Everyone...well, a lot of people are posting their daily thankfuls this month on facebook. I thought of doing the same, but I never caught just the right mood. I thought that instead maybe I should post a blog of things I'm thankful for, but that didn't ring true either. It's not that I'm ungrateful, just that a list of little things didn't strike the right chord.
I am grateful for lots of little things: a bed to sleep in, clothes to wear, shoes, my sewing machine and other tools, gel to make my hair look great, socks with no holes in them...
And I'm grateful for bigger things: my house, electricity, running water, a car that works every day, bus and train drivers who get me to school every day, good teachers for my kids...
And I'm really grateful for the great, big things: my husband Bruce who loves me and whom I love dearly, each of my children who are amazing, intelligent, fun people, the family I grew up in, my in-laws, the gospel...
But most of all I am thankful for an underlying sense of peace and contentment; a feeling that everything is OK. I'm not always 100% happy, I get discouraged and frustrated sometimes, but underneath whatever is going on in my life, I know that I am all right. I can't describe my feelings very well; I suppose this is what has kept me from trying to write anything before now. But I am very thankful to be well, and to know that I am taken care of, and that life is very, very good.
And it is. Very good.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Update
Oooh! You can scratch the KitchenAid beater from my wish list—Bruce got me one in time for Thanksgiving! ♥ Thank you, Bruce!
Instead you can add the KitchenAid model K45 whisk to the list. ;-)
Instead you can add the KitchenAid model K45 whisk to the list. ;-)
Monday, November 21, 2011
Thanksgiving Countdown
This is it! The week of extravagant culinary indulgences. And my Thanksgiving Dinner Countdown has begun.
Sunday night: Put the turkey into the outdoor fridge to thaw. (Yes, it's in the garage—see, Kim, there can be some advantages to freezing cold weather).
Monday morning: Finish shopping for the feast. This is when it really hits me: Do we really need four kinds of pies, and more side-dishes than you can count for one meal? Um, yeah. We do. :-)
Monday afternoon: School, then rush home for dinner, and rush off to see Brandon's school play, Once Upon a Mattress.
Tuesday morning: Either make the stuffing bread or the apple pie. Probably the pie, since whatever I do has to be finished before I go to school; then I can put it in the freezer after school (built, but not baked).
Tuesday afternoon: Definitely make the stuffing bread now, before I get the kids from school.
Wednesday morning: No school for the kids—Yaaaayyy! If only I were so lucky. But it's only one one-hour class, and the rest of the day will be filled with preparations. So: 8:30-ish I'll bake a couple of pumpkin pies before school, while urging the kids to get their bedrooms clean.
Wednesday after school and lunch (1:00-ish): Bake a couple more pumpkin pies (with the kids this time). Yeah, we really do need four pumpkin pies—Thanksgiving lasts all weekend around here, and pumpkin pie makes a great breakfast! Also a pecan pie and maybe a banana-cream pie. We're having a totally easy and brain-free dinner onWednesday night, so we can keep up with food-prep for Thursday.
Ryan is making chip dips and some kid or other will make veggie dip. Still more children will break up the dry stuffing-bread. I'll also get help in preparing the yams, and I'll prepare the Classic Green Bean Casserole (Cooks Illustrated). Maybe we'll make some kind of jello, too. Undecided on that one. Everything goes into the fridge for the night.
Thursday: 8:00 a.m. Start making the broth out of the neck, giblets, etc. for moistening the stuffing. While the broth simmers we'll cut up the veggies for the veggie tray—also chop up celery and onions for the stuffing.
10:00 a.m: Make the stuffing and set it aside for a bit.
10:30-ish: Check out the house—is it clean?
11:00: Start packing everything into the van. We are having dinner at my father-in-law's house this year. I volunteered to cook, of course! So all the food, maybe a DVD, and possibly some games go into the van to make the...maybe five-mile commute.
12:00: We arrive at Dad's house. Come on, you know how it is! It takes a loooonnnng time to get everything and everybody into the car and on the road. And we start unpacking everything we brought with us.
