Afternoon Snack in the Sunshine

Dress Up With Scarves

Sit Down!

So this is what Gunnar did the other morning.  He grabbed my Bible and put it on the couch, grabbed his things, too(Goodnight Moon and sippy cup) and told me several times to "Sit Down."  You're right, buddy!  Mommy definitely needs to sit down and read her Bible.  Great idea!  Thanks for reminding me!

Where Am I?

Sorry for the absence.  We enjoyed a very busy Thanksgiving weekend, splitting the days between my family and Nate's.  Yesterday there was no time for blogging because I did five loads of laundry to catch up from the long weekend.  Last night around midnight I was very thankful I did all that laundry.  Julius must have caught a stomach virus over the weekend and he puked all over his bedding and the bathroom, giving me plenty of more laundry to do.  So with that, I must return to my sick little man and get back to my laundry duties.  I hope to talk to you all some more soon.

As for my Thanksgiving to-do list, all that remains are a few more bins and a bit more Christmas shopping.  I am sure that I will be writing up a new list soon.

Can I Get 'Er Done?

As I continue to work my way through a small mountain of bins, I have a bit of doubt in the back of my mind.  Can I really get this all taken care of before tomorrow?  We will see.  Let's take a look at the list.

• Get back to daily school work 
• Finish "Ruby Holler" chapter book with the kids - we had more left than I realized.  We are on page 253 and need to get to 310 to finish, lots of reading today!
• Wash all the dirty towels and sheets
• clean both bathrooms
• clean off fan blades in our bedroom (it's gross!)
  
• Use up any remaining food in the fridge and grocery shop 
  
• Sort through clothing bins and store away clothing that is too small - more bins done, but as you can see above, lots more work to do!
• Find good dinner roll recipe for Thanksgiving - I am going with these Buttermilk-Onion Pull Apart Rolls
• finish Christmas gift ideas for our kids - one gift ordered online, three gifts purchased this weekend from store, just need to finish ordering a few more gifts online  

This year I don't have much Thanksgiving cooking to do, so I thought I put a little more effort into the rolls I was assigned (pun intended :).  So today I need to work on the dinner rolls and work on finishing this list.  I am super excited because I don't have to cook dinner tonight.  I purchased a voucher online that will get me 4 sub sandwiches for only $10 from a local sub shop downtown.  Whoohoo!  I thought that was a pretty good deal and Lenny's makes some tasty subs.

Best wishes to everyone as they prepare for tomorrow's Thanksgiving.  Remember to try your best to be "hushed and not rushed" this holiday season, just as Mrs. June Fuentes recommends. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

New Favorite Spot

Curry, Squash, and Black Bean Soup

Since I tend to make soup on the fly, Nate suggested that I write down this recipe to remember it in the future.  We eat soup every week, so this Indian spiced concoction was a nice change from some of our regular soup recipes.  This is a comforting soup in cold weather!  We enjoyed it with a jar of homemade applesauce from our friend Amy.

Curry, Squash, and Black Bean Soup Recipe

1 large pot of homemade beef or chicken broth
1 bag of black beans, soaked overnight and cooked until tender
1 large can of petite diced tomatoes
1 medium to large butternut squash, peeled and diced
1/3 head of cabbage, chopped
2 onions, diced
5 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
2 heaping tsp. sea salt
1/2 to 1 tsp. black pepper, to your liking
1 Tbsp. curry powder
2 tsp. dried cilantro or 2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
1 to 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar (add enough to brighten the flavor)
Optional - 1 lb. cooked ground beef (really beef, pork, chicken or sausage would all go well with this soup, but it would be good without the meat, too.)

Place all ingredients into large soup pot.  If using fresh cilantro, wait to throw it in until the last 10 minutes of cooking.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes, or until squash and onion are tender.  Throw in cooked ground beef and add apple cider vinegar.  Enjoy!