end of July

On July 25th we were treated to a performace by the Pink Pandas!

That night we went to a free show at Lagoon called "Cirque Innosta: L'orage". It was so amazing!! Click here to see someone's video from the show. A guy sitting behind us was also videoing, so it was kind of funny when Christian, not too quietly, asked during the contortionist segment, "Mom, why her in her nudie?"

It was too dark to take any pics of it, but I did get one of Tony & Buddy getting in a quick ride. Unfortunately, Faith had to use the restroom right after the show and all the rides were closed by the time we got back.

On the 27th we went to Farmington library for a free magic show with Christopher Fair. It was awesome and Christian even got to drop invisible coins in the can!

We roasted some s'mores on the 28th since I forgot the marshmallows when we were camping!

Here is our first zuchini on the 29th.

We went to Park City later that day. Here is a cute treasure hunt that mom did for the kids on the 30th. The boys (together) got a bottle with a puzzle inside and so did the girls.

The assembled puzzle was the first clue, and they soon found their treasure chests!

The morning of the 31st Grandpa took all the kids on his daily walk to the convenience store for his newspaper. They stopped by the fire station which is on the way and got a really great tour.

That afternoon we went to the alpine slide. Faith rode by herself and Buddy rode with Grandpa. The Pink Pandas had their public debut while we were waiting in line :)

That night we went to dinner at the Red Banjo on Main Street in Park City. It's very tiny in there and the kids ended up being at a separate table, across from the adults. It was a long wait for food, but the kids quietly entertained themselves. Halfway through our meal, an older couple from the table in front of us came over and said, "Those are the best behaved children I've ever seen!" I absolutely had to commemorate the moment with a photograph in the likely event that this is never repeated.

Quick story about the Red Banjo: when Faith was a tiny baby, Tony and I came to Park City with Tammy. We were sitting at the table in the bay window in front of the restaurant and had a lovely meal while we watched passersby on Main Street. Faith needed to nurse, so I used my handy-dandy nursing blanket (like the Hooter Hider or Udder Cover, but not as stylish. Every nursing mom must get one--it was my favorite thing ever!) As I sat there chatting, Tony finally looked up from his food and said, "Uh, Em, your boob is totally hanging out." I have no idea how long before that Faith decided she was done, unlatched and pulled the blanket aside, but luckily it was just at the busiest spot in Park City, in a bay window with views from three sides, and lit up like a Christmas display. My one and only public stripping experience. So far, anyway :)

I sent the following photo of my fantasy Halloween costume, but several people said that the picture didn't work, so I had to post it here! I said that though I may be 200 lbs too heavy to wear this Elana from Vampire Diaries costume: 

I would still find a way to rock it if it came with the two most important accessories ;)  The subject was "Not safe for work, children under 21, or anyone with a heart condition" of course! Click the picture for the full sized version. ENJOY!!!!

p.s. for anyone who actually watches Vampire Diaries--I would want to be Katherine pretending to be Elana, except that the boys both hate her now :)

Dad's Clam Chowder recipe

This is amazing stuff! I usually add extra bacon and mushrooms and never use the clam juice.



Dad's Clam Chowder
5 strips bacon
1 1/4 sticks butter
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
med. onion, chopped
1/2 c. celery, chopped
garlic powder
8 oz. clam juice (or water)
6-6 oz. cans of chopped or minced clams
6 med. potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/2 qts. heavy cream
hot sauce
dried thyme
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. Worcestershire
1 t. salt
pepper
dried parsley
2 T. flour
2 T. cornstarch
1 c. milk
seasoned salt
chicken boullion powder

In a large pot cook bacon until done, but not crisp; set aside and chop when cool. To bacon drippings, add 1 stick butter, mushrooms, onion, celerey and garlic powder; saute until soft. Add clam juice (or water), the juice from the cans of clams (but not the clams themselves), lemon juice and a dash of hot sauce. Add potatoes, bring to a boil and let simmer 6 minutes. In a separate pan, melt 1/4 stick butter, then add flour and cook 2 minutes. Shake cornstarch and milk together in a jar and add to flour mixture. Cook and stir until thickened, then add to pot. Add clams, bacon, cream, a sprinkle of thyme, Worcestershire, salt, a dash of pepper, and some parsley. Simmer for 15 minutes (do not boil), then if needed add seasoned salt, boullion and extra hot sauce to taste.

This is one beautiful homage to cakes that truly suck. Please to enjoy:

Not already!!!

When I went to use the computer this evening, I found the following document, yet to be printed (and surely not meant for my eyes ;)

Faith's Spencer Letter

On the plus side, I love her spelling, formatting and use of fonts!

Halloween kid crafts

I was going through my favorites folder of Halloween stuff to give some ideas for a class party craft, so I decided to share what I found! Pictures are linked, so just click on the ones you're interested in and you'll be whisked away to the blog I stole the image from ;)  [tip for my less computer savvy friends and mother--if you right-click on the picture and select "open in a new tab" then it won't take you away from this page]

(with clear plastic disposable cup inside instead of glass jar)

(and battery operated candle instead of real)

"The revolution, if it is to come . . .

must come from parents." This is a quote from Teacher Tom, an educator at an amazing preschool in Seattle and someone whose blog I absolutely love. He had a clip of this TED talk where Ken Robinson quotes Abraham Lincoln:

The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.



Here is some more of what he wrote about reforming our current school system:

"...our current school system is based upon the ideas people had about the future during the Industrial Revolution, when it seemed likely that most people would spend their lives working in factories. They therefore set about creating schools that emphasized conformity, rote learning, following instructions, and long hours of sitting in one place doing the same thing over and over. Things like individuality and creativity would only be burdens in a future that belonged to sufficiently numb minds. This is essentially the same model of schooling we use today, while Newsweek bemoans our "Creativty Crisis" and business executives identify "creativity" as the number one "leadership competency" of the future.


Everyone from teachers, to business leaders, to politicians, to the media agree that we are failing to teach creativity, that creativity is essential, that our very survival is at stake. And yet we're trying to solve it within the context of a factory model of education, one that will ultimately fail no matter how much we "reform" it, especially if that reform is in the direction of yet more more testing, more standardization, more time spent in classrooms listening to lectures. And I will repeat this until I'm blue in the face, those advocating for this kind of "reform" cannot produce a single scrap of data, research or evidence that their ideas will result in more creative citizens. There has never been a study done that proves their assertions. Never. Never. Never. Yet they push forward. I don't know why, but I suspect it has a lot to do with the attitude Roman expressed when he said, "I had to do it, we all had to do it. It was good enough for me, why not for our kids?""


I'm ready to revolt, who's with me?

A few months ago I came across this lolcat poster (a picture of a cat or other animal with funny text written in terrible, babyish spelling and grammar--click the link for more info) on a blog entry with tips on teaching preschoolers about money. 

I showed it to Christian and he loved it so much that he started quoting it all the time. I looked up some others and got even more of a kick out of them than he did! Anyway, I had these saved in a file with my pictures and thought I'd post them for your viewing pleasure before deleting to free up space on my hard drive: