Question:

How come my kid can learn and sing about Kwanzaa and Hanukkah in music class, but not about Christmas?

Anyone? Beuler?

On Wearing Pants.

I reached a turning point in my life, today.
It was the day when you breeze right past the real clothes in the store and shop only for sweatpants and velour tracksuits.

I thought this day would never come...or at least not until I turn 70.
But, friends, I am here to tell you that I am alive and well, and rocking the pajamas-as-clothing train at 29, baby!

I am so glad I have this handy chart here to keep me out of the "those are not actually pants" grey area.

I also bought a pair of moccasins last week that I'm 99.9% sure are actually slippers.
The boots I wore today also fit into said "slipper" category.

So basically, I'm sayin', "In your face, Winter!" with jogging suits and slippers, this year.

Bring it on, December. It's Christmas month, it's Giving month, it's Birthday month for 2 of my children, and it's the Cookie month.
My stretchy pants and I are totally excited for your arrival.

Holiday Shopping Tips for the Men

Take note: this is not intended to be a jab at Aaron. He is a very good gift giver, better than me, actually. But I think almost anyone could benefit from a few basic tips/rules/suggestions for more effective holiday shopping.

So here we go:

1) Don't buy her jewelery. Unless you have really good taste.
2) You probably don't have really good taste.
3) things that are out unless specified on her list: electronics, exercise equipment, cleaning supplies, things for her car.
4) Ask her friends. Ask her friends what their favorite books are, and get her one that she doesn't have yet. Same goes for music and movies.
5) Instead of buying her clothes, give her a gift card to her favorite clothing store. It isn't tacky or impersonal. It's a gift with three purposes. 1) she gets new clothes. 2) You're giving her the gift of shopping. Most women will tell you that at least half the joy of clothing comes from shopping for it. That's why they call it "retail therapy". 3) You are pre-paying the way for her to go blow off some steam the next time you upset her. ;)
6) If you go unique, stick with her style. Don't give a vintage treasure to a contemporary minimalist. Do give the antique butter churner to the farmhouse knick knack collector.
7) Give the gift of time. Time away to relax at a massage, pedicure, or haircut. Time together at a concert, theater, or bed & breakfast (hey, that one probably benefits you too!) Time you spent on fixing/creating something for her.
8) Think ahead. Don't limit yourself to gifts that can only be enjoyed during the winter months. Get her and the kids season passes to the pool, zoo, or amusement park. Plant a bunch of bulbs in the yard when she is out one day, and give her the gift of anticipating a flowery springtime.
9) Think: "What will make her life easier or more enjoyable?" when giving gifts of service.
10) "Stick to the list" but make sure there is at least one surprise for her. Even if it is a pack of her favorite gum or chap stick tucked into her stocking, some hair product one of her friends recommends, or a new kitchen gadget.
11) Try not to sabotage her goals. For example, if you know she has a resolution to lose 20 lbs in 2012, don't give her a gift card to TCBY, and don't stuff her stocking with a 6 month supply of harry and davids. Instead, if you know she wants to read more, get her a book, run more, load up her ipod with good running music or get her a jogger pepper spray, Gatorade, and some Gu, or a cute bag to put her workout gear in. Notice how careful I was to not include a workout video or gym membership in that list of suggestions. Whether she wants to create, travel, write, save, or learn, try to think of ways to build her up and help her do those things, rather than gifting something that will distract or prevent her from doing what she wants. If you give her lessons or supplies for a new hobby, be prepared to support the new hobby by making it easy for her to go to the lessons/class.  Get take out, make arrangements for children, don't schedule anything that will conflict with the schedule and prevent her from going, or make her feel guilty for using the gift.
12) Nothing beats a handwritten note. And words of appreciation are free.
13) Don't write the handwritten note on the piece of rectangular card stock that comes stuck to the bottom of a gift bag.
14) Now, make the holidays easy and go make a list of ideas for her to get for you. There must be at least 10 things on the list that are under $40. Because let's be real. Men are SO much more difficult to shop for than women.


Happy Christmas!

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving Break kicked off with class parties. Q wore a cute Indian headband and macaroni "bead" necklace. Aaron and I took the kids to have a turkey "dinner" in the lunch cafeteria with Reese. She loves any opportunity to buy school lunch, and this time, she rediscovered her love for mashed potatoes. I thought most of it was questionable. Reese tried everything, to prove to us that she should be allowed to buy lunch more often. Aaron, naturally loved everything and finished his with a smile on his face. He loves cafeteria food.
No, I don't know what is wrong with him.

