Help! Please Post TinFoil Dinner Recipes

I desperately need some tasty tinfoil dinner recipes as I am going camping for the first time in 12 years this weekend and (gasp!) I don't have a dutch oven or a camping stove. Can you all please post some tinfoil dinner recipes for me? I need them for this weekend, Girls' Camp, Girl Scout Camp, and Scout Camp. For someone with an irrational fear of camping (because of weirdoes, wild animals and the all encompassing dark) I am sure am camping it up this summer (partly thanks to Willow;). Thanks!

Summer(school) Fun

Caterpillars

We have been seeing these strange web-like things all over Lewisburg and thought they belonged to some kind of spider. It turns out that they are caterpillar nests. After the eggs hatch they spin silk and live in there for awhile. As they mature they venture out for food (my garden) and eventually turn into moths. This type is called the Eastern Tent Caterpillar. Sassafrass collected four of them and named them Annie, Teeny, Joe and April (after her birth month and her grandmother). Jedi found one and named it Harriet. They seemed very interested in these caterpillars and so I went online and found out how to take care of them until they turn into moths. On this same site are crafts you can make related to butterflies. I am going to have a clipboard  where the kids can make observations on what they eat (apparently caterpillars are picky and will starve to death before they eat something they don't like, I think this will be a good lesson for my extremely picky kids) and draw pictures of their progress. I might invest in an aquarium so they have plenty of room and can be observed better.

I want to do summer school, but I don't want it to seem too schoolish with lots of desk work, etc., I think I will mostly be doing creative projects and activities as much as possible. I'm sure these activities are doable for most of you if you are interested.

Another idea I had was do plant a 3 Sisters Garden. Native Americans have many stories, celebrations, etc., related to these three crops: corn, beans and squash. These three plants benefit each other. Corn provides support for the beans. Beans have bacteria living on their roots that help them absorb nitrogen from the air and convert it to a form that plants can use. The large prickly squash leaves shade the soil preventing weed growth. This is a fun way to introduce gardening and Native American agricultural techniques to your kids. We are going to plant these three in the soil behind our house and I am going to let the kids mostly care for these plants.

Do you all have any fun, creative projects, plans you are going to do with your kids this summer?

College Student Cleanout Freebies

At the end of the school year the college students around here throw out perfectly good and mostly almost new items. They literally put lamps, desks, chairs and the like in and around dumpsters. This year I picked up some really good stuff. Anything I don't end up using I can sell at the Neighbors and Newcomers' annual yard sale. A lot of professors and people in the community will dumpster dice for stuff. This is also when the people who live in vans down by the river come out (no joke!). I didn't actually come to blows with any river people, I just asked them politely if they were going to take a certain item and if not, could they help me take it out of the dumpster. I did have to powerwash a few items, but I think it was worth it. Beau Brummel said he would only get stuff if there was no one around and if it wasn't actually in the dumpster. I had no such reservations.

Here's what I found: cotton candy machine (which we have had no end of fun with), desk from IKEA, small trash can, dolly, clothes drying rack, hat rack, set of plastic drawers, white flower pots, basket, beanbag, small area rug, microwave, cooler, 2 full length mirrors, electric kettle, four slice toaster, Hamilton Beach single serve blender with travel lid (perfect for protein shakes), corduroy purse, new broom and dustpan, shoe rack, and some small plastic shelves.

I would also have had a new aquarium, but a river person got it first. I would have gotten a brand new futon, but Beau Brummel wouldn't let me load it into the mini van because he was afraid one of his students would see him. Don't tell him, but one of his students (whom I've actually met before) did see me pull a beanbag out of the dumpster. Next year I am getting a babysitter and camping out by the dumpsters on College Student Cleanout weekend, who knows . . . I might luck out and get a mini fridge.

Let's Participate a little more

If you read a post, please comment on it. When someone writes something and you read it, it only takes you a minute or so to comment on it. So why don't we? Part of the purpose of this blog is to validate what women have to say. That way they know they have been heard. The easiest way is to comment on something you read. How many times have you said something out loud and received silence in return? In our house, many, many times. Please post comments. Thank you. 

