Return of the Blogger

Hi! This is Sgt. Pepper back from a super long blog sabbatical. Beena has been in charge for the last year, and has done a fabulous job; I just figured it could be fun to take it back up.  To be honest, I didn't expect to blog again until at least after college, but I've been reading some other blogs I really enjoy and I decided I kind of miss it.

Life has been a little crazy for my family this past year, but in exciting ways.  So here's a quick snapshot of  2012's major events:

• 2 of my brothers got married
• Sissy Monster's family welcomed identical twin boys (they turned a year old yesterday!)
• I started college

The rest of this year promises to be just as eventful, so I hope you'll join us for some of our adventures!

Cheers!

Castles Are Actually Really Complicated!

Hello. This is unusual for me, because I can't sit still for more then 45 min., but I found the time somehow.

I am gonna skip the pleasantries, because I do want to tell you about something. Castles.

We from the 21st century think of castles in the context of fairy tales, or simply as places of extravagance where kings and queens once lived, now made ruins by time. But castles still exist, and you can buy them, and who wouldn't want to? Because almost every little girl wanted to be a princess, and somehow those girls got their younger brothers wanting to be the princes. But that is just a fantasy of children. Every adult knows that no one can own a castle realistically. So they don't even think about it. But my family is weird, and it just so happens that I'm in Iowa while my sister, Sissy Monster and her husband, who doesn't have a nick name yet, are very possibly in the market for a house. How does looking for a house escalate to looking for a castle?  The mentality of their search. It seems to me, they aren't looking for just a house in a certain price range, or the number of rooms compared to the number of kids they have, but a new home where the kids can be more free. If a place has a happy history then it will get bought, unlike the  many cardboard cutouts of houses that are popping up everywhere; those have no character! What has more character, or freedom than a castle?
 Not that the house they have now isn't fantastic, with it's unique build, and sense the house gives off as you walk in the door: which must be because of the happiness that emanates from the family inside. (Plus the happiness of the delicious foods you will have at dinner.)

I also wanted to share what I've learned about castles from a book in my home-school curriculum.
 Think of a castle for a sec. It probably looks like the castle at Disney Land, right? Those are all well and good for tourists, but castles where actual kings lived, and fought in, and DIED defending weren't that comical. In the golden age of castles, men were jealous and greedy, so there were a lot of wars going on over territory. So not only the castle, but the village that always surrounded the castle had to be fortified.
The builders planed well, because the town and fortress were normally on higher ground, yet by water, perhaps a river, or a lake. The way my book showed the ideal place for castle building was right on a river bend, the huge wall surrounding the village placed on a kind of cliff. Just inside that corner the immense eight foot thick outer wall, called the "Outer Curtain", would join the wall around the village. So a castle much like the one here,  Medieval Castle Anatomy 101 « My Literary Quest, would be encompassed by a village and a wall, banked by a river on one side, which would water the crops of the farmers outside the village, now almost the size of a small city by our standers.

Bear in mind that I don't think many of those types of castles are still standing, but if they are we get first dibs!

Can We Stay In Colorado for One Whole Month, Please?

Jeez. I cannot believe how bad I am at this. As "Snap's" father says in Oscar, "You bum! Indcente!" By the way, I have no idea what that last bit means or if I even spelled it right. I hope I didn't just insult some Italian, somewhere... I hope they don't send gangsters to come get me. :)

Since you've missed so much, I will make this quick-like:
The Master Chief got married in Hawaii. Ribbajack had a Hunger Games themed, "Summer Kick-off" for his youth  group, and supposedly, had a lot of fun. I can't speak for Sgt. Pepper, but we are all praying for her. And second to last, is a little something called Totus Tuus. The Ribbajack and I go to it, it's a program that runs at all the catholic/christian churches in quite a few states. It's a lot of fun .There are two programs, one for the first through sixth graders, and one for the seventh grader's and up. I am in the latter of the two, and it's even better than I thought, but if any of the teachers see this they might think I was flattering them. I'll probably tell you more about Totus Tuus in another post, sometime in the next two months, so don't take too much interest in it until later. And finally, last, but not least, for my up-date I will put in that the brother above The Master Chief, who hasn't got a nick-name yet ;is getting married this Saturday. Also out of state.

