failure

We all have challenges, part of mine is being a good educator, facilitator, and mother for my kids. Our schedule mainly consists of basic school time (reading, write, 'rithmetic) in the morning, and in the afternoon we go on some sort of enriching outing or social affair. We now have girl scouts and cub scouts and piano, gymnastics, young stateswoman association, activity days, art classes, and violin, and a myriad of other social, family, and religious obligations.

Sometimes mornings are the worst. We have a lot to do, and when we work like a well oiled machine, we get lots and lots done. But sometimes the kids just don't feel like doing it. And sometimes I don't feel like making them. 

And maybe I hide in my room, shirking my duty, texting sympathetic friends, and reading internet rubbish. Occasionally jealous of nameless internet moms who have love affairs with wine. 

And sometimes, when I am being a stupid failure in the mornings, my children don't waste their time. They do things that bring them joy.

November has brought sun with it. Lovely golden sun and nearly 60 degree days. Weather really does affect me. The kids did not let it go to waste yesterday. They may not have felt like memorizing their times tables or working on writing the letter 'p' correctly, but they made glorious use of the day.

So maybe this one morning was okay for me to hide away. The kids showed excellent self sufficiency. There is hope. 

cold weather slump

Fall hit us fast and early. We were just unsuspecting sun lovers one day, and the next day BAM! Rain and 58 degrees. For a whole month we've been dragging a little as a family. School has seemed more like a chore, chores seem chorier.


We have a pretty busy fall schedule, cub and girl scouts, violin and piano, literature group and Young Stateswoman Association and art, Activity Days and gymnastics. All that dumped on us at the same time. But our outlooks are looking brighter even if the weather is not. Our schedule only sounds too busy, we actually have plenty of free time and only cub scouts is in the evening, and I'm not leading all of the activities, only a few of them. Phew.


Nora seemed to get out of the funk fastest. She has serious toddler skills, and prefers to be a little cold. I can't get her to wear a blanket in our old drafty house. Anyway, she sings and dances and collects acorns and chestnuts as often as she can.


And we exchanged some videos with the Kangs and got to see some of their awesome life in Korea, which was a huge blast of sunshine in our lives. But not literally. They are expecting a monsoon.


And I've been trying to figure out something to do with our mixed media center. It has involve cardboard and particle board for a long time and basically an eye sore unless you are watching a movie and are completely distracted.


I Was pretty proud of myself for figuring out an alternative, not getting hanged by the millions and billions of wires, and making sure everything still worked and everyone could still see the screen.


James liked it. Except that he didn't know how we are going to assimilate his new 200 disc cd changer and watching movies is fine, but when he is playing games, that little bit that is shaded is sorely missed.


Still not going back to particle board. Sorry, James.

little gymnasts

Friday means gymnastics day!
And story time and tux math and the beginning of the weekend. It's practically a holiday. I had a principal that taught the entire school her 'Friday Song', and now my kids know it, too.


But mostly we are celebrating Gymnastics Day!

conference baby

We spent the loveliest weekend with Grandma Cozette and Grandma Linda and Grandpa Jim. We watched a little conference, played some games, ate more Popsicles than Mom would ever normally allow, walked the dogs with Grandpa, went to the movies with Grandma, gave Grandma Cozy lots of hugs (you get the really good, reserve candy sometimes), and had a spectacularly relaxing and care free weekend.
Grandma Linda and Nora even made a birthday cake for our conference baby. Her birthday isn't for a few more days. Conference came early this year. Three years ago this smile producing powerhouse joined us, and it sure has been fun!
Nora and Grandma made the cake together. She wanted strawberry on the inside and red on the outside. And I think the rest of us may have gotten a little Nora slobber, too. She likes to pretend she is a puppy pretty frequently, but I think she just couldn't get the strawberries in her mouth fast enough when she stuck her face in the bowl.

life changers

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Some actual life changing events happened around Christmas, but mostly I just want to discuss waffles.

Because, for Christmas James gave me a Belgian Waffle Iron. And it has been a serious game changer in the breakfast department around here. It's starting to get to Knope status, especially with Lucy.