A Near (Chicken) Death Experience

Its been a while since I've experienced blood-pumping emergency adrenaline mode, but yesterday it happened. We try to let the chickens out of their coop as often as possible and they were out yesterday. I was about to make Headbanger's supper when I heard a distressed squawk in the back yard. I flung open the back door to find beloved Little Brown's back end in the jaws of a vicious beast - a neighborhood dog. She was trying to run away, but the dog wasn't letting go. The rest of the chickens were hiding in the rosebushes like the cowards they are (instead of pecking the murderous creature to death as they should have been). I shouted and ran after the dog, eventually scaring it away. Flashlight must have heard what was going on, because he came flying out the back door and started throwing rocks. I should have thought of that.

Poor Little Brown was completely traumatized and missing a chunk of tail feathers. She also had a scratched and slightly bleeding nostril, but no other harm was done, thankfully. We cleaned her up and returned the chickens to their coop. When I first discovered the dreadful scene I was sure that Little Brown was a goner, but she's ok and we're so relieved. Fortunately the attacker was an tiny aging lame dachshund. If the dog was any bigger, we might have lost several birds.

I hadn't realized how attached I was to the chickens. I'd been viewing them as a future source of eggs and hadn't stopped to notice that they're great pets. They don't require much maintenance, beyond feeding. They're highly entertaining to watch - like a bunch of dim but highly strung little old ladies running around the yard. Headbanger loves them and Flashlight catches grass hoppers for them every day. They keep themselves fairly clean - not the barnyard smell you'd expect. And EVERY child who comes to our house finds them endlessly entertaining, from nieces and nephews to cub scouts to neighbor kids. Everybody loves the chickens.

After chasing the dog out of the yard, my pregnant hips are completely locked up. All the good of last week's massage has been undone. I tried to roll over in bed last night and needed Flashlight's help. Was Little Brown's life worth saving? Absolutely.

Possessed by an Alien/Evil Demon/Magic Ring or just pregnant?

I've seen every episode of The X Files, the Alien films and lots of other sci-fi movies besides. I'm also a big fantasy fan. In these two genres is that people are always being possessed by aliens, supernatural forces, black oil, magic rings, etc. Regardless of the nature of the possessor, the possessed almost always exhibits the following symptoms:

1. Freaky stuff moves around under their skin. This happens a lot in the X Files and almost always means that the possessed person will soon die. Except of course in that episode of Buffy where they have to put that thing in Spike's eye to release him from the The First's grasp, which makes him want to kill people... again. But anyway, if there's something wiggling under your skin, its going to get ugly. So, in doing a quick self-check, I find that I've got this dreaded symptom. The "baby" in my belly kicks and moves around constantly and its visible on the outside. The other day she was doing star jumps and it looked just like a bad sci-fi effect.

2. The possessed stops acting like themselves and acts, well, possessed. A quick self-check shows that in recent months, I've become extremely emotional. A few days ago I cried through a funeral for someone I'd never met (one of Flashlight's relations). Yesterday I had a complete meltdown because I'd misplaced an item in my purse. During my last pregnancy, I had lots of violent dreams where I was the one enacting the violence (I was terribly upset, but Flashlight thought it was hilarious).

3. The eating and drinking habits of the possessed person must change dramatically. This happens in Buffy, Angel, Star Trek the Original Series and perhaps in the X Files. I fist suspected that I might be pregnant when I spent the better part of Thanksgiving Day wolfing down pickles. I don't like pickles and I'm not sure who decided that they'd go with turkey, but they were out and it was all I could do not to eat the whole jar. I'm also continually thirsty - several large glasses of water do nothing for me.

So am I pregnant (my doctor certainly seems to think so) or just showing the classic symptoms of alien/demon possession?

GO SKATING!

Sassafrass' Girl Scout Troop went skating and it was a blast. I think I got a pretty good inner thigh work out and it was nice to skate around the smooth rink with the disco ball and strobe lights with the warm air rushing over my face and through my hair. It brought me right back to 5th and 6th grade when I used to go skating at the Golden Skate in San Ramon, CA (you know what I am talking about, Dwayne . . .). They even played some of the same music (Double Dutch by Frankie Smith) and had some of the same games (limbo and  freeze skate), but not shoot the duck. 

