My Family

Look at these guys.  This picture makes me smile so deep in my heart.  This was at my sister's wedding a year ago, the last time I saw most of them.

We've got my sister's husband, the aforementioned younger brother, my dad, my older brother, then Craig's firstborn and mine.  Aren't they so cute?!

Hope you have lots to smile about today.

About My Brother

You knew I was joking, right?

I mean, he's all those things I said in the first paragraph, for sure;  including being honest.

Look at the love here.

And you know what?  We chatted tonight and it's warmer here than there by a good 10-15 degrees.  Be ye content, right?  Okay.

Miss you brother.

Lies!

Have you met my younger brother?  He's pretty cool.  He's an engineer, so he's smart.  He surfs and plays baseball, so he's athletic.  He loves God, so he worships at church and studies with friends.  He looks like my dad, so he's cute.  He's a dedicated Dodger fan, so he looks good in blue.  And he was so sweet to tell me (in the 'comments' of my last post) that it's raining at the beach in CA today.  Trying to make me feel better since I can't be out there.

But, you have to watch out with him.  He can throw out the occasional falsehood, I'm sad to say.   Lies!

It does not rain at the beach.  I know.  I have never been to the beach when it's raining.  Have you?  That's because it doesn't rain there.  I know it's sunny and warm and uncrowded and the ozone layer is sealed tight all along the coast so no UVA/UVB rays will harm my pasty midwest whiteness.

Nice try, Dave.

Relaxing?

Okay.  I just sent Peter off on his first field trip.  And I'm just a little nervous about it.  I'm not worried that he'll get lost, because he knows how to stay with a group.  What am I worried about?  Maybe just that I'm not there, and he really wanted me to be.  For 7 years I've always been there.  This is me letting go, folks.

Oh, and he gets carsick whenever he travels in the morning.  Doesn't he Mom?  I put a plastic bag in his coat pocket.  Hope he doesn't have to use it.  But he probably will.  That can't be good for making friends and influencing people.

They're busing it to the zoo this morning, an hour into The City.  He's been looking forward to it and was funnily giddy last night.  Paul thought I shouldn't go in order to promote relaxation in my life.  I guess he thinks I need to relax.

Then send me to the California beach!

It is my Half Birthday today.  That's gotta deserve a trip to Cali.  And what a great way to divert my worries from the field trip that I'm not on.  I'll go pack.

Oh man.  I have a great picture to insert here.  Paul taking a nap on a La Jolla beach.  Proof that he knows beaches promote relaxation.  But, I can't upload the picture because Blogger has changed their picture-uploading methods and none of them work for me.

Did I mention it's below 40 degrees again?  You know how to treat that?  Go to any California beach.

This and That

Just a smattering of photos.

Mr. Rabbit in our backyard.

I saw a Mrs. Rabbit today which makes me wonder if our vegetable garden has any chance at all.

Lovely tulips that surprise me every year.

Oprah's recipe for Sesame-encrusted Salmon Cakes.

Don't waste your time or ingredients.

But they look nice.

We occasionally find Reuben sleeping on the heater vent in the kitchen.

Doesn't he look so big?

Playing I Spy with a new quilt from my friend Charlene.

How to Fill Your Time When You All of a Sudden Have Lots of It Because You're Not Homeschooling Anymore

You make a bread recipe takes 5 hours.  That's what I did one day last week.  I think I had been reading Soule Mama's blog and she mentioned a bread recipe from one of Peter Reinhart's cookbooks.  So I requested one of his cookbook's through our library's inter-library loan program.

This one.

Oh, my.

Not just a cookbook,

but an education on the finer points of bread making.

Way beyond my and my kitchen's current abilities.

But, I found one recipe that I thought we
(my kitchen and I)
could conquer.

And we did.

And it was so good.

(A relief since I invested a good portion of my day and baking ingredients into it.)

Cinnamon Raisin Bread with Walnuts.

See the cinnamon swirl in there?

That's an advanced technique.

It made two loaves.

We enjoyed it warm and fresh,

then the next morning I made French Toast with it.

Oh yum.

With fresh pear and strawberries.

The remaining loaf is sliced and frozen so we can pull a piece out and toast as desired.

Interesting thing about this Peter Reinhart is that he's from Santa Rosa, California.  He's traveled the world and is a champion bread maker/artisan/professor and he started in Santa Rosa.  So we bonded.  Although he's not really aware of me so much, I feel like he's an extended family member who's gone out into the world and done something super neat.

Equal, perhaps, to being inducted into Chapman University's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Or, becoming a Master Brewer and founding a unique brewery in So. Cal.