At Reese's class party, I chased Corbin around the classroom to keep him from going all Helen Keller on us and eating the cupcakes off of everyone else's plates. At least one of my kids isn't a picky eater. Reese colored and cut out a turkey, then wrote what she is thankful for on the turkey's feathers. She came up with: Family, chickens, Grandparents, school, church, God, toys, friends, sister, brother, Mom, Dad, scriptures, Mrs. Pledger, Jesus, Madi, and JacksonI checked her out of school after the party and we started our Thanksgiving break a couple of hours early.

Reese was delighted to read an email from Grandma Lynda for her.

We did some holiday crafts.

We did some holiday shopping, got flu shots, (except Corbin, his ears were too infected), had a play date with Jackson, Hannah, and Cole, and enjoyed having Daddy home for 4 days straight!

Thanksgiving dinner was superb if-I-do-say-so-myself. We took Bobby Flay's advice and cooked our turkey with 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth in the bottom of the roasting pan, brushed the bird with butter, and then buried it (literally buried it) in fresh herbs (thanks, garden!) Jamie Oliver style. The stuffing has already been bragged about.

I made Kasey's fresh cranberry sauce:

1 bag fresh cranberries

1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

1/2 cup sugar

zest of 1 orange

simmer until cranberries "pop!"

Aaron has never liked cranberry sauce, but everyone gave this recipe 3 cheers, and described it as, "Is this jam or jelly? Know why? Cuz it is so so good.", "like pomegranates, but without the seeds" and, "it tastes like Sprite." ---the last one is from Aaron.

I don't know, either. I'm just happy he likes it.

I also made a pumpkin cheesecake, gravy, my mom's famous holiday dinner rolls, and a pumpkin cheesecake. Yum. I'll be posting the recipe and adding that one to the holiday dessert rotation. Really good stuff. I used Stacy's gingerbread pita chips and almonds in the crust, and put eggnog in my fresh whipping cream.

Aaron played in the turkey bowl with the guys from church, cleaned out a clogged rain gutter, raked some leaves, put the chicken's heat light on an automatic timer, went to the gym, and grew a baby beard over the weekend.

The "beard" is gone tomorrow. It isn't good, and I think it was inspired by Tony Stark's goatee when we watched Iron Man one night. Anyway, Aaron was so happy to actually have four straight days of not shaving to even have the chance to grow one. I can only compare this to how I feel every Monday during the wintertime. It's sort of like, "Yes! I'll be in pants every day from now until Sunday. Forget shaving my legs for the 6 days! Hmmm....unless I wear a long skirt this Sunday, then I'll have two weeks! Sweet!" I imagine Aaron felt sorta like that about his goatee thing. I'm still happy to see Tony Stark leaves us tomorrow and watch a non-hairy Aaron head back to work.

Home Alone, Cabbage Patch Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Miracle on 34th Street were all watched, and we listened to a lot Michael Buble, Josh Groban, Nat King Cole, Lenka, and Old English Christmas, all while decorating the house.

Each of the kids went on a couple dates with Dad over the weekend. They went to places like the hardware store, out for a treat, Christmas shopping, to fill the van with gas, to lunch at Mc Donald's, to Walmart, or to pick out a live Christmas tree.
Yup. The Willys have a live this year.

With colored lights on it.
It isn't right, people.

What IS right is that we have the live 5 ft tree in addition to the fake 7 1/2 ft tree with white lights, 3 smaller trees, and a lot of garlands.

Five trees. I am so my mother, and I am totally ok with that.

We spent most of the weekend in pajamas, only getting dressed to go to the movie theater (a Willardson holiday tradition). We saw Arthur Christmas and LOVED it. Excellent movie. Entertaining for kids and adults alike. Go see it! Tomorrow!

I went black Friday shopping with Katie and we had a lot of fun braving the crowds together. You'd think that there would be a better looking group at Walmart at 9:30pm on Thanksgiving than at 4am the next day when at least half the people are hung over and/or half awake. Naw. Walmart rolls in the same standard crowd any day of the year from 9pm until 6am. Despite what I've heard on the news, I thought people were REALLY nice, this year. There were a lot of "after you's" and "here, you can fit that cart this way", and people were willing to help each other dig through the bins to find the right sizes of pj's and slippers for each other, or search out a certain video game for the person next to them. It was a great experience, and since we have 2 birthdays and Christmas, as well as 3 kid birthday parties to attend, this month. I was grateful for the good deals. I do hope that black Friday returns to it's normal date, next year, though. It's all fun and great to wait in line with friends and family to stake out a good price on a gift on black Friday, but pushing the sales back to 10pm on Thanksgiving day means a lot of people skipped dessert with their families to go shopping. I say we leave the actual turkey day alone and keep the fun and crazy shopping madness on the following day. PS-Katie, I am impressed with your shopping marathon skillz. Next year, we'll be armed with chapstick, gum, running shoes, water bottles, a mid-shopping/midnight snack, and the toys r us ads, baby!

