Hee Haw Farms

 A friend of mine hooked me up with some discount tickets to Hee Haw Farms- a little family run business that offers a corn maze, a petting zoo, tractor pulled hay rides, a pumpkin patch, a hay bale playground and a few other fun things. I brought Rudy and my niece, whom I'll call Cutie for the sake of privacy. It was my first outing with a toddler and a baby (albeit 9 month old, not infant), and it was a BLAST! All three of us thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. My favorite part was the corn maze, Cutie's was probably a tie between the corn maze and the hay ride (she liked all the bumps associated with both), and Rudy's was hands down the hay ride. He was riding behind a real tractor, driven by a real farmer. What's more, the farmer even let him sit on it and pretend to drive at the end. It was probably the highlight of Rudy's month. :)

 Rudy leading the way, armed with 'swords' to hunt some monsters in the 'corn jungle'. We had a blast hearing pretend roars and tracking monsters through the maze.

 Here's Rudy on a hot trail. :)

 Unfortunately, the big white rabbit that hopped out of the stalks right next to Rudy had hopped back out of sight by the time I got this picture taken, but that's what Rudy's watching. He did really well at staying still and quiet so as not to startle the rabbit-I was really impressed.

 Aren't these ears beautiful?

 Rudy collecting 'magic' corn pieces. Apparently, when we found the monster we were hunting, all we would have to do was throw a magic corn piece at it and it would either go "KER-PUFFLE!" or turn into a nice monster. Or both, depending on Rudy's fancy at the moment.

 Rudy with his pumpkin he picked right off the vine. I was a bit disappointed with the pumpkin patch-it was really weed infested-like looking for a pumpkin in a patch of morning glory and crab grass. But we did OK, and it was still fun. :)

 At the hay bale playground, they had a big bin full of corn. What a great tactile experience for all of us-I gotta tell you, sitting in a bunch of dried corn is quiet comfortable!

 On the hay ride.

Rudy on Good Lookin', the tractor. He must have felt 10 feet tall to get to sit up there, and 'drive'. What a nice guy, to have taken the time to give my son such a memorable experience!

French Bread Recipe

Several friends have asked for this recipe, so I thought I'd just post it here on the blog. This is a recipe my mom's been making since I can remember. I don't know where she got it. It's a great, simple, delicious way to turn a meager meal into one that can feed a house hold. (It doesn't matter how thin the soup so long as there's plenty of bread to go around, right?) ;)

Ingredients:

2 T yeast

2 1/2 C very warm water (like it's a bit uncomfortably hot to put your hand in, but not scalding.)

2 T sugar

1 T salt

2 T oil

6 C flour

Step by Step Instructions:

 Mix the yeast, sugar, and warm water together first. Then add all other ingredients EXCEPT ONLY ADD 3 CUPS OF THE FLOUR. Mix again. Add remaining 3 cups of flour and mix until the dough is not sticking to the sides, as pictured below. If you need to add a bit extra flour to get the dough not to stick, go for it, though usually with enough mixing, it all works out. :)

 Let it rise for maybe 20 minutes a couple times, beating it down both times. The time's not so important as just letting it double in size-how long that takes depends on your yeast, the room temperature, how warm your water was...etc. Now you're ready to form the loaves.

 Spread a generous amount of flour on the counter. (Kids are more than happy to help with this part.) ;)

 Divide the dough into two halves. 

Working with one half at a time, roll it out into a sort of retangular/oval shap, about 1/4 inch thick. Apparently, for a 2 and 1 year old, this is a very serious, concentration filled moment. ;)

 Now roll your rectangle/oval up like a jelly roll and pinch the dough together at the seam-put that seam on the 'bottom' of your loaf.

 Tuck and pinch the ends  under the loaf as well.

Place the loaf on a cookie sheet with some cornmeal (or Cream of Wheat in a pinch) on the bottom. Make your second loaf and then cut the slashes in the top with a sharp knife. 

Now is when I put the oven on to preheat to 400 degrees. I put the loaves on the stove and let the heat from the oven help them rise faster. In about 20 minutes, your loaves will have doubled in size.

