Packing Lunches

Well. That was a long, unplanned silence. Summer is over and school has commenced. Hopefully I'll slide quietly back into blogging...

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School is back in session, and so is the job of packing a row of lunches. I think one of the biggest things I dreaded this year about the new schedule was facing that morning scramble of packing lunches. And making sure there are things to pack in those lunches.

Chris couldn't understand my anxiety and had a simple solution for the problem. "Make them fix their own lunches! There's no reason they can't fix their lunches instead of you doing it."

I say a simple solution.

Except to me, that solution is anything but simple. The idea of four children in the kitchen every morning, scrambling around, searching for food, bombarding me with questions, squabbling over who gets what, fills me with more dread than doing the job myself. I know a lot of families take that route. I know there are probably ways to streamline the process. But not this mother! I just don't think I could deal with it.

Still, as school time crept closer, I kept thinking there has to be a better way. What could I do to take some of the stress out of my school mornings? Other than getting up at some ungodly hour. This mother doesn't deal well with that, either.

First day of school!

And then, I hit on a creative idea. An idea that would make the children do some of the work without the bedlam I feared in the kitchen. An idea that just might be the perfect fix and an actual simple solution. Can you tell I'm kinda proud of myself?

I'm not good with sticking to schedules and elaborate plans, so we'll see how long this lasts. For now, I'm loving it. While it's working, I thought I'd go ahead and share in case any of you other moms are like me and need a lunch packing solution.

Every night after supper, the children each have a job to do -- put away leftovers, clear the table, empty the drainer, wash dishes. I decided evening lunch prep would be just the ticket. Since everyone was doing jobs anyway, it was easy to include in the routine.

The girls lunches almost always include something to warm up. Jasmine, who puts leftovers away, is responsible to make sure there are 3 containers filled and ready to go.

Or a stack of pizza

as the case may be

 Lillian and Jennifer rotate between washing the dishes and the new job -- filling bags with chips and containers with cookies for lunches.

We have a basket designated 

for these items. 

In the morning, I make a sandwich for Isaac and a sandwich for Chris. The rest of the lunch items can be grabbed from what was prepared the night before. Add an apple or a bowl of frozen fruit, spoons where needed, and we're good to go! Now if I'd just spend some time making up a stash of these for those days when there are absolutely no leftovers, packing lunches might be almost fun.

Almost.

A Recipe And A Problem

The two have nothing to do with each other,  just so you know. They were just the two random things I felt like sharing this morning.

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I don't often try new recipes. I was going to say that's because cooking isn't my thing but I think it's actually more because I'm married to a man who likes the same tried and true dishes every time. Every once in a great while I try a new recipe and it ends up in the tried and true category. 

I went looking for a different recipe for chicken one night and found "Man Catchin' Oven Baked Fried Chicken". I didn't need to catch a man, but it did turn out to be pretty good chicken!

     Recipe:

1 1/3 C Flour 

1 T Garlic Powder

2 T Seasoning Salt

1 tsp Paprika

  --Whisk together in medium sized bowl

2 Large Eggs -- beat eggs in small bowl

1/3 C Butter

8 pieces of chicken (I use boneless skinless breasts but you could use any pieces)

Dip pieces of chicken into flour mixture, then into egg mixture, then back into flour mixture. Place on greased baking sheet. Do not cover. 

Place in fridge for half an hour. (According to the lady sharing the recipe, this is the whole key to this dish. Do not skip this part.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Melt butter and drizzle evenly over chicken. 

She said to bake it 30 - 40 minutes. I do more than 8 pieces of chicken, perhaps that is why it takes mine at least an hour to get done. 

It truly is delicious! All seven of us love it, and that is quite an accomplishment. We've even used the leftovers for cold chicken sandwiches on a picnic. Sadly, I have no pictures to share. 

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I do have pictures of the problem. 

I'll give you three guesses....

1) A tornado went through our area?

2) This is a drop off spot for toys for the homeless?

3) Someone has too much stuff?

If you guessed #3 you are the winner! The winner gets to come cart off all our junk. ☺

Seriously. How? How does this happen? 

