Please don't leave me....

Fall, that is. The leaves are gorgeous right now. Almost unreal. But they are falling. And I wish they'd fall a little slower because I know what's coming next. And though I love the holidays, I wish fall could be longer and winter a bit shorter. That's my wish, anyway.














And Mom, this one is for you. Aren't you just dying to squeeze those chubby thighs on Tuesday?!!

White Bean and Kale Soup

Tonight I tried a new soup to go along with the cabbage salad that I am now addicted to. This recipe was found on Mothering.com. I served it with the salad and naan bread. We gobbled it up. The soup is easy and a definite keeper. If anyone lives close and wants kale and sage, we still have quite a bit in the garden.

White Bean Kale Soup

2 cups kale, finely chopped
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 large cloves garlic
3 cups cooked cannelloni beans
2 1/2 cups stock (I used homemade chicken stock)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 fresh sage leaves
1 teaspoon sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
pecorino cheese, freshly grated
Wash kale, remove stems from leaves. Roll up leaves and cut in thin ribbons. Set aside. In a soup pot, heat olive oil and briefly sauté garlic. Add about half the cooked beans and part of the stock. Purée remainder of beans and stock in blender, along with tomato paste and sage. Stir puréed beans into soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix kale into soup and simmer until kale has wilted (10 to 15 minutes). Add lemon juice and enough water to give soup the desired consistency. Season to taste. Serve topped with grated pecorino cheese.
Preparation: 30 minutes

Great Pumpkin Run

The Great Pumpkin Race was on Wednesday. This is a big race that involves all of the elementary schools in the district. The cross country meets were against three schools at a time, and we only competed against the ones close-by. This meet was all schools in the district and had a huge turnout. The winners get pumpkins decorated by the high school cross country team. It was exciting because Nina was able to race too. She was excited and nervous but she did awesome! She came in third in the 400 meter for Kindergarten.


Kindergarten line-up

Nina nearing the finish-line.

Results!

3rd Grade Line-up

You can see Sela in the pink shirt chasing the girl in the black sweatshirt. When I saw that girl run across the field in the warm-up, I knew Sela had stiff competition, which is good for her.


Sela ran hard and came in 3rd which she was thrilled about.

Pumpkin Trophies and Rollin's gatorade trophy for only getting lost three times.

Winner's podium. There were so many people I couldn't even get close.

And here is Nina's "special and nice friend" Mason. He is in her class at school and she sent him a little note last week with a sucker taped to it. She spent about at least an hour on it. It was a drawing of a dinosaur and said "You're so nice." Mason also got third for the boys kindergarten race so I just had to get a picture.

Bring it on!

Well, not really.


The flu seem is all around us. We never get flu shots and definitely won't this year. Ick!

But I'm sure someone will get sick. With Zig on planes every week, Rollin in preschool, and Sela and Nina in classrooms full of kids, it's unlikely we will make it through the season unscathed. Mom and I have had lots of chats about the advice we've gleaned from naturopathic doctors and I finally got around to stocking my non-existent (until now) medicine shelf. I'm the girl who has to send Zig to borrow advil from neighbors in a pinch. haha.

We are cutting back on sugar as much as possible. Eating lots of healthy fruits and veggies. An apple a day...thank goodness the honey crisps are in season right now! And keeping super warm (Erin's advice). But I wanted to be better prepared this year to shorten the duration of any bug as much as possible. Most natural treatments are most effective when started at the earliest onset of any symptoms. I didn't want to be running out to the store with a sick child or late at night so I am being a bit more pro-active now than in past years.

I've been researching and reading all about natural flu treatments over the past few weeks. I checked out the Bastyr website and got their recommendations as well as other sites that focus on prevention and natural medicine. Finally I spent some time with a woman at PCC who knows her stuff and now I have a little game plan for our family.

Here is our plan. Mostly for me to refer back to next year.

1) Vitamin C in the form of chewable vitamins and fizzy drinks. As much as we can tolerate.
2) Vitamin D
3) Pro-Biotics in the form of chewables along with Kefir each morning.
4) Elderberry with Echinacea and Astragulus
5) Fish Oils
6) Tons of herbal tea! Yum!

* I will try to sneak the garlic capsules into smoothies and juice since my first attempt at getting the kids to swallow the pills resulted in dramatics that included gagging and falling on the floor. Wimps.

The kids love all the other vitamins so they enjoy their new morning ritual. I also bought a natural treatment for the flu if/when we get it. So now I feel prepared. I hope we don't get it. All of the preventative measures are great for our bodies either way.

And most important. GOOD Food. Good thing this part I enjoy.

