Monday Re-Entry

Some Mondays require an easier re-entry than others. I've been rereading Sarah Mackenzie's Teaching from Rest and I think some of her wise words are sinking in this time around. Yes, get the work done, but remember to take into account what else is going on.

• Did we have a full weekend? Yes.
• Do we have any extras / unexpected things on our Monday? Yes. Not necessarily unexpected since I made the appointment, but one of the girls had two teeth pulled first thing Monday morning. I remembered that I need to not have super high expectations on getting everything on my list done when the appointment will (and did) take longer than I expected.
• What has to happen today and what can I let slide? Preparation for Classical Conversations needed to get done to be ready for Tuesday's classes. Laundry can wait until our next day back home on Wednesday.

Giving myself grace not to tackle every minutia on the to-do list along with stacking my kids' to-do lists sky high made yesterday do-able in spite of a bump or redirection here and there. I'm writing this note to remind myself that bigger isn't always better and less sometimes trumps more when it comes to our home environment.

As I have time, I'm going to try and blog thoughts and lessons that I have gleaning from Sarah's book, Teaching from Rest. I did received a paperback copy of the book in exchange for a review, but I would gladly pay for the book out of pocket! You can find the book on Amazon, but I would also encouraged buying it from Classical Academic Press which has an accompanying journal and mp3s.

Because it's Friday

Because the sun is shining...



Because a girl dusted the family room...



Because the kitchen table was almost completely cleared off...



Because there is only one girl that is sick at the moment as opposed to multiple sicklings...



There were oatmeal-on-the-go bars baked...



And enjoyed ...



And photographed.

Because that's what mama's do when they get a little stir-crazy after a couple weeks taking care of sick little people and the sun is shining in so beautifully.

October is My Favorite

Where to start.

The last five weeks have been ones of big BIG change for our family. The addition of a 14 year old girl has been such a blessing but there have also been some big hurdles and bumps that we have (and are) experiencing as we fit her into the family, as well as helping her overcome her own personal hurdles. (I hate the vagueness that life has to be right now in some areas. Please forgive the lack of specifics).

I've noticed that I'm not taking many pictures these days. I miss that. My plate is so full of what has to be done next that I'm not slowing down and being observant and thankful. I'm too busy focusing on the next meeting, the next school assignment, the next bathroom that must be cleaned, the next meal to be made. Those things are all very true and it's definitely helping me to be more focused and on task, but I'm drained when I don't take a little time to emotionally (creatively) recharge!)

October IS one of my favorite months. The changing leaves, all our family birthdays, the crisp weather ... I could go on and on. I've made myself a little photo challenge called #Octoberismyfavorite and I'm trying to remember to take a photo a day solely for the beauty that I am noticing that comes in the month of October and post it to Instagram. I'm not going for perfection ... I already missed posting yesterday ... but I'm slowly reminding myself to pause, look for beauty, and remember to be thankful that it is there even when the days are long and hard.

A glimpse at what I've captured since Wednesday:

Day 1: October means pumpkin in all the things ... pumpkin waffles for breakfast. (Also, in honesty, we are a cereal eating family at breakfast and we were out of all of it ... ergo, I had to actually MAKE breakfast!) Recipe from weelicious.



Day 2: take yesterday's pumpkin waffles. Add brown sugar cream cheese. You're welcome.



Day 2 (bonus): pre-birthday celebrating the night before.



Day 3: Eleven is my new favorite. She's already great at being eleven.



Day 3 (bonus): also, ten is my favorite. (All the ages are my favorite!) Celebrating the one and only nephew with a fantastic photobomb by my dad in the background.



Day 4: Soccer on cool, crisp Saturday mornings. And the fact that this girl played ... that's a whole post in itself that I need to write up to remember. So proud of her yesterday and definitely an October favorite.



To be continued...

Grace and Peace

We are slowly and surely moving into a new season in our family ... in a family of seven. We are now the parents of a 14yo girl and while things are settling in smoothly(-ish), it has just been busy on so many levels. (Busy isn't even the right word to use, I'm sure, but it's what I've got right now).

I've pared myself down to the bare minimum of outside responsibilities for me right now and I'm finding that is still stretching me to my limit daily with three to educate at home, one to keep busy, and one to get back and forth to public high school and help with 9th grade work. (Thank goodness for husbands that get - and enjoy! - algebra). I'm still working a little for our church and tutoring for our Classical Conversation group, but anything else beyond those two responsibilities (one of which I do with one of my own child in the class) is just not happening this year. I miss writing about the read alouds that we are discovering and writing "around here" type posts as a hodgepodge of notes about our days. For now, the daily pictures I manage to get to Instagram will have to do and as I can flesh out a detail or two about a photo there, I'll do so.

