October by the numbers

This month:

We bought a new (to us) table with 8 chairs.
We went on 2 dates (yes, one of them was a 5K. It counts because we had a babysitter and we did stay together for about 5 minutes of the race after N had already finished)
Our children brought home 734 pieces of paper from school (exaggeration?)
Read 1 book, not my favorite.
Tried 3 new recipes--all three were winners.
I sewed 1 item of clothing. (Don't ask too many questions, Christmas is coming).
Broke one 475 watt mixer making 3 loaves of bread
Volunteered at school 5 times. (Twice with my little ones in tow).
One sick child . . . . thankfully it only lasted about 12 hours
14.5 hours of continuing education
Purchased 3 winter coats, 1 jacket, 3 snowpants, and 3 pairs of boots (still need a couple more things)

5 pumpkins. (Ed let N & I decorate while he napped).
One started crawling.
The fall wall is up.

For November a short list of things I am thankful for:

1) Homemade bread
2) Reading to Diana before our (almost) daily nap.
3) Land's End (specifically 3/4 sleeve button up shirts, and khaki pants without stretch)

4) Gainful employment
5) Freedom of worship
6) Educational opportunities for myself and my children
7) Having family members close (and closer) by
8) Seeing Caitlin's world expand in her first year of school
9) Ed's sweet personality--every book he pulls down, ever drawer he gets into, every cry and shout at the table because he's reminding me to feed him, every smile, so great.
10) Fall weather--it's been so lovely. Ideal.

Parting shot--so many memories!

Alumni Love

We have this thing about the BYU alumni magazine . . . . . we LOVE it.
(And have a hard time taking turns with it). We find great things in it each time it comes.

Enjoy this little video from BYU students breaking a world record this summer.
They took it away from the University of Kentucky on July 23rd and filmed this:



(Then Kentucky took it back a month later with 30,000 more balloons)

A tasty pair

I love these recipes with Coriander & Chicken and wanted to share them:

Chicken Tikka Masala
(This is not the exact recipe I have used, but it is the closest free and non-copyrighted one I can find). I got mine here, which I bought at Sam's Club for less than you can get online. This dinner will make you want to stay at the table and eat some more. And more. And you will jump up and down if you get the leftovers the next day--it's so good. I cannot promise your children will love it--but if you like tomatoes, I think you will. And I didn't really jump up and down. But I am excited for lunch tomorrow.   

Chicken Bits or Chicken Bites
I've had this one for awhile, and it appears on our table once every couple of weeks. I tweak it a little of course. I cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces instead of tenders, and I cook them all at once, rather than saute twice. It is easy and tasty. My kids love it. Need I say more?


p.s.
Have you tried Freeze Dried herbs?
The first one I tried was dill. It is the next best thing to fresh, because you can keep it around for a long time. Today I bought cilantro . . . we'll see. If I love it, it is going to save dinner a thousand times.  . . . (I can't tell you how many times I've wished for fresh cilantro in my kitchen).
Parsely will be next.

Field Trip

This week I attended my first field trip as a parent. It was GREAT!

I went with Caitlin's class to the Gardens at Spring Creek, a public garden.

I'm not sure how much "learning" took place on the field trip, but here are three factoids for your reading pleasure:

1) Humans eat the seeds (and or grains) of plants more than any other part of plants.

2)Espalier (pronounced /ɨˈspælɪər/ or /ɨˈspæli.eɪ/) is the horticultural and ancient agricultural practice of controlling woody plant growth by pruning and tying branches so that they grow in relatively flat planes, frequently in formal patterns, against a structure such as a wall, fence, or trellis, and also plants which have been shaped in this way.^{[1]
As seen in this tree apple tree below:}

 
^{The Chicago botanic garden has lots of fruit trees like this, but I never knew the term. I love it!}


3) The Garden donated over 2000 lbs of fresh produce to the community food bank this summer.

Yes, mom this one is for you.

My favorite feature: playing in the water feature with chattering teeth.

Kids do all the same things on buses we used to do, including writing in the foggy windows with their fingers. It seems much more unsanitary now than it did then.

Reflex

 I made it into one of Nathan's powerpoint presentations!

Coming Home 5K

This morning was our second race this year, the CSU Homecoming 5K. It was the biggest race I've run . . . . 1515 finishers . . . . . I loved the energy of so many participants.

My goal was to be able to run (jog) the whole race without stopping to walk. Because it was so big, the organizers asked us to stay with our pace group at the start. I enjoyed that better than starting with Nathan at the front. I was behind the Stormtrooper and near some jogging stroller moms. (Yes, he really did the whole race in his awesome costume). About 3/4 of a mile into the race, 4 jogging stroller dads passed me all at once. I met my goal--I did it without walking. I am a runner!? (What IS a runner?)

I have a goal about staying ahead of jogging stroller moms and dads . . . . . someday.

We had a babysitter so we could both run. She goes to CSU, which was great because she knew where to park, and she could drive herself home at the end.

The most inspiring participants were:
the parents pushing their teenage daughter with physical disabilities in an adult sized jogging stroller, (they brought a tear to my eye when they passed me),
the man with a below knee amputation who could not stop smiling when it was over, and his equally excited wife, who could not stop taking pictures of him,
and the men's 70+ age group winner, with a large brace on his knee because of femur problems, who ran a 29:30.

It was very flat, as promised in the advertisements. There was a HUGE kid's race afterwards. Three of our 4 runners competed. They had a one loop race around the "Oval" for the little ones and a two loop race for bigger kids.We missed our photo op with Cam the Ram . . . . next year. We saw people we knew, which was NICE. Nathan schmoozed with the professors.
The department head made my day when he said, "You have a beautiful family."

Nathan's time:18:33
My time: 37:31

"I love where I live." Caitlin said the other day..
Next year, homecoming parade.
More fall.

NCTM 2010 Regional

This weekend I went to a regional conference for math teachers. It was great!
I go to keep my teaching certificate active. This year I attended presentations on MathCounts, NASA, using the TI-NSpire calculators, Google Sketch-Up, using Video games to teach mathematics, assessment, making geometry relevant, keys to successful teaching, conversations in the classroom, etc.
Some classes were better than others--I came home with ideas for things I can do NOW to improve my children's mathematical literacy.
Mom and Ed came with me . . . . I was happy to have their company.
We ate bagels and peanut butter sandwiches so I could afford Little India for dinner.
Chicken Tikka Masala . . . so good. I could eat Indian food for a long time without getting tired of it.
Why the bear? you ask.
It's public art. I guess he wants to see what's up at the convention center.

And I discovered this innovative idea, too.
(If you live on the west coast and you are interested in public transit, that link is for you).

Glad I went.
Glad to be home.