Water Tower Day

A warm fall day. School in the morning, the park in the afternoon, and my son Luke, 5, was able to fulfill a life-long dream: he touched the Nebraska City water tower! He loves all kinds of water towers -- fat, skinny, short, tall, cylindrical, round. We just drove right up, jumped out, and Luke communed with our local water tower. He later described an almost mystical experience to daddy, saying, "I touched it, and I cried because I was so happy!" Very cool!

I'm including some links from a show to which I have become addicted called Endless Feast, about eating locally and supporting sustainable agriculture.

Lovely day, lovely links:-)

Slow Food USA

Chef's Collaborative

Farm to Table

Saturdays

Saturdays are meant for fun and relaxation together as a family (at least every other Saturday when Carl isn't working). Today found us picking up my mom and driving all over southwest Iowa showing relatives Luke's mailman Halloween costume. Fun day with Grammy Zanker, watching combines roaring in the fields, grilling hamburgers and watching the Boston Red Sox!

Pumpkin Carving

This morning was pumpkin carving central at the Calfee house. Carl, the boys and I spent quite a bit of time carving our spooky pumpkins, drying pumpkin seeds and displaying our projects on the front steps. Luke also spent a good deal of time eating yesterday's pumpkin bread! We had a great time, and Trent managed to squeeze in a 100% on his weekly spelling test and some watercolor painting as well.

We all made caramel apples this afternoon, and Carl and I worked together to make a lovely simple pasta for dinner. Then we all piled into the van for a trip outside to see our spooky, glowing pumpkins all lit up, as well as other Halloween decorations around town.

Lovely day:-)

Beware of Greeks Bearing...Pumpkins?

Another day of learning here in our cozy little homeschool. We started the morning with the boys and I baking pumpkin bread together. They measured all of the ingredients, and we talked about measuring, baking times, etc. A fun food lesson. As the bread and muffins baked, we read two stories about where we get flour to make baked goods. It was a nice way to connect what we eat from field to table. Trent finished up his biology reading, polished his Halloween creative writing story, did Latin, and we got into reading our history chapter on the ancient Greeks (Minoans and Mycineans). Luke did phonics, math and handwriting, and we played his Memory game.

The afternoon found Trent going to piano and voice lessons, Luke running around the back yard, and me making a batch of homemade granola.

Tomorrow we'll make caramel apples and carve our pumpkins. Carl has four days off! It's great to have him home! And the Sox are winning big!!!!!

Spicy Fajitas Rock!

Quite a lovely day today -- cool, sunny, serene. Luke went to library story time while I graded Trent's algebra, and Trent worked on biology. We're about to start our Greek chapter in history, and both Trent and I are so excited! We're also going to read some Greek drama to go along with it. This week we'll also carve pumpkins, make caramel apples, bake bread together, and finish some Halloween crafts.

This evening, I marinated some thinly sliced steak in a homemade chimichurri (an Argentinian marinade) from a Bobby Flay recipe. I also had to roast jalapenos, garlic and onions for a homemade salsa, grill onions and peppers for the fajitas and warm the tortillas, so I asked Trent to start the grill and grill the meat. He did an absolutely wonderful job at grilling! Everything tasted lovely, and Trent has gained another new skill he can use throughout adulthood. My goal is to send my children off into the world as self-sufficient adults who can cook, clean, bake and take care of themselves. Trent is well on his way:-)

Tonight is World Series game one, and Carl took his Red Sox memorabilia to WORK! He is so excited! Go Sox!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Halloween is in the Air!!!

What a lovely fall morning here in southeast Nebraska! Sunny, cool, wow! The boys were hard at work on biology, phonics, algebra, writing topic sentences, etc. this morning. I made homemade muffins for lunch, and Trent was off to work at the library for a few hours this afternoon. I'm all ready to put together a fall scrapbook page using our pumpkin patch pictures, and I just put the finishing touches on Luke's mailman Halloween costume. It looks so awesome!

Starting a new book I'm really excited about called Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. It's now a movie that I also can't wait to see. I've read another book by this author called Under the Banner of Heaven; it's a look at Mormon Fundamentalism. I read that after Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped -- her story touched my heart so deeply. I can't wait to start this latest book by a very fine writer.

Lastly, I plan to make some spicy steak fajitas, using a lovely homemade salsa from a Rick Bayless recipe. Love his cooking!

A Photography Challenge

Driving today, I was visiting with my husband, Carl, about how my passion for photography was sparked 16 years ago, when we met. He has always been a consummate photographer, and he's taught me a great deal. But, he's lost his spark, his inspiration. In recent years, he has lamented about the digital photography revolution, and he has just plain lost interest in making pictures. So I've slowly been introducing him to artists like Ali Edwards and to the joy of Flickr. Today, I proposed a challenge: Carl, our son, Trent, and I will begin a year-long photographic journey on January 1, 2008. I use a very simple 6 MP digital, and I will purchase identical cameras for Carl and Trent. We will then each document our own artistic visions, via photography, throughout 2008. We'll also let our younger son, Luke, in on the action by letting him take pictures with a disposible digital. It's a creative experiment I hope will rekindle Carl's passion for photography, enhance my skills, and introduce Trent to the lovely art of taking pictures.

Pumpkin Patch Trip

Today was a lovely, windy, cool, cloudy fall day -- perfect for a trip to the local pumpkin patch at Kimmel Orchard. We rode to the patch on a hayrack, chose pumpkins, did the corn maze and generally enjoyed the whole fall scene! The crowds were minimal, the people friendly, and the boys had a blast!

Hard to Believe It's Fall!!!

It's a lovely, very warm Saturday here in southeast Nebraska. I've just spent a delightful day with my children, shopping Goodwill for Halloween costume accessories, visiting Borders (a very lovely place), buying a lovely green glass bowl from Spain I will use to hold homemade tomatillo salsa (Rick Bayless' recipe from Salsas That Cook) and purchasing a new watch. Random things, I know, but all part of a lazy Saturday in Omaha.

Fall is the Most Lovely Time of Year

One of my favorite lovely things is fall, in all of its glorious colors. This morning our whole family went to breakfast and then headed to the local parks so the boys could search for leaves, acorns and pinecones. We then went home so Trent could work on algebra and biology, while Luke and I counted and sorted acorns and then painted with them. We we read stories of leaves and acorns and generally enjoyed the cool, crisp fall day. Daddy was home all morning and got to enjoy this lovely fall outing with us.

I just realized I missed Trent's piano and voice lesson for the week! Oh well! I'll try to get it together better next week:-)

I stamped some thank-you cards for Luke's birthday party today, and I'm hoping to read a bit tonight.

Here are some links to several lovely sites of which I can't get enough right now:

Cool People I Know Blog

Scrap Your Heart Out, a lovely scrapbooking store in Lincoln, NE

Morton-James Public Library here in Nebraska City

Food Network's Baked Macaroni and Cheese

The Office on NBC, my all-time favorite show

Have a beautiful fall!!!!

Scrapbooking and homeschooling -- all in a day's work!

It's been a satisfying day. Trent, my older son, aced his first biology test, Luke, my younger son, was off to library story time this morning, and I've gotten a bit of time today to look through the latest issue of Creating Keepsakes.

Also checked in with one of my favorite bloggers, Ali Edwards.

All in all, a beautiful fall day here in Nebraska.

Welcome to Lovely Things

Welcome to Lovely Things. This blog is my attempt to chronicle all of the lovely things in this world -- my faith, my family, wonderful literature, food, nature, scrapbooking, music, people. I've never blogged before, so bear with me. Glad you're here:-)