Like this one:



My tried and true banana bread recipe, multiplied times four to feed all the eaters in this house.

Banana Bread

1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk (or 1 cup milk plus 1 T white vinegar)
3/4 t. baking soda
3/4 c. raisins (I almost always leave these out and sub chocolate chips)
2 t. unsweetened applesauce or vegetable oil
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 t. salt
4 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

Beat the egg and the brown sugar together until foamy and the sugar is somewhat dissolved. Stir in the applesauce, bananas and buttermilk, mixing well between each addition. Sift the dry ingredients (I never do!) and stir into the liquids along with the raisins (or chocolate chips). Spray a 9" load pan with nonstick spray and spoon in the batter, smoothing the top out with a spatula. Bake at 350 on the middle rack of a preheated oven until deep golden, the center bounces back to your touch and a toothpick comes out clean. I check it at about 45 minutes but in my oven it takes 50-55 for it to be done all the way through.

Grace and peace.

Project Life Update // Thanksgiving Week!

It's Thanksgiving! (Or it was). : )

With the exception of one picture at the beginning and two pictures at the end, this entire layout (+ inserts) is all Thanksgiving, all the time. I had too many that I wanted to include and so I did!





On the left:

• a pretty leaf picture became my date card. I love using all the random nature shots as my date cards with a label slapped on them. Not that I need to justify taking the picture, but I love that I'm using them in my albums.
• The morning that we headed out for Thanksgiving a certain girl had to have a couple teeth pulled. Little teeth that didn't want to come out on their own and big teeth that wanted to make their presence known were not getting along. This was a slightly traumatic experience for all involved - the girl was NERVOUS. The mama had to have two of her other kids with her at the appointment instead of being 100% focused on calming the patient. But. We survived and there was ice cream. And happy gas.
• The giant table where we took our meals at the cabin we stayed at with my side of the family. There were twelve of us there and you could have sat another six comfortably at this table - no joke. I want a table like this in my house someday!
• T relaxing. 

On the right:

• getting the kids out of the cabin for a hike. It was cooooold this day (I think it was Wednesday?) Flurries the whole day long though nothing really accumulated.
• A lake we walked past near our cabin.
• T and B singing/working on one of the Christmas songs for the church program. A little impromptu music after we put up our tree...
• which is here! This is our first year for a LIVE tree and I am so enjoying it. This was not a great picture by any stretch of the imagination. I actually used my point and shoot for this shot and it gave the picture a funny orange tint but it's the only one we had. 

Insert #1:

On Friday, we went on a horseback / trail ride with everyone thanks to Grandpa's generosity. The kids had a blast!!! Even the boy got to ride the whole time with T and he kept turning around and telling me he was riding a black horse! This was such a thrill for them all.

The back of Insert #1:

More pictures from outside around our cabin that we stayed at, minus the selfie with the horse that I took. His name was Smokey, but it should have been Pokey. He was soooo slow.

Insert #2:

A cut down PL page to hold just a few more shots.

B put away that whole turkey leg. Pretty impressive.

A fun getaway that is DONE and in the books. 

Questions? As you can see I've had a bit more time for blogging now that we are on break and am hoping to do more in the coming weeks. I'm curious who all out there is a Project Lifer or has interest in that? Anyone taking this on for 2014? 

Supplies used in this layout:

• journaling cards from In a Creative Bubble
• I Love stamp from Elise Joy
• PL 3x4 grid cards
• blue 4x6 journaling card is from the Cobalt edition.
• red 4x6 journaling card is from a Studio Calico PL kit.
• Tracy Larson white spaces templates

Project Life is a product and a system created by Becky Higgins and available on Amazon.com, DigitalProjectLife.com, and many major craft retailers. It can be anything you want it to be. You can view all my posts about Project Life here. I'm always happy to answer questions about how Project Life works for me, if you have any. Affiliate links used where available.

Thankful Daybook

I made the mistake of looking and it has been May since I've done a daybook. I love this snippets of what has been going on here and miss the record of things that have happened. Here's to catching up a bit...

Outside my window...

It has been a cold, wet, drizzly day today. Pretty perfect for November. Although I wouldn't have complained if I'd seen some afternoon sun. I do love a grey day - perfect for blankets and comfy clothes. Especially when it's our family pizza and movie night and we're hunkering down for the evening.

