Holiday Season!

Quick List of December So Far

12/17/17 Gruenberg Christmas in HC

We got to see most of the kids, missing only one. Shelly made a comment to me expressing some sympathy for her older cousins on the other side of the family - "Now I know how they felt around all of us." Yep, on the Gruenberg side, my kids are the oldest and suffer through all the trials of dealing with little ones. And on the other side, my kids are in the younger half. 

Once all the Littles had vacated the house, the Fortier kids pulled out the chess boards and took their turns challenging Bampa to a game. There was some trash talking, some close calls and finally two of the three kids had taken shots against Bampa. Grandma kept the crew supplied with snacks as they battled late into the night. Final tally...

   Shelly 1 win

   Eli       1 loss

   Bampa  1-1

Look out Bampa, this crew will be back for more!

12/22/17 First Day of Vacation!

I took the day off so we could enjoy some quality time together. Three kids, 3 cleanings at the dentist, 2 haircuts, 2 hot chocolates and 2 chai tea lattes, 1 optometrist appointment, quick stop at the craft store, did we do anything else?

12/24/17 Christmas Eve with the Fortiers

Party starts at 5:00. Or 4:00, or 3:00. At about 2:40 I had a giant mess on my hands with muffin batter. Literally. Batter was all over my hands with people possibly showing up in 20 or 140 minutes and I had a little meltdown and dumped everything in the garbage. So much for ginger spice muffins. Things could only get better from there. And they did! What a great evening. The kids enjoyed each other's company and the grown ups did too. A great evening with great family.

12/25/17 Christmas Day for Fortier 5

Big surprise... How did Santa know the kids have been working on their chess skills lately? He delivered a beautiful chess board and some infuriating logic puzzles that have us all stumped. We enjoyed some quiet down time and a few games. And I almost forgot - this was the day that we reveled the big gift to the kids. It took them about five seconds to figure it out, but their silent looks at each other told me they couldn't quite believe it. Disney World. For real? It took a couple of hours but their excitement built until finally they started binging Everything You Need to Know about Disney World videos online. We're going to Disney!!

12/??/17 A Few Days Later

We're on a roll with math assignments, an hour every day and then let the fun begin. Last night we went to see the latest Star Wars thing but the only seats left were for the 9:35 p.m. show. I enjoyed an appetizer and a book while David took the clan to the movie. Late night, but we're on vacation! We're sleeping in later every day.

Today, HC. Bampa lured us with a promise of lefse and chess lessons. We showed up after lunch and immediately started in on chess. The kids offered their chess stragedies (that's not a typo) to help Bampa keep up. The games drew on through philosophical discussions and crawling around pretending to be a cat and harassing siblings. Grandma joined us for catching up on news and kept the snacks flowing. All the way till supper. Grandma fed us some more and the whole afternoon and evening were gold. Treasure, priceless.

   Shelly   Draw
   Archer   1 loss
   Eli         1 loss
   F5 Group Effort   1 loss
   Bampa   3-0-1

P.S. Next time that Bampa concedes the game, take it. Don't insist on actually playing the rest of the game, no matter what you think the odds are, you won't be on the winning side of the transaction. Lesson learned, Bampa, we won't make that mistake again!

Thanksgiving Road Trip

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, we were able to enjoy a two day trip to Monroe to visit as much of the family as we could round up. It's been too long, I'm so glad we had the chance to catch up with everyone. And there's nothing like a road trip for some very special bonding time. Can't wait to do it again sometime :)

Happy Birthday E!

Hey Mr. 7! You asked for a birthday party, I felt like I had about two minutes to put it together but we all pulled together and had a great time. Mr. First Grader, Mr. Cub Scout, Mr. How Did You Grow Up So Fast?

Love you Eli!!

Fall is Here! Muffins

I let Shelly lick the mixer beaters. She said the batter tasted like Fall.

Archer walked into the room and said, "It smells like Fall in here." And thus was born my new favorite muffin. Not overly sweet. A little spicy. Enough said, let's get baking!

Fall is Here! Muffins
Original recipe from the Kitchn.

Ingredients
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 stick butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

2 to 2 1/2 cups diced pears - 2 pears (or mix of pears and apples, 1 each)
1/4 cup candied ginger, diced small, but not TOO small, you want to taste those little chunks of ginger like treasures in every other bite...

mixture of cinnamon and sugar for topping

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 425. Place paper muffin cups in muffin pan.
2. In large bowl, cream sugars and eggs until well blended. Add eggs one at a time and ensure all well mixed. Add vanilla extract.
3. In separate bowl, mix flour and all dry ingredients.
4. While mixing egg/sugar mixture, add about 1/3 of flour mixture to egg/sugar mixture. Once incorporated, add 1/3 of milk. Continue alternating adding flour and milk until everything is blended. Don't over-mix!
5. Add pears/apples and ginger, gently fold in with rubber spatula until fruit is evenly distributed within the batter.
6. Scoop batter into muffin cups, this should make about 12 medium sized muffins. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture onto muffins.
7. Place muffin pan into oven and reduce heat to 400. Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating after 10 minutes, until browned and toothpick inserted into muffins come out clean.
8. Place muffins on wire rack to cool before enjoying.