 OPTIONAL: Baste the tops with egg white. All this does is add to the authentic look-it gives them a nice, brown crust. Alternatively, you can baste with butter, or wait 'till after they're cooked and run a stick of butter over them then. Or you could just leave 'em naked. It all works, and it all tastes great. :)

Bake at 400 degrees 20-30 minutes. You'll know they're done when they're golden brown, and you can smell them through the whole house. :) These turned out a bit skeewumpous in their shape, but we'll just blame that on my helpers, shall we? Once they're sliced, it doesn't matter anyway. :)

Making Spaghetti Sauce from Scratch

I finally decided I'd break down and can at least one of my tomato harvests instead of giving it away. (Just looking at them gives me heartburn at 35 weeks pregnant!) I considered my options of how to can them. For some wild reason, I thought canning spaghetti sauce sounded like a good idea. Maybe because the instructions in the Ball Blue Book of Canning were only a small paragraph long. Funny how a one sentence instruction can take HOURS to follow. (ie. Boil the tomato puree on medium high heat until it reduces to about half it's volume.)

Sigh.

Next year, I'm canning diced tomatoes like I did last year. That's a paragraph of instructions that takes a proportionate amount of time to follow! Anyway, my spaghetti sauce canning experience was rather disheartening, seeing as all these tomatoes, 

And all this mess (and that's just the stove!) 

 Brought me 4 whopping quarts of sauce after 5 hours of constant work. (That's not including the processing, when I could finally play with my amazingly self entertained child again.)

Kind of a defeating sight, huh? 

While this canning experience lacked the usual thrill of feeling amazingly industrious and domestic, it gave me a whole new appreciation for tomato sauce. I value my experience, because I learned first hand just how many tomatoes it takes to make a bit of sauce, and how long of a process it is. I'll never take a can of tomato sauce for granted again. Thank goodness I have the privilege of living in a place where I can simply go to the store, and stock up on cans and cans of sauce-no 2 hours of stirring splattering tomato puree involved!

Turning 29

So, I had a birthday last month. My family helped me ring it in with style-I LOVED how we celebrated.
On the Sunday before my birthday, my side of the family all gathered for a delicious meal to celebrate both mine and my aunt's birthdays. It was a most delightful evening.

Then, the Saturday before my big day, my in-laws took Rudy for us ALL DAY LONG, and Jason worked his heiny off the week before so that we could spend the entire day just being together. No house stuff, no school, no kids...just us. Sigh. It was heavenly-truly heavenly.
We started the day with our Hypnobirthing class, then headed to the farmer's market with some birthday money from family in my pocket to spend on jewelry. I haven't bought jewelry since our honeymoon-and that was a $5 pair of earrings. I'm kind of a picky jewelry person. The price has to be right, AND it has to 'sing' to me. You know what I mean? I have yet to find 'singing' jewelry in a department store, so we headed to the stands in the farmer's market-stands run by local artists who create their wares in their kitchens or basements or whatever.
Anyway, to make a long story short, I found a necklace, two pairs of earrings, and a ring that I absolutely adore and that I feel good about, because they're made of recycled or natural materials, by women who live within 20 miles of me. I think that's cool-maybe a bit hippie, but I've always been a bit hippie, so it fits. :)
Anyway, I love wearing my new things. It's amazing how much a little jewelry can change the way a woman feels. I put those niceties on, and I automatically feel more beautiful, more feminine, and more 'put together'. All nice things to be able to feel in my 3rd trimester. :)
Next we did the traditional Tucanos birthday meal (they do this great birthday club where you get a buy one meal get one free coupon in the month of your birthday). It was SCRUMPTIOUS!!
Anyway, it's taken way too long to finally post about my 29th birthday. Supposedly, this is the age I'm supposed to claim for the next decade, but I don't know...I'm kinda looking forward to entering my 30's-an exciting new era awaits! :)

Soccer Mom

I looked out the window and saw a chic across the street with a bulging belly. "I bet she's due right around November, too," I thought to myself.

Seconds after that thought crossed my mind, I watched her pull a soccer ball out from under her shirt. I laughed out loud all by myself in my living room.

Does having a belly the size of a soccer ball qualify me for the title, "Soccer Mom"?  ;)

Swiss Days 10 K

June 2010 vs.

September 2010

The clothes are definitely tighter. I should probably just break down and buy some maternity workout clothes, but with only 8 more weeks to go...I just can't get myself to.