I think, in the dark corners where they get stashed, the toys breed like rabbits. They divide and multiply and spill out everywhere until finally someone says "Enough!"  Last week that someone was a tall, dark haired girl in this house and we spent an entire afternoon on the painstaking process of elimination. And that was just the girl's stuff. Meanwhile, upstairs....

How do you do it? Do you have an organized process of only a certain amount of toys? A monthly system for purging? A 6 month program for switching out toys? How do you handle having older ones who are fed up with the mess and younger ones who think every scrap paper is a treasure? What about a grandma who gives toys liberally? Or gifts someone gave that aren't particularly one's taste? You can't very well donate your eliminated stash to Goodwill where the wrong people might see them! 

And then you have the mother herself who contributes to the problem *occasionally*

Only last week she bought the large rug pictured above because it was only $4.99 and she couldn't stop thinking how fun it would have been to play with..... Sigh. 

At least it can be walked on.

We currently have quite a pile of boxes and bags to be delivered to some thrift store far away. We might be sick of going through stuff but it sure does feel good. Even the treasure hoarders agree. 

A Little Something of No Great Inspiration

I keep waiting for some great writing inspiration to strike but it doesn't seem to want to. And it has to want to, you know? Even Pooh knows that, and he only has grey fluff blown into his head by mistake.

The great dilemma is this -- Do I listen to the noble advisors like Pooh Bear and wait until it wants to? Or do I brush all wisdom aside and write about things without any great inspiration? Sometimes one can dawdle around at great length over such dilemmas until one is forced to just do something because surely, after all, something is better than nothing. Or something like that.

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Perhaps you would like to hear about the weather? It has been quite pleasant in Ohio of late. Last week we ate supper on the porch one evening because it was ju-u-u-st cool enough that I thought I could get by with it.

On a side note, 

that old table was a lucky

find at a local yard sale and

I am just tickled pink with it!

Sunday evening we took advantage of the lovely weather and hiked some trails at Barkamp. Everyone enjoyed the 2 mile trek, even the ones who generally complain about tired feet.

We managed to document the 

event with this blurry picture. 

This week there has been some beautiful rain showers and overcast days.

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Maybe, after all, you were wondering how my canning is going? Real well, in fact. All I want to do yet is frozen peaches for school lunches.  I'm not quite sure what the Lord is preparing us for this year. For one reason and another, I have more corn and green beans stocked up than I ever have in my life. Then again, maybe He just realizes how much more these growing kids will eat!

It is truly amazing the amount of help my children are these days when it 

comes to these projects!

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On the other hand, it could be that you're wondering if I'm learning anything new these days. Let's see, I could probably think of a few things.

* Ever hear of the Betsy-Tacy books? One of my girls was gifted a copy at the end of the school year and her mother kinda got into them too and ended up ordering the whole series from the library and reading them right along with her bookworm.

* Wise advice is much easier to give, than to take oneself. The glib counsel I once gave a friend who was teaching the adult lady's Sunday school class is not so easily believed when I am the one in those shoes. 

* When cleaning out the freezer uncovers old food long forgotten, the fact that some of it was shredded zucchini makes it a good day. 

* School shopping can actually be a fun time when you take your time and include places like Goodwill and Hobby Lobby... And you linger over treasures like these --

I played with a pan like this 

when I was little!

We could hardly tear ourselves 

away from this aisle; 

all the doll houses and accessories!

Also?

I need this in my laundry room. 

* Sometimes you read things that resonate immediately like this blog post by Rosina.

* Also, most of the time the littlest, most ordinary things are the things that bring the most joy.

Maybe kind of like blog posts

 without great inspiration......

Dear Mom

It's Vacation Bible School week here in my world. I never quite realized before what a trigger that simple, summer activity is for me......

Dear Mom,

I can just see you, back in the day, urging daddy to go with you to invite children to Bible School. You loved Bible School. You loved picking up the children and making connections with their parents. Longer ago, when you were young and in your prime, you enjoyed getting creative with making song posters and teaching class. Your famous "Noah Noah" and "Jonah" song sheets live on through second and third generation students!

Bible School in your day was no small deal. Sometimes you hosted out of state teachers, taught a class, picked up students and took them home, helped with snack and maybe even led the singing all while juggling laundry, canning green beans and hosting teachers for a lunch or two. This went on for two weeks straight.

I know you got stressed and worn out and things didn't always go perfectly but you wouldn't have missed it for anything.

Bible School in the hills of Arkansas was something my pioneer parents and their cohorts took seriously. Because our community was spread out so widely, we hosted a morning Bible School at our church and an evening Bible School at a local church at the other end of our community. Teachers would come in from out of state to help and many of them would teach at both places i.e. third grade lesson to one group of students in the morning, the same lesson to a different group in the evening.

The schedule sounds crazy to anyone who was never a part of it. Bible School morning and evening for two weeks?? How?

Some of my best memories are my youth years when I would teach morning and evening and join the whole gang of teachers for lunch at someone's house every day. We went shopping together, went on picnics, played games, prayed and fasted on Wednesdays, helped each other prepare our lessons... Some of the friendships made with youth who came to help us teach are still alive today.

I know time has a way of changing things and often our own era seems to have the best memories. Oh the stories I could tell of hot, cramped little classrooms at the old, Wolf Bayou church where the old, folding seats creaked and the curtains strung up everywhere still didn't provide enough "rooms" for all the classes. The noise and temperature levels in that old building were high but the singing rang and the silence was breathless when the storyteller got up to tell us the next installment of his story.

Yes, memories are golden. It's no wonder the very mention of Summer Bible School brings waves of nostalgia and memories galore. In the middle of all those memories, somehow you seem to be at the center, Mom. When I pull out your old flannelgraph and tell the old, old story to an eager group of 20 some 9-11 year olds, there's an inevitable ache in my throat and tears in my eyes.

Times have changed in Arkansas. There are nicer accommodations now, more people to reach around, busier schedules and less need of doing nothing but Bible School morning and evening for two weeks straight. But the children are still coming and the legacy is still going on. On the last day, when the parents and grandparents show up for the program, they can join in singing "Noah Noah" just as lustily as their children and grandchildren!

Sometimes I wish I could roll back the years and relive those memories of bygone days. I wish I could be your little girl again, Mom, helping to fill the big, metal igloo with water for drinks and riding along to take the rowdy bunch of children home. I'd join the out of state teacher's children in "the little chicken house" to hold up imaginary song sheets and play our own rousing version of Bible School. Sadly, I can't do that.

So, I'll wipe the tears, swallow the lump in the throat and live the now. Hopefully someday my children's memories will be warm and nostalgic too. But I promise, Mom, they won't be half as grand as mine.

What Is Summer: The Glow And The Reality

What is summer?

Summer is green, luscious green everywhere. Little garden, growing wildly. First the blooms, then tiny, promising fruit. What a thrill to watch it grow, then pick and enjoy the product of our labors.

(Also: Living in the middle of the woods it means weeds grown up, up and out of control. Until I feel like I'm living in a jungle and no one cares but me.)

Summer is popcicles on a hot, sunny day; homemade ones. Made with the relic Tupperware molds of our past. 

(To be honest: we've made them once this year and they disappeared in about 2 days.)

Summer is fourth of July picnics at the lake. 

(Confession: picnics anywhere, much less all together at the lake, are not really 

what-you-might-say

a regularity with the Eicher family. 

This was special.)

Summer is storing up the bounty for winter. It's watching the full jars line up slowly and feeling the adrenaline rush of the lids sealing with a satisfying 'ping'.

It's a friend sharing her bounteous dill and your mother-in-law digging out more jars from her basement. It's pulling out old recipes, long unused. It's the smell of vinegar and spices. It's tomato sandwiches and cucumbers on butter bread and weary bones at the end of the day. 

