Childhood's End

The end of summer is near; Autumn beckons. School begins in four days, the kids have their backpacks ready to go, the meal plan for lunches is in the works and all is well.

Thursday  Em and I went to the high school to find her classes and talk to a counselor about graduating early. 

We got in and she received her new heavy schedule so she can graduate her Junior year, plus about 3 credits she'll need to do online.

It wasn't until later that I realized that graduation junior year means graduating next year. Next. Year. Say what?  That doesn't seem right at all.

As my girls have gotten older, there are some things wonderful about being able to have a conversation that doesn't revolve around Minecraft or Legos (little boys, obvs) but with all of that there are things I'm not too keen on.

Boyfriends.  Now, I'm not saying I dislike the boys, because I don't. What I don't like is the realization that Mom is no longer #1. My girls are on the threshold of their own lives, a life in which they will leave me and their father behind and live it their way. My time of raising them is nearly finished.

It's an exciting time for them, and for me, also. They have opportunities that I never had, especially with all the moving we have done and the larger schools. They definitely have received a better education than I did.

 There have been some hard conversations with both of our girls, moments that you *know* that if you'd been told when you became a parent that this moment would come, you'd have second thoughts.

Sometimes parenting really sucks.

Most of the time, though, it's great.

Like when school starts and my house will be clean again, at least for a short time!

Anything you can do, I can do

Since moving to Chicagoland, I have really struggled with fear of driving on the interstates around here. What if I get lost? What if Iget a flat tire? What if I can't do it? And on and on. Silly, I know, but sometimes fear can get the best of us no matter how ridiculous or dumb it seems to others. Fear is subjective, not objective. Fear is personal, irrational (sometimes) and once you conquer it, fear can shrink and make you wonder why you let something like driving on I-80 make you so nervous.

Granted, no one likes to drive on I-80 in the midst of semi trucks and idiot drivers (there are a lot of them in this area, trust me).  The first time I drove to Naperville Amtrak station to pick up my daughter after her visit to friends in Galesburg, I was a nervous wreck.  The entire week before D-Day I was consumed with worry and my stomach felt sick. Yes, I prayed (a lot!) but I never allowed the Holy Spirit to comfort me and take away  my worries, until the day arrived. With my oldest daughter  beside me and the boys safely at a friend's house, I headed out, white-knuckled but fairly calm.

And guess what? It was okay. Everything was okay. Even despite a couple of wrong turns in Naperville (stupid GPS) we still made it to the station and even found a place to park, not an easy task, let me tell you.

I did it.  And today I did it again. I had to drive to La Porte in order to close a bank account, and it was an hour long drive. I could have avoided the interstates, but as Emily said, it would be good practice to follow the GPS. So I did.

And guess what? It was okay. It was fine. No problems at all. I didn't even have sore hands when we got home!

Saturday morning I will again be heading to Naperville with Emily, and this time, it will be okay.

I know I can do it.

Best Banana Bread Ever

See that deliciousness? Moist, flavorful, yummy. The only thing that could have made it even more tasty would have been adding walnuts. I forgot. Bummer.  At any rate, there's only about two slices left, and I baked it yesterday. Everyone knows banana bread is better the next day.

This is the banana bread my mom always made, and although I've tried other recipes, this is the one I always come back to, because it's the best banana bread ever.


Banana Bread

2/3 C. shortening (I always use Spectrum organic non-hydrogenated)
1 2/3 C. sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 C flour (I used white whole wheat)
2/3 C buttermilk (or sour milk by adding 1 Tbl vinegar)
1 1/4 C. mashed banana
2 eggs
*note: more milk might need to be added if you use whole wheat flour

Stir shortening to soften. Sift in dry ingredients. Add bananas and half milk and mix. Beat 2 minutes. Add rest of ingredients and beat. Bake@350 for 1 hour. Makes one large loaf, depending on the size of your bread pans. Or fill muffin papers and bake until top springs back when touched.

Back in the Kitchen Again

Back to school means more time in the kitchen. My kids take their lunches every day and I try very hard to give them healthy lunches. That’s not to say they don’t have chips or a cookie, because they do sometimes. Usually they take a tortilla wrap (yummy uncooked ones from Costco) filled with beans or lunchmeat and cheese, or grilled chicken, etc. Other times it’s a sandwich. This year they have bento boxes (Easy Lunchboxes) so it’s fun coming up with stuff to fill the sections. The only drawback to this particular bento is that the lid isn’t leakproof, so that does limit the menu a bit. I actually have more freedom/fun making the little guy’s bento for breakfast and lunch. He’s not that great of an eater, being 3 ½, but seems to like having a choice, and he gets excited about the bento like his older brothers and sisters.

