Summer has officially arrived

I grew up with the luxury of having both my parents as teachers, which we all know the best benefits are June, July, and August. I remember constantly going on several day trips to Door County (the "Cape Cod" of the Midwest), spending a few weeks at Camp Friedenswald, going on a major 3-week vacation to either the East Coast or out West somewhere, trips to my aunt and uncle's cabin on Lake Huron, and then ending with an end-of-the-summer trip north to Lake Vermillion (near the Boundary Waters in Minnesota) where my mom's family has been going for the past 55 years(!) every. summer. (Oh, the stories you hear of that tradition!)

My life schedule these days does not include three lush summer months off that I'm so very-much accustomed to due to Marc's job. This has been quite the adjustment and I'm trying to redefine summer that does not always involve a lake or some sort of travel. However, we were very lucky to score a good chunk of days that Marc could take off and we bee-lined it out of town up north to my aunt and uncle's cabin on Lake Huron.

Just EVERYTHING about this trip brings me great joy, even the drive which is mostly driving along the shoreline of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. The picture that I posted is seriously what we saw for over half of our trip. We relaxed, we had a wonderful visit with my aunt, ate really good food (that included fresh Michigan blueberries), canoed a lot, played in the water (which was the perfect temperature), read, etc, etc.

Now, THIS is what I call VACATION!

I'm making this for supper tonight! (I hope it works)

I know, I know, I know... Just about all of the recipes that I have ever posted have been from Rachael Ray, but I can't help it! Wouldn't you be excited about this too?

GRILLED CORN AND SAUSAGE FLATBREAD

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 lb of pizza dough
1 c plain Greek-style yogurt
2 scallions chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 c corn
1 jalapeno chopped
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 6oz package portobello mushroom caps (I bought 4 caps in bulk)
1 lb sweet Italian turkey sausage
2 tomatoes

1. Preheat a grill to medium-high. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil on a large baking sheet. Place the 4 dough pieces on the baking sheet and press each out into a 4-by-8-inch rectangle. In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, scallions and lemon juice.
2. Pile the corn, jalapeño and cheddar in the center of each piece of dough and press the toppings in. Fold over the dough and press all over to seal, enclosing the filling. Let rest in a warm spot until slightly risen, about 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, arrange the the mushrooms upside down and drizzle with olive oil. Place the mushrooms and the sausages on the grill; cover and grill, turning once, until cooked through, about 4 minutes for the mushrooms and 6 minutes for the sausages. Transfer to a board. Thickly slice the mushrooms and slice the sausage on an angle; keep warm.
4. Press each flatbread again into an 4-by-8-inch rectangle. Grill, covered, until crisp and golden, about 4 minutes on each side.
5. Spread yogurt sauce on each flatbread and layer with the sausage, mushrooms and tomatoes. Fold the flatbreads over the filling and serve warm.

Doesn't this sound FANTASTIC?!?!?!?! I can't wait.

Check out the pictures on http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/no-recipe-zone/grilled-corn-and-sausage-flatbread/article.html

(I can't seem to figure out how to post links by just clicking on highlighted words... hmmm)

Toddler-Appointed Time-Out

My 23-month old child has told me "bye-bye" after 20 minutes of him screaming and pointing to things he wants. He just woke up from a 3-hour nap madder than a hornet. This doesn't happen frequently, thank goodness (the "madder than the hornet" part)!

I got him what he wanted: spoon (three of them), bowl, cereal, and milk. When he had all he needed, he waved to me and said, "bye-bye." So here I sit on the couch ignoring him so that he doesn't scream at me anymore. I actually looked in his direction to see how he was doing and he was staring at me as if he were just waiting to show me he was in control or something. I smiled at him and without taking his eyes off me, he took one of his three spoons and threw it on the floor and told me "bye-bye" again.

I grabbed the lap-top that was near him and now I'm writing, hearing him nibble on his cereal. No screaming. Phew!

I wonder when I'm allowed to get off the couch and play?

Where is my routine?

We just moved to our new house two weeks ago today, to be exact. Everything went well with the closing and moving, yada, yada, yada, but I feel like it's taking for-ev-er to make this house feel like our home. It's not just painting over the bear, moose and tree stencils (no joke!) that the previous owners had in the kitchen or all the other little projects that we want to do, it's figuring out our routine and identity in this house. We're carrying on with life like we have been, but we have to think a little harder about where we put certain things or where to get groceries when the co-op is now a 20-minute drive across town and not just a 20-minute walk away.

Sigh.

