Quick 5

Isn't September glorious?

1.  Last week, for the first time in my whole life, I made homemade jambalaya complete with a roux.  I had never made a roux before, mostly because I was scared to.  But I did it, and I only did it because I had Lee's help.  I stirred for the first 20 minutes, then he stirred for another 15 while I did the rest of the prep, then I stirred for the final 10.  There is no way on earth I could make a roux if I were home alone with the girls cooking.  Ain't nobody got time for that.  But I did it, and it turned out beautifully.  And the jambalaya would have been perfect if the rice hadn't been crunchy.  Why on earth was the rice crunchy?  I followed the directions to the letter.  I did not open the pot at all to stir.  I believe I had the liquid to rice ratio correct.  My only theories are that a.) I didn't get the liquid to a rolling enough boil before adding the rice, so the simmering temp was off or b.) the cast iron dutch oven I was using didn't have a tight enough seal on the lid.  The crunchy rice bummed me out, but the flavor was pretty awesome.

2.  So this happens quite often at our house now:

Bria will be playing nicely, then she'll go behind the couch and come out sans pants.  As if stripping off her socks wasn't enough.

3.  Last weekend I took the girls to the park.  Alaina was thrilled because she "doesn't ever get to go anymore!"  Never mind that she gets THREE recesses on a playground each day.  But it was a beautiful day.  I thought it would be nice to get some pictures of the girls.  Bria had other ideas.

Tasting the wood chips to compare them to the other wood chips at other parks.

So much for a nice Sisters picture

 4. Alaina had Thursday and Friday off of school this week due to parent teacher conferences, so she was able to join me at my Thursday morning kid watching gig.  The kids are all three and under, so Alaina was the oldest one in there.  She played all morning.  But to hear her talk about it, she spent all morning watching kids.  Granted she was a big help when it came to clean up, and she did read the kids a story.  I believe I'm still the one that shouldered most of the burden (and there's a trash can with two poopy diapers to prove it.)  I do love watching her grow up and become so much more of a help.

5.  This also happens at our house quite often:

What kind of kid would she be if she didn't empty the toy basket and use it to sit in?

Need a fun thing to do this weekend?  Join our church for our last family hike of the season!  We're meeting at the West Mount Falcon Trailhead at 9:00am.  There will be a BBQ at the end of the hike, so bring a side dish or dessert to share and stay for lunch.  It will be a beautiful day and we DO live in Colorado.

:)