Last Day:(

I'm a little weepy today.  Carter starts school tomorrow.  Summer is always a hectic, busy, stressful time for me. But when it's over, I am always sad to see Carter head back to school.  He's such a wonderful son, and a fantastic big brother (especially to Brenna).  The dynamics in the house will change again and no longer will I have an all-access pass to his time and his experiences.  We have been under the weather this week so we've planned a low key celebration to mark the end of this great summer.  He's decided he wants a picnic here at home and right now we are watching "Atlantis: The Lost Empire." I'm holding him a bit closer today and putting some of my regular chores on hold.

I also want to take a minute to reflect on some of the highlights of the summer.  It has been one for the record books!

*Bret and I celebrated 9 years of marriage in June
*Carter and my parents had a day trip to the state capitol in June and visited Abraham Lincoln's house.   Carter was sworn in as Jr. Park Ranger.
*Carter and Asher road-tripped to Louisville with both grandmas for a weekend with their Aunt Sarah.  They swam in her pool and took in "Shrek: The Musical"
*Our family took a trip to Madison, WI in early July to spend a few days with our dear friends, the Besleys.  Our kids are all roughly the same age and enjoyed each other.  Bret and I had a great time connecting with David and Laura, friends since college.  A lot of shared life experiences, to be sure.
*July saw our first attempts in the show ring.  We entered our four goats in two local county fairs.  Both boys did fantastic and Carter was asked to help another family show their goats.  I think he learned a lot about winning and losing, and helping others out.
*We also took a family trip to the St. Louis Zoo with Bret's entire immediate family.  Eight adults and four kids - we were our own field trip!
*Bret's dad retired after 30+ years at the local coal mine.  We celebrated with a wonderful family dinner and the boys (Bret and Dave) took Dad on a guided fishing trip as his gift.
*Bret judged three county fair chicken shows; he really loves working with kids (and chickens).  He truly has a gift.
*We had many day trips to my parents and really enjoyed their swimming hole in the river.  It's such a blessing to be close to them and get to have those little everyday experiences with them.

I'm sure there are many more things that I am forgetting at the moment, but what I can say is that this has been a wonderful summer, full of adventures and lots of memories.  I'm looking forward to seeing what this next season brings for our family.

Apparently this was the blooper shot;)

Asher was so in love with Marie:)

My bestie, Laura

The boys ready to ride

Brenna ate for 2.5 hours non-stop this day.  Hilarious to watch!

At the Children's Museum in Decatur

Carter took this picture.  Didn't he do a nice job?

Twirling with Carter in her new bubble skirt

The birthday boys

Asher, Aunt Sarah and R2D2 trouble

The babies waiting for their bath.  Love this:)

Helping show goats

What a grin!

Brennie's ready for some school

Smurtles!!!

I ran across this recipe today and had to share (also put it somewhere I can find it myself;) A great fall dessert.  Yum!!


"Smurtles"
Crust and crumb topping:
1 1/2 c. quick oats
1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 c. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Filling:
1 3/4 c. milk chocolate chips
1 (9.5oz) package caramels
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350 and grease 9x13 baking pan. Mix together all ingredients for crust until moist. Press half the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 8 minutes. In medium saucepan, combine caramels and heavy whipping cream over medium heat. Cook until caramels are melted and the mixture is smooth. Once the crust has baked, remove from oven and top with choc. chips. Pour the caramel sauce over the chips and spread it to cover the entire top. Finally sprinkle with the remaining crust/topping mixture. Bake for 16-18 min. until crust is golden brown and filling bubbles. Change into sweatpants and enjoy!

Summer Reading

I'm still unsure how this came about but back in March, the advising department of my alma mater(Go Titans!) contacted me with a request.  They asked if I would be available to co-facilitate a book discussion for  a group of incoming freshman.  Apparently, now all incomings are required to read a book that has been selected by various committees and gather together to discuss it as a part of their Freshman Festival (at least that's what we called it back in the day).

A large part of me was greatly flattered that they dug my name out of a file and contacted me.  A smaller but still significant part of me was a bit freaked out at the idea of presenting myself to new students and faculty members.  I mean, I've been a professional mother now for 5 years and my idea of an intellectual discussion revolves around why the kids can't watch Kids vs. Kat and the moral implications of such a decision.  LOL!  Could I possibly dust off those long-buried brain cells that once could discuss psychological, philisophical and biological concepts with ease?  Well, I decided I was up to the challenge that this presented and accepted the request.

The book that the committee chose was "Interpreters of Maladies" by Jhumpara Lahiri.  It is a compilation of short stories that primarily feature Indian, or Indian-American individuals who are experience any number of "maladies".  The stories were as a whole beautifully written and heart-breakingly moving.  However, I felt that many of them focused on themes that the new students would have difficulties connecting to.  For a (ahem) 31-year old wife and mother of three there were many connections that I could see.

  Then, I met with my other co-faciliators at our planning meeting this past Monday and it all started to come together.  You see, that while many of the themes dealt with marriage, motherhood or professional issues, they all had one other overarching theme that I had missed:  the issue of displacement and finding or making your own home in a culture that is not yours.  My drive home and that remainder of my evening, I spent recollecting on how difficult that transition was from being a high school senior to a college freshman.  I began to realize that as a college freshman who was terrified and completely unprepared for dorm life, that these students (with only 2 days on campus) must feel a great deal of uncertainty and displacement.

I wonder what each of these individuals will do to compsensate for these feelings that arise in these first few uncertain days.  I know that I clung (too hard, probably) to home.  I went home most, if not all weekends, aching terribly for the comfort and familiarity of family and home.  But as I grew more confident at school, I began to focus on what truly was important to me.  Specifically, my faith and my values were strengthened at a place of learning that challenged those beliefs.  I came out of there with a stronger bond with my Savior and with relationships that have far out-reached those academic connections from the classroom.

I am excited to meet these young men and women tonight.  I am anxious to look in their faces and see if I can catch a glimpse of myself thirteen years ago.  And I hope that wherever they stand tonight that in thirteen years, they can be as happy and confident in the place they have chosen for themselves as I am.

My Make it on Monday challenge dress

Jill, over at Made it on Monday, challenged her followers to dress for under $10.  Here's my dress and belt that rang in $9.  I got the fabric at the Discount Textile warehouse in Chicago for $2.95/yd and the belt was on clearance for 3 @ Kohl's.  Sorry I don't have a better picture...Miss B wasn't cooperating for our "photo shoot."

August 12, 2011

Well, I've decided that since I'm always looking at others' blogs and admiring them and thinking of what I would put in a blog, it was time to pony up and start one.  This may be the first, last and only post that gets on here but at least I gave it a shot.  I hope to have a page for each of my interests which right now include: sewing, reading, cooking and budgeting.  I'm positive that I'm not thinking of others  this time but we'll see what shakes out of my brain after I walk away from the computer.