My least favorite season ...

Not Summer itself, I like parts of Summer.

What I like least about summer, though, is School Planning Season.

Most home-schoolers I know are deep into School Planning right now. Some are blogging out loud their thoughts and curriculum purchases, likes and dislikes. Some are taking days alone to plan and schedule.

I have to admit, the whole thing gives me a deep sinking feeling every year.

Not only am I not a planner, by nature, but the whole task we've taken on - to school our children at home - is a daunting, overwhelming one. Oh, sure, some things are easier. Like not having to get everyone up, fed, dressed, and presentable at a specific early time. If that was the only reason to home-school, I would trade it all. But it's not. Each time we've reconsidered, we've come back to believing this is where we're supposed to be, as a family.

But that doesn't make thinking about next year -- even if I already know what we're doing and have purchased it -- any easier. Well, maybe a little. I still don't want to think about it. We're still wrapping up last year. Still trying to figure out what we're doing this Summer. Still trying to learn new chores and make them routine, and get the rest and fun we need and expect in the hot and sunny days of Summer. Next School Year seems like it shouldn't be looming on the horizon just yet.

Maybe it's because, growing up, Summer seemed to be a wondrous dream-land of a lack of responsibilities and schedules, at least from a child's perspective. Maybe there were some chores, and certainly the swim team I was on took some scheduling, but I didn't do the scheduling, I just hopped on a bike or into a car and went when I was told. And the rest, so far as I remember, was just play. And oh, how we looked forward to Summer. That residual dreamy promise of Summer still crops up at the end of the school year.

But now, as a parent, even the wonders of fun take scheduling, planning, discipline, and work. Finding swim clothes and enough towels, or the right park bag, or remembering to pack the lunch and have the right groceries for that packable lunch. And in the midst of all that different-every-day-fumbling, the regular chores march on, relentlessly.

I think I need a Summer break from our Summer before I even think about school.

The Day Of Too Many FIREWROKS Pictures

Ahh, the Fourth of July. Independence Day. The Grand Lunar declared, somewhere around noon, that he would stay in his robe today, declaring his independence from clothing. But he did not stick around to be photographed.

Later we enjoyed dinner with Moogie and Poppie, complete with grilled burgers, potato salad, chips, cucumber salsa, corn on the cob, finger-food-veggies, and watermelon. I totally forgot to serve the popsicles!

Then we walked down to the local FIREWROKS* and played frisbee and hung around listening to the band and the singers until the show began.

Then I took too many pictures, as usual. I managed to narrow it down to just 11 to show you, and you don't really have to look at all of them I'll post the little Flickr thumbnails and you can click on the ones you want to see bigger or to go to the whole set of 11, bigger. Some of them aren't great but I liked them anyway, for one reason or another. Some of them you might not be able to tell why I liked them from the tiny preview, but that's okay. Maybe you'll never figure out why I liked them. Maybe the title of the photo will give you a clue. You never know! Some of them I took, some the Grand Lunar took. I can't give him credit for his, though, because once you come home, they all look the same.

*FIREWROKS! - There's place in town where a trailer pulls up, year after year, at the edge of the gas station, to sell fireworks. Only their big banner, hanging on the side of their trailer, for several years in a row, said FIREWROKS. You would think, with a fancy printed banner, that they could've insisted the printers do it right. But then again, maybe once you pay for it, it's yours, and they figured they better get their money's worth, reusing the misspelled banner, year after year. This year I kept forgetting to check and see if it still has a typo.

Asparamawhoosit What??

So. Once upon a time, a long time ago, I took someone dinner, and also gave her some Nutella because, well, it's one of the best foods on earth.

And that was the end of that.

Or so I thought.

Until Monday. When this woman showed up at my door with a bag of fresh asparagus and a recipe. Apparently ever since I gave her the Nutella, and we shared our mutual admiration for hazelnuts, she's been wanting to get me the ingredients to go with this recipe.

For Asparagus and Hazelnut Soup.

(short pause while you ponder that, because, if you're like me, you never would've thought of those two things in the same thought, much less the same soup)

Have you ever had someone do something very sweet for you, like that, and yet didn't quite know how to react? I was pretty sure no one in my immediate family would like Asparagus and Hazelnut Soup. Not to mention the output issues that come (to some people) with asparagus. But I thanked her, because, really, whether I liked the soup or not wasn't the point, was it? She had been planning this very sweet thing to do, and had brought me just what I needed with the recipe!

But, then again, I'm not always as brave as I pretend to be, so the asparagus sat for a few days in my fridge, making me feel guilty. Because, just between you and me, I wouldn't have thought twice of NOT making the recipe, and just passing on the asparagus to my asparagus loving parents, were it not for the sweet thought behind it.

Today I got my brave on, and decided to make it. Well, a half recipe. For my lunch.

You know me, I did kimodify it a little. One because I didn't have celery. Which really ought to be a produce staple, yet wasn't to be found in my fridge. Two, because ... I'm me. I couldn't help it. I added just a little fat free half & half to make it a little creamier, and because I had some to use up. And, thirdly, because I apparently can't read.

