Family Time :: Dancing Together

Dancing , originally uploaded by islandj.

Just a quick note - I've got tons to do (did you know Thanksgiving is only two days away? Advent starts on Sunday? homemade christmas gifts don't miraculously appear? My to-do list is ginormous, as sage would say).

Last night, before leaving for a quick 2 day getaway with a friend, Chris and the kids had some great family time. The iPod came out, the music was turned up loud, the singing was nearly all off-key, and the dancing was totally free form. I love how Chris dances - it is the perfect form of play for him, and he excels at it. The kids have followed suit, moving and grooving, swaying to the music, having a blast together and alone. The music - Reliant K and Switchfoot usually top the list - makes the house dance too, and I puttered around, thoroughly enjoying a bit of parenting break, but fully appreciating the togetherness of what was going on. I love this little sneak peek at it!

Kitchen Mum :: St. Shannon's Soup

Time for Soup, originally uploaded by islandj.

Chris arrived home last night, and we are back in the quiet swing of Sunday together, resting and relaxing. He had a truly amazing two weeks at the Art Within Writer's Lab in Florida, but it's good to have him home!

Today Chris's dad and sister came down to take us all to lunch, and my abnormally clingy Sage begged not to go. Since it was such an unusual request, I stayed home with her, and boy, am I glad. Within an hour she was running a high fever, coughing up unmentionables, and having the deep but fitful sleep of the unwell. Poor little peanut. Since the men in my life were both more tired than usual as well, and the days (at least inside our house) have turned chilly, I decided it was time to pull out the big guns for healing :: soup.

I pulled out a favorite from the two dozen recipes I've created over the last two years, a totally unique variation on chicken noodle soup that I call St. Shannon's Soup (named after my dear friend Shannon, who helped create it and inspired me towards all these recipes in the first place). Because Chris had been in the land of meat and fried things for so long, I knew he was tired of eating meat, so I actually made this sans chicken, and it was just as good. The secret ingredient that makes it so special is a sharp cheddar cheese, and I had just the kind hiding in the freezer, waiting for a moment to melt and shine. This soup ends up being rather thick, and one friend called it "adult macaroni and cheese", which I decided was a great compliment, since this is meant to be one of those ultimate comfort foods.

Ready for the recipe? Despite all the work I've been doing for the past many months, I'm still not overly confident in my recipe writing skills, but give it a shot. This recipe has been tested by a few lovely friends, so I know it works. Taste and see that the soup is good!

St. Shannon’s Soup
Serves: 6 bowls

2 TB olive oil
1 leek, washed and sliced into half moons
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely diced
2 celery stalks, washed and diced
2 cups water

3 cups strong chicken broth
1 tsp. dry thyme, or 1 TB fresh
1 tsp. dry sage (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

5-6 cups cooked pasta, fusilli or some other fun shape (see variation at end for using raw pasta or egg noodles)
1 cup chopped, cooked chicken

1 cup milk
½ to 1 cup grated Irish cheddar cheese (any kind of cheddar you like may be used, but a sharp cheddar, like Irish, tastes wonderfully here).

1. Heat olive oil in soup pot. Add vegetables and sauté over medium high heat for five minutes, browning slightly.
2. Add 2 cups water, thyme and sage. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, until the vegetables are all fully cooked.
3. Puree until smooth. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.
4. Return puree to pot, and add broth, pasta, and chicken to the pureed soup base.
5. Add milk and most of the cheese. Reheat gently, without boiling. At this point you may need to add more broth/water if the pasta has been greedy.
6. When the cheese is fully melted, serve hot, with a sprinkle of cheese on top.

Notes :: This is one of my favorite soups. If you want a chunkier soup, you can omit (or minimize) the pureeing of the soup, add all the broth at once, and cook the pasta (including egg noodles) right with the vegetables. If you don’t have leftover pasta, change step four to read: return puree to pot, add pasta and broth (increase to four cups) and simmer until pasta is cooked. Then add chicken and continue. Cooking the pasta in the soup itself makes it wonderfully flavorful.
You can substitute onions for the leeks if cost/availability is an issue (1 medium size onion will replace 1 large leek). This is a great way to use up a bit of leftover chicken You could also remove the potatoes and add more of the other vegetables, particularly if you are going to leave it chunky!

