Description of Hannah's Work Day

Hannah is studying poetry and is writing several different types of poetry over the next few weeks. I liked this one. It is a description of her day at work.

Work

door, lunch away, room assignment
lunch away, room assignment, kids
room assignment, kids, play
kids, play, clean-up
play, clean-up, snack
clean-up, snack, worksheet
snack, worksheet, carpet time
worksheet, carpet time, gym
carpet time, gym, lunch
gym, lunch, nap
lunch, nap, play
nap, play, home

Ham and Wild Rice Soup

Here's a recipe that is a family favorite and a great way to use leftover ham from Christmas or Easter....

Ham and Wild Rice Soup

INGREDIENTS
1 cup wild rice (You can use long grain and wild, but I LOVE the wild rice)
3 cups water (I use 6 cups water with 6 chicken bouillion cubes)
3 cups chicken broth (I do not use chicken broth)
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoon chopped onion
1/4 - 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1-2 cups chopped cooked ham
1/2 cup shredded carrots (or thinly sliced)
3 tablespoons slivered almonds (optional)
1 cup half-and-half (I used mostly skim milk w/ a splash of half & half)

DIRECTIONS
In a pot, bring the wild rice and water to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 45 minutes.

In a separate pot, melt the butter over medium heat, and saute the onion until tender. Blend in the flour until smooth, and gradually stir in the chicken broth. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and mix in the cooked rice, ham, carrots, and almonds. Continue to cook and stir about 5-10 minutes, until heated through and carrots are cooked. Thoroughly blend the half and half into the soup just before serving.

I have also sauteed fresh chopped mushrooms with the onion. And, I have also added corn (which David absolutely loves).

Enjoy!!

Lessons from a Sick Home (Not mentally mind you..well maybe a little)

Sickness...it's a reality that has hit our home in full force over the last couple of weeks. In my mind I strongly despise sickness. After all who really wants to be sick? Who wants to see the people they love sick?

And yet as I ponder this sickness I realize something. It has caused us as a family to SLOW DOWN.

In our culture it is unfortunate, but true, we move through life at warp speed. I'll give you an example...this morning as I was bleary-eyed, drinking my coffee I happened to look out the window to see the high school bus go down the street at 6:09 am. You read that right 6:09 AM. If I was in high school here, you would just have to hook me up with a perpetual caffeine IV.

Anyway, I digress. This sickness has caused us to slow down. All my youngest wants to do when he is sick is snuggle with mommy. While that makes it difficult to accomplish anything, it does make my heart smile.

So, we are enjoying this imposed slow down. We are enjoying playing games as a family. Last night the kids watched a movie upstairs and I sat by myself and watched two TV shows with quiet all around. Quiet in this house is RARE!!! (David did attend the financial peace class as our representative last night!!)

This bout of sickness has caused me to be reminded again of the importance of family time...I have an incredible family and we have fun together!!! My favorite memory of the last week is us all huddled in the living room playing apples to apples. Yes, all six of us played, even the four year old who cannot read. I can still picture him sitting in his daddy's lap, smiling and quite proud when his "green card" was picked.

We're headed into our busy season, but I plan to take the lessons from Sickville and apply them to Busyville. Even though we will be busy, it is imperative that we carve out time to be together as a family!!!