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Archive for the ‘Just a Thought’ Category

Meet Sam

Posted in Just a Thought, tagged , , on December 13, 2011| 1 Comment »

Meet Sam.

Sam is my adorable seven-year old son.

Sam is hilarious, he makes us laugh, everyday.

For some reason he flares his nostrils when he smiles for a picture.

  • When asked what he wants to be when he grows up he thinks carefully and replies, “A Chef, A Pastor, The President, and Spiderman”
  • Milk is his drink of choice, chocolate if he can get it, shaken, not stirred.
  • Sam is a breakfast man who orders his eggs “over easy on hash browns” even at home.
Here he is with his best friend and constant companion, Diego.

Here are some of Sam’s library book choices…notice a pattern, do we?

He felt that this book fulfilled the requirement I gave him to read a biography…and I must admit, on this one, he had me.

Sam has an inexplicable love for the hip hop scene which makes no sense because our family is about as buttoned up and preppy as they come.

  • Sam thinks mechanically. He’s always trying to think of a new and better way to do things.
  • He keeps a notebook of his greatest invention ideas.
  • Sam has a very tender heart, and often cries when other people get hurt  because “he just feels really sorry for them”.
Sam plays his cello with beautiful tone and technique…most of the time.

Recently, I overheard him softly talking to our dog…this is an exact quote, “I am so sorry to have to tell you this Dash, but you’re just not going to be a German Shepherd. I’m so sorry.”

Dash's hopes being dashed...

  • He cried at the end of A Christmas Carol because Scrooge “got back his hope”.
  • This precious boy gives me hope.

Am I madly in love, you ask?

Oh, that doesn’t even begin to cover it…

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted in Just a Thought on November 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

” Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
and His courts with praise! Give thanks
to Him; bless His name!  For the Lord is
good; His steadfast love endures forever,
and His faithfulness to all generations.”

For the unbelievable beauty of the Creation…

For the bounty of our table…

For those we love…

For all of this may we understand and be truly grateful…

Happy Thanksgiving to All of You!

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A Bat, A Pirate, and A Mime

Posted in Just a Thought on October 31, 2011| 2 Comments »

A few weeks ago, we emerged from our home to find this hanging in the eaves. It took us a minute, too…that is exactly what you think it is.  It’s a bat.

Here’s a closer look…

Considering our lack of handsome vampire boyfriends or owls we keep as pets, we were at rather a loss for what to do. Adam thought by taking a rake and nudging the bat, it would soar into the sky and return to the dark castle where that Count from Sesame Street lives. Instead, the bat dropped to the ground, leading us to believe it was dead. Adam and the kids moved in for a closer look and some fine, National Geographic style photos and bravely, Adam nudged it again with his rake but this time that bat responded with a high pitched scream and the barring of its teeth.

I was brave, too, but only from behind the screen door in the kitchen, my gifts are more administrative. I took it upon myself to call the Colorado Division of Wildlife for further instruction. The expert advice they offered can be summed up as follows, they will not come and remove bat, the bat probably (probably!) won’t hurt us, I am welcome to coexist with bat if I so choose, I might saturate my backyard with ammonia and hope that, with time, the bat may find this unpleasant and move on. Thank you, CDW, very helpful.

In the mean time, the bat decided to crawl under our house to finish its nap.

I felt I had no choice than to round up all the ammonia I could find and was headed out to the Ammonia Store when I realized that our batty friend had, thankfully, flown the coop returning our home, once again to A Bat Free Zone. If that wasn’t creepy enough for you, I found these hanging in the eaves the next day…

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

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Bad Streak

Posted in Just a Thought, What Not to Do on October 19, 2011| 4 Comments »

For some strange reason, it seems that every year around this time I experience a culinary losing streak. Have you ever had one? They’re so disappointing. My poor family. They are ever so patient and faithful but I wouldn’t have blamed them a bit if they had thrown in the towel and decided to partake of some of the fine (edible) dining options in our area.

