Veronica Boulden

Overheard #5 - I call this one just plain "Useless." Two ladies, one younger than me, one older, talking over lunch: "I didn't talk to him at all that night." "Why not?" "I don't know why. It was weird. I guess I just never got around to it." "Why not?" "Well, I came in the room and I saw him over there. He was talking to a bunch of people. But, I started talking to people and we didn't end up talking for some reason." "Why do you think?" "Well, I was busy talking to people and he was busy talking to people. It just never happened. Weird, right?" "Yeah." "Yeah. It was weird. I don't know why we didn't get around to talking. I mean, when I saw him at first, I thought I'd end up talking to him, but it just never happened. I wanted to talk to him. It's not that I didn't want to talk to him. I just didn't get over there and then, I guess, the party was over.

Three Netflixs arrived in the mail the other day. Dwayne and I both got really excited, until he opened them and read the cases, "Big Love. Season 3." I made a noise that communicated my disappointment. (And, I really was disappointed, too, to my own amazement, since I used to love that show.) Dwayne and I both agreed that we don't pay enough attention to our Netflixs queue. We choose movies months and months and months in advance, so we often change our minds about them by the time they come in the mail. Case in point. On the couch later that night, from behind his laptop screen, Dwayne says, "I don't think I'll watch Big Love with you. I've got enough images in my head of Bill Pullman having sex with his wives ." He put real emphasis on the fact that that word was plural. I chuckled then said, "I know. I don't think I will be able to watch them either." He looked at me in unbelief for just one second, then there was a moment of r

My resolutions for 2010 revisited... again. Why? Because I have to be deliberate. Even about the important things. Especially about the important things. Let Norah play outside - She plays outside for a little while almost every single day now, weather permitting. She's even taken to whining about how often I "kick her out" of doors. Keep a garden. I've decided to put the majority of my focus on my flower bed this year. I just don't have enough time (and money) to devote to maintaining a full vegetable garden on my own, too. I have, however, offered my vegetable garden to a friend and her kids. She also home schools and they are renting their house and therefore, can't plant a garden of their own. If she decides to use my garden, then I will, most likely, devote some time to help her and perhaps, plant a few vegetables of my own as well. But, I am waiting to see what she wants to do and just focusing on my flowers in the meantime. I am trying to plant

Norah finished her math Primer last week. Now she's movin' up to the Alpha book. (The beauty of home school is that you can move up when the child is ready. She isn't stuck in Kindergarten math just because she's still in Kindergarten.) And, this new book is serious. It has real tests. I'm stayin' cool about these in front of Norah, downplaying them, trying to keep her from getting nervous and developing the same anxiety I got over tests through years in public school. But, it's hard to believe. My baby's taking tests!

The girls like to bounce on the couch pillows.

Dwayne saw this in Norah's dollhouse the other day. I wonder where she got the idea?

Turkey Kabobs with Cabbage Slaw Make this for dinner on Friday night and save the leftovers for wraps on Saturday. They make a great lunch "on the go." Do you have any great "on the go" recipes to share?

You know that tone kids get when they pick up a bag of Skittles in the check-out line, look up at you with puppy dog eyes and in a silky sweet voice ask, "Mom, Can I have these?" Well, my daughter Norah doesn't really ever use that tone. No, honestly. I'm serious. She doesn't. She's given up trying to get things from me in stores. But, there is one exception to this and it's about the only time she ever uses her powers of persuasion on me. She'll ask all sweet as sugar, "Mom, can I please rock with Avril and read her a bedtime story?" And, I'll flinch a little, because I want to get them to bed so I can have more free time to myself, but I can never, ever say "No" to that . Norah knows it and I know it. Look at the pictures above. Don't they both look like they just talked me into getting them a bag of Skittles? Is there anything that your kids ask for that you just can't say "No" to?

