Our Summer List: a pie

At the beginning of every summer, we sit down and make a list of all the activities and projects we want to do during the summer. Usually the list is long and we don't check off every item off the list, but we're going to try our best to do most this summer.

Many are making their bucket lists, but I've never fallen in love with that term. I love lists, so I make lists. If I knew how to make a button for the sidebar, I would send it out and try to get many of you to join in on sharing your summer lists. Anyone know how?

Carl wanted to spend more time going through his kid cookbook that he received for Christmas and in particular, wanted to bake a pie. We picked the black raspberries for this funky pie from our yard and added a few from the freezer to fill it out, but Carl did all the measuring, mixing, cutting, rolling and baking himself. With a scoop of vanilla icecream, it was simply amazing.

A Belated 8th Birthday

Carl turned 8 recently and I missed the occasion to send well wishes out into the blogosphere. He said no to a cake, unless I could quickly whip up a crazy cake in an hour, so we went with his old favorite treat to bring to school on his birthday, donut balls. Yes, good old donut holes. They make for a great cake, don't they? This Carl guy isn't so little anymore, and is starting to do things in a very grown up way. He's speaking Spanish to me and Gus much of the time we're at home, has really taken to Harry Potter books (is almost done with #4 on his own!), takes charge of a few household jobs, and is really learning how to think about other people's needs. He loves legos, beans and rice, soccer, making scrambled egg dinner for the family by himself, reading, playing outside, fishing, drawing, wrestling with Dad, calculating money, homemade coleslaw and riding his bike, in no particular order. We're really looking forward to lots of free time outside this summer so we can ride bikes and work on growing a sunflower forest for the kids to play in, with the seeds that he picked out. . Happy Birthday, Big C. We love you!

Beginning Baking

... though not for the holidays. Carl was in charge of this from-scratch cake, a volcano!

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At school if the students in 2nd grade speak only in Spanish throughout the day, they get to keep a star by their names all day. If this continues, they get to keep the star all week. At conferences we learned that Carl was having difficulty keeping his star because one of his friends was consistently talking to him in English. As a little star incentive, I told him we'd bake a special star cake for him if he kept it for a week.

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Fast forward two weeks and he still has his star. He asked, "Mom, can we make it a volcano cake instead?" Some fancy cake layering and serrated knife carving skills were needed here to shape the volcano just-so.

He drew all the dragons from "How to Train Your Dragon" that we watched recently and was planning on attaching with wooden kebab sticks, but decided to just stick with just the volcano. Watch out for the hot lava!

Happy Halloween

The Shadow Ninja, Witch and Anakin Skywalker are all in bed after a warm evening of trick or treating. I'm coming down off of my sugar rush. Must get to bed. Maybe just one more Almond Joy? They won't notice if I sneak another one, will they?
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And you? What's your favorite thing to score from their loot bags? Special Dark is my other fave!

Feeling Fall

While the Vikings played today, I got a chance to be outside by myself. Usually I have many little bodies and paws surrounding me to play with and chase and inevitably spend my time making mental lists of all the things I'd like to accomplish. Today was just the day I had been hoping for. With the kids inside with Daddy, I grabbed my rake, bags and trimmer and got to work.

To do:
-cut down/dead head flowers
-empty wilted flower boxes
-rake and bag
-clean up firewood/branch pile
-dig up weeds in the south garden
-pick last tomatoes for counter ripening
-check for remaining carrots
-dig out canna bulbs
-put away hose for the season

I did all but the last two and I feel wonderful. Dragging the firepit to the driveway in the front where I was working, I managed to both fill the neighborhood with the tell-tale fall smell of burning wood and deal with the overflowing pile of accumulated sticks that I trip over every day when I exit the van. I alternated between raking and stoking the fire, pulling dead plants and breaking sticks over my knee. My list is not quite as inspiring as Martha's to-do list is every month in Living magazine, but for a working mom, I'm rather satsified.

The kids joined me later when they grew bored of the game and learned of the fire. I even coaxed Louise in her party dress to join me with the raking. Gus was most at home tending the fire, trying to wave sticks with a fiery end in the air when my back was turned. Carl was happy to help with the leaf bagging process, especially once he figured out that s'mores were a possibility once the work was finished.

Boys in the Kitchen

We harvested our first ever cabbage from our garden last week and declared that a big bowl of coleslaw was in order to celebrate.
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The boys hauled up the food processer from the basement (an old-school one that once belonged to my grandma) and tried to patiently take turns running it.
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We're really into making our own salad dressing, but there is no better coleslaw sauce than Rudolph's.