Or, having crazy professional motocross skills placing 3rd in the X Games.

Seriously, Bennetts, Cooks, and Bashes... How neat that I get to call you family.

But, back to simpler things like bread...  If you're looking to expand your bread knowledge exponentially and you've got some time, I'd recommend one of Peter's books.   It's interesting reading even if you never bake anything.

Peter.  What a nice name.

The Gunman

A policeman guarded the school.  The doors were all locked.  No one could go in or out.  And Peter was inside.

The school was on Lock Down yesterday.  It wasn't a drill.  And The Town Gossip is going nuts trying to figure out why.

The principal sent out an email after school to inform the parents.  'Inform' is probably the wrong word since no information was given.  Just that it was Locked Down.

That's not supposed to happen in quaint little towns of a thousand, right?

What I thought bizarre is that today I went to the school (during school hours) to help set up for the Spring Carnival tonight and just about every outside door was propped open - daring the gunman to return, perhaps.  I was supposed to meet other moms there, but no one was there.  But every door was wide open.  A little Twilight Zone-ish.

When I was in junior high in northern California we had a lock down experience due to a gunman in the neighborhood.  Shakes you up a little bit.  Or a hiddle bit, as Reuben would say.

Deep Dish Pizza

We enjoy making and eating this Chicago-style pizza and thought you might too.  It's a 3 minute video recipe.  Watch it one time through, then gather your ingredients and watch it play-by-play as you make it.  That's what I do.



Chicago Deep Dish Pizza Recipe

 
Note that the pizza cooks for 45 minutes, so give yourself some time.  I make my own dough, so that backs up the start time too.  Pretty much started preparing 3 hours before mealtime.  But much of that is letting the dough rise and then the final cooking.

Paul likes his with sausage, I put in some onions, garlic, and/or peppers for me, and pepperoni for the boys.  Really yum.  It's in the oven right now.  Smell it?  We bought a springform pan (instead of continually borrowing one) due to Paul liking this recipe so much.

Here's the finished pizza.  Crazy thick.

Here are the basic steps.

Line the pan with pizza dough and put in your toppings.

Put another layer of dough on top.

Pour on some sauce and cheese.

It makes a fat crust that is great for dipping in extra, warmed sauce.

You could also tuck some cheese (like string cheese) in the crust as you form it.

Yum.

Wait For It

This weird thing happens every once in awhile.  One of the boys will need something.  Like pants.  He's outgrown all his pants and I'll need to go to the store to get larger ones.  But, it takes me a while to get to a store because they are far away.  While we wait for our next trip into The City, someone in town randomly stops by and gives us a large bag of her son's clothes that he has outgrown.  Including pants in the size we currently need.

You see what I mean?  A winter coat, snow pants, boots, beds, a lawn mower, a dishwasher, a bookcase.  All things we had a silent need for that have delivered themselves to our door since we've lived in this little town.  It's gotten to the point that when one of us needs something, we just wait.  We don't say anything to anyone.  We just wait to see who is going to on-a-whim stop by with the exact item we need.

This Spring, as bike-riding-season began again, we noticed that Peter's bike is too small for him.  He didn't say anything about it, we just watched as his knees nearly hit the handle bars.  I said to Paul, "We just need someone to outgrow their bike and think of Peter."

That exact thing happened last Sunday.  Look at this great new bike for Peter.

He loves that it has a kickstand and a rearview mirror.

It's the perfect size for him,
with room to grow for a couple summers.

Paul and Pete have been riding their bikes to school
of a morning.

(Have you heard that phrase, 'of a morning'?

I hadn't until we moved here.)

Our neighbors gave this bike to Peter when he was 2 or 3, after their son outgrew it.

Now it's Reuben's turn.

Isn't that neat?

Reflecting about it makes me think about what we have that we could pass on to another family who's waiting for it.

How about you?

Mushrooming

'Mushroom' is not just a noun around here, but a verb too.  People go 'mushrooming' and as of yesterday, I am one of those people.

Our newly retired friends, Steve and Evelyn, took us to one of their favorite spots to hunt mushrooms, deep in the woods, far off any trail.  I'd tell you where, but I'm sworn to secrecy, and I 'm supposed to tell you that "there weren't very many" to try to discourage you from going out and finding any so I can find more, and to raise the price for the people selling them out of their trunks.  $35 a pound is a reported price this spring.  For mushrooms.

Well, if we found any, I'd say we found 37.

 

But we didn't, so don't even bother going out.

There weren't very many.  

