Shannon's Back Fence

Use it up Wednesday---Paper projects!

2012-02-01T16:27:00.001-05:00

My inspiration for using it up today comes from my friend Erin. She made these decoupage clothespins, so cute! You can visit her at Seriously? to see the banner and LOVE decor piece she made. All with leftover scrapbook paper.

I went through the house and found a couple of things I've made from papers in the past. The luminary candle and the clipboard were both super easy to do. Just a little paper and Modge Podge!

If I can get myself organized, and carve out a little fun time, I may do a decoupage bird house for Vallentine's Day.

What are you using up this week?

Meal Plan Monday

2012-01-30T18:51:00.002-05:00

Mexican pizza, yum!

After doing these meal plans for a month, I have noticed two things. One, we rarely have the breakfast or lunch I have planned, and two, we came in a whopping $100 below our food budget! Granted, $50 of that was due to a gift card the husband won at his office Christmas party, but still that is fantastic. Additionally we had zero nights of me calling Ken to please bring home pickup and only one unplanned trip out to a restaurant. And I did such a good shopping trip midweek that I don't have to go shopping at all. And our overall spending for the month was also under budget. Hurray, it's working!

I'm going to continue listing breakfasts and lunches for another month. We'll see how it goes.

Monday

Breakfast: Veg juice, waffles for boys, cereal and milk for me.

Lunch: Leftover egg & cheese muffin, carrots

Dinner: Fish filet/popcorn shrimp, slaw, roasted potatoes

Tuesday

Breakfast: Cereal and milk, fruit

Lunch: Salad with turkey

Dinner: Chicken quesadillas

Wednesday

Breakfast: Oatmeal, fruit

Lunch: Salad with turkey

Dinner: Beef roast w/ broccoli and smashed potatoes w/ cauliflower

Thursday

Breakfast: Egg and Toast

Lunch: Tuna salad sandwich

Dinner: Turkey burgers, oven sweet potato wedges, spinach

Friday

Breakfast: Cereal and milk or waffles

Lunch: Tuna salad sandwich

Dinner: Smoked sausage w/ rice and veggies

Saturday

Breakfast: cereal, waffles, etc.

Lunch: Simple salad

Dinner: out to German place with my girlfriends!

Daddy's choice for boys

Sunday:

???

A note on "Mexican pizza." There are a million recipes out there, but something we've found is that we are very satisfied using two corn tortillas as the crust, fat free refried beans as the base, a minimal amount of seasoned meat or no meat at all, canned or fresh tomatoes, lowfat cheese, and a sprinkle of shredded spinach. We estimated it to be under 400 calories, and it was filling and delicious. Season with the salsa or hot sauce of your choice!

Fabulous Frugal Friday

2012-01-27T15:42:00.001-05:00

(Random pic of the day....crazy weather lately. These geese don't realize they are not supposed to be in Ohio in January!)

Frugal Fabulous: free apps for my iPhone! Some are just for fun, but the most useful thing I've found is from caloriecount.com. It has really helped me lose weight---so far I am down 6.5 pounds since January 1st! There are lots of apps out there that can really be useful. I feel so much better about the expense of the new phones now that I am learning more uses for them.

Frugal FAIL: this one is only a potential fail. Husband has been asked to relocate to a very expensive city. Not only would we be a six hour drive away from all our friends and family, but also the cost of living is 20-30% higher. We have yet to see the offer. We have no idea if he will have a job once all this goes down. We also expect that if he finds a new job he will potentially lose 20% or more of his current pay. We never had plans of moving, so this is quite unexpected.

That said, there is a certain victory for us: no matter what happens, through our thrifty ways, we've invested for the future, paid a lot toward our home, and generally built ourselves a nice little safety net. During times like these, it is easy to succumb to panic, upset and worry. I've been doing my best to count my blessings---he's had a wonderful position with a good company all these years, which has allowed us to do awesome things like take nice vacations and fix up our house. All of it is a blessing. Whatever happens, I am confident in our ability to live on much less. Reminds me of a story:

A friend of Diogenes visited him and found him eating a dinner of lentils.
The friend was a courtier in the court of the king.
He said to Diogenes, "If you would learn to flatter you
would not have to eat lentils." Diogenes replied, "And if you
would learn to eat lentils you would not have to flatter."

-- Unknown

Meal Plan Monday

2012-01-23T17:35:00.001-05:00

Happy Chinese New Year!

If we were really awesome, we'd make some Chinese food tonight, but alas I didn't think of it in time. Our meal plan last week actually went great. The only change was that book club was postponed for weather, so the husband brought home some pizzas. This actually worked out well because we were able to use the leftovers to fill in the gaps on the weekends. My favorite meal of the week was bbq chicken sandwiches and slaw. I make a fairly light slaw dressing of just a tiny bit of mayo, milk, a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper. I also am loving the turkey burgers, they are so easy to make, and Aldi had 12 packs on sale for $5.69 last week!

For this week:

Monday

B: Cereal and milk, juice

L: Leftover pizza, orange slices

D: Lasagne, salad

Tuesday

B: Veggie juice; egg and toast

L: Chef's Salad (Turkey and cheese on Spinach)

D: Mexican pizzas

Wednesday

B: Oatmeal

L: Turkey sandwiches

D: Beef roast, vegetable side, cauliflower mash

Thursday

B: Veggie juice; egg and toast

L: Soup and salad

D: Turkey Burgers

Friday

B: Smoothie or Cereal

L: Sandwich or leftovers

D: Husband's choice (me to book club)

Saturday

B: Cereal and Milk, fruit

L: Out

D: Sandwiches or leftovers

Sunday

B: Homemade waffles

L: Roast or homemade soup; rolls or cornbread

D: Leftovers

Regularly scheduled post...

2012-01-20T14:48:00.003-05:00

...is cancelled today due to sudden familial drama, which I will no doubt share in the coming weeks when I am at liberty to do so.

Till then, here's a few pics from a freakishly warm Saturday two weeks ago!

Meal Plan Monday

2012-01-16T15:52:00.002-05:00

(Random photo from Saturday's Pinewood Derby)

I am sick with a bad cold, and almost didn't make a meal plan at all. Then I realized more than ever I need a meal plan to turn to, especially for the digging out phase that comes after a few days of sickness. If I didn't have a plan today, tonight would have surely ended with me calling the husband to bring home carryout. So, here we go:

Monday
Breakfast: Cereal and Milk, oranges

Lunch: Toast and tea, more oranges

Dinner: Lacho from freezer (a tomato based stew with sausage) and brown rice

Tuesday:

Breakfast: Oatmeal, grapefruit

Lunch: Tuna salad sandwiches, carrots

Dinner: Hamburgers on wheat buns, guacamole and chips

Wednesday:

Breakfast: Egg and toast, oranges

Lunch: turkey sandwiches, banana

Dinner: Steak, mashed potatoes, spinach

Thursday:

Breakfast: Cereal and milk, fruit

Lunch: Chef's Salad

Dinner: BBQ chicken sandwiches, slaw

Friday:

Breakfast: egg and toast

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner (Boys and Daddy) Popcorn shrimp, slaw, fruit (Me to book club)

Saturday:

Breakfast: Cereal and Milk, fruit

Lunch: Out

Dinner: Leftovers or soup

Sunday:

???

I've decided to leave Sundays open, unless we have some occasion, simply because we keep changing it! Most Sundays we are at leisure to concoct something from leftovers, thaw or roast something, make a pizza, and just generally follow our inkling for the day. It is nice to have some flexibility along the way.

Fabulous Frugal Friday

2012-01-13T09:29:00.004-05:00

Fab Frugal thing #1: husband won a $50 Giant Eagle gift card at his company Christmas party. So I able, with coupons, the gift card and my Giant Eagle discount card, to get all of the above for $33! It's hard to see in the picture, but this was a full shopping cart...lots of fruits and veggies, some meat and fish, 4 boxes of Kashi cereal...all kinds of organic and specialty foods too. Score!

Fab Frugal thing #2: Found this lovely vintage box for my son's scout things. It's perfect for all his belt loops, pins and badges that were getting lost all the time. He really likes it, since it's kind of manly, and not a jewelry box. $3.99 at Goodwill. Another goodwill find was an unopened "Apples to Apples Jr." game for $7, so I snapped that up too.

Fab Frugal thing #3: a ride cymbal for the boy. Wow, it's like Christmas is still happening for my elder son. We've been shopping the prices, and found a sweet deal at Music-Go-Round on a used ride cymbal in good condition for just $30. These instruments can be very, very expensive, and usually the cheapo ones sound like you're banging on a trash can lid. We really lucked out on this one! Together with the stand (and a pair of Neil Peart sticks we threw in for fun) it was under $100. Totally worth it considering the kid practices for about a half hour before AND after school each day.

Frugal Fails: Nothing. I have nothing to report! Literally the cymbal and the Goodwill were the only things I bought this week. And I have no plans to shop for anything in the near future, so hurray!

Use It Up Wednesday---Hobbies

2012-01-11T16:40:00.001-05:00

Isn't it so tempting when beginning a project to run out and buy all new stuff? Yeah, me too. This week I resisted the temptation. I went to my friend Erin's for a little scrapbooking, and instead of swinging by my favorite craft store I just loaded my bag with all the goodies I've already amassed over the years, figuring I could make great pages with what I have.

And what I have is a lot. Papers, markers, stickers, embellishments, vintage bits and bobs, paints. You name it, I've got it. And yet I don't always see it or appreciate it. Something I want to work on this year is the idea of "cultivating contentment." Like many, I spend too much time envying; trying to keep up with the Joneses. I see what someone else has and somewhere in my mind I think, yes, I must have it too! Life will be perfect if I just had one of those! Those urges get so strong that they can completely blind me to the plenty I have all around me.

I'm also motivated by a fellow blogger, Pam, to create wider margins for myself. That is to say, open up some time for fun, for personal projects, and for just knocking around the house. So I'm thinking I'll be spending a bit more time using up my craft supplies this week. It kind of brings up another point: how often do we go buy stuff, like craft supplies, with the dream of creating me-time or self-expression, only to pile those things in a heap in the spare room? If you're me, then it can be a lot. And further, there can be that awful moment where that craft project turns into the ugliest of the ugly: another thing on the to-do list.

Do you have something lying around the house that you've been itching to work on? Why not give yourself the gift of an hour or two to rediscover it?

Menu Plan Monday, picky kids, and a recipe

2012-01-09T13:20:00.000-05:00

Chicken Burrito---recipe at bottom

How it went: first week was a success, huge! I've never been a big menu planner, and I'm seeing the error of my ways. Having that list to turn to each day at 5pm has lifted a burden I never realized was there. Usually 5pm is the worst time of day. When the kids were little we called it the "witching hour." Everyone was cranky and I was pulling out hair to think up something to cook. It was really handy on evenings that we had events. The only switching we did was to do the chicken burritos on Sunday because we had a portion of chicken that needed to be eaten. Also, we stuck to the plan because it all looked good, and to only ate out once.

Monday

B: Cereal, Grapefruit (must eat 15 pound bag of grapefruit!)

L: Chef's salad

D: Steak*, baked potato, broccoli

*How we do steak: we get our beef from a farmer in bulk to freeze; we pull a decent sized steak for the 4 of us so that we are each only eating a palm-sized portion.