A few of my favorite things - My flower box - We will often do our home school work outside on the deck, just to be close to our pansies. My house shoes - These springtime mornings still carry a chill, so these part sock/ part shoes are indispensable to my happiness. Avril's backside glory - When she is crawling away from me, her little diaper butt and chubby legs make my heart well up with affection. I usually have to chase her down, scoop her up and kiss her. My new camera - Dwayne surprised me with this to me for our ninth wedding anniversary. I was perfectly content with my old camera, even if it was covered in finger paint and peanut butter, I didn't even realize how much a new camera would bless me. (Dwayne did, of course. He gives the best gifts.) I take at least eighty pictures a day, so it's been nice to use this sleek little thing instead of my old clunker. Diet Dr. Pepper - I've been keeping a stash in the fridge and I indulge anytime the day starts

As Norah grows more capable and responsible, she's awarded with more chores. Not all of them feel like awards to her, she'll be the first to tell you, but she really enjoys this one. She gets to fill the watering can herself. (It fits perfectly under the faucet in the bathroom sink). And, then she waters the plants in the flower boxes and pots every morning. (When she thinks I'm not looking, she kisses the pansies and whispers loving things to them. I never let on that I know this because she'd be embarrassed and Norah, technically, isn't supposed to touch the flowers.)

And everything that's new has bravely surfaced teaching us to breath What was frozen through is newly purposed turning all things green So it is with you and how you make me new with every season's change And so it will be as You are re-creating me Summer, autumn, winter... spring! -Listen to the song Every Season by Nichole Nordeman

Enter to win a subscription to Everyday Food! I enjoy this magazine so much, I thought I'd give it away: one year's subscription delivered right to your door! Read how to enter to win below. For your first entry- Leave a recipe for one of your family's favorite week night dinners in a comment box. For another entry- Tell a friend about the contest. Ask your friend to put your name in their comment box along with their recipe so you can receive credit for their entry. For another entry- Follow my blog. It'll be unlikely (since I only have nine followers to date), but if you happen to follow my blog already, you'll automatically receive credit for doing so. Limit three entries per person. The contest will be over in approx. one month (Sunday, May 16) or once I receive approx. one hundred recipes, whichever comes first. Please respect the spirit of the contest and enter a recipe you cook on a regular basis and something your family really enjoys. (Don't ju

Avril's a kid who let's you know what she likes... and she likes this flag. She'll hold it in her mouth just like this for an hour while she plays. Try and take it away from her and, well, oh boy, that's another thing about Avril... She let's you know what she doesn't like, too. And, she doesn't like it when we try and take away her flag.

Pasta with bacon and tomato sauce This is a new recipe we have been eating on a regular basis. It's very good. I'd like to make one suggestion, however, that I think makes this dish even better. Cook the bacon until it's crisp, just as the recipe suggests, but remove it before you add the tomatoes. Set the bacon aside and crumble it into bits. Once the dish is finished, sprinkle the bacon on top, along with the Parmesan and parsley. If you leave the bacon in for the duration, as the recipe instructs you to, it will become soft and chewy. I'm not a fan of chewy bacon. But, if you take it out, it remains crisp and you can just mix it into the pasta as you eat it.

Confident Christians used to bug me. I thought they were arrogant, always claiming their "victory in Christ" and whatnot, always walking around with what I thought must be a manufactured virtue, a fake spring in their step, an artificial smile on their face, always using words like "warfare" and "authority" and "overcome." I think I resented them because they didn't seem to have to work as hard at their faith as the rest of us did. They were never worried about pleasing God. They just lived their lives. And, they were also constantly talking about their faith in very abstract terms, their victories over trials that you never actually see them endure. It all sounded so lofty and supernatural. Try to get them to talk about their set quiet time and they just brush you off. They want to talk about "fellowship with the Holy Spirit" and "worship" instead... Bah hum bug. But, it turns out that I was wrong. (Big surpri

We had steaks two nights in a row last week, with still two more raw New York strips to do something with. (I had bought too many). The third night, after setting them to marinate in Worchestershire for several hours, we seared them in the skillet as usual, but this time, we sliced 'em, added feta cheese, romaine and salt and pepper to taste. We wrapped everything in a whole wheat tortilla and... Viola! We will definitely do this again, especially this summer, when we, more often, need good meals "on the go."