Kitchen Mum :: Granola Bar Victory

Granola Bars :: Ingredients, originally uploaded by islandj.

A few weeks back one of the healthy blogs I occasionally read had a post for "healthy" granola bars that were "really like granola bars." Hmmm. I've heard this before, and tried many times to create one myself (to some not very lasting success, usually ending in a bit of a crumbly mess), but for this new recipe had a technique I hadn't thought of before... so I gave it a whirl. It was a huge success with all the adults in our home, and to a lesser degree the kids (who don't much like any granola bar unless it is swimming in visible chocolate chips), so I decided it was time to hone it a bit.

Today I made four batches - the original, and then three variations, trying to see how healthy and how yummy we could push the envelope. Oh, we pushed, and it was delicious! Tropical granola bars, peanut butter and mini m&m granola bars, plain bars... each one was a winner, with a crunchy texture in a pliable bar. Just perfect.

I brought all four to share at a play date at the park today (how grateful I am for the families God has brought into our lives, and how creatively we can pull together such a variety of ages, stages and genders and have it work out that we actually can have conversations amongst us...) and they were a hit! Hurrah!

Now, I know it's unfair to post about something this grand and not share the recipe... but you're going to have to wait a bit. I'm working on a way to share great recipes here, particularly as we enter soup season and (if you remember from the last two years) I've got me some good soups to share. It's also nearly Christmas, and this little fairy elf needs to keep a few secrets under her hat so she can give the locals a bit of a treat. But I promise, it is coming. And if you are far away and just can't wait, let me know. I might just have an email for you!

Field Trip :: Classics 4 Kids concert

Classics 4 Kids concert, originally uploaded by islandj.

Home again, and right back in the thick of things! Vacation was wonderful, but now I'm eager to delve into our routine, get caught up, begin studying South America, continue reading our biographies and chapter books and making sure that somewhere along the line I teach them not only to do their chores, but to enjoy the finer things in life too.

Here are the kids waiting to go into their first concert. What a wonderful thing it is (I clearly remember going to see musicals when I was a child, and the wonder of being in an actual theatre, with velvet seats and a red curtain). Our homeschooling group attends these "Classics 4 Kids" concerts in San Diego every month or two, and finally today we were able to join them.

Rhythm, Rhyme and Ragtime was our concert, and included works by Stravinsky and Scott Joplin, as well as a live performance of a musical piece composed to accompany a lovely children's story by James Woodward. There was a small orchestra, a conductor, a 3 person ballet performance (eliciting many "oohs" and "aahs" from the entirely school children aged audience), and the dramatic reading of Woodward's book. All three kids enjoyed it, even - or maybe especially - the "learning" portions, where the conductor would stop to explain a musical term (say, Rhythm) and then demonstrate it with the musicians. I learned a ton, and can't wait until the January performance of "Bringing it Bach" - which will include people dressed in period costumes!

Gulf Get Away

Gulf Get Away, originally uploaded by islandj.

Ah, the sweetness of a getaway without computers or to-do lists, the pleasure of walking on a white, sandy beach with my kids (and alone), the delight of walking straight into the ocean, the temperature is so very warm... all these made our rather last minute vacation to Seaside, FL a true delight!

Chris is spending two weeks here on the Gulf of Mexico attending and co-leading a writer's lab (along with five other writers), and as the vacation house they engaged is quite large, we were invited to come and take over the guest house. What a magnificent opportunity, and I can't tell you how glad I overcame inertia to organize and seize the day!

The kids have become really good travelers. The older two managed the two flights to get there (and the race through DFW) with the air of seasoned travelers, and Sage wasn't too bad herself (a bit more whining and boredom, a bit of "carry me" ... but that seems to be par for the course these days anyway). We even handled the time change well! We flew in on Monday evening, right as Tropical Storm Ida was making landfall, making the flight wet and choppy, which I really loved. We rented a tiny car, and in the dark evening with rain whipping about us, we drove about two hours south of Pensacola and discovered paradise!

