Suet Recipe

Is anyone interested in the suet recipe for birds? Quinn and I made it in Iowa and used Grandma Jo's recipe. I'm told the birds go through it pretty fast and we watched them chow down on it while we were there. It's very easy and Quinn and I loved making it together. Do you have any recipes that are easy for kids (and me too?). Please share by clicking on that little Comment section! ...come on... I know you can do it!

Suet for birds

2 cups Crisco
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 cups quick oats
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup raisins
1 cup wild bird seed

Heat Crisco and peanut butter until melted together. Turn off the heat and add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Form into “cakes” that will fit the suet feeder. Wrap in wax paper and place in the freezer until you are ready to hang it for your birds!

Did I already tell you that I have one of the Peter Pan recall jars?...yep, ate about 1/3 of it already... not anymore though. Thank you Jesus for protecting me from getting salmonella! (The kids only eat the creamy, I go for the chunky).

My Little Girl

Music Video Codes By Music Jesus.com

OK, I'm not usually one for country music (really not) but as I mentioned in last night's post we were getting ready to watch the movie Flicka and I must say that this was an awesome movie!! The scenery and music was just breathtaking! Let's all say together, "we're moving to Wyoming!"... OK, just kidding, we're staying in flat as a pancake Goshen. It wasn't really the acting that was so great (not too bad though) but the story was just a great one for Madison. For those that don't know, it's a story about a girl, Katie, and her daddy (actually played by Tim McGraw). They constantly butt heads and find something to disagree about... this just so happens to occur in our household at times, although I wouldn't use the word "constantly" here. Several times during the movie Madison would say, "I know just how she feels"... after the daughter would yell, "you just don't understand". Like Madison this girl is a horse lover and her horse might have to be put down and Katie said something like, "go ahead and put us both down" (I can't get the exact phrase but you get the drift). The two end of seeing eye to eye and it's just kind of happy-sad. Madison and I had to have a couple of tears over it! Anyway, you all just really must see this movie. It's a buyer for us! Tim McGraw sings this beautiful song at the end that brings me back to the country music topic. At his concerts he dedicates this to his own daughters who are growing up too fast. So, this is for all of you who have daugthers and also agree that your girls are growing up too fast too!
Now that I've said all of that, grab a kleenex and listen to this song again so you get listen to the lyrics without reading my two cents worth at the same time!

Love to all, Leah

Weekend news

Saturday morning the kids both had BB games at 9am. Madison's team won 38-30 and she scored 20 points and played very well. Quinn's team got beat about 38-17 and he had 7 points. I hate it when they play at the same time! Madison had soccer practice from 11:30 to 1pm and after she ate lunch at home she went to Beppe & Pakka's for a couple of hours to work on a quilt that she and Beppe started. Glad she can learn quilting from someone because I certainly can't do it! Quinn and Nate played together for a few hours.

I started sewing some pioneer bonnets for Madison's field trip to the One Room School House. The students have to dress the part... a long skirt, apron, bonnet etc... the long skirt is required! I had to buy the long skirt ($3) and the shirt I found at Stuff in Iowa (used clothing) but I hunted all over for the bonnet and could not find one so finally I bought a pattern and made one. So, now I've just completed the 4th one. I'm on a roll. I figured that most girls won't have one so I'll just donate a few to the 4th grade. The first bonnet took me 2 hours but this last one only took 1 hour... so I've gotten faster over time. They certainly aren't perfect... I bet I haven't sewed anything other than mending in Madison's 10 years of life! Isy got a good laugh at the expense of my sewing machine when I called to ask her a sewing question. I told her my machine is at least 25 years old, probably has never been serviced or oiled and that I had already broke one needle (I'm up to two now... on cotton fabric!). Ha! I'm making due and the fabric is actually miraculously looking like a bonnet when it's been transformed by my machine. Shoot, I'll just give you a picture of Madison wearing the first bonnet.