That's pretty much it... It seems a lot more exciting when you live it, not write about it.
Next time I'll bring back something a little juicier, and give you a craft to do. Maybe. Ciao!

New Babies! Yay!

Hello people! Wow, I haven't blogged in a while, huh? But it's been a mite crazy around here since April 26th, because that was the day that Big Sissy's family got bigger! That day we welcomed Gin, and Tonic in to the ever growing family! I can't help it... I am so excited!
Okay, you're probably thinking, she's weird. Well, I am weird, I can't deny a fact. But you can't tell me that I am not allowed to be excited. We are actually going to Iowa to visit the Iowans on Friday. Yay! We get to go to the first set of twins "First Communion", and the newest set of twins "Baptism" all in the same day. What a weekend, huh? But it is so worth it. Okay, okay. We all may go crazy during the nine-and-a-half hour drive, but I am sure that we'll live. Besides, we will pack movies, a ton of books, and enough music to kill a small animal ( Oh, and we can't forget food.).

I'll let you know how that goes next week, but I think I ought to give you an up-date on what the rest of the universe has been up to. Okay, so on the 21st of April, the Godfather and Mamasita had a dinner called " The Supper-Club", where four couples get together and have dinner ( Obviously!). But Friday night one of the couples called and said they couldn't come. So most of Saturday Mamasita was making calls to almost everyone we know. The answer was either no, can't come, or they just weren't there. So we ended up one couple short, but it was a pleasant evening no less. Since The Ribbajack was in the basement doing school I went upstairs and talked with the grown-ups. I admit, it was a bit awkward, but it was better that watching Ribbajack do math.

School is winding down, and everyone is looking expectantly at their calenders, just waiting for summer to start in earnest. People are planning their summer vacations and thinking up crafts and projects to do. Maybe we should try doing stuff like that... Nah!

We missed Easter

Hello everyone! I know it's been more that a week since Easter, and you've probably eaten the left-overs from that roast pork, but it's such a big holiday that I should be allowed to blog about it.

You know that roast pork I mentioned earlier, yes that one. I know it's traditional to have pork, but we are saving that for the this Saturday. Since we are nontraditional we had a lovely dish that we found in the Costco Connection magazine called "Cowboy Meatloaf and Potato Casserole, " and I thought it would make a nice dish for this Sunday.  So if you are in the mood for a delicious, meaty, substantial meal follow this link:
http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/201012#pg69

We made some adjustments to suit our lifestyle and dietary restrictions.  For example, we used fresh onion and potatoes in place of the frozen.  To be gluten-free, we made our own bread crumbs and we substituted dehydrated chopped chives for the French-fried onions.  If you have a need to be dairy-free, like some of my family, you can easily use almond, coconut or soy milk for the evaporated milk and alternative cheeses for the Mexican cheese blend.  The results were wonderful!  It sliced easily and I wouldn't hesitate to increase the ingredients by 50% and take a loaded 9x12 casserole pan to any pot-luck.

A New Writer

*Ahem* Hello everyone, from now on there is to be a new writer for this blog. Since Sgt. Pepper has officially resigned the blog over to the residents still at the ranch. And so it came to be, that Beena was to be the blogger from now on.

So here's the up-date. After the last post there was a whole bunch of excitement over Sgt. Pepper going to live with Big Sissy. And that's why she isn't blogging anymore. Then Lent started, and no more fun things happened.

How many of you have a diary? I just started one under the pretense that it would be good for me. I do have one question though, do you write in your diary like it's another person? A person in your head that only comes to life when you write? Think about it, maybe you need to pour yourself out to someone, but you don't know who to trust. My advise is try a diary, it really makes you feel better when you get your secrets out on paper, but don't stay up too late.

Long Time No Blog, eh?