Tuesday

B: Veggie juice, oatmeal, grapefruit.

L: Leftover burritos

D: Veggie burgers, homemade sweet potato fries, fruit

Wednesday

B: Cereal, fruit

L: Choice of tuna salad or turkey sandwich, carrot sticks, apples

D: Soup and bread

Thursday

B: Breakfast burritos (egg and salsa) fruit

L:Choice of tuna salad or turkey sandwich, carrot sticks, apples

D: Tilapia, brown rice, spinach salad

Friday

B: Cereal, fruit

L: Spinach Salad w/ turkey

D: Grilled cheese, fruit, veggie sticks (one kid to a party)

Saturday

B: Whole grain waffles, yogurt, fruit

L: Potluck at Pinewood Derby!

D: Out

Sunday

B: Sausage, egg and toast.

L: Making our own egg rolls

D: Leftovers, fend-for-yourself

Easy Chicken Burrito Recipe

Ingredients:

1 can Campbells Fiesta Cheddar soup

1 can milk

1 can diced tomatoes (use the kind with chiles for more heat)

2 slices pepper jack cheese (or any cheese you want to use up)

1 lb. boneless/skinless chicken breast, cut up into small pieces

1 small diced onion

Salt

1 Tbsp oil

Cilantro

Cook up your chicken pieces and onion in a hot skillet with just a little oil to prevent sticking. This should only take a couple of minutes. In a separate cook pot, cook your soup and milk as directed. Add the diced tomatoes. When you've reached a simmer, add your cheese. You could also add any other type of seasonings such as salsa, chili powder or hot sauce to kick up the heat. Add half the sauce to the chicken. Scoop the filling into burrito shells and roll up. Place in a greased baking dish. Cover the burritos with remaining sauce. Bake in a 350 oven for just 10-15 minutes. Garnish with cilantro. The great thing is you can add things or amend to your tastes: ground turkey or beef would be great, peppers, chiles, spices. Really you can't mess it up!

Picky kid tip of the day:

My kids have gone through varying degrees of pickiness. My husband and I have spent the last four years undoing the chicken-nugget-addiction we created with our older kid. I will try to add things that worked for us to add to your bag of tricks.

We love Tex-Mex type foods because everything is made with only a few basic components: meat, cheese, rice, beans, tortillas, chips, lettuce, salsa and other accompaniments. When I do a dish like this, I typically reserve some of the cooked meat to the side and let the boys assemble their own concoctions, making sure to have at least two things available that we know for sure they like. What I like about this is they are still more or less eating the same thing we are eating, and getting used to the same family of flavors. Additionally, they seem happier when they feel they have a bit more control over what they are eating. In this instance, I actually had a bit of cooked ground beef and not enough chicken for everyone, so I heated the beef and allowed them to make their own burritos without the sauce. My younger guy who likes things plain, just ate beef in a tortilla, though we encouraged him to try a taste of the sauce. My older guy had a burrito with meat as well, but took a small portion of the sauce, as well as some salsa, to dip into. We've found with our kids that this approach greatly reduces their stress, and we have an enjoyable meal.

Happy eating!

Fabulous Frugal Friday

2012-01-06T11:14:00.002-05:00

I'm baaaack! The house has been reclaimed from Christmas and life is back to normal. (And no the whole house doesn't look like this; it's photo-magic, lol.)

Frugal Fantastic: first, we didn't do any shopping or purchasing this week. Additionally, I didn't run out and use my Christmas gift cards either. Also, I learned how to set my credit card up to get extra cash back on gas, groceries and other mundane purchase. We pretty much use the card for all the expenses, then pay the balance at the end of the month, though I personally believe we'd spend less if we used cash. Husband disagrees, and well, compromise is part of marriage, is it not? Finally, our meal plan went fantastico and we didn't stray from it. We even cooked up a Thai noodle dish last night that rivaled going for takeout. All good!

Frugal Fail: not much to report. Yes, major food waste in that we had to toss *a lot* of holiday baked goods because honestly they came at us from all directions. Next year I'm hoping for fruit baskets and nuts. Also, I did take my younger son out to lunch one day this week (to Bob Evans with a coupon. ) He was pretty down about the tree and decorations going away and Christmas being over, so I surprised him after Kindergarten pickup. I'd call it more of a splurge than a fail, really.

Happy weekend!

Menu Plan Monday

2012-01-02T19:51:00.002-05:00

(With gratuitous photo of the MIL's pineapple upside down cake)

I am going to attempt to plot out our weekly meal plan, so as to try to eat better and waste less in the new year. I'm going to plan easy meals for nights when we have activities, like scout meetings, and I'm going to try to incorporate one dish per week that is new or unusual for us. And of course I am going to make the list after I've scanned the contents of the fridge, freezer and pantry, but BEFORE I shop, to reduce waste. So here goes...

Monday

Breakfast: Cereal and fruit

Lunch: Turkey burgers, tots, and salad

Dinner: Tacos, made by Zack for scout acheivement

Tuesday

Breakfast: Fruit and Yogurt Smoothie

Lunch: Turkey Chef Salad

Dinner: Steak and asiago cheese and spinach wraps

Wednesday

Breakfast: Fresh Veggie juice (Celery/Cucumber/Carrot/ginger/grapefruit)

Oatmeal for kids

Lunch: Turkey wraps and fruit

Dinner: Fish, rice and veggies

(The Wednesday dinner is a bit vague, to keep on

doing Use It Up Wednesdays.)

Thursday

Breakfast: Fruit and Yogurt Smoothie

Lunch: Chef's Salad

Dinner: Thai noodle dish w/ Tofu and peanut sauce (kids will have chicken

and *hopefully* try one bite of the tofu. ;-)

Friday

Breakfast: Fresh Veggie Juice/egg with spinach

Lunch: Salad or leftovers

Dinner: Hot mini-subs with carrots and fruit (scout meeting night)

Saturday

Breakfast: Cereal

Lunch: Going-out day

Dinner: leftovers, soup or salad

Sunday

Breakfast: Eggs and Toast

Lunch: Roast, potatoes, carrots

Dinner: leftovers, soup or salad.

My Holidays in Instagram!

2012-01-02T19:34:00.001-05:00

I am loving Instagram, a little too much! We had fabulous holidays over here...company on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Eve. Needless to say, we are ready for a bit of quiet!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T11:54:00.001-05:00

May the new year find you reaching heights you never dreamed possible!

See you in 2012!

This holiday season...

2011-12-24T16:12:00.000-05:00

...do yourself a favor and make time for stuff you love! Even if it doesn't necessarily fit into your schedule of shopping/cooking/cleaning/baking/wrapping. Today we attended church and completed our family art project and I feel satisfied and complete. Tonight's feast will just be the icing on the cookie.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T15:43:00.000-05:00

Happy holidays, bloggy friends! I am skipping fabulous frugal Friday this week because it's Christmas crunch time and it's all pretty much a frugal FAIL, lol! But it's all good, because St. Nick arrives tomorrow night and I will have a house full of people, a tummy full of cookies and cup of good cheer!

So I am shutting down the old computer for a few days to enjoy the season. I wish you all the best!

xoxo

Shannon

Christmas Musing

2011-12-22T16:49:00.000-05:00

I'm thinking about a lot of things this holiday season. Wondering how is it that I have more than enough, but still struggle for contentment. Thinking about how the fast pace and busyness of the holidays can swallow you up if you let it. And how even the good stuff---stuff like sipping warm drinks and reading to the kids and making things and baking cookies and planning activities with friends and family---how that can end up just more stuff on the big to-do list. I feel almost numb to the endless classic holiday hits on the radio. And no matter what I do there is yet another gift I've forgotten or something left to wrap or another detail missed.

And then the prospect of yet another holiday season passing without my parents is rough too. I pull out the ornaments my mother gave me, I hear certain songs, I make my mother's cheese ball, I have a Buckeye and think of Dad. I think of how small the kids were the last time they spent Christmas at Pa-Pa's, and sigh at how Nathan never even met Ma-Ma at all. (And I marvel at how he sees her photos and thinks he remembers her!) I fight the urge to feel jealous of those who have their parents and loved ones. I feel a chill come over me, a disconnect. I force myself to make it nice for the kids, but then I quietly sob at sappy Christmas songs and movies, and generally feel sorry for myself.

Then I saw this woman who nearly made me cry---she was standing in Meijer, gazing, deciding between two pairs of holiday socks. I thought of my mom, who never failed to put a pair of festive socks into the stockings for me and my sister. I suddenly saw it, in the midst of our misguided hustle-bustle: love. Love. Love is all around us. The lady with the socks and the nervous young guy at the perfume counter and the packs of BFFs in their jammies, sipping peppermint mochas on Black Friday and the single mom making her last payment on the layaway---all of us---all just doing our best to think of some tangible, imperfect way to show our love to our fellow people. I consider how my mom worked so hard to get us the perfect gifts, and how my dad struggled to get her the perfect gift too. I consider our Heavenly Father, or as my kindergartener calls Him, "Our Big Friend Up There," figuring out the perfect gift for His children. A son, a child, to come live with us; to teach us how to love each other.

So I'm done with this year's round of feeling guilty about buying too much or not doing enough. I've cried my allotment of tears for my parents, well, at least for now. Today I'm sipping ginger tea and watching the candles burn in the early solstice sunset and enjoying our tree. The boys are alternately annoying me and enchanting me with their play. Ken is due home early for work, and we'll have a simple meal. Today I just feel glad.

Use it up Wednesday

2011-12-22T09:18:00.000-05:00

Kale. I hate kale. But seeing as how it is still growing like this, on this freakishly warm December day, I have no choice but to harvest it and cook some up.

The big use-up project of course is to finish up the odds and ends of everything in the fridge: lunch meats, yogurts, fruits and vegetables. We must make room for the Christmas feasts!

Using anything up in your neck of the woods?

6 Days to Go...

2011-12-19T12:31:00.001-05:00

How's the holiday preparation going for you?

Family Baking Day

2011-12-17T17:54:00.001-05:00

Once a year we dive in and bake our hearts out. Today was the day. Unplanned. In fact, most years it just sort of happens. I was ready with the needed ingredients, and what we didn't have we improvised. My Nathan was really into it, as his kindergarten teacher had just done a unit on The Gingerbread Man. Zack, at the tender and complicated age of 8, was not so into it. I noticed that neither kid was all that interested in he mixing and rolling of the cookies this year either. My husband got into decorating with us, and we four made a gingerbread family. The eating was fun.

I held onto the moment today. My boys are growing, and a lot of these simple childhood delights are losing their appeal to them. Even their gift wishes have evolved: Zack wants a toolkit and skateboard and Nathan wants battleships he can build himself. Zack is asking to help wash dishes and make dinner and fix things around the house, and Nathan loves pushing the lawnmower with his dad and sweeping up the clippings. It is good and right, but still I'm glad when anyone wants to curl up and read a book together. Now that I have one reader and one almost-reader that is becoming rarer too.

I just hope they don't outgrow everything.

What about you? How have your family traditions grown and evolved with your family?