Why We Love It
Because they taste good? Because they're not overly sugary so you don't feel like you're eating dessert for breakfast? Just because!

Just 3 stars because 2 of us don't really like the chunks of fruit.

  

Genius, Fails & Rants

I've found a new podcast. I cannot stop listening. Sometimes I listen at work on my earbuds and start laughing. I try to keep it quiet, but someone always catches me giggling to myself and then we have to discuss what was so funny, etc. It's the best. These two Mothers talk about real Raising Kids Stuff and they're funny and serious and so very encouraging. My favorite part comes when the Genius Fail Rant segment comes on. Other parents call in to brag on their latest Genius innovation in Child Raising. And confess their Fails as a Parent. And Rant about whatever injustice just happened in their lives. You can hear the joy and pride in their voices, sometimes you hear these poor moms sobbing as they lay out their Fail and how disappointed they are in what just happened. And at the end of each call, the two Mothers tell the moms what Geniuses they are. And tell the moms what Failures they are, laughing all the way through, but also tell everyone just what a wonderful job they are all doing. They tell even the Fail moms that they're doing their very best, and tell them why they're NOT failures at all. They never go through a show without telling us, "You're doing a GREAT job. You're doing great. Keep up the good work!"

And the reason why I love this thing so much is that almost every single Genius is something I've discovered myself or WISH I had discovered, it would have made things so much better! And those Genius things that I discovered, DID make our lives better for at least five minutes, while they still worked with the kids. And those Fails - most of them I can relate to. I've DONE those things.

Dog got into the diaper pail and shredded everything and spread it evenly over the entire floor of the living room. Someone had a leaky diaper and... Driving down the highway and I looked in the back seat to see Shelly standing up in her car seat so she can see out the window. Forgot to buckle her. Missed the bus in the morning and had to rush everyone out of the house at the last second. Got the pickup time wrong and Shelly was still at the art lesson long after everyone else's moms had picked them up. Forgot to pick up Archer from school when I promised him I'd be there. Winter has arrived and no one has boots or coats that fit them. Summer has arrived and no one has a swimsuit. Failed to wake them up on time for school, failed to have the right flavor of jelly for PB&J sandwiches, failed to have the right kind of berries for snack, failed to get all the laundry done on time for the favorite shirt to be available today and on and on. I've yelled at my kids too often. I can see myself in all those frustrated, exasperated parents that call in to share their stories.

On the flip side, I cannot list all the Genius moments that we've had as a family, there are too many to count. Every time a vacation goes well, or most of us like the meal that I've cooked, or we get back into the School Swing once again, year after year. The kids are awake and dressed on time 364 days out of the year, we have SOME food in the house even if it's not the RIGHT kind of berries, most of the laundry is caught up.  The kids get tons of time with their grandparents and cousins. They're pretty responsible because (I think) David and I have pushed them in that direction every chance we get. I laugh and dance and sing and read with my kids. And every little one of those is a victory, our own Genius moments one by one.

Sometimes it is so easy to get caught up in the list of Fails that stick in our minds. But if we can just stop reading down that list, if we could toss it into the trash and instead start thinking about those Genius moments, wouldn't we all be a bit happier? Or maybe, if we can take that list of Fails and just laugh it off as these Mothers do with every single call? Something didn't go quite right, maybe we learned a lesson from it, and can we laugh at it as a past hiccup? Anyway. What's so great about this podcast is that it leaves me feeling Not Alone, we're all travelling through this Parenting thing one step at a time and just trying to make it through the best that we can. And that's the end of my Rant for today. Feel free to add your own. We're in this together, right?

Scout Weekend at Devil's Lake State Park

For the second year in a row, I've taken the kids to join Archer's Boy Scout Troop camping at Devil's Lake. Those kids always amaze me. The Scouts are wonderful hosts (thanks Archer!). The rest of us are just along for the adventure. Incredibly, Eli hiked the entire trail both morning and afternoon with no complaints, no major injuries, etc. etc. There really isn't much more to say than that. We all had such a great time that I'm pretty much speechless.

Thanks Kids!


Abridged Summary of Events...

