Park.  Here's a not super exciting, but never seen by us before, view from under Boone Bridge. which we saw on the bike path.

Knowing people may be tired of walking by the time we were done at Memorial and not want to walk back to Boones Ferry, Tim and Silas drove the van and we met them there. We spent about an hour swinging, climbing play structures, sliding, shooting hoops, and climbing trees in the now 70 degree sunshine at Memorial.

Finally, after a full day of outdoor activity, we decided to go inside.  In Cold Stone, specifically. We forked over some gift cards and enjoyed eating some ice cream together.  I don't know why I feel compelled to always take our pictures there, but I do.

We headed for home after Cold Stone, Teebs took a little nap, I worked on some things in the house, and the other Ws played or worked on stuff outside for a couple hours.  I went out later in the evening to spend a couple hours visiting with Pam, who I hadn't seen since the end of last summer. It was the perfect ending to a fun day!

A LITTLE WORK, A LITTLE PLAY

This morning Tim and the big boys headed off to the church for Dudes, Doughnuts, and Dodgeball, Devon as a participant and Tim and Silas as helpers.  What they did for three hours is pretty self-explanatory. Meanwhile, I hung at home with Naomi and Teebs. We did exciting things like wash slipcovers, clean up the house, and watch movies.

The guys all came home, we ate some leftovers for lunch, then headed to some friends' house. Teebs got put down for a nap, then the rest of us got busy. We spent the next four hours working on their property and eating.  We gathered tons of fallen branches and made two huge piles of them, which then got set on fire and burned while we worked.  Here is some of the fruit of our labor.

When we reached our stopping point for the day we woke Teebs up, roasted hot dogs, then made s'mores while we sat around and chatted.  The poor little Ws were simply wasting away and we had to shove food in their mouths to keep them from collapsing.

They soon perked up, though.

I love yard work so much! It was great to be outside all afternoon and to be able to help someone else with a big project.  The exercise was a bonus. Doing squats as I pick up branches a gazillion times is way more fun than doing them in my living room and I'd much rather lift wood outside than weights inside.  I even got to take home a souvenir.  Jealous?

We finally said goodbye to this scene (my first panoramic, I might add) and headed home.

We braced ourselves for a rough evening, as some kids who needed naps didn't get one today, but it's been great.  All the kids took baths or showers, I made smoothies and popcorn for dinner (we ate late enough on the property that no one was starving, but it wouldn't have held us over until morning), and have been sitting around the table all night reading (Silas), playing games (Devon taught Naomi to play Solitaire and now they're playing other games), and just visiting (all of us).

All little Ws are going to bed early, I'm going to take a scalding hot shower and remove plant life from my hair, then crawl in bed with a book.

Pretty fantastic day!

WHO IS HE?

Devon and his classmates have spent the last couple months working on a project where they had to choose a famous person, then write a paper and do a speech about them.  The speeches were presented all day on Wednesday, with each of the other classes at school and parents coming at set times throughout the day. They called it Wax Museum and all the desk were facing out in a circle with the students standing on the inside of the circle, like they were made of wax.  Guests would press a paper "start button" on their desk, which would make the students start giving their speeches.  We went around the whole circle and listened to each kid's speech.  They all did such a great job!

Anyway, back to Devon.  He chose someone with crazy hair. And a crazy mustache. Who spent a lot of time thinking.

And who eventually got too hot and started shedding layers as the day progressed. And went from serious to smiling.

Albert Einstein.

If only we'd had him stick out his tongue in the last picture!

MENU: 3/20/14 - 3/26/14

Two new recipes this time.  

shrimp & feta green salad - This is something I made up one night and I loved it!  Salad greens, shrimp, feta, olives, tomato, and pepper.  Yum!

buffalo slaw - The name of this recipe makes it sounds like a salad, but it's not.  It's a lean and green, yummy dish with ground beef, cabbage, and a bunch of seasonings.  

And now for our next menu, which only has two school lunches because next week is spring break.  Can't wait to have all four little Ws home during the day!

BREAKFASTS
* doughnuts
* oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, raisins, fruit, huh-koe-pee milk, and energy mix as optional toppings 
     - with cottage cheese and fruit x2
     - with yogurt, fruit, and spinach smoothies x1
* scrambled eggs (ours are always made with a ton of chopped spinach, sometimes some chopped tomatoes, a bit of pepper, and always a sprinkling of some type of cheese)/toast x2
* almond coconut granola as cold cereal or over yogurt/smoothies (ended up using our snack granola for breakfast last time, so this is on the menu again)

SCHOOL DAY LUNCHES
* cinnamon raisin English muffins with cream cheese/pea pods/carrots/dry roasted almonds
* pbh&b sandwiches/applesauce/pea pods

DINNERS

* leftovers

* tacos (seasoned meat and crockpot beans from the freezer) 

* broccoli & cheddar quiche with brown rice crust/tomato slices with pepper & parmesan

* meatloaf (from the freezer, magic meal from a friend)/spinach salad with almond butter dressing 

* penne & sausage casserole (sauce from the freezer)/rosemary parmesan brussels sprouts

* cheesy green beans/rice

* BLTs on hoagies/pea pods/carrots

SNACKS & DESSERTS

* produce

* hummus for veggies

* nuts - pistachios & dry roasted almonds

* popcorn (kernels from the Winco bulk department & a West Bend Stir Crazy to pop them in)

* spicy crunchy chickpeas (we haven't made these in ages)

* ice cream

3/20/14 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful that we've always had both access to electricity and the ability to pay for it.