Jedi and Sassafrass hadn't been roller skating since we lived in England a couple years ago and had couple weeks' worth of lessons. The last time I roller skated was 10 years ago at classic skating in Orem, UT on disco night with Beau Brummel. I guess he didn't roller skate much growing up because during the couples skate he tripped and instead of letting go of my hand, he tried to use my arm as a rope and pull himself up it going hand over hand which resulted in him taking me down. 

I had so much fun and didn't fall once even when my children were grabbing onto me. Roller skating was a really fun and nostalgic experience, I highly recommend it as a date or something fun to do with your kids. (I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE UNDERLINING IS ABOUT, BUT I CAN'T GET RID OF IT!)

Are there any fun things you used to do as a kid that you want your own children to experience?

March of the Penguin Cupcakes

Yes, I know . . . this cupcake fetish too shall pass, but probably not any time soon. In the meantime, bear with me and behold my newest achievement in cuteness: penguin cupcakes.

That's Love- Revisited

So I don't have any really good stories like sucking peppered snot from my kid's nose, but I think this qualifies. My 4 year old, Sally, has been begging to fill the kiddy pool and today we finally agreed. We got it out, cleaned it, and filled it with the garden hose. The water was too cold for her, though, and she was so desperate to swim. So I filled about 40 pots of hot water from the kitchen and carried them out to the pool to help warm it up a little. The funny thing is, I remember doing this very thing 3 years ago when we lived in a house where we didn't have a garden hose or anywhere to hook one up. I filled her little pool by hand using buckets and pots from the kitchen- it took most of the day. I think that's definately LOVE!

Cupcakes

Opal, since you like cupcakes, here are a few of the ones I've made for parties- I love making them, too!!! I have made the usuals as well, like spiders for halloween and things like that, these are the only pictures I have, though. I love your sharks!!!

These I made for a baby shower- I used rolled fondant to make the babies, pillows, and blankets. It's really easy to use- like play doh. Just frost the cupcake and stick it on :)

The snowmen are marshmallows with a pretzel stuck down the middle to hold them together and hold them onto the cupcake. The hats are oreos (big & small) stuck on with chocolate frosting. The faces were made with food color pens.

These I made for Sally's preschool christmas party- Baby Jesus. I used yellow colored coconut for the straw and did the babies with the rolled fondant like I used for the baby shower.

Oh My Cuteness!

Check out these cute cupcakes. (And a description of how to make them.) Sharks and ladybugs and sunflowers, oh my! I am obsessed with making them. I think I might have a new hobby fetish or a problem.

What's in a Name?

Our chickens have "functional" names: Blackie, Whitie, Big Brown, Little Brown, Big Red and Little Red. A quick glance at our chicken coop, and you'd easily be able to tell who was who. But children should not have functional names, it would be cruel. We'd have to refer to Headbanger as Fat Cheeks or Melon Head, and neither of those are very nice.

When we named Headbanger we came up with the following rules, which we intend to use for the new baby:

1. It must be a recognizable name with an established spelling. We're not interested in "Brandine" or "Aemmalye".

2. It must not be too popular right now. In fact, Flashlight and I are interested in names that were popular at the beginning of the 20th century. I love the names Hannah and Emma, but too many babies and young children have those names right now.

3. Middle names should be family names. Headbanger's middle name is Ruth, after my paternal grandmother. Although highly strung and somewhat demanding, she's the sanest of my grandparents. My maternal grandmother is crazy and I would never do that to my child.

4. The name shouldn't have any terrible associations (Adolph, Mao and George are off the list) or be an obviously bad name - one that might get my child beaten up at school. My brother was nearly named Gaylord, but thankfully they switched to Nathan at the last minute.

