Author - Lorri

Veteran’s Day

Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who follow and of the man who leads that gains that victory.
- George S. Patton

Have you hugged a veteran today?

Wool+Hot Water=

FELT!

Remember this bag I started on?

Well it only took me a few days of knitting it during snatches of free time.  I embroidered a trailing vine and some berries so then it looked like this:

Just a bag, really.  But then my friend Sheril, who had been crocheting a wool bag of her own, came over and we felted!  Stuck the bags in pillow cases, put them in the washing machine with HOT water and an extra long cycle, then sat back an knit other projects.  Every 10 minutes or so we checked on them until the bags had felted.

Behold

How cute is that?

I love how the embroidery gets totally incorporated into the bag.

The pattern can only be found in the Fall issue of Interweave Knits magazine.  Or you can buy a kit from the designer on Etsy: SheKnits for Knitters.

She sells complete kits to make the original Dumpling Bag and the Double Dumpling bag, which is what I made.  I’m all about letting other people do the shopping and letting all the supplies I need arrive at my front door.

What I’ve Done

In the last four days I

Prepared for Friday’s homeschool group craft
Sent multiple emails about our Girl Scout meeting next week
Got the papers signed officially appointing me the Girl Scout leader
coordinated 2 families worth of breakfast food to be delivered to our hotel
cleaned all our bathrooms
mopped all the bare floors
talked to Bip’s doctor to renew his prescription
roasted pumpkin seeds
sent in the paperwork for a Girl Scout scholarship
took down the Halloween decorations
arranged transportation with the Disney Magical Express
made new covers for the children’s autograph books
wrote an article for the Homeschool Classroom
found our Vacation Club cards
washed 3 loads of laundry
packed almost everything
printed out luggage tags and address labels

I did not do any school.

I still need to

move our CDs with pictures to the fire safe box.
buy and pack snacks, ponchos and blister pads (I delegated that to Philip)
type up our daily itineraries
order Pumpkin new folklorico shoes
clean the kitchen and entryway
call my friend Niki
pack our carry-ons

We’re not leaving until Saturday morning, so I feel pretty good about what’s left of my list.  I’m a little annoyed with myself because so much of it could have been done weeks or even months ago. I got really overwhelmed trying to plan this trip, so I put it off til the very last second.  Do you ever do that?  I was like a little kid with my hands over my ears, saying “nah nah nah nah, I can’t hear a word you’re saying.”  Which is not really the way to plan a trip.  But what’s done is done and we’ll be fine.  We’re going to have a great vacation with mild weather and low-ish crowds.  Boo may have to wash some dishes to help pay for admission tickets now that he has to pay full adult fare and Bip needs a ticket now, too, but that’s ok.

Alright already, I need to get off the computer and get busy!

The Day After

Much has been said about yesterday’s election.  I’ve read a lot of blogs this morning, mostly by Christian, homeschooling moms, just the kind of people that Senator-Elect Mark Warner called a “threat to what it means to be an American.”  They are disappointed and worried and I don’t blame them.  I am very glad that my husband’s retirement from the Army is already in the works.  But I’m worried about what happens when he enters the civilian workforce.  I’m all for rendering unto Caesar and all that, but really, where is the motivation to get good grades, find a good job and work hard to achieve your own piece of the pie?  It’s hard not to worry that after 20 years of service to our nation, at a price we never bargained for, we’ll finally be able to make some real money, only to see it “redistributed.”

But you know what?  We will all be OK.  We are not in charge here.  We never were.

I’ll leave you with this quote from Charles L. Allen:

“When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you are slamming the door in the face of God.”

Pumpkin Spice Latte

(this is a repost from November 2, 2008)
Whew.  I think I’m recovered enough from a flurry of Halloween, birthday and baby shower activities.  I’ve had a couple of requests, both in real life and on my blog for my Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe, so here it is:

Pumpkin Spice Latte

2 heaping Tablespoons canned pumpkin
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice*
1 c strong coffee
2 c milk

Combine all into a pot and heat.  Serve into cups, garnish with whipped cream and ground nutmeg.  Makes 3 cups.

After I tried the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, I thought theirs was sweeter than mine, so next time I make it I’ll probably add more brown sugar.

*If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice on hand, you can make your own with spices you probably already have.  Here’s a recipe.

Pumpkin Pie Spice

4 tablespoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground allspice

Combine all and store in an airtight container.

Ten

Ten years ago Philip and I became parents for the first time. Our little Boo arrived in the wee hours of the morning, crying loudly.  He’s never been quiet since.  He even talks in his sleep.

He’s not so little anymore!  From that high needs, clingy baby, to a perpetually in motion toddler,  head strong little boy, he’s now a fun, smart, funny – very funny – young man. I’m proud to call him my son.

So to the one who started it all, Happy Birthday, Boo!  May God bless you and keep you safe today and always.

I Don’t Know Why I’m Here

Don’t worry, I’m not getting all existential on all y’all.  I’m not navel gazing or pondering the meaning of my exisitence.  I know exactly why I’m Here: To keep my children from killing each other.