The kids and I totally enjoyed the beach - the beautiful white sand (which squeaks when you walk on it just so), the bath water warm gulf waters, the seashells littering the beach (particularly after a storm). I could have spent days wandering up and down, finding shell after shell (I even managed to find a "gulf coast sea shell guide" - just so I could be characterized as a typical homeschool nature study junky) and identifying what we could. The house we stayed at even had a pool, so the kids played and played in that as well (even Sage, who doesn't yet swim, found a routine of monkey walking on the wall, and then flinging herself back to the steps, sinking under each time, and then sputtering up at the stairs, triumphant in her "I swim Mommy!").

Of course, a grand vacation rental also has television, movies and cable, so a (rather more than not) portion of our trip was spent making up for an entire marriage without cable (and often without tv). The kids were in heaven, and quickly learned to mute the commercials and play in the down time. I loved the utter treat that it was for us all!

There is so much which happened, and nothing much at all. Books read, puzzle completed, walks taken, hands held ... it was such a lovely time for us all. We got home yesterday, and Chris has till the end of the week to enjoy and write and be challenged. We'll miss the spot almost as much as we'll miss him!

Suddenly a Reader!

Suddenly a Reader!, originally uploaded by islandj.

Oh. My. Goodness. It finally happened!

I have long been a proponent of Slow Learning (like the slow food movement, but academic-like) - letting a child unfold at their own speed, providing all the foundation and resources they need, but not force-feeding them into behaving like a "normal" or "typical" child their age. Each one of my kids (like all people) have different strengths and weaknesses, and part of my joy in homeschooling is allowing them to develop at their own pace. Sterling was a great case in point - really bright, but was sounding out "c-a-t" for far longer than is average. The reader (and academic) in me was cringing and wanted so much to force him to READ, darn it! ... but the rational side of me prevailed, and sure enough, just before he began his second year of homeschooling, he picked up a chapter book and was reading away before I could spell "M-A-G-I-C..." He continues to read and love reading all the time, plowing through books the way I did and still do.

So I shouldn't be surprised that Siena has taken her time as well. She is a "let's do it together" kind of child, and reading (for yourself) is, well, rather solitary (it's one of the things I love about it). As she crested into seven, I began to get antsy again, wondering when she would give up thinking she couldn't read, and just devour a book whole. I've been trying, so very diligently, to be patient, and let her develop in her own time and way.

You can imagine my delight when I came upon this scene - totally of her own initiative, curled up in my favorite chair with a chapter book - the light bulb has gone off! Hurrah! Now, to be sure, she is reading much better and with more confidence than she has ever before. But she is her own girl, and I don't know if she'll ever sit down and eat a book in one big gulp. And that's okay. Every day she is making progress, reading packages and captions, signs and even my computer screen (innocence lost!). It's a bit of magic, all over again. Sigh. I'm so relieved ... and only hope she'll enjoy reading a book on the plane tomorrow as much as I would!

Wedding :: Beyond "Be-u-e-al"

Wedding :: Beyond "Be-u-e-al", originally uploaded by islandj.

And a final shot - the bride and groom, and the four Feather Girls (the groom's sister is holding the littlest girl, who couldn't be persuaded, two hours past bedtime, to stand still and smile on cue!). Aren't they a lovely bunch?! Those dresses all work so well together, and of course, the bride couldn't be more stunning. Or, as Sage would say "be-u-e-al" (beautiful!)

Wedding :: The Feather Girls

Wedding :: The Feather Girls, originally uploaded by islandj.

You didn't think I'd just post a photo of Sterling and me and leave it at that? No, here are my Feather Girls. The theme of the wedding was peacocks, and so each girl carried peacock feathers that matched their dresses. I loved seeing them all dressed up and being so pretty and sweet (and a bit sassy too). Siena, though she was nervous the week before, simply loved every moment, and can't say enough about the bride and the reception. What sweet blondies we have!

Wedding :: Me and my Date

Wedding :: Me and my Date, originally uploaded by islandj.

