Thu., Sep. 6

Last night Justus was getting tucked in with Musky, the muscrat pelt. He had it on his head and looked like a trapper. So Jeremy called Natasha to bring her racoon pelt and Jeremy set Justus up to look like a BEARDED trapper! Oh my...

Yesterday evening I noticed an angle of the house I'd never noticed before. It was interesting-enough that I decided to shoot it for you. It's from the south end of the upstairs hall, looking down into the entryway toward the northwest.

Here is Natasha enjoying working on her spelling words for her story. Since it looks somewhat like "school" I thought I'd record it for posterity ... making it look like our children ARE, indeed, getting somewhat of an education. LOL

Today was Natasha's first experience making cookies almost-completely by herself. If nothing else has held her back up until this point, the fear of the heat of the oven has. A kid's gotta wait 'til her arms are long enough and strong enough to handle big, heavy, HOT stoneware.... She's also been afraid of the mixer. (I remember both of those feelings.) But today she was up for the challenge. She made a double batch of Molasses Sugar Cookies, and DID THE MATH HERSELF!!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE???!! Well, okay it wasn't really 'math' as in scratching out the figuring, but she is understanding the concept of doubling something, even fractions of things. GREAT.

We all enjoyed the fruit of N's labor today, but the only one I pictured doing so was J. ;)

Then it was Justus's turn to "cook". He got to mix the Ranch. Note the tower of spices. (And, that's pepper he's grinding, if you're curious.)

Now I am going to share a recipe. For three decades my family has enjoyed the Buttermilk Recipe Ranch packet from the grocery store. It's just ... we're trying to cut MSG where we can, and there aren't as many simple ways to cut it as I wish there were, so I searched for, and our family has tweaked out, a recipe which we like allllllmost as much as that packet. [The whole point of MSG is to LIE to us and make us think the food tastes better than it actually does. (lol) So we have to resign ourselves to not ever liking the 'imitation' QUITE as much as the MSG-laden variety.]

Homemade Ranch Dressing

In order listed, place ingredients in a shakable, sealable container, or bowl. Then combine and refrigerate.

3/4 c. buttermilk

1 1/4 c. mayonnaise

3/4 t. dill

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. onion powder

1/2 t. parsley

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

[Use the spice combination as a substitute for Ranch Packets in recipes. For a Ranch Dip (What'd you call me?) stir the spices into 16 oz. of sour cream.]

And now, especially because lots of readers of my blog (I'm humbled, as always.) are parents of young children, I have a WONDERFUL, CREATIVE, HELPFUL book suggestion. Probably it's not one that would be as helpful checked out from the library as it would be purchased to be part of your home library. Ready to make a note of it?? "The Preschooler's Busy Book" by Trish Kuffner. Subtitle: "365 Creative Games & Activities to Keep Your 3- to 6-year-old Busy!" I mean, there are probably a hundred books like this out there, but I've not seen one so compact, with ideas so simple but effective. I want to go on and on about it, but there's no need since I can't begin to do it justice and each one of you should just GET the book yourself. I'm a person to whom ideas don't come naturally. I need LOTS of help with ideas of things to do. The ideas in this book are quick and simple, and for all kinds of days and all kinds of situations. In fact, as I'm reading through them, in order to make them reasonable/exciting/interesting for our 8-nearly-9-year-old, only slight modifications are needed, and not even on every activity. Here are some examples of treasures in this book. To keep around at all times: "Baker's Box" for the kitchen, "Busy Box" (crafting-type stuff), "Job Jar" (age-appropriate jobs for the child/ren to do while you're working on something they can't help with), Busy Bag, "Crazy Can" (on-the-spot activities that require no special materials, no prep, no clean-up). How to plan activities (!), how to rotate your child's books/toys, bookoos of recipes that CHILDREN can prepare in the kitchen with minimal supervision; outside activities; car/waiting room activities/games; SIMPLE ... and REALLY INTERESTING craft ideas; music, dance, and drama; birthday & holiday ideas; activities to teach/review letters, sounds, numbers, etc.; and then appendices of how to make different kinds of paint, clay, glue, etc.; gifts for kids to make/give; book suggestions. Ohmygoodness it's FUN!! I needed it six years ago, granted, but I'm going to take advantage of it NOW, and my plan is to work in EVERY SINGLE ACTIVITY in the book over the next two years. I better get started, huh?? LOL So anyway, get it. It's awesome.

I got curious about what 'blog' means anyway. Do you know? Because I didn't, and it was bugging me. I thought it was something about putting down your most inner, deep, philosophical thoughts and feelings about politics, or whatever. NOPE! (And, "Phew!") I guess the term first came about back in 1994 when people began journaling online and it was called a Weblog, as in a log on the Web. ...Just got shortened to 'blog'. So since this blog is nothing short of an online journal, I now feel comfortable, again, just calling it a blog. :)

And then I have one more strange addition to this illogically organized blog. A poem I enjoyed. It's on the back of the Aug./Sep. '07 Country Woman magazine Oneta was sweet enough to share with me. The poet is Linda Andersen, from Karlstad, Minnesota.

Ode to Zucchini

Zucchini, oh zucchini,

It's not that I'm ungrateful,

When I think of all your vitamins,

There must be loads, in every plateful!

But for days, my kitchen's been a mess,

And it's all because of you, I guess.

I'd vowed I would not waste

A single one of you.

I baked you and I fried you,

Pickled, froze, and dried you.

I made every zucchini recipe I knew.

And now, just as I tucked the last of you

In a quaint new bread, called "banzini,"

My proud little boy is telling me,

"Look, Mom, I found 13 more zucchini!"

So, zucchini, oh zucchini,

Though I think you're quite terrific,

Could you, please, just try to be

A little less prolific?