If we found any, I'd say they were about this size...

And, if we had found any,

we would have fried them up and ate every one of them

and had a jolly time with our friends.

Our friends like to coat them in egg, then flour,
and then fry them until golden.

The goal is to get them crisp on the outside
and soft on the inside.

Oh, but before you cook them

you're supposed to soak them in heavily salted water.

This brings out all the bugs.

Yah.

I feel quite a bit more cultured

and 'one' with the people here.

Like, after 5 years of living here,

we've been deemed worthy to be accepted into The Club.

And in this club they play Euchre,

another midwest mystery.

Quote of the Day

Peter, just arriving home from school today, says in a sincerely happy voice:

"Mom!  I did better on my spelling test on Friday than I did on Wednesday!"

Me:  "Oh yah?"

Peter:  "Yah, I got a D!"

Me, chuckling:  "Yes, that is better."


By the by, our internet is still broken.  And I don't know when it will be back.  Will post as I am able to pop in at the library.

Down

Our internet maker thing is down.  It randomly quit yesterday.  So Reuben and I are at our town library working on the computers.  He's doing Reader Rabbit while I use the only computer with the internet.  A slow internet.

Yesterday Peter said to me, "Mom, if you want to come see me at school you could come to the park at lunch recess."  Funny guy.  So Reuben and I went.  When Peter saw Reuben at the park, he went right to him and they exclaimed with glee and hugged.  It was very sweet.  Then they were off to their separate parts of the playground.

The principal was out and we chatted and he said Peter's doing fine.  And I think he is.  Rube and I are doing great.  Love this one kid at home thing.

And I love this 80 degree weather.  It feels so good.  Paul's going to tune-up the lawn mower, then we'll be back to mowing this weekend.  That was an odd realization moving to this climate - that lawn mowing is seasonal.  About April to October.  That's another chore (like laundry) that I enjoy.  I'm accomplishing something and exercising and the yard looks beautiful when I'm done.

Hope you're having great weather too.  See you when our computer is fixed.

Day 2

The first two days of school have gone great.  Peter has come home happy and talkative, with lots of homework.

Reuben and I went to the capital city for the day today (an hour east).  We did some necessary shopping (got to cross off a few things on my to-do list!) and then to the Children's Museum, and then stopped at our new favorite international market to 'watch the crabs' and get pan dulces.  They have a huge fish counter with live things like crabs and a Mexican bakery with things like pan dulces.  Reuben made a point of telling everyone who smiled at him that he was from Korea.  It was cute.

I can't type anymore.  The boys are making up for a whole day's worth of wrestling and annoying each other and it's rather wild in my background.  Fortunately, I have a meeting tonight and get to interact with adults!!

First Day of School

Now what?
Doot da-doot da-doo.

Pete's at school,

and besides my long to-do list hanging on the fridge,

I have nothing to do.

Strange.

Super strange.

Here's how it went:

He got out of the car, saw his friend Evan, and took off. 

Not a hint of 'good-bye'.

Just a blur of red backpack.

That means he's well attached, right?

We went in to pay tuition and I just love that I saw four teachers and staff who are members at our church.  I know Peter is in good hands and will be watched out for by my friends who work at the school.

Here we have the traditional first day of school picture,
even though it's April.

(Legally, he doesn't have to go to school until next fall, the beginning of the school year when he's seven.
Does anyone wait till then?)

And here's the traditional picture of the little brother
wanting to be included too.

And because I'm lame,
here's the very first school lunch I packed.

Look okay?

PBJ (heavy on the J), a cutie, ritz, capri sun, and a gogurt.

Any suggestions Tiffany, lunch-packer of five years?

So, Reuben's watching a Pin-gu video that he thinks is hilarious,

Paul's going to go dig holes for his new blueberry plants,

and I guess I'll go check out my to-do list.

Or, just sit.

Rejoicing!

Look at this sweet, sweet baby...

He is the newest member of my California brother's family.

He was born last week and we are celebrating with them.

 Yahoo!

 ~Welcome Baby Brody~

Change Is A Comin'

So, homeschooling's great blah, blah, blah.   But what about those public schools?  LOVE them.  So much that we enrolled the Pete and he starts Monday.  Ha.  Really.  We're finished with second grade at home, so we decided this would be a good time to try out this whole send-your-kid-away-for-someone-else-to-teach gig.

My top 3 concerns are:
1. Now we have to get up, get ready, and get to school on time OR ELSE.  Man.
2. I have to make a school lunch.  Blah.
3. I'm letting go and sending him out into the world.  Scary.

