It's So Simple

I lack common sense. I have to be instructed in just about every way. So, once in a while I have this aha moment and realize probably everyone else is already doing this, but for the few who are like me, here you go...

My kids like hot breakfast every morning, especially Calvin. About a year ago, I started obliging some/many mornings. I have a ridiculous problem with wasting food. Everytime I throw away food at the end of a meal I think of my Grandma L. and how she kept every extra scrap of meal and then actually used it in future meals.

My kids love pumpkin. I have two recipes that we love, one for pumpkin pancakes and one for pumpkin bread. I realized not too long ago that a big can of pumpkin will accommodate both of these recipes. (I used to waste the rest of the can when I made either.) So, yesterday, I made the pancakes and dumped the rest of the pumpkin in my Bosch to get going on the bread. I noticed that I had quite a bit of pumpkin pancake batter left over. Normally, I dump this down the drain. I know. Don't berate me.

So, I started thinking I could cook up the rest of these pancakes and then freeze them in twos for the kids to pull out on other mornings. And not just with pumpkin pancakes, but all the other batters I use for breakfast. The amount of batter I have thrown out over the years makes me a little sick to my stomach, but I hope my Grandma L. is smiling somewhere.

I realize how stupid I sound in that this is a revelation, but there you go. I am not naturally smart. Leave me alone.

That is my tip for the day.

And now, more importantly, my two current favorite pumpkin recipes.

Pumpkin bread

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Bread-IV/Detail.aspx

This is a big batch, three loaves. At first, I cut it back by a third, only making two, but my kids eat it all, so I went back to the whole thing. A few changes I made. The loaves tend to burn at 350 for me. I do not know if my oven burns hot, but I pull the temperature back to 325. It also helps to add a baby-sized pan so the three big ones are not so full. I also increase the cinnamon to 2 tsp and decrease the cloves to 1 tsp.


Pumpkin Pancakes

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg

Blend flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk milk, pumpkin, vegetable oil, and egg until well blended. Stir milk mixture into dry ingredient until fairly smooth. Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray and spoon batter onto skillet. Cook pancakes about 3 minutes per side until nicely browned at the edges.

Love Halloween

I love Halloween. Always have. Probably always will. It is not a crappy holiday, like Valentines.

When I was little, my mom made homemade chili and cinnamon rolls. Encompassed with these highly comforting smells, we would get ready for the night of begging for candy. Aaron tells me I am odd in not mixing up who I was each year. I used a homemade gypsy costume for years. I enjoyed the gypsy and the silk head scarf which had mason jar lids sewn in for earrings. Loved it. Pure unadulterated fun.

I also love that Aaron gets into this holiday, interacting with the kids helping them determine what they may want to be and then pulling the ideas together.

mario, luigi, and the arch-nemesis waluigi

We went to the fabric store, picked out some denim fabric, made the boys lay down on it, drew an outline, cut them out, pinned them, took them to grandma, watched her fight the anxiety knowing that this was really not the expert job she likes to do, sewed on the buttons, re-sewed the crotch after three minutes of kung fu fighting (the boys, not mine), and then waalaa the costumes were done.

A few pics


Spiderman

Wonder Woman



The pumpkins, back row, left to right, jack, millie, calvin front row, aaron, henry

We did start with six pumpkins, but after an unfortunate accident involving a bar stool, Calvin, and a 25-pound pumpkin landing on Calvin resulting in a split pumpkin, I graciously offered up my pumpkin to Calvin. I am quite a selfless woman.


Aaron is a game freak, really a fun freak. He found a website that ranks board games and found some German game that people love, but is no longer in print. So, the game geeks make their own board. Aaron has been working on this for a couple of months to be played on Halloween night.

Also of note is the thermos Henry is carrying. We lost his trick-or-treat bucket somewhere between the ward Halloween party and the trick-or-treating. I naturally started freaking out. Aaron looked around in the van, found a thermos with water from a game a week ago still in the car (we are that awesome), dumped it out, handed it to Henry and he was good to go.


The whole lot of them

Fixed

Aaron is ready to get fixed. Permanently. You know, down there. He is ready to be done with this stage. Too much information for close friends and families, possibly? Too much information for a public blog, certainly.

I am not quite ready to shut the door. You may be shocked by this statement. We have a lot of kids. I proclaim my ineptness and my sad disorganized state most days. Yet, I am not ready to say we are done. I am just starting to get this motherhood thing down.

I am a strong believer that both partners must be fully engaged and excited to bring a baby into the world. Manipulation and coercion should have no part in this decision. One partner says no, the answer should be no, in my opinion. I realize that we do things for our spouses to try and make them happy, but this should NOT be one of them.

