Family Basketball Challenge

Secondborn aka Mr. Basketball, begged the family for a 2-on-2 basketball game.

Mr. Wonderful and Thirdborn against Firstborn and Secondborn. First to 20 wins. (The Love Magnet stayed wrapped in a blanket on this chilly, windy day. I manned the camera. Everyone was happy with their lot.)
Thirdborn was excited to be included. Everyone worked to teach him how to shoot....

...and how to guard his man.

Mr. W and Thirdborn 20. Firstborn and Secondborn -18.

They already want a rematch. The gauntlet has been thrown down. I'm hoping this will last all summer. It is so rare when the boys want to play together nicely.

Family project: gardening

Last night I took my daughter to purchase seeds. She grabbed all of her favorites. When I told her it was time to purchase, she told me she was still looking for one more. I asked her "What are you looking for?" The Love Magnet replied enthusiastically:

"Barbecue seeds, Mom!"
Today we planted corn, pumpkins, watermelon, peas, green beans, rainbow chard, carrots, candy-stripe beets, oregano, basil, thyme, chives, cucumber and lettuce. In two weeks we'll fill the fourth grow box with beefsteak tomatoes, pear tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, and jalapenos. We also have giant sunflowers planted behind each grow box.

Secondborn dug around the strawberries, apple tree, plum tree, apricot and cherry trees.

Firstborn and Mr. Wonderful worked on the yard, mowing and trimming, and getting ready for some kind of border.

I sure hope we have a decent grow season. I wish our HOA allowed for chickens. I would love to have chickens.

Does anyone know how to control squash bugs? We were over run last year.

Celebrating the 4th of July in a small town

This year we decided not to go into the big city near us to attend the fair and festivities and to see the professional fireworks. We opted instead for hometown fun.

Barbecue Pork Tenderloin and Slaw Hoagies , Green Bean and Tomato salad, what I believe to be the Best potato salad , and Pineapple Coconut Cookies . Mmmmmmm, delish! Click on the titles to see the recipes. And then go and make them next week. Especially the Pineapple Coconut cookies. There are no pics because we INHALED them. That David Lebovitz is a very talented guy.

My boys tossed the football together. (Why, oh why can't they take off their socks or put on their shoes in the great outdoors? Why must they put grass stains and holes in every pair of socks they own?)

At least they were getting along. I have photographic proof.


Dear Doggie Girl wanted so badly to join in the fun. We didn't dare let her off her leash as there were two pit bulls just up the hill who wanted to tear her apart. Their owners kept them leashed and we did the same.

After our picnic we took off to.........

......the ol' swimming hole. (We have a neighborhood pool, but apparently swimming here is much more fun.....at least that is what Thirdborn says.)

Doggie Girl loved swimming out to fetch her ball.

Secondborn and Thirdborn had races to see who could cross the pond the first.

Soon is was time to run home for a quick shower and change and to leave Doggie Girl at home. Then we traveled about 20 minutes to an even smaller town for a fireworks show. One of Mr. Wonderful's coworkers is a licensed pyromaniac (is that their official title?) and does firework shows around the valley. His hometown show is right next to an elementary school. Perfect for keeping kids busy on the playground while we're waiting for the sun to go down.

The Love Magnet swung with Mr. Wonderful......

...before trying a few Super Girl moves on her own.

The sky grew dark.

The Love Magnet does not like fireworks. She tried hiding between Mr. Wonderful and Firstborn before the fireworks show started. It didn't satisfy her criteria for safety so she cuddled in my arms and put my hands over her ears.

We oooohed. We ahhhhed.

The Love Magnet was very brave. She didn't cry this year and even watched the fireworks as long as I kept my hands over her ears. That made it difficult to juggle the camera for a few fireworks pics.

Halfway into the show, the school field sprinklers came on. Families grabbed their gear and dashed into the parking lot. Everyone was wet. No more firework photos from a damp camera. The show went on. The finale was great.

You'll have to trust me about that.

Blue appendages, appalling apparel and nasty taffy...

The kids are in bed after a full day of activities. Despite the Oregonian surf being waaaay too cold for sensible adults like Mr. Wonderful and myself, the boys spent hours in the water twice today. I had to run to the grocery store to purchase hot chocolate mix to warm them up. The Love Magnet did not get into the water, but her fingers turned purple just from playing in the sand. That didn't stop her from building her version of sandcastles with rainbows.

Among our activities today was looking at souvenirs to take home. We usually buy the kids a
t-shirt to remind them of fun vacation times. Unfortunately the t-shirts we found on this trip are not ones I would EVER let my children wear:

There was a little girls t-shirt in black with sequined neckline and a sequined outline of a shark with the caption underneath: MAN EATER

Um, no. This was at the aquarium. Do these people not think about these ideas first?