I'm so close to birthing this baby, and I'm so excited! She's been a great running companion, and awesome motivation to keep my body fit, but I'll be glad to have my full lung capacity back and not feel like I have to pee through every run anymore. Plus, I just can't wait to snuggle her!!! ;)

The Swiss Days 10K was a great race! I wasn't expecting too much from myself. The plan was to show up, start running, and see what happened. As things turned out, my body kicked right in gear, and I had a lovely time running through the clear, crisp, almost Autumn air. The course took me past horses and cows out to pasture, entire meadows full of wildflowers, beautiful ridges spotted with Autumn foliage, and quaint old farmhouses. Just my kind of run! There were a few hills, but they were just enough to keep things spicy and fun and add a little challenge to the day.
The racing crowd was great-friendly, chatty, very supportive of each other. We had great fun running together, united by our quest for the finish line.
 One thing I did to keep my pace up was choose runners ahead of me to catch. Using this strategy, I slowly moved forward in the race (I started at the very back). I went from "Silver haired Grandma" to "Fannypack Chic" whom I followed for about 1/2 the race. She was one of those running types that runs fast, then walks, then runs fast, then walks, then runs fast again. She kept a pretty good pace that way, but I prefer the steady plodding of a slower jog to the spurts of speed followed by walking. Anyway, on the last hill, I finally passed her for good, and moved on to another target- "Hot Pink Shorts". She was a  challenge-sometimes I'd lose sight of her all together for a bit even, but in the last mile, I pushed and finally passed her. Now I had mere meters to go. Ahead of me was a 6' 3", 300 lb man. I chased him to the finish line, but never caught him.  Just goes to reinforce my philosophy of running: "There is no 'typical' runner."
Anyone can run, and run well. Shape, size, cool running gear...those don't matter in the end. Just training does, and fitness level. Of course, an elite runner is going to be slim and buff, but for the rest of us, running is the great equalizer. Maybe that's what I love so much about it. I can run next to doctors, million dollar home owners, celebrities...doesn't matter. We're all breathing the same air, all hitting the same pavement, all moving toward greater fitness and satisfaction with life.

My next physical challenge? Giving this babe (and myself) a smooth and easy birthing experience. I pulled out my Hypnobirthing book from when I was pregnant with Rudy, and I'm attending classes with my same instructer, Launi, who was so gracious as to allow me to 'audit' her class at no charge as a returning student. Yay!

I was pumped to see that my race number for the Swiss Days 10K was 38. A babe's considered 'done' by 38 weeks-we'll see if we get to meet her by then, or if we have to wait a couple more weeks. Either way- she's coming soon, and the whole family is buzzing with excitement!

Stuff

A dear friend of mine made the decision a few months ago to move into assisted living. (She's in her 80's.)

Two weeks ago, she got the news that there is a place available for her in the facility she'd chosen. It's a great facility-the one I'd choose if I were in her place, but it's still a major transition.

I used to think the big deal about moving into assisted living was giving up the independence of living on your own.

That is a big deal, but maybe an even bigger deal is leaving all the stuff you've collected over decades. Stuff that you thought meant something, but after 50 years of tucking it into a drawer, or polishing it's surface, or flipping through it's pages, it's headed to the dump, or DI, or the library.

I've been helping my friend go through her 4 bedroom home. Helping her slim her possessions down to a one bedroom condo size mass. It's been all her decisions-I'm just the able body that she directs, "Put that in the trash box, that in the DI box...I'll bring that one with me." In the process, she's bestowed some beautiful things upon me and my little family.

I like to think they'll get a kind of re-incarnation with us. Some of the things are things she's had since she was a young mom. I love thinking about her opening the wardrobe that's now sitting in my room, looking in the mirror on the inside and thinking to herself, "Here we go, another day. God, help me find the energy to mother my children as thou wouldst have me do." There's a sentimentality that comes with things that have a known history to me.

And yet, I've found that my friend's experience of sifting through decades of accumulated sentimental possessions has given me a new perspective on things. A reminder that it's all just stuff in the end. I don't have to hold on to my wedding bouquet to remember how joyful I felt that day. I don't have to hold on to childhood jewelry I'll never wear again to remember how proud I felt to own a piece of real silver. Watching my friend bravely slim her life down has blessed me with the perspective to realize that I should really just hold on to things that I'm using right now, or will use in the future. If I'm done with something, I should let it go now, instead of in 60 years, when I'm wrapping my own life up.

My friend is a great example to me. How much easier would it be to stubbornly stay in her home 'till the day she dies, and never have to face wrapping things up? Then her kids could throw away the piles of scenery pictures from her many travels across the world, the old 4H ribbons she faithfully stored for them since they were 8, the trinkets and pictures her kids and grandkids and great grandkids have given her over the decades.

She could keep clutching to that stuff until the day she dies, but she's chosen not to. It's been an emotional endeavor. Hard. But I see her discovering anew what really matters, and she's teaching me, too. Her family is rallied around her-almost always a great grand child, or grand child , or child is there, helping to pack Grandma up. Helping to remind Grandma that it's relationships, experiences, testimony that really matters, and all those things are absolutely portable.