Sweetening Up Mom

I was trying to get Carolyn to lay down for a nap with me Saturday. I knew I needed one, and figured it wouldn't hurt her either. She wouldn't have anything to do with it, though. I finally got her to lay down on Jamie's pillow for .0013 seconds, long enough for her to say, "Hey! It smells like dad!" Then she wanted to try my pillow. "Your pillow smells like you!" It was an exciting discovery for her. I asked her, "What do I smell like?" "Chocolate chip cookies!!" I took that as a fine compliment. She said Jamie smells like chocolate.

Edamame

Our family has a new favorite veggie - edamame, or soy beans. Jamie discovered it first, and I must admit my first try at it didn't impress me much. I love them more every time we have them. A few months ago we discovered them in pod in the frozen veggies section for about $1.50/bag, and just the other day Jamie brought some home from Smith's already shelled in a bigger bag.



From foodreference.com, "Some call edamame the super or wonder vegetable because it is the only vegetable that contains all nine essential amino acids. This makes edamame a complete protein source, similar to meat or eggs. Edamame also contains isoflavonoids. They are found in all soy products and are being studied for their health benefits."

Everyone in the family likes them except Adam, who has a tough time with anything green anyway. He finally decided to try lettuce here and there, so maybe one of these days he'll warm up to these too.

It's great everyone likes them since they are so healthy, but we almost have to divvy out the unshelled beans to make sure everyone gets their share. The shelled bags were an excellent find. They come with a LOT more, and hey, no shells to deal with. After eating our fill with dinner, we even had leftovers we pulled out and heated up the next day. Almost unbelieveable, kids walking by the kitchen counter, tossing BEANS down the hatch for a snack. But I swear, it is true.



Either way they are easy to cook. Pop the whole bag in the microwave for the set time and voila, that's it. We like to sprinkle coarse kosher salt on them. YUMMY!

This article talks about some silly celebrity diet using the beans, but it has a lot of info about them, including their recently found 'posh-ness.'

Have you tried them?

Jumping into Summer

Summer officially began June 21. Sammy brought that in with a bang... and 7 stitches. He was playing across the street at a neighbor's and took a forehead to the edge of their open truck door. He got the stitches out yesterday, everything is looking good.

Today Erin got bit twice by wasps (they had a nest on the swingset seat she was sitting on), and Carolyn swallowed a penny.

Hooray for summer!

YOUCH!

Maybe I'm the only sun know-nothing out there, but just in case, I want to share a bit of what I learned today. See, out of the five kids, I've got two that seem like they are constantly getting sunburned. I think we've got the problem licked in the beginning of spring after we have our first round of sunburns and we're back into lathering sunscreen on, but then we get it again. And again. And again.

After sending Sammy off to day camp today lathered with sunscreen plus more to reapply and a sunburned chest and back from swimming a couple days in a row (at least that will be covered), I popped online to check the temp for today. A bit cooler than the past couple of days, but still hot. I noticed the 11+ UV rating, and decided to check that out.

First, the general about UV. "The ozone layer shields the Earth from harmful UV radiation. Ozone depletion, weather, and the seasons cause different amounts of UV radiation to reach the Earth. The UV Index tells you how much. It predicts the next day's UV levels on a 1-11+ scale that helps you decide what to do to be safe in the sun" (italics added).

So down to the 11+ rating. "A UV Index reading of 11 or higher means extreme risk of harm from unprotected sun exposure. Try to avoid sun exposure during midday hours, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Apply sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 liberally every 2 hours" (again, italics added). The 8-10 rating doesn't include the every two hours part, so I guess that's what we were missing. I assume the UV rating was lower before, so applying when they headed out in the afternoon covered them for the rest of the day, or at least long enough it wasn't a problem. Not that I think they are saying to apply in the morning, be out all day, and you'll be fine. But when the rating is 11+, be extra cautious!

Really, am I the only one that missed this? Hopefully in sharing my stupidity I can save someone else the pain and suffering! I guess we'll be setting a timer to know when we need to sunscreen up again.

By the way, I pulled this information off ksl.com, so feel free to check that out for more info.

Honesty and Growing Up

Decluttering has been such a challenge to me for years, I'm so amazed at all the insight I've been getting the past several months.

