It's The Little Things

I've been trying to put together some posts of things we are all grateful for this year like I did a couple of years ago, and we have a great list of many things, but I've been attempting to get the boys to think more specific. Beyond, "the earth," "our house," "my school," etc. Not that those aren't great things to feel thankful for, but I was hoping to capture more about who they are right now and what, specifically, is most important to them at this stage. We'll see how my plan for the post (or posts) come out.

Because of those posts being on my mind, though, today thoughts of gratitude and what that means just seemed to be swimming close to my consciousness, so that everything that happened to me today seemed to inspire a quick thought that either said, "I am so grateful for that" or "not so thankful, just grumpy." It made me realize that amid the everyday, the common and the routine, we must find the little things that we embrace with gratitude. Finding those things can turn just a day into a great day.

GRATITUDE: The day started off nice and slowly. Tommy had been awake off and on through the night because he now has the nasty cold that Luke was sporting last week, so I was extra tired this morning and it was nice to sleep a bit longer than the norm. Zach and Ben got up nice and quietly, leaving me to doze away until 8am. Josh rolled out of bed around 9:15, Luke joined us at 9:45 and Tommy slumbered until 10:15. Ahhhh.... I had taken advantage of the quietness of the morning and gathered the laundry together for washing, and then took some time on the computer to look up some brining recipes because I am going to give that a try this year on our Turkey.

GRUMP: When 9:45 rolled around and I was busy with getting Luke his breakfast, Zach asked if he could play on the computer. I replied, "Sorry, but you guys are done with screen time for the day. You played a lot this morning." And the peace was destroyed. "But I've only been playing for half an hour! I only played from 8:30 until 9!" "No, you just came up about 15 minutes ago, at 9:30. That's an hour. It's easy for you to lose track of the time when you are playing video games. I know, the same thing happens to me on the computer." "No, it was 9 when we came up! I know it!" "Sorry, but look, I even have these recipes I printed with a time stamp of 9:25, and you were still down there when I went to grab them off the printer." Unfortunately, that concrete evidence was not sufficient for my almost 10-year-old who is stubborn as a burro when he is certain, even if he's wrong. Tears and stomping followed.

GRATITUDE: But boys don't dwell for too long, and by the time we had to leave to run Thanksgiving dinner shopping errands...all six of us...eeeeek!..he was over it. We found what we needed at Costco, had a yummy lunch that included sharing a table with friends that we had run into in the pizza/hotdog line. And while we were walking toward the receipt line Zach, Ben and Josh were walking with their arms around each others shoulders.

GRUMP: Shopping went well, the kids were behaving fantastic. {relief} But I still got the, "Are these boys ALL yours?" And, "Wow! You've got your hands full!" And, "All boys? No girls? I can't even handle my {insert number smaller than 5} boys." Those comments really bother me. Especially when people say them in front of my boys. Those comments imply that the boys are obnoxious just by the mere fact that they are boys and that girls are obviously preferred by everyone, including their poor mother who clearly only had five children so she could keep trying for a girl. Which may be true for some people, but it is most emphatically NOT true for me. I LOVE each of my FIVE boys and never, ever, have I wished one away for a girl. Plus, trust me, I've known plenty of obnoxious girls in my life.

GRATITUDE: Just after we arrived home, Luke smashed his fingers in the door to the garage. When Luke gets hurt, even a little teensy hurt, which this wasn't because his finger turned a lovely shade of plum so I am sure it was really painful, there is much loud screaming, tears aplenty, and it lasts a LONG time. As I was digging in my pocket for a kleenex (because unfortunately I have the nasty cold too) I found my ticket stub to Harry Potter. In the midst of the crisis, that glimpse of a good memory from earlier this week brought a little warm flood to my heart and dampened the stress of the moment.

GRUMP: After an hour of unsuccessfully trying to get a sick, restless, coughing Tommy to go down for a late afternoon nap, the skin on my cheek was sticking to itself, by what I am sure was booger glue.

GRATITUDE: I had warm laundry, fresh from the dryer, to fold on a cold, windy afternoon.

