It's time to make a new post. This one will probably be all over the place.
Last week was the book fair at my son's school. I am a sucker for book fairs. I also bought one with a 50% off coupon at JoAnn's so by the end of the week my in-car reading stack looked like this.
Then on Friday I went to the library with my husband while the kids were still in school. I had already read most of the Steven Layne book (above), so the stack I brought back from the library looked like this:
I am working through East Africa and Kenya with my son, but most of the books I found this time are good to read with both of them. I had three videos, one of which we have now seen. I have a few of my own in here too--since I was at the library without the kids and could venture out of the children's section.
One of these is A Thousand Sisters by Lisa Shannon, an Africa book I stumbled across--but one that is definitely not for children. She writes about the Congo and the women there. The post-Rwanda genocide Congo. The book is well written. It's almost one you can't put down--but you have to if the words are soaking in at all. The killings, violence, and terror she writes about are just too horrific.
On Saturday, I made some Kenyan beef stew, kale, and chapatis to have to eat after the OU football game. I did not do the chapatis right. Maybe I didn't let it rest enough. Maybe letting my daughter roll them out again and again wasn't such a good idea, nor was the non-stick griddle I used to cook them on (the recipe says no non-stick). That was ok though since I didn't cook the stew down to hand-scoopable consistency. I liked the stew and the kale, as did everyone else who was here except my daughter, who doesn't eat dinner most nights.
I had a talk with her about dinner tonight. It was baked chicken fingers, some scalloped potatoes, and peas. She said she only liked chicken nuggets. I suggested I could cut them smaller. She said they were not nuggets if you could see the chicken through them and this is why she is smarter than me. She eventually ate a few peas. Later I talked to her about other kids and how hungry they are. What they get to eat, like cornmeal mush in some parts of Africa. She suggested that they should come here to eat. Which was kind of my point--but not. For the record, my son took one bite of the chicken and said it tasted like KFC. I asked, and this was a compliment.
We took a break from scheduled activity this afternoon (i.e., no gymnastics) just because I was tired and wanted to go home, not sit in a gym for an hour. Or even run for some and then sit. Instead we bought a few staples at Braums and headed home so the kids could just play outside. I raked a few leaves, just enough to make a giant pile. Then they took over.
Eventually I'll move them over to that grassy place I try to call a garden and see if I can compost-in-place. The leaves, not the kids.
I also made some bread tonight. Homemade with yeast kind, without a mix this time. Meg's post today had me searching back through this blog to find my last "Life List." I could only find the one from 2010, although I seem to remember updating it sometime between then and now. Interesting to note that we both made these lists in response to the same book. Her post has inspired me to revisit my list though, and try to dream bigger. Bigger than "put new light in breakfast room." Geez. However, I did notice the item #10 to make some good yeast bread, so I did. Looking forward to eat some of it for breakfast!
Should have a new quilt picture post in a day or two, as soon as I can get the binding on it.
Last week was the book fair at my son's school. I am a sucker for book fairs. I also bought one with a 50% off coupon at JoAnn's so by the end of the week my in-car reading stack looked like this.
Then on Friday I went to the library with my husband while the kids were still in school. I had already read most of the Steven Layne book (above), so the stack I brought back from the library looked like this:
One of these is A Thousand Sisters by Lisa Shannon, an Africa book I stumbled across--but one that is definitely not for children. She writes about the Congo and the women there. The post-Rwanda genocide Congo. The book is well written. It's almost one you can't put down--but you have to if the words are soaking in at all. The killings, violence, and terror she writes about are just too horrific.
On Saturday, I made some Kenyan beef stew, kale, and chapatis to have to eat after the OU football game. I did not do the chapatis right. Maybe I didn't let it rest enough. Maybe letting my daughter roll them out again and again wasn't such a good idea, nor was the non-stick griddle I used to cook them on (the recipe says no non-stick). That was ok though since I didn't cook the stew down to hand-scoopable consistency. I liked the stew and the kale, as did everyone else who was here except my daughter, who doesn't eat dinner most nights.
I had a talk with her about dinner tonight. It was baked chicken fingers, some scalloped potatoes, and peas. She said she only liked chicken nuggets. I suggested I could cut them smaller. She said they were not nuggets if you could see the chicken through them and this is why she is smarter than me. She eventually ate a few peas. Later I talked to her about other kids and how hungry they are. What they get to eat, like cornmeal mush in some parts of Africa. She suggested that they should come here to eat. Which was kind of my point--but not. For the record, my son took one bite of the chicken and said it tasted like KFC. I asked, and this was a compliment.
We took a break from scheduled activity this afternoon (i.e., no gymnastics) just because I was tired and wanted to go home, not sit in a gym for an hour. Or even run for some and then sit. Instead we bought a few staples at Braums and headed home so the kids could just play outside. I raked a few leaves, just enough to make a giant pile. Then they took over.
I also made some bread tonight. Homemade with yeast kind, without a mix this time. Meg's post today had me searching back through this blog to find my last "Life List." I could only find the one from 2010, although I seem to remember updating it sometime between then and now. Interesting to note that we both made these lists in response to the same book. Her post has inspired me to revisit my list though, and try to dream bigger. Bigger than "put new light in breakfast room." Geez. However, I did notice the item #10 to make some good yeast bread, so I did. Looking forward to eat some of it for breakfast!
Should have a new quilt picture post in a day or two, as soon as I can get the binding on it.
I have been making chapati's for years and i still can't really get it right, i even buy chapati flour, its just something you have to learn at your momma's knee in Africa I think!
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