Rules of Eating

September 1, 2010

chocolate chip torteWe’re gearing up for a big weekend with my entire family.

A weekend that will be full of fun and laughter – and food. You can’t forget the food.

Not that we will try!

No – we will mark the passing of time by which meal is put in front of us! We see it as a sport that we call “recreational eating”.

We have a “dessert bar” that is open day and night. There’s nothing like a little chocolate brownie for breakfast. :)

We’ve gotten so good at this that we have even discovered certain “rules of eating” to avoid gaining weight.

Would you like me to share? :)

1. If you eat it off a child’s plate, there are no calories – the child got them all.

2. If you cut your food in half before eating it – all of the calories fall out.

3. Any food eaten standing up has no calories since the effort it takes to stand up counteracts the calories in the food.

4. Any food eaten outside has no calories – they are absorbed by the fresh air.

And finally – they one we rely on most heavily -

5. All food eaten during a meal that is filled with lots of laughter will have no calories because the sound of laughter will wipe all the calories away!

truffle lovers cupcakesNow with rules like these – I just need to decide what decadent chocolate treat to bring to share!

Cupcakes? Cookies? Brownies? Bars?

New recipe or an old favorite?

Hmm…I wonder what my sisters and nieces are bringing?

It’s going to be a great weekend! :)

By Country Gal | Posted in Cooking and Food, Family Traditions, Memories | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Our First Day of School & Other Surprises

August 20, 2010

We started school this week.

Okay – pick yourselves up now.

For those of you who know me well – you know that I don’t like to start school until at least after Labor Day.  I want a really long – very s t r e t c h e d out summer.

Stuff

Yet – here we are starting school in the middle of August – before even the public schools have started.

What’s up with that?

Well…usually I’m up to my eyebrows in veggies to can and freeze right now, but this year the garden is really behind.

And…for years we didn’t have air conditioning and it was just too hot to even think – let alone do math.

But…mostly we started early because we have something really exciting planned.

I mean really exciting!

Are you ready for this?

In September, we’re going on a massive 10 day trip out west – with all five kids – and we’ll be camping.

That’s right – all seven of us for 10 days – camping.

But not in this RV – no, that would be too easy. It has a kitchen and an indoor bathroom.

No, that’s not us. We’ll be the ones driving a 15 year old suburban pulling a 35 year old pop-up camper.

Think Brady Bunch.

We’ll see the Tetons, Yellowstone and the Black Hills while enjoying the comfort and lack of indoor plumbing of a 35 year old Starcraft pop-up. It sleeps eight, is very clean and most importantly – it’s free.

Vintage Coleman Pop-Up

Did you notice that I called this a “trip” not a vacation? A vacation happens when you stay in hotels and eat in restaurants and don’t have children with you.

No – this is most definitely a trip – an epic adventure that will go down in the annuls of family history.

It will be a major memory making event and the excitement is building!

But for now, we have an entire week of school under our belts. Then in a few weeks – when everyone else is doing math problems and diagramming sentences – we’ll be hiking in the Tetons and watching Old Faithful.

Just one more reason to love home schooling!

RV picture courtesy of Michael Gil.

By Country Gal | Posted in Family Traditions, Home School, Memories | Tagged , , , | Comments (10)

Blue Ribbons, Free Food and a Flaming Monkey

August 16, 2010

The one reason my kids go through the blood, sweat and tears to produce 4H projects can be summed up in four words – The Iowa State Fair.

Their goal is to get at least one project to advance to the State Fair so that Daddy has to take them. It worked again this year!

The first stop is always the 4H building – always. “Go directly to the 4H building, do not pass go, do not collect $200.” These are men on a mission – just follow the red shirt.

Once there -  we begin our treasure hunt to find our 6 projects in the midst of the thousands there.

We only found five of the six – but those five did well – 3 blues and 2 reds.