Aaron and I spent the nights drinking hot cider or sparkling cider, watching movies, making plans for Christmas, talking about what our families are up to, cooking together (gasp!), and quoting our new favorite shows ("Look at the recipe! Where in the recipe does it say to put the mashed potatoes on Schmidt's face?!).

I think laughter accelerates how quickly the weekend passes.

Hope your holiday weekend was magical and filled with the company of those you love and enjoy. Here's to a great Monday. Cheers!

1 Little, 2 Little, 3 Little Pilgrims...

Ok. So I might have gotten a little out of control with the pilgrim thing. It started with Reese asking if I would make paper hats for the kids to wear on thanksgiving. I started to make paper bonnets (you know, like the one you wore at your first grade Thanksgiving feast?) but thought, "Huh. I could sew this pretty easily...."


And 30 minutes later I had cut out half a dozen bonnets and aprons from an old white sheet. I figured, as long as I am making two...might as well make enough for my preschool class, right?


Right.
But what about the boys? That's when the collars and vests started. I might have also made an Indian dress and 3 Indian vests. And bought a hat. And glued a "buckle" to the hat. And sewed that skirt for Reese. And made 4 collars and another shawl. And a bonnet and apron for myself....

I'm sure I am eating crow for the comments I made about tacky photgraphy a few days ago. I mean, look at us holding hands and running and everything...

But come on.

I think the result of my little sewing afternoon and photo shoot with kiddies speaks for itself.

I mean, really. shut. up. How cute are they?!

I reserve the right to brag. I'm also willing to admit that I love my kids even more with bonnets and buckles on.

I'm dying over Q's face, here. That one is a girl of a million looks.

I can't wait to add a few of these to our fall holiday photo collage.

Cheesy and shameless, yes, but I don't care. I love my little pilgrims.

Especially since they're more like this most of the time:

Facebook and Birth Control

I have 31 facebook friends that are pregnant, or have delivered a baby in the last 60 days.
That's a lot of ultrasounds on my news feed.

So, if you want to get knocked up, forget about ovulation calendars, just become my facebook friend. It's a pretty good system. I only have about 300 fb friends, and I'm guessing about 200 of them are female. Considering one friend usually announces a pregnancy per day, you should conceive within 6 months.

Best of luck to you all.

Oh, and if you are NOT planning on becoming pregnant in the next 6 months...too bad. You probably will unless you unfriend me. Don't say I didn't warn you. ;)

Gratitude

Mom,
Thanks for never letting me pierce the cartilidge of my ear. It was a bad idea, and I'm glad you didn't let me go through with it.

Love, Meg.

No, wait...there's more! It's gratitude month. I haven't gone "home" for Thanksgiving since I was 19, so I miss out on sitting around the table and telling everyone what I'm grateful for.
Soooo, here's a little gratitude for my family:

Mom,
Thanks for teaching me the therapeutic benefits of crafting.
Thanks for teaching us to laugh all the time.
Thanks for laughing with me when I call and tell you about a wildly disasterous day.
Thanks for giving me advice that I don't want, but need to hear.
Thanks for coming to visit me every year that you can.
Thanks for teaching me how to throw a good party.
Thanks for teaching me the importance of marrying a good man.
Thanks for many late night phone calls.
Thanks for being a wonderful Grandma to my kids.
Thanks for giving me the desire to make all things pretty, and to "go all out" and do things over the top when it is important to me and I am able.

Dad,
Thanks for passing on your high water table to me. I cry over anything. Emotional movie ending? Sentimental commercial? Good book? Beautiful song? Deep conversation? Absolutely.
Thanks for teaching me to get involved in my community.
Thanks for calling the kids to talk to them on the phone.
Thanks for teaching me how to...well, anything DIY, garden, build, paint, etc.
Thanks for helping me appreciate the beauty of the way things fit together and are organized in space. This gift has come in handy when packing a car, planning a scrapbook or card layout, organizing a closet, hanging pictures, landscaping, making a table display, and designing a room.
Thanks for teaching me the art of grilling.
Thanks for being an example of righteousness.
Thanks for teaching me how to work.