My top 3 celebrations are:
1. I already feel so relaxed.
2. Rube and I get some one-on-one time.
3. It's a time of change, and I like change.

It's a tester experience.  A break; a change.  We'll see how it goes.  No long-term plans, just until May 27th, the last day of school out here.  Then we'll talk with his teacher, principal, God, and Pete and decide what we think is best for 3rd grade.  I've been a public school student and a public school teacher.  It will be interesting to round out the experience by being the public school mom.  Will we be able to handle being so scheduled?  We've loved our freedom to go and do as we please.


Some details I've left out:  About a month ago Paul and I were talking about Peter and school and our family life.  He joked, "Since Peter's going to be done with school so early, we should send him to the public school for April and May.  Ha ha ha."  We laughed.  And then thought more seriously about it.  Paul was all for it, but I just wasn't so sure.  We eventually went to the school and talked to the principal about it, and returned home with a stack of papers to fill out.  Paul quickly filled out all the papers and turned them back in.

A couple weeks went by and Peter went in to be tested.  Yep, he's at and beyond the second grade level.  He was enrolled at the end of March, right before Spring Break.  Peter and I went in for a tour and to meet his teacher and class.  That was really good for both of us.  Peter didn't really want to go to the public school, and I still wasn't sure about this, but after the school visit we were both excited.  So over Spring Break we acquired a lunch bag, backpack, and school supplies.  Did you know that we have to pay tuition and provide all his school supplies?  Crazy.  Feels a lot like private school. 

Two more days.  I hope we make it to school on time.  And I hope I don't cry.

Stuffed Strawberries

I love berry season.

Just now, as I washed and cut the tops off some strawberries to enjoy a post-lunch treat, I noticed the large hollow center inside the strawberries and I thought,

"Why has no one thought to stuff strawberries?"

My next thought,

"Surely there are recipes online."

So here I am to tell you that people do stuff strawberries and I want to eat them.  But they're not stuffing them from the top, where the natural opening is after you cut the top off.  They are cutting 2 slits across the bottom and piping filling, rather unnaturally, in there.

  But I can understand their reasoning since they can then be stood upside-down and be stable and beautiful.


Ah, here's a naturalist:

I wish I had some cream to whip up.
My afternoon would be set. 
Yum.

Enjoy berry season!

Yeah, There's a Toilet on Our Front Porch

Doesn't get much classier than this.

But, that means they're putting the floor in our bathroom!

And a friend stopped by to give the boys a ride.

Dreaming.

Camp Shower

What a fortuitous time to be house-sitting.

Our main bathroom has been under construction for a week, meaning, among other things, no shower.

But, for the last week and the rest of this one, we are taking care of a house that does have a shower.

Really, couldn't have planned that better.

Except, I didn't plan either event at all.

But, it's felt a whole lot like camp.

I take my bucket of toiletries and my towel and clean clothes and head to the house to shower.  Then I tote all my things back again, feeling uber clean and refreshed.  Even wore flip-flops to get the whole camp feeling.

Our shower is almost ready to be christened.

But the floor is not in, just the under wood.  

One of the Bobs said we could use it today, but I'm hesitant without the new flooring in.  This whole ripping-out-of-the-shower began because of our floor becoming rotted due to our old leaky shower and shower door.  I'd rather wait until the floor is securely covered.  But I probably say that because I have another shower to use in the meantime.

~In Other News~

Today we have severe storms coming into the state.  Welcome to Tornado Season.  Earthquakes in CA or tornadoes out here?  I haven't decided which I prefer.  It seems I am affected by tornadoes a lot more than I was with earthquakes.  That mad dash across the street to the church basement in the midst of a whirling storm with the tornado sirens blaring...  Stresses me out just thinking about it.

So let's think about the pretty side of spring.  The flowering trees are beautiful right now and birds are singing and chirping from all directions.  It's lovely and peaceful.

Mourning the Meal

Have you ever fixed one of your favorite meals,

(cranberry meatloaf, potatoes & carrots,
yeast rolls, key lime pie)

all from scratch,

and specially invited a neighbor family over
to enjoy it with you,

and they said they'd bring a salad,

and you decorated your table with an extra special touch,

and you're looking forward to getting to know them better,

especially since their kids are over at your house a couple times a week,

and they just don't show up?

Oh man.

When they didn't show up,

Paul went over to see if they were coming

and they said no.

But they'd "really like to sometime"

maybe if they had "more notice."

I guess a week wasn't enough time.

But wait, they said they'd bring a salad.

They said they'd come.

This was a meal with just us and them.