I give you ... Slightly Kimodified Asparagus and Hazelnut Soup.

Wanna know something surprising? It's really good! I am serious! I like it! It's also very RICH, with the hazelnuts pureed in it. I'm sure I didn't need the ff half&half kimodification after all. Oh, but I did reserve some of the asparagus, partway through cooking, to dice up and add back some veggie chunkiness to the creamy soup. I'm glad I did. The asparagus flavor is there, but subtle. The hazelnut flavor is there, adding a more complex richness than butter or other fat would've. It is a very rich soup, I couldn't make this part of a low fat, plant based diet. Unless it was a verrrry occasional part. With the dairy omitted. Which I think would work fine, really. It's rich enough it didn't need the butter, and thick enough it didn't need the white sauce to thicken it. Whoa, and I just re-read the recipe to type it and realized that I put in WAY more hazelnuts than it actually called for. I could've sworn it said 2 cups! Whooops. No wonder it was soooo rich and creamy!

Karen, if you've never tried a soup like this, you should, I think you'd like it.

The recipe was copied from a cookbook, but I don't know which one or I'd give credit where credit is due.

Asparagus Soup With Hazelnuts

2 lbs fresh asparagus
3/4 cup hazelnuts* (I used 1 cup chopped hazelnuts for the halved recipe, whoops)
Boiling Water
4 cups chicken broth (I used about 2 cups, or enough to cover the asparagus in the pot)
1 rib celery, sliced (omitted)
1 tsp dried basil
5 T. butter or margarine (I used about 1 T. butter for my halved recipe)
4 T. all purpose flour (I used a little more than 1 T. for my halved recipe)
salt to taste
cayenne pepper (that's what you see sprinkled so pretty on top in the pic)
1/2 cup fat free half & half - cause I had it on hand and need to use it up

Clean asparagus and break off tough ends. Break into 1" pieces.

Cover the hazelnuts with boiling water and let stand about 5 minutes. Drain the nuts and place them in a thick turkish towel. (What, doesn't everyone have one?) Rub to remove the skin. Most, but not all, will be removed. (Note: Yadda, yadda, I didn't do all that. Starting with the 'Cover the hazelnuts' I just opted for the lazy mom way. I used chopped 'recipe ready' nuts which did have some skin on them, but ... whatevah.)

Combine chicken broth, celery, basil, and asparagus in a sauce pan. Place over medium heat and simmer until asparagus is tender, approximately 20 minutes (depends on the size of the asparagus).

Here I reserved some of the cooked, cut asparagus, just a bit before it was all very very tender.

During the last 5 minutes add the hazelnuts.

Puree the mixture in a blender and strain into a clean bowl. (Strain? I didn't strain.)

Melt the butter in a pan (I used the same one), whisk in the flour until smooth, and add the blended soup, stirring constantly until thick and smooth. And a pinch of cayenne pepper and adjust salt.

Garnish with lightly steamed small asparagus tips.

Serves 6-8

Enjoy! Even if you're not sure you will. :-)

Maybe, just maybe, I'll use the other half of the asparagus to make it again, tomorrow, only use the right proportions of asparagus and hazelnut, and omit not only my kimodified half&half, but also the butter and flour thickener.

The Tree Guys Cometh

A little over a week ago we had some Tree Guys come and take down 4 of our trees, plus trim another. And then we decided, with a neighbor, to also have them take down a triad of trees growing on our property line.

Apparently Tree Guys attract a lot of attention - not only were all the neighborhood children out to watch the excitement, but the neighbors on each side of our house also got in on the action, having some trees removed while the equipment was here. The Tree Guy said that was not uncommon.

Despite being very exciting, I got few action shots. But here's a few from the experience.

The Tree That Started It All ~ We've wanted this sad looking Juniper Tree out for years:

We actually missed that one coming down because there were enough guys that they did that one while we watched another one. But here's the cool looking aromatic cut end, Juniper smells a lot like cedar. One neighbor and one tree guy took home the biggest of the juniper logs, apparently it's sought after like cedar, too. Who knew?

Here's the little red machine that squeezed into our back yard to take down the tree by the fort that was back in our "woods" ...

And here's the little red machine when it's sprawled out, ready to maneuver the Tree Guys into the places machines can't drive:

And extending it's cherry-picker part to get up high in a tree somewhat behind:

Here's the neighbor's very tall pine losing it's upper branches:

And our Ash running through the chipper:

The bonus trees between our house and the neighbors. They braced the trunks with this claw machine thingie (That's the technical term, right Kelly?) and then a guy cut them with a regular chain saw while the machine controlled where they fell.

And, for Kerri, the picture she was waiting for:

And, perhaps, the best part of all the tree cutting - leaping off the trunks and stumps. No, the boy was not near where they were cutting. These trunks were left for the neighbor, who cut them up into firewood for his family and ours. Wow, thanks, nice neighbor!