- Practically a dance party in the van on the way up to camp, great music, only a few wrong turns along the way
- No Rain
- No Rain Fly (left at home! oops!)
- No UPD (Universal Pounding Device, Scout speak for mallet/hammer/beat up old bowling pin) for pounding stakes into the ground
- Used IPD instead (Improvised Pounding Device, Mom speak for a ROCK)
- Amy, Mary, and kids arrived at camp well before the Boys, set up camp and then waited for many many hours for the Boys to catch up
- Picked a site across the street from the pit toilets, good I guess?
- 3 air mattress completely covered with mold, luckily the kids are small enough to share the remaining 3 good mattresses
- So many stars. Visible thanks to the lack of rain fly over the tent
- So much good food. Thanks to the Boys for all their planning and cooking
- Fun at the dance and around the campfire and on the ferry on the way home, new stuff (boys at the dance and who's dancing and who's not), repeat stuff (boys at the dance? a story for another time), great memories for all
- So many wonderful miles hiking around the lake, enjoying the company and laughter of friends and family. Let's do this again sometime!

Friend Time

We ordered pizzas for the kids, hopped in the Party Bus (aka Family Van) and went out for a a few hours without the kids. All the inside jokes and teasing each other for past indiscretions and complimenting the outfits and it was just a wonderful evening. Thanks Girls! And also thanks Husbands.   :)

The next day David treated me to a Brewer's game. We're at the end of September but it's practically 100 degrees so we roasted our way through a great afternoon. Thanks honey! And thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for one last Pool Day before the season ends.

Easy Eggs on Wednesday

As part of my master plan for the rest of my life... Or anyway, Wednesdays for the next 9 months... Wednesdays are for eggs. Super EGGciting, right? That was so cheesy, sorry, couldn't help myself.

Anyway, my recipe turned out looking JUST like the pictures on this recipe!

Omelet Bake

Ingredients
1 cup chopped red and green bell pepper
some chopped yellow onion
1 cup diced cooked ham
12 eggs
1/2 cup milk or cream
1/2 cup to 1 cup shredded cheese
salt and pepper
~ all ingredients listed above are totally flexible, use more or less as you like it

Instructions
1. Spray the pan with non-stick spray. Evenly spread bell pepper, onion and cooked ham on bottom of pan. Spread cheese over the top of the veggies.
2. Whisk eggs and milk/cream together until combined. Pour eggs over veggies and cheese. Add salt and pepper (salt not really very necessary as the ham adds plenty of salt to the dish). Refrigerate until ready to cook.
3. On your way home from work, call home and ask someone to pre-heat oven to 400. Upon arrival at home, immediately put the dish into the oven, bake for approximately 25-30 minutes, or until eggs are set.

Why we love it
Four of us liked it. Then one of us decided he only liked it a little bit and asked for something else to eat, so I guess that's only three of us. I love the easy prep, the saving it for the next day, the way leftovers reheat and taste just as good (even frozen leftovers).

  

Best Meal Ever! aka Slow Cooker Roast

Oh my gosh is there any meal ever that got FIVE STARS???

The original recipe is here. I don't drink beer but beer in recipes is ok, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Five Star Roast Beef

Ingredients
1 2-3 lb chuck roast
1 bottle dark beer
1-2 cups beef broth
1 yellow onion, sliced/chopped
salt and pepper
hoagie rolls
cheese and whatever other toppings you like

Instructions
1. The night before cooking day, coat the roast with salt and pepper. Sear all the sides of the roast in  a very hot pan. Place all ingredients in the slow cooker and refrigerate.
2. Cooking day - set cooker on low and cook for 8-9 hours
3. Butter and toast the rolls.
4. Shred the roast, it will fall apart with every touch.

Why we love it
Warm, tender, crusty rolls... All five of us loved it so much!! We each had our own version, topped with different kinds of cheese, and a couple of us even put french onion dip on the rolls.

Next time I'm going to try using something other than beer (the beer was fine, but I think we can do better). I'll cook only one 3 pound roast instead of two (lots of leftovers!). And I'll try some other seasonings. But seriously. This is the first time we've EVER had a 5 star meal. And it was so easy. Can't wait to do this again!!

                                      

Last Moments of Summer

School year has started, but the warm weather is sticking around and I couldn't resist picking up a dozen ears of corn from the roadside stand this weekend.

First, there was the kayaking. Thanks so much to Dad for inviting me out, it was very nice to spend some time on the water telling fishing tales and enjoying the sunshine. Feels like it's been way too long since I had a day like that.

I picked up the corn on the way home - I've driven past that stand at least a dozen times in the last month or two and always think I should stop. Finally I stopped.

We picked up a saxophone for Shelly. Every single one of us tried it out. This is going to be a great new thing in our house this year, more music, I can't wait to see where she takes it...

We came upon a movie night solution that made everyone happy. Some of us watched on the small screen with headphones, the rest watched the big screen. Thanks to wi-fi movie streaming and a headphone jack splitter, we all got our way. I'm sure glad that Archer was sitting close so I could grab his arm at every scary moment as we watched, there were more than a few of those!

