Well, I enjoyed yesterday's post so much that I'm doing the same thing with tonight's supper! Hope you enjoy as much as we did. Homemade Pesto Chicken Veggie Pizza!

Preheat the oven to 375*.

Put your crust in the oven for 5 minutes or so, depending on your recipe. If you use store-bought or roll it very thin, you won't need to do this. You just don't want a doughy uncooked crust.

And we have a couple pieces left over for lunches! Yay!

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I invented a lasagna today, and thought I'd share a recipe in pictures.

Chop up half an onion and remove several sausages from their casing. I used mild Italian sausage, but you can use spicy, sweet, or plain ground meat. Whatever makes you happy. I only had 2 1/2 sausages, but could have used more. Maybe even double that. Or you could go meatless too. Just add more veggies.

Boil water in the biggest pot you have for your lasagna noodles. It will take a long time to boil, so go ahead and start it. Don't forget to put a handful of salt in the water. You'll want to boil the noodles for about 4-5 minutes (the box says 8-9), so they don't end up over-cooked when you bake it off later. Just cook them enough that they're nice and pliable.

Heat some olive oil in a skillet and brown the onions and sausage.

You want a nice high heat for this, so the meat gets nice and brown and flavorful. It should be golden brown, not grey, when you get through with it.

When it starts to get nice and brown, add a couple cups of diced butternut squash (and a little salt and pepper) to the skillet. You think it's a lot, but it cooks down and you're making a lot of lasagna, so you want at least 2 cups. Preferably more. Also add a few cloves of crushed garlic.

Cook and stir until the meat finishes browning and the squash starts to really soften and gets some of the nice brown flavor on it.

Decide not to use zucchini in this particular recipe. You'll be tempted, since you have a fridge full. But since you've worked it into every possible recipe lately and have plans for it again tomorrow....this zucchini will live to fight another day.

Do all of this awkwardly angled away from the stove to protect your sweet little passenger who won't stay down for a nap.

Get out a green bowl because it's the first one you grab and you are limited in your reaching abilities by the small person in your pooowwwch (see my last blog if this is confusing). Enjoy arranging a Ricotta cheese tower (1 15 oz. container), a pile of Parmesan, 1 egg, a couple big spoonfuls of pesto, and some salt and pepper. Feel compelled to share that the pesto is not old, even though it looks brownish. In fact, I used half regular green basil and half purple basil. It is fresh and delicious. Just not the bright green you expect.

Smash it all together with a fork.

Put your passenger in a swing for a nap. Quickly realize that she is determined to keep an eye on you until she falls asleep. If you even think about moving, she will cry. When she falls asleep, be careful. Even if you make no sound, she will wake up and cry if you move more than 4 feet away from her. Be patient and crochet a sock.

You know you could make your own marinara sauce, but since you have pre-prepared sauce on hand, decide to use the canned stuff. You'll need 2 cans.

Get 2 medium pans out. One for tonight and one oven-safe Pyrex one with a good lid to go in the freezer. Spray them with cooking spray and smear a little sauce in the bottom.

Lay a layer of noodles in the bottom. Burn your fingers a little and mangle a couple noodles as you try to cut/rip them to the right size.

Spoon on some squash and sausage. Squausage.

Spread some ricotta mixture over that, then some marinara.

Mozzerella.

Do all layers again, then another layer of noodles, then sauce, then a nice layer of mozerella on top. Realize in the second layer how much more cheese you use when nobody's looking.

Label the Pyrex one well and freeze.

Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes at 375, then take the foil off and finish uncovered for 15 minutes. The pan we had tonight was 9 generous pieces. We ate less than half and were all full and happy. So happy.

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Put on my favorite pink shoes. Key to the following fury of activity.

25 minute Walmart run for milk, etc. Marveled at the ease of such an errand with only one child.

10 minutes of picking veggies while Ellie kicked around on a blanket. Picked orange tomatoes because I don't trust the critters. Neither of us wanted to come in, but we had to do what we had to do.

10 minutes of putting laundry away while Ellie laid in her crib laughing at the ceiling fan and scooting around more than a three month old has any right to do.

