Soccer Family

This fall we became a soccer family. Every Tuesday and Wednesday night we had soccer. Jeremy even ended up being the coach for Brooklynn's soccer team. He was a bit apprehensive about doing so, but it turned out to be an enjoyable experience for him.

Fairy vs. Family

So tonight I heard sniffiling from my oldest daugther's room. I assumed she was frightened because she was alone. When I asked her she said that wasn't it. A few questions later I came to find out her state of unhappiness was due to the fact that she didn't know if fairies could have families. Why would that matter you might ask? She has been seriously considering taking the "fairy oath" and becoming a fairy. One of her dear friends at school is the tooth fairy. She speaks about fairies daily. Reads fairy books. Buys fairy stationary. She is on a fairy trip.
She said, " I don't know if I can be a fairy because they might not be able to families. And since families are the most important thing..." I asked her if she could be a fairy at night, and our little girl during the day. I told her I was willing to become a fairy too if she wanted. But she informed me adults can't be fairies. But that's not the family she was concerned about. She doesn't want to be a fairy if it means she can't have her own family some day. To her it is important to be a mother.
Now I know this seems trite. But for her it feels very real. And to me it was amazing. Tears came to my eyes as I realized the depth of her commitment to something she knows is important compared to something she would really, really like to do.
I think in life there are many things we would like to do. Things that would be awesome, fabulous, fun, adventureous, etc. But most often we choose what is important, many times daily in fact. And though often it is all of those things previously mentioned it can also be a lot of work, is filled with a lot of monotony, and requires stupendous amounts of patience.
I learned a lot from my sweet little girl tonight. A life lesson I often need to remind myself of especially while doing the dishes or laundry.

And Time Goes On

When I bought this box of dryer sheets 5 or 6 so months ago, I assumed to complete 246 batches of laundry, I was a long ways from seeing the end of the box. I imagined what my house would look like with 246 piles of clean folded laundry. I even thought when I finish this box, I will post a blog about it. .

As my fabled readers can tell, the time that I bought this box and the last blog I posted have fallen in the same timeframe. Luckily along with using the dry sheets, I also folded and put away all those batches of laundry so I am not buried in a sea of clothes and can find my computer. And thus I blog.

Are there ordinary things in your life that mark the passage of time? Things that account for something extraordinary? In my simplistic way of thinking, 246 batches of laundry is no small feat. Tell me about you markers of time.

The Day After Christmas

I think today was the best day this year for Josh, we'll besides yesterday. He is a laid back little boy that has no sense of hurry, worry, or fuss. He has a pace of his own and I can't slow myself down enough to follow his beat. Last night after a wonderful but very busy Christmas, when we walked in the door I said go to bed whenever you want. We'll Josh ended up falling asleep watching a video with his dad and his sibilings. He woke up later this morning at a time that wasn't decided for him. He did get dressed but within 3 hours he was back in his pajamas and spent the rest of the day in them. He was excited for dinner and asked for seconds which usually our meals are accompanied by a plethora of whine, yes not wine. And then to top it off, he declared he was ready for bed and took matters into his hands to prepare himself for sleep. It helps out a lot that he was already in his pajamas. He was such a pleasant boy today because I made no requests. Today we just were. No where to go. Nothing to do. Lots of play. This is the way Josh's world would be. And believe it or not, I really enjoyed myself too.

Favorite Pizza Crust

As requested by the soul member of my blog fan club!

Quick Mix Pizza Dough
(An every other Thursday night tradition which precedes FMN: Family Movie Night.)
From Pampered Chef Baking Stone Insert

1 c water
2 T olive oil
3 to 3 ½ c all purpose flour, divided (we like to use ½ fresh ground whole wheat)
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 t sugar
½ t salt
Top as your family desires.

Heat water and oil to 120˚F. Combine 1½ cups flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in large mixing bowl. Add warm water mixture then mix with electric beaters or Kitchenaid. Stir in the additional 1 ½-2 c flour ½ cup at a time till forms soft dough. Knead for 5 to 10 minutes. Dough should be smooth and elastic, but not sticky when kneading is complete. Shape dough into a ball and place in a large greased bowl, turning dough over to grease top. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm place until double in size, about 45-60 mins. Preheat oven to 450˚F. Divide dough into desired sizes. Recipe makes 2-15 inch rounds. Roll out. Top. Bake 20-25 mins.

Grow little seed, grow!

I love the internet! I love all the gazillon different things you can research. For example just today I looked up the following things:
1. I wanted to know how long it would take for the white dutch clover I planted in my parkstrip to sprout. I am so looking forward to see little green leaves budding there instead of the dirt and weeds I have succesfully been growing for the last year. From my research I gathered in 7-10 days I may be granted that wish. That doesn't take into account the slight flooding that may occur from a most welcome rain storm. To those little seeds a single raindrop is like a 55 gal barrel of water dumped over a persons head. Best of luck little seeds!
2. I needed a great recipe for sweet potatoes. Therefore, I turned to my all time favorite recipe website, allrecipes.com. I selected the following recipe http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sweet-Potato-Pear-Bake/Detail.aspx. I highly recommend it if you like sweet potatoes! I made it for our Early Thanksgiving Dinner. Jeremy's family was celebrating the visit of his younger brother and wife from Boston. Since they won't be here in November we celebrated early.
3. I have a myriad of things I think I need but truly I just want. So I figure if I find a super great deal on it is easier to need it. Today's search included bunkbeds for the girls, a desk, a train table, a bench, trex decking, RedBox new releases, just to name a few.
4. But, the only thing I ended up purchasings was a handful of seed packets. These though could truly be considered a need. See not only is our park strip in need of some greenery our whole front yard and side yard (and a large collection of other places in our yard) are in need of help. There is some green consisting of small tufts of grass and large amounts of weeds. But we will soon trade to make the entire front yard a brown oasis. It will be destroyed, pulled up, tilled up, and covered over with sod and other groundcovers. Yea! our simple summer project that has taken all year is slowly coming together.
5. And lastly but not least, I've decided my time investment in the internet really needs to have some value. So, I came here to blog.