The BEST Sugar Cookies!

If you read yesterday's blog, you know much I was dreading the sporting events I was responsible for transporting three of my children to.  The good news is, with a bit of my better-half's help, it went very smoothly.

Even better news is that Kyle won his game which leaves them undefeated.  (Okay, they've only played two games.)  He was up five times and only struck out once!  Yay!  Although the weather was unbelievably chilly last night, all in all it was a good night.


The best news is that the sugar cookies I made for Kyle's team LOVED the sugar cookies.  I know, I know...10 year-old boys would pretty much eat anything, especially after a night baseball game.  But I "tasted them for poison" as did a couple other of my family members and they adored them as well.

Lots of good news for the evening.  A little bit of bad news...the cookies were so good, there aren't many left.  More good news, they were easy to make!

Here's the recipe, courtesy of yesterday's The Washington Post:

Chewy Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 to 1 cup turbinado or coarse sugar, for rolling

Directions:

Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine the butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Beat on medium-low speed for 1 minute, then stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beater(s). Beat for 1 minute, then stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the vanilla extract and beat for 1 minute, then stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and beat for 1 minute, then stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the flour, salt and baking soda. Beat for 1 minute, then stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat for 1 minute.

Place the turbinado or coarse sugar in a shallow bowl.

Use a small cookie/ice cream scoop (about 1 1/2 inches in diameter) to scoop 24 equal-size balls of dough, dropping a few of them at a time into the sugar. Gently roll to coat evenly, then place 12 balls on each prepared baking sheet, spaced 1 1/2 inches apart. Discard the remaining rolling sugar.

To ensure chewy middles, do not compress or flatten the balls. Bake for 4 to 5 minutes, then rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back. Bake for 4 to 5 minutes, until the cookies are just golden on the bottoms. The tops will not have picked up much color.

Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks. When the cookies have cooled, store in an airtight container.

Super Mom I Ain't

Tonight is one of those nights a mother of more than one child fears.  It's sports season ladies and gentlemen and that can only mean one thing...games and practices in three different locations!

That's right...Kyle has a baseball game at 6:00, warm up at 5:30 in the town west of here, Trent has a lacrosse practice at 6:00 in the town east of here and Lance has T-ball practice at 6:30 in town.  Okay, I think I can manage all of that transporting, especially if Coach Steve takes Trent to lacrosse.

The trick is going to be picking Lance and Kyle up at 7:30...hmmm, not so manageable.  My former boss just called me because she had dreamt about me last night.  I had super-powers, jumping over buildings and such, but I'm not such a superhero in real life.  Even I can't be in two places at once.

Oh, and did I mention I also am supposed to supply snacks and drinks to Kyle's team after the game?

Is it wrong for me to wish it would just rain?

Reducing Our Footprint - Part 3

One other thing I started last year was a garden.  I'm sure you will remember pictures from last year and the day-long struggle my wonderful husband had trying to till our new garden.

This year's garden was much easier to till thanks in part to last year's garden and compost.

My fantastic compost, if I if do say so myself!

I began composting after reading how much water and electricity it saves from not using the disposal as much, and the reduction of compostable waste in the trash can.  It's remarkable, I really noticed a difference right away.

I bought a plastic compost bin from Costco.com and was super-excited to get it.  I did some research on what was compostable, all veggie/fruit scraps and breads are allowable, but no meat or dairy because they don't break down very well and attract vermin.  I also learned that if you layer your compost, green layer (grass clippings, food scraps) then brown layer (straw, leaf clippings) you will see better results.

My compost bin looks like this:

My compost bin was a very interesting science project in my backyard last summer.  It would never cease to amaze me how quickly the pile would fall.  I would fill it up to the rim with grass clippings and hay and in three days it had fallen several inches.  I loved going out there to see what progress was being made.

Until the maggots showed up.

Yep, maggots.  Loads and loads of them.  Sickening little wormy things devouring my food scraps.  Wait!  Was that a bad thing or a good thing?  A little internet research showed they were "black soldier fly maggots" and were the sign of a healthy compost pile.  Some people even get buy these fantastic creatures through mail order to benefit their compost pile.

Don't believe me?  Check this out!  http://www.grist.org/article/black-fly-magic/

All winter long we composted as well.  Although the progress went slower because it was colder, I was still amazed how far it fell.  The only time we didn't compost was when the snow storms hit and the compost bin was two feet under snow.  Even then we left a bucket outside for food scraps which we transferred to the compost bin after the thaw.