Last night we had quite a bit of ice... not as much as you got in Iowa but enough to cancel many churches. Well, in 16 years Silverwood has never cancelled a Sunday morning... nevertheless I thought I would check the news this morning just in case... nope, not there as expected. So, we rushed around (like all Sunday mornings) and drove to church early because we were greeters only to find a note on the door that said church as cancelled! Can you believe it? No TV news announcement, nothing on the radio... SO, everyone DROVE to church to find out that church was cancelled... OK, something needs to improve in the communication there. I guess we need a plan in place for the next time. The roads were a little slushy but really not too bad... we've driven to church in much worse weather before. We made the best of it and went to River Oaks Church with Matt & Lisa and met Don & Isy and Chad & Tracy there (they both go there already).

Tonight is our family movie night so I think we're going to watch Flicka... thanks to the Slabach family rental that we are benefiting from. I hope everyone has a good week.

Love to all, Leah
PS... Madison just broke needle #3... practing on a piece of 100% cotton fabric. I think my dinosaur of a machine might be the reason... hmmmm...

FBCU dinner

Last night Tony and I went to the Farm Bureau Credit Union kick-off dinner of their 75th anniversary. He was invited because of being on their Supervisory Board. It wasn't in my top 10 things I wanted to do last night but it turned out to be a very enjoyable evening... rich with history and so that was neat. Apparently the FBCU was started by 13 individuals who were gathered together around a pot belly stove 1932. Seven of those folks agreed to pay the $5 membership fee. Three of them could pay right away, the others made payments. Anyway, the story goes on with the ending being what FBCU is today. To commemorate the 75th the volunteer board members are all receiving a chiminea (a new word for me). That was really nice wasn't it?



Today I went grocery shopping and spent over $100 on groceries! I haven't gone to the store in about 2 weeks and we were out of white milk for a week now. Quinn was complaining because our "refrigerator is bare!" Not any more.

I also went and helped in Madison's class and spent all my time photocopying. It is a time consuming process. I wonder what photocopying will be like in 20 years? Surely faster than it is now.

So anyway, I just thought I would catch you up on our lives. We don't have big plans for the weekend. Tony worked 19 hours last weekend (Sat & Sun) so I'm hoping he won't have to work that much this weekend.

Love to all, Leah

President's Day Weekend Highlights

A winter friend perches close by the bird feeders during some snow flurries at my parent's house in Iowa.
The kids and I sure enjoyed a long weekend in Iowa. Sorry I didn't update my blog over the weekend. Here are the "Top Ten" things of note from the weekend.

1. My health-conscious Rachel Ray meal of mashed cauliflower served over whole wheat noodles was received with a "that was great!" comment from Madison... the other 9 of us thought it was "it's OK... if that's the only thing you have to eat" (a quote from my Dad!). PS... None of the kids knew the sauce had cauliflower in it and we aren't telling!

2. Beating everyone in Call Your Partner- Rook. I seldom win at card games that require concentration.

3. Uncle Jeff took all the kids for 4-wheeler rides in the snow. So fun!

4. Dad's ewes had a set of twins while we were there, putting the proud shepherd up to 7 living lambs so far this month.

5. Quinn and I made homemade suet for the bird feeders. He took literally over 50 pictures of all of the birds in the backyard. "May be I'll grow up to be a person who takes pictures of birds." He loved them.

6. Quinn taking the camera along on the way to the Amish country store to take a picture of "nature... and the mountain ranges and stuff."

7. Spotting a Barred Owl in the backyard and actually getting a fairly good picture of it. (See below).

8. Shopping with Mom and Amy and finding a pair of $80 shoes on sale for $15 ... in the color and style I was hoping for! I also found a Coach purse for $35!!! BARGAIN!

9. Madison went to school with Jenna for most of the day on Friday and was also a pupil for Aunt Amy for the day. We didn't see much of Madison and Jenna for the weekend. They "take-off" and show up for meals only.