Fabulous Frugal Fridays

2011-12-16T18:07:00.002-05:00

My fabulous frugal find this week was getting a gently-owned Kindle for $50! This was a great example of what many authors, including my hero Amy Daczyzyn calls "putting out the word." I had mentioned to several people that my son had been asking for one, and voila, one appeared. Another little victory was that we talked ourselves out of going out to a potentially expensive dinner last night and cooked a really good meal at home. Instead of spending $50 for the four of us to go out, I made barbecue salmon (that I had purchased on sale at Meijer) couscous and peas. We estimate that the meal cost no more than $8 for all of us, and was much much better than anything we would have ordered in a restaurant, plus we got to be home together instead of fighting the traffic. I have to remind us that every time we say no to a dinner out we are saving at least $30, depending on where we go.

My fabulous frugal failure for the week can just go under the umbrella of forgetfulness. I have had to go out to the stores four times to pick up this, that, the other, and the other again for the boys' holiday parties and other such things. Each time I'm doing this, I am remembering two or three things besides that I "need" and picking them up without research. I really had higher hopes for December, especially considering all the shopping was done beforehand. I feel like I'm doing the planning, but still losing ground. Perhaps next December we need to just add a budget line item called "forgetfulness."

Last but not least, the above photo was from a surge of inspiration on the part of my friend Erin. While we were sitting in her kitchen, talking about different cookies and treats, she got this brainstorm: Hershey white chocolate peppermint kisses on pretzels. And she made them. Just like that. You basically put the kiss of your choice on a pretzel, bake for just a few minutes on a 300 degree oven until they are soft, and you're done. It is probably safest to wait for them to cook, but they are delicious when they are still a bit warm.

Any tips for saving in the midst of the crunch of the holidays? Easy treat ideas? Do share!

Use it Up Wednesday

2011-12-14T16:29:00.000-05:00

Now that I've given up peddling vintage things on Etsy, I find myself with a surplus of, well, vintage things. That said, several lucky folks will be getting vintage greeting cards this year. Makes more sense than leaving them sit in a bin, unused and unloved. Besides, they are stylish and classic. In the coming year I am planning a massive purge of the house, so I plan to either bring my vintage goodies into use, or find good homes for them. I have a bad habit of collecting---or curating, if you rather---pretty things then never using them. I am like a little old lady with a drawer full of bubble bath and salts she's "saving."

In the kitchen, we will use more of the freezer beef to make hamburgers for dinner, plus use up a head of lettuce for salad before it goes south. We are trying so hard not to let this crazy, busy season chase us to the fast food joints.

Do you have things you are saving for "someday?"

Same Blog. New Look.

2011-12-13T13:16:00.001-05:00

I decided to make a few changes around here, and in the process it's sort of re-igniting my desire to continue blogging! I've also been inspired by several fantastic bloggers to just change things up. First I did change the blog title. Frankly I always meant "SupermergentroidGal" in a tongue-in-cheek way, a reference to a favorite movie of mine called "Swingkids," but nobody got it. And "LifeArts" just sounded good at the time, but in retrospect it comes off as a little pretentious. When I thought about how I could change the tone of this space, I kept coming back again and again to something a dear friend said once about her social networking sites: she said for a stay at home mom, the internet is like the back fence. A place to yak about what's for dinner and what the kids are doing and what's on your mind. I feel the new banner gives you a better idea of what you can expect.

The content will run the gamut of things I like: frugal living, simple living, crafty things, decorating, cool thrift store finds, gardening, food, and the odd pretty picture. Some things I want to do more of are sharing links with you that I love, waxing philosophical and actually posting recipes rather than just describing some odd concoction that I threw together. I'm loving Use it Up Wednesdays and Fabulous Frugal Fridays, so I will keep up with those. Things I won't be doing include starting up a bunch of features I can't keep up with or posting things that aren't so great just to have something to post.

Also, you'll probably see a bit less of my kids. Yes, they will still be around, and will show up from time to time. But they are getting older and really need a little more privacy than they used to. Another issue, and I'll probably do a blog on this, is that I was starting to feel a bit disingenuous setting up situations to make a pretty picture of domestic bliss. And I was feeling I had to have the camera with me always to capture every moment for the blog, which was starting to just feel weird, and anything but authentic. Authenticity does not require photography 24/7!

Mostly I think I want to share more about myself. And I want to learn more about you 23 lovely followers! (And maybe draw a few lurkers out of the woodwork.) I'm sort of embarking on the next phase of life---next year my younger son will be in school full time which will leave a big chunk of the day to fill. I have already been struggling to imagine the next steps. Do I stay home? Do I go back to my old profession? Do I try something new? I'm hoping to share some of that journey with you here at the back fence.

Fantastic Frugal Fridays

2011-12-09T13:55:00.001-05:00

A new idea I'm trying: "Frugal Fridays" where I let you know how my quest for a leaner, more frugal household goes.

This week's Fantastic Frugal Find was at Aldi. I was able to find Marzipan logs, a staple in our Austrian-American family each Christmas, for 89 cents a piece! They usually go for nearly $5 a bar at the specialty import stores. So I bought ten. :-) Also the bags of pistachios, another beloved family holiday treat, were under two bucks. Big score! Aldi always has everything I need, it is easy to get through their stores because they mainly only sell their own brands of things, they are comparatively small and I usually finish my shopping in about fifteen minutes, they always have great deals on seasonal items, and I am seldom tempted to buy things that were not on my list. I would add that I've been happy with their wines and beers, which are all reasonably priced. This is needed during the holiday entertaining season. All that, and they are a German company, so they always carry the German/Austrian goodies we like in our family. If you have an Aldi near you, check it out! Be sure to take your own bags because they charge, cash or a debit card (no credit cards,) and a quarter for the cart (you get it back at the end.) ***Not a paid or compensated endorsement, just showing my love for one of my favorite stores.***

This weeks Fantastic Frugal Failure involves my outdoor Christmas lights. I did succeed in using only what we had and making a nice little light display. Where I went wrong was in using the wrong kind of extension cord/power strip. Apparently it was indoor only. (Husband says "just because it's green doesn't make it outdoor safe!) I learned all this Monday when the alarm system battery failed. We realized that the outdoor lights, the alarm and the deep freeze were all on the same plug in the basement. The pouring rain shorted out the lights, which knocked everything out. The good news was the meat in the deep freeze was still solid, as was most of the food. Additionally we learned of an obvious flaw in our electrical system, which may have created bigger problems down the road. The bad news---had to pay out $35 to replace the alarm system battery. Moral: use the right stuff the first time.

Any Frugal Finds or Failures???? Share!!!

Use it up Wednesday, a 5k and bloggy life stuff

2011-12-07T17:48:00.001-05:00

First order of business is I have to brag on us a bit. My elder son, who is part of his school's "walking and running club" begged to sign up for our Jingle Bell Run/Walk in downtown last weekend. A 5k is the LAST thing on earth I ever thought I would do, but I went ahead and plunged in and signed the whole family up. The bummer of the day was the husband got called to France for a week and had to miss it, but the rest of us went forward, and finished the race in just over an hour! Not too shabby, especially for the saggy housewife (myself) and a kindergartner, who told me at the 2nd mile that he had "no more stamina, Mommy, all I can do is keep walking!"

Secondly, it's time for USE IT UP WEDNESDAY! Basically my mojo is all off this week, due to the husband's having come home from France with the flu on Sunday, then a late start to the school day today. But I perservere---dinner is a beef steak from our freezer stash, and I'm mashing up the rest of the Thanksgiving potatoes, and cooking up some limp but green broccoli. Owing to the shortened days as solstice approaches, it's not even worth it to photograph.

Lastly, I'm feeling a bit discombobulated with regard to the blog. A blogger I have loved, and who really inspired me to step up my game on my own little space here in cyberland, suddenly announced today that she's through with the blog. I can totally relate to some of her feelings, as I've had them myself. She has her own issues; like me her kids are growing up and she's ready to figure out the next step. For me, I'm realizing my kids are getting older and really need more privacy. I also feel that I crave "authentic" experiences, and how hard it can be to really live those experiences when you are basically setting up a pretty picture or creating a story to tell on your blog. It is too easy to post up pretty pictures and make you all think my life is just amazing. Even my blog title, "supermergentroidgal" was really meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but might come off as being a bit over the top.

It all hit home because I've been thinking about making some changes here, cleaning up the place a bit, and maybe shifting the focus of my blog. Well, as I've not had much focus, maybe creating a focus: I like gardening, I like kids' crafts, I like art, I like cooking, I like decorating, I like writing, I like photography, I like thrift, I like vintage stuff, and most of all I like just sharing cool things. However, again and again I'm wondering what the point is, and is it worth the time I give it.

So, hang with me if you will, while over the next few weeks I experiment with a few things, and generally rethink the focus of my blog. I've never considered myself a "blogger" in the strictest sense of the word. To borrow a phrase from a friend: this space is my back fence, and you're all invited to stop over and yak with me. :-)

{this moment}

2011-12-02T08:27:00.001-05:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soulemama.

Use it up Wednesday

2011-11-30T12:42:00.006-05:00

This week's use-it-up energy is being applied to gift wrap and decor. I have made two solemn vows this year, one, no new gift wrap purchases, and two, no new decor purchase. I've only broken each one once, lol. :-)

I bought a single roll of "Santa" giftwrap which is different from the rest of the wraps and bags, for the sole remaining believer in the house. *sigh*

New candles for the Advent wreath. And yes, one broke on the way home. Oh well. Advent has quickly become a special family tradition.

I'm digging to the depths of the big container of wraps and ribbons, most saved from previous years, some scrounged from yard sales and thrift stores.

I may use some of the boys' large easel paper drawings and dress them up with ribbons.

We always have a supply of gift bags. It's become a family tradition to carefully fold up the gift bags for the next year. My MIL calls them "heirloom bags." We've also received several reusable gift bags made of felt, which are fantastic.

For decor I decided to only get out things I love...things I made or things my mother gave me or things like my vintage Shiny Brites.

I wanted everything to feel simple and clean this year.

Our door wreath; a first year of marriage purchase from Target. I drool over all the magazine ideas for new wreaths, and I even made one of those fancy ornament wreaths one year (which fell apart miserably despite gobs of hot glue.) But for things we use once a year, I'm just sticking with what we've got.

Our stockings. I remember doing the names on the first two, the "Mommy and Daddy" ones the year we found out we were having Zack. And when babies were coming I bought a new stocking to add as we went. I also remember my mom getting rid our our worn out stockings when I was a kid and replacing them with these knitted character things she got in a store. It was never the same! I've vowed not to ever EVER change out these stockings.

Soon we will put our tree up---fake tree due to my allergies---with all the home made and saved ornaments from over the years. I love that it is all coming together quickly and simply. If time permits, and if we have a few strands that still work, we'll put up a few lights outside. If not, we have the wreath and some greenery. I might make a Christmas bunting from fabric scraps, and I might not. I'm doing a cookie swap with my book club next week, so I should be set for holiday sweets. With the kids, we'll probably think of some little craft to make or draw something. I am just all around loving this vibe of not beating myself up if things aren't perfect, AND not spending needless money in the process.

Anyone using anything up this week? I'd love to hear about it!

Thanksgiving was awesome

2011-11-25T13:13:00.002-05:00

I love my family!!!

Use it up Wednesday and Thanksgiving Prep

2011-11-23T14:42:00.002-05:00

Today's use-it-up energy was directed toward the annual eating of the random foods in the fridge to make room for the Thanksgiving food tomorrow. We all had something a little different for lunch---a pb&j wrap, an onion bagel and cream cheese, a couple of hot ham-and-cheese sandwiches, assorted fruit, and a big side of spinach for everyone.