12:30 Stuff the turkey and have it in the oven by 1:00. Usually we have an early Thanksgiving dinner—around 3 p.m. But this year Bruce has to work on Thanksgiving, so we're having dinner at about 5:00.
1:00: The turkey goes into the oven and now we're free to play games or watch movies, or whatever for a couple hours.
3:00: Get one of the kids to peel potatoes.
3:45: Chop the potatoes and put them to boil.
4:00: Check the turkey—is it done? Also, get kids (or someone) to set the table and send someone to pick Bruce up from work.
4:30: That bird should definitely be out of the oven and the potatoes are ready for mashing. The yams and green beans can go into the oven now and we can "unstuff" the turkey. It's also time to make the gravy.
4:45: Carve the turkey and start setting food on the table—or maybe just the buffet (kitchen island).
5:00-ish: Bruce should be home, we can all sit down for a blessing and then feast, feast, feast!
I'm thinking of taking some kind of smallish book for everyone to write down their gratitudes during the day, and maybe we can share them after dinner and before pie. Or something. We'll head back home around 9 or 10 p.m. after having a full day of food, family and giving thanks. What a lovely holiday Thanksgiving is!
Sunday night: Put the turkey into the outdoor fridge to thaw. (Yes, it's in the garage—see, Kim, there can be some advantages to freezing cold weather).
Monday morning: Finish shopping for the feast. This is when it really hits me: Do we really need four kinds of pies, and more side-dishes than you can count for one meal? Um, yeah. We do. :-)
Monday afternoon: School, then rush home for dinner, and rush off to see Brandon's school play, Once Upon a Mattress.
Tuesday morning: Either make the stuffing bread or the apple pie. Probably the pie, since whatever I do has to be finished before I go to school; then I can put it in the freezer after school (built, but not baked).
Tuesday afternoon: Definitely make the stuffing bread now, before I get the kids from school.
Wednesday morning: No school for the kids—Yaaaayyy! If only I were so lucky. But it's only one one-hour class, and the rest of the day will be filled with preparations. So: 8:30-ish I'll bake a couple of pumpkin pies before school, while urging the kids to get their bedrooms clean.
Wednesday after school and lunch (1:00-ish): Bake a couple more pumpkin pies (with the kids this time). Yeah, we really do need four pumpkin pies—Thanksgiving lasts all weekend around here, and pumpkin pie makes a great breakfast! Also a pecan pie and maybe a banana-cream pie. We're having a totally easy and brain-free dinner onWednesday night, so we can keep up with food-prep for Thursday.
Ryan is making chip dips and some kid or other will make veggie dip. Still more children will break up the dry stuffing-bread. I'll also get help in preparing the yams, and I'll prepare the Classic Green Bean Casserole (Cooks Illustrated). Maybe we'll make some kind of jello, too. Undecided on that one. Everything goes into the fridge for the night.
Thursday: 8:00 a.m. Start making the broth out of the neck, giblets, etc. for moistening the stuffing. While the broth simmers we'll cut up the veggies for the veggie tray—also chop up celery and onions for the stuffing.
10:00 a.m: Make the stuffing and set it aside for a bit.
10:30-ish: Check out the house—is it clean?
11:00: Start packing everything into the van. We are having dinner at my father-in-law's house this year. I volunteered to cook, of course! So all the food, maybe a DVD, and possibly some games go into the van to make the...maybe five-mile commute.
12:00: We arrive at Dad's house. Come on, you know how it is! It takes a loooonnnng time to get everything and everybody into the car and on the road. And we start unpacking everything we brought with us.
12:30 Stuff the turkey and have it in the oven by 1:00. Usually we have an early Thanksgiving dinner—around 3 p.m. But this year Bruce has to work on Thanksgiving, so we're having dinner at about 5:00.
1:00: The turkey goes into the oven and now we're free to play games or watch movies, or whatever for a couple hours.
3:00: Get one of the kids to peel potatoes.
3:45: Chop the potatoes and put them to boil.
4:00: Check the turkey—is it done? Also, get kids (or someone) to set the table and send someone to pick Bruce up from work.