Then there was a pirate t-shirt at the restaurant we ate at tonight. In sizes for my boys, they were proudly emblazoned with BOOTY HUNTER.

Big Fat No. What are they thinking?

Maybe we'll stop for t-shirts later. Maybe we'll just find something else. I think we'll count the boy's kites as souvenirs. There is also half a bag of the most awful salt water taffy I've ever had. Would that count for sentimental value?

At least all the picture I have taken are priceless.

Meanwhile, our Heroes are incognito somewhere in Oregon...

I am relaxing in a recliner in front of a huge picture window with a fabulous ocean view. I am sure it would be more fabulous if I could see it. It's foggy out there.

My kids have loved heading out at low tide, exploring tide pools and collecting agates. The water is freezing in Oregon so no swimming. We've bought kites for flying. We've been hiking. We've visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory for a tour (eh..) and ice cream (Mmmm!) We've seen lighthouses and rocks. We've eaten seafood out and cooked steaks in. This beach house rental has Playstation and board games. No TV. No movies. No worries - we've hardly been here.

We've loved exploring this new place. Somewhere we would never had thought of visiting if we hadn't moved to Idaho. Mr. Wonderful started a new family competition this past year: whomever gets the highest grades gets to pick the family vacation. Secondborn won the contest. He was given a budget and I helped him research ideas. He has been having a great time.

This fall I will be one of the competitors in the contest. Mr. Wonderful is hoping I will win. He has been suggesting places all week of where he thinks we should go i.e. someplace with a warm ocean.

In order to beat Secondborn for the vacation-choosing privilege, I will have to get straight A's.

Let the pressure begin...in 2 1/2 weeks. Meanwhile I am going to enjoy fighting crimes of stress right here. On vacation.

FORE!

We had a family activity planned to learn how to golf. Firstborn and Secondborn didn't take seriously the mandate that their chores had to be finished before we left. Since they weren't done, they stayed home to finish (with much wailing and gnashing of teeth, not to mention surly looks) while Mr. Wonderful took the rest of us to a local golf course.

Thirdborn had his instruction first...

And then spent time practicing while Mr. Wonderful demonstrated the golf swing to me. (There are no pictures of me as it would be inappropriate to show my frustration at trying to lock my elbow, hold my posture in a way that The Creator never intended for us to stand, and get that teeny ball to connect with my club, let alone get it to go in the direction I was aiming.)

Thirdborn then took it upon himself to teach (with all of his grand 3 minutes of experience) The Love Magnet how to golf. He had to help her balance the ball on the tee....

The Love Magnet then attempted to golf (with pretty much the same results as I achieved, but without the frustration. She thought it was fun.)

I have to agree it was fun. I hope Mr. Wonderful takes us again soon. (I hope I didn't embarrass him with my lousy swing. I hit more grass than I did golf balls.)

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack -

Tonight we had tickets to watch our local 1A baseball team. The stadium is small. The team wore replica 1908 Cubs uniforms which made them look straight out of the movie The Natural (I know, wrong era and wrong team, but I love the movie and that is how I associated the experience.) We were given replica 1908 Cubs t-shirts for souvenirs.

The seats were box seats right in front of third base. The sun was behind us and the heat had calmed down to 82 degrees. I kept thinking that my daddy and my twin sis' husband would appreciate this much more than I did (they actually like baseball). It was a nice night to be out.

The Love Magnet watched movies (thanks to K for loaning us their portable DVD player). Thirdborn and The Love Magnet kept asking for food (they had just eaten at a neighbor's BBQ so how could they be hungry?) Firstborn and Secondborn were happy to treat them with the first money from their summer jobs. Peanuts and popcorn, pizza and root beer. It ended up being a great lesson on why its not smart to waste your money on stadium food when they realized just how much they spent by the end of the evening. Thirdborn was disappointed that no one threw him a t-shirt, ball cap, or baseball.

There was a fireworks show after the game. The Love Magnet doesn't like fireworks. "Mom, they are too loud for me!" She buried her head in my shoulder. The fireworks were so close that we could feel the heat from some of them. My daughter bounced from Mr. Wonderful to me to Firstborn every time a particularly loud cannon shot firework exploded. She could not make up her mind whose arms would be safer. I could tell that Firstborn was honored to be included in the "Safe Arms Zone" this year.

I have decided that I like this smaller town atmosphere very much. The celebrations, the community pancake breakfasts, the parades, the sports. This place feels like home.

Does it get any better than this?

