Sunday, July 31, 2005
This weekend we spent most of our time in the basement converting our "dumping grounds" into a pretty nice toyroom for the kids. I decided about a week ago that the dining room was no longer big enough to house all of their toys and finally got sick and tired of the overflow into the rest of the house. So, we took the toys to the basement and made our dining room into a piano/game room. The final results are "fabulous" (as Noah put it) and we're all tickled pink.
Saturday night Mark played piano for a friend's baptism and then we hurried off to eat dinner with Dad and go swimming. We swam in the outdoor pool which was great fun, especially because the wedding party next door had an awesome D.J. and the stars were out and the crickets were singing and it was warm but not humid. Kak and Dad brought Aunt Me-Me a Dairy Queen cake for her birthday, which we all enjoyed and then we relaxed in the hot tub. The boys were having so much fun doing "cannon balls" in the pool they hated to leave but at 11:00pm it was time to say farewell and get the kids tucked in bed.
Today our Primary got reorganized and much to my delight, two of my good friends were put in the Presidency. The president and myself are both due with babies in the next couple of months, so we decided today to do the Primary Program on September 11th--which means a lot of work to get ready. But it will be nice to have it done before the baby arrives and let a substitute fill in for a couple of weeks while I recoup. The rest of the afternoon was spent working on the basement. We delivered some cookies to our friends the Hoggans and visited with them for a bit, while the kids played together. And that about wraps up our weekend. Hunter starts school in four weeks and we have so much to do still--the Bronx Zoo, Maritime Aquarium, school shopping, summer reading, the beach, Stamford Nature Center, cousin Meg for a sleepover, a lemonade stand and a Bridgeport Bluefish game to name a few. So much to do. . . so little time--hopefully we can squeeze it all in.
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Friday, July 29, 2005
Today I figured out how Noah's little brain works and got him reading several words on his own, took the boys swimming with Chris, took Melanie out for lunch for her birthday, did some school-clothes shopping with Hunter and picked up a few extra things at Wal-mart, correctly diagnosed Denver's ear infection and ran him to the Doctor, went to the grocery store to pick up Denver's medicine, picked Mark up from the train, and spent the evening watching the kids play outside while we visited with our neighbor, Elizabeth. Doesn't sound like much but I'm exhausted. Probably doesn't help that I've been sick all week and have been busy rearranging the house. Everyone keeps teasing me that I'm nesting but I disagree. I've already built the nest. Now I'm just cleaning up the messy parts that are no longer working for us--like the toy room that is overflowing with toys and the basement that we can't even walk in because of the clutter. Anyway. . . I'm going to bed. It's time for me to crash.
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Wednesday, July 27, 2005
We finished swimming lessons last week and now that we are free to do whatever we want, we're all a little sick. The boys came down with a nasty cold on Sunday and Mark and I followed on Monday. The weather has been pretty yucky too--today the weatherman said the humidity was "oppressive" which is as bad as it gets out here in Connecticut. Hot and very humid. So, we've been hiding out in front of the air conditioning all week trying to recover from whatever bug we've caught. It's not all bad though--we're finally tackling the basement/toy room monster that has been feeding on our clutter and I must say things are cleaning up quite nicely. The boys have been surprisingly pleasant despite being sick and stuck inside all day and I feel lucky that they are such good buddies. The weather is supposed to be great for the next four days--here's hoping we recover soon so we can enjoy it.
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For dinner last night we had Cheesy Sausage Stromboli and Sweet Fruit Smoothies. It was delicious! A little effort required (seeing as it involves homemade bread) but well worth all the work!
Cheesy Sausage Stromboli
5 cups flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 pkgs. active dry yeast
1-1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup warm milk
2 Tbsp. butter
2 pounds bulk pork sausage
4 cups shredded mozzarella
3 eggs
1 tsp. minced fresh basil or 1/4 tsp. dried basil
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast. In a separate bowl combine water, milk and butter. Microwave for about 2 minutes or until butter is almost melted. Add to flour mixture and beat on low until well combined. Turn onto a well-floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes (or if you have a Kitchen Aid Mixer, just let it knead for 6-8 minutes, adding just enough flour to make sure it's not sticky.) Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Meanwhile cook sausage until no longer pink; drain and cool. Stir in mozzarella, 2 eggs and basil; set aside. Punch dough down; divide in half. Roll one portion into a 15x10 inch rectangle on a greased baking sheet. Spoon half of the sausage mixture lengthwise down one side of the rectangle to within 1 inch of the edges. Fold dough over filling; pinch edges to seal. Cut four diagonal slits on top of stromboli. Beat remaining egg; brush over loaves. Sprinkle with Parmesan. *Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Slice; serve warm.