My use it up theme extended into the decor. I scavenged every little pumpkin I've picked up from the thriftstores over the past two years to make my "pumpkinscape." I also found a way to incorporate my favorite vintage tablecloths which are too small for our tables, colorful candlesticks my sister-in-law made, and our everyday Fiestaware and cloth napkins, because we don't have the cash or the storage for fancy holidays-only plates. We had to bring out a card table and every available chair in the house, which really makes it feel like Thanksgiving!

Tonight we honor a nuclear family tradion: the eating out at our favorite Mexican joint, so as not to mess up the kitchen. Whatever your traditions, I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!

Use it up Wednesday

2011-11-16T18:20:00.003-05:00

I've noticed on Wednesdays I am at my peak of creativity for the week. I'm over the hurdles of the Monday-reclamation of the house when everyone else goes back to work and school. And I'm not feeling the rush of trying to get ready for the myriad weekend activities. So I've taken to using my Wednesdays to dig to the bottom of the freezer, pantry, cupboard and closet in search of forgotten ingredients or supplies for food or craft making magic.

Ingredients: half an onion from the fridge, a bunch of slightly bruised apples, a butternut squash from a farmer friend that has sat on the counter for over a month, six eggs that are about to expire, limp broccoli, and the bottom of the Craisins bag.

Transformed into: a broccoli quiche and a mix of roasted squash, cranberries and apples, roasted with just a sprinkle of salt and a touch of honey. Yeah the crust was a bit overdone, but all in all it's pretty good.

Now if I can just get the kids to eat it...

Cleaning up

2011-11-13T15:52:00.004-05:00

Today I hunkered down to help Zack do his 3rd grade service project. The kids all had to think of their own project, and his idea was just to pick up litter along a local watershed by our house. It was probably the last nice day we'll see for a while and it was so nice to talk while we picked up litter. The main conclusion we reached is that buying less disposable stuff is far superior to trying to pick it all up later. We enjoyed the walk home through a grove of trees where I snapped a photo of the kind of fall "litter" I like to see on the ground. I was very very proud of him today.

Use it up Wednesday

2011-11-09T17:51:00.003-05:00

In a stroke of energy I ended up having a thrifty-goodness kind of day. First I decided to use up the leftover cooked oatmeal from breakfast on an experiment creation that turned out pretty good: oatmeal cranberry pistachio biscotti. I basically tinkered with a biscotti recipe until it looked right, and voila! Best part was I was ready to throw out the pistachios because they were a bit stale. It's really pretty good, and of course I have no recipe, as I was tinkering and eyeballing (and wishing and hoping) my way along. I would say the easiest way to incorporate oats into baking is to substitute no more than 1/4 to 1/3 of the flour with oats. If you're adding cooked oats, you'll want to use less of the wet ingredients called for in the recipe of your choice.

Also I rescued some soup bones from the dregs of the deep freeze. They came with the hunk of grass fed cow we bought from a farmer friend last fall. They have simmered all day on the stove top, and now I will add some frozen veggies from the summer garden and other odds and ends from the freezer to make a simple soup for dinner.

This all goes together with a new goal we've set for ourselves: we will not buy any meat, other than for holiday entertaining if needed, until 2012. We are blessed with a full freezer, and anyway we don't need to be gorging ourselves with meat. Likewise we have a lot of grains, cereals and ingredients in the pantry, and I'm going to do my best to keep us well fed and out of restaurants! So as part of this, at least once a week or so it will be my mission to scrounge the freezer and the recesses of the pantry, flex my creative muscles, and come up with bits of culinary genius. Or, at least something edible.

I don't know why they call it Indian Summer

2011-11-08T11:21:00.003-05:00

...but I like it. My first walk to school in over a week, feeling good though taking it slow. Took the kids in to vote with us. Remembered to take my camera. Thoroughly enjoyed the walk home. If anyone needs me I'll be sipping some tea or cider and enjoying some good reads on the front porch this day while the kiddos ride bikes. Cheers and happy voting!!!

Things are looking up

2011-11-05T14:42:00.002-04:00

(My neighbor's crab-apple tree)

Home from the hospital and feeling better. I'll be home all weekend resting but hopefully back to the blogging desk mid week sometime. I've missed the beginning of NaNoWriMo and I don't know if that's going to happen for me this year or not. All in all, I'm just enjoying the sunshine as it streams into my house today, and a little quiet while the boys are out with their dad.

Halloween

2011-11-01T10:42:00.003-04:00

Funny that I said I'd be scarce this this week, and yet blogging more than ever. Ha ha, blogging is more fun than doing the laundry. Hope your All Hallow's Evening was a good one!

We thought we'd put our skulls together...

2011-10-31T16:08:00.002-04:00

...and wish you a Happy Halloween from the Supermergentroid Family.

The duel on Mustafar, on a cake

2011-10-30T20:04:00.002-04:00

My favorite little Jedi wanted a cake with the duel on Mustafar scene from Star Wars Episode 3. I did my best and obliged. He turns six tomorrow. I endlessly marvel at the light speed passage of time once parenthood begins.

{this moment}

2011-10-28T12:54:00.001-04:00

Enjoying fall; getting ready for a change

2011-10-26T13:55:00.002-04:00

Fall is of course a vibrant change of season. For me next week will hopefully change things for me greatly---I'm going in for a uterine artery embolization to help with fibroids. Long story short: I have a big one, and it's basically stealing my energy. I am kind of to the point where I can barely keep up with laundry and dishes and meals, let alone blogging and creativity and the fun stuff. I'm accepting that I can't do it all right now.

We are having some good times around here: we picked out a couple of nice pumpkins to carve this week and we are going to do a family paper mache skull painting project. I'm also doing a 365 scrapbook; that is going only so-so. I usually remember to snap a photo a day, but then I end up doing the pages ten at a time to catch up, which sort of defeats the purpose. My baby will be turning six this week so we're expecting company for that. We're drinking cider and taking lots of walks and watching the leaves turn.

Anyway I expect to be scarce for a while, both planning for this and recovering from it after. If you have a moment, keep me and mine in your prayers. The boys have never known life with mom in bed for a week! With any luck I'll feel a whole lot better on the other side.

Today is a reading day

2011-10-22T11:12:00.004-04:00

Do you bite off more than you can chew with your books? Yeah, me too. Part of my problem is that no matter how long the library queue is, I'm guaranteed to have all my titles come in at once. I now find myself at varying points in multiple books; no choice but to have a reading marathon today. Here's the rundown:

On the Farmfront: The Women's Land Army in WWII by Stephanie Carpenter. I've barely begun this but the pictures are fascinating. It's about women, bother farmers and non-farmers, who flocked to the country to keep agriculture going during the war while the men went to fight. Think Rosie the Riveter on a tractor. I found this title completely by accident while doing a library search for a book for my son.

The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted by Elizabeth Berg. A collection of short stories about women dealing with various issues. I'm about half way through, and I really like it, especially the story that gives the book its name---a woman skips her Weight Watchers meeting to literally eat whatever she wants all day. I had heard the title several years back and finally got around to getting myself a copy.

Buddha Standard Time by Dali Surya Das. I was intrigued by its cover in the library, so I checked it out. Basically there are a lot of good ideas in this book, and you don't have to be a Buddhist to benefit from them. I'm about halfway through (haven't had the time to read it ha ha.)

The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory. Yeah, I sort of dig the racy historical fiction thing. I finished The Other Boleyn Girl and loved it, as well as The White Queen and The Red Queen. Wouldn't you know it, that my copy of The Lady of the Rivers came in today and I can only keep it two weeks?

The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Daczyzn. This is the bible for all things frugal. It is admittedly a bit dated (like Amy's early-1990's advice that you don't really need a computer) but the articles are timeless and solid. I try to re-read this, or at least skim it a couple times a year to refocus my efforts at keeping things simple and frugal around here.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. This was a very very weird book, that I read for book club. If you like Tim Burton movies, Alice in Wonderland, fantasy, steampunk stuff and honestly a good page turning read, this is for you. To be honest, at first I really didn't get it, but the hook was so great I couldn't stop until I got to the end. I would add it's a good read for All Hallow's Evening too.

That's my line up for today, since the husband has kindly taken the boys off my hands. What are you reading?

Thrifted Thursday and an Etsy Purchase.

2011-10-20T16:04:00.004-04:00

On every thrifting trip this year I've sought out the perfect cat, for Halloween decor, with no luck. I learned something: I would go to the thrifts, spend a lot of money on other stuff I found, but still no cat. So I decided to just find what I wanted on Etsy. This critter came from Now Vintage; I got it quickly and I love it! It was a little more than I wanted to pay, but less money than going on a thrifting excursion and buying a bunch of stuff and still coming home without what I wanted. Sometimes I think it is worth it, especially if you want a certain thing.

As I've mentioned in recent posts I've been sort of avoided the thrifts altogether, again because I buy too much stuff, and I'm more in a decluttering phase of life. However, the other day the rain was pouring and I was feeling a bit blue. This little bit of sunshine cheered me up! Made in Italy, it still had its old Lazarus price tag on the bottom! It will be perfect in the early days of spring when I'm looking to ward away the chill!

Weekending

2011-10-17T12:17:00.006-04:00

It's been a while since we've done proper weekending, between the cub scouts' popcorn sale and attending various events. We had a great time Saturday at Prairie Oaks, hiking and taking in the sights, sounds and smells of fall. I guess you could say the tastes too, since we started the day with dougnuts and then had early supper at Der Dutchman. It was nice to just spend a few hours roaming the park and noticing things like wooly worms and other creatures, fungus and the smell and sound of leaves and wind.

The boys also enjoyed the crazy playground with the climbing rock that was a wee bit taller that I would have like, lol. They are adventurers.

Sunday found us at the soccer field again, for the 2nd to last game of the season. We have been blessed with excellent weather for every game (*knock wood*) so far, but we are also looking forward to reclaiming Sundays for piling on the blankets and reading books. For now though, it is awesome to attend a game with a mug of cocoa!

Fall Treats: Doughnuts and Cider

2011-10-16T16:14:00.002-04:00

We have a little family rule about doughnuts. Twice a year and that is it. Yesterday was a lovely, windy but sunny fall day, so we decided to go for a hike in the afternoon. Knowing this, Zack and I stopped at the grocery store on our way home from drum lesson to surprise Ken and Nate with an assortment of doughnuts and cider for breakfast. I was proud of us because we are trying to save money, and I was tempted to go to Tim Horton's drive through AND Starbucks! That would have cost a bundle. Instead our little Kroger trip was under $10 for cider, cocoa and doughnuts, plus we got a ton of exercise to burn off the doughnuts! And let me tell you, they are extra awesome when you know that you'll be waiting four months until Fat Tuesday and your next doughnut!

Random painting spree

2011-10-13T14:54:00.002-04:00

Do you ever just wake up one morning and realize that the color you painted the lamps was just the wrong shade of blue?

And further, feel compelled, at that moment, to bring out the spraypaint and start working on it? Even if your sink is full of dishes and the laundry is all heaped up? Yeah, me too.

There, that's better.

Weddings are so...