10. Quinn and I visited my 93 year old grandma and actually had a nice conversation without 4 other kids and 5 other adults there to compete with. When we left Quinn told me what a nice visit that was and how fast the time went. I hope he'll remember it forever. He actually sat on a chair and visited with us too!

The Barred Owl Quinn spotted in the tree.



Jenna and Madison attempt to smile for the camera on a snowy-sunny day!


4-wheel'in with Uncle Jeff!

Quinn hanging up the homemade suet in Grandma and Grandpa's back yard.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This picture was taken in our yard. Madison discovered a bunch of icicles this late afternoon with water dripping from them. It was beautiful! This was the kids' 4th snow day today. I stayed home with them and it was actually a beautiful cold crisp sunny winter day. The snow was so pretty. Karla and I took our kids plus Nate sledding at Beppe & Pakka's house for close to 2 hours. They had fun. Poor Beppe has a horrible cold so we felt bad for her!

As far as valentine's day... it didn't really seem too different from any other day I guess. The kids' party at school will be tomorrow I guess... at least I'm sending in everything planning for it to be tomorrow. Tony didn't get home until 8:30 so I told him he owes me a romantic evening out some time! He got me 2 CD's and a nice card so that was nice of him.

Well, that's all for now. I'll add some sledding pictures for you to enjoy. The kids and I are going to Iowa tomorrow after work/school until Monday. As far as I know the weather is supposed to hold out.

And in the Valentine's spirit... a special "I love you" to each one of you. I'm blessed to call you family and friends!

Love, Leah



Our view from the windows!



Nate & Quinn threaten me with snow balls.


Katie and Nathan pause for a split second.



Madison heads for the top of the hill again.

"Treacherous"

"Treacherous" is the word Quinn used to describe our roads and our weather today. Eight inches and still snowing! We were wondering how much snow we had so far tonight, so around 7:30 Madison volunteered to run out and measure it. This was near our front door so it had been blowing some but she measured 8 inches there. Our street is close to being blown closed. I can't imagine that they will have school tomorrow. It was canceled today, our 3rd snow day in the last 2 weeks. Thankfully Karla was planning on watching M & Q if they had a delay and by the time I dropped them off for the 2 hour delay she had just heard that school was canceled. She watched them for the day and of course the kids had a good time, playing in the snow and squirting the snow with colored water etc... She is always so creative. So far tomorrow there is a 2 hour delay. The kids and I are planning on going to Iowa for their long weekend (Fri-Mon), like they need any more time off. I hope the weather doesn't put a halt on our plans!

All of my patients canceled today except for one! Tomorrow everyone has already canceled except for one mid-afternoon one. They are just considering closing the office and having us all take a PTO day. It doesn't really pay to have the office open without making any money. I already told them that if school is cancelled that I'll stay home for sure. So, I'm hoping it is I guess... I know it won't be fun to send them to school in June now but I like the instant gratification... plus it's Valentine's Day!

Tony got home around 8:30 tonight and borrowed a snow blower and he is now taking it back... but I just looked outside and it's already starting to blow back over the edges. Oh well, at least we aren't upstate New York!

Well, that's all for tonight... nothing too "newsy" I guess.
Love to all, Leah

Valentine Cookies

Tonight I finished up the valentine cookies for Quinn's valentine party at school on Wednesday. I was assigned 2 dozen sugar cookies. It's been a 2 step process... I made the dough on Saturday and thought I would bake them yesterday afternoon but that didn't work out so I finished them tonight. I have to be honest and say this is not my picture of my cookies but I found this picture at www.flickr.com and this person used the same exact sprinkles that I did. I just didn't put quite as much on! The kids like to decorate them like this though. I like to taste the cookie in there some where. Anyway, I was amazed at how close they looked to mine. I'm looking for the perfect sugar cookie recipe. I've used a couple of different ones but it seems like they crack and break or they stick to the pan. Do you have the perfect recipe? I need it!! I enjoy eating these cookies that's for sure! ; ) And it was all worth it after Quinn finished his cookie up and said, "Thanks Mom, for everything you did for me today... like, you had my snow pants and hat in my backpack this morning and my boots all ready to go". I just love having a # 1 fan. Everyone needs one. He even put a note on my pillow tonight telling me he loved me and he put some XX's and OO's on it. Tony got a note too. Some day he is going to be quite the charmer with the ladies...in about 30 years right? Oh~ what did I need to send in for Madison's party you ask?... a box of Cheez-It crackers! Ha! Was that ever easy!