One recently, honesty. I've learned I have to be honest with myself. Am I REALLY going to use this? Do the kids really like this? Has it been that beneficial to me and my family sitting here in this box or cluttering our home? Could someone else put it to better use than we have, and really love and enjoy it? It used to be so much harder to get rid of things, rationalizing that there would come a time that the whatever would be important to us, maybe a NEED even, and knotting up inside over it all. It's wonderful feeling so much more free and have so much more faith in the future.

Speaking of the future, I am GROWING UP. This is actually very shocking to me. Yes I've got 5 children, but as a neighbor told me the other day, I'm just a kid at heart. No wonder I'm so stinkin' fun! But I'm passing on things that tie me to my past, recent or not-so-recent, and the future feels so much closer and more promising. As the scriptures tell us, "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things" (1 Corinthians 13:11). To me "childish things" could be things that hold me back from my potential, or things I've already gotten my fill of. I've got plenty of things that were really meaningful to me at some point, we'll say CDs for example, but I've soaked everything I can out of them and they are just here hanging out. If I'm honest with myself I know they'll never be that important to me again, and I need to pass them on so they can be meaningful to someone else.

So there are two great decluttering mantras for today: Be honest with yourself, and put away childish things.

Books on the Shelf

I was cleaning off the bookshelf on my side of the bed today. I pulled off all the beloved favorites that I know I'm not going to read for a while, though some of the recently reads had to stay and remind me of the greatness they hold within. Then I used the extra space to put the new books waiting to be read and the others to reread again soon properly on the shelf, rather than piled on the shelves in front of or on top of the others. It's great looking at a fresh bookshelf with a whole lot of potential for greatness. New faces I don't know yet, old friends I keep going back to. I feel like I'm allowing myself to become more by putting off some of the old for a while.

Do your books talk to you? All I have to do is look at some of them and I get the same feeling I did when I finished them and just held the closed book for a while, soaking it all in.

Here are a few fun book quotes from something I copied years ago that I found while taking the deshelved books to my boxes downstairs:

"When I am reading a book, whether wise or silly, it seems to me to be alive and talking to me." --Jonathan Swift

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers." --Charles W. Eliot

"A room without books is like a body without a soul." --Cicero

"You are the same today as you will be five years from now except for two things...the people you meet and the books you read." --Charles E. Jones

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." --Francis Bacon

One I read 8/10/08: “But he who truly loves books loves all books alike, and not only this, but it grieves him that all other men do not share with him this noble passion. Verily, this is the most unselfish of loves!” -- Eugene Field in Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac

One I read 8/17/08: “Books are chocolate for the soul. They don’t make one fat. One need not brush one’s teeth after reading. They are quiet. One can bring them anywhere–no passport required. Books have only one downfall: even the fattest book has a last page, and then one needs a new one again.” --Antonie Schneider

Added 11/29/08: "If time is precious, no book that will not improve by repeated reading deserves to be read at all." --Thomas Carlyle

Added 01/02/09: "Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it." --P.J. O'Rourke

Added 05/11/09: "You must get into the habit of looking intensely at words, and assuring yourself of their meaning, syllable by syllable–nay, letter by letter… you might read all the books in the British Museum (if you could live long enough) and remain an utterly “illiterate,” uneducated person; but if you read ten pages of a good book, letter by letter, — that is to say, with real accuracy– you are for evermore in some measure an educated person." ~John Ruskin

"The books that help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty." ~Theodore Parker

"My education was the liberty I had to read indiscriminately and all the time, with my eyes hanging out." ~Dylan Thomas

Beautifully Genius

Sammy was put on prednisone just over a week ago. The doc asked if he would prefer liquid or pills, and we said either one since he's great at swallowing pills. So she went with the pills.

Unfortunately, these have been particularly difficult pills. There is no coating whatsoever, so they start dissolving pretty quick.  And according to Sammy - they taste horrible. Watching the poor kid, I believe it!  He gives a little shudder when I mention taking them. We started cutting them in half, hoping he could get them down quicker, but it didn't help at all. Just seemed to prolong the misery.

After about 4 days of taking them 3 times a day, he was strongly opposing them. I hated watching him even attempt.  So I stopped forcing him and called the doc to see if we could get the liquid. Unfortunately the whole message didn't get back and forth before the long weekend, so I didn't hear back until Tuesday.   I read up about the medication online and found a site that said drinking them down with milk or orange juice is a big help, but no, he wouldn't be talked into that.