We have two waffle days a week now, and one day I decided to make french toast to use up some extra bread. OOO Buddy. Ruined Lucy's entire day. Entire Day! And it was really good french toast, too. But no syrup pockets, no deal.

Anyway, I have now perfected my favorite waffle recipe. The kids prefer the recipe with equal parts sugar flour and melted butter (who wouldn't?), but I feel a little more comfortable about pouring more sugar on this one.

And because I never want to forget this very special recipe, I will now immortalize it here:

Tunnell Waffles

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 T baking powder
2 eggs
2 T oil of choice

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix well. Cook in your favorite waffle iron. Burn fingers removing and then eat immediately. These are sweet enough, I don't put anything on top. But whip cream is good. And the maple syrup pockets work admirably. And I am anticipating strawberry season will upgrade these little babies, too.

smile!

Just a few little poses from this month. 

We are a seriously photogenic family.

John's new trick.

Nora loves dinosaurs.

We saved the best cucumber of the season for last.

Grandma visited! Attack!

Daddy hates it when we stick our tongues out for the camera.

It's my party. 

And a little Halloween preview.

We went to a family dance. Britton danced with four boys. I only danced with one. Good thing he is good dancer.

They told me to make that face. Promise.

lentil festival

Way back in August we went to the one event that really got me excited to move to Pullman. The National Lentil Festival. See those kids posing as lentils? That's pretty much how they feel about eating them. And also about seeing them in parades...I think there may be a reason giant lentil costumes can only be found in the Palouse. Palouse, by the way, is a new term that I have learned since moving over here. It refers to the region of Eastern Washington and Idaho characterized by rolling hills that are excellent for growing wheat and pulses (garbanzo beans and lentils). The Palouse region grows most of the nations lentils, and a large portion of wheat, too. 

We went to both days of the Lentil Festival, despite living in a cloud of smoke. The forest fires in the region were terrible. Although we were lucky enough to not have any close by, these Palouse hills seemed to be great settling areas for the smoke. The air quality was labeled "hazardous". This picture really puts the smoke into perspective. It was taken at about noon.

That haze is not a focus problem.

Despite the smoke, we all had a good time. The festival was mostly a street fair with a few extra lentil options in the food section. And the world's largest bowl of chili. Which was delicious and free! We tried some of the other options available: The lentil burger tasted like refried beans in patty form, and the curried lentils atop nachos was actually pretty tasty. 

There was a music stage and a cooking demo area, and the one recipe that I have tried since going was fantastic, although spicy. Here is the recipe. And here is another great place for lentil recipes, if you are feeling inspired by our lentil expedition.  

And last of all:

World's Largest Bowl of Lentil Chili Recipe

INGREDIENTS

Lentils: 2 2/3 Cups
Water: 3 Quarts + 1 Cup
Onions, diced: 2/3 Cup
Celery, diced: 1/3 Cup
Carrots, diced: 1/3 Cup
Tomato puree: 17 Oz.
Pace brand salsa: 1 Cups + 1 Tablespoon
Chili powder, mild: 2 Tablespoon
Cumin: 1 Tablespoon
Granulated garlic: 1 Tablespoon
Granulated sugar: 2 Tablespoons
Kosher salt: 1 1/2 Tablespoons
Crushed red chili flakes: 1/2 Teaspoon
2/3 Cup water and 1/4 Cup cornstarch, stirred into a slurry
Cinnamon: 1/2 Teaspoon
Chopped cilantro: 1 Tablespoon
Mexican chocolate: 2 oz.
Green bell pepper, diced: 1/3 Cup
Red bell pepper, diced: 1/3 Cup

DIRECTIONS

1. DO NOT INCLUDE CILANTRO OR CORNSTARCH SLURRY AT THIS TIME. Mix all ingredients together (EXCEPT cilantro and cornstarch slurry), bring to a boil, stir and cook (will take a couple of hours) until lentils are tender.

2. When the lentils are tender and the broth is well blended, add the cornstarch slurry and continue cooking until the chili consistency is very uniform.

3. Just before serving: add the cilantro, stir, serve.