I love our homeschool curriculum . It doesn't offer a lot of extra activities, like arts and crafts. But, that's okay with me. I'm a no-frills kind of girl. But, what it does suggest is that we practice certain, age-appropriate, practical life skills, like how to pour water from a pitcher or how to fill a bowl with cereal. This really works for us. Why? Because the best time for my five year old to practice pouring milk onto her Frosted Flakes is not right before we have to leave for church on Sunday morning. Murphy's Law says that's when she'll spill it... all over her dress... the only clean one she has at the moment. So, I wanted to suggest this to other moms. If your daughter needs to learn how to better brush her teeth, add it to your school day, even write it on your lesson plans so you don't forget. When she's tired of sitting doing book work, take her to the sink and give her a "lesson." If nights are as crazy at your house

The early blossom off a grape hyacinth . I am gardening again and this year, with more-than-usual gusto. I was forced to take a hiatus last year because Avril was born , so I have been yearning to get back outside and fuss over my flowers. I see spiritual parallels all over the place when I am tending to my garden. I tried to pull a weed that was growing up next to one of my grape hyacinths the other day. I should have waited, I knew, but I hate weeds. Little sucker was gonna pay... But, in trying to pull it, I accidentally cut the blossom off one of my flowers, leaving the weed right where it was to begin with. It made me think of the parable of the wheat and the tares: Matthew 13:24-29 and 36-40 . You can see the weed, the heart-shaped leaves at the base of the plant. It just stayed put. Grrr.

Avril's big enough to ride in the baby seat on the back of my bike now.

Norah picks Avril up now, habitually. We don't actually allow this. We warn. We scold. We threaten. But, then I go and take a picture of it for my blog and really, what does that communicate?! ...I'm becoming such a push over.

This quick-reference page came in the back of Norah's handwriting book. In fact, it was actually the book's back cover. So, we cut it off and keep it handy during handwriting, of course, but also for math, since Norah is still learning how to correctly form her numbers and both of us often need a reminder on how to properly form them.

We did some of the last pages of Norah's handwriting book first and she learned to write her numbers before her letters. This wasn't my original plan. We started at the beginning of her Zaner- Bloser Manuscript K book and were dutifully going through the program page by page by page, letter by letter, as the book was so neatly designed. This satisfied my inner perfectionist greatly. But, I began to notice that as Norah was also progressing forward through her math book, the math problems required her to write numbers in the answer blanks, several numbers a day, in fact, and since she hadn't learned to form her numbers properly yet (they were at the back of the K book) and since she was writing her numbers all wrong and doing that kind of thing over and over and over again, I felt like we had to take a detour and learn how to form the numbers 0-9 correctly. Thus we took a detour during handwriting, left the letters at the front of the book and headed toward en

Just some of the public housing we pass on our way into NYC. I'd like to confess a thing or two. I am simply fascinated that so many people live this way, as part of "the system." I always stare out the car window with my mouth open like a country bumpkin, just gawking at these buildings. They dominate the landscape for miles leading into the city and must represent hundreds of thousands of people, at least. Every window (or two) could represent an entire family. "Incredible," I usually whisper to myself and then turn and say something similar to Dwayne. And, somewhat poignantly, these buildings are set off in the distance, surrounded by what seems to be wheat fields. From the highway, we are too far away to see anyone moving around on the ground, so they appear to be totally abandoned. It's an eerie site. My mind always goes to Alas Babylon. (That book will ruin a person for everyday life, by the way. Don't read it if you ever want to be normal

Dwayne had to travel to Pennsylvania for work a few weeks ago. Because of my work schedule, I couldn't tag along this time. He stopped at Shady Maple for a business dinner. It's one of our favorite places to eat, so I was sad to have missed it. But, he brought me back several jars of my favorite apple butter. It's the best apple butter on the planet . Period. I didn't even like apple butter till I tasted it from Shady Maple. It was so good of him to think of me. Don't you think? Anytime I see this apple butter, I hear the tune, "What a man! What a man! What a man! What a mighty good man!" in my head. I have several of these unfortunate melodies stored in my subconscious, left over from my middle school days. But, nonetheless, he is a mighty good man. "Yes he is! Whoop!"

Here are some photos from Easter. The girls woke up to baskets. Avril's had baby books and bath toys. Norah's had toys and candy. We keep the same Easter baskets and fill them with new gifts every year. It is often more expensive and more inconvenient this way, since I could just pick up a whole basket filled with toys and candy for $10 somewhere. But, I can't stand the idea of buying a new basket every year, not to mention the fact that pre-made baskets are usually filled with cheap toys that will break in a day. Somehow, that seems more wasteful to me. While we were making breakfast, Norah had to try out the 3-D chalk right away. Pictures after church. Our neighbor came over and snapped this one, so we could all be in it. In the afternoon, I put jelly beans in plastic eggs and hid them all over the yard. I put one or two jelly beans in each egg, but the golden egg was full of jelly beans. It took Norah forever to find it; I hide it so well. A few more pictures of