The missing project was Matt’s editing work on the grandkid’s video for my parent’s Golden Anniversary. One 4H staffer said they were playing the videos this year on TV screens for fair goers to see. Oh my – they will get an eyeful watching that video!  Some of his cousins might be just a little embarrassed…

Once we leave the 4H building – we’re on the livestock barns to see the biggest boar, the biggest bull and the avenue of breeds.  We pass a one-man band in route to the butter cow.

My favorite part of the fair – the free food samples! We ate quite a variety this year – brats, meatballs, cookies, popcorn, salsas, a wide assortment of dips, and even a whole hard-boiled egg at the egg producers booth.  If there’s free food – my kids will find it!

Speaking of food…we hiked up the hill to eat our sack lunch while watching the amazing Sinbad diving show. It was a seriously funny show featuring pirates and a cool monkey searching for the golden pineapple. Aarrgghh….my kids loved it!

Really loved it.

They loved it so much that as soon as Sinbad announced that at the 6:00 show they would light “Cool Monkey” up in flames – they started lobbying to stay.

Even though they were exhausted from hiking from one end of the fair grounds to the other, wiped out from heat and humidity, nursing blisters and out of water, they still wanted to stay.

And who could blame them?! A flaming monkey is a pretty incredible way to end a great day at the State Fair!

By Country Gal | Posted in 4H, Children, Memories | Tagged , , | Comments (11)

20 Years Today!

August 11, 2010

wedding photo

Twenty years ago today my dad walked me down the aisle into Jan’s arms.

“I, Melinda, take you Jan…”

That was the moment I had dreamed about for years. Jan was the man I had hoped for, prayed for and waited for.

“To have and to hold from this day forward…”

We were young and in love – with our future together all figured out.

Now, 20 years later, I look back and smile.

“For better or worse…”

We’ve been through lay-offs, unemployment, moves, new jobs, illness, depression, droughts, floods, and a 10 year (and counting) house renovation.

We’ve survived 5 pregnancies, labors, and deliveries followed by 17 years of parenting.

We saw dreams come true, miracles happen, and God’s hand of blessing.

We’ve had less “richer” than “poorer“,  but also less “sickness” than “health“.

We’ve laughed together, cried together, and sat quietly together when no words were necessary.

“To love, honor and to cherish from this day forward…”

His hand is the one I reach for, the shoulder I cry on, the smile I melt over.

He is my best friend.

“…until death do us part.”

Commitment.

By Country Gal | Posted in Memories | Tagged , , | Comments (14)

A Golden Ticket to Adventure

August 6, 2010

Summers are for making memories, taking adventures, and exploring new places.

Which is just what Dagmar and Angel Girl did!

Dagmar celebrated her Golden birthday just a few weeks ago, and Angel Girl celebrated hers last year. As a special “Golden Gift” Poppa and Nana got them tickets for the Laura Ingalls pageant in Walnut Grove, Minnesota and took them up for a special weekend.

The Little House books and the show were huge favorites of mine growing up! My girls were both raised with massive doses of both, so a trip to a Little House site is a little like a pilgrimage. :)

Yes, Mom was a kinda jealous.

I got to stay home.

With all the boys.

Cooking massive amounts of food by myself and watching millions of episodes of Man Vs. Wild.

Not that I’m complaining or anything. :)

No, actually, I was thrilled for them! It was such a special trip for the two of them as sisters!

PLUM

They visited the site of the dugout and even waded in the creek like Laura and Mary. (No sign of the giant crab however!)

CREEK

They took time to find the bridge that we had a picnic on as a family a few years ago when we visited. (I personally love this picture! When did my baby girls get so grown-up and beautiful?)

cast

They loved, loved, loved the pageant! They took some pictures during the show – but every picture included the back of the head of the guy in front of them (who really needed a neck trim!) But after the show they got to pose with the entire Ingalls family (at least the pageant family!)

They enjoyed some time in Walnut Grove the next day – including seeing Alison Angrim (she played Nellie Oleson on the TV show) and touring the museum – before heading to the Twin Cities and COUSINS!

JUMP

How’s that for an end of the summer hurrah?!

By Country Gal | Posted in Children, Memories | Tagged , , | Comments (5)