Hello peoples.  I am a very bad blogger, neglecting you for two and a half months (yikes!).  We have been so busy here at Casa Paja, it's insane.  Good thing we specialize in that *evil grin*
So without further ado, flash update: COMMENCE!

The Godfather, Mamasita, and Beena got to enjoy a mid-winter vacation to Florida earlier in the month.  The Godfather won a company trip that included staying in a nice resort, going to Universal's Islands of Adventure, and eating a ton of free food.  In addition, they visited the grandparents, swam in the pool (not the ocean, it was too cold), and got to escape the 10-degrees-and-below weather that Ribbajack and I were blessed with.  We stayed home to finish Confirmation, so we didn't begrudge them any of it... well, not much of it, anyway.

Ribbajack has recently joined a local shooting club that does competitive air rifle shooting.  Ribbajack wowed the instructors at his first session and has been steadily improving, so much so that he will be in his first competition on Saturday!  I'll let you know how that goes.

Ribbajack and I have spent the last five months working closely with our church's Confirmation class of 2012, which came to a fine conclusion two weeks ago.  The whole experience was wonderful; we made some great friends, learned a lot with them, and had the honor of serving serving at their Confirmation Mass.  It was well worth all the time and energy, and we would happily do it again!

I'm in my last semester of high school, so I have been spending a lot of time on college prep.  Research, applications, essays, visits... the works.  When I'm not working on school related stuff, I'm knitting up a storm.  Big Sissy is expecting twins in May, and 2 of my brothers are getting married shortly after that, so I have a ton of stuff I need to make.  In case there's anybody reading this who I haven't told yet: I'm leaving Casa Paja next Thursday (March 1) to stay with Big Sissy as an extra pair of hands to help with all the squidjees (No, not squeegees).  I'm very excited!  Excited enough that I can almost get over how much I dislike packing, and the rest I will gladly offer up.

I do intend to update the blog from time to time, since life at the ranch will still be plenty interesting even without me in it.  Maybe I'll start a separate blog recounting my escapades... What do you think?

Since Lent started yesterday, would anyone like to share what they gave up or are doing extra as a penance? I'm giving up reading novels, Beena and Mamasita gave up chocolate, and I don't know what the menfolk gave up.  Ribbajack did try the age-old "I'm giving up school" ploy, but that has yet to work for him.  How about you?  What will this Lent mean for you?

The Origin of the Picayune

Did you know that this blog is not the first Prairie Picayune?  I wish I had some cool historical fact to throw at you, but in truth the name is a Casa Paja clan original that we use for our Christmas letter.  Our family has sent out a Christmas letter since long before I was born, but it's only been called The Prairie Picayune for the last 15 years.  The name changed when we moved out onto the "prairie" of eastern Colorado, so that part was easy, but what about "picayune"?  One of  the definitions for "picayune" (pronounced "pick-ah-yoon") is "something trivial", which is us acknowledging our own comparative unimportance to the miracle of Christmas, while still managing to be whimsical about it.

The writing of the Picayune is a long-standing tradition that has been passed down from sibling to sibling; eventually, even Beena will have her turn to be Editor in Chief.  Tradition, though, has nothing to do with punctuality since we seldom actually manage to get the Christmas letter out before Christmas; one year, it was almost Easter when we finally published it.  But the point is not whether we get it out on time, the point is that the Picayune helps us chronicle our lives and keep the people in our lives close.  Welcome to our family tradition!

P.S.  Happy Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe!  O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

How-To's Day: A St. Nick's Day Treat

Hello peoples!  Yes, I have been a very bad blogger, but Christmas is coming and I have much crafting and baking to do.  Speaking of which, did you know that today is the Feast of St. Nicholas?  St. Nick's Day is a mid-Advent celebration with a very simple tradition: the night before, all the kids in the house put a slipper or sock outside their bedroom door, and in the morning "St. Nicholas" will leave them some kind of treat in it.  It's a lot of fun, particularly for the little kids!

