summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Friday, October 14, 2011

friday!

Why do I love Fridays? The anticipation of the weekend is more fun than the actual weekend is, I think. Because I am a hopeful person, and forget things like getting awakened way too early on Saturday morning because Rosie is barking at the kitten, after staying up way too late on Friday night. I forget how fast it goes, and how there is still plenty to do around here...but that's okay. I love love love weekends.

I didn't walk with my dorky vest yet, I left a little bit later this morning. I am not so sure about walking in the dark...there are dead things in the road. Yes, I almost stepped on a poor froggy, on it's back, blah, smushed, hidden in plain sight among the fallen leaves in the road...then I almost stepped on a tiny alive one. blah, either way. I will have to carry a flashlight to shine on the road, and that will be scary, because everyone knows that the periphery of the flashlight beam is...well, scary. Suze said she saw an infomercial that featured slippers with lights in them. Why don't running shoes have light beams to illuminate dead frogs in the road?

Coffee is good this morning. Wegman's coffee is $2.49 a can, I buy like four or five cans at a time. Yum. Nothing like having the older kids come home from school and put on a pot of coffee on a chilly afternoon. The thing is, I am starting to really crave pumpkin. Oh, pumpkin pie and pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cookies...and of course I can't forget that the ice cream place in town has that deadly good pumpkin soft ice cream. Mali and Aaron checked it out, and said it is indeed delicious. Why can't I just strike that from my ever-craving brain? Anyway, if I bake pumpkiny yummy stuff, it will be torturous for me. Just thinking of the yummy crusty top of a pumpkin muffin...blah. I was thinking of just adding like a spoonful of canned pumpkin to a "diet" yogurt with some spices....try to fool myself.

The scale is being a little bit kind to me. For this to succeed, I need to be really strict with myself and do lots of exercising. If I can just endure in this and get this weight off, I will still have to maintain for the rest of my life....I still have at least sixty pounds to lose. Ideally, like seventy or even seventy five. Okay, please, no subtracting and trying to figure it out!

Okay, some guilt here. We did not buy plane tickets to go visit Benjamin out in Washington state. We figured he was coming home for Christmas...oh, the guilt. I feel so bad. But...ouch, we really really wanted to go to Jamaica, oh Bad Mom award. Ben, if you are reading this, sorry!!! But Dad really needs to relax, and totally forget his cares for a week...and so do I. We need to enjoy each other and ...oh, this is so lame. Mirielle told me we were not very nice to do this. Double ouch. Anyway...Ben is not doing so well financially, soldiers don't exactly make millions, and the house they rented (big, so they can have lots of visitors, wah) is too expensive for them....well, he might need some help with plane tickets to come home. We haven't put it to all the kids yet, but we are considering a very simple Christmas this year, so we can fly Ben and Ashley home. It sounds pretty mean, since we are going to Jamaica....but I already have tons of stuff in my Present Closet for the younger kids, and if we let the older kids just pick out one thing online or something...and if I stay the Heck Out Of Target...we can probably swing it.

Today I plan to clean the house as much as I can so it is nice in here for the weekend. It would be nice if I had a small batch of pumpkin cookies baking when they came in the door, but what if they didn't like them and I had to eat them all?

Kitty Kitten was sleeping on the floor (right near Rosie, SO CUTE!), and Camille scooped him up and is holding him on the couch. What fun.

So off I go to clean up the house without grumbling or complaining...well, I will be TEMPTED to...(I mean, why are there two packages of Kotex on the couch?) (And why is Sonja's sweater on the couch?)(And why is Jon's pillow pet on the living room floor?) And this is just what I can see from my chair...

1 comment:

Grace said...

SMOKY PUMPKIN SOUP

1/3 CUP DICED LEEK
2 STRIPS BACON, DICED
1 CARROT, CUT INTO QUARTERS
2 ½ CUPS HOMEMADE CHICKEN STOCK
OR REDUCED SODIUM CANNED CHICKEN BROTH
1 CUP COOKED FRESH OR SOLID PACK PUMPKIN
½ TSP LIQUID SMOKE
1 TBSP. BUTTER
1 TSP FLOUR
1/3 CUP PLAIN YOGURT
1 TSP SALT
¼ TSP PEPPER
2 SPRIGS FRESH PARSLEY, CHOPPED

Sauté leek, bacon and carrot together over medium high heat for 5-8 minutes or until bacon starts to crisp. Discard grease. Add one cup chicken broth and continue cooking till carrots are tender. Transfer to food processor or blender and add pumpkin. Process or blend about 20 seconds till pureed. Place mixture into heavy pot and add remaining stock, liquid smoke and butter.

Stir flour into yogurt. Just before serving, stir yogurt-flour mixture into soup. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley. Serves 3-4.


This is really delicious and easy to double, triple or even quadruple the recipe (or more).