2011-10-09T11:50:00.002-04:00

Sweet

Beautiful

Delicious

Fun

Proper

Fancy

Romantic

Thank you Tom and Erin, for including us on your special day. Godspeed and best wishes for a happily ever after!

New Book Giveaway Link!

2011-09-30T07:47:00.004-04:00

For a free SIGNED copy of this new book from one of my very favorite bloggers, Liz Owen, go to Mabel's House. She's wicked funny and crafty and stylish. Here's a book excerpt:

***

Once one has breathed in the deep pungent aroma of sewage, you never again forget the nose-hair singeing, eye clawing, throat gagging experience. It comes over you slowly. You begin to feel like a character in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as your muscles involuntarily jerk and you run screaming and blowing raspberries. Anything to get away from the mind-numbing stench.

But let me explain.

It was 6:30 a.m. I was standing in my retro pink tiled bathroom trying to open my bleary eyes and ready myself for work. As I stood there, peering into the mirror and wondering what demented nighttime fairy had planted four new wrinkles on my face, I paused and sniffed.

“Matt… what’s that smell?”

Matt staggered from the bedroom in his underwear, eyes half shut. “I don’t smell anything.”

I pointed my nose into the air like a hunting dog. “Seriously? You can’t smell that? Did you go to the bathroom in here earlier? I told you to use the room spray when you do things like that.”

Matt puffed out his bare chest and gathered his pride as best a man can with sleep in his eyes and a small hole in the side of his underwear. “I just woke up!”

I frowned, catching a glimpse of my makeup-less hot-rollers-in-hair state and tried not to think about the fact that I looked fifty instead of twenty-nine. “Well, help me figure this out. Because something smells ripe.”

We sniffed the sink drain and ruled it out as a suspect.

“Is it coming from the toilet?” Matt asked, examining it from top to bottom.

“No, that’s not it,” I snapped. I’m not known for my milk of human kindness in a disaster. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a survivor. I plan on eating my radish like Scarlet and clawing my way out of the nuclear dust while dragging my loved ones with me. But I won’t be doing it with positive phrases and a smile.

“Hon, I just don’t know. We’ll call a plumber after work, maybe it’s coming from under the house.” Matt staggered a little, trying to get past me and out of our tiny bathroom.

“Well, that’s just great,” I moved aside and pulled the shower curtain back so I could perch on the side of the tub and give Matt room to move out the door.

That’s when the full brunt of nastiness filled the air around us, a swirling mix of excrement and acrid stench that would have brought the sewer dwelling Ninja Turtles to their knees. Where the normally slightly-clean-with-a-hint-of-soap-scum bottom of the tub should have been, there sloshed gallons and gallons of brown sewage.

I clutched the front of my sweatshirt and held my breath. Matt began to dry heave.

“Get out and shut the door!” I screamed as we bumbled into the hallway.

“I’ll deal with this,” Matt grabbed my shoulders, trying to talk and hold his breath at the same time.

I could feel my eyes glaze over, the horrors of typhoid and hepatitis in our bathtub filling my mind. But more importantly, I could envision our evaporated savings account. In my mind’s eye I could see the long, gray hallway at the bank. A worker shrouded in a black suit pulled a set of keys from his pocket and unlatched a small locker labeled “Owen Bank Account.” Inside were two small stacks of quarters and a few crumpled dollar bills. It was bleak, not only because the banker with an unimaginative wardrobe gazed at me with an expression that could only be interpreted as “You’re a Big Fat Loser,” but also there was a very definite possibility we wouldn’t be able to pay for a plumber.

I wasn’t necessarily a spend thrift. In fact, I was downright frugal when it came to decorating with thrift store furniture and rewired vintage lamps. But the fact was, we were poor. We were starting out at starter jobs with starter salaries. We were starter adults with a starter bank account.

“Okay,” I nodded numbly, thankful that Matt was taking the lead on such a disastrous biohazard. “But make sure the plumber is super cheap. We don’t have much money!”

I left for work like a wino stumbling through a fog, not really remembering my commute, not really doing any work as I sipped my coffee and stared blankly at the computer screen. A disaster of such gargantuan proportions had previously been unthinkable in my life, and now I found myself attempting to push the image of a vast sea of bathtub poop from my mind. But I was sure of one thing: Anne Shirley never had to get ready for work while breathing raw sewage.

Feeling a bit dreary

2011-09-27T13:22:00.003-04:00

Rainy days. Today we at least got a break to be able to take a morning walk. Bored. Annoyed with online conversations that just upset me. Thinkin about dumping Facebook. I've thought that for a while, and now with the new changes I'm thinking about it even more. Going to cheer myself and my family with a warm fall dinner tonight of roasted stuffed pumpkin and mull wine. Hope your Tuesday is sunnier than mine!

Fall feast oops...

2011-09-24T08:57:00.002-04:00

I made a fall feast last night, and made two mistakes. First, I failed to put nearly enough salt into the two loaves of bread I baked. Second, I forgot to photograph the food...was very very hungry!

So here was the menu:

Butternut squash soup
Rosemary Bread
Homemade applesauce
Pinot Grigio

The soup was nearly a fail when halfway through cooking the garlic and onion I realized I had no stock or broth in the house. I rolled the dice and created this concoction for the soup:

Halve a butternut squash and roast for about 45 minutes in a 350 oven
sautee some garlic and onion in some olive oil (one small onion and 3 cloves)
Chunk up the squash and add it to the pot (if you would like to puree the squash, you can do that, or you could smash it with a potato masher or fork too.)
Salt and pepper
Add a half cup of white wine
pour a glass of wine :-)
Add in a cup or so of milk (you may need to add more as you are cooking it down)
Hold your breath and add a can of cream of something soup. I had cream of celery, but I can imagine a lot of varieties might work too.
Crack some nutmeg into the pot
Simmer until it tastes right :-)

Normally I would have just made a white sauce, then added maybe chicken stock, but this worked just great. Everyone liked it a lot. We buttered and salted our bread and left zero leftovers.

Where I'm From

2011-09-22T11:56:00.007-04:00

I am from Wonder Woman and Barbie Dolls, from drinking Pepsi from a tall bottle, big hair and Clark Bars.

I am a South Ender, Wilson Avenue, where you knew if someone wasn't really from the south end by their calling it the "south side." Where we knew half our neighbors our whole lives, and were terrified of the other half. Where we sat on the front porch on hot summer nights, looking down the row of everyone else on their front porches because no one had air conditioning.

I am from the smell of the marigolds and mums my mom always planted by the front porch, and the tomato plants Gram and I planted next door in the back yard. I am from my mom and her sisters giggling over pots of homemade vegetable soup.

I am from Saturday mornings at the bowling alley with my parents behind me yelling "straighten your arm!" and summer evenings at the diamond watching my dad or brother play ball. I am from the Righteous Brothers playing on the big stereo on feet, and Donato's pizza, just two blocks down the way, and Friday nights watching the Bobby Vinton Show with my parents . I am from Dan & Lois, from Danny and Erin, and from little Jerry, the baby we lost too soon.

I am from the potluck and the sixteen aunts and uncles and the twenty-five first cousins and the love and chaos of trying to hug everyone and talk a bit each time we meet. I am from the Best Grandparents Any Kid Could Ask For Ever, the ones who hosted sleepovers and fishing trips and trips to the racetrack. The ones who never, ever made a kid feel she was just one of twenty-five.

From "your eyes will stay that way if you keep doing that!" and putting teeth under the pillow and saying prayers of an evening.

I am Catholic school Monday through Friday , but Methodist on Sunday Mornings. I am Florence Starrett's Sunday school student, in her purple Sunday School room, baking and selling during her lessons on the talents, and sucking on hard candies she never failed to have in her purse. I am my parents' beautiful singing voices at church on a Sunday morning.

I’m from a shaky Irish heritage that was only ever brought up on St. Patricks day; the rest of the time I am flat cheese and white bread and American is it comes. I'm from over the top Christmas, with meatballs and relish trays and mom's potato salad, and packages from Santa until I was in my twenties.

From the little sister who wore my clothes and got my nail polish everywhere because she really wanted me to spend more time with her I suppose, the kid brother who played every sport effortlessly, and from leaving the old neighborhood to move somewhere "decent."

I am from the big family Bible with everyone's birth and death recorded in it, from the smoky smelling, faded photo albums, the back of each picture carefully labeled in my mother's lovely, tidy script, from my parents' wedding album and high school yearbooks that I studied for hours trying to imagine them young like me. I am all these faces from the past, yet I am living now. I am my parents' hopes and dreams. And still, I am myself.

Things I'm loving about welcoming FALL

2011-09-21T15:14:00.003-04:00

Walking the boys to school in the leaves.

The cool night air (the closer I get to 40, the hotter I get, and temperature too!)

Having a few hours to myself in the morning.

Reading books while the rain falls outside.

Morning coffee on the porch, sometimes with a blanket.

Stew, soup and casserole.

Baking bread.

Fall beers and mulled wine.

Pumpkin in coffee, bread, ice cream, candles, everything!

Soccer practice in the rain.

Purple and yellow flowers in the fields.

Slowing down. Turning inward. Breathing.

Fall things

2011-09-16T16:20:00.002-04:00

Collecting a fall bouquet; weeds to some, beautiful to others.

More collecting: our fossils from the summer, paired with a collection of seeds and pods picked up on our blessedly cool walk home from school.

A dinner of Lacho and an autumn brew to sip.

Welcome fall!

Salad for fall

2011-09-15T09:58:00.002-04:00

I made this salad for us last night, since it was a scout meeting night I needed something easy. Some chicken, walnuts, dried cranberries, blue cheese and apples on a bed of spinach. It's my husband's favorite salad to order at restaurants. I'm trying to pay more attention to what we are really eating at restaurants with the hopes of keeping us out of them! One thing I love about spinach is that it's super nutritious, you can use it for salads, and if it becomes less than crisp you cook it right up. I like it in my eggs in the morning. Also, it's a great cool weather crop. We didn't plant any, but we'll be able to get it locally for another month or two.

Another cool weather crop---lettuce! I always plant some in August and my little patio containers have already sprouted. We grow loose leaf varieties, and just keep cutting them. We usually get 5-6 cuttings before the plants are spent, and some years we are still harvesting lettuce until December, even here in Ohio!

Camp

2011-09-10T09:45:00.006-04:00

Our third and final camping trip of the summer. We went to the Hocking Hills campsite, which is right near Old Man's Cave. Boiling temps in the high 90s kept us from hiking for more than a few hours. Thank goodness they have a swimming pool there! We canoed, hiked, swam, and when the rain came we shopped and ate at a buffet and read books in the tent by lanternlight. Personally I like the sound of the rain on the tent when the sun goes down---I feel very cozy.

I've enjoyed the camping, though it's not all perfect. Sometimes it takes an hour to get a good campfire going, which is a big deal when you're trying to boil water for coffee. While we experience a lot of new things and explore our world, we gripe and kibbitz to beat the band. Kids don't always want to go fetch water and kindling, or help with the dishes. They don't understand the concept of "don't touch the tent while it's raining!" Though I will give them this, I've not heard either kid say "I'm bored" in three camping trips---they both brought books and a drawing tablet, and spent much of their idle time either looking for bugs and things to "study" or riding scooters.