Archer helped host a Court of Honor where all the scouts in his troop were presented with the merit badges they've earned over the last few months. He had no trouble standing in front of the crowd and telling about his camp experiences, along with performing in a couple of skits for the parents' entertainment.Way to go Archer, you've got 4 more badges to your name!

Finally, we got around to that corn. Eli and I went after that sweet corn and I just listened while he told me his strategy for the best way to get the leaves off. And identified the good ears and the bad. And talked about every single thing that came into his head during those 20 minutes that we sat out on the porch together. Priceless.

The kids finished out the day with tons of chasing around outside. They came in hot and hungry and tired. So summer continues, even as the school year marches on.

Brand New Favorite - Mini Chicken Pies

I ordered a little calzone dough press and got busy looking up recipes. When the little dough press arrived, I realized just how very small it is. It would make a dumpling sized pasta about three inches tall. Too small for any plans I had. Returned.

Still, I was anxious to try one of the recipes I'd found, kind of. I actually took a recipe I found online, modified it a bit, bought some pie crusts from the store and today, went to town.

Ingredients (From Betty Crocker, plus some extra seasonings)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup all purposed flower
2 cups carrots, onion and celery
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
a few shakes of Italian seasoning, oregano and a pinch or two of nutmeg
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup cream or milk
1 lb cooked chicken
2 packages refrigerated pie crusts
1-2 eggs, beaten

Instructions
1. Butterfly the chicken breasts and season with salt, pepper, oregano. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, or until done. After cooled, dice or shred chicken into small pieces.
2. Heat oven to 425. Place pie crusts on counter to allow to wam to room temperature.
3. In a saucepan or large skillet, melt butter and olive oil over medium heat. Stir in flour, veggies, salt, pepper and spices. Stir constantly until mixture is bubbly and veggies are soft.
4. Remove from heat, stir in broth and cream/milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Stir in chicken, remove from heat.
5. Roll pie crust on well floured counter, until thinned as much as possible without creating holes/tears. Use medium sized bowl to trace circles on the pie crust. Use a spatula to transfer circles from counter to baking pan (line baking pan with parchment paper).
6. Place about 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture into each circle. If it's very runny, wait a few minutes - as the filling cools, it will thicken. Fold the circles in half and press the edges together. Make two slits in each pie.
7. Generously brush egg wash over each pie, do this 2-3 times per pie as the egg soaks into the crust. Dust each pie with a few pinches of salt (sea salt is even better!).
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until pies are golden and crusty.
9. Wait a few minutes before serving, they're super hot!!

Side Note - Make lots and bake only the ones you'll eat today. The rest can be individually wrapped in foil (spray the foil with non-stick spray first) and then freeze. Heat in the oven at 400 for 25-30 minutes at some future date.



This was a LOT more involved than I expected, even with the purchased pie crusts. It took forever. But, it was SO worth it. I only purchased 1 package of pie crusts so halfway through I had to come up with some homemade pie crusts (I've never made pie crust before). Half of the pies were baked immediately. The other half were placed in the freezer to enjoy at some future date.

Why we love it

These were so crispy and warm and wonderful, what's not to love? Eli said "This is actually good. It's like chicken gnocchi soup, but with a crust." And David says it's gourmet restaurant level of cooking. So that's a resounding good review! Archer didn't eat one (he's not hungry) and Shelly's not interested in anything resembling soup. So 3 stars for now. The good news is that we have a few leftovers in the fridge to enjoy for the next couple days.

*Updated - Archer just walked up to me with a pie in his hand raving about how good it is. 4 stars!

   

I had some serious help from Archer and David on this one. So serious that Archer and I both ended up covered in flour by the time it was over. Kind of reminded me of last year's camping trip. Loved the bonding time with the kid who is now taller than me. Thanks gentlemen!

Crock Pot Chicken Gnocchi

I'm desperately trying to be a little more functional this year. Some people have New Year's Resolutions that start on January 1. I have School Year Resolutions that start on September 1. So I'm trying to get my act together and feed my family home cooked meals a little more often than the once-a-month schedule I fell into last year. Too many crackers and ramen noodles for us last year. Shelly helped me put together a meal plan for the school year, and now I'm trying to plan ahead a bit and cook a few times a week.

Enter: Tuesday Crock Pot Meals

First Tuesday was awful, the soup was tasteless, and although the chicken was cooked, the potatoes were not. None of us could eat it.

Don't give up, try again, etc.

Second Tuesday I picked something just a bit more familiar (chicken gnocchi! guaranteed to be a hit!), and it was pretty good. We'll make a few adjustments next time to improve it, but this is definitely a keeper.