That's all of the "heart"-warming stories tonight.

Love to all, Leah

Sleep Number Bed

I’m so excited because we are actually getting a new bed!!!!! Our bed is terribly uncomfortable. It’s a waterbed and the frame was made by Don Jr. in shop class at IMS in about 1984 or earlier. The mattress was a hand-me-down from Don & Isy because it was worn out for their tastes. It has LONG since lost the baffles so it is a free flowing bed and every time one of us turns over the other usually wakes up! After months of research and shopping and actually testing (sleeping on Amy & Jeff’s bed) we’ve decided that the Sleep Number Bed is for us! They even tipped us off to the factory outlet so we are getting it for 50% of the mall-selling stores. I’m practically counting down the days until it arrives in the MAIL… (interesting huh?). Now I must have some new sheets and then I’ll need a new quilt to match, (this picture is one I have my eye on...) then we might as well clean the carpet while there is no bed in there and then we might as well take down the wallpaper border because it won’t match the quilt anymore and if the border is down, we might as well paint. This will lead us to need new curtains and a window seat cushion too. We’ll need a headboard and we might as well get a dresser to replace our Sauder version… hmmmm, I think I could write a book, “If you give Leah a new mattress”.

Science Fair and Basketball

Today was the Science Fair for the Concord schools. Kids displayed their science projects that they have worked on and had them judged by "scientists".

If you double click on these pictures they should get bigger for you.


Madison's project was "Which ear plug works the best?" She tested different brand name ear plugs to see which one blocked the most sound from room noise, a mixer and a cell phone ring. Surprisingly a marshmallow worked the best to block the noise of a cell phone ring. She used a decibel meter to determine how loud the sounds were.


Quinn's project was called "Just Cool It!" and he performed different tests to find the fastest way to cool down a can of pop. He found that water, ice and salt cooled a can of room temperature pop to a chilly 37 degrees in only 8 1/2 minutes. Pretty fast huh? We all had fun with the projects and learned about the scientific steps of research.

The kids also each had basketball games today as well. Madison's Upward team lost 18-30. She scored 10 points and played well. Quinn's team won (I can't remember the score) and he had about 8 points and at least 10 steals. He was Mr. Scrappy out there today!

Tony worked all afternoon. Well, that's all the highlights from today. Take care!
Love to all, Leah

Update on Madison's wrist

Madison had her ortho apnt today to check on her left wrist. He said that he thinks she might have a ganglion cyst. It is MUCH smaller than this picture shows! It may or may not be related to the sprain she had previously. She could have possibly had some tendon damage at that time which created some chronic inflammation which led to the cyst. The treatment for now is watch and wait. If it gets larger he may try to drain it. Usually they take care of themselves. We have to do the physical therapy to strengthen her wrist and he laughed quite freely about the 3# weight I started her out with. He recommended a 6 oz start because it is so much weaker than the right!! I just thought since her right hand could easily do the 3# weight that her left hand should too! The only restriction is no push-ups in PE because that movement causes her quite a bit of pain. So, I'm thankful that a fracture wasn't missed on her 1st x-ray and that this should resolve in time.

Thanks for your concern.

Love to all, Leah

Anybody want some cat treats?

