Front Porch Living

It doesn't get much more West Virginia than front porch living. When we first moved into our house, our porch served as our only yard space for the kids to play. Now we have expanded to the (non-busy) road in front of our house and the neighbors yard across the street (she's 89 and doesn't use it for much). She has a little strip of grass before the drop off, which Lucas tumbled down last week. So, I guess it does get a little more West Virginia.

Rewind to a couple of months ago... When we first realized we were becoming a little to assimilated into local culture:

Fixing our dead car in the street. I don't have pictures, but a couple of weeks later Drew had his car up on bricks in the street. Uh!

I don't know if letting your kids play on the garage roof is West Virginia, but we've definitely witnessed parents worse than us. (Don't panic--the garage is built into the hill (very WV) so the roof levels out with the ground; ie, they couldn't have fallen far.)

And we still have two more years!

Preschool Non-graduation

Because we started Elena in preschool a year early, the other kids in her class will be moving on to Kindergarten next year and she will come back for another year of pre-school. Although we didn't go to graduation (I guess since she wasn't officially graduating, the teachers didn't think she should go through "graduation - sore spot--moving on) we did get to celebrate with all of the other kids in her class.

It has been a great year at pre-school. Mainly because I can now take Lucas in and out of the school without a tantrum everytime it is time to leave. He just plays for a minute, packs up and says goodbye. Haha. I think Elena made great strides too. She has learned so much academically but also about being a good friend and sister. She is an amazing little kid that I know I take for granted. Her big heart and sweet disposition are such a blessing to me, our family, and those around her. I hope she always knows how proud I am of her.

Huh, It's June?

The weather has already turned hot and humid, Memorial Day has come and gone, Drew has finished his first of two months in Martinsburg, school is out. It occured to me this morning that May is gone and it's June. I missed May.
I had dreaded May because I knew that Drew would be leaving for a two month rotation in a town about 3 hours from here. My goal was to pack as much into the days so that the kids would be so exhausted by the time the day was over that they would fall into their beds. Thus expediting the process that makes bedtime my least favorite time of the day. For the most part, that goal was accomplished. It also helped that Drew was able to come home on the weekends to take over the duties =).
The kids have been amazing while he is away. I have also been greatly blessed by so many wonderful friends who have been aware of our situation and extended numerous invitations that make the days go so much better!

It's true- It is the best

I made this lasagna for a friend and she called me (I think her mouth was even full) to tell me how delicious it was. We had a second one for dinner later and I will have to agree that it is delicious. I found this recipe online and followed it pretty closely (unusual for me). It is from "Food and Wine" magazine, 2003. It is definitely worth the time and money (so don't skimp on the fresh herbs). The magazine referred to it as the definitive lasagna. It's true.

Grandma's Lasagna
Yield: 10 to 12

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound ground beef chuck
1/2 pound ground sirloin
4 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Two 28-ounce cans Italian peeled tomatoes, finely chopped, juices reserved
One 28-ounce can tomato puree
2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
2 bay leaves
6 thyme sprigs, tied together with kitchen string
Pinch of sugar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
2 pounds fresh ricotta
1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped basil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound packaged whole-milk mozzarella, shredded (3 cups)
1 large egg, beaten
12 dried lasagna noodles