Oh NO, I was tagged for the one I was avoiding!

Ahhhh memes. You come across them all the time. Do you hope you're tagged? Steal it for your own blog without being tagged because you love it so much? Or cringe and hope you don't get tagged?

For me it depends on my mood and busyometer reading and the meme itself.

There's one that's been out there that I've been ducking and running when I see. I thought it would be really hard and too personal and all that. So When Terra Incognita posted a comment that she tagged me I was curious, but have to admit I shrunk a little when I saw which meme it was.

A memoir in six words.

Anyone who knows me knows I've got more than six words in me on EVERYthing. I'd say words ooze out of my brain when I sleep, only that sounds kinda gross. They don't, really. Although occasionally I do talk in my sleep. But that's rare. And usually embarrassingly disconnected and nonsensical. Especially if I try to explain why I said what I said.

Anyway. Terra's entry starts, "I thought I would be agonizing over it. But I wasn't."

And I shook my head. Knowing that I would be agonizing over it. Trying to figure out how deep I'd want it to be, and then of course cutting out the other 42,615 words that summed up my memoir.

But, surprisingly, it came to me, in 7-8 words. Which is almost worse, it's harder to cut words out and still have things make sense when you start with so few. Cut one word out and the whole thing becomes a grammatical nightmare, you know?

Of course, I didn't START with what I figured out, and now it's floating out of reach in my brain again. I should have started with the six words. Live and Learn. Wait, that's only three words, and wasn't it.

Here we go. Wait, I'm not sure it counts as a memoir if it's based in the future, and isn't MY reflection but what I hope others can see when I die. But it's what I have. So if it doesn't actually meet the criteria, we'll just say I kimodified it.

That's what, at the end of my life, I'd like you to see in me. I don't think I'm there yet, but that's what I'd like you to be able to say was clear about my life, when I'm old and - oh, wait, I'm already gray. When I'm old and/or gone.

I guess I could make it "memoirish" by changing the I to she, but I want it to me more than a secret in my heart that I felt. I want my life to be unmistakably clear, that I loved the Lord and lived for Him.

How's that for turning 6 words into a novel? :-)

I won't tag you. But I'll encourage you to think about it a little. It wasn't as bad as I thought. Thanks, Terra. I think I needed to think about this, today.

One of Those Days

It's another one of those days ... I think I have too many of them.

Our morning was spent simply trying to get the 'daily' chores done. They were done yesterday, so how did they get so out of control or take so long this morning?

I gestured to the posted schedule/list and explained how the before breakfast jobs should be done before breakfast, and that ideally the after breakfast jobs would be done by 10 (we do have a late breakfast and slower start than some industrious families, especially during the summer) and that would give us a nice 2 hour block to enjoy relaxing and playing in the clean house before lunch and lunch chores. They all looked at me rather blankly.

Some barely found time for lunch before quiet time began, squeezing their last chores in in a panic. One chose to miss lunch rather than complete the assigned work (which was by no means too much for the child). Several lost their computer and technology time for the day, as well.

And yet, it doesn't seem to matter to them. They are as content to lose official desired play times/privileges as they are to squirrel away the morning playing in 10 minute bursts before being caught and sent to finish their work.

We have had good times, good seasons, where they seem to engage in their work quickly and take pride in a job well done, and look forward to being done to move on to bigger and better things. But this has not been the case lately.

Little ones sometimes nap well and sometimes rest well and other days don't ... today was a don't. While they were relatively quiet (a requirement of quiet time) they were not asleep, which led to extra potty breaks and such, which led to many interruptions to my dozing, which meant I never really took the *nap* my tired pregnant body seems to need right now.

So somehow we muddled through and most of the jobs were done adequately by some point, the house never really had that clean, fresh, and done feel to it. Add to that one tired and crabby and worn out mommy, and it means all the other things on my mind reduce me to tears.

We're reaching a stage with my older daughter where she wants to do more Youthy things. I am willing to begin to grant some additional privileges and responsibilities, but the options available are not always what I would choose. Our church is big and huge and, from what I see helping with the children's choir during the school year, the youth group spends a lot of time running around unsupervised in the hallway, giggling and being cliquey and looking very much like I remember junior high. I would love for my daughter to be involved with some other girls growing into young ladies, but I am not seeing the youth group as the best path to that. I would like to hang out with other like-minded families, but those we are closest to do not have girls in the same age range. I don't want to "throw out the baby with the bathwater" with the church and youth group -- certainly there are some good people involved and some good things happening. But I can not sort out how to add the good without taking the package deal - in fact, sometimes the few things we have interacted with have seemed like high pressure sales pitches for the whole program, and that does not seem to be what we want or need right now.

I don't really know where this is headed. I'm spending time in the Word and prayer over all this, but right now feel like I'm spinning my wheels. Maybe because I keep crying, thus making slippery mud beneath me. Don't overanalyze that, I just said it because it sounded funny. So I could end on a light note. Ha. ha. huh.