I am thinking...

That I need a teacher's inservice day. A day to look at the calendar and map out the next few months. Trying to figure out to make it happen ... may mean a movie day for munchkins but I'm sure that won't be a problem for them. : )

I am thankful...

that we have reached our holiday break. Almost every activity has wrapped up for the year with just a couple of exceptions and I'm reveling in the chance to get caught up on lots and lots of things. My list is probably overambitious, but it's been such a busy fall, I can't help myself.

In the kitchen...



Nada. It's pizza night tonight so no cooking for me! The photo above is from the Pioneer Woman's chocolate sheet cake which I made last weekend for a dinner. There is something about making a cake from scratch that I kinda like.

I am wearing...

Black maxi skirt, light pink tshirt, darker pink hoodie and slippers.

I am creating...

Some plans for December. Lists of Christmas books I need to reserve at the library.

I am going...

to hopefully get a bundle of errands crossed off my list tomorrow. Our schedule this year means that I don't have much time during the week to get out and run errands, grab a few groceries, etc., so tomorrow is catch-up day. I've realized that one child has no tennis shoes to speak of and another doesn't have a winter coat so that plus the few groceries we need will fill our afternoon.

I am wondering...


I am reading...


We had quite a successful run at the library today. And my Thanksgiving reading plans are quite optimistic. And laughable. : ) Seriously, though. I need to do a book post soon! We have read some really great read-alouds this fall and I don't want to forget them.

I am hoping...

For a restful break next week from school. I've been running on empty for a few weeks now (a couple little people have gotten in a bad habit of getting up during the night for random reasons) and I need a break from that. Or a nap. Or both.

I am looking forward to...

a Christmas tree. We are getting on this year. A real one. We've made-do the last two years with a mini tree - with a cruising 1 year old, then a 2 year old boy, it seemed the thing to do. But I so missed a bigger tree full of lights. Please don't hear that as a complaint because it was the season of life we were in ... but I'm excited about a big tree this year.

I am learning...

Lessons in where I am and am not spending my time wisely. Changes are afoot, but implementing them. That's where it gets hard!

Around the house...

Not too shabby, but the first two days of our break next week will involve some detail work in a couple of the kids' bedrooms. Nothing bad, but just some straightening and organizing that I can't get to and do school and feed people and mop the kitchen and ... so on. : )

Clicking around...

Teaching from a State of Rest
A Ministry of Openness

One of my favorite things...



This dude. He keeps me on my toes.

A few plans for the rest of the week/weekend:

Errands on Saturday + work in the kitchen. Church Thanksgiving service + potluck on Sunday. And I believe Monday is going to be a day of rest (+ laundry).

A peek into my day...



Photo added on Saturday.  A few kid-requested kitchen treats.

Lasagna Soup

 
Today was our last day of our Classical Conversations tutorial for the fall. (Insert loud cheer here!) The last 12 weeks (or so) have been full, full, FULL, but I think over all we have finished well. I knew I would be tired today after our last day so I'm not sure why I picked this soup to make for dinner instead of my normal crockpot Tuesday plan. However, I'm so glad I did! I was cold all. day. long. and it turns out that cooking something hot and scrumptious slowly over the stove when I got home was just what I needed today. I wish I remembered exactly where I saw this recipe the first time ... maybe life {in} grace? ... so I could give credit.

Lasagna Soup
My edits are in parenthesis; most things I left out were because I didn't have the ingredient.

for the soup:
2 tsp. olive oil
1-1/2 lbs. Italian sausage (I used Italian turkey sausage)
3 c. chopped onions.
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (left this out)
2 T. tomato paste
1 28-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes (used regular diced)
2 bay leaves (left out)
6 c. chicken stock
8 oz. mafalda or fusilli pasta
1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

for the cheesy yum:
8 oz. ricotta
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of freshly ground pepper

additional cheesy yum:
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.

 

Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Do not over cook or let soup simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy and absorb all the soup broth. You may even want to consider cooking the noodles separately, and then adding some to individual bowls before ladling the soup over them. This would be an especially smart move if you are anticipating any leftovers. Right before serving, stir in the basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

 

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheesy yum. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. To serve, place a dollop of the cheesy yum in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the mozzarella on top and ladle the hot soup over the cheese.