The thing is even when you are so excited to have children, there are moments when you wonder, what have I done? I cannot imagine the intensity of these types of feelings if you had not wanted a child in the first place. I believe this stuff comes out in ugly, ugly ways in a marriage.

This has me wondering, though, how many partners feel completely done having children at the same time. They look at each other, nod their heads, and know that is it.

How many are left disagreeing? How many people yearn and wish they would have had more? How many people feel like they should have stood up to their spouse and stopped before they did?

Calvin, the movie maker

Calvin using an empty wrapping paper roll for his tripod or should I say unipod?

Last Christmas Calvin received a Flip camera. He played with it a little, but really became obsessed in the summer. Carrying the camera everywhere, he made movies. Since he is a Star Wars freak, most of them center on this theme.

He is also the set designer and casting agent for his movies, although most of the time the Star Wars Little People are cast as the lead actors. Like most directors, he is all about favoritism.

At some point, he asked Aaron to help teach him the video editing software Aaron uses. Aaron spent a little time with him and Calvin was off.

A week ago he asked me if he could make a video of his friendship with his cousin Sam. I told him go ahead. A few hours later I found he had uploaded the video to his blog.

Since I still have not been able to get video to work on my blog I asked him, "How did you do that?" "You just make an .avi file, MOM." I am not a technological idiot, but it is a sad day when your children start surpassing you in their knowledge. The quality of the video was greatly diminished going from our pc to the blog, but you can still get a taste.

Here are two of his exciting adventures.

Star Wars Episode 1,344

The Story of the Big Bad Wolf

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A basketball court designed or should I say, taped?

Ted UPDATE

Oh my. I just found Aaron's soul brother.

Barry Schwartz on the paradox of choice. Go ahead and scroll over to 14:59 for his secret to happines.

Ted

Have you seen this website?

http://www.ted.com/

I am in love. This is a website devoted to experts in many fields that share their message in 18 minutes or less. I am a little obsessed and choose one to put on while I am folding laundry or other mindless activities. Here are a few of my favorites to get you started:

Elizabeth Gilbert author of Eat, Pray, Love talking about genius.


Dan Pink on the science of motivation. This guy seems a little full of himself, but I found this very interesting.


Dan Ariely, Are we really in control of our own decisions?


Malcolm Gladwell talking about spaghetti sauce. I know, I know. Trust me.

I lied.

I thought work was slowing down, but I lied. Working more in the last six weeks as I have the first eight months of this year, I am tired and ornery. The household stuff seems to be suffering quite a bit, although Aaron tries to do what he can when he gets home.

The disorganization in the house is out of control. After finishing working around 3:00 am one night, I popped over to my email and found that Calvin's teacher had sent a reminder that the kids needed an empty 2 liter bottle. Crap. Thinking about my options, I figured it would be better to go now then deal with the kids in the morning. The look on the checker's face at Walmart was priceless as I loaded up my cart with pop at 3:30 in the morning. Sometimes the cravings are just too strong, I told the teenage boy clerk.

Routine is not a strong descriptor of how things run around here. Laundry happens when it needs to, which is usually every two to three days. I knew our laundry was in trouble when I walked in and found that Aaron had used a beach towel to dry the dishes after he washed them. He is a little bit more flexible than I am.

Aaron and I have given up on the traditional male/female roles quite a while ago. All of the things that need to get done go in a big pot and we just both do what we can do. I do not enjoy laundry, but it is the last household chore that I have held on to, not able to relinquish control. I realize once I turn something over or share I no longer have control over how it is accomplished. And, I like things folded certain ways. Aaron at times will come and try and help me fold, but it makes my stomach sick watching him. Please, just talk to me. Don't fold.

Yes, I know I sound ridiculous. Just when I think I am making progress on my uptight self.

So, in the first time in a long time, Aaron loaded up the laundry and got it going. I found my shirt hanging up in Millie's closet, Jack's socks in my sock drawer, and Calvin's underwear with Jack. I keep reminding myself, the laundry is done and that is what is important.

The thing is, these days I am quite enjoying domestication. I like knowing that we are out of eggs or milk. I like knowing that the kid's shirts are hung up in the right closet. I like knowing what has been cleaned and when. I like knowing these things.

Aaron took a vacation day last Friday as one of my deadlines loomed. Around 6:00 p.m. he mentioned that he was exhausted. It is nice to be reminded occasionally that what I do around here takes energy.

Here's to a little more free time next week.