Adventures in Mommyhood

 Back to school today!  This has been a good summer.  I actually felt like it flew by, which is probably a sign that it was a good one.  The kids did lots of camps and classes, had several playdates with friends, and spent quite a bit of time at the pool.  We had a GREAT vacation in Denver and Kansas City, and came back with a week to spare to say goodbye to summer.  Yesterday we drove an hour to a big beach on the river.  It was so windy there were whitecaps!  I enjoyed sitting in the shade, chatting with my friend and holding her baby, while Lance played and played and played with the kids. This morning, it was hard to roll out of bed at 6:30.  The kids had beaten me up, and were anxious to put on their carefully selected first-day outfits.  We scurried out the door at 7:30, stopped for bagels on the way, and actually found a parking spot amongst the first-day madness.   I hugged the kids, listened to their first-day song, and watched them enter the building for another y

We celebrated two birthdays in our family this summer.  Fisher turned 9 and Claire turned 7; both in June.  I feel badly I am so behind with my posting of our summer, and wanted to make sure to document these important events Birthday #1:  Fisher turns 9  Fisher at 9: Weight: ~69 pounds Height:  ~53 inches Favorite things to do:  Play video games (Minecraft is his new fave), read Harry Potter, draw monsters, play with his friends, participating in team sports Talents:  He is proving to be a talented young pianist, and loves to sing.  He is very bright in math. Gifts:  He is naturally kind and empathetic.  He loves nature and animals and is very tender-hearted concerning them. Foods:  SPICY things.  He likes to add hot sauce to his meat and eggs.  He loves all fruit and sweets. He is passionate about seafood. Birthday Meal:  Coconut shrimp, sauteed spinach and mushrooms, fruit For Fisher's friend party, we had like 10 boys over for supper and field games in the mid

I am so happy that produce from my garden is now dictating what shows up on my plate.  Last night we had eggplant parmesan and tonight we had this: Tex Mex Stuffed peppers:  Onion, taco meat, black beans, brown rice and cheese.  Top with sour cream, tomato and cilantro. A couple of weeks ago I took advantage of the unseasonably cool weather to make chilli using my first green pepper.  Marinated cucumbers and roasted egg plant rounded out the meal. Basil!  I scored a slighly broken-but-free food processor and was amazed at how quickly it whipped up a big batch of pesto. My first eggplant- It is so much fun to grow something new.  Before this summer, I had no idea what an egg plant plant looked like, or how they formed.  Every day, Claire goes out to "check on the egg plants."  :)