Mark,
Thanks for giving me the extra push I needed to go to college. Both times.
Thanks for introducing me to the Banana's Foster at Maveriks...and for taking me out to lunch every time I come visit.
Thanks for being willing to drive me to the airport on your way to work every time I came home to visit when I was in college, even though I got nervous and threw up in your car nearly every time.
Thanks for not telling people about the throw up part.
Thanks for loaning Taylor to me when she was little, so I could pretend I had a baby sister.
Thanks for always asking me, "but what else are you doing?" because it reminds me that I can always do more, learn more, stretch more, try harder, and be better.
Thanks for forcing me to give black beans a try.

Melinda,
Thanks for being fun and spontaneous and for making me laugh a lot.
Thanks for letting me live with you during the months that Aaron was training for the Border Patrol. I die when I think about what a messy, self absorbed house guest I was.
Thanks for the many late night talks and advice you've given me.
Thanks for the picture of the Oakland temple you gave me a few years ago. I love it.
Thanks for always passing on awesome hand me down toys for my kids. I love them, the kids love them, and I love that the toys have already been loved and enjoyed by my really great niece and nephews, who I miss a lot.
Thanks for being a good example to me.
Thanks for singing wacky songs to your kids in a silly voice. I do the same thing.

HolleeAnn
Thanks for taking me to get my eyebrows waxed the first time, and making me promise to never let them get that out of control again.
Thanks for teaching me the importance of thank you cards.
Thank you for spoiling my kids and sending us awesome mail.
Thanks for letting me crash at your place twice a week when I worked in Morgan Hill.
Thanks for giving me excellent advice for handling Reese's tantrums and anxiety attacks.
Thanks for the "sisters" frame with the picture of you, me, and Amy...and no, I haven't changed the photo ;)
Thanks for always being up for group fun when we get together, for going with whatever the kids are doing, and for taking great photos (where you photoshop the glare off my white legs) to document the whole thing.
Thanks for introducing me to the joy of teaching and for mentoring me.
Thanks for supporting my business 100% and for sending me supplies, ideas, information, and most importantly, for giving me confidence to get started.
Thanks for being a "Princess", on the phone, for Reese and Quincy to share their success with, back when they were potty training.

Paul
Thanks for letting me call you Fonzo
Thanks for dropping everything to spend time with the kids and I when we came out last summer.
Thanks for encouraging me to keep running.
Thanks for taking a 20 minute detour so HolleeAnn and I could get pics of my kids with the windmills.
Thanks for taking another huge detour to hit up some Ca produce stands and a pick your own orchard on your way to Grandma Lawrence's funeral, just I could get my fresh fruit on when we met up.
Thanks for carrying at least one of my kids on your shoulders all over San Fransisco.
Thanks for being all about family and loving my kids enough to think of activities my kids would enjoy when we came to visit.
Thanks for sharing Jim and Carla. I love your parents.
Thanks for always being so quick to offer to run errands for us, or pick something up for us while you're out.

Amy
Thanks for teaching me to sing. Literally. Thanks for free voice lessons for oh....10 years?
Thanks for letting me sift through 11 boxes of boys clothes and toys and loot anything I wanted.
Thanks for your constant example of kindness and charity.
Thanks for letting me hang out at your house a lot when in high school anytime I needed a change of scenery.
Thanks for teaching me to love showtunes.
Thanks for peeing your pants when you laugh too hard, so I'm not the only one in the family that does this.
Thanks for always being up for late late night shenanigans.
Thanks for remembering and understanding how difficult it is to throw up everything you eat when you're pregnant, for holding my hair back a few times, and for forcing dried mangos on me like candy ;)
Thanks for teaching me the importance of helping a friend.

Josh
Thanks for volunteering to chaperone my friends and I when my parents told me I was too young for the Cure/Erasure concert at Shoreline.
Thanks for being cool and not all "chaperon-ey" when we got there.
Thanks for being the "baby whisperer" so I could go to the temple with Amy back when I was too nervous to leave baby Reese with anyone.
Thanks for remembering and calling me on my birthday every single year.
Thanks for sharing your testimony with me a lot when I was growing up, and for telling me to read my scriptures.
Thanks for doing everything you possibly can to get a horrible song stuck in my head every time I visit. Oh wait. NO THANKS for that. By the way, "Mele Kalikimaka...."
bwahahahaha!

Scotty
Thanks for calling me to catch up every couple weeks.
Thanks for coming to visit me everywhere we have lived. You've seen almost every place we've ever lived...even the crummy rentals. That's a huge deal to me.
Thanks for being sensitive to how I handle hard situations, and for having the courage to ask me. Thanks for my taste in music. I'll give you nearly full credit for that one.
Thanks for telling me to start this here blog :)
Thanks for giving me the support and advice I needed to get through the transfer process at BSU and for giving constant encouragement until I was done.
Thanks for unrolling your window at the Drive Thru Safari. You know I'm too much of a rule follower to have ever been brave enough to do it myself. But I've always wanted to do it.
Thanks for rolling the window back up when the Zebra stuck his head in my car.
Thanks for helping me bite the bullet and book the Virgin Islands trip this summer.
Thanks for being cool with me calling you "Scotty" still. Even though we are grown ups, now.
Thanks for doing anything to make my kids laugh...even if that means running through the sprinklers at a restaurant, or letting a goat eat your shoelace.

