grandmas are for sugar and spice and everything nice

Last year it seems I baked myself into oblivion during the Christmas season. This year has been much different since I've been struggling with my health a little. Seems survival mode has been the only "mode" here. This weekend I thought to myself: this year there will be no cookies and no Christmas cards going out........disappointing, but reality of the situation. The world wouldn't end I told myself.....but then mom offered to come the other day and bake with the kids - something I just hadn't had the energy to do.

In actuality it is a better scenario.... Grandma has more patience, kind words, and a fresh outlook on baking with four helpers! Flour on the floor is not near as catastrophic to her......licking fingers and spilling frosting less terrible. What a blessing to have a momma that can drive across town to give her little girl a rest and at the same time enjoy her grandchildren! Thanks, mommy - love you....

Curious George

Helpful Henry and Henrietta

Outstanding big sister

Persistent Allie

Gentle encouragement

Concentration

Seriously.....

Pure dickens......!

Careful concentration!

Mix up with the mixer!

What an excellent teacher.....

Would you like some cookie with those sprinkles?

Finished products......lots of cookies and happy hearts!

12 years strong!

Madison and Aslan - her best buddy

Joyful....thankful.....capable......organized......creative......persistent......that is our Madison! In the past 12 years she has matured into quite the young lady. I would venture to say she is my right hand.....I can depend on Madison to help with preparing meals, decorating the tables, ironing, cleaning bathrooms, floors, bedrooms, helping with doing her sister's hair, or making the shopping list. If she could drive I am confident Madison could complete my shopping on her own! Often if I have forgotten something as we are racing out the door or in the store she remembers. Thank goodness for her fresh brain! Madison has persevered in her schoolwork, developing into quite a writer and working on her other subjects with patience and dedication!

It is a blessing to watch your children thrive in ways you couldn't have imagined. Madison seems to have a natural way with little preschoolers......she can have them all lined up and busy with an activity in no time! She has an eye for decorating and crafts that I never had.....what a bonus to have her to make gift tags, place cards, gift wrapping, table decorations, etc.! I admire several aspects of Madison's personality that I don't have...she loves to swim - working out 4 times a week - just for the sheer pleasure of exercising! I was dedicated to my training always - but in a more goal driven way - competitively.....even now I struggle to work out for the pleasure of it! Madison exhibits amazing self discipline when planning what she eats and has a great interest in healthy eating habits. She reads most of the labels when we shop - alerting me to what products have MSG, white flour, and sugar! If she had our way we would eat all organic! If she doesn't know how to do something she is not afraid to learn and works at it until she figures it out - as a result she is sewing, learning calligraphy, advanced baking and cooking, swimming, and understanding the game of soccer in depth.

Dedicated swimmer

Madison at a class at the State Capitol learning about our government and politics!

Studious pair......

She is one awesome goal-keeper!

All these wonderful qualities aside, it is most fun to watch Madison love and encourage other children - study God's word daily - help her younger brothers and sisters memorize scripture.....and selflessly share with others. Our family changed forever 12 years ago on November 29 - and we can't imagine a day without her......Happy Birthday, precious Madison Joy! We love you and are proud of you!

"May the God of hope fill you with all JOY and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

there is a 6 year old in the house!

Time races by......gallops.....rushes.......it is impossible to stop the days - so I am forced to slow down myself.... Hug more, talk more, spend more time listening, reflecting, and enjoying. Sweet Allison can't be 6 in my mind.....seems just yesterday we met her.

This was a monumental year for her! It is a privilege to watch her character mature and flourish. Allie is an encourager! She seems to know when I am having a tough day and there she is, rubbing my back and saying loving words. She has a kind heart toward the needs of her brothers, sister, and friends too. The Lord seems to have given Allison a gift of sensitivity and nurturing. Allie is working hard in school to read, grasp math, and learn about other cultures of the world. She is an apprentice of sorts under her siblings who diligently teach her the basic jobs around our house. She is now fully dependable at setting the table, loading and unloading the dishwasher, wiping down her bathroom, folding and putting away her clothes, and many other chores!

I love how each of the children the Lord has blessed us with has such different personalities, gifts, and interests. What a joy to watch them develop and grow! Happy Birthday to Allison today - we love you so much!

Lost her first tooth just a few weeks ago!