Check out these delectable dishes I turned out…

  •  The Almost Egg Salad
You know how Egg Salad is really hard to make? Not! I don’t know what happened here. Inexplicably, the normal amount of time it takes to boil eggs was not enough this time and the eggs were, in a word: disgusting, I mean: underdone, okay, two words: underdone and disgusting. The shell would not even come free of these sad egg-scuses for hard boiled. Every time I would try to peel one, its gelatinous, little, center sphere would burst free and slime around in the bowl. It was so gross, I had to trash a whole dozen eggs. I know, I agree, totally un-eggs-ceptable.
I don’t think it had anything to do with the phone call I was on…
  •      Sad, Sad Buttermilk Pancakes
Question? Who do you know that actually messes up pancakes? Pancakes, for corn’s sake! Well, you’re looking at her, I tanked the cakes! This is an actual photograph of Sam’s cleared breakfast plate, Sam who lives for pancake morning. I was speechless. In a later assessment of this fiasco, I believe there was a shocking lack of flour in these flapjacks. The batter had been runny and the cakes themselves came out thin and overcooked. The utter shame not even a pool of warm, Vermont, maple syrup could cover up. I don’t think my texting directions to a friend had anything to do with it…
  •  Brown Soup
Last but not least, I must address the brown soup. This one is still an enigma (or maybe not so much). How does one ruin a soup made from like 5,000 beans premixed and packaged for me at my local Sprouts. Arguably, all I had to do was place the beans in some water, add spices and await delicious soup. I did not do that. Well, I did step one but somehow forgot step two, resulting in a huge pot of plain bean water. And FYI, once you have simmered yourself up some plain bean water, there ain’t a spice on the planet that will add even a tinge of flavor.

I don’t think it had anything to do with the fact that I was giving a spelling test at the time…
Well, after all this I thought about up and moving away but I’ll bet they have bad culinary streaks…even in Australia.

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Old Wives Tale or Maybe Not?

Posted in Just a Thought, On the Cheap on October 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »


The Matchstick and The Onion

I recently heard an old wives tale that says the best way to avoid crying when you’re cutting an onion is to hold a matchstick in your mouth while you cut it. Immediately, I was intrigued by such a claim. My common sense told me this made no sense. What complex chemical properties or sword fighting skills could a matchstick possess and how could it possibly provide any kind of protection against the perils of onion juice and the inevitable tears that would follow? Were these, perhaps, magic matchsticks, made from trees cut from an enchanted forest where the fairies never cry when they slice up onions for their fajitas? And would I really want to chop up an onion with a stick hanging out of my mouth, not even a toothpick, a matchstick. What do I work at the bowling alley?

Really?!

Recent (quick internet) research on the matter dredged up every opinion under the sun. Some folks were skeptical, feeling that the match was more of “Dumbo’s Feather” than any kind of real remedy, others swear by it, citing the sulfur base of the match head as its secret ingredient. Some people use a combination of tricks, first submerging the onion in water, then lighting a candle, holding a matchstick (or a piece of bread) in their mouth while wearing very expensive, William-Sonoma onion goggles (that is a real thing). The scientific community (and by that I mean a blog post entitled, Chopping Onions and Pragmatism) seems to think that none of these solutions really works at all, except to say that some of them may help a bit by slowing the time it takes the chemical irritants to reach your mucus membranes. For instance, when you put a matchstick or a piece of bread in your mouth, you force yourself to breath through your mouth and prevent the enzymes from entering your nose, or by putting onions in the refrigerator, freezer, or running them under cold water, you may make the chemical reaction less potent. Many culinary experts say that by simply lighting a candle or by lighting a gas burner and (carefully!) cutting the onion next to the stove, the flame will draw some of the gas released by the onion.
Well, skeptical as I was, I must say that putting a matchstick in my mouth really DID work for me! Do I know why? I do not.
But I do know this, I see a long and productive future for the matchstick and I, for at our house there are always onions to be chopped and now I don’t have to turn on the water works to do it!

How do you cut an onion?

Let me know how it works for you!

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They’re Baaaack!

Posted in Just a Thought on September 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Hello, Strangers! Long time, No See! Sour Potatoes is back from a month long (much needed!) hiatus.