 

Source (these were notes from the original recipe)Adapted from  300 Sensational Soups by Carla Snyder and Meredith Deeds, as seen in the February-April 2011 edition of At Home with Kowalski's magazine from Kowalski’s Markets .

 
My notes: this was DELICIOUS. The cheese mixture made the soup in my opinion and was well worth the calories. The only thing that I think I will do differently the next time is used crushed tomatoes instead of diced. I have several that will eat tomatoes without complaint as long as they can't see the big chunks. Though there weren't any complaints, I think I'll get an even better response without the chunks.

Enjoy!

Hello November

Hello November.

Hello to leaves everywhere.

Hello to boys (and girls) enjoying those last few moments of daylight on cool afternoons before the sun sets so early.

Hello to cozy evenings inside, listening to music and learning together. (He’s walking her through the sheet music to the Hallelujah Chorus as they listen).

Hello to cozy suppers. (And cozy lunch leftovers).

Hello to plans and thoughts on paper.

Hello to evenings under the blankets with a good book (or several).

Hello to thankfulness and family and remembering … all things that come to mind as part of November.

Simple Things Sunday

We are not a sports watching family (on TV at any rate). We like to play them and have done our part out on the soccer and softball fields, but sitting and watching it on TV rarely holds any appeal for us. However, the World Series is where we break that rule. We are cheering on the Cardinals (although we are most impressed with the Boston Red Sox team) and are enjoying cheering them on in the evenings.

Simple traditions like watching a World Series baseball game together (complete with popcorn or maybe a bowl of ice cream) are often the sweetest.

Linking up with Rebecca.

Crockpot Tuesday: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Tuesday is co-op day which means it’s also crockpot day. Today’s chilly weather (and what I had to work with in my pantry) called for soup so I scrounged in my recipes files and found one, but I tweaked it a bit based on what I had on hand. This is what I ended up with.

 

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup  

•1 medium onion, diced
•1 jalapeno, diced (would have been nice but I didn’t have one)
•4 cloves garlic, minced
•1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
•1/2 teaspoon chili powder
•1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional – I left out)
•1 (15 ounce can) fire roasted diced tomatoes (I used a can of rotel with lime)
•4 cups chicken broth (I actually used beef broth because I was out of chicken, but it tasted just fine!)
•1 (14.5 ounce) can black beans (or whatever kind you like)
•1 1/2 – 2 teaspoons kosher salt
•3 cups shredded chicken, already cooked (I dumped it in rock hard from the freezer)
•1 cup frozen corn kernels

Dump it all the crockpot on low and let it cook through all day. I love this kind of a recipe because you can tweak and fuss with it and it is practically impossible to mess up. Don’t like the spice of Rotel? Use a can of diced tomatoes. Have a family member that doesn’t like tomato pieces in their soup? Use crushed tomatoes or leave it out entirely. Swap out a can of colored mexi-corn instead of the frozen. So easy to just use what you have a come up with a tasty soup. We served ours with a little cheese sprinkled on top and some tortilla chips for dipping.

As an aside: just to keep it real, I only had one child that tried the soup. It had a slight kick to it from the Rotel and I knew some wouldn’t eat it so they mostly ate quesadillas. Fine by me … more leftovers. : ) This kind of soup is great leftover – as soup (you can add a tiny bit of water to it if it isn’t as soupy when it’s time to reheat it. And, if you lost most of the liquid by the time it’s cooked down scoop it over chips for easy nachos or dump it on a bed of lettuce for a quick chicken taco salad. I’m already looking forward to lunch tomorrow.

Happy eating. : )

Simple Things Sunday

Even when it’s a very very very full Saturday and you are going in a bunch of different directions, just being doing it all together is the sweetest.

Linking up with Rebecca.

Jelly Telly Post :: My Autumn Manifesto

My latest post for the Jelly Telly blog actually went live last week, but I’m finally getting around to linking up here. : )

You can read more (if you are so interested!) about my thoughts and family plans for our Autumn Manifesto here. A snippet:

This is just part of my list, and it doesn’t even scratch the things that I have thought about for Thanksgiving. But sometimes I need a gentle reminder to slow down and just be with my family. These items that I I’ve listed aren’t fancy – and most won’t even cost much money – but it’s the time together making memories that will be remembered. Slow down and savor this season.

As always, though I head into each month wondering what in the world I will write about, I have been so honored to be able to share on this blog with these other parents. It has been a gift.

Simple Things Sunday

Saturdays, as a family, cheering them on, is the sweetest.

Linking up with Rebecca.