Then the creativity wheels started turning, and genius struck. The pills don't have a coating, right? Well, I'll make one!

I melted some chocolate chips and dipped two of the pills in that, and dipped two others in Karo syrup. The chocolate was nicely set up after about 5 minutes in the freezer. I talked him into trying it (proves how bad they were when I almost couldn't get him to try chocolate pills!). He decided to try milk with it and got it down with no fuss! Hooray!


I don't know how soon he'll be able to try the Karo syrup ones. After several hours of sitting out the outside is getting drier but it is still squishy on the inside. For quick and easy, chocolate is the way to go.

If the pills get too big when you dip them, cut them in half first and then dip.

P.S. I didn't call it beautifully genius. Jamie did. :)

P.P.S. After trying both he liked the chocolate ones best, and since they were definitely the easiest we stuck with that.  Be warned - chocolate pills are tempting.  At one point a younger daughter tried one, but unfortunately she chewed it and still got the yuck.  I called poison control and they said it's a safer drug for her to try, but in the event that the same thing happens, definitely call.

Homemade Goodness

A friend and I were talking a couple weeks ago and I mentioned we were having pancakes for dinner. She said she had been thinking the same thing, but they were out of mix. "Sooooo, just make them," I said. "You don't have to have a mix?" she said. "You're right, no one ever at pancakes or waffles until mixes were invented." To me, the real thing just tastes better. There isn't a huge difference with pancakes/waffles if you get a decent mix. But I used to buy Rhodes Rolls and defrost them for scones, until I made them for real one time, LOVED how much better they tasted, made the Rhodes kind one more time, then couldn't go back.

In honor of my wonderful friend who I won't even name or even say what her name rhymes with (like I almost was going to), here are the pancakes and waffles recipes we use, straight out of Better Homes and Gardens.


WAFFLES

1 3/4 c. flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1 3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. oil or melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla

I just mix it all together, but this is what their directions say:
1. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and 1/4 tsp salt. (I've never added salt - why didn't they put that at the top?) Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

2. In another medium bowl (see, this is why I just mix it all together. How many dishes do they think I want to wash??) beat eggs slightly; stir in milk, oil, and vanilla. Add egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened, batter should be slightly lumpy.

Sorry, I'm not doing to put the actual cooking instructions. (Beautiful Anonymous Friend) if you need those, let me know and I will post them too.


PANCAKES

When we make pancakes we don't usually have buttermilk but the buttermilk ones are just better, so I'll add in the substitutions so they are similar enough. Oh, and we always have to double these.

1 c. flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 beaten egg
1 c. milk
1 Tbsp. lemon juice or vinegar
2 Tbsp. oil

Their directions are basically the same as the waffles, mix dry, mix wet, combine. So this is how I make them. Combine milk and vinegar or lemon juice and let it sit for 5 minutes. Add in the rest of the wet ingredients (since on my bowl for most I can use the measurements and don't have to use the measuring cups). Then add the dry. Mix it together. Cook.

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A fabulous waffle twist I learned from an aunt the other day is that they like to have waffles with ice cream and strawberries on top. YUM! We're trying it out tonight. Doesn't that sound fabulous for summer?

Vision

Jamie and I were having a nice chat on vision the other day while we were driving, and I'm going to toss down some of those thoughts so I can remember them.

At Wood Badge, the first time I remember really being taught about vision, one of the first lessons taught is called, "Values, Vision, and Mission." In that and throughout the rest of the week, participants are taught that you need to have a vision to know where you are going. In that capacity the main way they are looking at it is having a vision for where the group of scouts you work with can be in the next 18 months, but it was easy to see how it related at least personally for my family and church responsibilities. Having a vision, seeing what you'd like to have happen, allows you to put goals in place to getting there.

About a month ago I bought some CDs on Teaching Self-Government (you can also find her blog from there, which also has a lot of great information). In the first one, Nicoleen talks about creating a family vision. Not something vague, we'll all live happily every afterish. She suggests a vision of a specific family gathering 20 years down the road - who will be there, what time of year or even the day it will be (hers is a Christmas party), the things you'll eat and do, and even what you'll talk about. After husband and wife create the vision, Nicholeen says to take it to the family and share it with your children. Let them know every detail you see and help them to "see" it too, so they can be a part of making that vision happen.