Here we are, just a bit before V and P's wedding was to take place. Do I not have the most handsome date? I so rarely get to see him out of shorts and a t-shirt these days, so seeing him in a vest and tie nearly took my mommy's breath away.

The wedding was at 7:30 - and we arrived at 5 to help set up the foyer and the patio (where the reception would be held). I was so proud to see my son jump right in and help in any way he could - carrying trash away, setting up chairs and arranging candle votives. Under the guidance of the bride's dad and her brother, he blossomed with responsibility and that wonderful sense of self-worth that comes from a job well done. When he was eating his box dinner (a turkey sandwich with lettuce and tomato, a huge departure from his limited norms), he grinned up at me, telling me about how it was the best sandwich he'd ever had, and how he loved ALL the parts of it. He dressed in his suit without complaint (thank goodness for friends who had boy dress up shoes we could borrow), and even took photos for me as needed.

The girls helped for a short time, but when the hairdresser arrived, and with it an invitation for the girls to watch her work on the bride's hair, well, we lost them! The took everything in and had so very much fun - I was so thankful that the bride allowed them in her inner sanctum right up until she got dressed.

When the time came to walk the aisle, both the girls did really well. Sage was supposed to hold hands with an 18 month old, which didn't happen (it's hard to predict 18 month old behavior), but she was well prepped on walking alone and did a great job. So did Siena, who similarly had to change plans mid stream and walk alone. All four "feather" girls were beautiful and so very sweet.

The service was incredible - meaningful and yet to the point, with talented singers and readers and a focus on the true meaning of marriage. This was a Spanish styled wedding, so there were no attendants but for the four feather girls. It made the focus on the moment of marriage very tangible. My 3 year old coughing and asking questions did NOT help matters, so we excused our selves to the rear of the church and I did my best not to be mortified and Sage did her best to behave. It's very hard to be 3 and expected to behave well when it is past your bedtime!

After the wedding there were all the expected (and totally organized - I told you I loved this family) photo ops, and meanwhile we enjoyed the desserts, cheese and fruit reception. Sterling showed his dancing shoes to good effect (if only Chris were there to help him), and the girls could be seen sneaking off for another piece of fruit non-stop for two hours!

Most weddings and receptions these days are pictures of someone's checkbook - a chance not merely to show your own style, but to show how over the top you can be. I don't say that critically (though it is not my style), but merely point out the obvious. Weddings are a huge money maker, not to mention the feeling that we each must keep up with the proverbial Jones' comes out in full force. I'm happy to say that this wedding was so very personal. There was not a huge budget, and because of that, every piece meant something. There was a table that held wedding photos from all the relatives, some several generations back. There were peacock feathers and colors throughout, from hand-made table clothes to an artisan cake. The favors were sweet tulle bags, and large jars of malted milk balls and such to fill them up. Friends helped serve, friends and family set up and tore down. From start to finish, if you talked with someone, they were a family or friend. I loved it. I even got to cut and Sterling helped serve the cake. And I'll tell you, I feel much more connected to the wedding and their marriage than if a uniformed server had handed me a piece of cake on a silver tray!

Since the wedding began after bedtime, I had honestly thought we'd stay for the wedding and photos, eat a slice of cake and run. Instead, we stayed until the bride and groom took off, and had so much fun that I didn't mind the hour long drive home with three sleepy heads, or Sage's rough night of sleep (so much stimulation to process!) or a sloggy day today. We are still all smiling at the beauty we saw and were a part of.

Rehearsal Dinner Bowling

Rehearsal Dinner Bowling, originally uploaded by islandj.

The weekend wedding festivities have begun! A very good family friend is getting married tonight, and the girls have been asked to be "feather girls" (you'll see why in the photos after the wedding!). The wedding rehearsal was yesterday afternoon, and afterwards the small wedding party, family and many friends joined up for an evening of pizza, burgers and bowling. Everyone had a great time - the girls didn't bowl well or much, but just the experience of it all! Wide eyes all around, watching the bride's every move.

Sterling in particular was beside himself - it was his first bowling experience (though something he's wanted to do), and he just loved it. He bowled continually from start to finish, grabbing a bite to eat between his turn. I just love that kids style!