I couldn't believe they just didn't come.

So sad.

We were hoping to build a relationship with them

so we could trust them more

and possibly let our kids go to their house

because their kids invite ours over

but we just don't know the adults well enough

and our first impressions and gut intincts

(even before this meal)

haven't been positive.

So I guess our relationship will stay as it is for a while more:

Their kids come over here

and we hang out with them

and they learn more about our weird lifestyle

(no tv, home school, healthy food, coupons,
family outings, church, Jesus).

Epilogue

We took our meal to another family's house.

Some good friends with whom we already have an established relationship,

who often share their meals with us.

It was lovely to return the favor. 

Passover

So, we're not Jewish,  But we celebrated the Passover Thursday night anyway.  It was interesting and fun and of course, we learned some things.

We held the meal in our Upper Room, just as Jesus did with his 12 close buddies.  Well, kind of like Jesus did.  We emptied everything out of Peter's upstairs bedroom and laid down quilts and pillows so we could properly recline, as the custom was.

A unique fellow named Bryce fixed the entire meal of:
zeroah (roasted lamb),
karpas (veggies),
charoses (an apple dish),
beitzah (hard boiled eggs),
matzoh (flat bread),
grape juice for the wine,
salt water for dipping the veggies,
and maror (A horseradish dip that he made from his own homegrown horseradish and plain yogurt.  I had no idea what horseradish was, but I now know it's a white root veggie.).

It was tasty and fun to eat.  Everything had meaning.

Paul used the book below, called 30 Minute Seder,

to lead us through and explain the rituals and symbolism.

Unwrapping some matzoh and taking out the middle piece to rip it in half.

One of the traditions is to hide some matzoh wrapped in a napkin and the kids have to find it.

Peter may have had a home field advantage since he found it.

Then the leader has to barter with the kid to get the matzoh back.

It took 9 mini Hershey bars to convince Peter.

We realized that this was a meal similar to what Jesus had the night before he was killed.  While eating the Passover meal with his 12 apostles (like we were reinacting), he gave the matzoh (flat bread) and wine new significance.

Jesus took the bread and said, 

"This represents my body, given for you;

eat this in remembrance of me."

Then he took the cup of wine and said, 

"This represents my blood, God's new covenant,

which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

This is Communion.  This is where it started.  Every Sunday in church we take a piece of matzoh and a cup of grape juice and we eat it and drink it and remember Jesus dying on the cross for us.  Before I was born and able to perform my first sin, he died to forgive it.  He was innocent and they killed him.  Today we mourn that he died.

But tomorrow...  Tomorrow he will prove that he is who he said he was.  God's son.  He came back to life.

And we can say...

                     He is Risen.

                     He is Risen, indeed!

Thank you, Jesus.  For forgiving me when I don't deserve it.

Gotta Go

I'm in the midst of creating a new post about last night's events, but Reuben wants me to come out and play with him.  I'm working on being more people-focused instead of task-focused, so out I go.  And even though you're all people too, we meet through a task.  And this task is being trumped by my son.  I'd add a super cute pic of him here, but then I'd be here tasking instead of out there peopling.

Have a lovely, sunny day.

Lovely Laundry

I love laundry.

It's easy to do and provides a great sense of accomplishment.

"My family will be dressed and clean now that I've done this Great Thing."

In the winter, my laundry baskets are never empty.

I hang all of our things to dry instead of using the dryer,

so it takes a bit longer.

My indoor drying rack has room for one medium load

and will take 24 hours to dry.

So one load a day.

But, now that it's warm and I can use our outdoor line,

I can do 2-4 large loads a day and actually have empty laundry baskets.

I love it!

I am a Task-Oriented person.

Can you tell?

More laundry washed and put away =

more accomplishment hormone released.

And I feel great.

After thinking about this for a while,
I realized I have not always loved laundry.

When we live in Cali in a 2nd floor apartment
and I had to tote our laundry up and down stairs
to the public, coin machines
while locking my napping newborn babe in our apartment
so our freaky neighbor wouldn't get any ideas...
I didn't love it then.

When we lived in China
and our mini machine only washed
5 or 6 pieces of clothes at a time
and like everyone else in China, I didn't have a dryer,
so I had to risk my life to hang clothes
out our 7th floor window
on this accordian contraption,
except during the 6 months of below freezing temps
when I hung clothes in our entryway
and it took 3 days for the clothes to dry
because the government regulated our heat
and our apartment wasn't warm, ever...
I didn't love laundry then either.

Who knows how laundry will be in future homes for us.
So for now,
I love laundry.