4:30: That bird should definitely be out of the oven and the potatoes are ready for mashing. The yams and green beans can go into the oven now and we can "unstuff" the turkey. It's also time to make the gravy.
4:45: Carve the turkey and start setting food on the table—or maybe just the buffet (kitchen island).
5:00-ish: Bruce should be home, we can all sit down for a blessing and then feast, feast, feast!
I'm thinking of taking some kind of smallish book for everyone to write down their gratitudes during the day, and maybe we can share them after dinner and before pie. Or something. We'll head back home around 9 or 10 p.m. after having a full day of food, family and giving thanks. What a lovely holiday Thanksgiving is!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Wish List 2011
It's that time again...I know you've all just been waiting for this: It's time for my Christmas wish list. (Well, maybe Kim isn't ready for a Christmas post.) Usually I post my list 50 days before Christmas to give everyone plenty of time to think just.about.me. ;-) ;-) But this year your shopping time is cut short because Jessica was baptized on the 50-day mark, so I postponed my list in favor of that more important news.
Anyway, I have been a very good girl—straight A's in school (OK, one A-minus); healthy, well-fed family; relatively clean house; I haven't kicked the dog...
...So here (in no particular order) is what I'd like:
A pedicure. Or one a month for the next year. Really. I'd love that.
New clothes.
A beater for my 2 1/2-quart Kitchenaid stand mixer. The mixer runs great, but the beater is lost.
Men of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Not the men, but the cd called Men of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Or just about any Mormon Tabernacle Choir cds, but you'd have to search my collection to figure out which ones I don't already have. :-) Oooh! Rejoice and Be Merry! is one I want (Tabrnacle Choir with the King's Singers); and Ring Christmas Bells (Tabernacle Choir with Brian Stokes Mitchell).
I still want a new sewing machine, but I've upgraded my wish to a Bernina.
New clothes.
A camera. I don't need anything fancy, but mine is in very sorry condition. Lately I've taken to commandeering Michael's camera, so maybe he'd like me to have one, too.
A dress form. An adjustable one that will let me fit my size.
A drill press.
A belt sander.
A Dremel tool.
A table saw. Yep, I want power tools—for me. And maybe lessons in woodworking. :-)
Jane Eyre.
Hard-bound copies of the Little House books, except for Little House in the Big Woods and Farmer Boy, which I already have.
Puppet Patterns from projectpuppet.com.
New clothes. Or maybe a shopping spree would be even better!
Well, obviously this could go on forever!
When I first started writing my list I could only think of about two things I'd like to have (um, new clothes would be one). But as I go on I realize that I could keep going on and on because there's really a lot of cool things out there. While all this stuff is pretty great, I find that really I am quite content. I think Christmas will be pretty happy for me if I can be at home, baking, making projects, listening to great music, and especially hanging out with my family. And maybe a few Christmas cards from my friends would be nice. :-)
Anyway, I have been a very good girl—straight A's in school (OK, one A-minus); healthy, well-fed family; relatively clean house; I haven't kicked the dog...
...So here (in no particular order) is what I'd like:
New clothes.
A beater for my 2 1/2-quart Kitchenaid stand mixer. The mixer runs great, but the beater is lost.
I still want a new sewing machine, but I've upgraded my wish to a Bernina.
New clothes.
A camera. I don't need anything fancy, but mine is in very sorry condition. Lately I've taken to commandeering Michael's camera, so maybe he'd like me to have one, too.
A drill press.
A belt sander.
A Dremel tool.
A table saw. Yep, I want power tools—for me. And maybe lessons in woodworking. :-)
Hard-bound copies of the Little House books, except for Little House in the Big Woods and Farmer Boy, which I already have.
Puppet Patterns from projectpuppet.com.
New clothes. Or maybe a shopping spree would be even better!
The Reader's Digest Family Songbook (1969)—for the fun family memories. :-)
Well, obviously this could go on forever!
