La Leche

Of my three kids, I would say Ian has been using Spanish the most, and Oliver by far uses it the least. In fact there are phrases I've been using EVERY day such as "put the forks on the table, please," and he has no idea what I'm saying. So it caught me by surprise earlier this week when I was doing spelling with him, and a sentence he was supposed to spell contained the word "milk," and he proceeded to begin spelling the word "la leche." That definitely earned a pompom for our jar! I still required him to spell "milk" in Ingles, but that definitely put a smile on my face! It is fitting that he knows how to say "milk" in Spanish because he definitely consumes more milk that anyone else in the family! 

Nadia's drawing of Alice in Wonderland

I haven't listed it on my gratitude lists recently, but I have to say again how thankful I am that I am able to stay home and homeschool our kids. Did I enjoy being a professor? Absolutely! However, it is such an incredible blessing to have life slow down to a far more manageable pace. I remember in the fall of 2016 how I was so exhausted and I was really struggling with Paul's long hours as he had just transitioned from higher education back to the concrete plant. It's pretty funny at the moment, but at that time I felt overwhelmed by how few hours he was at home each week. I find it funny because little did I know that one year later I would be adding a FT job to my load! My workload from August 2017 through May 2019 was just insane - doing all the housework, yard work, cooking, a FT job at BU, writing lesson plans for my three kids for the two days they spent with the babysitter, and homeschooling the kids three days a week. In August 2019 the pace of my life returned to what it was in August 2016, but three years later I didn't find my workload to be exhausting even though Paul's hours at work hadn't changed. I think in part it's the context. In the fall the first time it's 50 degrees out, it feels SO, SO cold because you're accustomed to warmer weather, but if it reaches 50 degrees in February, you think it's a downright balmy day out and wonder if you even need to wear a coat. From August 2013-May 2016 Paul had been a professor and gone to work about 3 days a week on average, and those days he was at work were much shorter days than when he works at the concrete plant. Plus there were MANY weeks during the year he didn't go to the university at all, whereas he works almost every week of the year at the plant. This meant I could go for a run in the morning at say 6AM because he was at home, we ate far more meals together as a family each week, and we spent our evenings together as a family. In contrast, in the fall of 2016 I felt like a single parent from Monday morning until late Saturday afternoon each week. Now I'm accustomed to this schedule. It also helps that the kids are older, and I can leave them at home when I run short errands. I can make it to our new library and back in twenty minutes, for example. So all this to say I am very grateful that I no longer feel like I am drowning. I have down time, which is something I didn't have those two years. This week I read John Grisham's newest book, and I also put a lot of time into reading international cookbooks from the library and selecting recipes for us to try in the coming weeks and months. These are things I definitely didn't have time for when I was also juggling a FT job. Yes, our income was much greater when I was employed, but my sanity is also a valuable commodity! 

Speaking of recipes, we've tried thirty-one "new" foods so far over the past two months. I say "new" because some foods Paul and I had already eaten or the kids had eaten once five years ago. I would say that about ten of those foods we'd like to have again. I made jerk chicken this week. Paul and I have eaten it before in the Caribbean, but it was my first time ever making it. The kids really, really liked it. My list of recipes to try is growing, but I've also eliminated a few because when I first made the list I was forgetting about Ian's allergies to nuts. For example, I had baklava on the list. Nope. I used a green pepper in one dish that I made this fall, and all the rest of my family let me know how much they do not like green peppers. I had planned to make fajitas for the first time as well as chicken cacciatore, but I've also scratched those off the list considering how averse they are to mushrooms, onions, red peppers, and green peppers. The ingredient that I really, really, really wish others in my family liked was a tomato. Oh how I love tomatoes, but I'm the only one who does, so I also try to select recipes that don't include tomatoes. Tonight I made two things I had never cooked before - Hasselback potatoes (origin - Sweden) and French onion soup. I have had French onion soup at restaurants, but Paul and the kids had never had French onion soup before. I took the onions out of their soup before serving it to them. Although I thought the soup was delicious, I won't be making it again. It's not hard to find desserts that the kids like, so finding new dessert recipes that they enjoy isn't nearly as exciting as finding main dishes that they like. Jerk chicken, Swedish meatballs, and croque Monsieur are three main dishes I'm going to add to our meal rotation. Hopefully over the coming months we'll discover some other main dishes that can be added to the list. I think our biggest "fail" this far was the tamales. I have made most of the new foods, but a few I purchased. This worked out well when it came to cannoli and blintzes, but the tamales I bought at the grocery store were downright awful. The kids had never eaten a tamale before. I have eaten them at restaurants, but I wasn't sure I could make them myself. In hindsight, I should have given it a whirl. Yesterday I made pan de Muertos, which is a Mexican yeast bread. I thought of my Grandma when I made it because she was the one who taught me to make yeast bread. In December Ian will start helping me cook one meal a week. I want all of my kids to be able to cook a variety of dishes before they graduate from high school. Nadia made rigatoni and meatballs earlier this week. 

The activities that kept me busy today were mowing the lawn (wearing a winter coat!), washing/drying our sheets and towels, vacuuming, cooking dinner, and taking the kids trick or treating. Nadia wore her Hermione costume to a party last night, but she went as the juice box again tonight and received many compliments. Ian was Spiderman again tonight, and Oliver went as Buzz Lightyear. Nadia wore a face shield at the party last night, but we didn't wear shields or face masks this evening. She enjoyed playing Guesstures (a game we also own) and Mafia last night. Between mowing the lawn and trick or treating, I walked about 5 1/2 miles today, which is far more exercise than I have been getting in one day lately. Did you know today was a "blue moon"? That refers to a month in which there are two full moons. It happens only once every 2.5 years.