WFMW: Camoflauged Classroom

Last spring, before the birth of our fourth child, I converted our homeschool classroom back into a bedroom. With the loss of a schoolroom, we thought of having our basement finished, but we decided against it upon finding out the cost! Instead, we returned to "doing school" on the main floor of our house, and I was forced to come up with a creative storage solution.

My china cabinet, in the dining room, was given to me by my grandparents. I enjoyed having china displayed in the dining room, but practicality won out. I moved all of the displayed china into a kitchen cabinet and moved the schoolroom supplies to the cabinet. At first, I intended to hang curtains inside the glass doors to hide the clutter, but then I found baskets at Target which sufficiently contained the supplies while still looking nice (I think). Here is the end result:

I am thankful that the supplies are hidden so that the dining room doesn't look cluttered! Works for Me! (Now what to do with my pathetic plants...)

P.S. The time change definitely does NOT work for me!

Previously on WFMW:

Cocoa, The New Vitamin

Cocoa has wonderful health benefits according to this article.  My question is, did the cups of cocoa include any sugar? 

Yawn

Babies do not comprehend time changes!  I started wondering why Logan was so wide awake at a late hour tonight, then James reminded me of the time change.  Oh yeah.  Duh.  That's probably why I had such a hard time holding my eyes open during the sermon today.  I really wish that we could just pick one time and stick with it.  I wonder how long it will take to adjust to this time change.  I do not remember the fall change with fondness.

This week the Genevans, the choir of my alma mater, performed at our church.  We had four of the choir members stay overnight at our house.   Our kids were thrilled to get to sleep on a bedroom floor in sleeping bags.  It is funny how small changes can seem like such an adventure to them.  James and I stayed up talking to the young men for a little while.   (We're old fogies now.  The college kids were probably born when we were in high school!)  They did a little laundry.  At one point, one of them started looking out the window into the night.  We wondered what he was doing, but then he asked, "Is that a helicopter!"  We laughed, because the loud noise and vibration shaking the room was actually caused by the spin cycle of our washing machine!

Prayer Request

Please pray for a cousin of my husband who is suffering a relapse of anorexia. Though she is a tall girl, her weight is down to 97 lbs. She is in serious condition with a heart rate of 30.

Another Recipe in the Repetoire

Last Wednesday evening, I needed to make supper, but didn't have any planned meals. Since I knew I had some cauliflower and some red potatoes in the refrigerator, I did an ingredient search on allrecipes.com. Only one recipe came up with those ingredients, and while I didn't have every ingredient listed, I thought I could safely make some substitutions. The original recipe on the site was named "Broken Thermostat Curry" and called for a yam, cayenne pepper, and red pepper flakes which I replaced with garbanzo beans and raisins.

Here is my version:

Vegetable Curry

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cup carrot pieces
  
• 1 T. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (1 tsp. jarred minced garlic)
  
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups water
• 1 (14 1/2 oz.) can garbanzo beans (a.k.a. chick peas) drained and rinsed
  
• 5-6 small red potatoes, cubed (The second time I made this, I used turnip instead.)
  
• 2 cups cauliflower florets
• 1/2 c. raisins (or so... I just threw in handfulls until it looked good)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon garam masala (Can omit. For gluten free, make sure spice blend is GF or google homemade garam masala to make your own blend.)
  
• plain yogurt

Directions:

1. Finely chop the onions and carrots in a food processor. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat. Saute the garlic until lightly browned. Pour in the carrot puree and saute for 5 minutes.
2. Pour in diced tomatoes, water, garbanzo beans, red potatoes, cauliflower, and raisins. Season with turmeric, curry powder, cumin, and garam masala. Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.
3. Serve in bowls with plain yogurt.

Why am I blogging this? My family loved this recipe. Evan raved about it and told me to write it down and make it again. I've already made this twice in two weeks, and it is still rated a keeper.

WFMW: A New Twist on Soup-Making

This stick blender ranks as my favorite and most fun kitchen tool. Some of my family's favorite soups require pureeing which previously meant transfering hot liquids and vegetable pieces to a blender in batches. This proved to be messy and time-consuming. This immersion blender makes the job faster and less messy, while it is easier to clean than a blender pitcher. As an added bonus, recently my kids each enjoyed taking turns devising and mixing their own individual-sized smoothie. Works for Me!




Previously on WFMW:

Logan Berry

Who needs a doll when you've got a baby brother? Two weeks ago, we let Sophie try to hold Logan while she stood as opposed to her usual way of holding him on her lap. She can manage with one arm under his armpit and one arm around his leg. If he gets too heavy, she just sets him down with his feet on the floor. Now we have yet another baby-carter, and both parties involved enjoy the interaction.

Evan has carried Logan from day one, but recently he has enjoyed carrying Logan in the Ergo. He also has, um, begun training Logan in doing chores...yeah.

In case you are wondering, James and I still get plenty of opportunity to hold and interact with Logan as well!

One evening this week, James did not arrive home until 8:30 pm. I held Logan in the rocking chair, his eyes closing in sleep, when I heard the key turning in the lock of the front door. "Logan, Daddy's home," I quietly told him. His eyes flew open and he quickly twisted his body to look behind him. He beamed when he caught sight of his dad, and after James had a chance to transition from work to home, he held Logan for another hour. Logan wasn't about ready to let sleep interfere with his daddy-time.

Disclaimer: Matthew spends a lot of time with his little brother too, but I don't have pictures of him carrying Logan lately. He gets tired out very quickly. I'll try to post a video clip of him pushing Logan in the wagon soon.

He's Got A Ticket To Ride

After seeing the fun and usefulness of this baby walker wagon depicted on Susannah's blog, I ordered one for Logan. He thoroughly enjoys riding in it, while the older three love to push him around. I've been surprised that he even enjoys sitting for some time in the tiny space while playing with toys ~ like a miniature playpen on wheels. However, Evan explained that he's not surprised, because it looks "cozy." The kids also have put it to use in rounding up toys to be put away. Of course, it ought to come in handy in several months when Logan learns to walk.