What is something that your'e thankful for?

FOUR RANDOM HOUSEHOLD IDEAS

These are not particularly amazing ideas, but sometimes I get inspired by little things other people do around their homes (including one of the things in this post) and I figure someone else may be able to put one of these ideas to use.  

Drinking Jars - Each person only gets one cup each day around hour house and we used to go with a "dark cup for the dark boy, light cup for the light boy, different color for the girl" method of keeping track of kid cups.  Eventually the big boys started needing bigger cups and we added another person to the mix, so we needed a new plan.  

Tim and I use quart-sized jars for drinking, the big boys use pint-sized jars, and the two littlest Ws still use the same plastic cups we've been using for over eleven years or so (love those cups!). The problem was keeping track of which jar belonged to which W.  I was over at Faith's house a couple summer's ago and she had everyone mark their jar with a Sharpie.  Brilliant!  We've been doing the same thing at our house ever since.  I just initial four clean jars each morning and we're good to go.

Warnings - This old Ziploc box is now being used to hold bag clips, which I guess is an idea of its own.  The box fits nicely in the drawer with other bag boxes, foil, saran wrap, etc. and we just replace it as needed. However, the real reason I posted this picture is because of the words "last box" written all over the box.

One of the household things that drives me crazy the fastest is when people don't tell me they've pulled the last bottle/box/bag of something out of our stockpile and I don't discover we're completely out until I need the item.  One day I opened the drawer with bags in it and found that Tim had written "last box" all over this one.  Perfect!  He had just opened the box, so it was almost full and there was no rush to get a new one, but it was now on my radar that I needed to get more and he didn't have to worry about remembering to tell me when he saw me later in the day.

Bag Storage - We use old produce bags for various things and I used to keep all of them in one produce bag, but they always got in the way of other things and it bugged me. One day I started shoving them in cardboard tubes and now that drawer is tidy again!  You could use wrapping paper, paper towel, or toilet paper tubes, cutting them to the right size if you need to.

Wet Gloves - I don't like to run wet gloves through the dryer, but it can take a long time for the inside of all the fingers to dry out.  My solution is to put one of my cooling racks from the kitchen over a heater vent, fold the wrist part of the gloves back as far as I can, then spread the open part of the glove as wide as possible and set it on the rack. 

Do you do any of these things?  Have any random ideas of your own?

PI(E) DAY POTLUCK - 2014

Every year I see posts from people on Facebook who celebrated March 14th (otherwise known as Pi Day, 3.14) by making sweet or savory pies for their family.  I'm a big fan of finding reasons to have dessert, but I never think of celebrating this particular day ahead of time and am never prepared.  A week or so ago, however, someone mentioned it was coming up and yesterday I asked the kids if they wanted to have pie. They said yes, of course. Then I called Tim to see what he thought of inviting other people over.  He was fine with it, so I posted on Facebook to see if anyone wanted to buy or bake a pie and join us for a pie potluck.

Last night I baked a colonial carrot pie.  I know that sounds weird to a lot of people, but it looks and tastes very much like a pumpkin pie.  We love it!  I also baked a graham cracker crust last night, then made creamy lemon filling, another one of our favorites, when I woke up this morning and tossed the pie in the oven.  However, the creamy lemon pie was a little different than usual.  Last night Silas suggested that I bake it in different pan. I complied.

This pie 'r squared.

This morning Silas decided to make a poster to take to our homeschooling group, which we were going to mid-morning. He tacked it to the wall during our meeting, then made a little announcement at the end to make sure people knew they were invited.

 (Yes, I'm aware of the spelling and time errors.)

We were going to have pie whether other people came over or not, but three other families showed up. Eighteen people (three dads, four moms, eleven kids) + four pies (mixed berry, carrot, creamy lemon, and banana cream) = a fun evening!

(Yes, there's a slice out of one.  It was left at home for a husband who couldn't make it, but understandably didn't want to miss out on  pie.)

I think we may have to make a Pi(e) Day Potluck tradition!

MENU: 3/13/14 - 3/19/14

Ready for some new recipes?  I have four this time around!  All recipes are linked in green.

caramelized onions - I asked Susan what she'd do with some gorgonzola I had sitting around and ended up in a brainstorm with a few friends.  These yummy onions were part of what I ended up doing.

gorgonzola & onion burgers - Here's what I ended up doing with that gorgonzola.  Delicious!

kale & broccoli quinoa - Lemon juice and parmesan make this dish really tasty.

slow cooked coconut chicken - I love, love, love this!



