Making it to the End

 

This can be a tough time of year for all of us-kids are tired of doing school, moms are tired of sticking to the routine, I am tired of creating lesson plans; the sun is shining, the beach is so close…But even with all of this and more, I think it is very important to finish the year strong.  We want to model to our children and students the value of commitment, perseverance and hard-work, qualities that are sometimes hard to find in our society.  We do want to keep this commitment to virtue balanced with our need to enjoy the life God has given us.  So how can we make that happen in the last few weeks of the school year?

Here are a few ideas to keep you going-

1.       Take school outside for part of the day.  Do your reading on the grass.  Take a walk and observe nature.

2.       Start the day with mom reading aloud.  This is such a nice way to ease gently into the demands of the day!

3.       Make a special breakfast and enjoy it together before starting the school day.  Sometimes we all benefit from being together and just resting, after we have completed the busyness of the morning routine and before we start our school day.

4.       Declare a pajama school day and make a really big deal about the privilege to school in pajamas (admittedly this only works if you make the kids get dressed every other day! J )

5.       Take some school to a coffee shop one afternoon.

6.       Make time for oral school work-oral spelling, oral Latin practice, memory work review, reading aloud to siblings.

7.       Excuse your child from some of their math problems.  That usually makes everyone very happy!

8.       Have a picnic for lunch.

9.       Plan a field trip.

10.   Plan a creative activity-have the kids put on a puppet show about something from history or literature, make a cookie dough relief map, or have them write a song about a key person you are studying…

And know when you are going to end!  I think it is so helpful for parents and children to know that the end of this year is in sight.  Your end might be a certain time, it might be a certain place in the books, but we all benefit from having a goal we can meet.  Remember that you will start school again, but you will probably start refreshed and renewed if you give yourself a break!

Creating Business Plans

This is what my youngest brother and sister were doing the other day.  Yes, at 7 and 9, they really did use the phrase “business plan” as they were telling me about this. 

 So the little brother came up with this list:

A.  Work at Dave and Buster’s

B.  Work at an Ice Cream shop that sells a lot of ice cream

C.  Own a shoe store

And the little sister came up with this:

A.  Own her own clothing line and store

B.  Attend Beauty school and work at a salon

Getting Smarter by the Night

Those who know and love me know that I had decided that organic, USA made cotton sheets where the way to go.  Of course, I never bought them as they can be a bit pricey…the amount of organic cotton is relatively small and of course, sewing labor in the USA is rather high.

 Thanks to some very wonderful people, I am now the proud owner of some wonderful organic, USA made cotton sheets. :)  I love them.  I love the fact that they were made after the order was placed, I love the fact that the tags are labeled my hand-no pre-printed labels on my sheets!

And I am sure that my brain now has the ability to work double time.  No more of those nasty pesticides that drench the average everyday cotton of the day.  My pores rest happily in chemical free sheets.

The Horse Show

Liz, Matt and Jacob have been taking horseback riding lessons and we recently went to their show.  The Lutz clan cleaned up with first place ribbons all around!  Check out these riders:

Jacob:

  

Elizabeth:

 

Matthew:

 

Christmas Eve Tamales

Our family has no long standing food traditions for the Christmas holidays-our meals have included everything from turkey to tenderloin to spaghetti to pizza.  But the tradition of making and enjoying tamales on Christmas Eve keeps popping up, and since we are getting better and better at it, I think this one might stick for awhile.

Everyone joins in on the fun-

Post Christmas Open House Cooking

I love cooking when I have the time and when I have the right inspiration to cook…I’ve gone through many cooking seasons and at least for the time being my days of setting my alarm to keep a new type of bread right on track at 2 am or spending several days making croissants and danishes from scratch are long gone.  These are the days of gourmet in 30 minutes or quick-invent something that everyone will like from the leftovers or make gobs and gobs of food for a party in one day or less.

 Hosting an open house with my sister Erin gave me the chance to cook up a storm.  One little thing about me and cooking is that I can not, never have and probably never will, cook in small quantities.  It kills me.  I have to make more.  I can’t dream of someone not getting enough or of -horrors- of a platter being empty before the party is over.  So what started out small, grew and grew and wonder of wonders-we had plenty of food.  (I panic every single time I host a party…I think it is genetic.  My mom laughs at me when she is not the one responsible, but ha, when she is the hostess, she does the exact same thing.)

