Walking to school

I walk Kaleb and Anya to school in the mornings. I get my exercise and make sure the kids are safely at their destination. I'm not sure why but every morning there are many worms that have ended up on the sidewalks. Most are dead or close to death but there are some that are still wiggling around. Kaleb and I have taken it upon ourselves to be the savior of worms. We pick them up and fling them back in the grass. Worms don't really care to be touched and they start flopping all over the place making it difficult at times to get a proper grasp. I don't know if these worms live or die but at least they aren't on the sidewalk looking all pathetic. The snails get the same treatment. I hate to see smushed snails...yuck. I'm sure we are a sight to behold all bend over flinging bugs into bushes and grass. I do the same things with spiders in the house. I catch them in glasses and release them back outside. Mom taught me that trick. The only exception to the "don't kill bugs" rule is poisonous spiders and ants in my house. Even in Salinas when the snails ate all my flowers and I had to bait them, it made me sad to see dead snails in the flower patch. Stupid snails..just leave my flowers. Speaking of growing things, my little planter box has made miniatures of all my vegetables. I had no idea that corn would grow to a foot tall and then start making corn cobs. And I have the worlds smallest red bell pepper about to be ripe enough to eat...in one bite. My early girl tomato plant has just one tomato, lots of blooms and very tall, just no fruit. My beef steak has a good 7 on it. The broccoli and cauliflower just stays small.....sigh. Oh well, this year was the test year and at least something actually grew.

Pictures

Anya and Abigail outside playing with sidewalk paint. They had a great time.





Here are some pictures from the first day of school.

Time for the weekly shopping trip. Time to decide the food for the week, the dinners that will loved by all or hated by Alexis :) She is a very picky eater and lots of times is stuck making herself a sandwich for dinner. I started thinking as I'm making my list of all the foods I ate growing up that are no longer cooked in this household. Some of them I miss but can't make because I would be the only one to eat it. Others I just don't like and never want to partake of again. This is my final list of dinners of the past ;)

1-Eggplant. My mom would fry it up and I never liked it. I haven't tried it since I was a small child and I doubt I ever will.
2-Zucchini casserole. I have vague memories of zucchini, onions, tomatoes with bread and cheese. Mom didn't make it often because I think Deborah and I must have complained about it alot :)
3-Cabbage rolls and stuffed peppers. I don't mind these, but Thor hates cabbage and the kids hate peppers so these won't be served here.
4-Pinto beans and cornbread. I dreaded this dinner as a child. Mom and dad would get big bowls of beans with slices of onions on the side. The cornbread was good and I would eat that. I don't mind beans now, my taste buds are losing their taste I guess. But again, Thor hates beans.
5-Black eyed peas. Fresh black eyed peas are so good. I miss them :(
6-Ham and cabbage. What is easier to make than ham and cabbage. And it's tasty. But again with Thor hating the cabbage, makes this dish an impossibility.
7-Salmon patties. I have made this for myself on a few occasions. One can of salmon with lots of left over patties.
8-Navy bean soup. Tasty, easy but has beans. I love it, no-one else does :(
9-Spinach with hot pepper vinegar and cucumbers in vinegar. Side dishes but I'm the only one that will touch the stuff. And thanks to Sarah for finding me a bottle of hot pepper vinegar in Cliff :) Now I can make me a plate of spinach whenever I feel like it.
10-Whole wheat. Mom made whole wheat pancakes and bread. My kids eat whole wheat bread but haven't yet learned to appreciate whole wheat pancakes.
11-Tuna casserole. Mac and cheese, canned tuna, Cream of Mushroom soup and a few chopped onions. Mix and eat. I loved this as a child, not so much now.
12-Meatloaf. We just don't eat meatloaf. Period.
13-Fried Okra. I love the stuff, but it has to be fresh okra and that is hard to come by in California.

I wonder what I make that my children will refuse to serve to their children?

School has started

Well, we have survived our first week of school. Anya is now in Kindergarten, Kaleb in 2nd grade, and Alexis is in 7th. I walk Anya and Kaleb in the morning, school starts at 8:20 for them both, then walk home and drive Alexis to Jr. High. It's been a long time since I've walked that much, I forgot how much your calf muscles are required for walking. The weather has been perfect, the sky was so blue all of last week. Usually it is hazy and gross so I have enjoyed the clear skies. This week the haze is starting to creep back in. Anya and Kaleb are in a brand new school this year, in fact, the entire 2nd floor isn't even done yet. It is very nice and I enjoy being within walking distance. Anya like her class so far. This morning she was a little sad about leaving me but when I picked her up in the afternoon she was fine. She thinks her teacher is "beautiful", she is very much into pretty people. Whenever she sees someone who looks nice she points to them and says "Look, they are beautiful". Kaleb is so-so. As a typical boy he thinks school is boring and wants to be home playing. Alexis is having an interesting transition into Jr. High. There are no lockers at school so she must carry all of the books for all of her classes throughout the day. Her last class is PE and the run the mile weekly and run laps the rest of the week. She really doesn't like that :) If I remember correctly, in Texas when I was in Jr. High we ran the mile every day. Or pretty darn close. But we had a locker room with showers and lots of aerosol deodorant. I'm sure she will be fine in a few weeks.