Crock Pot Chicken Gnocchi 

originally from Pinch of Yum

Ingredients
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts,
2 cups chopped onions, celery, carrots
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tsp dried basil
1-2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1-2 tsp pepper
4 cups chicken broth
3 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 Tbsp cold water
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
2 1 lb packages mini potato gnocchi

Instructions
1. In a skillet, warm olive oil over medium heat, cook onions, celery, carrots and garlic until almost softened.
2. Place veggies, chicken, seasonings, and broth into crock pot. Cook on low for approximately 6-8 hours.
3. Shred the chicken directly in the pot.
4. Add cornstarch mixture, milk, cream and gnocchi to crock pot, stir and cover. Cook another 45-60 minutes, until gnocchi is cooked through.
5. If desired, add more chicken broth as soup thickens. Salt and pepper to taste, enjoy!

Although this involves a bit of prep work, I can do that the night before, then just start up the crock pot on Tuesday morning before I leave for work. I don't really like having to add the gnocchi at the very end and then wait another hour (this makes dinner a little late for us), but maybe I'll explore another way to handle that in the future. (Can I put the gnocchi in the crock pot in the morning? Can I pre-cook it and then add it at the end, but just warm it up instead of waiting for it to cook?)

Why we love it
It's close enough to my tried and true Chicken Gnocchi that all four of us Soup Eaters liked it.

Major Project

It has been too long since David and I had a Big Project to keep us up late at night once the kids are in bed. Since we now only have one kid at home, we thought it would be a good time to start… Painting. Shelly’s been asking for a new look in her room for years. Now that she’s finally gone for the week, why not see what we can do on a little makeover for her? Here’s hoping we can get it all done and the paint’s dry by the time she’s home in a week!

Fast forward through five frantic days of painting late into the night, poor Eli entertaining himself until bedtime and us parents getting paint in our hair but almost no paint in the carpet. We managed to even fix up the curtain rod, organize her closet and clothes.

Shelly and Archer both arrived home on Saturday morning. Finally, the day of the big reveal. We announced our plan to stop home so the kids could change their clothes before going out for lunch. Shelly started proclaiming that something was different. Before she ever got near her bedroom. She noticed that a chair had been moved and we had new placemats on the table. But finally, we managed to get her to wander into her room. And there she stopped. In the doorway. Silent. It seemed like she would never speak, and doubt started creeping in - wait - doesn't she like the colors? She picked them out herself! Finally, she turned to us, and very softly said "thank you." She loved it so much that she could barely speak. And that was thanks enough for us. She hadn't suspected anything. She had waited for years. And now, she has a brand new room to enjoy for the next 25 years. Because I'm not planning on painting it again anytime soon.

So, what's next? The boys have begun picking out paint colors. I don't know if I'm up for that yet. Anyone else wanna come paint? We'll feed you!!

Off to Camp They Go!

Last week David and Elijah went to day camp at Ohdakota. Four days of Scouting including the standard swimming, crafts, knot tying, camp food, shooting BB guns, archery, fishing, bug hunting and slushies. Ok wait, the slushie thing was the story of this year…. Every year there’s something that kind of sets things apart. (Bee Hive Disaster the most famous so far.) This year, the camp counselors started really drumming up excitement for the slushie machine, and the boys could get commemorative Camp Lyle cups for half price (or something). (Mom commentary - Lyle is now closed, they’re trying to get rid of those cups that have the wrong camp name on them but make it sound like it's a very special deal - Mom commentary now complete.) An hour after getting the kids all excited for slushies, the kids go to the Trading Post and the sign on the door reads “Slushie Macine Broken.” I wonder if anyone cried? Anyway, there was so much disappointment that David took E to the gas station after camp to get him a slushie. Tuesday. NEW slushie machine has been installed (or the old one was fixed?) BUT nothing’s frozen yet. No slushies at camp. Wednesday, finally working, E got his slushie. Sadly(?), the special Lyle cups ran out right before E got to the front of the line so he got a regular cup. But whatever, he got his slushie finally.

The best part of the week was the end, where Eli told David that next year he wants to do camp for two weeks. He was so very sad that the week went so fast. It was so very wonderful that the two of them had four days together to enjoy the sunshine and meeting new friends together. I don’t know if they’ll do two weeks next year, but I hope they get to enjoy at least one week of adventures once again next summer.

{Sadly, I don't have any pictures of the adventures. If I come across any, I'll try to add them someday.}

This morning we met up with Archer’s group and waved them off as they headed out to Scout Camp once again. This has been going on for so long that it almost feels routine at this point. Archer packed everything himself with very little input from us. They had already loaded all the gear into the trucks and trailers yesterday, so this morning it truly was just enjoying some powdered donuts and deciding who was riding with which drivers. Enough hugs and kisses to embarrass Archer and then, “Have fun, seeya next week!” And the caravan was gone. And all the parents went home to go back to bed. Except not us, not this time, not back to bed.