*Because we don't have big eaters (yet), I made one loaf in a disposable aluminum pan. Instead of letting it rise the extra 45 minutes and baking it, I wrapped it up good in saran wrap and foil and froze it. When I'm ready to use it, I'll thaw it overnight in the fridge and right before baking it, I'll let it rise 45 minutes on the countertop. Then bake it as directed. I don't know if it'll work, but if it does, then all the work involved in this dish is really worth it--two meals in one--Awesome!
Sweet Fruit Smoothies
1 can sweetened condensed milk
8 oz. strawberry yogurt
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
8 oz. can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 medium ripe banana, sliced
1 cup halved fresh strawberries
1 cup crushed ice
Blend together and enjoy!
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Monday, July 25, 2005
Kak-kak gets all the credit for finding this one! My kids think it's hilarious.
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Sunday, July 24, 2005
Yesterday we picked blueberries at a Pick-Your-Own-Farm. Hunter did a great job filling his basket and even Denver, who hates blueberries, picked quite a few. Noah, on the other hand, hid himself in the blueberry bushes filling his mouth as full as he possibly could with the big, blue berries. He even tried stealing a few handfuls from our baskets--maybe we should have named him "Sal." Anyway, we left with about 12 pounds of blueberries which will hopefully be enough to make us some blueberry pie and syrup and leave enough for frozen blueberry marbles which we use through the winter for fruit and yogurt parfaits and fruit salads.
Afterwards we had Sourabh (a friend of Mark's) come to lunch with his new bride, Swagota. They were tons of fun to chat with and Hunter was especially sad to see Sourabh leave. They always end up having so much fun together. Then Mark finished putting together our new chicken coop (I guess the girls get to stay) and I mowed the lawn while the boys played in the pool and rode their bikes and played with some assorted sticks and rocks and dirt. Then Kak-Kak came over and took Hunter and Noah to see "Willy Wonka" while Mark and I ran a few last errands with Denver before Sunday arrived. Then it was quick haircuts for the crew, a dunk in the bath and off to bed. A great day, all in all.
  
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Friday, July 22, 2005
I've had a total of 5 migraines my entire life. My first, second and third migraines were all within a year of each other between fifth and sixth grade. Probably puberty. Then, about two years ago I got one at church--must have been hormones again because I had just had Denver. Either that or the stress of three children. Today was my fifth. Although it wasn't near as bad as the migraines I got when I was eleven--it still hurt pretty bad. It started early this morning while I was making muffins for breakfast. All of the sudden I couldn't read the recipe or the buttons on the microwave to heat up Denver's "warm sippy." While I was eating breakfast, my lips and tongue went numb and within twenty minutes the left side of my head from my neck all the way up was throbbing. Thankfully, Mark saved the day and called in sick to work and took the kids to the free movie in Trumbull and got all the grocery shopping and Walmart errands done. At this very moment he's downstairs washing dishes and getting lunch marinated for company tomorrow. Am I a lucky girl or what? Still, I'm glad (and I'm sure Mark is glad) this doesn't happen very often. It's painful for all of us.
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Wednesday, July 20, 2005
you can spend over $500 online "window shopping" for non-maternity clothes and you still have two months to go. I'm fantasizing of the day when I can actually wear my jeans again and feel skinny even tho I'm still toting an extra 20 pounds around. I do this everytime I get pregnant. . . I could spend hours drooling over all the cute clothes out there that I can't wear. Ah well! I suppose all those skinny clothes will have to wait cuz junior here isn't ready to join the "real world" and that means I'm only gonna keep on gaining weight. And in order for me to save up that much money to go shopping I'll have to wait at least another nine months and even then, how could I ever spend that much money on clothes? And then there's the weight loss problem--I really shouldn't buy new clothes until I lose my pregnancy pounds. And let's see, with Denver it only took me what. . . two years? Ah, the dilemnas of being fat and wanting to be skinny and being poor and wanting to be rich. Maybe I'll just get me some Dairy Queen and drown my sorrows with some hot fudge and peanuts. Ice cream always makes everything better, doesn't it?