GRUMP: I had to go down to fetch Josh from the neighbor's house after clearly telling him he could not go there because they have no TV regulation and Josh has no self-control. "But we were just coloring, Mom!" "Yes, it doesn't matter what you were doing, Josh. I am glad you were just coloring, but I told you you could not go there at all."

GRATITUDE: Five little words--Creamy Potato and Leek Soup

GRUMP: The neighbor kids came over to our house since Josh was banned from leaving the house, you know the ones, they're the ones that make my boys seem to bicker more and treat each other with less respect. After a lot of "you guys need to include everyone in that game" and "we don't talk to each other like that in this house" I sent the neighbors home. Then it took my kids a really long time to clean up the house, having to send them back to re-do spots that were ignored, forgotten or dumped on multiple times.

GRATITUDE: Tommy figured out how to use his walking push toy tonight and was SO very proud of himself. His face was all grins and joy. He'd stop to clap for himself, and look at us expectantly for our applause, and then walk some more. It was the best entertainment I've had in a good long while.

And once your eyes are open to it, it keeps coming.

GRATITUDE: Adam has the next five days home, free from work. I remembered to get Kleenex with lotion at the store. Tomorrow is pie making day! Zach was really happy about his new quilted flannel shirt. Luke wanted an extra lullaby at bedtime. And the list goes on....

Willie Nelson said, "When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around." That's kind of how the day went for me. Noticing the little things about today that were great, among the things that could have really made the day a grumpy one, they made all the difference. I really love this time of year, when gratitude is so present. I hope to carry it on, beyond Thanksgiving.

A Week's Worth: Thanksgiving Ahead!

Sometimes it feels like we are facing event after event. With a large family, there can be weeks with a lot of events! But some weeks are quieter, slower, and how I enjoy those! This past week was like that. We didn't have a lot going on and it was so nice. And while blogging when we are busy is hard because I have no time, blogging when I'm not busy is also hard because I just enjoy doing nothing so much. But here's a few parts of the week to note:

Two weeks ago Ben received an elephant pencil-top eraser from his music teacher for some kind of reward. Well, if you were to hear him speak of it, you would have thought she had given him gold! He was entranced. And decided he needed more. So he found out where the teacher purchased them and he spent the little money he had to his name to buy two packets of 144 animal shaped pencil-top erasers ("Ben, are you SURE you want that many? One pack would be MORE than enough! You're sure then? Well, it IS your money, I guess.") from the Oriental Trading Company: $4.99 each pack with a shipping charge of $6.99. Lame! I don't know how long the adoration will last, but they came in the mail on Wednesday and he has played with them, and only them, since they arrived. Can you blame him though? They are pretty cute!Josh and I started the Magic Tree House series this week. I've read through the series with each of the boys during their Kindergarten year and sitting reading with Josh has brought back so many sweet memories of snuggles on the couch with Jack and Annie and younger versions of Zach and Ben. I am excited to start this journey with Josh and make our own memories. As the middle child, Josh truly savors the "us" time, and so do I!

Our weather has been incredible! It's been downright balmy many days this week, much to the chagrin of my snow-hungry boys. But I've been enjoying the warmth, knowing we've got plenty of cold ahead. Adam took advantage of our nice Saturday to put up the Christmas lights on the house. We won't turn them on until after Thanksgiving, but he's so happy to have done it without gloves, a jacket, freezing winds to blow him off or fear of slipping down the icy sloping roof.Zach had a good week. He got to go to his best buddy from school, Patrick's, birthday slumber party. He had a fantastic basketball game, quick on his feet, great with assists and even scoring some baskets; ultimately trouncing the opposing team that included one of the kids from his soccer team who wasn't always so nice to him during soccer. It's the good kind of revenge. He's also had a bit of a rough week. Zach is trying so hard to be a good brother and he absolutely is. He's great with the two littlest boys, but he forgets to be gentle with the two older boys during the many wrestle-fests our home has every week...and then they get hurt and come crying and tattling. We can't just let it pass, especially when we weren't witness to it and his brothers insist that he was intentionally violent, but I know he's just trying to play. So we've had to put the quash on wrestling for him for awhile, at least with the two older boys who like to whine and cry a lot. Not, as we told him, because he's really done anything wrong, but to help him avoid getting ratted out for stupid things by brothers who like to whine.