Now I realize that it's a little late to start this tradition this year, but it's never too late to bake treats!  What we have for you today is a cookie recipe that was sent to us in an email so many years ago, I don't even know who it came from.  These are not St. Nick's day cookies, necessarily, but they are delicious and they have a story all their own.  So without further ado:
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Sweet Revenge
I had just finished a salad at Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas and decided to have a small dessert.  Because both of us are such cookie lovers, we decided to try the "Neiman-Marcus Cookie".  It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe and the waitress said with a small frown, "I'm afraid not."  Well I said, "Would you let me buy the recipe?"  With a cute smile, she said, "Yes."  I asked how much, and she responded, "Only two fifty!"  "It's a great deal!" I said with approval, "just add it to my tab."  Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement from Neiman-Marcus and it was $285.  I looked again and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for the two salads and about $20 for a scarf.  As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said, "Cookie Recipe - $250"  That's outrageous!  I called Neiman's Accounting Department and told them the waitress said it was "two fifty", which clearly does not mean "two hundred and fifty dollars by any possible interpretation of the phrase.  Neiman-Marcus refused to budge.  They would not refund my money, because, according to them, "What the waitress told you is not our problem.  You have already seen the recipe - we absolutely will not refund your money."  I explained to her the criminal statutes which governed fraud in Texas, I threatened to refer them to the Better Business Bureau and the State's Attorney General for engaging in fraud.  I was basically told, "Do what you want, we don't give a darn, and we're not refunding your money."  I waited, thinking of how I could get even, or even try and get any of my money back.  So I just said, "Okay, you folks got my $250, and I'm now going to have $250 worth of fun."  I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in the world with an email account has a $250 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus... for free.  She replied, "I wish you wouldn't do this."  I said, "Well, you should have thought of that before you ripped me off," and slammed down the phone on her.
So here it is!  Please, please, please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of.  I paid $250 for this... I don't want Neiman-Marcus to ever make another penny off this recipe...


Neiman-Marcus Cookies:
(Recipe may be halved)


Ingredients:
2 cups butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal
24 oz. chocolate chips
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
18 oz. chocolate bar, grated
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)


Directions:
Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder.  Cream the butter and both sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda.  Add chocolate chips, grated chocolate, and nuts.  roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.  Let the cookies rest on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack, otherwise they will fall apart.


Makes approximately 120 cookies.
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The original author is unknown, but I salute this person wholeheartedly.  Just a quick note: if you have gluten allergies to deal with, these cookies are easily adapted.  Simply swap the wheat flour 1 for 1 with Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Baking Mix, or something equivalent.  Nobody will be able to tell the difference!

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas!

How-To's Day: The Christmas Cactus

I finally have a how-to for you this week! (and there was much rejoicing....)  For years, Mamasita has had a fascination with the Christmas Cactus.  It's a very pretty plant even when it's not blooming, but the flowers themselves are especially pretty.  Christmas cacti are a good fit for our family because they are relatively easy to care for and keep on blooming year after year.  They are pretty hardy in-door plants, but every once in a while we accidentally knock off one of it's little branches.  The cool thing about Christmas cacti, though, is that  a broken branch has the opportunity to become an entirely new plant.  If you take the broken piece right away and set it in some water, after a few days you'll start to see little roots:

When those roots start to look strong enough, you can plant the new shoot in its own pot.  To help retain water, we always put a few rocks at the bottom:

Once you finish planting the cactus in the soil, you should water it to help it get over the shock of replanting:

When your cactus get's big enough, it'll start blooming; first with little buds...

Then the buds will get bigger...

And bigger...

Until they burst into full bloom!