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 We've had some pretty hot weather here lately. . . hot and humid. We've been spending the days at the Lake trying to keep cool and when we're done there we hurry home and eat lots of popsicles. Today the boys dragged their chairs to a shady spot and sat together, chit-chatting about this and that, enjoying their popsicles as they dribbled down their chests. A photo op I couldn't pass by. Hope y'all are keeping cool and enjoying the lazy days of summer as much as we are.
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Monday, July 18, 2005
This weekend we went up to Palmyra, New York to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It has sort of become a tradition around here and all three boys are already counting down the days until next year's show. We drove up Saturday morning as soon as Kak finished work and we finished making enough sandwiches to last us two days. We picked up McDonald's for breakfast and arrived in Palmyra around 2:30pm. We picked up some ice cream and some Hill Cumorah shirts (since Noah's been coveting Hunter's ever since we got him one last year) and then headed off to "the Hill" for a VIP Tour of the stage. We picked up dinner at "the Hill" and then the rain started pouring down. For three hours we sat under the tarp waiting and praying for the rain to stop. We gave up on trying to stay dry and watched the pageant with the tarp as a blanket. It finally stopped raining when Christ descended in the Americas. We hit the hotel right around midnight and all of us were soaked to the bone. Everyone slept in late on Sunday morning, we had two breakfasts (the one we brought with us and a hotel breakfast they gave us because our AC didn't work and our bed was too small) and then headed back to the Hill where we visited the Visitor's Center and the Sacred Grove. Noah found a gigantic caterpillar in the Grove and proudly carried it during our entire walk, kindly letting little passerbys hold it and look at it. Then he picked me a bouquet of flowers and carefully placed them in a drink cup for a vase. It was the highlight of his trip. We left Palmyra around 2:30pm and arrived back home around 8:30pm, just in time to tuck the kids in bed and crash ourselves. With another baby on the way and Stout Family Reunion in November and Henrichsen Family Christmas in December we don't have any vacation time leftover this year. So, this was sort of a whirlwind mini vacation but the boys had so much fun and it was nice to be together for a weekend without worrying about grocery shopping and lawn mowing and church responsibilities and all the other million chores that seem to get piled up for the weekend.
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Thursday, July 14, 2005
We just got a new library this week. Well, it's not actually new. It's been here for a long time but, they just renovated it and it is pretty fancy! When you walk into the Children's section it's like walking into a children's museum. The boys were absolutely thrilled and I thought, well, if I wanted to take them to the museum this would work and lucky for me, it's free! But. . . when you are trying to encourage your children to read a book, or just pick one off the shelf, or even just look at a book for one second, it doesn't help to have a Children's museum competing with you the entire time. To make things worse, I think we've got the grumpiest old librarians up there and they hate the kids. Why they haven't quit yet, I'll never understand. It's sort of like Hunter's teacher. . . if you hate kids that much maybe you should find a new job or RETIRE!
So, there's a million kids up there because it's the "grand opening" and they are all excited and running around and screaming and shouting, like you'd expect kids to do at a children's museum and the librarians are running around, chasing the kids, telling them to walk and be quiet and "get out of there because it's getting too crowded." And I'm standing there thinking, What the heck do you expect? Next time why not try putting some comfy couches in a nice quiet corner with some oversized pillows and a couple giant bean bag chairs and maybe, just maybe, some books?! Instead they've got a castle complete with stairs and hideouts, costumes and puppets. They've got a market area complete with kitchen and play food--just like you'd find at a museum and a train you can climb around in. They've even got a "Toddler Terrain" fully equipped with lots of climbing equipment and tumbling mats. Really. . . what kid is going to stop long enough to read a book?
And the cherry on top of it all was that none of the shelves were marked so it was impossible to find anything. Hunter was climbing in the train, Noah and Denver were fighting with some kid in the castle and I was trying desperately to find the books on Hunter's reading list amongst all of the unmarked shelves and keep the vulture librarians away from my kids at the same time. When I asked one of the "vultures" if they had the summer reading books anywhere special they said, "Oh yeah, sure. . . they are right over there, but they are all checked out right now. But don't worry. They are only on a two week check out, so you should be able to get some later." And I thought, Oh sure. Two week check out. So let's see. Four families come in and grab all the books and since summer break is only about 8 weeks long. . . those four families are the only ones to complete the summer reading list. A friend of mine laughed at me and said, "You're supposed to buy the summer reading list books--no one can ever get them at the library." And I flinched at the thought of buying 26 Clifford Books--I hate Clifford!