I made a huge pot of chicken noodle soup this afternoon. Lots of veggies. Celery, carrots, garlic, kale, brown rice, corn, and a medley of herbs from the garden. The kids slurped it up. I love those meals where no coaxing is needed.

And I tried out a new recipe for warm red cabbage salad that was INCREDIBLE. Seriously, if you like cabbage or even if you don't. It's a must try. A keeper forever and ever. I'm making it again tomorrow since one of the last things we have left in the garden is lots of little red cabbage heads. Thank you 101 Cookbooks. Again.



Tassajara Warm Red Cabbage Salad Recipe - 101 Cookbooks

1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon natural cane sugar (or brown sugar)
fine grain sea salt

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 red onion, diced
3 medium cloves garlic, minced

1 pound head of red cabbage or radicchio, quartered and cut into thin ribbons

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
2 ounces golden raisins (or other plump, chopped dried fruit)
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

a bit of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to garnish

Roast the sunflower seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until golden brown. Sprinkle on the sugar, and a couple pinches of salt. Stir until the sugar melts and coats the seeds (you pan will need to be hot enough). Transfer the seeds immediately to a plate so they don't stick to the pan. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and saute the onion for a minutes or two with a couple pinches of salt. Stir in the garlic, and the cabbage, and a few more pinches of salt. Stir and cook for just a minute or so, or until the cabbage softens up just a touch. Then stir in the rosemary, most of the raisins, and the vinegar. The cabbage will continue to get more and more tender even after you remove it from the heat, so keep that in mind, and do your best to avoid overcooking it - where it collapses entirely. Fold in half of the feta cheese, most of the sunflower seeds, then taste. Season with more salt if needed. Serve garnished with the remaining raisins, feta, sunflower seeds and Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4 to 6.

This recipe was adapted from The Complete Tassajara Cookbook by Edward Espe Brown. Published by Shambhala (September 8, 2009)

My boys. How I adore them.

Yesterday was one of those "I wish time could stand still" moments. Those usually happen when I slow down and try to be more present in the moment. And usually it's not a monumental occasion. More often than not, it's me noticing the beauty in the ordinary things that happen day to day. It's when I take the time to observe. Or stop and really listen and focus on what the kids have to say. Today it was nothing more than seeing my kitchen strewn with toys and both the boys right in the center of it happy as little clams. They were playing together. Well, sort of.

Rollin loves to go to preschool, but he also really enjoys the mornings he gets to stay home and just play around in his jammies. I try not to run errands the mornings Rollin doesn't have school because I enjoy the unstructured time at home with my little boys. And errands are kind of like torture with Rollin. He wants to buy EVERYTHING. And invite EVERY pretty girl, young or old, to his birthday that is six months away. But that's another story.

While I run the girls down the street to the bus, I usually leave Rollin at home. That boy sure gets busy and sometimes a little bit sneaky. I picture a smaller version of the Home Alone kid. I know he heads straight to the chocolate chip jar. He can't really hide that with all the chocolate smeared on his face., though he tries to deny everything. Some days he hauls big bins of toys to the kitchen and dumps them. Or he tries to find dinosaurs on my computer and freezes it or opens a million windows. So lovely. One day I came back from the bus stop to find him flying down the hall on his bike. His outside bike. He had a total " I'm busted" look on his face. I could not get mad because the pure joy on his face was priceless. I think he knew the risk he was taking, but wanted to do it so badly that his desire overcame his judgement and he went for it. He was having the time of his life.

Yesterday Rollin spent the morning working with his trains. I was surprised at how long Evan was entertained just rolling around on the floor amidst a sea of blocks, trains, and dinosaurs. I just worked in the kitchen for awhile and then sat on the floor and just watched them. I played a little but mostly just watched their interactions. I love these two little guys with all of my heart. Just the very thought of Rollin's booming voice or Evan's laugh bring me such joy. They are such fun!


Rollin likes to start the day with a bang. He usually bursts out of his room and runs to the kitchen. He is READY for the day. Today he got it started by getting down to some Taylor Swift tunes. You can sure tell he has sisters! This is him dancing to one of her fast songs.


And now a slow song.


Making oval and circle tracks.


"He touched me Mama, he touched me!!!"

Evan checking out what big boys do.


And the BIG highlight of the day was Eric beginning some work on our guest bathroom. Eric will have his bags of tools in the house for a whole week and he's so good to entertain the dozens and dozens of questions Rollin asks. He's so patient and kind. I came in this afternoon and he was teaching Rollin the names of tools while he worked.

The boy is in heaven.