The result in the spring was amazing!  Not only did we save loads and loads of trash from the landfill and countless of gallons of water wasted, but we ended up with rich compost to spread on our garden.  The thick nutrient-rich soil will hopefully help to produce a wonderful garden bounty this summer and fall.

Emptying the compost bin was a little tricky.  I tried using the little doors on the sides, but they were small and cumbersome.  Eventually I just picked the darn thing up and moved it to another part of our lawn.  I was pleased to see most had composted well, with the exception of a corn cob or large pumpkin.  I was not so pleased to see little mice scampering away, I counted seven but I'm sure there were more I didn't see.  I'm not a big fan of mice, but I'm sure they are good for the compost pile.  Thankfully I wasn't thinking about something else that hides in a compost pile...snakes!  I am really not a big fan of snakes, so I'll take the mice.

Once the compost was fully spread on the garden, Steve tilled it all in about 45 minutes.  A lot less time than last year!  I will update how our garden is doing as it grows.

Until then, start a compost pile!

Reducing Our Footprint - Part 2

As I posted earlier, I have become very conscious of the environmental impacts of having such a large family.  We have made some gradual changes which will not only benefit our family, but Mother Earth as well.

Watching the movie "Food, Inc." is a fantastic way to get motivated to feed your family naturally and  locally grown food.  As I have said before, two farmers markets a week in my town in addition to the farm stands and milk co-op I belong to are a great start.  But I was ready to jump into something more.

So I bought a side of beef.

I heard lots of jokes about the front half or the back half, the left side or the right side, courtesy of my mother.  My answer was always, "Knowing me, the left side.  I'm saving the back side for you."

She makes me punchy sometimes.

I contacted a friend of a friend, and now a friend of mine, who owns a small Angus beef farm less than 3 miles from my house.  The cattle are all grass fed without the use of antibiotics, except in the rare case of an eye infection.  They are lovingly born and raised on this farm, with the exception of those pesky heifers who neglect their babies.  Those calves are reluctantly bottle-fed by my friend with lots of cussing about that "heifer who I'm getting rid of very soon."

Once deciding to purchase a side of beef, I had to become schooled very quickly about cuts of beef and what I wanted.  Basically, a side of beef is about 250 lbs. with about 20% lost in the processing.  I would receive about 80 lbs. in ground beef and the rest in roasts and steaks.  I had to decide if I wanted the prime rib roast put into steaks or not (that was a no for me, we'll use it at Christmas if not before), how thick I wanted my steaks (2 in.), and how much of my ground beef I wanted put into patties and how big they should be (half of the meat in 1/2 lb. patties).

My cow was ready last week.  With specific instructions on how many coolers to bring and armed with my gloves to protect my hands from the frozen beef, my twins and I set off to Hagerstown to the Amish butcher who prepared my meat for me.  I was looking forward to my trip, aware of a story brewing.

Once we got to the Amish butcher, I was immediately struck by a note on the door.  To paraphrase, "Please respect us by dressing modestly and refraining from the use of profanity."  The profanity part was not a problem, but the modesty?  I certainly was not dressed like they were.  With my shin-bearing capri pants and my v-neck short-sleeved shirt, I was exceptional aware of each square inch of skin exposed.  What was I to do?  So I walked in.

The people there couldn't have been more friendly.  With a "Good day!" here and a "How are you doing?" there, I completely felt at ease.  Really, really nice bunch of people.  A young woman brought out a large cart of my beef and told me to just leave it when I was finished.  As I'm loading my beef in the five coolers I have brought with me, Kate is chasing after a barn cat (very cute) and Luke is moving the cart all around (not so cute and completely dangerous).  I say, "Shoot Luke, you're going to get hurt,"  and instantly my mind goes back to the sign on the front of the shop...refrain from the use of profanity.

I am not good at being Amish!

Back at home, freezer full of lots of beef.  Beef short ribs cooking up tonight.  Dee-lish!  I think we will do this every year.

BUT, I will watch my language and dress more modestly next time.
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Post Script - As I typed this, I kept tying "beer" instead of "beef".  I think I'm thirsty.

Mid-Life Crisis?

I was reading the paper today about a celebrity doing something absolutely ridiculous.  The author surmised it was because they were having a mid-life crisis.  I can't remember was the circumstances for the silly behavior or exactly who the celebrity was because all that stands out in my head is the person's age...38...which happens to be exactly my age.