What the camera wasn't able to capture is the natural sparkle that these flowers have, but as you can see, Mamasita's Christmas cacti blossom in glorious pink and white.  Christmas cacti can bloom in other colors, too, but I've only ever seen this one.  If you decide to try it, let us know if you have any questions!
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Just like everybody else, we have a whole bunch of Thanksgiving and family madness to partake in this week, so there won't be any more posts until at least next Monday.  In the meantime, I thank God for anyone and everyone who reads this blog and I ask His blessing on every single one of you, with a special intention that all of you who are traveling have safe and uneventful passage on your way.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Old Cartoons Vs. New Cartoons

Has anyone besides me noticed the severe drop in quality of kids cartoons these days?  When I was a kid, I watched stuff like Justice League, Veggie Tales, and Samurai Jack...  I even watched things that were outside of my decade and yet are totally immortal, such as The Animaniacs, the original animated Batman, Tom and Jerry, and Looney Tunes.  These were and are all good shows that I still enjoy very much, so it's really sad to me that the entire cartoon industry seems to have gone into a decline.

These days, cartoon shows consist of: characters whose very physical forms don't make any sense; pointless or nonexistent plots; vulgar jokes instead of anything that resembles real wit; and a tendency to be so fast-paced and obnoxious that kids are left with absolutely no time to think.  To me, that doesn't sound like it's in any way beneficial or even very entertaining.  In fact, there was a study done that shows that these types of cartoons can adversely affect a child's ability to focus.  You can read all about it here.  (Yes, she is ranting, officer, but what do you plan on doing about it?)

In a nutshell, somebody needs to tell the cartoon writers to slow down and use their brains a little more so that maybe the kids who sit through their shows will have brains by the end of it.  In the meantime, I will be consoling myself with Batman.  Ciao!

Happy Menoversary to Us!

I was honestly considering not posting today.  I couldn't think of anything to say, so why bother?  Then I realized that today is the first menoversary of this blog.  How exciting is that?

What do you mean "menoversary" isn't a word?  Sure it is, Urban Dictionary says so!  I'm sure that means it's a real word... * searches through unabridged dictionary *... Huh.  Guess not.  At least not for now.  That's the great thing about the English language: make up a word, get a lot of people to use it, and voila! you've added something to the American dialect, possibly even the dictionary.  I've lost rounds of Boggle to my brothers because they somehow combined random letters into things that I was dead certain weren't actual words, but then a quick search through the dictionary proved them right and me wrong.  Some of those words you definitely wouldn't use in a conversation and some of them specifically said they were "informal English" (can you say "bad English"?), but they were words nonetheless.  For instance, Ribbajack once came up with "neep", which you'd think is something like "the sound you make when you sit in something wet and cold", but in reality is the Scottish word for turnip.  Strange? Yes, but at least now you've expanded your vocabulary!

I'm something of a Grammar/Spelling Nazi and the wanton torture of the English language pains me, so to the end of keeping people enlightened, I have a little something for you:

Cranberry Sauce Revamped!

Ugh.  I missed How-To's Day again...  Yesterday was just one of those off days.  You know how it is: when you've got a headache most of the day, you can't seem to get anything done, and you zone out while watching Die Hard with the guys.  One of those days...

Thankfully, though, I'm back on an even(-ish) keel: I have coffee in hand and I'm good to go.

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Thanksgiving is only a couple weeks away, and I'm sure you're all working on your shopping and menu planning for that.  Just don't forget the cranberry sauce!

I'm not sure where this came from, but at some point in time somebody came up with the idea that cranberry mash was the perfect item to serve with Thanksgiving dinner, and it has inexplicably become an American tradition.  Now you can just open a can of cranberry sauce, plop it in a bowl and set it on the table without a second thought.

There are very few things that my family believes are acceptable to eat directly from the can, and cranberry sauce isn't one of them.  Instead, we make a cran-apple Jello mold that is utterly delicious and works well whether you have turkey or ham for your holiday meal.  I'd like to say that we came up with this idea ourselves, but that would be dishonest.  Mamasita found the recipe on a can of Musselman's applesauce I don't know how many years ago.  We've made it for as long as I can remember, and I honestly can't imagine Thanksgiving dinner (or Christmas, for that matter) without cran-apple Jello.  It's super easy and really popular with the kids; I highly recommend that you try it!  