Kristie
Thanks for being a great hostess when we've visited.
Thanks for being my friend.
Thanks for starting the Lawrence Family Cookbook project. It's going to happen! I won't give up until everyone is "stuffed to the muff"
Thanks for letting my kids maul Lacey when you came to visit.
Thanks for coming to visit us.
Thanks for making me laugh every time we're together.
Thanks for eating my baguettes anyway when I forgot to add the salt and they were gross.
Thanks for having me in your wedding.
Thanks for sharing your love for all things pumpkin with me.

To all the men in our family: Thanks for jumping to carry suitcases, assemble cribs and pack n plays, move carseats, set up strollers, and help with the kids every time I travel home alone with the kids. I never have to ask or express my exhaustion because one of you is already on it. Every time! Thank you!

To all the women in our family: Thank you for being mothers to my kids, great examples of womanhood to me, and for indulging my weird food cravings. And for not calling them weird, because any of you would have a bucket list of places to eat each visit if you were ever cut off from Super Taq, Running Rooster, Erik's, Togo's, or In n Out. And I totally love that about you.

To the whole family,
Thanks for being my family. We're a pretty fantastic family, and I'm grateful to be a part of it.

Love you all. I miss you bunches.
Meg

Stuffed to the Muff

Dear Self (and anyone who ever celebrates Thanksgiving),

Pioneer Woman's Cornbread Stuffing recipe is amazing.
It is even more amazing with this cornbread recipe.
Which is even more amazing when you mill your own fresh cornmeal from popcorn.

Then, turn it up to eleven and add green apple and pomegranates.
This is the stuffing you serve people you love. The kind you eat to be stuffed. "Stuffed to the muff" stuffed.
It's stuffing to the muffing.

Stick with this recipe, and you can't go wrong,
Meg

Why is This Popular?

What's with everyone having their portraits taken on railroad tracks? Does anyone else find this fad totally disturbing? For example, Newborn portraits....why? What possessed the mother to lay her baby on the train tracks and have his picture taken? Postpartum depression?

Graduation pics are another baffling example. My guess is that the average student graduating in 2012 has never taken the train in his/her life....with the exception of big cities, but we're not talking about the subway. Nooo...nobody is having their senior pics taken on the subway. They're on a rural train track out in the middle of nowhere, and they've chosen this spot to represent their arrival to adulthood. With train tracks. Cuz that's realistic.

And while we're being realistic, why not traipse on down to the tracks in your wedding gown for some bridal shots. To me, these say, "I'd rather throw myself in front of a train than get married, today."

Anyway, why the railroad tracks? Someone please help me out here. I don't look at a train track and see, "Let's cherish this moment forever..."

I see, "...or at least until the Union Pacific charges through and kills us all."

I admit that I am a terrible photographer, so maybe I am not artsy enough.
I get that you need some kind of background, and that society is moving away from the "stand in front of the fireplace" backdrop that has served the holiday card gods for the past 50 years. I mean, if you see a cool bridge, group of trees, or the texture of a building would make a cool background, I'm all for that. But the railroad tracks...I just don't get that one.

And while I am glad that long gone are the days of the matchy matchy denim shirts and khaki pants family pictures, there are still some new trends that I just don't understand:

"Barefoot and pregnant... and freezing because I'm standing in this river."

and the bridal shot variation of this same picture:
"We're getting married and got in the river with all our clothes on because there's nothing like standing thigh deep in wet jeans and kissing to say, 'Hey! Come to our wedding!'"

another common family picture:
"Our family lives in the city, but we thought this old barn was cool, so we are standing in front of it for our Christmas card. Plus, it was right there, conveniently next to those cool railroad tracks we drove out to post on for our school pictures.

"We went to the beach to stand in the ocean and hold hands and jump. And we all wore white."

"We don't wear shoes when we take walks through urban alleyways"

and the worst photo prop fad:
"Hey look! It's our bed! It's randomly plopped down in the forest! Let's have a leaf fight and jump on the mattress!" Now, I do understand the bench, chair, and even the sofa (The Cranberries officially made that one cool in 1994) as part of the photo shoot. I mean, if people've gotta sit down, might as well use a beautiful furniture for seating.
But a bed? This makes no sense to me. Veto.