This time, a new event. Definitely not routine. Shelly is going off to her own camp adventure for the very first time. At ten years old, she’s finally been able to join the campers’ world and we dropped her off at Camp Anokijig for her very first week away from home. She’s super excited (horses!), a little nervous (new place, new people, what to expect?) but I’m really happy that she gets to have this experience. I’m confident she’s going to have the best week ever and hopefully she’ll share a few stories with us when she gets home. We’ve given her postcards so perhaps we’ll hear from her. But I’m not holding my breath for that, she’ll probably be too busy to take time for writing. I will admit… I may have almost cried when we walked away from her. She did not bat an eye, she was too busy looking forward to getting started.

And now, we have a week with Eli, maybe this is the first time in his life that he’s an only child? I wonder how often he’ll end up in our bed, since he doesn’t have anyone in his room to protect him from monsters, or pester him with talking, or steal his pillow and blankets when they share a bed. I often think that he gets a little lost in the shuffle and no one hears him because there are too many other voices in the crowd. Hopefully we hear everything he as to say this week. And I’m confident that Shelly and Archer will come back with some wonderful stories to share.

Habitat Day

The company I work for strives to encourage people to serve their community through volunteer work. Since I started there, fourteen months ago, I have attempted to support this mission and once every two or three months I suggest we spend a day working for Habitat for Humanity. Habitat does new construction, but also rehabs older houses that are in disrepair. Finally, after a year of asking the question - when can we do this? - we managed to put together a team of seven people. We all showed up at a house in Milwaukee and spent the day painting. We painted the entire thing. Three bedrooms, bathroom, hallways, living room and kitchen. There were some really bad parts like a few spiders, moldy ceiling and walls, stains splattered everywhere. But mostly there were some really GREAT parts like meeting new people, working hard with each other to do this great thing for someone else. The house still has a lot of work ahead of it, but it was nice to contribute in our small way to helping a family get on their feet with their own place to live. I still have paint in my hair. I wonder when we can do it again?  ;)

P.S. While I was off painting, David and Archer were at a Highway Cleanup with the Scouts. It’s really disheartening how much garbage people toss out their windows with no regard for their communities. It’s really wonderful when a group of people can come together and clean it up. It was nice to hear about the people who honked in support or shouted thanks to the boys as they drove by. Perhaps our own kids will learn to pick up after themselves, after seeing the mess it makes when others don’t?

Fire It Up!

We were supposed to have a campfire when Shelly had some friends over a week or two ago, but it didn’t happen. But we still had all the firewood and s’mores stuff, just waiting for their moment in the sun. We finally broke out all the stuff and had a nice big campfire. The fire was fed by our giant tree branch that fell off the tree earlier this year, some wood from HC we received a year or two ago, and some stuff we purchased. Incredibly, we had enough wood to last five hours. More incredibly, the kids spent the entire time playing together with no major incidents. I just sat back and enjoyed their fun. So much laughter and smiles and screaming with all the fun they were having. I even had a couple friends of my own stop by for some marshmallow roasting. Fun all around!

Fourth Again

Our Fourth clelbrations this year were a little more laid back. No Firecracker Four (and up at the crack of dawn). No fireworks at night (and fight the traffic well past my bedtime). Instead a relaxed drive up to HC for Family time and Pool time and Cookout and just hangout for a bit. Sweet. Then on back to our hometown for the other Family time, tons of cousins chasing each other around, great food, etc. etc. Sweet again. There were some very disappointed Fortier Fives due to missing the fireworks, so I set up chairs on the deck for them to watch the show from home. This used to work. I forgot that the last time it worked, we didn’t have a whole neighborhood of houses behind us, just a field. But now that the houses have popped up, we have absolutely no view of the lakefront fireworks. So that was another disappointment. We’ll try to do better next time around, sorry kids.

Summer Sleepover

Shelly was missing her BFFs so we had some girl time.

Day 1 - Pool, Movie, forgot to do a campfire, everyone sleep on the floor in the living room

Day 2 - Strawberry Picking

We’ve been talking about this for weeks. Years, actually. The conversation goes something like, “Hey, when is strawberry picking? We should do that sometime. Oh, we already missed it? Let’s do it next year!” This year, finally, we’re going to do it for real. We pile seven people into the van and begin driving. We miss the turn and have to come back around to it. And then we’re on the right road, lots of trees but also some farmland and hey look! There it is! I see the sign! Hey, what’s that tractor… The tractor was plowing under the last of the strawberry plants in the field. And the sign on the driveway for the farm said Closed. We missed it. We missed strawberry picking season, and there we were, seven people who had come late to the party again. In Archer’s words, “Tune in next year, when the Fortiers miss strawberry picking once again!”

What a disappointment.

Archer, on the other hand, was happy to miss the fun, he was sitting in the back seat sniffling and barely able to breathe with his allergies in full force. On the ride home we started brainstorming about what to do with the car-full of kids that were expecting something fun to happen.