Cran-Apple Mold

Ingredients:

2 packages (3 oz. each) cherry flavored gelatin

1 cup boiling water

1 can (16 oz.) whole cranberry sauce

1 3/4 cups apple sauce

Directions:

1. Dissolve gelatin in boiling water

2. Stir in cranberry sauce until melted.  Mix in apple sauce.  Pour into oiled 5-cup mold.  Chill until firm.

3. Flip mold onto a plate and enjoy!

Speaking of cranberries, that reminds me of something:

Happy Wednesday!

Highlight - Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

Hi-ya, hi-ya, everyone!  How was your weekend?  Did you do anything fun and exciting?  I mostly spent my time puzzling my brains out over some logistical stuff and doing church activities.  I know, I know... I'm a wild and crazy person, but hey, I've got to have some fun :P  Seriously, though, I'm looking into starting an Etsy store so I can make some money off my craftiness; when that happens, I'll post a link so you can check it out.  I've also been commissioned by the 'rentals to post some things to sell on Craig's List.  None of this is really earth-shattering news, but I'm excited because I get to use my talents in computers and design to make some money!

Now, on to today's topic...

Over the weekend, we watched a documentary called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed presented by Ben Stein.  In this film, Stein explores the current state of academic freedom by interviewing a number of scientists and journalists about their views regarding Intelligent Design (the idea that some higher power designed the universe) and the consequences these people have faced for expressing so much as an interest in studying the subject.

We highly recommend Expelled as it is very well done, and very thought provoking; it was a good source of discussion for our whole family.  It gives one an idea of what the upper levels of academia are struggling with in their search for the truth.  If you can find it at your library, you should pick it up; lacking that, Netflix is a good option.  We don't get Netflix Instant Watch anymore, but last I knew Expelled is available that way, too.  Check it out and then tell us what you think!

The Second Best Family Activity Ever

Obviously, the best family activity is prayer, but the runner-up is reading aloud. Once upon a time, reading aloud as a family was a common form of evening entertainment (before radio and TV, that is), but by no means is it obsolete.  I'm not just talking about reading aloud to little kids, which is awesome of course and very good for their mental development, but reading aloud to the whole family.  It keeps alive, or helps build, an appreciation for literature and a love of reading that can only serve to help a person in the long run.

Besides being "Good for ya!" reading aloud makes a great gap-filler when you have dead time between activities or extra time in the evening.  I am not suggesting, however, that you should substitute reading for TV: we certainly don't.  For us, it's more like pre-TV entertainment because we do like to watch a movie or show in the evening as well.  Typically, one of us will read while the others work on cleaning up the kitchen after dinner or while folding laundry.

We also enjoy listening to a story or three when we go on road trips, but it's usually easier on everyone to just get books on disc for that.  Attempting to read aloud in a car is much harder than it is at home.  You have to read loud enough for everyone to hear you over the road noise, which will wear your voice out pretty quickly; on top of keeping your place and avoiding motion sickness.  It's just generally not worth it, let the narrator handle it.

Some books make better read-alouds than others, but it's really up to your own particular taste and judgement.  Here are some of our favorites:

• Hank the Cowdog (on audio is best)
• The Boxcar Children series
• The Little House on the Prairie books
• The Hobbit
• The Lord of the Rings trilogy
• The Artemis Fowl series and other titles from Eoin Colfer
• The Phantom Tollbooth
• The Chronicles of Narnia
• The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy series (these are for a more mature audience, not kids)
• The Redwall books
• Dracula (easily my all-time favorite book. Again not really for the kids mostly because of some scary content, adult content is not an issue with this one)

For us, reading books aloud is almost an art form.  From Da Godfather and audiobook narrators, I've learned to read aloud smoothly, with inflection, and even put on different voices for the characters; now Beena is learning to do the same.  Being able to put life into the words on the page, not just for yourself but for an audience, can make a story much more interesting and fun.  I think it helps with overall reading comprehension, too.

Let us know what some of your favorite read-alouds are!

Has It Really Been a Whole Week?