BREAKFASTS
* doughnuts
* oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, raisins, fruit, huh-koe-pee milk, and energy mix as optional toppings 
     - with cottage cheese and fruit x2
     - with yogurt, fruit, and spinach smoothies x1
* scrambled eggs (ours are always made with a ton of chopped spinach, sometimes some chopped tomatoes, a bit of pepper, and always a sprinkling of some type of cheese)/toast x2
* almond coconut granola as cold cereal or over yogurt/smoothies

SCHOOL DAY LUNCHES
* meat & cheese sandwiches/carrots/apples
* cherry oatmeal muffins/pea pods/pistachios/string cheese
* tuna/crackers/olives/apples
* quesadillas/black bean dip/red bell pepper/carrots
* dry roasted almonds/crackers/cukes/red bell peppers/string cheese

DINNERS

* leftovers

* tacos (seasoned meat and crockpot beans from the freezer) 

* crockpot cheese tortellini/roasted brussels sprouts with pecans (skipping the gorgonzola)

* sesame asparagus/rice/buffalo slaw

* lentil bean chili/cornbread (we ended up going out with a gift card one night on the last menu, so this didn't get made)

* shrimp & feta green salad/e-z drop biscuits

* summertime orzo & chicken/roasted broccoli

SNACKS & DESSERTS

* produce

* hummus for veggies

* nuts - pistachios & dry roasted almonds

* popcorn (kernels from the Winco bulk department & a West Bend Stir Crazy to pop them in)

* nutty fruity granola
* colonial carrot pie and creamy lemon pie for a Pi(e) Day celebration

3/13/14 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful that every bad day and stressful situation eventually comes to an end.

What's something that you're thankful for?

TEN ON TUESDAY - 3/11/14

Baseball - One endcap kid gave the other endcap kid their first baseball lesson. It looked a lot like a golf lesson, but that's beside the point. How cute is this?

Cool Book - We got Big Book of Brain Games: 1,000 PlayThinks of Art, Mathematics & Science for Devon at Christmas and it's awesome!  The book is divided into chapters by subject, but each puzzle is also rated by difficulty so that you can focus on the level that you desire, answers and an index of difficulty in the back, and a code for each puzzle that tells you what you'll need to solve it (mind, pencil, etc.). I think everyone except Teebs has enjoyed some puzzles from this book.

Family Night Out - Devon attends one of six Arthur Academy schools and every year the schools provide a free evening at OMSI for students and their families.  We went last night and had a great time. We would have had gnarly traffic if we'd headed that direction on time, so we left home an hour early and used a gift card we'd received at Christmas to treat ourselves to a dinner out at Subway.  Here we are at dinner, just doing our part to keep Portland weird.

Handwashing Dishes - Remember how I told you last year that I'd finally started using our dishwasher? Well, I stopped.  We've been back to handwashing for a while now, probably a couple of months.  The dishwasher just didn't do as good of a job at getting dishes clean and I rearranged the kitchen counters in such a way that I don't have to have dishes piled up on the counter.

Panhandler - There is a panhandler who is almost always at a particular location in our town and one of the little Ws had been wanting to provide Christmas gifts or do something else for them.  Then the little W discovered the person lives across the street from us.  With their well-fed dog and their steady supply of cigarettes. And the little W lost some sympathy and gained some cynicism.

That can be a tricky thing to deal with as an adult, but even trickier to parent a child through.  It's important to me that our kids be eager and cheerful givers.  It's important to me that our kids have a heart to help those in need, some of which are panhandlers.  It's important to me that they not judge a person solely on what they can see, as circumstances can be better, worse, or just more complicated than they appear to others.

At the same time, I want them to have discernment to know what needs are legitimate and wisdom to know how they should help. Any giver can be taken advantage of or deceived, so I never want them to become hardened toward or judgmental of people who have (or appear to have) taken advantage of others' generosity.  I just want them to have their hearts in the right place and their actions to match up with their heart.

Picasa - You can find lots of pictures of our life on our Picasa page, which is also linked in the blog sidebar.

Science Bowl - Silas was part of the weekly Science Bowl meetings when he was in public school and he wanted to support his friends at the annual Science Bowl in January, so I took him and Devon to University of Portland to watch. We spent all day there, watching his friends compete in the morning, playing frisbee and visiting with them (and the other adults who were there) during breaks, and doing some activities with the group on the afternoon.  It was their first year competing and they didn't place, but they improved so much over the course of the day.  Those kids get asked some hard questions!

Talent Show - Devon's school had a talent show in January, the first one they've ever had, and we went to watch. I think my favorite was the group of kids who taped glow sticks to their bodies in the shape of stick figures, then had the gym lights turned off while they did a dance routine.  So fun!

Tool Time - One of the slats in our fence broke and was falling down, so Devon fixed it for us.

Valentine's Day - Our homeschool group had a Valentine's Day party, so I helped Silas and Naomi create some things for it.  Naomi and I made cards by tracing a heart-shaped cookie cutter on pictures of food from a magazine, cutting the hearts out and gluing them on construction paper, then writing "LOVE" on them. Silas and I baked and decorated a whole bunch of heart-shaped sugar cookies.

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