10 minutes of laundry sorting.

25 minutes of kitchen cleaning.

10 minutes of bathroom cleaning.

10 minutes of sweeping and spot-mopping all the floors. Made a mental note to thank Mark for taking Nora. Realized how rarely mental notes work out for me. Made a mental note to start tying a pen and paper around my neck. Realized that my iPhone would be perfect for notes to myself. Pondered my fear of our dependence on technology. Thanked God for my washing machine and dishwasher as they hummed away. Thanked God for my sleeping baby in her swing. Decided some technology is wonderful.

Looked at the fresh basil in the vase on my windowsill and decided I needed more fresh herbs in my life. Grabbed scissors to go get more. Realized I was running with scissors. Congratulated myself for at least holding them point-down like old timey spectacles. Liked the word spectacles. Thought about my elementary teachers teaching me how to carry scissors.

Ate lunch at 1:30. Congratulated myself on choosing to microwave my leftover pizza on a plate instead of the plastic container it was in. Drank about a gallon of water.

Made pasta salad with fresh cherry tomatoes and zucchini. Yummmm. Growled at myself for messing up my kitchen, but decided there was nothing I could do about it now. Except clean it up. Which I didn't.

Nothing looks perfect, but everything looks much better and I feel better about my whole world. Except I need a shower and about 16 ibuprofen. And a big nap.

Nora and Mark came home at 2:15. Mark said, "oh, the kitchen looks nice!" Hhhhh. I will direct him to this blog as soon as it is posted.

That is all. Amen. Crash.

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Veggie sliders and bacon cheeseburger sliders!

Photo 1: mini burgers and bacon (yes, it's too much bacon, but I didn't want to leave two lonely strips in the fridge. Also, is there really such thing as too much bacon? Yum.)

Photo 2: grilling marinated veggies. Eggplant, zucchini, onion, and tomato. Mostly garden fresh.

Photo 3: the assembled product.

Photo 4: what Mark thought.

Veggie sliders:

Slice up (medium-thick so they hold together) zucchini, eggplant, and onion. Marinate for 20 minutes in 1/4 c balsamic vinegar, 1/4 c olive oil, 1 T salt, pepper, and 1 T crushed or chopped garlic.

Slice 1 fresh tomato in thick slices, remove watery seed parts. Salt and pepper.

Roast a bell pepper: place directly on gas burner of stove, until blackened. Remove to covered container. When cool, peel blackened skin off and remove core/seeds, cut up. (there are other methods too, but this is the easiest to me)

Drizzle/brush olive oil on grill. Heat to medium. Grill all veggies (except pepper). Pile on a whole wheat slider bun, top with Gouda cheese and fresh basil leaves. Gobble up!

I'm generally not a big fan of the texture of eggplant, but grilling it and putting it on this sandwich makes it really good! I've always wanted to like eggplant, and this recipe lets me! The flavors just all blend so well in this recipe. Nothing overpowers anything else! Try it!

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This morning I cleaned the kitchen and Nora and I did dishes. I poured all my homemade laundry detergent into detergent containers and did my first load of laundry with it.

Then I really got busy. I rounded up a bunch of cleaning supplies and went down to our gross basement laundry room. We have never cleaned it, even when we moved in. I threw away bunch o junk, cleaned the washer and dryer and all the shelves, and organized the things that stay in there. Then I was brave. Even though I'm afraid of spiders and creepy crawlies, I cleaned all the (many many) cobwebs and spider webs out of the ceiling. I washed the walls. I swept and mopped. Lest you be fooled into thinking that this doesn't sound like so much to do, I worked very hard for a solid hour and a half. And now I'm about to tackle the even grosser basement bathroom. I'm pretty certain it has never been cleaned either. Its only current use is for Mark to cut his hair. Every surface is black with tiny hairs. I looked in there before coming up, and a centipede crawled out of the sink drain! Scary and gross!

I have a very strong desire to dig out our leftover paint and primer, and paint the laundry room after Nora goes to bed tonight. May or may not happen, but this is the time to do it since I washed the walls!

