Five Brown Kids

Jax LOVED his first day of school. It wore him out too. By supper time he was lying his head in my lap, after a shower and a story he was out like a light - before Tyrone even got home.

At least once or twice a year Taye begs me to buy one of those big beautiful eggplants from the farmers market. Here's my super easy recipe for eggplant something.... Wash, peel and cut eggplant in 1/2 inch slices Dip each slice in a bowl of beaten eggs Dip egged eggplant in bowl of bread crumbs or cornmeal Saute each piece in a pan til the crumbs are crusty. Spray 8x11 pyrex dish with pam. Place eggplant in pan, cover each with a slice of nice melty cheese (I had thinly sliced Havarti leftover from making sandwiches) and cover it all with one jar of spagetti sauce. Cook until bubbly - about 30 mins and serve over spagetti.

We had a little lunch party at our house today to finish off the summer. Our Japanese friends brought rice balls with soy and ginger meat inside and edamame. No one was interested in my food after those delicious treats. After lunch we played some games outside and then cooled off in the sprinkler. We are now officially ready!

It's back to school time for us. We enjoyed that last few days of freedom at a baseball game, the last swim meet/ice-cream gathering and a very soggy but wonderful hike behind the art museum (it wanders through a mile of woods and art sculptures to a bridge over the highway! - and it rained/poured on us the whole way back).

The other day I was folding a large pile of clothes on my bed while the kids were taking naps/resting and I pulled up an episode of The Office on my laptop to watch while I was working. Jaxon woke up toward the end of the show and when he came in I sat down with him on my lap to watch the last few minutes. Just about then Michael on the show blurted out something about "Once going 26 years without sex". Jaxon is not the kind of kid to let something interesting like that just slide. I held my breath until he spit out, " That's not true. You couldn't live for 26 years without snacks!" True. True.

The little light at the end of the tunnel is now a bright, shining flood light. I can almost breathe again. When the boys start school next week I will finish a summer full of bike rides, blackberry picking, pool marathons, museums, movies and more fighting, more wrestling, more teasing, more messes and more craziness than should be allowed in one little house. I plan to spend my first few weeks of quiet reclaiming my sanity, resettling my blood pressure and shedding my summer "give me chocolate and no one gets hurt" pounds. After that I'll focus on this little to do list I've been scribbling on for the past few weeks. Bless all those home school moms out there, but two roads diverged in a yellow wood and I, well... I'm taking the easy path out!

Happy Birthday Mom! Thanks for taking the time, energy and money to serve us wonderfully healthy food while we were growing up. This is one of my favorite recipes from Mom. Along with her best chocolate chip cookies , delicious potato salad , and bean salad . This cake is a real treat with enough veggies to make it feel guilt free. Mmm.... 1/2 cup soft butter 1/2 veg oil (or applesauce) 1 3/4 cups sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 cup sour milk (milk with a tsp or two of white vinegar) 2 1/2 cups flour (half whole wheat, half white works great) 4 tbsp cocoa 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 2 cups shredded zucchini Cream butter, oil and sugar. Mix in eggs, vanilla and sour milk. Stir together dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Stir in zucchini. Spoon batter into greased and floured 9x12 pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 325 F for 40-45 minutes.

Tyrone was the hot first place judge. (Is that a conflict of interest if your boys always win first place?) And you'll just have to imagine Jaxon watching some older swimmers dive in and swim under water half way before coming up to stroke. Six and unders swim 15 yards or just 2/3 of the pool length. Jaxon dove in for freestyle and didn't come up until he'd passed the 15 yard rope. That little turkey. What goes on in his head? (The stunt did net him a first place ribbon though)

We have a swim meet tonight so we opted for the mall sprinklers today instead of an early swim. Fun! Jaxon has kindergarten camp tomorrow. I asked if he was excited or nervous? Definitely excited!

