“Mom, is it still summer?” says the four year old.
“Yes,” says the mom.
“Oh, good,” says the four year old, “then there will be No school and No church.”
Huh?
Month: June 2008 (Page 2 of 3)
Since it’s summer here at Casa Erickson, we’ve set some new goals for summer. We do jobs, we help our around the house, and we read scriptures. Well, we’ve had a lot of complaining about the jobs. In fact, Jenna left me a note on my computer this morning that said, “I hate jobs”. I thought it said, “I hate JOHN”, and was quite upset when I saw it. I’d rather she hate jobs than hate John, I guess. So, no, the kids aren’t getting up anxious to see what their job of the day is, and I guess I’m ok with that.
What we have done well so far is reading the scriptures. We’ve had most of the family up and ready to read at 7:30. We read for about 15 minutes give or take, and we haven’t missed a day (well, except Saturday, and I decided that we could take Saturdays off) for almost two whole weeks. I know that may not sound like a big deal, but I’m pretty proud of us. I’m hoping we can make it through the whole summer!
And this dumb cold? Well, it’s still here. Sunday night when Ryan offered me some Nyquil knock off, I turned my nose up at the suggestion. By Monday night I was drinking the stuff. I just had to get some relief, and even if it tasted nasty I was going to drink it. Today is Wednesday, and I am on the upswing. Still taking some cold medicine, so I’m in a bit of a fog, but I think I could actually function, if needs be. My kids are tired of me shuffling around and the horrible noises I’m making, but I’m trying to avoid giving it to them. Oh, and I just went to the store and bought 10 boxes of Kleenex, because I think I was down to my last box.
I will NOT share with you the nasty cold/allergies I currently am suffering. My throat hurts, my sinuses hurt, and I’ve gone through more Kleenex than I want to count. I’m hoping it goes away soon, and, NO, I’m glad you aren’t here, because I wouldn’t want to share it with you. What I would like to share with you is an awesome recipe. I saw this recipe in Better Homes and Gardens and thought it looked easy and yummy. I was right on both counts. Oh, they are good. Like English Toffee but easy to make. The problem, however, is that they are too good. I should have just taken the whole batch over the neighbors immediately, but we ate it all day Sunday until there wasn’t enough to make a decent sized plate to give away. I’d better not make this again unless I have a pot-luck or someplace to take them. But if you want to try them, here’s the recipe. Yum!
Oat ‘n’ Toffee Grahams
* 12 whole graham crackers (rectangles)
* 1-1/2 cups rolled oats
* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
* 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
* 2/3 cup butter, melted
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* 1 tsp. vanilla
* 1 12-oz. pkg. semisweet chocolate pieces
* 1/2 cup smoke-flavored whole almonds, coarsely chopped
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil beyond edges of pan. Arrange whole graham crackers in a single layer in prepared pan. In a large bowl combine the oats, sugars, and flour. Stir in melted butter, egg, and vanilla until well combined. Spoon over graham crackers and spread evenly to edges of pan to cover graham crackers.
2. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until oat mixture bubbles and is lightly browned on top. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate pieces. Return to oven for 1 minute. Spread melted chocolate over top to cover. Evenly sprinkle with almonds. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Use foil to lift from pan. Remove foil. Cut or break into bars. Makes 32 bars.
Lest you think that I have an amazingly fast camera, these pictures were NOT all taken on the same swing. At Jenna’s age, they let the kids swing at as many pitches as it takes. They even bring out the “T” if they need to so that each kid gets to hit. I think with rules like that I might even try softball. I said “might”.
Let me start by saying that I love, love, LOVE my wedding ring. Really. Love it. It’s got a marquis diamond and little diamonds on the side and it’s really quite pretty. Especially when Ryan cleans it up and de-lotions the whole thing and makes it all sparkly again.
That said, however, it’s sometimes fun to have a change. So, I bought myself a couple of CZ rings on ebay, and I will occasionally wear those rings. They are silver, which matches my skin tone, and bigger diamonds (because they are fake). Ryan had mentioned that he didn’t want me not wearing my wedding ring, so I would wear them on the left hand, instead. But this time, when I decided to wear the big princess cut diamond ring, it was too tight for my left hand, so I swapped it with my wedding ring and wore it for a day or two.
This morning, as we were getting up and getting read to read scriptures together (which, by the way, we are four for four on scripture reading this summer!), I couldn’t see my ring. I left it on this little mirror that I keep some jewelry on in the bathroom. Not there. I started to panic just a little bit. Because, after all, it is a bathroom, and there’s lots of places a little ring could get lost. I came downstairs and told Ryan softly, “I can’t find my ring.” He didn’t panic, but after we were done with scriptures, asked if I wanted him to go and check the sink trap. While we went upstairs with a tool of some kind, I asked the kids if they had seen mommy’s gold ring, and if they knew where it was.
“I took that ring with the big red diamond to Hunters, and then I lost it,” John said. Um, no. I know he didn’t take it to Hunter’s, and I dont’ know what big red diamond ring is, so I will just ignore that one.
“Anyone else know where it might be?” I asked them. I told them that it was very important that I find my ring, and if they knew anything about it, I would sure appreciate their help.
