7-Quick Takes

Join Jen and the other Quicktakers over at the Conversion Diary

1.  When this blog becomes a chore, it’s going private.

I am almost to that point.

so if you get anything out of this blog, now would be a good time to opine about it.

2. So today Calvin graduates from paramedic school and we are so proud of him.  Mr. Pete is armed with our point and shoot camera and he will be attend with Miss Rosie!  I wish with all of my heart that I could be there but I am certainly gearing up for his big graduation party later this month!!

3.  Instead, I am driving with the youth group two hours away, to the Franciscan Youth Conference.

Yes.  I am driving… ugh…

Luckily, I am not taking any of the kids – my van will be full of all of the luggage and belongings which somehow makes me feel much, much better.

I’m actually a pretty good driver. I used to drive all the time to Canton and Cleveland by myself.  Long time readers will remember I took a 15-passenger van with all of my kids in it two hours to Columbus two or three times to see the reading specialist.  So I have the skill and the experience. I think it just might be the prospect of being responsible for other people’s kids that scares me a little bit.

 Ok, so here’s my horror story about youth groups and camps and driving.

When I was a little girl, living on the farm, we had a family that lived on the south-east corner of our farmland. There were two teenage girls in that family.  I didn’t know them well but they looked pretty and exuberant.  On the other side of our farm was a neighbor with a daughter a few years older than me named Janice.  We played together a couple of times and it was fun.  Janice and the girls in the corner went to the same church.

One weekend, Janice and the girls were coming back from a weekend church meeting of some sort.  I don’t remember all of the particulars but one of the corner girls died, the other was horribly disabled.  But what I remember most vividly was visiting Janice after she came home from the hospital.  Her face was black and blue, her eyes were all swollen and purple, and she was so very weak.  I spent time helping her to pick glass out of her skin.

A think like that sticks with a person, ya know?

So that’s the horror story. And every year for the last ten years or so, I have cringed and worried while one of my kids, with or without Mr. Pete, went to Franciscan for the Youth Conference.

 So now it’s my turn to go because it’s Izzy’s first time and since Izzy is a girl, (and Mr. Pete went with each of the boys when it was there first time) I am going too. I’ve got the van all cleaned out and Mr. Pete is going to check it out and add oil and the other fluids tonight  – I should be good to go. As long as my radio works, I think I’ll be fine.

I am looking to be refreshed, renewed and to grow in faith and in my spirit, and that’s another reason I’m going with the kids.

4. I am excited  to try this with my girls this summer. This craft reminds me of being in upper Michigan near Lake Michigan. I don’t know why it just does. It looks fun to make too!
Finger Knitted Tent!:

Here’s the ultimate finger knitting project – a tent! Isn’t
this amazing?! Read the details at Growing Up Creative.

finger knitting tutorial 

5.  Slow Cooking in the Summer Months wrote this delightful post about using your crockpot in the Summertime!  Here is an excerpt!

The weather has warmed, and we’re spending more and more time out in the yard. 
The weather has warmed, and we’re spending more and more time out in the yard.

I love it.
But I STILL use my slow cookers more often than not for our family dinners, and I urge you to, too.
Slow cookers take up very little electricity to run when compared to your stove or oven, and they do not heat your kitchen up the way those other appliances do. You’re not going to notice that your AC is struggling to keep the kitchen cool, and you’re not going to be standing over a hot stove, trying not to drip into your pasta sauce.
(ew. that’s really gross, steph.)
I’ve listed my favorite ways to use the cooker below — if you’ve got a family favorite, add it to the list!
FISHLove, love, love fish packets in the slow cooker. The fish steams perfectly in a foil or parchment-paper packet and you get a beautiful, flaky finished result without stinking (or heating!) up your kitchen.

FISH

Lemon and Rosemary ChickenWe make this chicken pretty often, and I like to use the leftovers on top of salads or in chicken sandwiches. If you don’t want to mess around with a whole bird, dump in a bunch of your favorite frozen boneless, skinless pieces and then add the seasonings.

lemon rosemary chicken

Pesto Spinach LasagnaThis lasagna rocks. It’s vegetarian, so it’s automatically lighter than most lasagnas, and because you’ve got pesto layered in it each and every bite is absolutely bursting with loads of flavor. Put your basil crop to good use this summer!

6  I found a little clip from the old show Thirtysomething, that more eloquently expressed what I was trying to this week.

7.  Izzy Art I’ve been waiting to share.