(Full Disclosure: It's a sweet, caring husband who takes an afternoon off to go to a produce auction to buy his wife veggies for canning -- a husband who likes to buy things at autions; lots of things. It's a wife who discovers she really may not have learned so very much in 17 years. [That's putting it all very mildly])

Summer is long, lazy days and evenings. It's a game of Clue, first thing in the morning. It's a trip to the Library and gazing in awe at the American Girl Doll collection on display. It's an afternoon spent on the recliner with stacks of books. It's crafting a swing set for your poor Fisherprice children who desperately need one. 

(Reality: It's settling fusses over one person having both Fisherprice toilets while their sibling has none. It's a perpetually toy-strewn living room, non-stop Adventures In Odyssey and people who constantly think they need to be fed. It's hoping for some quiet time in the morning before everyone wakes up for the day.....)

Summer is busy and lazy and fun and taxing, all rolled into one. It is also short and fleeting and deserves to be 

enjoyed to the full. 

How's your summer?

Geocaching: One Giant Treasure Hunt

Used to be, when my family gathered, it was tradition for my mom to have a treasure hunt for the grandchildren. The hunts were never big and elaborate, nor were the treasures. But the special feelings and memories were huge and all the grandchildren looked forward to the little tradition with anticipation. Maybe that's why some of us get such a kick out of the giant treasure hunt called Geocaching?

It's been quite a while ago that I heard about this quirky pastime. Several of my siblings have spent time hunting down various caches but somehow I've never gotten in on the action.

According to wikipedia, "geocaching
is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a global positioning system (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific locations marked by coordinates all over the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and sometimes a pen or pencil. The geocacher signs the log with their established code and dates it, in order to prove that they found the cache. After signing the log, the cache must be placed back exactly where the person found it. Larger containers such as plastic storage containers or ammunition boxes can also contain items for trading, such as toys or trinkets, usually of more sentimental worth than financial."

If you are interested in the origin and history of geocaching, you can find the full story here. This fun hobby even has it's own personal lingo which you might find intriguing and helpful in deciphering information about geocache sites.

Last week I decided to look up some info and try out this crazy, giant treasure hunting. There are several caches hidden less than 5 miles from us, so Sunday evening the girls and I went on a little excursion.

Our first destination was a graveyard next to a park we sometimes visit. The hint they gave us was "Under stone, ask Elizabeth". Being able to put two and two together, we went searching for a gravestone with the name Elizabeth.

Lo and behold, there she was!

And there was our box....

With all the little treasures and logbook inside......

We checked it all out and added our name and the date to the log. Then, we tucked everything back where it was and exclaimed,  "That was fun! Let's look for another one!"

Since there was another one located in an older part of the cemetery, we went ahead and searched for it too. This time our hint was "Don't get your arms scratched up like I did placing it". 

Didn't take us too long to say I Spy!

I'm not really sure why it's so much fun but there's a whole list of them around here I would love to search for! We haven't managed to convince the men of the house that it's exciting. Maybe one of these days when it's not so hot we'll get them talked into going with us. One good search and they'll surely be hooked, right? I'm already dreaming of finding one in every state we travel through. Shhhh. Don't tell. 

And now I'm curious -- have you heard of geocaching? Have you tried it? Are you a fan?

17 Things From 17 Years: Post 17

I realize that June is actually past but here's #17 anyway...

#17: There is always something more to learn in marriage.

I don't think I even need to elaborate on this one. The minute we think we have arrived in our marriage is usually just shortly before we have some sort of relationship issues. It's when I do things like blog about 17 things from 17 years that we for sure knock heads and have multiple misunderstandings and extra amounts of hurt feelings. Really.

But it's ok to always be learning something more; that means God is at work. Let's not despair and give up, we have an enemy that would like nothing better!

This ends my list of 17 things. I hope I have stirred your thinking, maybe inspired you to sit down and think about what marriage has taught you? I hope I have challenged you, maybe in areas you hadn't thought of? Or encouraged you in places where you would like to grow. Mostly, I hope you know that I have not learned all of these things perfectly; that my marriage is a work in progress just like yours. I fail. I fail often. But -----

"...I am certain that God, who began the good work within [us], will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." Phil 1:6 

Courage to you and yours. And much joy and happiness in your marriages.