I hope that when the kids are older, they will remember the good parts, like seeing the naturalist talking about Ohio raptors, discovering silkworms in the trees, chasing raccoons away by the campfire, and being allowed to ride their scooters all through the campground, barreling down the hill like a couple of lunatics. I hope they someday make the connection that their parents chose these vacations because they knew at ages 5 and 8, it was probably one of their last chances to snuggle in with their cubs. In this day in age it is rare to have the time and opportunity to devote time only to each other, with no outside forces interrupting, be it computer, television, chores, work, obligations, activities or the neighbor kid who knocks on the door at 5pm every evening wanting them to go ride bikes. As they grow, these opportunities will dwindle, and I'm glad we threw our arms around this summer while we had the chance.

{this moment}

2011-09-09T09:42:00.001-04:00

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soulemama.

Thrifted Thursday

2011-09-08T09:52:00.003-04:00

At the end of our camping trip last weekend (will try to post some pics later) we hit up my favorite junk store, an antique mall in Logan, Ohio. I was a little shocked to discover that there wasn't much I really wanted. I pawed through some stacks of doilies, tried on a rhinestone necklace, but nothing was really popping for me.

This little tin was the only exception. "Really?" groaned my husband. Yes, really. I love the colors, and the scene with the little bears. Made a space for it straightaway, replacing a very boring thriftstore vase that never really struck my fancy anyway.

The most surprising thing about the trip: I actually felt visually overstimulated just being in the store. I only made it about a third of the way through before I found the boys (in the vintage matchbox car section) and told them I was ready to go. I'm pushing for a slightly scaled down, more minimalist lifestyle, and I guess it's working. That's what taking the summer off of junking will do for you. Hurray!

9 Years With My Best Guy

2011-09-07T10:27:00.003-04:00

Over the weekend, we hit our favorite glass shop in the Hocking Hills to add to our Fiestaware collection. The shop sells seconds and blem pieces for ridiculously cheap, and we figure it will all end up banged up anyway, lol. So, last night I lamented that I hadn't bought or made an anniversary gift. "Sure you did," he said. Turns out the traditional gift for 9 years is pottery. (Yes he looked it up, he's romantic that way.)

I'm as happy today as I was that day.

The triumphant close of a week of food posts

2011-09-02T13:49:00.002-04:00

Bruschetta chicken, for just the husband and me. He said it was tastier than anything he has when he's in Paris. (Go on, husband, flattery will get you everywhere.) Just a simple chicken breast, provolone, and a tomato relish of my own creation:

Several red and yellow garden tomatoes, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 sweet onion, minced
Several basil leaves
A splash of balsamic vinegar
A big drizzle of olive oil

I just let it all marinate in the fridge, and toasted some baguette slices under the broiler. We also had a plate of more olive oil for dipping. So. Good. A nice way to wind down the week.

Have a terrific Labor Day, and make something nice for yourself!

Three friends

2011-09-01T22:43:00.002-04:00

In keeping with this food theme I have going this week, I give you three friends. I am sure you can guess they came together to make one heavenly sandwich. (Was just too darn hungry to photography my sandwich!) Reminded me that admonitions to eat seasonally are rooted in truth.

Now this was a meal to feel good about

2011-08-31T09:09:00.003-04:00

Free range lamb, from Trader Joes, browned in a skilled. Tomato sauce from my garden tomatoes and peppers. Cooked pearl barley from a local farm market. Served with peas from my garden. Delicious, soulful, special. Not a meal you that leaves you feeling hungry an hour later. It lingers with you on other levels. Certainly we can't have lamb every day, but it is nice to make a fuss about it when we do.

Local Food

2011-08-30T09:30:00.003-04:00

I guess food is on my mind this week. As the dividends pour in from the garden, I am contemplating our food strategy for next year. I do love my garden, and I value my ability to produce food. However, more often than not this summer I found myself either running to the store for this or that, or eating out, only to find that suddenly I was stocked with a bushel of green beans. Although we do try to grow a variety of foods in our yard, ranging from tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and beans to our little apple trees, there still isn't enough variety to round out our diet. Additionally, our garden is becoming more of an expensive hobby than a sustainable way of getting food. This weighs on my mind, because it's a lot of work.

I think my objectives next year will involve finding less expensive ways of raising food, maybe focusing on the things that are more expensive to buy, narrowing the scope of what we grow so I can learn everything there is to know about a particular crop, and joining a CSA to ensure that we have a steady stream of local produce.

Oh, and those apples were amazing.

The dying art of potluck

2011-08-29T10:35:00.005-04:00

Growing up as I did, Methodist, and in relatively close proximity to my grandparents and bajillion aunts, uncles and cousins, I was schooled from a very early age the fine art of potluck, and what constitutes a "covered dish." We attended a potluck yesterday with my son's soccer team, with instructions to bring a covered dish. I whipped up this little number: loaded mashed potatoes. I don't have a recipe because I was throwing it together on the fly, but the basic ingredients are mashed potatoes topped with shredded cheese, bacon, green onion and you can dollup on some sour cream at serving. It is a good thing I made something reasonably substantial because here was the complete menu, as brought by the various guests:

My mashed potato casserole
A Skyline Chili-based 7-layer dip w/ Fritos (truly inspired and yummy!)
Potato Chips
Cheetos
Pretzels
Popsicles
Ice Cream cake

Hmm. I am not writing this to complain about the food, but I felt a little out of place. I wondered did I get lost in some time warp? Upon leaving my house, I was fretting a bit that my humble and easy to make casserole was perhaps not up to par. How surprised, nay, shocked I was to find that it rated main dish status! On one hand, the kids had fun, spent most of the time swimming, and were well satisfied with the offerings given them, seeing as how they often turn their nose up at potluck fare. But on the other hand I felt a bit sad. I thought back to my grandma's chicken and noodles, and all those aunties and church ladies of my youth, whipping up amazing things. They weren't just feeding us, they were nourishing us, as well as showing off their special dishes. Every lady had her own dish she was known for. My mom, for example, was always tapped to bring her potato salad (her secrets: sweet relish, heavy mustard, and one egg per russet potato.) I have this one aunt who makes corn casserole that would curl your toes. And another aunt whose meatloaf makes me want to show up on her doorstep with a plate and fork and a napkin tied around my neck. Oh and let's don't forget the aunt who makes the lemon bars. And the coconut thingies. And the pie. Please, don't forget the pie!

I guess this is a statement about our food culture, and about the way we fail to preserve the truly good things in life. Having something like a potluck isn't about the food at all. It's about the meeting and greeting, and showing that we care. I fear, though, that if we get to the point where everyone is bringing chips and bakery cookies and buckets of chicken, people will eventually lose interest in going to the event altogether. It is about the food, and it isn't about the food.

I take heart. This Christmas time my aunts and uncles and cousins and my own family will gather as we do. A couple of my cousins make sure to keep Grandma's legacy chicken noodle recipe. Someone always makes these delicious meatballs. My one cousin will bring an uber healthy and yummy offering (she's a nurse.) People will bring out their meatloaves and 7-layer dips and a big spiral cut ham and the casseroles that you don't recognize but you take a dollup because someone you love made it. There will be mac and cheese, so the kids have something to eat. And yes, someone will bring the buckets of chicken, because someone has to. It wouldn't be Christmas without it.

I'm just tired

2011-08-24T12:05:00.002-04:00

It took two free mornings---well, not "free" if you count the running of errands and folding of clothes and making the breakfast and the washing the dishes. Let's rephrase...it's taken a couple of free hours over the past few days to recognized that I'm feeling quite burned out. And further, I'm understanding that it is quite self-inflicted. I'm filling my days with impossible task lists, I'm filling my calendar with too many obligations, and I'm filling my body with all the wrong things. And yet I'm so unfulfilled. The weight of sending my baby to kindergarten, combined with having my husband busy at work and sometimes out of the country, and my own crazed standards of homecaring perfection have left me drained. On top of that I'm dealing with a nagging health issue, the kind that won't kill me, but none of the options for fixing it are good (I fear going into the hospital healthy and coming out with even more problems.) At the moment I find myself grinding to a halt. And the saddest thing is that because I stay at home, I sort of feel guilty for taking a day or two "off." For today, I'm going to just give up the guilt complex and relax.

Time flies, does it not?

2011-08-23T20:31:00.002-04:00

I never knew how much I could love two little people...

I do love a good bridal shower

2011-08-21T14:07:00.004-04:00

Congratulations to my friend Erin!

My Front Porch

2011-08-16T19:52:00.004-04:00

When the weather gets just right, I love being on my front porch. In fact, when it gets cold this fall, you'll find me wrapped in a warm blanket sipping my coffee for as long into the season as I can.

When we were house hunting, I specified that I would only buy a house with a front porch. Not a terribly easy thing to find in all the neighborhoods we were looking at. Heck, even our tent has a front porch.

Earlier in the summer I realized my porch was a disgraceful mess, so I prettied it up with some plants and a new pillow. Now it looks pretty welcoming, I think.

We have a deck out back. It's just not the same. You can't wave to the neighbors as they bike or walk by from the back deck.

On days like this, I tell the boys "this is a front porch kind of day." They know this means I will be parked out there with a stack of books, journals and magazines. They know that this also means they can ride bike or climb the tree to their hearts' content. And that all meals will be simple and taken on the porch.

And they don't seem to mind a bit.

I've been a bad gardener...

2011-08-13T14:22:00.003-04:00

I am weary of my garden. The weeds have taken over. It is still very very hot out and I haven't been in the mood to rise at 6am to pull them. I struggle to feel gratitude for all the tiny white blooms on the bean stalks, signaling a fall crop on the way. I feel too tired to make tomato sauce and salsa, but I will be grateful when it's done---when I reach in the freezer for some sunshine-in-a-jar this winter. And yeah, I'll get to planting some fall lettuce and spinach, and I'll be glad eating my salad as I watch the first snow fall. But right now, all I want to do is sleep!

Simple Cakes

2011-08-09T17:16:00.007-04:00

Inspired by this post from Jolly Good Gal I thought I'd share some of my less than perfect, delicious homemade birthday cakes.

I typically try to keep the basic cake pretty simple.

I will usually try to use a candle or ornament to be the decoration.

Cupcakes are still all the rage. I did these with white icing and red sprinkles, to look shiny like McQueen, with a yellow thunderbolt of icing.

Here is my patented technique of making a cheap theme cake---Thomas was actually cut out from an extra invitation. I just taped some toothpicks on and stuck him on the rails.

Sometimes we don't need a theme at all.

Or even a decoration. Or even a correct number of candles.

I have to mention my sweet Aunt Louise who believes everyone should have a cake on her birthday, and that it should be home made if at all possible. This one was for my sister and my shared birthday party. (My aunt once made an upright panda cake for my brother's first birthday!)

Cake baking can inspire creativity, especially if you have a Halloween baby, like mine.

It is just too tempting to make them all spooky-themed.

There is an endless assortment of ideas in the magazines.

He said he didn't want anymore spooky birthdays, but he loved these best of all.

Sometimes one is watching one's weight, and we portion control.

And sometimes the kids help with the baking and make all the decisions.

Sometimes the cakes look just splendid.

Sometimes the cakes are a funny joke, like me telling Zack sorry, a new bike isn't in the budget this year, but then putting a bike on his cake. (Yes he got the bike, lol.)

Sometimes cake isn't even your favorite, and you get pie.

Or cobbler.