Learned to ride a bike this year.....

.......and scale tall mountains!!!!

Officially a stronger swimmer......

Diligent student.....

"May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word." 1 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (Allison's birthday verse)

the orange chicken calamity

Over the last several weeks I have been going on and on to several of my friends about a great website with crockpot recipes......I made an awesome Spinach Pesto Lasagna a week or so ago and have been experimenting with other ideas on the site. Recently I had also been thinking about how to solve an orange chicken dilemma I was having. The chicken in the frozen version (from Trader Joes) was just too greasy. I think it is the first frozen prepared food I've bought in I don't know when. I was also irritated by the expense. Well no need to worry - I searched orange chicken on the crockpot site and bingo - the recipe sounded great and the picture looked yummy! I was so thrilled about making it I even emailed the link to a few friends and my mom saying - "look what is in the crockpot for tonight!"

I doubled the sauce because I like plenty and happily went off to PE class, dreaming of the lovely dinner we would have waiting at home when we returned. I left it cooking on the counter since we were taking the crockpot tipping dog with us......and Aslan and I walked around the track at PE with my attentive friends as I bragged about the extraordinary dinner I anticipated. It is said that pride goeth before the fall......

Fast forward to 3:30pm. In unusual fashion, Merl surprised us at PE (dressed as the Hulk - another whole blog in itself)....so ended up taking the dog and Ryan home with him. When I called after piano to tell Merl we were on our way he says, "Oh - by the way we aren't at home....we are getting the oil changed." Immediately I said "Please tell me you left the crockpot cooking in the laundry room." (My way of avoiding catastrophe with the counter surfing hound.) "No......didn't think of that."

Marvelous - I have the best dinner of the century bubbling in the crock pot and he left the counter king loose in the house with it! Quickly I sifted through other dinner options in my mind as I was 99.9% sure that the dog had devoured our meal or at least tipped the pot over (He has done it before.....yes, I know that most of you are questioning why we keep this dog. That is another blog too.) As soon as the car rolled in the driveway Madison ran inside.....only to return screaming......"It's still there! The dinner is still in the pot!"

This should have been my first clue.

Why on earth would he not go after this sweet smelling treat?

Well my friends, because even though I have come a long way in my cooking aspirations - there are still disasters. In almost 20 years of dating/marriage - up until this night there were only 3 that were dumpster worthy:

1) When I cooked my favorite chicken and rice casserole in a pot I'd stored potpourri in......

2) Cheesy corn casserole......when I asked Merl what he thought of it he simply said, "It's not my favorite." After I tasted it and decided I couldn't eat another bite, we escorted it to the dumpster and went out.

3) The weird pasta dish I served when my in-laws and niece visited..... My mother in law gracious as she is, stated it was fine, my father in law - who I have never seen refuse any food or not clean his plate - cleaned his plate, and my niece simply said ...."It's not my favorite" - hmmm.....must be a popular family line!

I don't know what went wrong......for one thing - my orange chicken did not look like the picture of hers......I could have made a mistake in the amounts of ingredients.......not sure really if I agreed with the list of ingredients as I put them in....my gut told me they might not be such a good combination. People do say I have a good gut.....

In any case, the first thing Merl said was - "It's not my favorite." Oh boy - clue number two. Then Madison began to voice her opinion. I tasted mine and it was horrible. Jonathan and Allie wouldn't try it. 0-5......until Ryan - who bite after bite kept saying - "It's really not that bad." Not sure what planet he is from but I couldn't finish mine.

Probably would have helped if my expectations hadn't been so high - but even then......so now hear this - for all of you I sent the link to - you may want to tweak the sauce a bit. I am going to do some research on the situation......certainly I would not blame it on the wonderful lady whose site I so enjoy! There are about 100 comments after the recipe saying how great it is! It could be us. Even so, tonight in our household it was deemed a megaflop. Even Aslan wasn't interested in it....

In fact, as I was cleaning up the kitchen I noticed Madison had taken the time to make sure I didn't forget the incident and had added a note to my planner:

Totally cracked me up.....