Just imagine me, backyard in a tent, no fly so we can see the stars, the kids (neighbours too)finished a movie on the laptop and are dropping off to sleep and I... I have wireless so I'm surfing around. Enjoying the peace! PS - One of those rare but beautiful low humidty NC summer days - feels like early October. Perfect night for a camp out.

These housemade granola bars are a snap to make, easy on the budget and filling for kids with endless appetites. Blend the following in a bowl: 3/4 cup soft butter 1 1/4 cup flour (whole wheat would be great too) 1/3 cup corn syrup 1 egg 1 tsp salt 2 cups uncooked oats (I use quick oats) 1 cup brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp baking soda Spread in a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Optional - Remove from oven and spread 1/2 cup peanut butter over bars. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let melt and spread to frost. I usually skip the peanut butter and choc chips. They are fine without. This recipe is so basic it is open to lots of changes. Toss in some dried fruit or coconut for fun. Trade the butter for applesauce if you want.

Yesterday we took the whole crew on a tour of the NC Executive Mansion downtown. We've passed by it often and always wanted to look inside. The first gentleman was outside walking his dogs while the governor was gone to work for the day and he stopped to talk and let everyone meet the dogs. Someone asked what he did all day besides walk dogs. And he said he usually has a meeting or something, plus he goes to read to lots of school classes. I especially appreciated the First Lady's hall that houses all the pictures of past first ladies, now with the addition of the first gent's picture. Time to change the name!

Scotia spends just as much time at the pool as the boys - although in milder pursuits. She loves to splash around with her floatie and lie back and put her hair in the water.

Our boys are still tearing it up. We are half way through the summer season and Taye has amassed 13 blue ribbons and 1 red, no one can even come close in fly. Jaxon is swimming all the 6 and under strokes plus swimming up for a second 7/8 boys relay team. He's aquired 5 blues, 1 red and 3 white ribbons. (6 and unders don't swim the relays and our team has enough 7/8 boys to do a second relay team if Jaxon swims up, he never swims on Taye's team) After swim meets the whole team goes out for icecream. It makes for a very fun and very late night. Here Scotia has dripped half an ice cream cone on her sundress and she is still convinced that she is "not a mess!"

This is one of my favorite dinners. Thanks for the recipes Hannah! Café Rio Beef 2 lb roast 1 can Coca-Cola (or Mexican cola, if you can get it) 1 cup brown sugar 1 (12 oz) bottle Taco Sauce 1 tsp ground cumin Cook all of it in a crockpot 8-12 hrs on low or 5-6 on high). Shred with two forks pulling meat apart. Serve in a tortilla with black beans and rice. Or with lettuce and dressing for a Café Rio Salad. Café Rio Rice 3 cups water 4 teaspoons chicken bouillon 4 teaspoons garlic, minced 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro 1 (3 ounce) can green chilies 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon butter 1/2 onion 3 cups rice Blend cilantro, green chilies and onion together in food processor. Bring water to a boil and add all ingredients. Simmer covered 30 minutes. Café Rio salad dressing 1 buttermilk ranch dressing packet (make as directed) 2 tomatillos ½ bunch cilantro 1 clove garlic 1 Jalapeno (use seeds if you like it spicy) Blend all of the ingredients in a food processor. Chill.

My kids love to play with the neighbour kids. They play in a little stream down the street, ride their bikes up and down the path, play football and freeze tag in the back yard and play hide and seek in our house. Our house isn't that big and there are limited hiding spots. But they have a wonderful time. A few weeks ago while they were playing I announced that I was going to the bathroom and please stay out. I walked in and locked the door behind me and fortunatley just happened to glance behind the toilet before I started to unclothe. Yep, a kid was hiding behind the toilet, squished right in between the tank and the floor. Hello!!!

Dear Country of Mine, Even though you are too cold I still love you! Thank you for perfect 70 degree summers and too many beautiful lakes and beaches to count. Thank you for crunchy apples and lighthouses and bagpipe processionals. But most of all thanks for giving me universal health care so that I could grow up healthy and strong without making my parents choose between food and health care; house payment or hospital bills. - jessica