So if you need to quick a bunch in a hurry I heartily recommend-

Jalapeno Bacon Thingies from thepioneerwoman.com

Olive Cheese Bread from the Pioneer Woman.com

I also made some great new spreads, and they are winners because they are different and made in the food processor!

Fresh Herb and Walnut Dip

4 oz. cream cheese

3 oz.  feta cheese

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

2 large basil leaves

2 large mint leaves

2 parsley sprigs

2 green onions, chopped

2 Tbs olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Throw all of this in the FP, blend and serve with celery and apples.

Greek Cheese Spread with Roasted Red Peppers

1/2 cup ricotta or cottage cheese

3 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup feta

1 Tbs olive oil

lemon juice to taste (1/2 -1 lemon)

2 garlic cloves

2 chopped green onions

2 parsley sprigs

3/4 cup roasted red bell peppers

Toss everything in the FP, blend and serve with veggies and pita wedges.

Never Give Up, Never Give In

My brother David graduated from the MPC Fire Academy last night.  I am one proud sister, seeing him become a man dedicated to doing a job well and giving it his all.  Fire-fighting is clearly a passion of David’s and it was wonderful to see his graduation after many, many hours of work and study.

  

One fun part of the graduation was watching the student video.  I have a slight tendency towards claustrophobia and watching the various maneuvers-climbing in small spaces, crawling under masses of wires, being lowered into a hole in the roof-so even seeing the video made me queasy and nervous.  I have profound respect for the brave people who dedicate their lives to saving people in this manner.  And I am profoundly proud that my brother is joining the ranks of these brave individuals. 

A Post Just for Krista

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black?!?  :)  I had a couple of awesome, memorable, witty entries in my mind, but the internet connection was s—l—-o—-w, and I had no patience for it.  Now all of those great ideas have vanished and I’ll have to see what else I can come up with…

First Annual CFT Auction

What a success this was!  I am still so excited about the great responses with both donations and shoppers.  I am so blessed to have so many wonderful people around me-especially my family.  The family really, really came through for me on this event!  My dad was the master of ceremonies (and many people saw a side of him that they had never seen before), my brother donate a number of key, key items, my sister in law is an awesome gift basket maker, my sister made beautiful flower arrangements and gathered a lot of donations, my other sister got us some more donations, my mom came through with all the last minute stuff and was a great sounding board the whole time…my family is great!

 And to top it all off, I also have some truly wonderful friends as well.  :)  All in all, the auction turned out very well and I think that next year’s will be even better. 

Thanks all!

Ever Wonder What Type of Person is Crazy Enough to go to a Midnight Sale?

That is one of those questions that haunted me for years, along with things like-Who is crazy enough to do that?  How many people would actually show up at one of those?  Would it me worth it? 

Well, now I know the answer…

My sister Krista convinced me to go the the Black Friday sales at the Gilroy outlets this year, and yes, they start at midnight.  Krista can talk me into just about anything.  I mean, if my needs-12 hrs-of-sleep sister could do this, so could I.  And what if I didn’t go and I truly missed out on something wonderful?  Some Ann Taylor blowout sale could be happening that I would miss just because I wanted sleep.

So I went.

Along with the thousands, yes thousands, of other crazy people.  There was no parking, there were lines in front of most stores (they were limiting the number of people in a store at one time), I hear the traffic on the freeway was horrible and there were people all over the place.  Never would I have imagined that so many people would want to go to Gilroy at midnight!

Was it worth it?  Yeah, one time.  Ann Taylor was packed and I stood in line there for at least 45 minutes, but I got the cashmere sweater I have been hoping to buy.  I also had plenty of time to chat with the two girls behind me-they had plenty of entertaining stories about their day and their life.  I got to see a couple of would-be line hoppers get caught by the people around them. 

But after a couple of hours of this craziness, I was totally exhausted and my body started to shut down, and I felt sick, and I just wanted to be in bed…

It was an experience!