I bet no one has as picky of a cat was we have! Tigger has been driving us crazy lately with her incessant meowing! It is all because she loves to go outside at night time and prowl around and then she always comes back in in the morning and sleeps her day away. Well, it's been so cold for nearly a month that she can't go out. I've opened the door for her several times and she gets all "blinky"... she blinks really fast, her fur gets blown back out of her face and her body language reads "nope, not yet!". Tony said she went out for him and she walked 10 steps away and then turned around and sprinted back inside. The poor thing.. Poor us! So, I've been feeling sorry for her and I bought her some cat treats. May be once a year we get her some so they really are "treats". Well, she turned her nose up and walked away! We've tried several times and she just won't eat them... they're tuna fish... something every cat should eat. She's so finicky. So, I've tried babying her a little and giving her milk on a plate. The plate has to be clean (not one we just used).. the milk has to be fresh (not from the open cup that sat in the refrigerator overnight). So, you can see I'm really trying to please her, and get the meowing to stop! Today I bought her 2 kinds of treats. The first one she gave me the "are you kidding?" look. The 2nd one, a chicken one, she finally ate. Whew! OK, at least she was quiet while she was eating it. Anyway, just thought there might be a cat owner reading who understands the effect of cabin fever on cats and have sympathy on us. I've made her take time-outs in the garage but the kids think I'm mean. I just want the meowing to stop....

Routine Day

Today was warmer than yesterday and it's been decided to have school tomorrow... after a 2 hour late start. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. I have 3 committments outside of my work day... starting with the dentist at 8:10, an appointment after work and ending with a 7pm VBS meeting at church. I'm sure the day will go fast. Dr. P. is gone this week and the RN is on vacation and so I'm left with all of the care myself with no other clinical person to help me and it was quite overwelming today. I don't know why they think I'm a wonder woman but tomorrow at 11:00 I'm waving the white flag with my director!

Tonight was a night to get started on the week's laundry. Quinn was double checking me tonight, to make sure I've started it. I guess he likes clean clothes too.

Sorry, it was a boring day today.
Love to all, Leah

"Get this taken care of before softball season!"

Hello to all of you co-frozen people (except for Doug & Jen in Arizona),

It was minus 8 this morning and no I didn't take this picture but it represents a Midwestern day today.

Here are the highlights from today:

1. We've enjoyed the Super Bowl talks today surrounding the Colts win! yeah!
2. School was cancelled today. Madison spent the night at B & P's. Pakka picked Quinn up this morning.
3. The kids and Beppe & Pakka came and had lunch with me at the hospital. That was fun. I think it's been about a year since I've actually sat in the hospital cafeteria. What a nice break for me.
4. Madison had her left wrist x-rayed again... check-up on Friday.
5. School is cancelled for tomorrow too (Midwestern wimps!).
6. Madison is spending another night at B & P's. Do we need to pay some rent?
7. Quinn is a homebody so he's cozy in his own bed tonight. He's going to play with Nate tomorrow and give B & P a break (my choice, not theirs).
8. Tonight I worked with my neighbor, Darlene, on planning the food for the parent-teacher conference meal next week. A little tricky since neither of us are going to be there but so many parents are willing to help... it's been easy to get another 20 people involved. We are good delegators! : )
9. Madison managed to slip "Dog Obedience Class" in to her busy evening with Karla and Katie. She went along for the sheer joy of it. : ) (with their dog)

I'm a little concerned about Madison's wrist. For your refresher... a year and a half ago (yes!) she fell off her scooter and sprained her left wrist. We had it x-rayed and she was in a splint for a few weeks and that was pretty much the end of the story. Well, very occasionally, or may be I should say, "rarely" she would comment about how it would still bother her sometimes. She was usually trying to do something like a hand-stand or something else kind of rough so I just dismissed it. As of lately, she's made more comments about it hurting in situations that shouldn't cause pain, like pushing up and out of bed with her left wrist on the bed to push. I thought we need to at least get it checked again (hypochondriac mother?). I took her to Dr. Wagner, an orthopod in Goshen who has a special pediatric interest. He found her left wrist to be weaker than the right, gave her PT exercises to do and ordered another x-ray with the hint of possibly an MRI. Well, she can't even do the exercises because they hurt too much. It's simple stuff like squeezing a ball... I had her try it tonight and she quit because it hurt too much. I gave her a 3# weight for her just to use with range of motion exercising of her wrist. I seriously thought she would laugh at these exercises but she actually quit and said she couldn't do them! OK, now I'm really the hypochondriac mother. She goes back on Friday. We'll see what he says. I'm praying that this is nothing but tendonitis or something simple. Here is Tony's concern after I told him about the latest attempt at wrist exercises..."Well, we have to get this taken care of before softball season!" Ha! Leave it to the dad/coach to worry about her catching hand! Anyway, sorry, that was kind of long.

