You May Be Tall But …

I changed your diaper.

Sometimes there are irrational, odd thoughts racing around my mind. I’m not proud of them. Mostly I manage to keep them all to myself.

how'd they get so tall?

Next thing you know they’ll be asking for my car keys. Gasp!

Tonight Joshua and I drove our visiting guest to the airport. Looking at the pictures of me flanked by these tall young men with their deepening voices, long legs and huge feet I couldn’t help but think one thing:

I knew you both when you were babies with chubby cheeks and kissable toes…I changed your diapers.

I know, it’s embarrassing and a bit shocking – such talk should be avoided at all costs. I can’t help it. I’m a mother and the years have raced on ahead of me. I see the handsome, godly grownups you are becoming, but in the shadow, visible if I peer closely, I still see my firstborn baby and his little friend.

Give me your sword

Sigh. Go on, grow up. There doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it.

Help me!

You can tell I accept my aging gracefully.

Kathy
Project 366 – Day 232

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Enjoying the Time

It’s hard to be thoughtful and insightful when I’m blogging late at night.

butterfly village

I was awake, hours ago, at the science center.

rachel's my butterfly

Oh the other hand, the dishes are washed, the laundry is drying, and tomorrow’s lunch is made. That’s worth a pat on the back or at least a nap in the comfy chair.

I’m afraid the children are tired of living in photographic bloggy land. They no longer find my endless snap shot sessions amusing. What can I do to fix this? The younger two still pose cheerfully but the older kids are just plain not interested.

i'm grumpy!

Sometimes the kids will help by posing with grumpy faces.

Do you force your kids to pose? Sit nicely and smile? Can they run and hide?

I’m worried that I might be missing some special pictures because the family has got photo-fatigue.

a round of Bang

If I beg and plead (and bribe) the kids usually let me snap their pictures, but it costs me big!

Any thoughts?
Kathy

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My Equestrian

We rescued Rachel from the perils of horse camp this morning. She’s been slaving away this past week, caring for the horses (can you say “mucking stables?”), taking riding lessons, playing in the lake and learning more about the Lord.

It’s a difficult life.

rachel's in the lead

here she goes

it's the finish line

This morning there was a show for the parents. What an incredible sight to see Rachel horseback riding so confidently.

A huge thank goes out to Rachel’s close friends, Jenny and Sarah, and their sisters who helped with Rachel’s camp fees. You girls are awesome!!!

rachel and sarah

Rachel and Sarah greet the campers.

We’re very glad to have Rachel home, safe and sound.

Kathy

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A Visiting Dignitary

On Wednesday one of Joshua’s oldest friends flew into town for a visit. David’s mom, a few years older than me, was one of my spiritual mentors while I was in high school and college. She sang at my wedding and has been a dear friend for many years. Last summer while we were visiting David’s family in Michigan, we casually discussed the idea of David coming to Washington for a visit some time.

swimming in MI

Joshua, David and a random little brother hit the pool hard last June.

“Sure! We’d love to have him,” I said enthusiastically. It’ll never happen, I thought to myself. This is just one of those friendly, polite comments people make when they want to convey their affection.

“Mom,” Joshua said to me several months later, “David and I have been writing back and forth. You know, letters with paper, envelopes and stamps, I’m sure you’ve heard of the US Postal Service. Anyway, he mentioned something about coming to visit this summer. I told him which weeks were good for us. I just wanted to let you know.”

“Mmmm, that’s nice dear,” I responded, giving him my “absolute full attention” while making dinner, listening to my new cd and refereeing a fight between Daniel and Rachel. “Those boys, full of wild plans,” I mused.

Three weeks ago I received a voice mail from Nancy, David’s mom. “Kathy, we’re so excited. We’ve got reservations for David. How is the third week of August? Call me back. We’re buying the tickets tonight!”

What?? I was truly delighted, yet a little surprised. I didn’t really believe they would send David all the way across the country (okay, partly across the US) to see Joshua. What a treat! Joshua and I made plans to fill the time and show David some of our favorite parts of Washington.

Get off the island, David!

great jump!

Sometimes you have to push those good friends OFF!

Prospective Activities

1) An afternoon at the lake
2) An overnight in the Duckabush
3) A hike up around Mt. Rainier
4) A day in Seattle
5) As many board games as we can fit in between our adventuring.

back from the lake

The Duckabush River is COLD! These boys actually went IN the river. Brrrrr.

Perfect! It doesn’t hurt that the weather has been gorgeous this week. Lots of sunshine and warm days. In fact, it might be just a little too warm for Joshua. He prefers the typical Washington climate which hovers in the low 60′s. And he actually likes rain.

We’ve greatly enjoyed David so far. He’s polite, helpful and pleasant to be around (he and Joshua even made dinner tonight). The only grievance against him is that he is actually taller than Joshua, and has been for quite a while.

“He cheats,” Joshua confided. “Both his parents are rather tall.”

Tim and I aren’t pipsqueaks, but we both felt rather diminished by the comparison.