Yes, yes it has. Yikes.  And we missed How-To's Day... All I can say is I'm sorry.  This is a family project, but I'm really the only one who does the writing, so when I get busy, my extracurriculars suffer.  Here's the 60-second update on all things us:

• The dog has been diagnosed with a chronic eye problem known as pannus.  He'll be on special eye drops for the rest of his existence.  Wonderful.
• For Halloween, we participated/volunteered at a festival at our church.
• For All Saints Day (Nov. 1), we went to Mass.  It was also the last day of deer hunting season; unfortunately, we didn't get anything this time :(
• We spotted a mountain lion on our property.  We've heard of mountain lions in the area before, but actually seeing one is more than a little alarming.

We are currently snowed in following the first blizzard of the year, doing our best to stay warm.  I have received several suggestions that I write poetry about snow, but I'm not sure I have it in me today.  Instead, we have a few of Beena's original artworks to put on display.

Here we have Princess in Red.  Notice the gold petticoat under the gigantic, flowing skirt?  That's detail for ya!

Second, we have Family and Stone House.  Again, gorgeous detail and colors, but I guess I'm sort of biased :P

Finally, Peaceful Lawn.  This one is a pencil sketch, but just notice all the shading and dimension, especially in those rocks!

What did I tell you?  Beena is a wonderful artist, and she's only 11 years old!  She loves to draw.  She likes to practice on the whiteboard, but notebooks, drawing pads, and even scrap paper can be found all over our house covered in beautiful art.  Her creative muse is never idle!  Now to hire an agent...

The Meaning of Excellence

It's snowing pretty heavily out here today, which is sapping away my will to write.  Quite honestly, I'd rather knit and drink endless cups of coffee all day...  *sigh*  Well, anyway, here's the good part: today I'm using a passage  that was sent in by my brother who is currently in Hawaii.  The Master Chief is out there finishing his college degree in criminal justice and gearing up for his wedding next May.  Busy as he is, he still found time to send us this little inspirational piece.  I don't know where he found it, but I hope you enjoy it!

Aristotle's Concept of Excellence
Aristotle was born in Greece nearly 400 years before Christ.  In those extraordinarily simple times, Aristotle's concepts were thousands of years ahead of his time.  He made this statement about excellence:

"We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit."

Kinoale
This is an ancient Hawaiian concept which existed before Europeans discovered the Hawaiian Islands.  This concept was eventually put into words  by the late George Kanahele:

Kinoale means that no matter what you did in life...

You did the right thing,

In the right way,

At the right time,

In the right place,

To the right person,

For the right reason,

With the right feeling...the first time.

Arthur Deming was a management leader asked by the U.S. Government to help Japan rebuild after World War II.  He suggested that he teach America first.  He was shunned and sent to Japan anyway, and they developed Sony and Honda and so many other quality products that the U.S. now buys from Japan.  Deming believed that quality management and leadership consisted of:

Maximize customer joy, and

Minimize variation, then you have

Predictability, which causes people to

Trust, which breeds

Loyalty.

How-To's Day: List-O-Mania

I'd venture to say that every family has it's own way of organizing the troops in order to accomplish all tasks and objectives.  Some people set a routine that everyone follows, some people just let things flow and deal with tasks as they arise.  Our household relies heavily on lists.  Seriously, we have a list of everyday chores and our shopping list that both hang on the fridge; we make lists of errands and appointments when we go into town, lists of miscellaneous tasks and projects, lists of people to contact/send things to, packing lists for trips of any length, subject lists for school, lists of books/movies/music to look up... you name it, we have a list for it.  We also believe in having our lists clearly categorized by whatever parameters that apply.  For example, chores are listed under the name of the person assigned to do them, and the shopping list is divided by the particular store or type of store where an item is to be purchased.

Obsessive? Maybe a little, but it's a really effective system for keeping track of things, keeping focused on what needs to be done, and preventing extraneous spending of time, energy and money.  Think about it: making a list is a quick-and-simple form of planning that outlines your activities, getting you in the mindset of doing, bringing, or buying only what you need to.  In addition, you get the tremendous satisfaction of crossing items off a list.