And sometimes things get, well, misjudged. You tell everyone they are having a new creation: "Avalanche Cake." Having eaten each and every one of the desserts pictured, I can tell you that marble cake with white icing and strawberries was the best one of all!

Things I love about camping and Kelleys Island

2011-08-08T10:20:00.008-04:00

First and most obvious, Lake Erie.

Getting that first stubborn punky fire going.

Ancient glacial grooves.

Enjoying the outdoors in our own way.

Seeing stuff like this quarry lake.

Cracking up by the campfire

The sound of the thunderstorm, and rain pelting the tent at night, and waking up to sunshine in the morning.

Swimming at the beach.

Discovering fossils in the rock (the first fossils I've ever seen outside a museum!)

More fossils, everywhere! (this was from Marblehead by the lighthouse.)

Having a bit of alone time while Ken took the boys up to the pier.

Climbing rocks at the old quarry.

Wandering way far off the hiking trail on an old railway bed into the empty quarry and having to scrabble 20 feet up a muddy embankment because we heard traffic, lol.

This moment.

Bicycling everywhere on the island, including to the little village to go to a restaurant called The Village Pump on the last day, where we ate fried perch to die for as a reward for finding our way back to civilization after our 3 hour hike.

The ferry crossings.

Meeting an artist from Findley painting the Marblehead Lighthouse. He let us know this was his first time picking up a brush in 25 years, a reminder that it is never too late to find your way back to creativity!

Knowing that we had such a good time it was hard to say goodbye.

Perfect? No.

2011-08-03T14:51:00.003-04:00

It is so very easy to tune out life and come post a pretty picture to make my friends in blogland think that life is wonderful all the time where I am. Meh. Today my offspring and I are at odds. We secured a truce sometime before lunch, and they managed to do a few things for me (folded their laundry and put it away, cleaned up after lunch, that sort of thing.) All grudgingly. Now we have retreated to our own corners, hoping that this fragile peace can last us through supper. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

Linking up the webz in prayer

2011-08-02T18:50:00.004-04:00

If you're the praying kind, please say one for one of my favorite bloggers, Liz, over at Mabel's House. She has a new baby girl, and a lot of scary health things going on. And even if you're not, your kind thoughts and positive vibes are welcome too :-)

My favorite nephew

2011-07-31T21:11:00.000-04:00

Okay, so he's my only nephew. Still my favorite. :-)

Five for Friday

2011-07-29T09:20:00.003-04:00

I lacked a decent photo for "this moment" this week, so I decided to share five random things from the week!

1. Nathan has been learning in his music class about the sounds various woodland creatures make, including the katydids. Guess what we discovered living in a flower on our front porch?

2. We achieved the impossible this week...we successfully created and stuck to a meal plan! No takeout, no wasted food. What's more, the boys ate, or at least tried, everything we gave them, including steak fajitas and fish tacos. I'm so proud of them.

3. I managed to get all the boys' school supplies for about $26 total...would have cost me $56 to buy the kit from the PTO. So I used the excess $30 to buy school supplies for the boys' VBS project. They are collecting school supplies for needy area schoolkids. Hurray! (And you know I racked up as many deals as I could for my $30, ha ha.)

4. I rescued a downed sunflower from the sunflower house and now I have the most cheerful sink in the world.

5. First big tomato harvest. Tonight the husband and I are having an "at home date" and the menu is capresi salad, good grainy bread, and a bottle of pinot noir.

Happy Friday!

Thrifted Thursday: Making Up for Lost Time Edition

2011-07-28T11:16:00.006-04:00

The children are attending VBS this week, so I am loving a few free mornings! I made it out to my three favorite thrifts, which are all within about a half mile from each other. It was my first trip all summer owing to the fact that the thrifts are nearly the most boring places on planet Earth to my boys, making it no fun at all. Hence I've saved my pennies for my chance to be on my own, and it was worth it.

I scored big with this chip and dip set. I think I squealed out loud when I found it. The price, at $6.99, was a bit rich for my taste, but I still had to have it!

A pair of Columbus Clippers cowbells; they give them free sometimes, but just in case, we are now prepared to sing along with a cowbell at our next Clippers game.

Doilies. I can never have enough. Esp at 59 cents each.

Set of four champagne glasses. I love the old school ones more than the flutes. The good thing about me is that I will make room by getting rid of a few of our glasses that we never use, and donate them back to the store. A dollar each.

Almost forgot to add these...a couple of jars for cheap, just 59 cents.

Finally, a decent solution for my paints and small art supplies. 99 cents plus a coat of paint.

Good, cheap fun on a Thursday.

Once upon a time...

2011-07-26T13:41:00.003-04:00

I would have taken this little beauty straight out of the Goodwill. A steal at $20 (and a $5 off coupon to boot.) The shad of aqua blue was hard to capture w/ my cellphone. *Sigh.* I have sworn off collecting and hauling things home that have neither room nor use for. I hope some lucky girl finds this gem and gives it a good home!

As for my, a quiet morning puttering through the Goodwill without children (Dear God, thank you for vacation Bible school) was a fun outing in and of itself, despite the lack of anything I really needed or wanted. I want to stay on the trend of being able to enjoy these little finds without feeling the need to purchase.

"French Week" was more interesting for some people...

2011-07-24T16:54:00.008-04:00

(This post is dedicated to Madame Brueggers, my first French teacher.)

...like my husband, who happened to be in France during the week we were doing French studies at home.

He even got to experience Bastille Day in Paris, how amazing is that?

Back at the ranch, we honestly tried. We did our best. Some things we did were to spend a half hour looking at a book about Impressionists. We watched a video about kids in a French family. We had "Petite Dejouner" at a little cafe I know (okay, yea, so it was Panera bread, thanks to awesome coupons from the summer reading program at the library!) We watched the US/France women's soccer semi final (Awesome!) Zachary, who is all into riding his new bike right now, researched and learned that bicycles were invented by the French (the velocipede.) We learned to say simple phrases like "Je fait du velo" (roughly "I ride bicycle") and "Bonjour" and "Au revoir" and any other bit I could remember from high school French. I put French cafe music on to listen to. Oh and the big highlight was finding a book called The Cat Who Walked Across France, because my Nathan loves cats.

For the most part, though, interest in this whole thing is waning, even for me. We spent much of the week either at the swimming pool (Je fais du nager) or parked on the front porch for some reading (J'aime lire livres) writing in my journal (J'ecris avec un stelo) and even eating our breakfast (Je dejoune sur la porche.) The heat has really kicked in this week. Mexico week was reduced to listening to a couple of CDs and going to our favorite Mexican place for dinner. It's so hot that we can do nothing but go to the pool and lay around the house, it seems.

In a weird burst of creativity, after a brief conversation about the French and Indian war, the boys wanted to make cucina dolls, a project they saw on a video during "Native American" week. I decided to be grateful that they were putting some energy towards a creative and educational pursuit, and I realized that although my intentions were good, the boys now need some chill out time, as well as opportunity to do the things they really want to do, as the days of summer are suddenly numbered.

And a word on Paris: everyone I know asks "why didn't you go with him?" Alas, between us, my husband and I have but one living parent. My mother in law is herself a busy woman, not to mention that two rambunctious boys for a whole week might be a bit much for her. However, this is what I am grateful for: in my earlier years I got the chance to travel, and to really do a lot of things that I had always wanted to do. So now, when my dear husband goes on business trips to Paris, I don't feel angry or jealous, despite Paris being sort of the number one bucket list destination that I've never been to! I feel confident that in a year or two, once we've made it a financial priority and secured the funds to do so, we will all journey to Paris. And Austria. Italy. Spain. Etc. Besides, it's important to have dreams.

Peachy

2011-07-21T10:16:00.002-04:00

Have a peachy day!

Eating Good

2011-07-20T09:10:00.002-04:00

Harvesting has begun here. Between our homegrown veggies, and our large beef purchase from a farmer friend, our weekly outlay for groceries is hovering around $50 a week right now. Could not come at a better time since we are still cash-poor from, well, a lot of things. I feel blessed.

Sunflower house

2011-07-19T08:58:00.002-04:00

Early in the season "we" (which was really more myself) planted a sunflower house for the boys. I planted it in the old strawberry patch, so the boys might be able to forage a snack while they are in there. So far it is growing nicely, and it s a cheery thing to look at during the stormy weather. It's 90's all week for us, with thunderstorms most days. A good time to read since I can't get out and do the chores. I like letting Mother Nature water the garden for me!

My brother is officially engaged!

2011-07-18T13:33:00.002-04:00

I really felt the love Saturday night, being welcomed by my brother's future in-laws at the engagement party. We learned a bit about Filipino culture, had a lot of unrecognizable yet delicious food, danced, and were embraced (physically) by a zillion warm and friendly parents, aunts and uncles, siblings and cousins, and yes, there was even a visit from the King himself! Most of all I am so happy to see my baby brother so happy.

A Simple Birthday

2011-07-17T18:53:00.004-04:00

Zack was so surprised to find a bike downstairs this morning! He had pretty much resigned himself to not getting one. He was tickled. On the whole I was glad for the change in tone this year---a small family party, with one friend sleeping over. He's over the moon happy with his bike, Star Wars LEGO sets, binoculars and a bird identification book, two Wimpy Kid books to complete his set, and an Angry Birds board game (we'll see if we can figure that one out!) I think we are striking a "just right" feel for birthdays. Big parties in years past have been fun, but also have come with mountains of toys that I'm afraid they did not appreciate. Also since Ken just got back from Paris for work, we were not in the mood for complicated. This is why they invented pizza delivery. Still, I had to bake the cake, because that's just how I roll. :-)

{this moment}

2011-07-15T13:18:00.004-04:00

{this moment}

2011-07-08T09:41:00.002-04:00

Our trip to the Mohican State Park

2011-07-06T16:38:00.004-04:00

A trusting dad, allowing Nate to help with the campfire wood.

Going on a long, rustic hike.

Man, cooking food with fire.

Me and Zack, after a dip in the camp pool.

Happy Boys in a canoe.

The snake that both of my children and husband stepped over. I spotted it, and after shoving my older son into my husband when screaming in the other direction: "Snake! Snake! Snake!" Nature made me do that :-) Incidentally, if anyone knows what kind of snake this is let me know. We've heard there is a burgeoning timber rattler population in that park.

More hiking.

Wildlife: a family of loons! I'd never seen (or heard) any in person before!

Feasting.

More feasting, because you get a treat after you walk six miles and tangle with a scared, scary looking snake!

The Mohican River

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T10:24:00.002-04:00

Celebrating 235 years of liberty!

Good Campsite Keeping

2011-06-30T17:47:00.002-04:00

Scenes from our first camping adventure. More to follow...

Feeling a bit blocked

2011-06-26T21:27:00.001-04:00

Stepping away from the computer to get the old supermergentroid mojo flowing again. See you in a few days!

Australia week...malaise sets in

2011-06-25T23:09:00.005-04:00

We are getting weary. We learned a few things about Australia: where it is located, a bit about the Aboriginal people, the animals, and that Christmas happens while it is summer there. Perhaps I am trying too hard. Interest level was somewhat low. By week's end I sort of gave up and decided to regroup. We took lots of bike rides and I caught up on the laundry. I have a new found respect for homeschool mamas because I don't know how you make it work every day! I'm sure I wouldn't have the discipline.