What I’m actually wondering is why I’m here, at the computer.  I’ve got a to-do list that’s really long and some of it needed to be done last week, a good portion needs to be done by tomorrow and in 9 days we’re all going to Disney World.

Yes, indeed we did go on a Disney Cruise just last year.  And uh, yeah, Disneyland the year before that.  Almost 2 years to the day that we’re leaving for this trip.  What?  Obsess over the Mouse much? Why do you ask?

And in between now and then, I have a million things to do.

Like finish my article on Martinmas and the one on planning for year round school for the Homeschool Classroom.

Prep for the lantern project I foolishly said I’d teach the day before we leave.

Make sure my Brownie co-leader and my substitute are prepared for the meeting while I’m gone.  Oh yeah, and I should probably tell my substitute that she’s subbing for me. (Hi Tami!)

Figure out which MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation office) to buy the Disney tickets at.

Wrap Boo’s birthday presents.  I accidentally sent him to deliver clean sheets to the guest room where his birthday presents are “hiding.”  Probably in plain view, once you enter the room.  Of course the Boy can’t find the nose on his face, so chances are he didn’t see the presents.  Oh well.

We’ll be carving pumpkins at some point, too.

And there’s the Cub Scout pack meeting, in costume, tonight.

At least Boo’s birthday cake is finished and I remembered to order Bip some more pants from Land’s End with my free shipping coupon.

Actually, I do know what I’m doing here.  I’m hoping that list takes care of itself.

History Geek

I’m a bit of history geek, I admit it.  I love to watch history documentaries and read historical novels.  I’m loving reading history to Boo and Pumpkin Girl.  And I love making timelines with them.

I got a little crazy when I saw the products over at Homeschool In the Woods.  I even bought a timeline book for myself.

To read more about my timeline madness, including reviews of some of the Homeschool In the Woods products and how I use timelines in our homeschool, please visit me over at the Homeschool Classroom: Using Timelines to Teach History.

Also, we’re having a little give away over there this week.  Click over to this article specifically – $25 Amazon.com Gift Certificate Giveaway – for information on how to enter.

Catching Up

I have been more or less intentionally neglecting my blog.  Fall is such a busy time for our family, but I love Fall so much that I like to spend my free time just enjoying the weather.  So that equates to less time on the computer and alas, a neglected blog.

I got a chance to meet up with my friend Shanti at our knitting store yesterday.  I don’t know about the rest of the world, but the economy was alive and well in Old Town Alexandria!  Both my go-to parking lots were full, our usual restaurant was full and we were fortunate enough to find another one with only a short wait.

I did find myself in a bit of a dog-dislikers hell as we left Starbucks in the middle of doggy trick or treating.  It was cute in a sort of, stay over there and don’t even think about licking me kind of way.

Did you catch that – I went to Starbucks.  For the first time ever.  I tried their Pumpkin Spice Latte in order to compare it with mine and you know what…my recipe is better!  Theirs was sweeter, which is remedied by more sugar in mine, but theirs also had a sort of artificial flavor, which I suspect came from the syrup they used.  My recipe calls for real pumpkin and real spices and now I’m thinking about turning that pot of leftover coffee into a pumpkin latte.  mmm

So onward to the knitting store where we camped for about 2 1/2 hours and knit and knit and knit.  It seemed like I made no progress on Boo’s never ending scarf, but I think that’s just the way of it with scarves.  You knit forever and then suddenly it’s long enough and it’s done.

I also worked a bit on this:

It’s a going to be a bag, despite the fact that it looks suspiciously like a halter top.

Upon returning home, I got everyone ready for our last trip to Boo at the Zoo.  We loaded our two knights (one medieval and one Jedi) and our princess into the car, arrived with time to spare and rejoiced in the mild temperature.  Last year we half froze to death, even with gloves on.  This year was much better and Bip was so much fun to watch as he totally got the whole open your bag for candy thing!  Our strategy of buying tickets for the last night of the event paid off once again as we hit up the vendors trying to unload the boxes of goodies still left at the end of the night.  We each got multiple handfuls of Bip’s favorite organic granola bars.  And by the time we were ready to head home there was no line at the Good Humor truck, as opposed to the huge one earlier, so we enjoyed a final free treat on the way out.

Of course, good homeschooling mother that I am, I gave my children pop quizzes along the way.  Boo was able to correctly identify which system we were traveling through after being “eaten” by the giant tiger, and told me what kind of knight was giving out candy.  The answers were the digestive system and the knight was a crusader as identified by his red cross on the white field.

Pumpkin Girl dazzled the zoologist at the bird station with her knowledge of all things avian.

And this morning during school, we all remarked at the quintessential Fall weather – dark and gloomy, with the wind literally howling through our windows.  A perfect day for hot chocolate!  And as I sit here typing, the outside temperature has dropped from 50 degrees to 44.  Brr!

Sadly though, Boo has soccer practice today and it’s bound to be even colder by then.  The howling wind isn’t going to be nearly as romantic while I’m forced to sit on a cold metal bleacher.

Unless I bring along a homemade pumpkin spice latte.

Copyright The Mac and Cheese Chronicles 2020.  All rights reserved. Images and content may not be used without express permission.