Soccer Update

It's the night before the last day.

The boys are all tucked into bed and - presumably - sleeping, in anticipation of being out the door by 7:10am, on our way to the first soccer game of the last day.

It's cold.

It's pouring.

And it's really, really windy.

And if I think of anything else to whine about, you'll be the first to know.

Lord Have Mercy

I gave the boys a few caramels for dessert.

Wyatt stuck his together, put one end in his mouth, and began chewing slowly with the other end sticking out of his lips.

Tate immediately began to snort and giggle.  I think tears were actually coming out of his eyes.

Wyatt!  It looks like you have a turd in your mouth!

Wyatt jumped up and ran from the table... to the bathroom, to look in the mirror.

Because, really, who could pass up the chance to see what you look like with a turd in your mouth.

*eyes roll*

Last. Soccer. Practice.

Yes.  The last soccer practice of the year.  (Yippee!)

Why am I celebrating?  I mean, I'm not the one that has to go run around for an hour and a half, when it's 42F and raining.

Exhibit A:  Wyatt, before practice.

Exhibit B:  Wyatt after practice.

From the front...

... and from the back.

He got the "Muddiest Boy at Practice" award -

a candy bar from the coach.

I'm living in a Tide commercial.

That will be all.

Storm Clouds

First snow on the hills around the lake.

The days are shorter and the nights darker. 

Summer nights, here, never seem to get completely dark.  A little bit of bluish twilight seems to hang on all night.  But no more.

A storm rolled in yesterday.  Well, it had been raining on and off all day, but around 5pm it got dark.  Really dark.  Rain, hail, thunder and lightning.  Tate's 5:30 soccer practice was - thankfully - cancelled.  Even if there hadn't been lightning, it was getting too dark to see.

As I drove several miles north, to a rehearsal, I finally got out from under it.  I didn't take the photo below, but it was a dramatic difference, like this:

But here's the weird thing...  the bottom of the cloud looked kind of like this:

Only a lot darker and nastier.  Yes, I turned that photo upside down on purpose!

Summer Chili

I'm not on a mission to use my crock-pot everyday, (like Crockpot 365), but it does seem to be getting a work-out at my house lately.

I think soccer madness has a lot to do with it. Take Thursday... Gunnar had practice at 4:30, Wyatt at 5:00, and Tate at 5:30. By the time we got them all back home it was going on 7! And it's not like I have a lot of time to make dinner in the evening, with three drop-offs and three pick-ups.

So... I made Summer Chili. Here's what you do:

1 small-to-average onion - chop
1 or 2 cloves garlic - mince
1 to 2 t olive oil

Cook the onion and garlic in the oil on the stove-top until it's all tender. I like the onion just starting to brown. Add

1 - 2 cups chicken broth

Except, I cooked a turkey last week, so I used turkey broth. Whatever.
It will probably look kind of like this.



Season with

2 t chili powder
1 t cumin
pinch black pepper
pinch cayenne pepper
1 T honey

Okay, for my ultra-non-spicy family we adjust this. Do what you like.
While that simmers, prepare...

1 to 2 C dark red kidney beans - I used canned; drain and rinse.
2 - 3 stalks celery - chop
2 -3 carrots - chop
2 -3 C summer squash and zucchini - chop
1 red or green pepper (or both) - chop
2 C mushrooms - slice
1/2 - 1 C tomato - chop or crushed
1 can tomato sauce - small can for thicker chili, large can for more "soupy" chili

Put it all in the crock-pot. It will look something like this. (The beans are underneath.)



Pour in (carefully!) the onion/garlic/broth/seasoning mixture and stir it all up.



Turn on the crock-pot and forget about it until dinner.


* I put mine together in the morning and left it on low for about 8 hours. You could probably half that and cook it on high. Or cook it on the stove-top (higher heat) for a couple hours.

* I used lots of broth and a large can of tomato sauce to make mine more soupy, and served it with cornbread. We love to throw the cornbread right into the bowl of soup. Because we're classy, like that.

* Now that I look at the pictures, I think I added corn, too.

* I used a large (5Qt) crock-pot. If you have a smaller one, adjust the amounts of veggies.

Yes, the recipe is rather vague. I've used winter squash in the winter and varied the amounts of just about everything. Sometimes I add meat (cook it with the onion and garlic). You can't go far wrong. :0)

Simple Woman #33

Simple Woman

FOR TODAY October 26, 2009

Outside my window... Good thing I took those leaf pictures last week because after the wind and rain we've had, the dogwood is nearly bare. Sometimes the branches shake and catch my eye, and I see a squirrel or a blue jay. (Okay, if you're a purist, they're really stellar jays, but they're blue and they're jays, so we call them blue jays.)



I am thinking... soon, soon, turkeys will go on sale, and I will buy two. Or three. At least. And fill my freezer with turkey pot pies.

I am thankful for... work keeps trickling in for Kerry,( and we keep praying for more.) To God be the glory.

