Smartypants 3

Last night I was reading the newspaper and Owen spotted Sudoku. "MOM! Look at all the numbers! Can I see those numbers?" I handed him the page and he read the entire answer grid aloud to me. This morning I offered him the same section and he read them again, this time stopping to point out when they were in order. "Oh, look, 1 - 2 - 3!"I asked him if he loved numbers and he answered, "Yea. I love counting. Want to count to 100 with me?"

Sam and I have been reading some chapter books and he is developing strong preferences: Harry Potter and Captain Underpants. It's fascinating to watch his reading ability develop. He is almost always aggravated at the prospect of reading an entire book on his own, but he will read a cereal box or a billboard effortlessly. We've found a series of books called We Both Read, which have a page for the parent to read and then a page (with fewer words and simpler vocabulary) for the child to read. Sam loves those. And listening! I was reading to Jude one night and Sam needed to finish jobs before he could join us. He looked like he might pop out of his skin with anxiety about missing two pages. "But Mom I just LOVE reading!" Sometimes I feel like he *should* be reading more on his own. It's hard to keep in mind that enjoying books is the main thing and he will read them on his own soon enough.

Kindergartener Jude asked me last night if he could please write a story. Um, yes please! He took a blank sheet of paper and wrote "Mom." Then he asked me how to spell "I see." A few minutes later there was a (colorful, curly-haired) picture of me and Jude asked how to spell "trampoline." I see Mom (on a) trampoline. Good story. He copies down words from anywhere and then asks me what he's written.

I am helping in the library and Sam and Jude's school this year. The librarian looks for parents to come in every week and shelve books. Helping at school feels like such a treat after I had to miss out on last year while I was sick. Yesterday was the first day I worked in the library and happened to be there when Sam's class came for their library lesson. I gave Sam a hug and the boy behind him in line said "You're his mom?!" He seemed surprised that his classmates have moms. Little people are funny.

Pastor Squires Online

Several people have mentioned listening to Ben's sermons online. I'm not much of a virtual sermon listener myself but in case you are you can find them here. Since readers of this blog know our family you may particularly appreciate "Rushing Home" (Sept. 4) and "Speedily" (Aug. 21) which involve stories about Ben and Jude, respectively.

You can also read the sermons on Ben's web site.

Back to the Saturday morning crazy people management. The pirate is chasing the dinosaur and the dinosaur just hurt himself on the racecar track.

CSA Update

At the beginning of the summer I imagined I would write often about our experience subscribing to a CSA for the first time. Well, that didn't quite work out. How does summer manage to change so between April and July? Imaginary summer is a magical place where time and energy are endless. Actual summer is more hot and tired and smelly and loud and argumentative and sassy.

Now that my kids are back in school, I can tell you about what we're eating.

Thursday is pick-up day so our fridge is full. This week's highlights: slicing and heirloom tomatoes, basil, corn, lettuce, eggplant, bell peppers, haricots vert (green beans). It's almost like a normal grocery store trip except everything just came out of the ground a couple days ago.

We have a holdover from last week: beets. It's the third round of beets this summer and I think there are more in the pipeline. I have not found a great way to get the family interested in beets yet. My plan for the current stash is Beet Rosemary Roesti. I found it in a Mark Bittmann cookbook on a list entitled "Vegetable Recipes That Will Make Converts." It looks like a potato pancake where potatoes are switched out for beets. And it's cooked in butter.

Butter seems to be the common denominator in beet recipes. I've read many a beet cooking plan with the phrase "slathered in butter." Maybe that's what I'm missing. The slathering.

The eggplant might be a challenge too. I think Ben is eggplant-averse. Maybe if I sneak it in with enough tomatoes and cheese and pasta he'll barely notice. Technique seems to be very important with eggplant, the difference between bitter & soggy or mild & creamy.

The kids, happily, have developed no anxiety about my farm trips. There is enough that they like (corn! green beans!) and the rest is usually low-pressure. The beet roesti might throw them. But good marketing could win that. I could call it Purple Pancake Dinner. Maybe serve it with purple milk.