Tommy turned 13 months. He's not walking yet, and still doesn't show any real interest in it, but his free-stands are getting longer and longer and he lets us hold his his hands to help him walk now too instead of getting mad and trying to sit down. Also, he's into everything. This week I rescued him from choking on 1) Bakugan 2) Ben's erasers 3) Lego guy heads 4) small puffy art balls. I definitely have to step up my baby-proofing! But I love seeing his curiosity too, he just wants to be a part of things and discover all he can. He's so funny. He makes me smile or outright laugh every time I look at him because a glance from me is all that it takes for him to bust out in a huge beaming smile. He loves to be messy. I think he's the messiest kid of the five. He loves smooshing his bottle tip to make a mess with his milk all over his tray, and then splashes in it with his hands. On the subject of milk, he LOVES it. He drinks probably 30 ounces a day!I decided to push my long run this week and tried a new route that a friend suggested of 7.93 miles (thanks for the exact figure mapmyrun.com!), half of which was uphill. While the OCD side of me was a little annoyed after I got home and mapped my route that I didn't go a full 8, I was happy with the run. I think the large hill that is in my usual 3.5 mile loop base run helped me a ton. Aside from a little foot cramp afterward that didn't go away for a couple of hours and some all-too-familiar knee twinges, I felt great!

One night I looked up from the sink while getting dinner ready and everything outside was pink. PINK. Not just the sky, but the yard, the trampoline, the fence, the plants, the air. It was really strange, but beautiful. The stunning sunset had lit everything up with a rosy glow so bright it was all pink. "Red sky at night, sailor's delight" indeed. The next day was gorgeous.Luke was hit with a double dose of sickness this week. A lovely germ carrying a fever, and another one carrying croup. Josh just got the cough and was not even very croupy sounding, thankfully, but poor Luke was hit hard. His darling little voice was hoarse for days, and he had to spend Thursday's preschool hours watching Go, Diego! Go! in my bedroom while I taught downstairs. After two nights of a dose of steroid to help his coughing ease up so he could sleep he was feeling much better and was fever-free by Friday night. Unfortunately, I think we shared with some friends who I babysat on Tuesday before the fever hit. I'm not feeling too fantastic about that.

I made two different kinds of cookies this week to sample ideas for an upcoming cookie exchange. One, a chocolate crinkle cookie, the other, a chocolate peanut butter thumb print. Both yuuuuuuummmmmmmy! No final decision yet, still more samples to try. Oh, how I love cookies! I've also been through five packs of thin mints, with little help from Adam. It's so funny. In the early fall I crave pumpkin, then, as the holidays approach I can't seem to get enough mint. This, folks, is why I run! :)

It was kind of a sleepless week for us. We let the kids watch HP 1 and 2 with us early in the week. All was well after HP 1, but Josh was terrified by HP 2. So he ended up sleeping with us Monday night. Ben had a bad dream Tuesday night, so he found his way to our bed for comfort. Luke slept with us Wednesday night because he couldn't sleep due to his coughing, and then I got worried about his breathing and wanted him close. I was happy to sleep in a bit on Friday morning with Adam home!

Saturday Luke was playing with a Batman action figure, in total quiet play mode, pretending with the toys in the world of his imagination, when we heard him say in one high-pitched voice, "Help! I am needing help!" And then in a raspy Batman voice, " Don't worry. I'm awesome."

Harry

It's no secret. I am a huge Harry Potter fan.

The love began with the books. I love the books for the intricately planned and masterfully woven stories, the sweet lessons, the victory of good over evil, Rowling's brilliant and intelligent writing style, and the characters that you fall in love with from the first chapter of book one and by the last page of book seven they have become old, dear friends. Harry and I, we're tight.