Don't get me wrong, if you live near the tracks/farm/barn/ocean/lake/river/bridge/alley/orchard or if it has some kind of significance in your life, well then...go right ahead. It makes total sense for you to pose there. (Except the railroad tracks. I don't understand that one at all, unless it's for comedic purposes. If it makes me laugh, it's ok.)

It's the country hippie people that pose on a city roof top, or the city people that pose on a cattle fence. It feels like misrepresentation...at least for the photo that goes out to x amount of people in the "this is what my life is like" annual card. Am I wrong?

Feel free to chime in here, with your opinion....especially those of you who take pictures.

Hmmm...I know you are all dying to see OUR family picture this year, now, so you can make fun of us and get even. Fair enough. Except we haven't taken ours yet. We're waiting for the perfect opportunity, and searching for the right spot.

Like on some railroad tracks that go through the ocean.
Top that one, cool people.

Roach Coach

It's the holiday season.
I am a bit (read: a lot) homesick.
The odd thing is, every time I think about my family, Ca, the ocean, and the gorgeous California weather, I crave tacos.

It's a pavlovian response. Thanksgiving = Family, Family = California, California = Super Taq, Super Taq = Tacos.

Or, to shorten the trail, Thanksgiving = Food, Food = Tacos.

I'm pretty confident that I could play "the Kevin Bacon game" with just about anything and end up with tacos in less than 6 degrees of separation.

Tomatoes

Remember me crying, a few years ago, when I killed our smoothtop stove?
Learn from my (expensive) mistake and don't ever can on a glass stove. Ever.
I discovered the perfect solution last week. Two portable single electric coil burners.

Boo. I just typed out a fab tutorial on canning tomatoes, and my internet crashed when I tried to post it. I had to reboot my laptop and nothing was saved. Meh. I'm too tired to type it out again. If you want to know how to can tomatoes, just come over and I'll show you how.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas

1) Caramelize an onion: (ok THIS is the money maker. It makes all the difference in enchiladas. Or anything, really.)
1 1/2 TBS butter
1 small yellow onion (red works, too, but I always use yellow because we prefer the flavor)
1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
squirt lemon juice

Melt butter in a small non-stick skillet over med-high heat and cook the onions, stirring until they just begin to brown, 3-4 minutes. Add vinegar; reduce heat to med-lo and continue cooking for 10 minutes, stirring to prevent scorching.

Add soy sauce and cook 5-10 minutes longer, stirring. When done, the onions should be quite limp and caramelized brown, (and delicious!).

2) peel a large sweet potato and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

3) saute potato in 1TBS olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring continuously so the edges don't get too brown or stick to the pan. Then reduce the meat to med-low and cover the pan for a few minutes so the potatoes are soft (no one wants a hard, crunchy potato in their enchilada!)

4) cube about 4oz cream cheese (I made no claims that this recipe was healthy!) and add to potatoes.

5) drain and rinse 1 can black beans, add to potatoes

6) add 1 small can diced green chilies.
stir on low heat until mixture is warm and the cream cheese is saucy.

7) fill flour tortillas with bean/potato filling, top with a pile of caramelized onions, and a small sprinkle (1/2 -1oz, maybe?) of shredded cheese (I used med cheddar last time, but would have used pepper jack if we'd had any) I filled 12 small tortillas with this recipe. Roll tortillas and place in a row in a baking dish.

8) Pour 1 can red (med heat) enchilada sauce over the top of the rolled enchiladas.

9) Bake until tortilla edges are slightly crispy and garnish with a row of shredded cheese and chopped cilantro down the center of the pan.

10) Brace yourself for compliments. Yes. They're that good.

Purple Pinkie

Reese proudly marched herself to the rotary counter today to donate her dollar to the purple pinkie campaign at Cooper Elementary, today. Her purple pinkie represents a life of a child across the globe that she spared from the horrors of Polio. Way to go, girlie!

Putting other kids to shame since 2004

Yoga seems to be all the rage again. But you're only "cool" now if you're doing "hot yoga".
Do not be confused.
"hot" yoga does not necessarily = hot people.
"hot"or "bikram" yoga = sweaty and super stinky people.
...right. cuz "yoga people" weren't already stinky enough.

Anyway, I keep finding my kids in yoga positions. For no reason at all.

So I took some pictures to document it. Because it seems to be a fad around here, so the irony that their funny kid thing fad is an actual fad is just funny to me.