We settled on the zoo. The boys declined, the girls were happy with the choice. We brought them to the zoo, gave them a little cash and told them we’d meet up later. David and I wandered around at our own pace and the girls enjoyed a little freedom for the afternoon. Everyone wins!

Maybe we’ll get to enjoy some strawberries next year? Stay tuned in….

Boy Time

Elijah has been asking to have his friend over, because they’re working on making a book together and now that summer’s here they’ll never have a chance to finish it. We set it up and his friend came over and they drew some pictures and stuff and…? I don’t know what they were up to, but they seemed to be having fun. I don’t think the book plan was fully realized but that’s ok, they were having a great time.

In the meantime, Archer has left us for 10 or 12 days, I’m not really sure when he’s coming back. I requested that he be returned home before school starts but that was about it. I’m sure he’ll be returned by his friends when they get tired of feeding him - he’s an expensive guest to keep around! I hear there’s lots of kayaking, fishing, swimming going on. I’m sure he’ll come home with some great memories of joining the family vacation up north!

Girls Night Out

School’s out and Grandma invited us for a little field trip to see a wonderful performance by Kids From Wisconsin. There were incredible performances by high school and college aged kids, beautiful costumes and we all enjoyed the music. What a nice little weeknight trip out on the town, thanks Grandma!

Dad's Strawberry Lemon Muffins

David has made these for us three times. The first time for my birthday. The send time two days ago and he didn't even share ANY with me and took them all to work!! I complained just enough that he agreed to make them again and we enjoyed the latest batch today. Bonus - the only kid who likes these is currently OUT OF TOWN so I got them all to myself! I mean, I got to split them with David, no one else to share with.

Original recipe is here, and here's the recipe that David uses.

Dad's Strawberry Lemon Muffins

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided

8 oz. sour cream
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups diced fresh strawberries

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400. Put paper muffin cups into a muffin pan, spray with cooking spray.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and 1 cup sugar in a large bowl. Make a well/hole in the middle of the mixture.
3. Mix sour cream, butter, lemon zest and lemon juice. Add the flour mixture, stirring just until everything's combined. Gently stir in the strawberries.
4. Spoon the batter into the muffin pan, filling 3/4 full. Sprinkle some sugar over the muffins.
5. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for about 10 minutes, then enjoy!

Why we love it
Um, what's NOT to love?? I recommend cutting the muffin in half and spreading some butter over them before eating. Sooooo goood!!

Strangely, only 3 stars. That's ok, more for those of us who love them. :)

Let the Summer Begin!

We’ve got summer started off right. Archer is gone on vacation with someone else’s family. Shelly and Eli are constantly running around without shoes and the bottoms of their feet have turned black. Grandma and Grandpa have treated the kids to programs at the library, fishin’ in the creek and kayak practice in the pool. What a great beginning!

Grandma's Famous Chicken Salad

David introduced this recipe to me long ago, way back before kids, etc. etc. The story is that his mom would make it the day after Thanksgiving, using turkey and all the leftover ingredients that they had from the day before. It's one that we both love, it's easy and kind of quick, and you don't actually need to measure anything. Whenever we've brought this to a family event, people seem to love it. Or, they're just being nice?

Here goes.

Grandma Sue's Famous Chicken Salad

Ingredients
About 1 lb chicken breast
Celery, Onion
Grapes halved (or Apples, diced)
Cashews (or Carrots)
Mayo, Mustard, Salt and Pepper

Instructions
1. Cook the chicken breast with whatever seasonings you like (Italian, basil, whatever smells good)
2. Set aside one of the chicken breasts for the kids that don't like chicken salad
3. Cut up all the remaining ingredients, mix it all together, add some mayo mustard salt pepper to taste

Why we love it
No measuring required! A nice fresh meal in the heat of the summer. And with the option to leave some of the chicken to the side for some of the kids, it's a meal we can all enjoy. (3 stars because 2 of the kids prefer the chicken to the chicken salad)

  

Smoothies Galore

As promised, here are some recipes we've been experimenting with in the last week or two.

#1 Eggnog Smoothie

Original recipe is here, but none of us liked it. We tried a new food (dates) and we did not appreciate their overpowering flavor.

Tonight I made up a new version, we'll call it

Banana Spice
1 cup vanilla almond milk
2 frozen bananas (cut them up before you freeze them)
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla

Toss it all in the blender, let the kids take turns pushing buttons, and that's it!
I bet it would taste REALLY good with chocolate almond milk. Just sayin'.

#2 Sunrise Smoothie can be found here.

This one was fine but I don't know if we'll make it again. Peeling the orange was annoying, and you could barely taste it over the other berry/fruit flavors. The nice thing is that in this recipe, the banana flavor didn't come through as much. Other recipes (like the Eggnog and the Banana Spice) have a really strong banana flavor which the kids didn't like as much.