And that is a whole other issue--who in their right mind selects 26 (stupid) books by the same author and puts them on their mandatory summer reading list? I mean really. . . there are so many good books out there. Why not pick 5 authors and have the children read three from each author or pick 26 authors and have the kids pick 10 of their favorite. But 26 Clifford books?! Ugh! Anyway, since all of the summer reading list books have been checked out since day one and I can't stand to read Clifford all the time, I've been left to my own devices, trying to find good, interesting books for the boys with one eye while I keep my other eye on my three kids running in three different directions with several grumpy old ladies chasing after them. So far I've found a few new favorite authors and if any of you are in the same boat--perhaps you'll find my Summer Reading list helpful. Of course, this only helps if you have kids in Preschool-first grade, but then again, I wouldn't pick a book if I didn't enjoy it myself and all of these authors are very enjoyable. And from now on. . . we will not be going to the new library unless it's a rainy day and they need somwhere to play.
Shana's Summer Reading List for Grades K-1
My ultimate favorite children's author right now is Lauren Child. But, Arthur Yorinks writes some excellent books, two of which are Hunter's favorites--"Company's Coming" and "Company's Going." Mark Teague also writes some very entertaining books, especially for boys. If you are looking to read a good chapter book, you can never go wrong with Roald Dahl, especially with "Danny Champion of the World" my all-time favorite. The Boxcar Children Series was a favorite of Hunter's when we first started reading chapter books but they are sort of like the Clifford books, great at first but a little dull after awhile, especially after reading Roald Dahl. And last but not least, right now we're reading Hardy Boys. But watch for movies being released soon--now's your chance to read a book to your kids before they see the movie. Like "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" or coming soon, "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe." Hunter loves reading the book first and then having a movie party to celebrate. We've done that with "Willie Wonka", "Stuart Little", "Witches", "Charlotte's Web" and "James and the Giant Peach." Whatever you do--make sure you are reading to your kids. It's the best thing you can do for them besides playing them lots of good music. As for visiting the library--I hope yours is geared towards books a little more than ours is.
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Sunday, July 10, 2005
I don't have much to blog. Mark spent all day yesterday cleaning the garage, painting our garage door and fixing up bikes and tomato plants. I sat in front of the air conditioning and scrapbooked. I'm proud to say that all three of my kids' scrapbooks are FINALLY up-to-date and looking pretty good. In the panick of having a fourth boy I've had a very long list of things I've got to get done before I give birth and that has been one of them. I haven't scrapbooked in over two years and it has been a bit of a challenge trying to put pictures in the right order but it's done and for the most part, the pictures are in the right place in the right person's book. I've even got baby number four's book started and ready to go! I've completed making birth announcements which now await a name and a picture and the baby's "crazy quilt" is complete and ready for baby. I've been working on some meal plans and freezing meals for October and I've already got four or five meals stashed away for when Baby Mayhem strikes. And I'm working on getting preschool activities organized for September through December, so that poor Noah and Denver won't suffer too much from my divided attention and the chaos I'm so terrified is about to hit home.
Anyway. . . since my blog is a bit dull today I have a few yummy summer salads I've discovered this summer that are far from boring. Just thought I'd share since we could all use help in the "what's for dinner" department. Hope you like 'em as much as we did!
Sweet and Sour Broccoli Salad
4 cups broccoli florets
1 cup peanuts
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. sugar
Combine first four ingredients in a bowl. Combine last three ingredients in a small bowl; pour over vegetables and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.
Salami-n-Shells Salad
7 ounces uncooked small pasta shells
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 cup halved ripe olives (I left these out--yucky!)
6 oz. block of mozarella cheese, cut into thin strips
4 oz. salami, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
4 green onions, sliced (I also left these out for the kids' sake.)
Dressing:
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 Tbsp. cider or red wine vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Cook pasta according to pkg. directions; drain and rinse in cold water. Place in a large bowl; add the next 6 ingredients. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the dressing ingredients; shake well. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Chill until serving.