They are books that my mother read with my younger cousin, Jordan, who would come to spend a couple of weeks with us every summer. My mother agreed to be a surrogate for my aunt and uncle after several unsuccessful attempts at having a second child of their own, so while she carried Jordi in her belly for only nine months, a special love for Jordi is etched in her heart forever. Jordi's visits were precious times spent with a very precious child for my mom. The memories she carries of these Harry Potter reading sessions are some of the most treasured in my mom's vast trove of life memories. And the joy and excitement my mom felt for the books, because of the sweet times with Jordi they promised, infected my sister and I.

The Harry love was born.

Aside from the contagious thrill given by my mom, another thing that I love about the Harry Potter series is that these books, while written as juvenile fiction, transcended age and have brought the joy of reading to young and old in a way that other books could not. It's almost magical! I had graduated from college, was pregnant with Zach and substitute teaching at the girls' campus of a lock-down detention school in Provo, Utah the fall of 2000, just a month after Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was released. One of the classes I was teaching was a literature class. Only two of the 16 girls in my class, while all in their mid-teens, could identify a noun in a sentence. Getting them to read was like pulling teeth. That is, unless the book was in the Harry Potter series. The tiny library only had two copies of each of the four books and they were the most coveted books in the entire collection. The Giver, by Lois Lowry, taking a distant second. So what was a teacher to do? Why...make copies of the pages so the girls could practice identifying the parts of the written language with a story they loved dearly, of course! It worked like a charm.

And my love for Harry grew.

When book 6 was released, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I woke my 5-year-old Zach up for a midnight date with Mom at the All For Kids Bookstore in the University District of Seattle. It was the release party, and we had a blast! Zach hadn't read the books or seen any of the movies yet, he was too young, but he loved the specialness of getting up, leaving everyone sleeping in their beds, to attend a fun party at a bookstore, complete with treats, crafts and a lot of muggles dressed up as witches and wizards. When the seventh book came out July of 2007, we repeated the activity, same place, different book, Ben and Nana and one-month-old Luke along for the fun.

And grew.

And then the movies came out. In November of 2001 Adam, my mom, dad and I...and our almost 1-year-old, Zach, stood in line on opening day to see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Zach was fabulous at the movie theater as a baby. He'd usually nurse and drop off to sleep for the duration. But he woke up with about 30 minutes left of HP 1, so my mom joyfully volunteered to take her first grandson to pace the back of the theater. She still caught the whole thing, and kept Zach quiet and happy. Sweet memories!

And grew.

Since movie one I have not missed an opening day viewing. Although there are differences in the movies, as usual, the books are so much richer, detailed and intricate, I still love, LOVE the movies. I love the cast. I love the visual interpretation. And I love going to opening night. I've seen four of the 7 movies at midnight showings. Two summers ago, in 2009, while pregnant with Tommy, my mom and I hit the midnight release of HP 6. I realized then that I had too much life to live during the day and was possibly getting too old to be up so late when it took me four days to recover from the late night. But it was still so fun, and although I opted out of the midnight showing for this most recent movie, it doesn't mean opening day was out! One of the things I love the most about the opening day shows are the people who come out dressed in their witchiest finest. It's great! While I don't wear my witch's hat, I do wear the D.A. (Dumbledore's Army) t-shirt that my sis gave me to wear to the release party of the 7th book. :) Yep, dorky, but what else can I say?! I'm a fan!

The love is strong.

So Friday night, November 19th, after much excited anticipation, Adam and I went to see the 6:20pm Imax showing of the first installment of the seventh book with our friends Jen (who is also a huge fan) and her husband, Vern (who had to watch the movies beforehand for some last minute HP cramming). Adam, fortunately, is also a big fan of Harry's, so he was {nearly} as excited as I was, minus the spontaneous squeals of glee. We spent every night last week staying up {much} too late watching the other six movies. And he even took the day off on Friday, with little convincing required (he has some vacation days that he can't roll over to burn), so I could leave at any time necessary to go wait in line so we could get good seats. I was not sitting in the second row from the front on the right side like I did for HP 6! Just one of the bazillions of things that I love about you, babe!