When I first started writing my list I could only think of about two things I'd like to have (um, new clothes would be one). But as I go on I realize that I could keep going on and on because there's really a lot of cool things out there. While all this stuff is pretty great, I find that really I am quite content. I think Christmas will be pretty happy for me if I can be at home, baking, making projects, listening to great music, and especially hanging out with my family. And maybe a few Christmas cards from my friends would be nice. :-)
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Jessica was Baptized!
Yesterday was Jessica's baptism day! And I have to say that it was one of the most exciting baptisms I've ever seen. The LDS church believes in baptism by immersion, which means all of you has to go under the water—no hair, no toes, no nothing can pop up. If something does, you just have to do it again. So usually Bruce will practice a dry dunk with the kids a few times before the baptism day so they know how to do it. And I French-braided Jessica's hair so it wouldn't float around. But we didn't foresee what would happen yesterday.
Here is the play-by-play:
First of all, it turns out that the water in the font wasn't very warm—Bruce says it was just approaching luke-warm. After Bruce said the baptism ordinance words and he moved to dunk Jessica under the water, for some reason she moved her hand and didn't plug her nose. She was already moving down fast, so Bruce couldn't get her back up and try again, so down she went. I was standing where I could see her face and she looked a little panicked and her mouth was open, too. I wonder if maybe she opened her mouth to say something. Anyway, she went under the water with her mouth and nose open—and her eyes wide open, too. Then she started flailing her legs like crazy, and so Bruce started shoving her down to make sure she got good and baptized before she came back up. This all happened in about a second, although Mom viewed it all in slow motion. In spite of all that, Jessica didn't need to go under a second time, and she got a huge hug from Dad when she was all done.
The bishopric member who was there said he'd never seen so much kicking at a baptism, and several people (who were not as close to the scene as I was) also thought that she was pretty funny. When I explained what happened we all had a smile and a "Poor Jessica!" together.
But she survived it very well, and now Jessica is an official member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I guess my baby isn't a baby any more.
We are very proud of Jessica! :-)
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| before the baptism |
First of all, it turns out that the water in the font wasn't very warm—Bruce says it was just approaching luke-warm. After Bruce said the baptism ordinance words and he moved to dunk Jessica under the water, for some reason she moved her hand and didn't plug her nose. She was already moving down fast, so Bruce couldn't get her back up and try again, so down she went. I was standing where I could see her face and she looked a little panicked and her mouth was open, too. I wonder if maybe she opened her mouth to say something. Anyway, she went under the water with her mouth and nose open—and her eyes wide open, too. Then she started flailing her legs like crazy, and so Bruce started shoving her down to make sure she got good and baptized before she came back up. This all happened in about a second, although Mom viewed it all in slow motion. In spite of all that, Jessica didn't need to go under a second time, and she got a huge hug from Dad when she was all done.
The bishopric member who was there said he'd never seen so much kicking at a baptism, and several people (who were not as close to the scene as I was) also thought that she was pretty funny. When I explained what happened we all had a smile and a "Poor Jessica!" together.
But she survived it very well, and now Jessica is an official member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I guess my baby isn't a baby any more.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Bully!
When I was thirteen I was one of those unfortunate children whose nose grew up before the rest of my face did. This is a real phenomenon—I learned about it at one of my kids' maturation programs. Unfortunately, at the time I just thought I had a huge nose. I was teased about it a lot, and I was terribly self-conscious. There was one boy who called me "eagle beak"—until one day my friend Kim grabbed my pointe shoes (which, for some reason I had with me) and clonked him over the head with them.
When I walked home from school there were a few boys who followed me (I'm sure they were just going in the same direction, not following me) and shouted rude remarks about my nose, and my looks in general. I would hug my books tight to myself and either walk slower or faster—depending on the day, and I often ducked into the public library to hide until I was sure they were gone. I felt awful. I hated my nose! (I still don't particulary love it, actually.)
Today all those kids would be called bullies and they could get in big trouble which, presumably, would have the wonderful effect of stopping their merciless bullying (not likely). But with that "fix" I can't say that my predicament would have necessarily gotten any better—it could be that I would have felt just as nervous as ever.