Summer Bubbles

Do bubbles bring smiles to every child's face? We sure do love them around here.

Singin' in the Rain

It was raining a bit last week and we've been loving our rain boots and hand-me-down raincoats.

And don't forget mama, in those orange polka dotted boots. I'm dancing in the rain just as much as those three little ones.

Birthday Cakes

I love to bake cakes. I look forward to family birthday parties so I can look up a new recipe and try my hand at creating something beautiful and tasty. For Carl's family birthday party last week, I found a fun recipe in the latest Bon Appetit magazine for a classic Chocolate Mayonaise Cake. Yes, mayo sounds a bit wierd, but I've learned throughout my marriage to Ron that mayo has its place in the kitchen besides in sandwich making. He has taught me that it is a killer secret ingredient, usually better left unmentioned. (He makes a mean pot of chili with mayo!) The mayo takes the place of butter or oil and brings a very nice moistness to a cake. There's no strange residual mayonaise flavor at all.

The cake was great, though I had to call in my baking-pro friend Janet for a little advice on the frosting. It called for bittersweet chocolate not exceeding 61 % cacao. I had unsweetened chocolate on hand. I couldn't figure out if they were interchangeable and didn't have the computer on to google it, so Janet was able to give me a few tips. In the end, I used mostly unsweetened chocolate but replaced 2 oz of it with semisweet chocolate chips. The frosting was really nice to work with and not too sweet.

For Carl's kid birthday party, a small affair during the day over spring break, he wanted to bring in the fun. He had seen a photo of a cake Ron made when he was single and a cat owner: a kitty-litter cake. You bake a spice cake and a white cake, tear them up into crumbs, mix them together with two small boxes of vanilla pudding colored with grey or black food coloring. Once they are mixed, you put them in a new kitty litter box and serve with tootsie rolls molded into you-know-whats using a new cat scoop. Ron was happy to be the one to make Carl's 7 year-old birthday wishes come true.

Happy Seventh Birthday, Carl!

Carl turns SEVEN today. Yes, that means I've been a mom for seven years too. Seven years ago today I went to work, taught a full day of classes and suddenly during my prep period at the end of the day, my water broke. Luckily I was prepared with extra clothes, but my adrenaline kicked in so much that I insisted on staying after with students to do detention and finish my sub plans. My brother drove me home from school and I sat down at the sewing machine in my underwear to finish sewing the curtains for the baby's room while I waited for Ron to come home. What? Yes, crazy. Crazy fun.

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These past seven years have been a lot of crazy fun. Carl is a fun-loving guy, always up for a new adventure or to learn something new. A project? Yes, please. A bike ride? For sure. Some Lego time? Uh huh. Algo en espanol? Por supuesto. An episode of This Old House? He'd slay a dragon to do so.

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I'm proud of you Carl. I love watching you with Gus and Louise. It is amazing to watch you take on new responsibilities like unloading and loading the dishwasher, vacuuming the basement, taking care of our dog. You impress me daily with your Spanish skills and interest in the world. You are a great cuddler, a super adventurer, a quick learn in the swimming pool, and a kind and thoughtful kid. You're silly, squirrely, and serious sometimes. You remember jokes that I forget one minute after hearing and love to tell (and listen to) stories. You can take a pile of nothing, and build it into something incredible. Like you. My Carl.

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Happy Birthday, Big C!

A Friend with an Orange Hat

On Wednesdays I get to take the boys on an afternoon date while my Mom takes care of Louise. It gives my Mom some alone time with Louise and my nephew Logan and allows me a few hours to myself, plus afterschool time with just the boys to do more grown-up activities.

Since the snow is quickly melting away today with the rain and a forecast that predicts 50s soon, I figured it was time to get outside and enjoy the snow in a big way. I had seen that Kerry had visited this site recently and knew the boys would love it.
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I asked them, "Are you in, or are you out?" which in our family, means an adventure is on the horizon. Of course they were in, so we donned snow pants and boots and hit the road. I parked a few blocks away-- knowing it would be more fun to meander through the woods by the Minnehaha creek and discover it themselves. All I told them was, "We're going to be meeting a friend with an orange hat."

"We found him, Mom!"

Off to dry off, warm up, and sip our hot cocoa..

Guess Who?

Guess who came to our house again?