Speaking of love, I loved the movie. LOVED.IT. ...as usual. Hooray for Harry! In front of us sat a woman, probably in her late forties, in a witch hat and robe. Hooray for fans! As we were walking to our car, I spotted her in front of us and I told her how much I liked her hat. She smiled and said, "Do you want to see my Time Turner? And here's my hippogriff stuffed animal." As she pulled it out of her bag, she told us she had been to the Harry Potter amusement park and picked up some great souvenirs. I loved her and her devil-may-care attitude! One more great memory to add to the Harry memory file.

Even though being a "huge fan" is pretty cliche, and Harry-love has become commercial as heck, there is so much to love about the franchise that has grown around Harry Potter. And there are many fans with so many different reasons for loving Harry. I've now given you mine. Harry's a good guy to love.

I'm already looking forward to July, when the second installment of the movie based on the 7th book comes out. When the movie ended last night, I felt hungry for more, but was satiated with the knowledge that I had book 7 waiting for me at home, only half finished (for the 3rd time). You know you truly love a book when you can read it again and again, and still find it hard to put down.

Thanks for the memories, Harry!

Making Rank

At last week's Cub Scout Pack meeting Zach and Ben both earned a new rank in their journey through Cub Scouting.

Zach completed his Bear badge back at the end of August, but with Adam, who wanted to be there to see Zach earn his badge, traveling in September, and the cancellation of our Pack meeting in October, Zach did not receive his badge until this week. He was fine waiting though. He still has a month to go until he can move up to the Webelos (that stands for We Be Loyal Scouts) group, because our church scouting program runs its program by age rather than grade, and he doesn't turn 10 until then. But let me tell you, he's counting down the days! His two close buddies from church are already in Webelos, and he's anxious to join them. He also earned three arrow points, one gold and two silver, for elective completion, a beltloop for geology and flag football, his Cub Scout Outdoor Activity Award and his Leave No Trace Awareness Award. It was a big night for our Zach! He deserved it all. He works hard, and really enjoys Scouts. Way to go, Z!
Ben also earned a rank advancement at Tuesday night's pack meeting. He followed the "Bobcat Trail" which teaches you all about Cub Scouting, and earned his Bobcat badge. He received it after I performed, as his Den Leader, the Painted Bobcat Ceremony. I lost the paper I had that had the actual ceremony all spelled out for me, but fortunately I didn't do too badly coming up with some good deep meanings for the colors on the fly! The paw for the Wolf trail he will now follow, yellow for the light of Cub Scouting that leads him in the right direction, red for the courage a Scout must have to do what is right, green for the earth that he promises to protect, blue for honor which every Scout must have. Ben simply loves going to Scouts. It is everything an all-boy boy like Ben adores, so I am not surprised at how much he is enjoying himself. Nice work, Benny!

You're Yes Then You're No

One thing we can say for sure about our darling Luke...he likes to keep us guessing!

Remember this gymnastics-loving child?

An activity that was often happily followed by near-comatose states such as this:

And this:And sometimes caused spontaneous joyful dance moves like this:

Well, for three weeks it seemed opinion had changed. For three attempts at taking Luke to gymnastics we had only stubborn refusal, copious tears, unbeatable grouchiness, and pure "NO." There was no swaying him, no bribery that would work, no pleading that would soften, no consequences that would change his mind. I left the gym feeling beyond irritated. I don't care if he doesn't like gymnastics. It was mostly for fun, and a little bit for helping him do some "heavy work" that was encouraged by his O.T for his sensory issues. I just wish he had made it clear during the free trial class that he didn't care for it, instead of three weeks after I paid for it. Oh, and there was NO WAY he was going to be signed up for the next session. I was ticked off about it, but I had come to terms with the fact that gymnastics was a lost cause.Lost cause or not, I was determined to take him every week until this already paid for session was over. So we went today. I was worried. I was stressed. I was holding my breath as we walked up the stairs to class. And there wasn't a problem at all. In fact, he was downright jubilant! I a-l-m-o-s-t thought I might sign him up for the next session. Almost. But no. We're taking a break. Maybe after the new year...IF he seems to miss it a lot. I'm a softie, but I'm no sucker. Oh, but he sure was cute! And in a great mood all day.What gives?! Oh, Luke, always keeping us guessing!