Tomorrow is food shopping day. I’ve always struggled with making menu plans for whatever reason, so this time I am going to make menus after the trip instead of before. That way I already know what I have and can plan accordingly. I need to do some prep work this week for breakfasts and lunches, just to make my life easier. J

I have a bunch of coupons and a list of all the deals at the stores for tomorrow, but I’m not sure how many we will get to all in one trip. Even though they are only 6-8 miles away, with the traffic, it seems longer.

So we shall see how this menu planning after grocery shopping works. I will post pics of my haul and later the menu and let you know how it went.

Reflections on the first day of school

By 8:40 this morning all four of the school age kids were gone, leaving me with my 3 yr old, henceforth referred to as 'shadow'.  It was a good morning, no hissy fits or fighting, all the lunches were packed the day before, so this morning went as smoothly as it could.

The main thing I notice once all the kids were gone was how absolutely quiet it was. No chaos, no interruptions, screams, yelling, etc etc. Nada. Zilch. Nothing. Not that Shadow was silent all day, but as noisy as he is when his siblings are around, he's a pretty quiet guy by himself. Plus, all that annoying obnoxiousness only emerges when he has to compete for attention. To his pleasure, he had Mommy all to himself today.

And it was a good day. I missed the kids, but it was nice all the same. Summer was wonderful. I think maybe the school year will be a good one as well.

On the black board I wrote a question: How was your first day of school?
 Here are their answers:

K--Easy (12th)
E--loooong (9th)
N--Long and really stressful (not sure what's stressful about a 2nd grader's day, but oh well)
J--Easy (5th grade)

Both girls collapsed and took a nap and woke up refreshed.  They both got up at 5am to catch the bus @ 6:40. Not sure if they will continue to get up that early. Time will tell.


Three days of schoo this week, then the weekend. I'm thinking that if I want to go to the library Saturday morning it will just be me and the boys. :)

Summer Goals and no A/C

Summer is officially here; school has ended and there's been a collective sigh in the house. Now if only the weather will clue in...

It's always a good thing to have goals, so here are mine:

*work on potty-training with Foo-Foo. Not exactly a fun time (is it ever?) since he doesn't really seem to care too much, but he does like wearing underwear, so it's a start, anyway

*walk at least 5 days a week, I'd like it to be 6. These walks are normally 60-70 min, unless I have the boys with me and we go to the park. Then and easy 30min.

*Keep writing. I've submitted to six agents so far, and have plenty of manuscripts to work on, so all's good in that area.

*have activities for the boys to do a couple of days a week. Right now tin can robots are in the works.

*Finish painting entryway, dining room and bathroom, then get to work peeling off border in the boys' room. I swear, wallpaper hates me. Really, it does.

That's it for now. Wait, what's that about no air conditioning?

It's no secret that I hate the stuff, and it keeps kids from going outside in the summer. We had a few days of brutal heat last week, and we were probably the only ones who didn't turn on the A/C. I'm not sure if we're saving any money running fans, but the benefits are pretty good. The boys went outside where it was cooler without me having to shoehorn them out the door, as I've had to in the past to get them out of the coolness.  Pretty awesome, I'd say. Plus, at least for June the weather appears to be in the upper 70's-to upper 80's, not a problem.  To me, it's worth it.

I really believe being dependent on A/C makes people not so tough, not able to handle the heat. Don't get me wrong, I like having it on in the car and when I go places, but at home I quickly tire of it. I hate being cold when I want to be warm, like when I get out of the shower. Hate that so much.


That's what's happening around here.

Fall

I love Fall. I think it's my favorite season of all. Although I do love Spring when tiny green shoots break through the dull ground and Summer with its hot sun and growing things, Fall remains at the top of the list. Why, you may ask?

1. The colors. Red, orange, yellow, brown....all those colors are the ones I most like to wear.
2. The clothing.  Boots, sweaters, jackets, boots and boots and yeah baby!
3. The smells. Is there any better smell than that of leaves and the crispness in the air when Fall really makes its mark? I dont' think so.

Those are the main points, anyway. There are so many trees up here, it's like an orgy for the eyes! It's so wonderful to see fields of grasses and weeds rather than the field upon field of corn like I always saw in Galesburg. There were places there to see the changing leaves, but not like up here.

I love it! (pretty sure I wont' be saying that in a few months if the forecast for a terribly cold winter with tons of snow is accurate)


Yay Fall!