Also, this morning we did a whole lesson about penguins with Nora. She wanted to read a book with a penguin in it, and started asking questions. So we found our penguin pictures from the zoo, got out our "learn about penguins book," looked up information about them online and found more penguin pictures, walked like penguins, squawked like them, pretended to swim like them, and slid around on our bellies. Then while I was working in the basement, she watched a penguin documentary while Ellie napped and Daddy got some work done.

Well, that's what I've done so far today. It's just after 1:30, so I have plenty of time to do more! After I finish feeding Ellie and lay her down, I'll do the downstairs bathroom, shower, do more laundry, fold laundry, go to our church picnic, come home and bathe Nora and pit her down, and MAYBE paint the laundry room. Or collapse in a heap and twitch for the remainder of the evening.

Wish me luck!

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I am having some really fun ideas and plans! Starting next week, Nora and I will be learning about a new letter each week. Next week, we will be engaging in all the "A" activities I can think of. Eating apples and avocados; coloring "A's," airplanes, alligators; doing lots of art and some acting; any other "A" ideas? Also, today we made her a "star chart" to track her progress with potty training, staying in bed at night/naps, and picking up her toys. She's pretty excited about it!

But my big ideas are several years out yet. Once the kids are school aged, I plan to get some good curriculum to use for each "fall semester." (I like the idea of year-round schooling to leave plenty of freedom to take shorter breaks when we want to) And then here's what I'm really excited about. If it works, and I think I can make it work, I want to plan each "spring semester" around a summer vacation. So here's how it works. After Christmas break, we decide as a family where we want to go. Then we plan a semester's worth of lessons around the trip. I have ideas for how to work in each subject in age appropriate levels. And we can take bunny trails and tangents, dig deeper into things that really spark interest. I'm excited as I think about using real life to apply the things we learn in our text books. And of course, we will spend some time in curriculum in the spring, too, but mostly shape it all around the context of planning a trip.

Math:
One of the easier subjects to apply to this. Everything from distance/speed/time, to how many socks do we need to bring, to if the tunnel is x miles long, what is the circumference of the mountain? There's math for all ages in there.

Geography:
Another obvious one. Study each state we will pass through, as well as the neighboring states. And learn to read maps.

History:
Study the history of the region we will be visiting. Find historical sites along the way. Study what was happening in the country and the world when the city was founded and when the state joined the Union. Same for each place we stop along the way. Research any historically significant people from any areas we visit.

Literature:
Find literature by authors who lived in the area, literature that is set near there. Use the literature as a springboard to any number of other projects and lessons: writing, vocabulary lessons, art, music, cooking, sewing, science experiments, research on wildlife....the sky is the limit. Let those books lead us to other books (even if they don't directly relate to the trip) and branch out from there.

Computer:
Plan to do all our computer lessons in the spring. Learn to do research on the Internet, as well as Internet responsibility (research places to stay, things to see along the way, driving routes, things to do, etc). Learn to do things like spreadsheets to keep track of our trip planning, the decisions we make, and what we learn. Mark can then teach more in-depth lessons about how the computer and Internet work, and what is happening when you search for something. (I might have to sit in on those lessons too)

Science:
Lots of ideas here. Study regional ecosystems/wildlife/habitats/climate/weather. Learn about internal combustion engines. Learn about the physics of activities we will do (skiing, boating, biking, etc.). Learn why/how our camping gear works as it does (how is the tent waterproof, how do our sleeping bags keep us warm, how does air stay in the air mattress, etc...enlisting uncle Brian and Papa to help with these). Learn how to make our own bug spray. Sunscreen (how does it work, learn about skin and UV rays, what is a sunburn, why do certain things help soothe it, etc). How does the cooler work, how long will it keep things cold or frozen, how can we make things stay cold longer? What happens in our body while engaging in the different activities we are planning, why is it important to stay hydrated and eat well, especially when we are active? Learn about the science of nutrition and cooking as we plan meals and cook ahead for the trip (experiment with freezing meals and reheating them with whatever will be available in our accommodations- campfire, microwave, stove, oven). Again, I could go on and on....