Gratitude A Little Early

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow." Melody Beattie

Gratitude. That is the word that swirls around our heads all November long, isn't it? I have loved reading the posts of friends and family on facebook and blogs that list the things they are thankful for. Your gratitude bolsters mine! Gratitude has been flowing through our home as well. We've had a family night devoted to the topic of thankfulness. We've read quotes from the scriptures and from church leaders every morning about gratitude. I love this month because I love the constant reminder to be grateful, a feeling I do all I can to foster in myself and in my children.

Because isn't gratitude what makes us truly happy? Whether we have a lot or a little, whether life is hard or breezy, isn't it gratitude that makes it good either way? Gratitude can be the difference between us wallowing in the challenges or embracing them. Gratitude is what brings us the joy in the journey.

I have so much to be thankful for, and I am, every day. I have some posts coming up the week of Thanksgiving, from all the Chaos, on things we are grateful for. But after yesterday and today I have to post a bit of gratitude a little early.

Yesterday Josh took one of his gifts out of the packaging for only the third time since he received it for his birthday. It was an art kit, full of various items to make any masterpiece you could dream up, from tissue to buttons, sticky-bumpy paper to pipe cleaners. It was one of Josh's favorite gifts and he had been careful not to use everything in it up too quickly. His brothers were sitting nearby and were watching him work with a bit of envy on their faces. Josh looked up from the craft he had been diligently working on, and seeing the desire on his brothers' faces offered his brand-new, easily used-up craft items to them, free of obligation, free of repayment. It was so generous of Josh! And all three were incredibly happy for two post-school, too-cold-to-play-outside, witching-hour hours.

Today Ben came home from school down in the face and, as a tear rolled down his cheek, he said, "Mom, I had a really bad day." It turns out one of his buddies, the buddy Ben considers his best buddy, gave another boy a BFF bracelet. Oh, kids! You can be so cruel! We sat on the living room couch, talking for awhile, I listened to his woes and shared stories, advice, commiseration and love. Ben was so sad and both of our hearts were hurting. But then Zach brought Ben a little after-school snack to the couch that included a dear little note. A genuine smile broke across Ben's face that stretched all the way to his tear-filled eyes. After that he was much better, a little healed. And by the time he listened to a message the same buddy left on our phone later this afternoon, asking him to come play, Ben hardly even remembered the incident, thanks to his big brother Zach.

This morning Ben had some extra time between being ready for school and the time school began. So we were sitting in the kitchen, he was drawing, I was making his lunch, and then he started asking me all kinds of questions about earthquakes here in the U.S. Next he asked me what we would need if we had an earthquake here. So we talked for a bit about it. He's kind of fascinated by 'natural disasters,' so I figured that was the direction this was going. But instead, after about 5 minutes of quietly working on something, he presented me with a list. He told me it was his Christmas wish list. On it was a long list of things he wants to be given so he can send them to Haiti, including: 5 tents, 3 tarps, lots of clothing, canned food, some toys, a little candy, boxed cereal, 5 mini stoves, pasta, soup and medicine. At the bottom he had a little list of things for him. It included 2 items: tons of animal erasers ($4.99 for 144 at Oriental Trading Co.) and an art kit like the one we got Josh ($9.99 at Michael's--only $6 if you have a 40% off coupon). My heart smooshed.

I am beyond impressed with the amazing kids these boys of mine are becoming. No, they are not perfect. They fight and bicker, they can be obnoxious and whiny, they are so messy, and that's just to name a few of the things that drive me bonkers on a daily basis. They make a lot of crummy mistakes and get lectured a lot. But boy, they are pretty amazing. They sure can shine when they try. And they try so hard so often, they really do. I am so proud of them and who they strive to be. It's the times like these that make the wrinkles, the stress break-outs and the {ever increasing army of} gray hairs worth it all.