That said, there were a few things we did that they liked:
-Made a flag for Australia, the Aboriginal flag, and one for the islands.
-Read a few good stories from a book called Stories from the Billabong by by James Vance Marshall and Francis Firebrace. Good book, and lots of animal stories.
-Watched a National Geographic video for kids about Australian animals.
-Listened to a sort of cheesy Aboriginal-inspired new age CD (best I could find at the library)
-Made cardboard boomerangs based on Aboriginal art from several books.
-Drew animal pictures in our notebooks.

I guess when I look back that is a lot of stuff! The flow just wasn't there though. I think going forward I will reduce the amount of materials I bring home, and try to pick a narrower way to approach things. Like maybe just talk about the music and art, which is the stuff they like best anyway. Mostly, I think we just need this weather to give us a couple of good swimming days so we can burn off some of this energy!

Midsummer

2011-06-22T08:53:00.004-04:00

Hollyhocks

Barrel of herbs (and a bunch of weeds, ha ha)

The boys' sunflower house is beginning to grow

3 sisters

So different from this time six months ago

Paused for a moment yesterday to consider the ancestors, as I always do on the solstices. How different the midsummer is from the cold, barren winter. As a gardener I know that at this point in the growing season, there isn't a terrible lot to do. The planting is done. Some weeding,maybe. Thanks to the heavy rain lately I haven't even had to water. When it's not raining, it's far too hot to work for very long. It is no wonder the midsummer was a time of feasting and revelry, when you consider what life was like just six months ago, and what life will be like in six months.

My wabi sabi wall

2011-06-21T13:41:00.005-04:00

I had never heard of wabi sabi until reading about it on The Bounty Huntress blog. It is truly a peaceful and interesting lifestyle, as well as an art form I want to explore and learn more about. Straightaway I purchased this adorable ephemera kit from Bursts of Creativity, a shop I just love. Then during Asia week I hung all these beautiful hummingbird pictures. I chose hummingbirds because our family loves them! We have feeders in the backyard, plus it brings back great memories of trying to feed a hummingbird by hand last summer on vacation.

I like the ideas of wabi sabi---nothing is perfect, or permanent. This was a fun little thing that helped me to start thinking creatively again. I've done a lot of things with the boys but very little for me this summer. That is okay. I'll probably miss them come fall. Wabi sabi is about living in the moment.

Asia week went very, very well

2011-06-20T11:14:00.000-04:00

Our week of studying Asian culture went so much better than I expected. We actually ended up settling into the unexpected theme of "how people pray." We talked about Buddhist meditation, mandala creation and yoga. In fact, it seemed that everywhere we turned came to a form of prayer or mediation.

You've gotta love the internet---I found tons of mandala coloring pages.

Nathan wanted to create his own mandala.

We added to our notebooks with Asian inspired art.

Our growing flag banner.

Okay, so a paper airplane isn't exactly origami...

Nathan drawing a picture of ninjas. I guess we all pick up on the things that interest us the most.

Studying koi at our favorite Chinese restaurant.

Some things we did:

Created mandalas
Made Japanese inspired floral paintings and calligraphy (well, a rough attempt)
Did yoga for kids (including the sun salute)
Tried to meditate for two minutes (very hard, lol)
Made flags for the three main countries we talked about: Japan, China and India, plus a country for Philippines, in honor of my sis-in-law to be
Learned the story of the Buddha
Tried origami
Found each country on the globe
Watched a video of Tibetan monks chanting
Watched a video called "The Little Travelers: Japan." They loved it.
Listened to several examples of Chinese, Japanese and Indian music.
Learned about Wabi Sabi (a post to follow) along with their mother.
Read many books...our favorites were the Jon Muth (Zen Panda) books and the Eyewitness series on the countries...they had lots of pictures and easy to find information.
Watched "Kung Fu Panda" again :-)

Still there were so many things I wanted to do! I wanted to talk about the Chinese calendar animals, make a sand garden, make our own lanterns, do more with Pandas....so many ideas. But in keeping with the theme of not stressing my kids out, I continued to limit our daily activities to no more than an hour. Plus, there are only 11 weeks in the summer, and we have a whole globe to study!

Next up: Australia. I don't have as many materials for this other than books, one video and a couple of CDs, so we will be winging it.

Happy Fathers' Day!

2011-06-19T12:33:00.004-04:00

My guys, goofing on a Fathers' Day morning. The boys really got into making cards for their dad this year. They love to make. This year's lot included Nathan's mirror image script, Zack's full size guitar-card, and even a card from the fish (thanking him for feeding them every day.) We surprised him by being quiet enough for him to sleep in until 10am, as well as a 3-pack of his favorite gift cards (Amazon, Subway and Starbucks.) Now we will take him to a favorite Chinese restaurant for lunch (which will also conclude our Asian studies week.) Ken is happy.

This good looking man is my dad, Dan.

I miss him lots. I know he's at peace.

This hunky guy is Ken's dad, Edwin. Alas he too his missed this Sunday morning.

Ken had just five years with his dad, but you can tell they must have been five good ones.

For all the dads, you are so important to your kids. Have a wonderful day!

{this moment}

2011-06-17T08:09:00.002-04:00

Dining Outdoors

2011-06-16T17:25:00.002-04:00

I just love when the weather decides to be perfect. Doesn't happen often, so when it does I take full advantage. I serve three meals on the deck, plus have morning coffee on the front porch. I get the garden chores caught up without getting sweaty-filthy. The house stays clean because we are outside. And I often get inspired to serve really lovely things. On this particular evening it was four-cheese grilled cheeses with bacon and tomato on sourdough, served with lemonade and slabs of watermelon. Raspberry-peach pie for dessert (not mine, but still yummy!)

What I love best is no one's in a big hurry to get back indoors. We sit. We digest. We let the night fall. Something to savor.

Next week the temps will shoot back into the 90's, so I'm real glad we took advantage.

Weekending

2011-06-14T17:49:00.002-04:00

Breaking in new hiking boots at Prairie Oaks before a summer of camping. We are trying to keep these kids outdoors as much as possible!

Cultural Studies: Italy week

2011-06-13T10:40:00.002-04:00

Just a quick note. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I didn't sign my kids up for any camps or classes this summer. However I decided to sort of do my own cultural studies program with them. Basically there is a country or region or group of people we study every week. Some of it will correspond to things that we will be doing, for example we will study Native Americans during the week of our first camping trip, and Island Cultural during a week when we will be staying on an island (okay, in Lake Erie, lol, still it's an island!) To prep I basically scoured the library for books, DVDs, CDs and any other materials to go with the theme. I used these as a jumping off point to let the boys move into directions of their own interest.

Some things we did/studied:

Galileo and the night sky
Michaelangelo, especially the sculptures and the Sistine Chapel
Created our own clay sculptures
Zack drew a flag of Italy for what will be a banner of flags
Ancient Rome (used a book I got as a souvenir years ago called "Rome Then and Now"
Listened to lots of opera, especially The Barber of Seville
Listened to a bit of Italian language on my old travel tapes
Watched a DVD about Leonardo da Vinci
The Catholic church (that it is located in Vatican City, the Pope lives there, and that it is its own country.)
As a finale to the week, ate lunch at a nice little local Italian place.

Just to be clear, although it sounds like wow, we must have been in a classroom or something all week, it really wasn't as time intensive as it sounds. The boys love to do art, so that was easy. I had books written for children that I would read during story time, even some fun books like Olivia goes to Venice. And of course popping in a DVD is easy, or an opera CD while they would be playing Legos. The total time actually spent per day on the theme of the week did not exceed a half hour.

I enjoyed watching them open up to it and expand in their own ways. I asked them what they liked best about Italy at the end of the week and Zack responded Leonardo, because he was an artist and an inventor and a scientist. Nathan said he liked that they play a lot of soccer.

This week we are in Asia. My husband is looking forward to Phad Thai on fathers' day.

My parents' wedding anniversary

2011-06-11T09:41:00.003-04:00

Today would have been their 45th anniversary. Love you and miss you, Lois and Dan!

First meals from garden

2011-06-09T08:09:00.003-04:00

I did the first big harvest from the garden yesterday. Kale and peas. I was reminded of two things. One, I don't think I really like kale and I don't know why I keep planting it other than it is super good for you. And two, shelling peas in the shade is a nice way to spend an afternoon and really get your thoughts together.

Pool season has begun

2011-06-07T16:17:00.003-04:00

We return again to the days when we voraciously eat all manner of snacks packed into our small cooler for fifteen minutes of every hour.

We invent games for our kickboards, water torpedos and dive sticks.

We adhere to the whistle and the stern admonition from the lifeguard to "Walk, please!"

We delight in seeing our school friends at the pool, and behave as though we haven't seen them for years, even though we just got out of school last week.

We crash on the couch, happy, content in the clean, air conditioned house that sat empty all day.

Welcome, pool season!

What's up in the garden

2011-06-06T08:04:00.002-04:00

Petite herb garden. I cheated on this one because my original herbs from seed drowned in all the rain. Still it is so pretty.

Main beds...we have some carrots and kale, tomatoes, peppers, heaps of peas that are ready to pick now, and soon, though hard to see, cucumbers, zucchini, beans and corn.

Strawberries.

Butterfly garden. I lugged those rocks up from the streambed myself last summer. We have daisies, hollyhock and echinacea vying for space.

Lettuce, the easiest form of food to grow in a container.

Can you believe it's summer already?

For some politics, economics and travel

2011-06-05T17:06:00.000-04:00

Visit my cousin's website:

http://politonomicsandtravel.wordpress.com/

Because he's real, real smart :-)

(And I'm real, real cheeky)

{this moment}

2011-06-03T12:35:00.005-04:00

Normally no words accompany this post, but this week my moment needs words.

This morning was my official last day of just me and my little guy, roaming about while everyone else is in school. After my big guy left for his last day, I took Nathan to my "secret breakfast place" (First Watch) then to a favorite park to play all morning. One of the great pleasures of the past seven years of being home with my boys has been lazy trips to the zoo, the park, museums, the pool---a different kind of experience when the big kids are all in school. When you have new little babies everything feels like such a struggle...even leaving the house. Everything's mess, everything is chaos. It is only when you are at the end that you realize how sweet, how perfect it all was. A slow, deliberate sort of growing up.

(Nathan last day of preschool)

(Zack, last day of 2nd grade)

However there is much to look forward to. A long summer rolling out ahead of us...our only plans include a few camping weekends, a couple of birthdays, one sport for Nate and continuing drum class for Zack. No camps or classes, for a change. Eleven weeks of hanging out in the yard, going to the pool, riding our bikes and following our noses are definitely in order for us.

Shannon's Back Fence

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Meal Plan Monday

Fabulous Frugal Friday

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Regularly scheduled post...

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Use It Up Wednesday---Hobbies

Menu Plan Monday, picky kids, and a recipe

Fabulous Frugal Friday

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Happy New Year!

This holiday season...

Wishing you a Merry Christmas

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6 Days to Go...

Family Baking Day

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{this moment}

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Halloween

We thought we'd put our skulls together...

The duel on Mustafar, on a cake

{this moment}

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Thrifted Thursday and an Etsy Purchase.

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Fall Treats: Doughnuts and Cider

Random painting spree

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New Book Giveaway Link!

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{this moment}

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Now this was a meal to feel good about

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