Preparation
1. In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the chuck and sirloin and cook over moderately high heat, breaking up the meat into large chunks, until no pink remains. Add the garlic, oregano and crushed red pepper and cook until fragrant. Stir in the tomato paste and cook until the meat is coated. Add the tomatoes and their juices and the tomato puree along with the chicken stock, bay leaves, thyme and sugar. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to 8 cups, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
2. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet. Add the sausage meat in large pieces and cook over moderately high heat until browned and just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Drain the sausage and break it into 1/2-inch pieces.
3. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta with the parsley, basil and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan. Add two-thirds of the shredded mozzarella and season with salt and pepper. Beat in the egg.
4. Cook the lasagna noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain the noodles and rinse under cold water. Dry the noodles between layers of paper towels.
5. Preheat the oven to 375°. Spread 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. Line the dish with 4 overlapping noodles. Spread one-half of the ricotta mixture over the noodles, then top with one-half of the sausage, 1 1/2 cups of the sauce and another 4 noodles. Repeat the layering with the remaining ricotta, sausage and another 1 1/2 cups of sauce. Top with 4 noodles and cover with 1 1/2 cups of sauce. Toss the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella with the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan and sprinkle over the lasagna.
6. Bake the lasagna for about 45 minutes, or until the top is golden and crisp around the edges and the filling is bubbling. Let the lasagna rest for 20 minutes before serving.

Make Ahead: The lasagna can be prepared through Step 5 and refrigerated overnight, or it can be baked ahead and then reheated in a 325° oven.

We love "staycations"

If you love hiking, camping, waterfalls, trees, etc. then West Virginia is the place for you (cheesy- I know). If you don't like trees, then I don't know what you'd do here.

Whenever Drew takes a week off we seem to head to some state park for a couple of days to soak up the serenity that we don't often find at home. This past week was no exception. The original plan was to pack up the tent, the kids and the camp stove for a couple of days away from here. When we realized that we could get a good deal on a cabin (apparently there isn't a high demand during the middle of the week in the middle of April =), we ditched the tent and camp stove (kept the kids) and opted for beds rather than the ground.



There is a pattern developing that each hiking trip we take is basically us trying to keep Lucas from killing himself via some death-defying action. He didn't disappoint. For example, at one point we found him crossing a log that had fallen across the river banks, forming a bridge several feet above the water. Elena is quite the hiker and insists on being referred to as "hiker girl." She has recently developed a hatred for insects and insists on killing any that cross her path. This added a lot of drama to our trip, but I think Holly River State Park is now free from any bugs.


Drew and I enjoyed a few days of no phone service, no television or computers, plenty of space to let the kids run, and we even threw a few rocks into the river ourselves.

Shupe's Schute: Lucas was sorely disappointed when we wouldn't let him go down this water slide.

Drew setting a good example for Lucas. The middle log is the one Lucas crossed.

Elena enjoyed pretending she was this Little Mermaid on her rock. I don't know why I always get stuck playing the evil Ursula. huh?

After all was said and done, I think the kids enjoyed the bunk beds most of all.

Or maybe it was the S'mores.

Power of a Testimony

This video is an amazing testimony of the Book of Mormon given by Elder Holland during October's General Conference. I had the privilege of giving a lesson on it for a Relief Society meeting. The power and spirit behind his words are unforgettable. This is an edited version that the Church posted as one of the weekly "Mormon Messages."


Click here:
Testimony of the Book of Mormon

Easter Update: Time to Resurect the Blog

In the spirit of all that is Easter, I am going to attempt posting pics for the first time in ages!! Sorry grandparents and whoever might miss the occasional update, but we're trying.
Life is moving along quickly and I'm hardly keeping up, but we'll just pick up from here rather than trying to recap the past couple months.

Our most recent trauma was the loss of Lucas's hair. Elena came running upstairs and screamed: "Mommy, Daddy is using the thing he uses to get his 'scratchies' off to cut Lukey. And Lukey is crying." What is a mother to think. Drew had gotten tired of people thinking Lucas is a girl, so during one of his meltdowns Drew figured it would be a good time to cut his hair. It is never a good time to cut Lucas's hair. Especially when said child has just covered himself (and the bathroom) in handsoap, hence the meltdown. The end result:

We had a great Easter. Drew was on call, so we stayed close to home but we had a lot of company over to celebrate. I think my favorite guest was one our Muslim friend who doesn't eat pork. I hope he didn't mind the Christian holiday and ham-fest. We made him a steak for good measure =).

The Easter egg hunters:

Then when dinner was over, Lucas did what I think we all kind of wanted to: