Thanksgiving ~ Day 4

Today I'm thankful for being exposed to a Global Christianity. I realized this past week that when all I experience of Christianity is American Christianity... a richness and depth of truth is missing. My hope and prayer is that my experience and the experience of my children will continue to grow through travel around the world as well as more visits by our brothers and sisters from our global community.

Photo by Carl Oulton

Thanksgiving ~ Day 3

Today we are thankful for the safe arrival of Grandma and Grandpa Olson. We are looking forward to playmates, the dishes elf:-), catching up conversations, and inviting them to participate in our life here. Welcome Grandma and Grandpa!

Tonight Hannah and Grace enjoyed a bedtime story by Grandma.

Thanksgiving ~ Day 2

Today we were so blessed to spend this morning with these incredible people...

Although these pictures were not taken today, (imagine a park instead of a farm and winter coats instead of simply long sleeves) it was the same bunch of fun! I so appreciate Rachel's perspective on life and parenting. We may not have the exact same situations between my girls and her boys; we share similar desires to raise our kids with love and grace.

Today I'm thankful for my friend, Rachel and her boys.

Thanksgiving Challenge

Two years ago I committed to writing a post every day leading up to Thanksgiving talking about something I am thankful for. For 2012, I am going to commit again to this challenge.

On this, the first day of November, I am thankful for good conversations. These happened throughout the day today. This morning, I was reminded that it isn't what I do that makes me valuable, but who I am. Over lunch, I was involved in a very enlightening conversation with our brothers from Malawi... everything from explaining how elections work to children in worship to the US involvement in the politics of Malawi to witchcraft and owls. This conversation was so enriching!

Deacon William, Robson, Pastor Anthony, Elder Godfrey

Finally, this evening, spending time talking to my best friend and life partner... my wonderful husband.

Thanks for good conversations.

Apple Picking with the Family

Today we went apple picking in Amesbury at Cider Hill Farms. It was a beautiful day after the rainy week we have had. The air was crisp, just like a fall day should be. The sky with blue with fluffy white clouds.

The orchard was planted on a fairly steep hill, but once you got to the top (riding a cool wagon moving by daddy power) the view was amazing. Probably in one more week the surrounding trees will be in full color.

The day wouldn't be complete with out apple cider donuts. As much as we love them at Russell Orchards, these were AMAZING. I think that had something to do with the cinnamon and sugar covering them and the fact they were almost 1/2 the price.

Going...

going...

gone!

Very fun day with the family! It was topped off with fresh apple pie... with 2 crusts (as Hannah requested) and vanilla ice cream! YUMMY!

September pictures

Today Hannah's school had a teacher in-service day, so she had the day off. I decided to take the girls to Ravenswoods to see if I could get some pictures... not an easy task. They are either acting goofy or turning away to look at something else. These were ok... if anything, they show who the girls are these days.

Elizabeth ~ my pick-up everything, get into everything, busy little girl

Gracie ~ my introverted,  "coming into her own personality now that big sister is in school," learning so much little girl

Hannah ~ my school-loving, people-loving, "what are we going to do now" firstborn little girl

Ironically, probably the best picture of the girls together was my first picture; right outside our side door.

Grace ~ 3 years, Elizabeth ~ 19 months, Hannah ~ 5 years

Yum... Yum... YUM!!!

I never thought I would put these two things together... Yum and Eggplant. Really. I didn't think it was possible and especially not in my kitchen. But this week, it happened and I have an empty 9x13 to prove it. Yes, we had a little help from 2 friends, but I did write 9 X 13, do you know how much eggplant that is?

Anyway, my story begins here.

Spring 2012 ~ Garden

No, there are not any eggplants planted in these raised beds, because this Olson didn't think that would be a good choice for our family. The eggplants come later.

Those little raised beds became this...

Kale plants are towering over my "cheesy" girls.

That would be brussel sprouts among which Gracie could easily hide.

Beyond the Kale... tomato plants and the next part of my story.

I've wanted to make my own tomato sauce (canning is something I think I want to tackle someday... just not this day), but so far this season haven't had enough tomatoes to do that. Not so this week...

These tomatoes and peppers became this...

Can you smell it?

The recipe I used for my sauce was from cooks.com... Fresh Tomato Spaghetti Sauce. The recipe called for 3 Tbsp of sugar, but my fresh garden tomatoes were SO SWEET, the sauce didn't need it.

Now comes the eggplant... sorry no pictures. Daryl's boss gets veggies from a local farm and she had some extra eggplant. Last week Daryl grilled it and we all enjoyed it (did I just say that?), especially Elizabeth. So when Amy asked if I wanted some more, I decided to try eggplant parmesan. I invited our lovely friends and neighbors, Andrew and Becky (way more adventuresome vegetable eaters than us) to join us for supper. (We love our friends... but deep down I was really afraid of too many leftovers:-). )

The recipe I used was from allrecipes.com... Eggplant Parmesan II. This recipe calls for baking the breaded eggplant rather than frying it. I took the advice of several reviewers and salted the peeled and sliced eggplant first for 30 minutes. After rising and patting it dry, I breaded it and baked it for 20+ minutes (rather than 5 on each side). The girls ate some of the eggplant as chips after it was baked. That was a good sign.

I assembled the eggplant parm as the recipe called for using my homemade sauce rather than store bought.

Oh.My.Word. My husband ate seconds and maybe thirds. Hannah ate everything on her plate and devoured the "leftover" eggplant "chips". (the other two have been on a bit of an eating strike... even with their "favorite foods) Our friends and I also had several helpings. The dish was empty at the end of the meal.

I would definitely make this meal again. Did I just say that about... EGGPLANT? Come to think of it, it is a rather pretty vegetable.

Image from http://www.wrensoft.com/zoom/demos/fruitshop/index.html