I am incredibly grateful for my boys...and all they teach me about love, giving, kindness. I am grateful for how often they choose the better path. I am grateful that they teach me to take joy in the the triumphs and remember those triumphs in the frustrating times, as well as remember that frustrating times are also times to be grateful for because they are times of learning and growing. But most of all I am abundantly grateful for the gratitude I feel every day because I am their mother; I am so grateful for them, in their successes, such as those from the past two days, and their imperfections. Because ultimately it's gratitude that gives us the joy in life. Thank you, boys, for making mine a joyful life!

The Recipes

There were enough people that requested these recipes that I am just going to post them. They are so yummy! Happy eating!

The measurements on the chili are mostly exact because I got the basic idea from a recipe from Light and Delish Magazine and then tweaked it to suit my tastes (for a slow cooker recipe, theirs was way too labor intensive; plus there were a few ingredients I wanted to remove/add that made it sound even better). But for the asparagus and potatoes I just kind of add as I cook, so I will do my best to approximate for you. The key is just to add flavors and keep tasting until it tastes just how you want it to!

*It's a Major Award!* Chipotle Beef Chili :) *Quote from A Christmas Story
--This recipe makes a TON of chili, so unless you are feeding a huge crowd, plan on freezing some of it.

2 cans pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (found in the Mexican food section of the grocery store)
2 cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1 onion, diced
2 green peppers, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
3+ pounds stew meat (if your store sells huge chunks, cut them smaller, 1/2 in by 1/2 squares) and pull out the super fatty chunks too...yuck.
2 T ground cumin
1 T dried oregano or 1.5 T fresh oregano
2 shakes of the Tabasco bottle
2 jalapenos, seeded and diced (if you want it spicier leave some of the seeds in)
1/2 cup loose cilantro leaves
salt and pepper
juice of 1/2 lime

Drain and rinse the beans and dump them all in the slow cooker. Remove 2 to 5 adobo chiles from the sauce and dice. Add 2 to 4 T of the adobo sauce from the can to the crock pot. The more chiles you add, and the more adobo you add the spicier the chili will be. 2 chiles, 2 T of adobo and no jalapeno seeds makes for a pretty mild chili with a nice kick. But we like ours a little spicier, so I usually add 3 chiles, 4 T of adobo and about 1/2 the seeds from ONE of the jalapenos. But you can definitely kick it up from there! Add the rest of the ingredients, stir and cook on low for 8 hours. Serve with a dab of sour cream and a sprinkle of cheese on top, and if you have them, avocados cut into small chunks. GREAT with cornbread...especially a sweet cornbread to compliment the savory spice of the chili.

Parmesan Garlic Lemon Asparagus

Two large bunches thin asparagus, woody ends removed (you could use thick, but my kids like the thin better)
1 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

Saute asparagus in oil over medium to medium high heat until tender-crisp, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and lemon juice and cook one minute. Top with cheese, let melt and serve.

Garlic Smashed Red Potatoes

6 large red potatoes, peeled 2/3rds of the way, not completely
1/2 cup sour cream
2 T butter
4 cloves garlic
a dash of paprika
salt and pepper to taste

After washing and peeling about 2/3rds of the peels off, cut potatoes into quarters and boil until pierced easily with a fork. Add all other ingredients and start smashing with a potato masher. Be careful not to over-smash. You want them a little chunky because red potatoes can get kind of sticky/slimyish when they are too mashed up. They don't taste bad, but the consistency is kind of gross, to me at least, so just watch yourself and stop smashing when they look creamy lumpy--before pureed but after whole potatoes.

The teriyaki steak I made Adam for his birthday was just some small-size grilling steaks marinated for about 3 hours, flip them after 1.5 hours, in the fridge in Soy Vay's Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce. It's my ABSOLUTE favorite teriyaki sauce. It caramelizes so perfectly. Mmm.... You can find it at most stores in the Asian food section. It is a little pricier than some other brands, because it's so good, but well worth it. And I found a huge bottle recently at Costco for a total bargain...what a find!