Ryan soon came by and said he couldn’t find it, or he couldn’t get the trap off–I don’t know for sure. Then Jenna came and sweetly said that she had found my ring.
“Oh, thank you, sweetie! Where was it?” I was so relieved.
“It was under the drawer in the kids’ bathroom. I remembered seeing it and I found it for you,” she said.
Whatever. I don’t believe her story for one second, but I’m so happy to have it back and not have to scour the whole house for it in a mad fit of worry that I’m just going to let that one slide.
I don’t know about you, but this year’s batch of end of the school year activities really wiped me out. Maybe it’s because I had more kids and they were more involved than last year, or maybe I’m just not as with it as I was last year, but I had a hard time keeping up with all the kids and all their programs and such.
To spare you all the details, I’ll just show a random smattering of pictures and call it good.
Jenna and Natalie had a dance recital. I don’t know if they could look any more bored, but they still were cute and did a great job.
Here’s John at his pre-school “graduation”. He loved his preschool, and lucky for him, he doesn’t really graduate because he gets to go there again next year.
The boys got to go on the Fathers and Sons’ campout in Early May, and were very lucky that there wasn’t snow on the ground when they went. They had a great time, and you can see more pictures here, if you’d like.
The girls had a music festival at school, where each grade sang songs from a different musical. Here’s Jenna’s class singing about their hard knock life from the musical Annie.
I couldn’t get a decent picture of Natalie at all, since I didn’t have a close seat and she was hiding in the back row, but here she is singing a song from Hairspray with the 3rd grade.
Then the 6th grade sang songs from Grease.
Natalie nearly lost her head at a field trip to the Aviary,
and enjoyed her market day. 
Cole (that blonde boy in the middle) had some great concerts in Symphonic Band this year.
And here’s Megan at her 6th grade graduation.
And with her cupcake with her “graduation self”. Can you believe they made little graduation cutouts of every graduating 6th grader? Wow.
We’ve chosen winners, and they are Kathleen Marie for Kite Runner, and Cynthia for 8 minutes iin the morning!
I’ve got a couple of books to give away this month. Because I’ve got SO many books to read, and I’ve just got to pass a few of them on. The idea is that you, in turn, will then pass this book (or another one) along after you finish reading it. A perpetual stream of book giving, that’s what it is!
So, first is the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Although I thought this was an excellent book, I found it very disturbing. But I guess that’s the point. It’s supposed to upset us. You can read about it here.
The next book is 8 minutes in the morning
Yes, it’s a fitness book. I think this has some good ideas. And hey, 8 minutes? Really? If that’s all it took I think we’d all be thin by now, but maybe it’ll work for you.
So, if you would like to enter to win either of these books, just leave a comment about which book, and I’ll do a drawing on the 13th of June. Thanks for playing along!
Yesterday I went to yoga. I have known this yoga teacher for about five years, as I’ve gone to yoga off and on for about that long. I haven’t been able to go during the school year because it’s been at 8 am, but now that it’s summer, that’s how I plan to spend many a Tuesday and Thursday morning.
One of the things I love about yoga with this teacher is that it’s not just a work out. This teacher also gives us little bits of widsom as we’re challenging our minds and bodies. At the end, we were sitting cross-legged, and she said, “Now lean down and give your left leg a hug. Think of how thankful you are for your left knee. We do some pretty mean things to our knees during the day, and let’s just have a moment to be thankful.” Then we did the same for the right knee. And, really, I do appreciate my knees.
Last night at play rehearsal, I was really mindful of those knees. We spent three hours learning blocking and dances. Ugh. At one point in the dance, we’ve got three lines of people. The first line is little kids, who all do a backward sommersault (I’m glad I’m not in that group!), the seond and third lines get up off the floor (yes, we were down on the floor), and the second row (still kids, mind you) grabs hands to make “windows” for the back row (which is all grown ups and tall people) to go under. You know, “go in and out the windows”? But these are little kids, so we are really crouching down to go under their arms. Then we grab hands and go backwards and the little kids go under our “windows”. And then we do it again. And repeat. Until we get it right.
Oh, yeah, I’m feeling those knees.
Why on earth would I be getting email from “sisterhazel@rockridgemusic.com”?
The days are long when all the kids are home.
Welcome to summer vacation. The good thing is, we successfully got up and all read scriptures at 7:30. Then at 8:00 we took Cole to marching band and dropped Megan off at the church for GIRL’S CAMP! My little girl will be gone all week! I can’t believe it. As soon as I came back from the church, Cole was on the phone saying he needed to be picked UP from Marching band. I guess I put it on the calendar for this week, and it’s actually NEXT week that they go every day from 8-1. Oops. But, since you’re here, Cole, would you mind watching the little ones while I go to Curves? Thanks.
After a quick work-out, I came home, turned off the Wii, and had the kids do jobs, wash windows, trim a bush, and go to piano lessons.
Then we had swimming lessons from 12:30-1:30. After that? A whole lot of nothing. I mean even I’m bored. The kids aren’t used to having to fill up their days themselves yet, but they’ve managed. I’m trying not to overschedule them on the very first week (what, me? Overschedule? I don’t know what you’re talking about!). Natalie now had a friend to play with and the other kids are playing wii. It’s a nice afternoon and nobody is fighting. I could get used to this.
Tomorrow? Yoga.
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