I'll let'cha go. Good-night and stay warm.
Love to all, Leah

"Souper" Bowl and Soup

Hello from 1 degree Goshen! We think it's pretty darn wimpy but they've cancelled school tomorrow because of the cold. Goshen and Elkhart cancelled first which means Concord follows because of peer pressure. Tony and I think it is ridiculous and the real reason is because of some wanting to stay up late for the super bowl tonight. Who knows, may be we'll get the call that says it's too cold for Rollpak to function tomorrow, and may be it's too cold for the hospital too. Anyway....wonder what they are going to do for the rest of the week which is supposed to be just as cold.

Today after church we went to Beppe & Pakka's house for lunch. Terry, Karla, Nathan & Katie joined us along with Darren M. and Rae Ann. The kids and the dads went sledding for 2 hours in the backyard in the afternoon. I think the temp was around 5. (Kids can go sledding for 2 hours but it's too cold for school tomorrow?...sorry). Anyway, it was a fun afternoon and was a great meal. The sledding ended with Rae Ann and Tony sledding into the river. That was quite icy and ended the sledding right away. Nothing that some hot cocoa and smores didn't fix.

So, tonight is the big super bowl. There hasn't been something this exciting around here in a long time. There are MANY fans for the Bears and the Colts in Indiana so the rivalry is intense. It's half-time and for all of the turn-overs the Colts have managed to be ahead at the half. Hopefully they hold on.

So, the potato soup "problem" from Friday night (read back if you are clueless) has generated quite the conversation with my blog readers so I thought I would just give you the recipe and let you decide if Quinn was right to say that "even when I look at it it makes my stomach hurt". Make it yourself and give me some feedback. The other 3 of us thought it was delicious! I've changed it just slightly from the original but I'm still giving Karla all the credit for it (even though she doesn't remember the last time she made it!).

Potato Soup

8 slices bacon, crumbled
1 cup chopped onion
1-2 T butter
2-3 cups cubed potatoes
2 cups water
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 3/4 cup milk (more for thinner soup, less for thicker)
1/2 tsp salt
Dash of pepper
2 cups of cheese (like Colby-jack)

Microwave the bacon until crisp. Drain the fat and crumble bacon and set to the side. Saute onion in water and a little butter until soft.
Add potatoes and water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until potatoes are soft (about 15 minutes or to your liking). Stir in soup and sour cream; gradually add milk. Add salt, pepper, bacon and cheese. Heat to a comfortable serving temperature. Do not boil.
Yield: About 7 cups

The Colts are back on. See ya!
Love to all, Leah

A busy Saturday

This morning was spent at Upward Basketball games including team picture day. We were there by 8:20 this a.m. and the day was a good one! Madison's team, the Lady Tigers, played the Lady Hoosiers and won 24-22. Madison scored 12 points including the winning basket. This picture of her was taken right at the beginning of the game... she was shhhhh'ing Tony so that he wouldn't coach her from the fan section. : ) If you dbl click on the picture it will enlarge but it's also pretty grainy because of the lighting in the gym. Quinn's team, the Sharks, played the Cobras and also won 30-16. Quinn had 6 points and played well defensively. It's amazing how much they improve from year to year.

Madison had Flames soccer practice from 12-1:30. It's now on Saturdays and off of Thursdays. There will be some Saturdays when basketball will conflict but I think it should be OK most of the time. She and Peyton actually weren't looking forward to going today. They were worried about all the running and sprinting they've been doing lately at practice. Ha!