But, back in the day, here's what actually, really and truly happened: I was walking along one day, hugging myself all tight and together, and watching my shoes and feeling bad as I headed for the library, when suddenly I had an epiphany: I was not the one with the problem; I was perfectly fine and healthy and talented and smart and I had good friends. It was them! They were the stupid ones with a problem! Ta-da! I didn't say any of this to them, but after that revelation I walked with my head up; I relaxed; I didn't try to hide from them any more. And guess what: They stopped! Within days, they just quit bothering me. Huh!
Whaddaya know?
I bring this up because I saw this post on facebook today: "A teacher in New York was teaching her class about bullying and gave them the following exercise to perform. She had the children take a piece of paper and told them to crumple it up, stamp on it and really mess it up but do not rip it. Then she had them unfold the paper, smooth it out and look at how scarred and dirty it was. She then told them to tell it they’re sorry. Now even though they said they were sorry and tried to fix the paper, she pointed out all the scars they left behind. And that those scars will never go away no matter how hard they tried to fix it. That is what happens when a child bully’s another child, they may say they’re sorry but the scars are there forever. The looks on the faces of the children in the classroom told her the message hit home. Copy and paste this if you are against bullying ♥"
>sigh< In the first place I don't usually copy and repost these kinds of things, and in the second place I'm just tired of hearing about it. Is bullying bad? Yes, it is.
But there's been such a lot of talk about school bullying lately. School hallways are plastered with signs that say bullying is bad. There are big, colorul posters showing sad little kids crying to grown-ups, posters showing mean kids picking on other kids, etc. (Basically, they are posters that show kids how to be a bully.) In fact I was totally shocked to visit Kaylie's classroom a few years ago and see two great, big, hand-written posters hanging on the walls: one was a list, compiled by the class and the teacher, that detailed bad behaviors—things you shouldn't do; the other was a list of things you shouldn't say. And, for some odd reason, this teacher had incredible classroom management problems.
Go figure!
Now here's something I hear a lot and have seen in action: What you pay attention to, grows.
So maybe we should quit giving the bully so much attention and give a little air-time to acts of kindness. Let's correct some of the problems I just mentioned: Kaylie's teacher could have had the class make both of those same big posters as an exercise, but then she could have also had them do just the opposite: make a couple of big posters that listed good behaviors and nice things to say. She could have made a big production of throwing away the bad things, and then posted the good stuff up on the walls for the rest of the year, where the kids could read them and make good ideas part of their every day.
Maybe instead of big, colorful posters of sad children with captions that say "Don't be a Bully," they could hang big, colorful posters of happy children being kind and helping each other, with captions that say "Be Kind," or "Show Respect." And maybe we could facebook those messages—messages of kids helping kids, and say "repost if you love this"—instead of "repost if you hate bullying." We could be like Mother Teresa, who said she'd never attend an anti-war demonstration, but that if someone held a pro-peace rally she'd be there.
As for me and my big, dang nose...I'm not exactly sure where (at the trying age of thirteen) I pulled that piece of self-esteem from. But if we gave our kids the love and the nurturing that allowed them that same self-esteem I bet there would be fewer bullies and fewer bullied, too.
When I walked home from school there were a few boys who followed me (I'm sure they were just going in the same direction, not following me) and shouted rude remarks about my nose, and my looks in general. I would hug my books tight to myself and either walk slower or faster—depending on the day, and I often ducked into the public library to hide until I was sure they were gone. I felt awful. I hated my nose! (I still don't particulary love it, actually.)
Today all those kids would be called bullies and they could get in big trouble which, presumably, would have the wonderful effect of stopping their merciless bullying (not likely). But with that "fix" I can't say that my predicament would have necessarily gotten any better—it could be that I would have felt just as nervous as ever.
But, back in the day, here's what actually, really and truly happened: I was walking along one day, hugging myself all tight and together, and watching my shoes and feeling bad as I headed for the library, when suddenly I had an epiphany: I was not the one with the problem; I was perfectly fine and healthy and talented and smart and I had good friends. It was them! They were the stupid ones with a problem! Ta-da! I didn't say any of this to them, but after that revelation I walked with my head up; I relaxed; I didn't try to hide from them any more. And guess what: They stopped! Within days, they just quit bothering me. Huh!