I can take it - it's the truth - but in our house failure is just a part of the process - eventually determination and perseverance will have their way and we WILL enjoy orange chicken in the slow cooker! Guarantee it!

girls and books - 2010

It is days like this that make "it" all worth it. "It" being hour after hour of lesson planning, long nights of curriculum research, and the locking horns with my children who think I am a slave driver when I am asking them to simply do their math. "It" would be homeschooling. Often I wonder if "it" will be profitable. Profitability is difficult to measure.... good thing there are days when I can sit back at the end and be amazed and thankful. The older the kids get, the more I realize the less I am in control.....this is often a relief. I am beginning to comprehend that regardless of my mistakes and failures, God does in fact have a plan for these precious vessels - and he is cultivating character in them. I take pleasure in watching this process.

This is Madison's third year participating in a literature club - and her second with the current group of girls. What a blessing they are! Each year Madison has taken more responsibility when we host - we really work as a team on it - makes for a lighter load thanks to her creative abilities and other skills! Our book for discussion was Caddie Woodlawn.....I was stumped on what to do for an activity or theme....but Madison came through with wonderful thoughts and began research on things to do. I love how she has an eye to put things together (something I often lack) - and how she has the confidence and perseverance to keep working at her task until she is pleased with it. Since the Woodlawn children get tired of eating turkey everyday in the book - she chose a "turkey" theme - and we decided to emphasize hosting Thanksgiving . We wanted to share our love of hosting others in our home and how to make guests feel welcome.

During her internet research, Madison saw an idea for using a pear for a place card.....she especially loves making place cards when we have guests so loved this unique idea.

We were both up late the night before......Not because we had to be but because we sleep better AFTER the work is done! I was doing dishes and starting the bread dough while Madison was mixing up the beginning of cookies and setting the table. She designed and completed the table decorations herself.

Here are the lovely young ladies waiting for their turkey soup, fruit salad, and bread! Don't they look eager?

Madison wanted to play some games....so she looked into Thanksgiving activities online and shared them with her friends after lunch while I cleared the table and put the food away. Then it was on to our book discussion. I must say - this was my favorite part of the afternoon! The girls are learning the socratic method of analyzing literature and it is remarkable to hear from them. This month we were talking in more depth on the history of the author and setting of the story. Each club they also share what they saw as the main conflict of the book, the rising action, climax, denouement, and conclusion - not to mention the setting, theme, and characters. We enjoyed an almost one hour dialogue. It was full of thoughtfulness, exuberance, deliberation, listening, and excitement. What a joy. I was so proud of them all!

Amanda carefully reviews her chart.....

Rachel contemplates her notes.....

Rebekah shares her thoughts as Grace and Audrey look on.....and yes - I was leading the discussion while shooting pictures at the same time! Just couldn't help it - they were so purposeful and intent. After our lively conversation we moved on to making turkeys from pumpkins. One of our favorite Thanksgiving decorations is wooden turkey parts we put in a pumpkin so we thought of a way to simplify the idea.....Madison and I made a model and we went from there. Even Allie even made her own all by herself!

Nine adorable and unique turkeys!

Several of the goals of literature club for our girls is to magnify the glory of God as we cultivate character, enrich their friendships with one another, train them how to discern what they read, and develop their interests and talents. Worth the time spent in commitment and preparation - every minute.

rain day

Some parts of the country have snow days - sometimes we have heat advisories - but rarely do we have "rain days". Today was one of those few and far between occasions! We had been eagerly anticipating this time because it was our first day of P.E! All were motivated to finish schoolwork, fill our water bottles, and we were just about to put the leash on the dog when we got the call that P.E. was cancelled. BUMMER! I looked out the front window and the sky was relatively clear although clouds were coming....not five minutes later this was the view out our window!

And then not ten minutes more......the clouds had lifted and already the sun was coming.....What to do now? All the afternoon's plans washed away in a ten minute downpour! Hmmm, maybe we should run the errands I had planned for Thursday - yes - that's what we'll do......unless of course everyone is already out the door with their shoes off and clothes wet!

Fun and wonderful mothers love mud, puddles, and wet......those in the "other category" like me have to stand and take numerous deep breaths while counting to 100......while also telling themselves ......"I am spontaneous, I am flexible, look at the kids laughing, yes, I can do this...." Luckily, I can distract myself with taking pictures of exuberant children pretending they are racing sailboats (scrap wood) down a city gutter......

Vivacious, euphoric, joyful!