#3 Raspberry Cinnamon Smoothie is here.

We learned our lesson with the dates and left those out when we made this one. We skipped the flaxseed and used plain yogurt, not vanilla. Dicing the apple into tiny pieces was a hassle and the kids didn't like that I left the peel on. So. If we made it again, we'd peel the apple. This one was really tart, the sweet banana didn't quite overcome the raspberry's flavor. Also, we used a green apple. Sour.

And finally...

#4 Wing It Smoothie

Once you've tried a bunch of recipes, you realize all you actually need to do is toss in some frozen ___ and add some milk, maybe yogurt if you want it thicker, and blend. Too tart? Add a banana or a little honey. Too thick? More milk. And so on.

Zoo Trip

I have been lucky enough to visit the Milwaukee Zoo with each of my kids as they finished up kindergarden. This year it was Eli’s turn, and I was so happy to have the opportunity to join him and some friends as we visited their favorite animals and enjoyed a train ride around the grounds. As always, chapperoning this type of trip is all about counting heads every thirty seconds and trying not to panic every single time the count comes up short, because it definitely happens at least twelve times in the four hours that we’re there. Someone’s always running too far ahead, or lagging behind, or standing just behind you and they don’t get counted. And yet, still, I’ve never lost a kid and we’ve all come away happy that we had a day out of the classroom/office and enjoyed the sunshine.

Elijah Graham, you’ve passed another milestone and you’re just that much closer to being a First Grader, bring it on!

Hey Summer, Here We Come!

Five school days left, and the kids are getting a head start on summer.

The HC Resort pool has officially opened and the kids haven't wasted any time testing the water. Eli was the first to jump in, but his siblings and cousins weren't far behind.

Cub Scout Rain Gutter Regatta aka Little Boat Race with Handheld Fans...

Eli was a trooper and raced strong, David cheered him along while Shelly and I visited with friends. Good job E!

Archer wasn't at the race because he was home finishing up some big school projects. One of these was his presentation on Norway. He had enlisted help from Grandpa and Eli and they made a zillion pieces of lefse over the weekend. Tuesday night we rolled up the lefse with butter and sugar and Wednesday he was off to school with two pans full. I'm happy to report that the Norway presentation was a huge success, and the entire class enjoyed the treats. And as far as I can tell, Grandpa is successfully passing on his lefse knowledge to the next generations. He makes everyone else do more and more of the work whenever we're around to participate. Pretty soon he'll just get to sit back and relax while the rest of us whip up a fresh batch!

Speaking of Archer... This weekend he and David are camping at the Milwaukee Zoo. This morning Archer participated in the 5K run, and although I wasn't there to cheer him on, I heard he did wonderfully. I think this is his first ever 5K? His troop has set up an activity station for kids to visit and learn about their group. David has reported that it's a VERY popular station and they've had a lot of visitors, despite the rain and the heat. Their troop won third place (out of 31 groups) for their presentation. Way to go Scouts :)

Since the gentlemen are out camping, the rest of us went looking for our own fun last night at First Fridays downtown. Live music, food vendors, all the shops open late, we went to check out the free admission at the museum. We visited lots of little shops and a gallery on our way to the museum. And guess what we found at the artists' gallery? Beautiful art, incredible pieces of jewelry and an impressive display of woodcrafts. And there, nestled in among platters and bowls and cups, I spied... you'll never guess.... A LEFSE roller! I knew what it was immediately, that long roller with the grooves, and it was incredible, an artifact that many people wouldn't recognize. But thanks to Grandpa's determination to carry the family tradition forward to the next generation or two, there we stood, admiring that lefse roller on the shelf with all the other beautiful platters and bowls. AND. And the artist who crafted those fine pieces was sitting right there, on a stool, watching us admire his work! He introduced himself and we chatted for a long time. He's Norwegian, he made that roller that we were looking at, he was surprised that we recognized it. It was a great chance to meet the talented man that created those things. I hope someday to go back and pick up one or two of his pieces. Shelly later told me that she thought he and Grandpa would like to meet each other, perhaps we can make that happen sometime!

When we left the gallery it was getting dark and we were finally ready to visit the museum. Sadly, we arrived just a few minutes too late and the doors were already locked so we headed for the van. Lots of fun just hanging out together, it was a wonderful time with the kids. And to close out the night, the snuggled into my bed so I wouldn't be lonely last night.

Today Shelly decided she wanted to try out a couple of smoothie recipes so we gave it a shot. One was OK, the other a huge hit. We'll post recipes later. The best part about it was trying new foods. Almond milk and dates, anyone?? It's great to see the kids trying new things, learning new things, and working together to create something we all enjoy. Great job kids!