It's the be-est day eee-ver!

At least that's what NickTV's been promoting for their 24 hour Sponge Bob cartoon fest. The kids have known about this for weeks. Holly did virtually all of her schoolwork ahead so she had nothing left today. (While I encourage her to plan ahead and sometimes do this, it's not my goal for her to watch Sponge Bob all day. Sigh.) She even came downstairs on her own at 7:30 this morning instead of me dragging her out of bed. She's had the tv on all day, sitting on the couch, sometimes typing on her laptop, sometimes reading. Of course, the tv's been on the whole time.

Disclaimer: This is not a usual occurrence at our house; in fact, I can't recall it ever happening before. Or regular rule is absolutely no tv at all during school days (unless it's a movie for school).




Trevor decided he'd had enough of a "best day ever" by 11. He was bored with tv and he'd already finished up his school work. He asked for a haircut. You can tell a boy needs his hair cut when he ASKS for one.



Later in the afternoon, the kids did their last art project for Ancient Africa. They drew designs with crayons on fabric, then dyed the fabric. It was a neat project. Perhaps someone can explain to me why Holly got dye on her pants, *I* got dye on my shirt (I'm not even painting), but my 8 yods didn't get a speck on him. That seems to go against all laws of nature!



Trevor had a "best day" at basketball tonight. It's not a team, but a class that promotes good character along with skills. We were the first people there tonight, and he grabbed a ball, ran over and made a basket. When Robert picked him up, they were playing a practice game. Someone tossed the ball to Trevor, he turned, shot, and made the final basket of the night! Kind of makes that ugly black/purple bruise on my thigh worth it.

Last week, the kids were studying Ancient India, and tonight I finally made Indian Butter Chicken. It's a favorite of ours at a nearby Indian buffet, but I've never made it before. (Can you believe my city of 350,000 has two terrific Indian buffets, both close by?) I found a simplified recipe (which means I had the spices it called for). I made the chicken, jasmine rice, and browned pita bread for dinner. It was a "best dinner" and everyone liked it. This is nothing short of a miracle here. I think this is the fourth meal EVER that everyone actually likes. (Or at least it seems like only the fourth meal.)

INDIAN BUTTER CHICKEN
2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken, cut in 1/2" pieces
2 T. lemon juice
1 T. oil
2 t. curry powder
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
1 T. fresh ginger root, finely chopped
1 T. oil
1 T. butter
1 T. curry powder
1/8 t. pepper
1/2 t. salt
3/4 - 1 c. tomato puree
2 T. butter
1 c. heavy cream (I used fat free evaporated milk)

Toss chicken pieces, lemon juice, oil, and 2 t. curry powder in medium bowl. Set aside.

In large skillet, cook onion, garlic, ginger in 1 T. oil and 1 T. butter until "fragrant." (Whatever that means--I cooked it about 7 mins. on medium heat.) Add curry powder, pepper, salt, tomato, and 2 T. butter. Boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 mins.

Stir in chicken pieces. Boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 more mins. until chicken is cooked through. Stir in cream and heat gently. Serve over hot white rice, basmati, if you can). (I used jasmine rice, because it was a lot cheaper.) Serves 4-6.

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It WAS a good day. :)