Cross Country Final

Mr. Hogle called Sela a "little diamond in the rough" after she won the last cross country meet.

And she's off!

Trying to pull away from the pack

Sela's mobile cheering squad


Coming up the hill towards the finish line

Mr. Hogle congratulating Sela.

This man is quite a celebrity on campus. He loves his job and all the kids love him.

Rollin and Lance (who's mom, Deane, took some of these photos)

Evan was cheering silently.

It's crazy hair day!

Thankfully I found the hairspray just in the nick of time!

Casualties of Nursing

It took about two seconds for me to realize that Evan missed the food supply by about ten inches last night. At first I thought there was a 20 pound piranha on my neck. Then I woke up and realized Evan was apparently a little bit hungry.



It's much more obvious in person...the flash on my camera really washed it out. This morning Rollin said, "Mom, you've got a big red stain on your neck."

Please refrain from judging me when you see me around town this afternoon :)

Tennis

One of my goals this year was to get back on the tennis court. It's not like it's a chore, I love the game, but for whatever reason, I haven't found something that works for me since we've been in Washington. And there's always that nursing baby. I got a taste of league play in college and it was interesting...right Erin? Lots of has-beens taking things way to serious! But it was fun, and a little competition is good.

Well, the year is winding down so I figured now or never. I worked with the kids all summer, and now Sela and Nina are taking lessons and I think they're getting hooked (which was the plan). But it's October, and I haven't done anything tennis related for myself, other than serve one bucket of balls last week. So on Saturday after watching Sela's lesson, I just went in and signed up for a clinic on Tuesday nights. The only description on the paperwork was "advanced." And if I'm not advanced by now then something's seriously wrong.

Well I showed up tonight not expecting much of a workout...even wore my running shoes because I was in too much of a hurry to find my tennis shoes. I walked over to the court and started to wonder if I had the wrong night. Which happens more than I'd like to admit lately. Anyway, it turns out the class is me and three middle aged men. Now, I'm a base-liner and a singles player. And my guess is most of these guys play doubles and like to serve and volley. So it was like playing against my Dad. We even did a slice drill. I don't usually slice my backhand so that was interesting to say the least. I was rusty but it was very fun and a great workout. We ran a lot doing drills. The guys were very nice and funny and welcoming. We all won our fair share of points. I wanted to win more, of course! But it will come. I wish I had someone to just hit with a couple of times so I could find my rhythm again. But this is a start and I thoroughly enjoyed it! (And I did ace the coach once...hee hee)

Fall is lovely

I just looked at the forecast for next week and it's thoroughly depressing. We've had some incredible weather over the past month and this time of year the natural beauty around here is truly breathtaking. I'm going to focus on the positive and pretend there aren't five days of drizzle headed our way. Here are some of the things we've been enjoying about autumn.


This Japanese Maple sits right by the front gate...my favorite colors all in one tree.

A few of the gourds, squash, and pumpkins the kids grew became a centerpiece for our table.

Japanese Maples are positively my favorite trees.

Sela and Nina harvested the pumpkins this weekend.

I went to a cooking class last week and my friend Britney made this wonderful pesto without cheese or nuts....just fresh parsley, oregano, olive oil, garlic and salt. I've made it twice since then with the herbs from my garden. AMAZING!

The slow cooker is a permanent fixture on the counter. We had white bean hominy soup today. Zig adorned his with some fresh tomatillos from the garden.

Our anniversary is this month. It's been 10 years :) 4 moves. 4 kids. Not enough sleep. Tons of fun and many wonderful memories.

We've had some absolutely perfect weather this week. Sunny and cool. Evan took a nap in the garden.

I'm on a navy kick right now and I love this dress I found for Nina....Mom, I think I need one in my size...care to dust off the old sewing machine??


We like to pretend Evan can sit up.

This has nothing to do with fall, but I needed a picture of Rollin. He's still my little huggie bear!

Go Sela Go!

Sela said she was nervous all day about the cross country meet this afternoon, but she walked away with another win! She must have channeled all that nervous energy.It's so funny, I had no idea she was such a good runner. These meets are so much fun and all the kids have such a great time. Rollin and Nina enjoy playing on the playgrounds of all the different elementary schools and Evan is pretty content just watching all the action. He gets passed around quite a bit too. Unfortunately, Zig was in San Fran today so we had to cheer extra loud to make up for his absence.

After the meet, we came home and had lentil sloppy joes and then off to Theno's for some pumpkin ice cream!


Ready, Set, GO!

Through the schoolyard

Through the parking lot

Finishing back at the field.

With all the commotion, Evan fell asleep.