Oh, and to all the "experts" out there, be aware that the kids are both sweaty AND stinky, so you know...this is totally legit. The real deal ;)
Here we have the classic sibling "downward dog". Totally normal.Leading today's spontaneous yoga sesh is....wait.... Aaron?

Well, yes. Yes it is. What the crap happens in my kitchen when I am not supervising?!

It's weird, right?

Moving on, let's address the other fad I'm seeing everywhere: Planking.
Our children don't know it yet, but they're super cool. They effortlessly mastered the downward dog, so now, they've progressed to the the latest hip thing.
Behold, a few more candid shots of the Willys kid doing what they do best, being totally awesome.

I call this one "wheel barrow racing with furniture gets you nowhere."

And here, we have the classic "suspended between two furniture pieces, even though there is no way it is humanly possible for it to be more comfortable than sitting on just one of them" plank.

And the grande finale, the "hot lava plank".
Did you play "hot lava" when you were growing up? Where you couldn't touch the floor because it was lava and would "burn" you? If the answer to that one is "no", then you didn't have a childhood. I can only assume that the messy floor is what inspired the hot lava version of this game in the first place.

My kids are way more hip than I am.
Uh...Namaste?

Good News

First, watch this video.
Yeah, I know that's annoying, but I cannot get blogger to let me embed it, so you have to click the link. Do it though, cuz it is totally worth your 5 minutes.

{Click Here to Watch Video}

Are you totally stoked to eradicate Polio?!
Not yet?

Well, what if I give you an update on Uttar Pradesh, the state that was shown in the video, where many of India's 1,000 cases of Polio were reported in 2009-2010? Uttar Pradesh is one of the states where Rotary and Humanitarian Volunteers have been taking the Polio vaccine DOOR to DOOR during quarterly national immunization days.
Door to door in India. Can you imagine?

It paid off.

There have been ZERO cases of polio reported in Uttar Pradesh since April 2010 (source). Zero!

All because of wonderful volunteers, an available live vaccine, and the funds raised by the End Polio Now campaign. This Friday is Purple Pinkie Day at Reese's school. I can't wait, and I hope my local friends will participate. It is $1, and it is saving lives.

Point: Vaccines.

Veteran's Day Journal Entry

"Today I learned about that they fought for our country. I love Veteran's Day."

Library Day

I'm happy that Corbin is growing out of the "elephant in a china store" phase and is starting to really enjoy story time at the library, every week. It is nice to have something planned that is just for him to enjoy while his sisters are at school.

And it's also nice to not get the stink eye from the little biddies every time he pulls a book from the shelf, or shouts, "Wook, Mom! A Buzz book! Wook!" (because he only has two volumes, very quiet or very loud, and both are rarely used in the appropriate settings.) He's a treasure, and I look forward to our Friday morning date as much as he does.

Little Things

Reese (with arms wrapped around my torso in an endless super hug): "Mom, Mrs. Pledger read a book about um "Did You Fill A Bucket Today?" and she said that everyone has an invisible bucket that they carry around. If you say something nice to someone else, or give them a hug or something, it fills up their bucket and makes them happy. AND, guess what? She said doing nice things fills your own bucket, too! Is that real? It sounds good."

Oh, how I love her.
I'm grateful for the innocence of children. I am especially grateful that before snuggling up in my lap for a hug or kiss, my children never stop for a moment to assess what kind of mother I was that day, or whether I am deserving of their affection. They don't care what kind of mother I was. They just fold their little bodies into my arms and share all the love they have in their hearts with me, because to them, I am always good enough. I need their example of unbiased, unconditional, and totally boundless love to keep my cynical, skeptical, and often crazy and irrational side at bay.
I am so lucky to have my family.

Here are a few recent "little things" from my 30 days of appreciation for Aaron:
-cleaned the garage. This was no small task. It isn't finished, but a significant dent was made.
-hauled the trash to the curb.
-dinner "warming on the stove" (1950's housewife style) and ready to be eaten right when he walks in the door and says, "Lucy, I'm home!", every night this week.
-put the mattress warmer on the bed and turned his side of the bed to "warm" 20 minutes before he went to bed, so the sheets weren't cold.

This week's intentional acts of kindness have resulted in more peace in our home. Whether we recognize the process or not, gratitude generally follows the rules of reciprocity. It is amazing how intentionally expressing love for one person---even in the simplest way, like a pair of new socks or a little handwritten note, can result in buckets so full they spill over the brim to everyone in the family.

Yes, Reese, invisible buckets are real.

Thanks for filling mine today, Dolly.

I'll take eight of them, please.