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Friday, July 08, 2005
My kids love Christmas. . . but only when it's 90 degrees outside. And they really love summer. . . but only when it's 40 degrees below zero and we've been snowed in for the third day in a row. Anyway. . . ever since summer began Noah has been asking to watch "Frosty the Snowman." So, I told him sometime in July we would celebrate Christmas and he could watch all the Christmas movies he wanted. Today, it was dark and cloudy and barely 60 degrees outside and raining cats and dogs. Swimming lessons were cancelled, the parks were flooded and we couldn't afford admission to any museums or movie theatres so I figured today was as good as any to celebrate Christmas in July. I dug out the Christmas videos and c.d.'s and whipped up a couple batches of Christmas cookies and we had hot chocolate and candy canes and read a bunch of books and put together the big Christmas train and spent the day feeling like Santa might really stop by tonight if we were good. And that, my friends, is how we spent this soggy and very gloomy July afternoon.
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Wednesday, July 06, 2005
For the Fourth of July I made baked beans and BBQ Lil' Smokies. Lots of people liked 'em so I figure I'll post them for y'all so you can make some yourselves. My mom makes the best baked beans but try as I may to follow her directions I always fail. So. . . these are almost as good and they come with exact measurements so you can't go wrong. I froze half for later (because last time we had beans no one ate them) but I wish I had baked the whole batch because they were gone in minutes. The Lil' Smokies are from Aunt Sharon Henrichsen--very simple and yet, so yummy. Enjoy!
Baked Beans
1 pound bacon, cooked and cut into 1-inch pieces (I cut the bacon with kitchen shears before baking it and then fried it up)
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 (15-oz) cans pork and beans (I used a total of 60 ounces because I only had big cans of pork and beans)
1 Tbsp. mustard (I used Grey Poupon)
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1/2 cup ketchup
Combine all ingredients in a 2-1/2 or 3-quart casserole dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 2 hours or 200 degrees for six hours. Can be made ahead and reheated in the microwave or even frozen ahead for convenience. This dish also works well in a slow cooker. Makes 8-10 servings.
BBQ Lil' Smokies
1 pound package Lil' smokies
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup grape jelly
Combine in a crockpot and cook on high for a couple of hours. (I cooked them on high for 6 hours which was a little too long.)
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Tuesday, July 05, 2005
  
Today we went to the library with the hopes of getting some more books off of Hunter's Summer Reading List. No such luck. That's the trouble with living in a highly populated area where the libraries only buy one copy of each book they put on their city's summer reading lists. Very annoying, especially because the other library out here is closed for renovation and all of their books are in "storage." Thankfully Mark works in another city that has a big library full of all the books we need to finish off Hunter's reading list and he doesn't mind picking us up a few every once in awhile. Instead we left with some more videos on trucks and science and a bunch of books on inventions and how things work--which Hunter was much more thrilled with than the 20 some odd Clifford books he's "supposed" to read by the end of August.
Then we hurried off for swimming lessons at the Lake. Noah was a bit nervous but jumped right in and seemed to have a blast. Afterwards he said he was only scared because he didn't know what they were going to do but now he isn't scared anymore. Then he complained that the lesson was too short and wondered when he would get to go again. Hunter turned into a fish, as usual, and was the only kid smart enough to jump around and swim while he waited for his turn to back float, while the rest of the kids stood there and shivered. He flirted with the female lifeguard and seemed to enjoy himself the entire time. Denver entertained himself with his assorted Tonka trucks and unlimited amount of sand and water. We stayed and played for a little while but I get the feeling my kids are coming down with something, seeing as Hunter couldn't stop sneezing while we were there and all of them seem especially cranky today. Ah--the return of the work week after a fun-filled weekend. It's always harsh.
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Monday, July 04, 2005
 
This weekend we took the kids to see "Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3D" with Hailey and Sierra. Afterwards we had pizza with Nate and Devanie and Devanie's parents and Kak-Kak, while the kids ran around and played outside. A fun afternoon.
Today we enjoyed a pancake breakfast with our sister missionaries, Sister Millard and Sister Mead, and later had a big Fourth of July BBQ in the backyard. We were joined by Chris, Cliff, Ben, Kak, the sisters, our neighbor--Elizabeth, a new member of the ward--Joyce Drena and her grandson, Calder, and our neighbors across the street--the Markhams and their three kids. We filled up the kiddie pool and hooked up the slip-n-slide, the sisters did some face painting, we had sparklers and poppers and Chris-n-Cliff provided some fireworks, and we had BBQ beef and baked beans and red, white and blue jello and potato salad and deviled eggs and raspberry lemonade and roasted marshmallows and buttermilk lemon pie and homemade oreos and a chocolate fondue pot with strawberries and most of all--a lot of fun. Thanks to all who came and had a blast with us.
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