I am praying for... Wyatt and my brother and sister to stay healthy for their trip, and my Aunt Myrna, recovering from pneumonia.

I am wearing... well, duh... my "winter uniform"... blue jeans, t-shirt, sweater, wool socks.

I am going... in circles?

I am reading... still reading "Little House on the Prairie" with the boys, and reviewing a book that a friend of mine is writing. Exciting!

I am hoping... for one more Saturday without rain. Pleeeeaaaaaase!

I am hearing... clothes flopping around in the dryer. Too cold and damp for the clothesline. Darn.

I am remembering... sweating in our summer heat wave and wishing for cool fall days.

From the learning rooms... King Charles I lost his head, working with ratios and rates in math, two eggs soaking in vinegar - testing the effects of flouride toothpaste, spider-webs going up on the walls, and the famous (Leutze) painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware to discuss for art.

Around the house... lots of leftovers in the kitchen (which is good), piles of clean laundry in the laundry-room (which is half good... when they're put away, then it'll be all good), and in the living room, a basket full of fall books, like The Spider and the Fly, One Dark Night, and a perpetual family favorite, The Runaway Pumpkin, because we all like to say, "Thumpety-bumpety, thumpin' bumpin', round and roly, runaway pumpkin!"

On my mind... we found a chair for the desk :0) Well, it almost fits. It's about a quarter of an inch too wide. But that's nothing Kerry can't fix with a saw and sandpaper.

Noticing that... the days are getting really short. Still dark when we have breakfast at 7am, and dark again by about 6pm. I love changing seasons.

Pondering these words... A friend (who?) of Hudson Taylor's encouraged him with these words. "Not a striving to have faith or to increase our faith, but a looking at the Faithful One seems all we need." Trying to keep my focus in the right place :0)

One of my favorite things... Handel's Messiah.

A few plans for the rest of the week... the last soccer practices of the season. Hallelujah!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

The sunrise, Sunday morning, taken from the boys' bedroom window.

New Vocabulary

Oh my.

I think Gunnar learned a bad word.

At least he thinks he did.

I could hear him arguing with Wyatt and then Gunnar came stomping out into the living room with storm-clouds over his head and gave me stink-eye. With all the self-righteous anger he could summon, he announced:

Wyatt is a BUSTER!

Me - Um, Gunnar, what is a buster?

A really mean person who never keeps his word!

I'm trying not to laugh, because I'm sure there are at least two little savages who need some wise parental discipline.

And I'm wondering if he made that up himself, or if he actually did hear a bad word and he's mispronouncing it.

But I don't want to ask.

Two Weeks

Two weeks. From today.

My oldest will be going on a trip.

Without me.

You may, or may not, have noticed little Stitch relentlessly marching across the Pirates of the Caribbean 'ticker', on the sidebar.

We've been counting down since he found out.

And here's the thing:

Swine Flu is everywhere. At church, in the soccer teams, at the grocery store.

And I'm not paranoid about it. We've probably all been exposed, and we may get it. And we're generally healthy so I'm not all freaked.

But, please do me a favor.

Please pray for Wyatt, and my brother and sister, that they'll all be healthy for their trip.

'Kay?

Thanks.

Morning Thoughts

The boys are allowed to come into our bedroom in the morning for a snuggle, if they want. It's kind of a little boy thing, although Wyatt will occasionally come sit on the foot of the bed if he wants to talk about something.

Gunnar comes almost every morning. He wiggles down under the covers and is like a little furnace. He'll lay (lie?) there quietly for a few moments, and then he'll say something. The first thing out of his mouth in the morning could be anything. I love this about little boys.



These are actual "first words" of the morning:

Mom, want to hear three amazing things about the octopus?

Mom, where do potatoes grow?

Mom, mornings are the bestest times! (Me, feeling all warm and cozy, thinking this boy is referring to the snuggle time, but no... he continues...) Because I get to have Grape-Nuts, milk, and brown sugar! I love Grape-Nuts, milk, and brown sugar!

Mom! Veggie Tales are all food! Talkin' food! (Yes, well, hence the name.)

Mom, do you know how flies taste? (Fear and disgust fill my mind.) With their feet!

Catching Spiderwebs

Dewy, foggy fall mornings are the best time to capture spiderwebs, because the dew makes them visible and easier to find.

Here we are with our materials.
You will need:
dark construction paper
white flour
something to spray

We've usually just used a mister with water, but hair-spray (sticky!) or white spray-paint (also sticky) works great. Watch the overspray...

When you find a web you want to collect, spray it. If you're not using something sticky, be sure to get it thoroughly wet.

Carefully slide a piece of construction paper behind the spiderweb and slowly pull it toward you.
It helps to bow the paper a bit, toward the web, so the web drapes over the paper.

Quickly, while the web is still wet, sprinkle a little bit of flour on it, and gently shake it around.

Here are some of our finished products!