Coffee With Elly

All but one year of our married life has begun with tax season. That's 16 years, but who's counting?! I can't say I love it, but in fact, in the last 5 years or so, it's been less miserable than in previous years. Largely, this is because my kids are much older. Single-handedly running the house without a co-parent is a lot less difficult once your oldest kids help keep order, everybody is potty trained, and everybody can brush their own teeth (though perhaps, given the latest dental bills, that was a mistake)! Also, as he's gotten older and progressed in his career, Michael doesn't work as many hours during tax season, and the busyness has shifted to the end of the season. He even took the first week of January off this year for our stay-cation! This week has been especially grueling for him, though - he's worked about 65 hours in the first 5 days of the week, and is expecting a similar 13+hour day today, Saturday. Plus, he's been sick in one way or...

Because the Instant Pot does all the work, right?! I've made this recipe about 3 times. I double it, which just barely fits in my 8 quart Instant Pot, so then we have about 3 meals and some lunches off of it. It fills right up to the max line, and I was nervous to do the actual pressure cooking, but it worked fine and didn't blow up. Yay! What I love about it is that it has some interesting spices in it - including cocoa powder! Also, my kids think it's *almost* as good as canned... so with that exuberant recommendation, you know it must be pretty good! https://www.paintthekitchenred.com/instant-pot-chili/

Inspecting a squid at school! Eww! A nearly independent reader! Enjoying an almost sunny day with a quick stop at the library park! Monica is not too old to enjoy swings, yet! Attending the March for Life in downtown Portland. Hard to believe there were people cheering as the bell tolled for 60 million lives lost. 

On December 14 this year, Monica and Phinehas were involved in the production of The Great Cross Country Race, a retelling of The Tortoise and the Hare, put on by their school. They had about 4.5 lines between the two of them, but their scene was considered to be one of the more entertaining ones, so that was gratifying. A play seems to be rather like a wedding - tons of time and money for a relatively short period of end-goal activity! But they made good memories and learned some skills, and everybody but Elena ended up being involved in the final production. Judah helped with child-wrangling and Ezra with lights and sound during the performance.  Phinehas played the screen-playing child with selective hearing. Monica played the "had-it-up-to-here-with-being-ignored mother. Monica demanding her inattentive "husband" get involved!

As a friend told me this fall, "the first time I hosted the entire family for Thanksgiving, I felt like I'd finally become an adult." Well, I've arrived, I guess! We hosted my family for Thanksgiving this year at our house, including my parents, my three siblings and the ten children they brought with them! There were 26 people at dinner! My dad got some lovely pictures.  Michael got Mo's clam chowder for dinner on Wednesday night. Judah was forced to make savory shortbreads, which sadly, he didn't even like. But I thought they were great! Ezra was a real favorite with all of the little kids, as usual! Soup and bread for dinner. Mom and my brother, Ben. Aunt Katy supervised the construction of Reeses Pieces table decorations, bless her! Partners in crime... ;-) Ezra, Thane, Hale and Elena Madeline, Monica, Valor and Rinah Success! We really probably didn't need to have an appetizer feast a mere 1-2 hours ...

Well, here we are again at the beginning of the school year! I remembered to get a picture of the kids on their first day, but I forgot to have them set down their bags, take off their backpacks, etc. So it has historical accuracy, but no staging, I'm afraid. Unfortunately, most of my kids are opposed to having their picture taken. The older boys are in a state or resignation, Judah even smiles, because he tries to be a nice young man. Monica, the most photogenic, is always willing to have her picture taken. Elena is shy when she feels put on the spot. Phinehas has his customary picture-taking scowl (somewhat leavened by the excitement he's was undoubtedly feeling about his first day in 3rd grade). So here are my 9th grader (First Year of Highschool!), 8th grader, 5th grader, 3rd grader and 1st grader!  This is the entire high school class at Paideia (9th and 10th) - Judah on the far right.  This is Elena when she thought the color by numbers was a ...

Our Trip To Ashland, OR in July We've been wanting to take our kids to see some plays in Ashland, OR for several years but this year we finally made the leap! We were scheduled to see Love's Labor's Lost in the outdoor Allen Elizabethan Theatre, Henry V in the Thomas Theater and Othello in the Bowman Theatre, but we only made it to the last two. Sadly, the first one was cancelled due to the wildfire smoke in the area, that was kind of off the charts and unhealthy to breathe - and there's no way to filter it out in an outdoor theater! Still, we had a pretty good time, and the kids enjoyed Henry V, which ended up being the only one they saw. It was a good one, though, and in a theater that is so small that anywhere you sit you are only yards away from the performers. My parents and my sister, Katy, and her significant other, Ryan, joined us for the adventure.  A vacation with Michael would not be complete without some sort of hike: this one in the Siskiyou National ...