More art by Trevor

I wish this kid would take more formal instruction.

Atlas

Maybe next year.

Viking

Artichokes!

Growing up in California, artichokes were a common thing to eat. Even in Littleton, they were usual fare at our house. I learned the easy way to cook them--no more boiling on the stove for 40 minutes. I trimmed, rinsed, wrapped in plastic wrap and microwaved for five.

In Colorado Springs, they seemed a little harder to come by, and a little more expensive. I've seen them here, but I've refused to pay $2 per choke.

Robert and I were amused by the woman asked him last week about the avocados in his shopping cart. "What are they?" Apparently, artichokes aren't well known in this area either, and our local grocer was left with a giant overstock.

ARTICHOKES - 2 FOR $1

Oh yeah!


I bought a half dozen, but not without a few problems. They are a pain to bag and take up a lot of fridge space. No matter. I'm going back to the store today to see how many more I can get my hands on.

YUM!!

Soccer, soccer

We are the third week into the season. Trevor's team again dominates his division, with the highest number of goals, and no points scored against them. At Friday's game, Trevor was moved out of his defense position and did a great job fighting for and working the ball.

After a disastrous, ugly first game, Holly's team has made its way into fourth place. We prefer to think of it as a three way tie for second.

The weather's warming up, and pretty soon it will be still be light out by the end of the last game each night. :)

WHAT?!?!

This has been a great week; I am easily amused.

I recently won Cindy's copy of Ted Dekker's new non-fiction book Tea With Hezbollah. I haven't started it yet, but I looked over the book jacket.

(I added that box with my photo editor.)

This professor finds the book "irreverent"? Disrespectful? Mocking? Sacrilegious? I don't think so.

I guess he meant "relevant."

Hahahahahahahaha!!!

Columbine High School

Eleven years ago today, 12 students and one teacher were slaughtered at Columbine High School in Littleton.



Rebel Hill, May 2001, my dad, Sherry, Holly, Trevor.



I still can't think or read about it without welling up and feeling so overwhelmingly sad. So I don't.

No excuses for illiteracy

The Library of Virginia provided free materials for use in the summer reading program. Obviously, the state's budget eliminated all proofreader positions. In fact, I think it eliminated all positions requiring literacy.

This is a "book review" form that the child fills out when finishing a book.



Sorta? SORTA?????

This is the back of the form.



I can only guess there's a period shortage too.

This is not a joke. We received 1000 of these. We're not using them.

Seriously.

On the downside . . .

with the spring comes the pollen. Each night, it drops a thick layer of powder on everything. Each day, we rinse off my car. It is nasty stuff.



When Trevor had his allergy testing done several years ago, his highest trigger was pine pollen. As we had a lot of pines in our yard, he would suffer severe spring allergies each year.

Now we're living in the middle of a mostly-pine forest, and his allergies are minimal. Instead of daily allergy pills for several months, he might take a few each year. I don't know if he's growing out of the allergy, or if he doesn't react as much since it's not as dry here. Whatever the case, it's good.

AH-CHOOOOOOOO!

Bloomin' good things

The redbud trees here never cease to amaze me.



The blooms show up everywhere,



adding lovely, random bursts of color,



and lasting up to two months.



We liked them so much that we planted a few in our yard.



This is my third spring in Virginia.



And nothing shouts out "SPRING!" louder than the redbuds.

Just HOW did they mess that up?

Trevor's been reading through the RangeR's Apprentice books. He's on book five; apparently they changed the name of the series somewhere along the way . . .

More dog days

Lucky got a new bed. He's always loved his bed, just like any other old man, except he loved it when he was young too.

It's a big bed, and he'd better be careful, or he'll fall off.



Guess who was here today. She's so photogenic, I can't help but take pictures of her. Even if she doesn't belong to us.



Yet.