This time, an orange fairy!

What kind of tooth fairy traditions do you have at your house?

p.s. I'm headed to the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day class tonight with my mom. Can't wait!

The Tooth Fairy

The tooth fairy came to our house this week for the second time. In the life of an almost-seven year old, this is big stuff. Huge, even. Carl's first tooth fairy visit was prompted by a visit to the dentist to remove an infected tooth that had been knocked a few years ago. He was fine with that and enjoyed having the tooth fairy come, but this time, the tooth fell out on its own natural time table. It had been wiggly for weeks but he finally gave it the necessary twist this week while playing in his kid-fitness class at the local YMCA. At bedtime, Carl remembered to get a glass of water and drop his tooth in the bottom.

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You see, there are several different kinds of tooth fairy experiences. Growing up, my mom always made a little pillow with a teeny pocket where you lovingly placed your tooth at bedtime. In the morning, there was a small coin stuffed in the teeny pocket. At our house, we drop the tooth in a glass of water and in the morning, the tooth is gone, but the water has turned a different color. Depending on the color fairy that visits, the fairy dust from their wings tints the color of the water. Last time, she was green. This time, purple.

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P.S. To answer some of your questions: The tooth fairy still leaves a financial gift, but I think most of the excitement comes from the water changing colors. The first tooth garnered a golden dollar coin and the subsequent teeth are fetching a whopping 25 cents. Hey, his allowance is 50 cents a week, so he thinks this is a great deal. Half of his allowance, for a tooth!
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I thought the idea of fairy had come from my sister, who is a first grade teacher, but she seemed surprised by the story when I mentioned it last week. So, I'm not sure where this fairy dust idea came from. I still love the pillow idea, but since we celebrated the fairies, tomptes and elves at Grandma camp this summer (see a July-ish posting!), we were hoping that the tooth fairy would do some magical things with her fairy dust.

A Return to Beautiful

It snowed today. We haven't been outside to play in weeks, really. It has been cold, crunchy and yucky lately, so we've been avoiding the great outdoors and feeling sad about it. So when the skies opened up and let the white fluffy stuff fly, we were out the doors in less than a minute. I haven't ever seen the boys put on their snowpants so quickly! Unfortunately, there was a minor incident with a tunnel-digging shovel that accidentally bumped Mr. Gus in the face and drew blood.

He's Missing Something

Carl has been waiting very patiently to lose a tooth. Most of his friends at school have lost a tooth or two, some even a whole mouth full. He waits, he wiggles, nothing happens. Until this week.

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Carl's front tooth was bumped or knocked a few years back, we're not sure quite when, but know that it was the result of a fun, boy romp with his brother or cousin. The tooth turned brownish-grey and did nothing. The dentist assured us that this greyness was normal, that it happens to most boys at some point in their childhood. Fast forward to November 2009 and one day he informs me, "Mom, my front tooth is leaking some sort of liquid down the back and into my mouth." Hmmm, that's not the sort of thing I ever expected to hear as a mom. We kept our eye on it for a few days and knew it was time to head to the dentist when overnight a little puffy bump appeared above the tooth. Off to the dentist we went, knowing in my mind that most likely the infection would mean that the tooth would have to be pulled. Where in my training manual for how-to-be-a-good-mom was this listed?

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I went for it. "Hey Carl, you know how most of your friends have lost a tooth? Wiggly, knocked out or something?" I went on to explain how cool it would be to actually lose the top tooth first, instead of the regular way his friends had lost the bottom row first.

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He took it and ran. "Yeah, mom... if they take out my tooth today then the tooth fairy could come tomorrow and I could get a silver dollar and then tell all my friends about how brave I was at the dentist."

The dentist agreed that the tooth would have to come out. The laughing gas, the novocaine, the pliers... he was fine with it all. He was most impressed with the cool little green box that they sent his tooth home in, even cooler than the small yellow envelopes that teachers have in their desks for the same reason. Not even a moan or a wince, he was fine.

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I, on the other hand, tried to be brave but just couldn't do it. Since I love medical procedures and body stuff so much, I wanted to sit next to him and watch, listen to the dentist chatter on about the procedure, to really feel the moment. When I began to feel a bit woozy, I knew it was time to step away. My head felt cloudy, my hearing was muffled, the lights dimmed. What? Why was my body betraying my interests? I stepped away, took a seat and watched in awe of my little baby-turned six year old boy as he lost his very first tooth.