Ian Mcewan

Since my favorite movie category of all time is "gorgeous star crossed lovers in a beautifully photographed historical setting with a broody British guy" - I was thrilled to see the preview for Atonement. I had heard of the book before but wasn' t very familiar with it. In anticipation of the movie, I started reading the book and it is absolutely delicious. It is so nice to read a novel that isn't trying to hard too be anything more than a well written story. I read 130 pages last night instead of studying - so today I am getting my homework done first.

"It was a great responsibility taking care of so many ducklings, and it kept them very busy"

Recipes

Like a great many people out in the world I am on a constant quest to eat healthier and get my kids to eat better...I am also a bit of a glutton and a sugar addict, which don't always mesh too well. This weekend, however, I made two recipes that I absolutely love. An even bigger bonus is the kids loved them and they passed the health meter. They make me feel better about the amount of halloween candy flooding into my house right now.

Golden Lentil Stew


2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked in water overnight
8 cups homemade or low-sodium store-bought vegetable stock
4 cups water
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro, plus 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped
3 teaspoons coarse salt
4 celery stalks, finely chopped
4 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup yellow lentils, rinsed
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
5 ounces orzo or vermicelli, broken into pieces
1/2 cup chopped, pitted dates
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus whole leaves for garnish
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, and cook 5 minutes. Add chickpeas, stock, and water, and simmer until tender, about 45 minutes. Mash garlic, finely chopped cilantro, and salt into a paste. Add garlic paste, celery, tomatoes, lentils, tomato paste, lemon juice, and spices to pot. Simmer until lentils are tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Add pasta and dates, and cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta is al dente, about 10 minutes. Stir in coarsely chopped cilantro and parsley. Garnish with parsley leaves, and serve with lemon wedges.

Morning Glory Muffins



4 cups all purpose flour
2.5 cups sugar
4 teaspoons baking soda
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups (550 g) shredded carrots (use the food processor)
2 granny smith apples, shredded
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped dried fruits (I used cranberries and kiwis) or chopped pecans
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
6 large eggs
2 cups vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC) and prepare muffin tins by greasing them or lining them with paper cups.In a large bowl, mix well togther the first 11 ingredients.In an other bowl, whisk together eggs, oil and vanilla extract.Pour the eggs/oil mixture on the flour/fruits/carrots mixture and stir just enough to moisten the dry ingredients combine. Over-working the batter affects the quality of the finished muffins.Spoon batter in prepared tins filling them up to the rim. Cook in batches for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Five Years fro mNow

I had a false start on a blog I tried to publish with pictures of the kids and I making muffins and carving pumpkins with Ariel last Sunday...but, alas, I can't get the stupid pictures to upload off the camera. I am just going to have to wait for Ar's help. This last week has been a bit of a bear...we have been way understaffed with several people off and there is a constant pressure to work more days. When there isn't, there is usually two hours of overtime per night. Today is my four day weekend stretch - so I got to do lots of lovely things; I took a nap with Elias and Hamda, and walked them to get hot chocolate after school. Now they are all playing at the park in the sunshine. I really like it when I am able to unwind. Shukri and I are going to make meatballs for dinner.
I really enjoyed posting about my homeschool thoughts - so I thought I would post about another internal debate I have going on. I have been talking to Ar about where we see ourselves in five years...I feel like there are three real choices for us, although I am definitely open to other opportunities.
1. Stay in Olympia. We like it here. Our families live here. It is a good place to live - although we will probably need a bigger house by the time the kids hit their teen years. It is our hometown, though - which has its advantages and disadvantages.
2. Move to Portland. I love Portland - and it is a bit more affordable to live than Seattle. There are also a lot of good jobs for NP's in Portland. Every time we go, we wander around the Laurelhurst neighborhood were we would like to live. Ariel doesn't think he would have too much trouble starting up a new business down there.
3. Look for jobs abroad. I have always wanted to live abroad, and I do think that sometime I will. Ariel lived in the Phillipines when he was young and it was a great experience for his family. Both the state department and the U.S. military hire civilian nurse practitioners and post them around the globe - this is pretty close to my dream job. The question is more if the time to do this is sooner or later.

I like having choices - it is fun to think about all the possibilities, especially since all of them really would be nice. I can't get too secure - because the last place in the world I would have imagined being ten years ago is living in my hometown, a married Mother of Four.

Bluster

It is very, very windy in Oly today. I spent the morning being busy with kids...but the afternoon I got all to myself!! Elias has a cold and conked out and Hamda spent the afternoon playing with her older cousin who was at Grandma Ruth's house for the day. Hamda loves the extra attention and being doted on. So I whiled away my spare three hours by watching this movie:


and finishing up this book:

I cannot describe how much I LOVE to be in my house all by myself. The movie wasn't too bad - not great, but a very good movie for enjoying alone.The Eyre Affair, however, was just the perfect book to read when you are a bit tired and nice and warm - I got to finish it up today. Even though I only have 100 pages left in War and Peace, I could not tear myself away. I cannot wait to have pick up the next one. Tonight we are taking the kids to the library and a thrift store to pick out halloween costumes. We have been really enjoying all of our little fall rituals. This is a very nice time of year, and cabin fever hasn't set in yet.
I want to thank my very wise friends who gave me great input on the homeschooling/public schooling issue. I really appreciated what everyone had to say and it made me feel a lot better about changing my mind....

Uncharted Territory, Part II

One could probably tell that I have just started a new quarter and am really having a problem with procrastination by the number of blogs I have posted lately...but I have spent a lot of time contemplating a big choice. Ariel and I have always planned on homeschooling our kids. Ar was homeschooled all the way through school and it turned out great for him. When Isaac was two or so, I became very inspired by a book about Classical Homeschooling.
Now I am quite suprised to find myself very unsure if I want to homeschool at all. I sent the kids to school this year partially because I felt overwhelmed by having four kids, let alone trying to homeschool them. I still love many things about homeschooling - but I am also really pleased (so far) with our local public school system. The other thing that I didn't figure on four years ago was that I may not be the ideal homeschool Mom. Ariel's Mom was a wonderful and patient teacher who was very happy to stay home with her kids for the 20+ years it took them to get through school. I tend to be a bit over extended (hmm...to put it mildly) and am not so sure that homeschooling four kids is one of those things you can just fit in, like graduate school :).
Luckily Ariel and I don't have to make any decisions now. The kids seem to be thriving where they are, but the question is looming in my future: To homeschool or not to homeschool?

Uncharted Territory

I am veering off into uncharted parenting territory today....so much of my parenting to this point has been damage prevention. "Make sure the kids don't fall into the pool, don't let them drink the draino" kind of parenting. Isaac is a pretty emotional and tightly wound little guy - and I knew he has quite a temper, but I wasn't too worried about it. Today he gave Hamda a nosebleed during a tussle they were having and he verbally lashed out at a girl at school and made her cry. Both times he just got really upset, lost control, and was very remorseful about the consequences.
Somehow I feel I have crossed a point with his temper that I really need to try and teach him about why he can't just act out when he loses it - as opposed to saying "Isaac don't hit your sister or you will be punished by _________." I am not completely sure how we are going to handle this issue....it definitely feels like a new, more complex kind of parenting. I hope some wisdom comes to me during the night!