She talks more about making it happen, but since I'm just talking about vision right now that's as far as I'll go. But I love how she emphasized being specific and sharing the vision.

Jamie went to a meeting recently where the leader there said that he doesn't always follow things told to him because his vision is different than theirs. Sorry I'm not being more specific on that, but it's all about protecting the innocent. :) This tossed around in my head until the drive while Jamie and I were talking about vision. This leader gets a lot of dissenting opinions. Why? Because his followers don't know what his vision is! If they knew his vision, since obviously he has one, then maybe it would be easier for people to follow his vision.

That same lesson has been reiterated to me through some of the capacities I've filled through church and scouting. The more information we give parents, the more help we get back from them. If the parents know what they need to do to help their children accomplish the achievements, we get tons of support. If I notice we have some less than supportive parents, the first thing I check is to make sure they know what we need them to be doing. More times that I care to admit, I was the first one to drop the ball, not them.

I have great goals for my family. I know each member of our family has strengths and talents that need to be developed, and I know each of us has a great mission to fulfill in this life. Having a family vision and helping everyone to work towards it is a big step in getting there. Now for ours...

Rereading

Love today's google Daily Literary Quote:

"'Tell me what you read and I'll tell you who you are' is true enough, but I'd know you better if you told me what you reread." --Francois Mauriac

I've got a stack of books I love to reread, and was actually staring at my bookcase just last night sighing to myself over the fact that there are so many new things I want to read now, that it's harder to find the time to reread the favorites.

No School?

With school winding down up the street, Adam asked me the other day when school would be done for us too.

"Sooo," I asked him, "just because it gets hot outside we're going to stop going to the library?"

"No," he replied.

"So we can go to the library, but we won't read the books we check out anymore?"

"No."

"Well, we read a lot of other great books together. Are we going to stop that?"

"No." By this time he had a grin on his face.

"Well then, I'm not exactly sure I know what you're asking me?"

He just chuckled and went on to some other topic.

Today was just a really, really nice day. Nothing too out of the ordinary except that Adam pitched a baseball while I was catching that whammed me in the leg (I've got some nice bruises forming). We had a picnic outside under the quakies and read in the shade for a while. Just nice. It's all reminding me of some of the fun things we did last summer, like making candy with mint leaves. During the picnic Melanie asked me when "Do a Good Turn" day is this year, which is funny since she had such a fine experience last year. I told her even if there isn't a big deal about it this year, we'll still celebrate.

"School" in the summer is definitely different, but learning nonetheless. I've probably mentioned it before, but that's one of the biggest lessons I want my kiddos to learn - that learning happens all the time, not just in the classroom.

In the Backyard

We've seen some exciting things in the backyard lately! A few weeks ago we were watching a robin in the backyard when Adam pointed and said, "Look at that house!"



Amazingly, Melanie had checked out several bird books at the library that week, so we whipped them out and quickly learned we were looking at a Great Blue Heron. We watched him for quite a while before he flew to the top of the house across the street, then on to another house, and away.



A weekish later a neighbor called and asked if our windows were open. I told her yes, and she said to go look outside. I didn't know what I was looking for, till she told me look up, that there was a hot air balloon outside! We watched it float around for quite awhile.



Then earlier today I noticed some apricots growing on our trees (hooray!) and went to check out a different apricot tree to see if it was too. Right next to it is a skinny pear tree, and I noticed it had a good sized nest in it.



Carolyn was with me, so I sat her on my shoulder and helped her peek in. She said there was an egg! We didn't see any parents around, so I ran in the house to grab the camera and see if we could get a quick peek inside.





Shortly thereafter mommy and daddy robin showed up. Mom headed right for the nest and dad kept watch. Erin headed over to check him out.



Here's another of him patroling. We watched him take on another bird that got a little too close.



Carolyn and I had a great chat about how eggs hatch, and I had her promise that she wouldn't bug the nest. It was a bit windy outside, and she was concerned that the nest was going to get blown out. I told her the nest is in a nice strong spot, and that the little egg will be just fine.

Makes me wonder all that goes on around us that we never notice.