Catch of the Day

That poor chicken.

Opportunities to Serve

There is a song that says, "Because I have been given much I too must give." I've always loved that song. I feel like I have so many blessings in my life. Even when things are hard, I still can count my blessings ("Count Your Blessings," incidentally, is another song I like). I feel like lately we've been given the opportunity to serve others and we've been taking those opportunities.

 

Sometimes it's serving in our own home. On Blueberry Pancake Day, January 28, I not only made blueberry pancakes but I also made chocolate chip pancakes and plain pancakes since there are different likes among my family members.

 

I planned to make a normal sized batch of taco soup this year for National Corn Chip Day, January 29, instead of filling the stockpot to the top with 7 times the recipe. I couldn't find any regular sized cans of hominy, though (which is how it all got started all those years ago), so I got a can to make a double batch. Making a double batch turned out to be the right thing since some neighbors were going through a great trial and we were able to offer them dinner. We had enough soup to share and we had french bread in the freezer so I was able to make garlic bread to go with it. I was able to give them a casserole and a loaf of homemade bread another day. It was the least we could do along with prayers for them during their trial.

 

Lucky's Activity Days group was split because of the number of boys they had so he got some new leaders. He wanted to do something for them and the boys at their first activity together, so he made cookies to take.

 

Jet and I were able to help an injured neighbor collect eggs from her chickens because it was hard for her. She was nice and let us keep the eggs we collected. Jr. Jr. and Lucky helped me collect eggs another time. They all enjoyed it.

Nichole and Jr. had an orchestra recital and got there early enough to help set up then helped clean up afterward.

I was able to use what I've been learning about shelf cooking and freezer meals to make some on the road food for Nichole and Jr. that night. They had to leave orchestra rehearsal early at a neighboring high school in order for me to drive them over to the orchestra recital at their high school.

 

Sometimes it's simple acts of service that are easy for us but make a big difference for someone else. I have been given much so it is a blessing for me to give to others.

The KAT's Meow

When headed out the door to an appointment-

Mommy: Do you want to take Spinosaurus?

Jet: No.

Mommy: Do you want to take Pteranodon?

Jet: No.

Mommy: What dinosaur do you want to take?

Jet: Acrocanthosaurus.

Mommy: Ha Ha Ha Ha. Acrocanthosaurus it is. 

  

Jr. Jr.: How do you make poached eggs?

Mommy: I don't know actually.

Jr. Jr.: I do. You have to steal them.

Mommy: Oh, because they're poached.

Jr. Jr.: What's an etto?

Mom: What?

Jr. Jr.: People keep talking about singers singing in falsetto. So I'm wondering what an actual etto sounds like.

Mom: Oh. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.

Lucky (after seeing it on facebook): I was going to cook an alligator for dinner then I realized we didn't have a croc pot.

Mommy, Look

Lucky:  I made Thor's hammer.

Catching Up on the Last Five Months- 5

Let's talk about September.

September 1 was Johann Pachelbel's birthday, so we listened to Pachelbel's Canon.

Jeremy was still out of town at his fair during Labor Day weekend so Saturday the kids and I packed up and went to Idaho to spend the weekend with him.  Since he was in the same city our friends live, the kids and I visited with them Saturday evening, stayed overnight in the motel with Jeremy, then we all went to church with our friends on Sunday.  We also spent time going on a walk with our friends and playing games.

Nichole needed to get violin practice in since she is doing a 100 days challenge (practice every day for 100 days straight) so our friends let her play at their house.

Monday, Jeremy went back to work and the kids and I drove back to Utah.  That was a nice weekend.

When Jeremy got back from his fair, we surprised him with a belated Father's Day gift since June was so crazy, we didn't do anything but go to church with him that day.
We got him a new bowl and had the kids trace around their hands to replace his old bowl from Christmas 2015.  After time the hands had faded and one day while we were doing dishes the bowl slipped and broke.  He was happy with his replacement.

September 4 was Eat an Extra Dessert Day... so we did.

September 6 was Read a Book Day.  We definitely did.
September 18 was National Cheeseburger Day.  We ate cheeseburgers.

September 19 was Talk Like a Pirate Day.  Sadly, we missed our tradition of dressing up in a balloon pirate costume and handing out balloon swords at Thanksgiving Point this year.  Sigh.  It just didn't work out.
We did eat pirate-themed food for dinner, though.  We had pirate map pizza, goldfish crackers, chocolate cannon balls, pretzel peg legs, root beer barrels, golden nuggets and chocolate coins, and orange juice to ward off scurvy.

September 20 was National Punch Day.  I made sure the kids had Tropical Punch Kool-Aid Jammers in their lunches.

September 22 was the Autumnal Equinox.  Our family got out in nature for HawkWatch migration day at Squaw Peak.  We didn't make it over to Strawberry Reservoir to see the salmon this year.  But we did make fluffernutter sandwiches to eat.  We'd been wanting to so we finally did.  The round about way to rationalize it is that in the Fablehaven series, there is a character who makes another character a fluffernutter sandwich.  Magic boundaries are changed a bit on solstices and equinoxes so... why not have fluffernutter sandwiches on the equinox.

After spending all morning at Squaw Peak with other birders, Jeremy and I took a tip from one of them and went to see a new life bird- long-eared owl.  That bird is long, not just its ears.

Earlier that morning I told Jr. Jr. that there is a myth that on the Autumnal Equinox, you can stand an egg on its end without it falling over.  Then I demonstrated.

Jr. Jr. and I decided to balance like an egg, too.

That afternoon, I tried to show the other kids but it wouldn't work.  So apparently at only certain times on the equinox can you stand an egg up on its end.  Hmm.

September 22 is also Hobbit Day, so that night, Nichole started watching the first of the Hobbit movies with Jeremy and me.

 
September 27 was Crush a Can Day.  I did.

September 29 was Happy Goose Day.  It made me a happy goose to go on a date with Jeremy to see birds up at Squaw Peak then hike a bit in the Fall colors at Big Springs.

In September, I also got to go to another girls' night and see some friends back in Pleasant Grove I hadn't seen in a while.  That was nice.

Lucky and I had some bonding time at a park then he and ZZ had some bonding time.

The Orem Library had a Chinese Moon Festival the kids and I went to.  They had activities and had a live video chat with a NASA scientist.  Lucky even got to ask a question, "Is the moon hot or cold?" which the scientist answered.  At the end when the moon came up, we each got to see it through a telescope.

And here we go again.  "Mom, may I make brownies?"  But Nichole can't just make brownies, she also has to decorate them.  She used a toothpick to draw a picture of a dragon from a book she's read.

That girl loves dragons.  Youth activity- dragons.

And when Jr. had scouts (where he received his Webelos and Arrow of Light awards), Nichole helped him with the activity where they were making superhero capes.

Nichole is not the only creative one.  This is what happens when Jr. does dishes.

I knew I had plenty to talk about September.

I'll catch up on October later.