Quinn had a bowling birthday party from 3:45-6pm tonight for Nicholas and Alex Reverman. They turned 8 and he's been buddies with them since pre-school and their mom took Quinn to preschool. He had a good time and said the boys were happy with their skateboards.

Madison and I worked on her Science Fair project this afternoon. Both of the kids are now done... but we have to get them on their display boards yet. She tested several different types of ear plugs to see which ones blocked the sound the best. She also decided to test a cotton ball and a little marshmallow too. We used a sound meter and guess what she found out?? The marshmallow actually lowered the sound level by the most decibles out of all of the ones tested. Soooo, save your money on ear plugs and just go for the marshmallows! That was a fun and very unexpected outcome.

It is still FREEZING and BITTERLY cold! They were calling for more snow but I honestly think it's too cold to snow. Right now it's 2 degrees outside and they say the windchill is around -30. Tony took the recyclables in today and thought he got frostbite on his ears (I guess he forgot his hat?). It's a good evening to stay in and sit by the fire. I made a chocolate cake for lunch/dessert at Beppe and Pakka's tomorrow. The Slabach's are coming for lunch and also Darren Miller and Raeann. The kids are hoping to go sledding in the back yard but I don't know how long they'll be able to stay outside. We'll see...

Well, that's all for tonight. The day went fast and we kept quite busy as usual.

Love to all, Leah

Brrrrrrrrrr!!!!

It is so co-co-co-co-COLD! (That was supposed to sound like my teeth chattering). Wow!... with the wind chill it is well below zero. The high tomorrow is supposed to be 10 but the wind will make it seem like -30 I guess. Didn't stop Madison from playing outside after school though!

Today was my day off from work. It was a busy day. I took the kids to school this morning because I delivered Beppe's party potatoes to Quinn's classroom. They just finished reading "Stone Fox" and part of the setting involves a potato farm. If you don't know the story it really has quite a sad ending and I had to hold back the tears just listening to the re-telling of it at supper last night!! The students had to write down their favorite potato recipe and if they brought a sample in they got $25 extra in mini-economy money (pretend money). So, Quinn quickly called Beppe up to ask her to whip him up a batch for 22 students to sample. (Notice that he didn't even contemplate asking me to make them). I guess they had 10 potato dishes and Quinn had 5-6 "sample" helpings of his own potatoes. He was quite happy with the whole thing.

After that I went to Panera Bread for coffee with Lisa, Eliza, Karla and Angie. It's always good to catch up to them. Then I went back to the school for 3 hours to volunteer in Madison's classroom. I graded their math and spelling papers and took time out for lunch with Madison today. I told her teacher I would come for about 2 hours on Fridays. I'll have to take turns with who I have lunch with. Madison had to buy my lunch today... I had NO money, except for some coins! Luckily she scratched some up in her back pack. Ha! She found that to be quite amusing. It was Colts/Bears Spirit Day today. The kids were to wear their favorite team colors. Wow... there was electricity buzzing today. I think the teachers had to be more disappointed than the students when it was too cold to go out for recess today and all that energy had to stay inside!

Tonight I made Karla's recipe for potato soup. Tony, Madison and I thought it was really good. Quinn on the other hand threw a big fit and "just looking at it made my stomach hurt."... that lead to one irrational statement after another and pretty soon he was saying that, "I should just go live in the homeless center" and that his "heart was broken," "no one loves me" etc... Madison found this conversation quite amusing from her bedroom but we were quick to remind her that she used to throw the same kind of fits in 2nd grade too!! Then, we did some quiet giggling with her. Poor Quinn. He was so tired ("I am not!") and after 1 little pathetic taste he got his precious quesdilla instead and went to bed! Whew!

The kids have basketball and pictures in the morning. We need to leave around 8am so it will feel like a week day. I better go tell Madison to close her book for tonight. Have a good weekend!

Love to all, Leah