Or, getting to know this community and the kids at the various parks and figuring out the best route to the library. I saw some bumper stickers the other day on a walk that said, "Secure Our Borders" and "John McCain for President." It's a good thing to have differing views, right? This is another adjustment from our previous neighborhood, which was 110% Obama.

Sigh.

We are happy and doing very well. Ben loves his new yard and the parks that are within spitting distance of our house. We walk frequently to our library and enjoy evening walks on the greenway that goes through a nicely sized patch of prairie restoration. We will have "front row seats" to one of the biggest fireworks shows this weekend. According to our neighbors, our neighborhood buzzes with folks from all over town to see these fireworks since they shoot out from the largest city park nearby.

The neighbors are very friendly. Everyone has a dog (except us... which I'm hoping to change). We are doing much more in our house and yard and feeling like a "normal" summer. Can't complain! All I need is for that sense of routine to settle in.

Cousins, Peas, and Crisp White Sheets

This past week we took a trip out east to visit Marc's family. It was a week full of splashing in the kiddy pool and sprinkler with the cousins, playing with Amish neighbors, and snacking on fresh peas from the garden. I mean, need we say more? Let's just say that Marc had it good growing up.

We also took a mini trip to visit our old stomping grounds in Washington, DC. It was great to connect with my school kids who affectionately greeted me and soaked in Ben's smiles and high fives. We escaped the 100 degree heat (no joke!) by checking in early to our SH-MAN-CY hotel with crisp white sheets and marble table/countertops and bathroom flooring. Ahhhh. Promptly, Ben hopped on one of the beds and fell into the mountain of pillows. Marc and I took turns going out with friends while Ben could stay happily playing in the pool. Not a bad plan, eh?


Our time in DC felt like coming back home. So much of how I view education and real life is based on what I experienced in DC. There's a tug to go back and be a part of all that again. It was very special to me that the class that I taught the last year I was there, wanted to spend so much time with me and remembered the fun things we did their year in second grade. They remembered Marc coming on field trips and we called him "Mr. Hot Dog." They talked about the songs we sang and the books we read. After being home with Ben and having my teaching career at a standstill, it just about brought me to tears to know that I really did touch these kids and they remember our year together with fondness.

Anyway, we're back after surviving a few long flights and experiencing a cooler 20 degree difference. It's back to packing up our house and rocking our world this next week once again.

Saving Moments

When life gets overly tiring and stressful, there are also those moments that make me stop and laugh a bit. This child of mine is at an age where just about anything he does is worth recording.

Here are just a few:

I discovered Ben in this moving box singing to himself with giggles every so often. He was feeling mighty clever to have hidden himself so well!

Apparently when I lifted the flaps, I made the party stop. Oops!

Ben will make a tower out of anything that is stackable--blocks, bulky books, play-doh containers, tupperware, etc. Banana slices apparently fall into that category as well!

The Guts to Ask

Why is it so hard to ask for help? I don't mean to sound like a self-pity party, here, but I've been stuck in pretty difficult conditions these past 6 days.

Here's the scoop:
1. Marc is working his 6th day in a row of a 7-day work shift.
2. We leave for PA/DC on Thursday until the following Friday.
3. Tagged to #2, we close on our new house and move on the Wednesday after getting back and Marc will go back to work until the day of closing. I've been packing up our house while Ben takes his naps.
4. Ben's been taking 30-minute naps.
5. Ben's sick with one of those change-in-weather colds and can't sleep at night, because he's coughing, poor thing!
6. As a result of Ben coughing, he wakes himself up and stays up at 4:30am and I'm the lucky one to get up every time since Marc has to work with people and be alert as possible. This has been 3 mornings in a row.
7. Oh, and our neighbors upstairs decided to place their kiddy pool right outside our windows, so Ben can hear and see the kids playing while he's suppose to go down for a nap. I kindly asked if they could move it (before they even filled it) since Ben will be sleeping and the reply was, "I put it here so it could be in the shade." Ummm... sunscreen and a hat??? I'm not getting into it.

A couple days ago, I was in tears on the phone with my mom, because I'm so overly tired, stressed and upset with my supposedly-really-compassionate-and-thoughtful neighbors. She said she would drop what she was doing to come down and help, but I told her to stay home. WHY DID I DO THAT?!?!??!?! Is it admitting self-defeat? Do I not want to inconvenience someone else for my needs?

I start rationalizing, "ah, it's not THAT bad" and then I'm still miserable. No one is benefitting from this.

Now that it's a few days later, Ben is getting better slowly, we're getting a little more sleep, and my mom is coming tomorrow for the day.

Does anyone else have this hard of a time asking for help?