Whaddaya know?
I bring this up because I saw this post on facebook today: "A teacher in New York was teaching her class about bullying and gave them the following exercise to perform. She had the children take a piece of paper and told them to crumple it up, stamp on it and really mess it up but do not rip it. Then she had them unfold the paper, smooth it out and look at how scarred and dirty it was. She then told them to tell it they’re sorry. Now even though they said they were sorry and tried to fix the paper, she pointed out all the scars they left behind. And that those scars will never go away no matter how hard they tried to fix it. That is what happens when a child bully’s another child, they may say they’re sorry but the scars are there forever. The looks on the faces of the children in the classroom told her the message hit home. Copy and paste this if you are against bullying ♥"
>sigh< In the first place I don't usually copy and repost these kinds of things, and in the second place I'm just tired of hearing about it. Is bullying bad? Yes, it is.
But there's been such a lot of talk about school bullying lately. School hallways are plastered with signs that say bullying is bad. There are big, colorul posters showing sad little kids crying to grown-ups, posters showing mean kids picking on other kids, etc. (Basically, they are posters that show kids how to be a bully.) In fact I was totally shocked to visit Kaylie's classroom a few years ago and see two great, big, hand-written posters hanging on the walls: one was a list, compiled by the class and the teacher, that detailed bad behaviors—things you shouldn't do; the other was a list of things you shouldn't say. And, for some odd reason, this teacher had incredible classroom management problems.
Go figure!
Now here's something I hear a lot and have seen in action: What you pay attention to, grows.
So maybe we should quit giving the bully so much attention and give a little air-time to acts of kindness. Let's correct some of the problems I just mentioned: Kaylie's teacher could have had the class make both of those same big posters as an exercise, but then she could have also had them do just the opposite: make a couple of big posters that listed good behaviors and nice things to say. She could have made a big production of throwing away the bad things, and then posted the good stuff up on the walls for the rest of the year, where the kids could read them and make good ideas part of their every day.
Maybe instead of big, colorful posters of sad children with captions that say "Don't be a Bully," they could hang big, colorful posters of happy children being kind and helping each other, with captions that say "Be Kind," or "Show Respect." And maybe we could facebook those messages—messages of kids helping kids, and say "repost if you love this"—instead of "repost if you hate bullying." We could be like Mother Teresa, who said she'd never attend an anti-war demonstration, but that if someone held a pro-peace rally she'd be there.
As for me and my big, dang nose...I'm not exactly sure where (at the trying age of thirteen) I pulled that piece of self-esteem from. But if we gave our kids the love and the nurturing that allowed them that same self-esteem I bet there would be fewer bullies and fewer bullied, too.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Fun with the Fam
A couple weeks ago our family did all kinds of fun things together! Well, at least we did two kinds of fun things together. :-) Monday (Oct. 17) for Family Home Evening we packed a picnic lunch and hiked up to Ensign Peak. It is a super-easy trail, except for being super steep. My little kids were running and bounding up the trail, and Bruce and I were lagging along behind, gasping for breath. The view from the top is incredible—you can see pretty much all of the Salt Lake Valley, and the leaves in the mountains are changing colors so it's really pretty right now. Of course some of us can't stand near the edge—even though there's a rail all around it, and if you did fall off you'd probably just roll down a steepish, but not super-dangerous (unless you count little rocks and shrubberies), incline. Some people also can't look in the direction of our children standing near the edge without getting a creepy, jittery feeling jumping through our skin. But we try to keep that to ourselves and just tell everyone how cool it is—because it is.