Recipe -- Pistachio Torte

PISTACHIO TORTE

1-1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. butter or margarine, softened
1/2 c. green pistachios, finely chopped
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 c. powdered sugar
8 oz. container Cool Whip, divided
two 3.25 oz. boxes of instant pistachio pudding
3 c. milk

Heat oven to 350. Combine butter and flour until crumbly; stir in pistachio nuts. Press into bottom of a 10" torte pan.* Bake 18-22 mins. until golden; cool.

Combine cream cheese and powdered sugar until creamy. Fold in 4 oz. of Cool Whip (remember, this is just HALF of the container!). Spread over pistachio crust, making sure that all edges are sealed.

Combine pudding boxes and milk; beat for 1 minute. Pour over cream cheese. Allow to set.

Frost with remaining Cool Whip and chill for several hours.

May easily substitute low-fat or non-fat ingredients. Makes 8-10 generous servings.

* I use a springform pan. The layers are so pretty, if you don't have a springform pan, use a deep clear glass baking dish, or a 9x13 clear Pyrex-type pan.

Weekend

It was the kickoff weekend for soccer games! As usual, Trevor's team is off to a winning start, 7-0. Holly's team (coached by Robert) played typically too--ahead at halftime, they came back and bombed, losing 4-6. It turned into quite an ugly game.

Before the game, and we're still optimistic.

Trevor went home with a friend. Robert and I picked him up Saturday night--we'd been invited for dinner, and it was a fun evening with friends. We ate until we almost popped, Seven Layer Dip and chips, veggies and ranch, chicken and beef fajitas, and rice, with Pistachio Torte for dessert.

I am missing real life, close girlfriends. This was good for me.

Easter

Instead of gently springing, we've wildly jumped from winter into summer. The weather's been wonderfully warm to me; Robert's not dealing well with the heat. Our "secret" A/C wars are heating up, where we alternate tiptoeing past the thermostat to change what the other person set.

Sunday was beautiful. We had a lovely church service and came home to relax for the rest of the day.



The kids played with their baskets and dyed eggs. Trevor had asked me to make the bunny cake my mom made for us almost 40 years ago. Any bunny cake of course must be carrot, so I used my mom's famous recipe.



Sometime that day, my brain left my body:

While making sugared almonds, I forgot them on the stove, only to find them burned on the bottom of the pan.

I set the potatoes on high to boil. Wondering why I'd heard popping sounds for five minutes, I investigated and found I'd forgotten to add any water to the pot.

I fixed a turkey, something I've done a dozen and a half times before. Robert, upon carving, pulled the cooked bag of giblets from the turkey cavity. (Well, I'd taken the neck out, at least!)

I'm sharing this only because I am usually quite competent in the kitchen. This was a pretty simple dinner, nothing overwhelming or stressful. I don't know what I was thinking, but I can laugh at myself!

To top it off, I found a bag of candy and a box of marshmallow peeps the day after Easter. I'd forgotten to add these in the kids' Easter baskets. I can see the bright side of that: Peeps are my favorites, and so far, no one else in my family knows about that bag of M&Ms . . . .

Bird in the hand

A titmouse flew into one our parked cars last week. Stunned, it fell at Robert's feet. Robert picked it up, and the bird happily stayed in his hand for several minutes. I had plenty of time to run inside, get my camera, and take several photos.



Occasionally, the bird would chirp.



Robert eventually sat the bird on the bird feeder, where it flew away.

He is risen!!

"I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in Me, though he may die,
he shall live."

John 11:25

Dog's life

"Buttercup! Buttercup, go home!"



"Oh, right. You already are."

--------------------------------
(Not really, but sometimes it seems like it. Sometimes now, her family has been keeping her inside during the day, but it never lasts. We're glad about that, we are always happy to see her!)

Funny things you find in the street

SOMEONE is walking around Roanoke with only 9 fingernails.



Trevor spotted this, I guess because he's a few inches lower to the ground than I am (at least for a short time). The funny thing is that he even knew what it was. I'm not sure that we know anyone who wears fake nails.

While I'd love to have nails like these, I don't, and it's not mine!