Fortunately soup was already in the crockpot, we'd just received "Get Smart" Season 1 in the mail, and there is always coffee. I don't really have to look at my floor.... or the mud now caked in every bathtub in the house. I am choosing to ignore the laundry to be folded and the "to do list". In fact, I think I'll just write a big fat "RAIN DAY" in the afternoon portion of the school calendar - and no need for a make-up day......

Something old.....something new

This weekend we moved some pieces of old furniture into our house. Old furniture - but brand new for us. While it was fun and exciting there was a little bit of sadness attached to it. We were receiving the new furniture because my Grandma Spence died almost 2 weeks ago. She died 6 months from the day and almost to the hour her beloved husband of 73 years did. Now all four of my grandparents are gone from this life - all having entered into eternity in the past 21 months. All four of them lived to be over 93 - one of them just shy of his 99th birthday! Each of my grandparents had a significant impact on my life. When I was young we lived within 3 hours of them so I have many, many memories of holidays and visits.

Grandma Spence loved to shop. It was one of our favorite things to do - she, my mom, and I - and sometimes Aunt Nancy would shop till we dropped! We were always out to hunt the bargains. Grandma was serious about her shopping! She also loved giving gifts and even in her 90's insisted on trying to go out and buy gifts for our birthdays or Christmas. It bothered her this last few years that she could not get out much.

Grandma also loved to cook and was exceptionally good at it. She managed the school cafeteria for the junior high in Los Alamos - so she was experienced! She had every kitchen gadget known to man and was always up on the latest whether it was a bread machine or cookery. We enjoyed picnics in the Jemez mountains in New Mexico, in their backyard in Los Alamos, and feasts at the holidays. When I was older and in college - I brought many a roommate to grandma and grandpa's house for a home cooked meal. Grandma even cooked the meal the night my parents met Merl for the very first time! It took MANY years before Grandma would compliment my cooking. When I was younger, I think she was significantly concerned about my potential as a homemaker due to my interest in sports. In my early years of marriage she always peppered me with questions about what I baked or cooked - giving me unsolicited advice and tips. Just a few years ago after I had served Thanksgiving dinner to around 17 of us she said, "Well Tracy - I think you've turned out to be quite a good cook!" Finally - I had arrived!

Grandma was also known for her strong opinions - and her ability to communicate them.....She always said it like it was - so you had to be a bit thick skinned around her sometimes. Grandma was good at giving me advice on babies - always questioning what I was doing or not doing - and making comments about the good and bad things I or my kids did! But all in all - she sure loved the great grand children - and I am thankful she and grandpa had the chance to be intricately involved in the lives of our four kids.

Grandpa and Grandpa almost 12 year ago with Madison......

Several years ago when grandma and grandpa moved out of their last home, they began to bless their children and grandchildren with many of the nice things they would no longer be using. According to Grandma in a conversation we had just a couple of months ago, "If it weren't for us you wouldn't have any furniture!" (A slight exaggeration!) I always have thought of grandma when I use her Kitchen Aid mixer I am so thankful for. I would often express my gratitude to her by telling her what I last made with it - or she could taste for herself. The things I used in my house that were from she and grandpa still had use and life - and I often had the opportunity to express my thanks to them. I am glad I took it. As we were packing up Grandma's apartment last week I found a thank you note on her dresser I'd written to she and grandpa a year or so ago telling them how much it meant to me to have a few of their things. I was relieved I'd taken the time to do it - but it seemed so odd to read it after she was gone.

Yesterday after their dressers were in my own room - they looked beautiful. Old - but new - and immaculately kept I might add. After almost 18 years of marriage Merl and I have never had a bedroom set, so I was pleased...... but wasn't prepared for the flood of tears that came when I began to place my own clothes in the drawers where Grandma had once put hers. Somehow this act signified the transition from life with Grandma to life without her.

I am grateful for the abundance of years we had together. I am glad for all the times I made the extra effort to go and visit her, take the kids, or spend time with the grandparents. Sometimes life seems so busy - but I have never regretted the time spent on relationships. Thanks Grandma for the 40 years you and grandpa contributed to my life - for the energy and spice you added to our family gatherings, for the time you spent with me, for all the meals you cooked, and days you lovingly shopped for gifts and bargains for all of us. I love you and I'll miss you.