Aaron has had it with our kitchen chairs. I just about have, too.
Yes, they are darling and eclectic.
But there are two major problems:
1) they are kitchen chairs so they get NASTY gross. So I clean them. And even though I put 2 coats of sealer on them, the paint is peeling, and really difficult to keep clean.
2) they tip over. I was unaware of how "tipsy" ladder back chairs are, when I purchased them. It's awful. My kids have figured out that they can't climb all over them unless they want to face plant on the kitchen floor, but it still happens occasionally, and it drives us insane.

Fortunately, I didn't pay much for them, because they were all in terrible shape when I collected them from flea markets, garage sales, and antique stores. All but two had rushed seats that were busted through, leaving the chairs useless until I got my hot little hands on them. So I won't be terribly sad to see them go when we replace them.

I'm ready to invest a little more in the new chairs, but they have to be perfect.

Aaron and I both love the contrast of french industrial metal chairs around a rustic table.
A rustic harvest table we have...so the search for some circa 1940's steel or aluminum chairs begins.

Inspiration#1: Sold, or I'd sell a kidney tomorrow for these.

#2: These are cute, I like the swivel, but the pressed wood isn't my fave. They're different, but a little too school-housey for what we're going for.

#3: Speaking of school house...I adore these yellow lockers. LOVE them.

I like the chairs, but I seem to have a love/hate relationship with Tolix chairs. For me, there is a teeny tiny window of artistic freedom allowed with this style that determines whether I love them or despise them. How skinny is the metal that forms the big arch in the back? Too fat or too skinny turns an awesome chair into a piece of crap, if you ask me. Same goes for the slope of the back. If it is too reclined, forgetaboutit. I like them if the legs are attached with horizontal steel (not shown in this image), but not so much if that detail isn't there.

I love tolix chairs, but the only way I could handle them is if a) I had the opportunity to see them in person, sit in them, and bring them home to test out with my table, or b) if they were free. The tolix design is quickly becoming a bit of a mid-century furniture cliche, and even though they can be fabulous, even the crustiest of chairs are often overpricesd.

A tolix stool I could totally get behind. I think we need chairs with backs at the dining table, though. Maybe I'll stumble across a set to go under my kitchen counter.

#4) Well aren't these interesting.

like: adjustable height, simplicity, legs, nice mix of wood and metal

dislike: the simplicity leads me to question their stability, and how comfortable a fat person would feel sitting in my kitchen.

Since stability is the main reason for replacing the chairs in the first place, I can't really justify this one.

Aaron has wanted a set of Navy chairs ever since we saw them around our friend's (hollah, Hayley!) table. I like that idea too, but prefer a darker petina rather than a brushed nickel finish, which is all we have been able to find so far. And again...how fabulous is option #1?

I need them. My table needs them. Alas, they are sold.

The search is on!

Young Learners Welcome Fall

Letter: Bb
Color: Brown
Shape: Square
Number: 4
Songs/Poetry: Bear Hunt, The Leaves on the Trees, One By One

Share: We will be taking a little “nature walk” today around the yard to collect items for a collage. It’s been getting chilly outside, so pack a hat/jacket for your Busy Bee if the weather is particularly cold today.
Book: Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson
Book: Discovering the Seasons: Autumn By Louis Santry
Book: Red Lead, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

Art: Leaf rub

Practical Life: What is a Tradition?

Music & Movement: “It’s Autumn Time”, “the Leaves on the Trees”, “One By One” using real leaves to hold and make blow in the wind

Sensory: Leaves

What colors do you see?

What sounds do they make?

What do they smell like?

Phonics: Bb says Buh
Create a list of B words

Fine Motor: Leaf tracing and cutting
Gross Motor: Nature Walk to collect fall leaves

Math: Number Match Tree

I gave each child a tree with numbers (1-10 for Frogs, 1-5 for Bees) on it, and a set of leaves to match and glue down.

The Friendly Frogs matched numbers on the leaves to corresponding dot groups on the page.

November Garden Love

I lied. The garden isn't totally dead.
The mint is thriving.
And a few other goodies, like onions and thyme are cold hearty.
The oregano (lower right) and cauliflower (a mistake, obviously. I mean, cauliflower? Have you met Aaron? I thought I was purchasing broccoli. But if we grow it, we keep it, and these guys are bangin'!) Maybe I should just plant cabbage and hope a baby or two shows up out there. Hey, worked for Xavier Roberts, right?

Look how cheery those plants are, especially when compared to the dying/harvested background. These guys actually came to life once the cold set in. Now that we know how well cauliflower handles the chill, we'll try broccoli next fall. Learn something new every year :)

And also, whaaaat? Yes! It's November, and we are still hanging in there. Yay for November vegetables!

Thanks, garden. You're swell.