5. If the name is going to be literary, there need to be some good associations with the character. I'm named after a Dickens character and while I like having a literary name, I feel somewhat hurt that my mother named me after a prostitute whose common-law husband beat her to death at the end of the novel. "Prostitute" does not really describe me and Flashlight is one of the least violent individuals I know. I'd love to give my daughter-to-be a Shakespearean name, but Ophelia, Juliet and Desdemona all have similar problems.

So what are we going to name the new baby? I have no idea. When Headbanger was born, we had a short list of four names: Lillian, Eleanor, Evelyn and Rosemary. I think that a few of those might make it to the next short list, but other than that, its up in the air. What kinds of names would you choose?

Hot Chocolate Recipe

Since moving to the US a year and a half ago, I've had a hard time finding a decent (meaning "dark" enough) hot chocolate that isn't full of hydrogenated oils or cost a fortune. A few weeks ago, I discovered that you can make hot chocolate with just chocolate chips, milk and a microwave. This recipe is getting me through my third trimester. Here it is:

Put two heaped tablespoons of semi-sweet chocolate chips in a mug.

Add about the same quantity of milk.

Microwave for 30 seconds and then whisk together (I have a mini whisk just for this purpose).

Add about 1 cup of milk to your mug, whisk again and microwave for about 1 min 30 sec.

WARNING: if you use whole milk, you might want to reduce the cooking time, as your hot chocolate might explode. I keep forgetting this...

New Craft and Party Blog

Hi All,

I found that my craftiness could not be contained within the confines of this blog so I started a blog exclusively for party and craft ideas. So far I have only posted about Sassafrass' 7th birthday party with its magic theme. Enjoy if you wish.

Firstborns have it rough

Research has shown that Firstborns have it the toughest. I totally agree that my older sister got the worst of everything because my parents didn't know how to deal with each totally new thing as it came up. Read the article and tell me what you think.

I have a unique situation in that my sister was 5 years older than me and some of the time we lived with different parents. Once she was out I got it the hardest as the oldest kid in the house even though I think I was a pretty good kid in a lot of ways. I never drank or did drugs or had sex or shoplifted and really what else is there?

I am trying not to be that way with Jedi, but I don't know how. It does seem like since he is the oldest he should know better, but why?

Are any of you oldest kids? Did it seem like the oldest in your families had it the hardest?

Mantuary, a Room of His own

Beau Brummel showed me this article about the Mantuary phenomenon. It is basically the idea that your husband has a room to himself that he can decorate any way he wants and fill with things he likes to do: pool table, old sports trophies, poster from Star Wars, etc., and women and kids are not allowed in there unless they ask first or are invited. I actually think this is a cool idea, but only if the wives fan also have some sort of galtuary.

Beau Brummel's mantuary would contain: first and foremost the ultimate TV-watching lazyboy, a nice big HDTV with a cable package that includes European soccer, mini-fridge stocked with lemonade and chocolate milk plus a cabinet containing Snowballs and donut gems, a toy basketball hoop in a corner and several blow up balls for kicking and shooting around. The decor would be stuff from his travels as well as paraphernalia from his glory days (pictures of himself playing soccer, trophies, a shrine to himself), props and costumes for his movie making, computer with iMovie on it, a Fusball table that doubles as a ping pong table.

If I had a galtuary it would have tons of built-in shelves for all my craft stuff, computer, comfy couch to read on, huge table for sewing and scrapbooking. I would decorate it really fun and funky and colorful and modern with tons of pictures I have taken on the walls. It would have a normal size tv and its own cable box so I could record all the shows that conflict with Beau Brummels. I would also have a rock climbing wall, a kick boxing dummy and a spin bike. I would also be able to take virtual group exercise classes from my TV.

What about you all? What would go in your galtuary? What would your husband put in his man cave?

Aren't You Glad we live in America?

Check this out! Babies tossed off 50 foot tower for luck.

What's Up with Disney?

I am not a huge Disney fan. I feel like the Mickey Mouse Club has consistently turned out some really bad entertainers/role models and I don't really let my kids watch Disney shows that aren't cartoons. I don't think the Miley Cyrus photo fiasco was a big deal, but I do think this billboard in China was totally weird. What do you all think?