Just One Of The Things I Love About Soccer Season Ending...

Having the time for impromptu family game nights, like the one we had last Wednesday, that are so much more than just playing a game.

I don't mean to say I don't love the fact that the boys enjoy soccer so much. Nor do I mean that I don't like soccer season. But it sure is nice when our pace slows down a bit...for a little while, at least.

Lions and Tigers and Bears...OH MY! **Josh**

Unfortunately I had to miss a lot of Josh's games this season. His games were often scheduled close to the same time as Zach's, and since Adam was also coaching Josh's team, I was usually at Zach's games while Adam was with Josh and his team. But those games which I did make it to were great reminders of what the game is all about. The kids are just running, having a great time chasing down that ball, win or lose they leave the field smiling...all of them.
Josh had two kids from his Kindergarten class on his team this season, one of whom lives on our street. They are such close friends now, sharing school and soccer. At Josh's U6 level there are eight kids on the field, four from each team, and no goalie position. Adam did a great job working with the kids this season on spreading out and staying in position, the last few games he even opted to call from the sidelines instead of stay on the field with the team as many of the coaches do. Although...there were still a few times all eight kids ended up clustered right around the ball like a rugby scrummage. In the picture below, you can see 7 of the 8 players (4 is hiding a bit behind 2) are right there in the picture! Hahaha! I can hear Adam calling from the sidelines, "Spread out, guys! Show me your shape!" Josh had a happy season. He scored a good number of goals, loved his teammates and having Dad coach, and thought they won every game (even if they didn't). Adam loves coaching this age, so little stress, so fun. Thanks, Joshie, for the reminder of the joy that is soccer! I will let the rest of the post just be the pictures. I had so many I liked of Josh's games, many that weren't even of the games themselves, but that captured the spirit of the game.

Josh with the breakaway goal!!!

The post-game parent tunnel

Where's the ball?

The sideline gang. Game? What game? But check out my Silly Bandz!

On three...one, two, three...BEARS!

Just look at that ready position!

Lions and Tigers and Bears...OH MY! **Ben**

This post will be much shorter than Zach's, I promise. Everything is so new with Zach, we are constantly learning. Ben's season was so chill and relaxed--normal--in comparison. It was nice to go to his games, spend time with great soccer parents, cheer on a simple, fun game and just be.That's not to say Ben doesn't play hard and that the games are easy. The competition is getting tougher as the kids get older. But Ben is a strong player with quick feet who leaves it all on the field. His team, unfortunately, had only losses and ties, no wins, this season, but they are a great group of kids who all try hard and love to play, even if they aren't the most successful team in the league. A few of the boys were really bothered by the losses, but Ben didn't seem to let it get him down much. He just loves to play and plays his little heart out. He played goalie three times this season and begged to do it more! On developmental all the kids who are interested are given a chance, so he didn't get to play more than that so others could have a chance. But he loves it! He has no fear, charges that ball and isn't afraid to jump on it with feet flying at his face and body. You may have guessed, I don't like it when he plays goalie all that well! But he is good, so maybe I'm going to have to get used to it.His favorite position is playing forward, or second choice, midfield, but when he was rotated onto defense Coach Adam always had to tell him to "Back up, you're DEFENSE, Ben!" (yes, Adam is still coaching Ben's team). It is pretty funny. Ben just says, "But I don't like being defense!" By the end of the season he had learned that staying in his position is important, but defense remains his least favorite position. And he does play well at forward and midfield, so I'm guessing as time goes on he will play defense less and less.Overall it was another fun season with Ben's team. The kids are great. And I really enjoy the families from Ben's team, so sitting on the sidelines, cheering for them, is extra fun. Their final game last Saturday was fantastic, the best of the season. They played so tough against a great team and pulled out a tie in the end. We celebrated as if it was a huge win. I think some of the kids were confused enough by the happy celebration that they thought they must have miscounted and that we did win in the end. When the game is good and the kids step it up so well, it is a win!