Mid-life crisis?  Seriously?  How can this be?  I feel like I'm 23, with a whole lot more living to do.  Heck I still get zits!  Forget those five crazy little rugrats around me who insist on calling me mom!  Forget those crow's feet next to my eyes!  Forget the gray hairs I've cleverly covered by the box of Garnier every six weeks or so!

I cannot be middle-aged!  I don't have a red sports car, still driving a mini-van filled with kids who still need to be buckled in.  I am not a cougar looking for the cutest twenty-something guy out there, still happily married after almost 13 years.  I have not had plastic surgery to fix things perceived to be broken, still carrying war wounds of a twin pregnancy.  Nope, no mid-life crisis here!

Okay, the life expectancy of a typical American is about 76 and that number divided by two is...yep.  Got it.  Does that mean I've hit my mid-life?  Is there a crisis looming?  Is this something to look forward to?

Maybe I've forgotten about how those rugrats, wrinkles and gray hairs for age is just a number and I have not hit a mid-life crisis.  I'll blame my forgetfulness on my aging mind.

Happy Earth Day!

In honor or Earth Day and minimizing the amount of dastardly disposable diapers we put in the landfill each day, I am going to attempt to potty train our last child.

This will not be an easy task.  If you have any extra good ju-ju vibes to send along, they would be appreciated!

Luke, the last remaining assaulter of Mother Earth in our family!

Nobody

Where I live if you don't know someone famous, you're a nobody.  Lots of Redskins live around here and plenty of famous Hollywood stars have their second or third or fourth home here.  All of my friends know at least one of these "celebrities", but not me.  I'm a nobody.

The closest times I have come to a celebrity encounter was first when I was about 18 years-old and saw Willard Scott in Albany airport.  He winked at me and said hello.  Steve was there to witness it and my jealous then-boyfriend did nothing but laugh at him hitting on me.  The second time my friend Kathleen and I saw Tyra Banks in the lobby of a fancy hotel we were staying in.  I said, "She looks like Naomi Campbell" about ten seconds before she got on an elevator as someone yells, "We love you Tyra!"  Yep, I'm a nobody.

Even my husband has better celebrity stories than me.  When he was in college, he went to a concert in Charlottesville and Dave Matthews was there.  The girls he was with were googly-eyed over him and dared Steve to go talk to him.  So he did, told him his name and that he was going to see him the next night at Dave's concert, and walked away.  Later on that night, Dave came up to Steve and started dancing with him!  At the concert the next night he said to the crowd, "This goes out to my friend Steve who's out there somewhere."

I'm a nobody, but at least I'm married to somebody!

Reducing Our Footprint

Call me "crunchy" if you must...I consider myself to be a pretty earth-friendly person.  I believe in recycling, reducing and reusing whenever possible.  Although I love my plethora of children, I feel bad about the effect our large family has on the environment. Our carbon footprint has got to be as big as a papa tyrannosaurus rex's footprint, and so I work very hard to teach my children about reducing our effects on Mother Earth with my actions and my words.

When we began our vegetable garden, I also started a compost bin.  The effect has been amazing in reducing the amount of trash at our curb each week with the added bonus of less water and electricity using our disposal and less in our sewer system.  Our compost bin has amazed me in so many ways, but I'll save that for another post.

I also started using organic food whenever possible.  This includes belonging to a milk co-op where I pick up my 14 gallons of milk and two dozen eggs every other week.  I believe that organic milk is not only better for the environment and the animals from which it comes, but it is also better for my family.

This really hit home with me after watching the movie "Food, Inc."  If you haven't seen this movie, I really recommend you do.  I waited a long time to watch it because I was afraid I would be disturbed by some of the images, but it was such an eye-opening experience for me.

Whether or not you believe in global warning, two things stuck with me about this movie.  The first is the overuse of antibiotics in animals we eat has led to a large level of antibiotic resistance in people and the second was the unfortunate demise of small farms.

Our family lives in such an agricultural area.  Heck!  Our town has two farmer's markets a week!  Cows, chickens and pigs are all around in addition to all of the local produce!  It would not be difficult for me to support our local farmer buying local produce and meats.

So I started my quest, a couple of visits to our farmer's market, more ordering from my milk co-op, a quick browse from our local environmental council and voila!  I was well on my way to more local and organic food in my kitchen.

Part 2 - My next step..

Household Democracy

Trent, not walking on water...yet!

My big boys decided on Sunday to hold an election for President of our family.  Now I'm not really sure who put the idea in their heads that our house was a democracy, much less that the one elected President would have any authority.  If they had more brains than egos, they would realize this household is a dictatorship run completely within my rein with a teensy bit of control from my dearest husband.  (Love you Honey!)