You will, of course, deviate from the list sometimes.  This shouldn't be a huge problem, since the list is really just an outline that helps keep you on track.  We would recommend, though, that you prioritize your lists of errands and tasks so that all the important stuff gets done first.  Above all, be reasonable about how much goes on a list because too much will just look overwhelming and can lead to a serious case of procrastination.

Good luck and happy list-making!

The Thrill of the Hunt...

Hello again.  I'm sorry we haven't posted in a little while; some people have been staying with us for the last couple of days.  We're glad to have them, but guests do tend to upset the balance of our universe.  I think I could use a second cup of coffee...anyone else?

It's the first day of deer hunting season, and nobody went out this morning.  All for legitimate reasons, though: Mamasita and The Godfather had a business meeting, and Ribbajack was told not to go hunting by himself.  It's not like hunting is a huge expedition for us; unlike most people, we do it right here in our back yard.  Mom literally shot a deer from the back patio one year, and last year it was from a deck chair. (No, we are not in the least redneck... or couldn't you tell?)

Yup, this is our 'home on the range'

Hunting is such a longstanding tradition here that when Beena was little, anytime she saw a deer she would point at it and yell, "Bunga-deer! Shoot!"  Now she colors slightly if anyone mentions the word "bunga-deer", but the sentiment remains the same.

It should be noted that our family doesn't just hunt for sport, we also enjoy venison hugely.  If we have an unsuccessful season, everyone gets depressed at the thought of spending a whole year eating nothing but beef and poultry.  The deer out here are wild and purely grass-fed, thus their meat is very lean and healthy, not to mention beyond tasty.  That "gamey" flavor that people complain about, to us is the best part.

With all this talk of game meat, I think I'll go raid the freezer now and see if there's any left over from last year.  To the rest of you: have a happy Saturday!

~ Sgt. Pepper

How-To's Day: Crock-pot Tips and a Chili Recipe

Have you ever found yourself spending a packed afternoon in town, running kids back and forth to various lessons and appointments, only to come home with a car full of hungry people and no easy, healthy remedy for dinner?  In these situations, the crock-pot is a wonderful invention, as I'm sure many would agree, and makes setting up a meal hours in advance very easy.  Most soup and stew recipes can be adapted to spending all day in a slow-cooker, so just throw something together in the morning, set your cooker to go, and forget about it until dinnertime. Sounds simple, right?  That's because it is.  We just have a couple of suggestions to make it that much easier on you:

1. If your recipe calls for potatoes, cut them up and par-cook them in the microwave to ensure that they are soft when it's time to serve.
2. Use a slow-cooker liner (available at the grocery store) for every crock-pot meal to minimize scrubbing that big heavy bowl.  Those liners are very durable and hold up well even against metal spoons.  An added boon to using a liner is that it makes it much easier to package your left-overs by simply lifting the liner out of the crock-pot (assuming it's not punctured) and pouring its contents into a jar or other container.

Most people already have a few favorite crock-pot recipes, but just in case, here's one of ours:

Chili Con Carne y Legumbres (chili with meat and vegetables)
Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef or turkey
2 medium onions, chopped
1 (15oz.) can kidney beans, drained
2 (15oz.) cans chopped tomatoes
1 (8oz.) can tomato paste
1 red bell pepper, chopped
vegetables of choice (see notes)
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 cup cooking wine

Directions:
Brown meat in a pan with the onion and garlic.  Throw all ingredients into crock-pot. Cover and cook for 6-8 hours on low.  Serve hot over baked potatoes, rice, or corn chips.

Notes:
We like our chili spicy and full of garlic and vegetables, but not everybody does.  If that's too much garlic for your taste, cut it in half.  Cayenne is pretty hot, so if you're not that brave, just omit it and use 1/2 tsp. of black pepper.  For the veggie content, we do not recommend broccoli, cauliflower, or cabbage as they have a strange consistency in chili, but leafy greens such as spinach or kale are easy and almost unnoticeable.  Chopped roots of any kind (carrots, turnips, beets, parsnips, etc.) work well, too, as well as shredded zucchini.  Essentially, just do what you feel and enjoy!