Tonight for Family Home Evening Mr. Wonderful and the kids planted five fruit trees. I've never had fruit trees before and was so excited to see them on sale at Costco. We spent some time mentally plotting out where the trees should go, where the future raspberries bushes would go, and where to put the square foot planter boxes for the garden. Then I went inside to clean up the kitchen and get our Family Night treat ready.

My window over the kitchen sink looks out into the back yard. For the first time in any house, I had a great view of the backyard as I washed the dishes that didn't fit into the dishwasher. DD and DS#3 were playing with Dear Doggie Girl, who was running like a whirlwind chasing the balls thrown to her. DS#2 helped Mr. Wonderful dig and plant the trees. DS#1 cleaned up the dog bombs in the backyard. When everyone was done there was an impromptu game of catch.

I loved my vantage point. The kids were getting along. DS#1 and DS#2 proved that they could play nicely together (who knew?). Everyone was laughing when they tromped into the house for strawberry shortcake.

Now the younger kids are cuddled up in bed with Mr. Wonderful and watching Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. DS#1 is finishing his laundry chore and then his homework. DS#2 is finishing the kitchen floor. Everyone is home. Everyone is safe. Everyone is healthy.

Ah, peace.....

I spoke too soon. All is not peaceful as I can hear DS#2 squirting whipped cream directly into his mouth. *sigh* My idyllic scene is not ruined, just postponed until I can get the kids to bed.

Cinco De Mayo is coming up! We love playing music, dressing up the table and having a fun family dinner.

Prepare your menus in advance. This is one of our favorites. We love to serve it with strawberry and watermelon agua frescas, rice and pinto beans, fresh salsa cruda with fresh made tortilla chips, lots of chopped cilantro, and whatever sweet Mexican dessert sounds good to us.

Chile Verde

1 tablespoon canola oil
2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour object
4 cups chopped onion
2 pounds small tomatillos, husks and stems removed and quartered
1 pound Anaheim or poblano chiles (about 4 medium), cut into 1-inch pieces
6 garlic cloves, chopped
3 cups water
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Heat canola oil in a stockpot over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the pork evenly with salt and pepper. Place flour in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add pork to bag; seal. Shake to coat. Add pork to pan, and sauté 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove pork from the pan.

Add onion, tomatillos, chiles, and garlic to pan; sauté 8 minutes or until tender. Add pork, water, and remaining ingredients to pan; bring to a simmer. Cook 2 hours or until pork is tender, stirring occasionally. Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1 1/3 cups)

NUTRITION PER SERVING: CALORIES 267(26% from fat); FAT 7g (sat 1.6g,mono 3g,poly 1.5g); PROTEIN 26.4g; CHOLESTEROL 74mg; CALCIUM 45mg; SODIUM 511mg; FIBER 3.7g; IRON 2.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 18.9g

Chef: Traci Des Jardins

Cooking Light, MAY 2005

Family Nights

We've been using part of our Family Nights (every Monday) to teach our children using the book "Teaching Your Children Values" by Richard and Linda Eyre. We focus on one value a month.

Last month the value was Honesty. We talked about the definition of honesty with our younger children ("I ate the cookie and then I said I didn't do it. Is that honest?) and went through scenarios with our older children (You cheated on a test, but it did get you an A. What are the consequences? - You won't study well for the next test and you won't learn anything.) There was even a certificate for Honesty Under Pressure which circulated among the kids during the month. We also learned the Primary song "I Believe In Being Honest" . You can find the song at:

http://www.lds.org/cm/catalogsearchalpha/1,17929,4958-1-2,00.html


This month the value is Courage. I think the Eyre's had the perfect explanation for this. Talmage is the Eyre's son:

Eight Year old Talmage: "Yeah - it takes real courage to be a chicken."
Dad: "What do you mean by that?"
Talmage: Well, I mean if the kids are trying to get you to do something that you don't think is right - or it's really, really dangerous, and they're saying you're chicken, then it takes real courage to be a chicken and say "yeah, I'm a chicken."

I have been surprised at how well my children have participated in this. When I am focusing on the younger two, the older two help out with input and cheering during the games. When I focus on the older two the younger cheer them on with a "Good Job!" and "You're awesome!" The kids even love learning the song I pick to go with the theme. The song is performed for their dad at the last Family night of the month. The song I picked for this month is Dare To Do Right:

http://www.lds.org/cm/catalogsearchalpha/1,17929,4958-1-2,00.html#nullLink

It has been wonderful to listen to my kids as they sing. I firmly believe that singing helps to anchor a lesson and have heard DS#3 singing on his own as he plays or cleans his room.

Here is to raising healthy, happy, responsible kids. I need all the help I can get.