So they had speeches.  Lance's platform was based solely on health care.  "If I am elected, we will only eat strawberries and healthy food."  Love it!  Trent decided on a much more structured speech with laws which read like this (taken straight from his notes):

1. have to have as money signed by the president
2. all bills are going to have to be signed by the president
3. everyone should listen to all speeches
4. if anyone is mistreated you go to jail
5. you must pay taxes

I'm not exactly sure what Kyle's platform was, at this point Steve was discovered listening in and was banned from all further speeches.

Apparently Kyle's speech was worse than enacting healthy habits or living in Trent's kingdom.  Maybe he was so appalled at Trent's speech, he became speechless...ba-dum-dum!

Elections were held and a victor was decided.  Apparently those polled enjoy the dictatorship because they chose to elect Trent, my dear sweet Alpha male!  

Now it was time to make a Constitution:

Weller people over the years have come from Germany and Spain.  On April 18, 2010 me Trent Weller became 1st president of the Wellers.  I was very surprised I won.  I wrote laws for everyone need to follow.  I am sure Kyle Weller will win (I think he means the next elections here, but not sure).  I think the most importantest (sic) one is every one need to be treated fairly.

Trent Weller

(Written on back)  Will never had more success with his work for the 6 hours I have had my job.  Been taking my job very seriously.  I will change over the next 6 days.

Now I'm speechless, but I really do like the word "importantest"!

My little girl is sick.  I thought it was just allergies until the fever showed up this morning.  I can't tell you exactly what the number is, I don't really take temperatures.  My children either have fevers or they don't...if it gets too high I might give them Tylenol or Motrin.  I don't really do that much either.  I think we get fevers for a reason, to fight off infection, so why would I want to get rid of that?

So I'm not a big temperature taker and I'm not a big medicine giver.  Glad we got that covered.

Anyway, my little girl is sick.  She's done nothing but cling to me and snuggle on the couch.  Like this:

And while I'm sure this will inspire lots of "oooohs" and "ahhhhs", all I can think is, "Please don't puke on the new sofa!"

Novel Idea

I'm not very good at keeping secrets.  My secrets, that is.  Tell me a secret of yours and it's in the vault, only to be spilled when permission is granted.  But my secrets are less sacred, less important and certainly less juicy.

My latest secret is that I'm writing a book.  A novel.  Fiction, based on stories, feelings and experiences I have experienced or gone through with friends.

That's it.  That's the plot.  Juicy, huh?

Really that's all there is to it because the rest is still getting formulated in my head...characters, setting, time frame, etc.

I know this is real because I bought a notebook to start writing down all of my ideas for my novel.  In the moments of calmness in my house (usually while I'm in the shower or driving), I constantly come up with dramatic sentences or ideas.

So my secret is out, the notebook is bought.  Expect me to be on the best seller's list very soon!

Because, seriously, the notebook is bought.

Change

We've reached another milestone in my babies' lives.  One of those ones which they won't even blink an eye to, but I needed to take very small baby steps to get there.

We took down the cribs.

Luke has the crib each of my other boys has slept in.  It means the world to me.  It was the one baby article I couldn't part with even though I knew we weren't going to have any more children when we moved four years ago.

You can stop laughing now.

I figured it was time to move the babies out of their cribs when they would wake up every morning complaining of sleeping in the fetal position every night.  Not because it was more comfortable, but because it was the only way to keep from banging their heads and feet on each ends.

Not really, but you get the idea.

I took the job slowly, knowing it was going to be emotional...for me, of course!  I took the mattresses out and put them on the floor side-by-side and they slept like that for a couple of nights.  My job got a whole lot easier as I walked into this every morning:

If you need a closer look because this one just make you say, "Awww!" out loud, try this:

Seriously, does it get any cuter than that?  Sheesh!

Moving them into big kid beds turned sweeter and sweeter as we added my dad's childhood bed for Luke and Steve's grandmother's bed for Kate which match like we had angels looking over us through this move.  Steve's mom had made two gorgeous quilts to finish the beds which even sweetened the job more.

So my babies are out of their cribs and now sleeping in twin-size beds.  How 'bout that?  The best thing is I'm handing them down to my friend who is have twins in a couple of months so they will be put to good use with another set of lucky babies.

My job of moving the babies out of their cribs turned from bitter to bittersweet to sweet.  I love being a mom!