Apart from that, though, David is good company (he’s a gamer) and a great friend for Joshua. Into every relationship, a little rain must fall, I guess.

Anyone else want to come for a visit?

Call first!

Kathy
Project 366, Day 228

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Bisquick for Dinner and Dessert

Although I love to bake (which is really strange since I don’t eat sugar or flour. But then I’m allowed to be quirky, I’m a homeschooling mom), I don’t have a lot of patience for complicated, dinner recipes. My family, of course, likes dinner so refusing to cook at all isn’t an option.

They’re picky that way.

Where'd the food go?

No leftovers from this dish.

At Target last week my eye fell on a slim cookbook at the end of the checkout aisle. Bisquick – Quick, Money-Saving Meals. “Aha,” I said to myself, “30 simple back-to-school dinners all featuring Bisquick as an essential ingredient.” This thought quickly led to the two Costco size boxes of Bisquick in my pantry. My family likes Bisquick. I think we have a winner.

I grabbed the cookbook, flipped through the colorful, sleek pages and slapped it down on the checkout counter. Yesterday I decided to try out one of the recipes for dinner. I asked Joshua (my hungriest, and often the most meal appreciative child) which he would like to have for dinner – taco pie or lasagna squares. His attention was immediately focused. Ever aware of the complexities of cooking, he asked which one would be easier to make.

In other words, which meal would be on the table quicker. You can’t fool me, kid, underneath that sensitive soul lurks a starving teenager.

Joshua is easy to please.

“They’re both relatively the same, they’re from my new Bisquick cookbook,” I said as I flashed the cover in his direction.

“All Right!” he responded, “In that case, I pick lasagna squares.”
“Done,” I nodded and set off to make dinner.

sarah with the

The recipe was super easy. I doubled it and made an extra dish (leftovers are highly welcomed around here). Since I was on a roll and entranced by the glossy pages of the book, I decided to try a dessert recipe. That afternoon Tim had brought me home a big package of apples from Costco.

“Hmmm, Caramel Apple Dessert sounds yummy,” I mused. “I think I have time to make a quick treat for after dinner.” When the kids are busy and I’m making dinner, I obviously spend a good portion of the time talking to myself. Or maybe I’m just trying to spice up the blog. You decide.

Rachel is at camp this week (we miss you, Rach!) which means her dinner dish responsibilities fall to the rest of the family. I need a steady supply of desserts around in order to bribe the kids to help clean up the kitchen each night. Tim served ice cream on Monday while I was at Bible study. It worked beautifully, the kitchen was spotless when I arrived home. I figured something called Caramel Apple Dessert was bound to motivate my cleaning crew.

I need to research the homemade versions of Bisquick which are out there on the web. Can a homemade recipe compete with the big box from Costco? Anyone make a Bisquick type mix from scratch? Does it work well in these type of casserole dishes? I like the idea of using more whole grain flours in the recipe. Let me know what you’ve discovered.

Here are the two recipes we enjoyed last night.

Easy Lasagna Squares

1 lb ground beef
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
2 cups shredded moz cheese
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

2/3 cup Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs

1. Heat oven to 400. Brown beef. Stir in spices, tomato paste and 1/2 cup of mozz cheese. (Note: I didn’t have tomato paste and substituted with spaghetti sauce. Also I used Colby Jack cheese instead of mozzarella).

2. Grease 8 inch dish. Layer cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese in dish. Spoon beef mixture evenly over top of cheese. (I doubled recipe and made one in oval Corning Ware dish and one in pie pan).

3. In medium bowl, stir Bisquick mix, milk and eggs. Pour into dish.

4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese over top (I didn’t use anywhere near as much cheese as this – maybe 1/2 cup). Bake 2 or 3 minutes longer until cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with quartered cherry tomatoes and fresh basil leaves if desired.

Whoops, was this apple supposed to be IN the pie?

Caramel Apple Dessert

1 1/2 cups Bisquick
2/3 cup granulated sugar (I used only 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup milk

2 medium cooking apples, peeled and sliced
1 tbs lemon juice
3/4 cup brown sugar (I used only 1/3 cup)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350. Stir together Bisquick mix and sugar. Stir in milk until blended.

2. Pour into ungreased 9 inch square pan (I used pie pan). Top with apples. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Stir together brown sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over apples.

3. Pour boiling water over apples.

4. Bake 50 to 60 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream.

Can we have seconds?

There you have it, two easy recipes. The apple dessert baked with a yummy caramel sauce on the bottom. It wasn’t quite a pie, more like an apple coffee cake with caramel sauce. Tim didn’t think the lasagna squares tasted very different from the basic cheeseburger pie which Bisquick features on the back of the box. Mind you, my family loves that recipe so his comment wasn’t negative. But it does mean I didn’t do a good job of flavoring very well. Interesting. I’m eager to try out some of the other quick and easy looking recipes.

What do you fix when time is short and you’d rather be outside playing than in the kitchen cooking?

Kathy

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