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| Bruce and me, looking our age on top of Ensign Peak |
After we hiked back down we drove into town (about 3 minutes—Ensign Peak is right behind the Capitol building) and looked for a nice place to eat our picnic dinner. We intended to eat out on the Main Street Plaza, where they usually have some tables and chairs, but there was nothing there for us. So we hiked around to the next block and found some tables and had our dinner. It was already getting a little dark, and it was cold, so we ate fast! Then we crossed the street to Temple Square and said hello to the horses and their carriage drivers. They offered to take us on a 20-minute drive for only $20 per couple. Hm. $100 for the whole family? Not tonight. (Although it would be so cool to have them drive us to the ballet, or to dinner or something, sometime!)
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| Lindsey, Me and Ryan |
Then we went to the church history museum and saw a display of children's artwork. It was a pretty fun night. :-)
Saturday night we went back to Temple Square to see the orchestra perform their Autumn Concert. They played Vivaldi, Mozart, Bach and Mahler. The kids were very well behaved—they have very good concert manners, and the music was excellent! I particulary liked the Bach piece—a movement from St. Matthew's Passion, and the kids all really enjoyed the Mahler (kind of opposite ends of the scale—no pun intended :-) ). On the way home we stopped and bought ice cream to top off the evening.
Saturday night we went back to Temple Square to see the orchestra perform their Autumn Concert. They played Vivaldi, Mozart, Bach and Mahler. The kids were very well behaved—they have very good concert manners, and the music was excellent! I particulary liked the Bach piece—a movement from St. Matthew's Passion, and the kids all really enjoyed the Mahler (kind of opposite ends of the scale—no pun intended :-) ). On the way home we stopped and bought ice cream to top off the evening.
Now for the Halloween stuff...
I don't really care all that much for Halloween. Dressing up is fun, but I don't know why it's limited to such a stupid holiday whose only existence is so stores can sell lots more candy. I think a New Year's masquerade sounds much more classy. But I do like any excuse to play with my food, so when I came across these ideas and I realized I would have no classes on Halloween and my Entheos kids were going to be out of school, it seemed as the planets had aligned. :-) Each month I make a dinner menu that I post on my fridge (whether I conscientiously stick to the menu is another story); this is what I wrote for the October 31 menu:
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| Eyeballs, Slime, Spiders, Snake, Worms, Chips & Mashed Guts |
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| Mmmm, worms! |
The first item of business was to make the worms; I found the recipe online last week and couldn't resist. I wanted to make these as a total surprise, so I started them early Sunday morning and finished early on Monday. It was not a total surprise because all of my older kids woke up way too early on both those days, so I recruited them to help prepare the worms. Even though they knew what was in them, they weren't too keen to eat them—that just shows what those child experts know about getting your kids to eat! (I'll post the recipe on my cookbook blog later.)
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| Scott, Lindsey and Rachel eat worms while Emma gags herself in the background |
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| Kaylie mixes a cake |
When everyone was up and had breakfasted on Monday I put the kids (read: the little girls, who wanted to help cook) to work. First we did the spider cupcakes: devil's food cupcakes, with raspberry filling (spider blood), iced with black frosting and covered in black sprinkles—with licorice string legs. If I ever made these again I would not put black coloring in the icing—it gave a terrible flavor to my fabulous buttercream frosting!
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| frosting and decorating the spiders |
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| eyeball surgery |
The slime punch is our only annual Halloween tradition, but this year I mixed it ahead of time (an "Aha!" moment) so we only had to add the soda, sherbet and dry ice at the last minute. I bought black and orange tortilla chips, and Harmon's guacamole (expensive, but delicious!) and made fresh salsa for the "mashed guts." The six-foot long snake was the last dish to be prepared—while the kids went trick-or-treating with their cousins—so we could eat it warm.
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| Brandon, disguised as himself |
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| into the jaws of Frankenstein... ...anything for candy! |
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| Poison Ivy, a kitty, Puss in Boots, and Harley Quinn |
Here's what our dinner looked like:
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It was ooky to have such a ridiculous meal, but I probably wouldn't do it all again. Although snake was popular, today I still have a plate of worms in my fridge and a tray of spiders on my counter today. The chips and "mashed guts" I'd definitely have again, I'd do the snake again, and we'll always use Halloween as an excuse for the slime punch. Still, it was an impressive spread, and the most important thing is we had fun! Yay!
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