Money management:
Engage them in the trip budget. Teach them to figure out approximately how much to plan for gas, housing, food, and activities. Have them figure out how much we need to set aside each month to pay for it all. Engage them in comparison shopping for everything, finding ways to save money and do more for less.

Writing:
Write about anything and everything we study. Literature analysis, proposals for the things they want to include in the trip, stories, reports from the research they do on everything, history papers, letters to relatives we plan to visit on the trip, journals about things they hope to see and do, reports about science experiments....lots and lots of writing.

Art:
Research local artists, make plans to visit museums and art galleries on the trip. Look up images of landscapes, wildlife, activities, etc to inspire some art.

Cooking:
As I mentioned, we will experiment with recipes to freeze and take, car snacks, etc. But also research local cuisine and learn how to make it.

Planning, logistics, and problem solving. All varieties. Tons of this in trip planning.

Research:
Decide on a destination. Research housing, restaurants, things to do and see, history, local artists, etc.

Government and current events:
Learn about local government and current events/issues affecting the region.

Special skills:
Swimming if we go to a lake, take a few riding lessons if we plan to ride horses, learn to start a campfire and pitch a tent for a camping trip, learn some basic words and phrases of a foreign language (Spanish if we go somewhere like Texas with a large Spanish speaking population, or French if we go to New Orleans or Quebec)

Anyway, I think that we can easily fill a semester with such pursuits, if we cover all the subjects and dig deeply into whatever topics tickle the fancy of the children. And like I said, tangents will be our friends in this. Not everything we do will directly relate to the trips, but the goal will be to use these trip-related things as a springboard and really engaging with what we learn.

I'm so excited about all this! Can you tell? ;)

Over and out. Time for bed!

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Enjoy!

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The photo and other video are of Nora painting this morning. In the video, she is painting a dinosaur named Yellow. "He not scary. He just really nice. He brown." In the photo is a painting that she told me was a hippo named Sassy.

I have another video from last night to share, but this post was too big so I have to do it separately.

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Me: What's happening here?
N: I potty.
Me: You pottied?
N: Yeah.
Me: Where's your diaper?
N: There. (points at garbage)

The diaper and bed were dry. The rug was wet.

N: Me need to potty.
Me: You want to use the potty?
N: Yeah. (sprinting to the bathroom). Let's get to it!!!

Tried. Nothing.

Went back and put on a new diaper and cleaned up the rug, talked about how next time, she needs to call for me instead of getting up and stripping down. Once again...

N: Me need to potty.
Me: You want to use the potty?
N: Yeah. (sprinting to the bathroom). Let's get to it!!!

Somewhere between her room and the bathroom, she went in her diaper.

Back to bed.

15 minutes later: "MOMMY! Have to tinkle!"

Good gravy. Again.

So nothing made it in the potty, but she suddenly knows when she needs to go! Maybe this is the start of something!

Sorry for all the potty talk. My favorite, though, is "let's get to it!"

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So then it was nap time. Finally I was going to get a break. But. Once again, not in the cards. Nora went down and Ellie was falling asleep. Now, the rule in our house is that if Nora gets out of bed once, we take away her water bottle, and if she gets up again before sleeping, we will take away her pacifier. We have never had to take away the pacifier. But today that changed. She got up twice. Oh good Lord. Nora got up twice. Cue ominous thunder and music. The Paci war begins today. Oh, the carnage....I mean yelling...the bloodshed....I mean kicking and refusing to lay down....oh, disobedience, the defiance, the spankings. This is a dark day, indeed, my friends. I've never heard this girl scream the way she has been this afternoon. Ouch.

Here's hoping Super Daddy can save the day when he comes home this evening.

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I love this girl. She exasperates me often, but boy, I'm in love with her!

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Love that girl!

In other news, our A/C isn't working. And it's 94 degrees out. Bummer.

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Ok, hopefully this works. I don't think I've done this from my iPhone before...

So this is a snapshot of our life these days! Love you all!