Oh, I certainly have kept myself busy…

We visited Winter Park, where the flowers and hummingbirds abounded!

Spent a whole lotta time weeding out the back yard…

So many weeds...how is it even possible?!

Took photographs of interesting Candy Corns…

Weird, right?

Saw some Big Horn Sheep…

My those are Big Horns!

At the top of beautiful Mount Evans, elevation 14,130 feet…

“I think I can see Russia from here!”

Most importantly, we began our new homeschooling journey and that has been so lovely and meaningful and scary and overwhelming all wrapped up into one crazy educational burrito…

Just look at all that curriculum!
And all those curriculum boxes!
And all those Monkeys so excited to dive into all that curriculum!

Hope you all had a lovely end of summer! Now, back to life, reality, and cooking…this weeks menu coming up tomorrow! Please stand by…

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Thank You Notes

Posted in Just a Thought on February 3, 2011| 1 Comment »

It is with a great sigh that I admit I  am running a little behind on my Christmas thank you notes this year. It seems no matter how well-intentioned I am, January somehow always seems to sink into a taking down the decorations- weight gain assessment- resolution making- resolution breaking black hole.

And so for me, anyway, February has become the new January.

Yesterday, we had a completely unwarranted (freezing temperatures but no snow)/ completely wonderful Snow Day. How my little people and I cheered when on Tuesday, also a(n) (unwarranted) Snow Day, my iPhone email sang out the news that we would indeed be spending another cozy day together. Snow Days are the best! Sure, we spent our fair share of time watching movies and conquering levels on Lego Star Wars (Sam) and getting dressed and redressed as the mood struck us (Lauren) and knitting (Me and I am using this word loosely because 1) I am just learning and 2) I am not good 3) Not good at all) but we also seized this opportunity to, yes, you guessed it, finish up those Christmas thank you’s!

And given the fact that February is the new January, having them done by the 3rd, felt great!

I love these opportunities to sit down with my monkeys when we are all engaged in some kind of art. It always seems to lend itself to the loveliest of conversations and usually, at least once, it is the road we take to hysterical laughter. It was so sweet to hear the kids recount their holiday tales as they remembered each gift and the loving and thoughtful people who gave them. It is really amazing to see them  focus their thoughts of gratitude even to those they don’t know personally. My mom works with a wonderful lady who always remembers my kids at Christmas even though she has never even met them in person.  Her kindness and faithfulness over the years has had an effect on my little folks. Talking through something like this can really give you insight into a child’s heart. Lauren often says, “Wow, Mom, Miss Margo must be really nice to give presents to people she doesn’t even know.”, It is easy to see how such examples of kindness and generosity can make an indelible mark that they will carry with them the rest of their lives. And so unwarranted or not, the Snow Day turned out to be a blessed opportunity to steep ourselves in gratitude for all we have. And it’s a lot.

I know what I am thankful for…

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Double Standard

Posted in Just a Thought on January 19, 2011| 1 Comment »

” There are two things I can’t stand, people who are intolerant of other people’s cultures and the Dutch!”

Remember this line from Austin Powers? I must say that I am also guilty of (inappropriately albeit) subscribing to a double standard for there are two things that I cannot stand, the killing of any living thing and spiders. Okay, so there is the obvious issue of my arachnophobia which probably has deep roots in my childhood and is quite irrational, I admit. But please tell me if you met my friend here, we’ll just call him Tiny…

actual "house" spider found on my brother's front porch

(Is anyone else flashing back to the Lord of the Rings, right now? “Get back, Filth!”) Don’t you think the Law of the Jungle would apply here? I mean I see this and I think it is either kill or be killed!

My eight year old daughter is a self proclaimed animal activist who patiently captures insects she finds in the house in a jar and returns them to the wild from whence they came. She is always very upset when she witnesses any insect homicide but I just don’t know…I think unless you wanna go maverick and saddle up this Big Boy, it’s curtains for Tiny.

Poor Guy. What a world, what a world…

Does anyone else have a (distrubing) double standard?

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