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Well, this morning Mark was home and we decided to try experimenting with the time-out corner for Nora (we've been using a pack-and-play in our bedroom, but we'd like to take it down).  We figured that it wouldn't hurt to give it a try, and if she's still too little to get the idea, we can wait a while to try again.  It seemed to go pretty well this morning.

So this afternoon, Mark was gone and I told Nora to follow me into her room so I could change her diaper.  She resisted and I asked her again to come.  This time she didn't answer but I had heard her feet pitter-pattering outside her door.  I went out to find her and enforce.  Here's how I found the darling girl.  So I told her she had two choices.  She could cooperate with a diaper change or she could stay in the corner.  She stayed for a while, then came in and (mostly) cooperated.

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I'm pregnant.  I realized I still haven't posted that here!  I'm 8 1/2 weeks along and sick sick sick!  Nora is VERY excited about "baby" and being a "sissow."  She likes to kiss my tummy when I tell her to kiss baby.  It's hard on all of us to have me so sick and exhausted all the time.  I'm feeling worse this time than I did at this point with Nora, so I don't know what (if anything) that means.

We're looking forward to a May or June baby in 2011!  The kids will be 2 years and 3 months apart, which I'm happy about.  We're meeting a midwife next week to talk about having a home birth, which I REALLY want to do!  This midwife is the only one in the area who does home birth and is covered by our insurance, so we really hope that meeting goes well and we hope we like her!

I'll try to keep you posted with pictures of my growing belly, ultrasound pictures, etc.  Just like last time, we don't plan to find out the gender ahead of time.  Mark likes to call people after baby is born and be able to say, "It's a girl!" instead of, "She's born!"  He thinks finding out ahead of time makes it a little anti-climactic when we're spreading the news.  :)

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In case it's hard to tell, that's Play-Doh.  Stuck to the leg of a kitchen chair.  And what you can't see is the same thing on 2 other chairs and the table leg.  Jack gives Nora some good ideas (this one happens to be "Play-Doh band-aids for furniture").  Gotta love these funny kids.  :)

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Yesterday we went to Pella to get together with most of my Dad's family.  My Wisconsin family (aunt and uncle, and my cousin Betsy and her family) were down for a visit, and most of my Iowa cousins were there.  We were missing my Dad and older brother Eric (who are currently in Idaho moving Eric and Holly's things into their new place there), my youner brother Brian, my cousin Katie who lives in Denver, and my aunt and uncle who recently moved to Cincinatti.

Anyway, Nora, Bridger, and Jane loved playing together.  Aren't they just the cutest bunch you ever saw?

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Kids playing together and with the Mamas

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Nora and Bridger shots

Mark took Nora out exploring and they got some amazing pictures.  I know he posted a bunch of these on his blog too, but I just have to repeat them.  :)

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Little Nora on the prairie

"I think this ground looks thirsty!"

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Well, we've had a busy weekend!

Sorry I haven't written for a couple weeks.  It's been a busy time for our family.  Last weekend we went to two weddings (one in Nebraska), and then in the past week we had two funerals.  And we found out that my brother got a job in Idaho and he and his family will be moving in the next couple of weeks.  And it seems like all the daily-life kinds of things have converged on us in the past couple of weeks.  All this has left my body run ragged and in a lot of pain.

But back to yesterday's activities.

In the morning we had the Library Pool Party!  It was actually a little chilly for swimming (70 degrees), but we had fun.  We especially loved the Lazy River.

Yesterday afternoon, we had a birthday party/picnic for my nephew Bridger's first birthday.  It was beautiful weather, and a really fun time with family.  Nora played in nature a lot:

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Family:

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Nora and Bridger, cousins and BFF's:

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The birthday boy, man of the hour:

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Nora got fed up with pictures and seized an opportunity to escape:

When we got home, Nora had a bath and went to bed, and then Mark went to play poker with a bunch of friends.  While he was gone, I pulled out the sewing machine and did some mending, and then made a big batch of soup to freeze, washed the veggies I had picked earlier, and cleaned the kitchen and then went to bed.

Whew!  Big day!

Today was busy too, but more on that later.  I'm going to sleep early tonight!  :)

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