Miscellany Monday: November 14, 2011

Jas had the day off Friday, so we celebrated by...(drumroll, please)...

Cleaning!

We cleaned Friday and Saturday. Outside and inside. On-your-hands-and-knees, using-an-old-toothbrush-to-scrub...cleaning.

I don't know if I'm nesting, or what. What I do know: I continually feel like I'm drowning. I'm usually only one step ahead of the laundry monster. And while I usually do a good job of seeing that things are picked up around here...don't go checking my baseboards or behind the sofa or in the windowsills. (I don't even want to think what our house might look like if I wasn't such a decluttering nut!)

And things are actually much better around here than they were a few years ago. The children are becoming bigger and bigger helpers all the time. As a team, we clean the toilets and dust once a week. Those things didn't use to happen on any sort of regular schedule...just when they got bad enough that they demanded to be taken care of!

I struggle with keeping all my balls in the air...and cleaning the house is consistently the one I'm first to let drop. I realize that 6 of us live here, and 5 of us are here 24/7, so I'm not striving for perfection...but I don't want the children to grow up not knowing how to properly take care of their house!

Anyway, I've just particularly been struggling with feeling bad lately because, well, I struggle with this! And I want to admit to all of bloggy-land that I struggle with this.

I so appreciated this post that one of my favorite bloggers posted today (she is pregnant with her 4th child right now) - maybe I'm not the only one who struggles with this....

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We had new-to-us dish for the second time this week. Jas actually made it the first time we ate it a few weeks ago...and I made it this time.

We really like it. AND it's a good way to have a meatless entree that is filling and full of protein! My family l.o.v.e.s. quiche, so when I saw this I thought it might be a hit also...and I was right!

We double the recipe, but here it is in its original form (I found this in my mom's Woman's World)

Potato and Egg Frittata

3 tbsp oil

1 c. chopped red onion (we've just used regular onions both times)

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3 c. sliced boiled potatoes (don't peel, most of the good-for-you stuff is right in and under the peel!)

4 eggs, slightly beaten

In medium skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, oregano, salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is just softened, about 3 minutes. Add 3 cups sliced boiled potatoes; cook until edges are golden and potatoes are heated through, 3-4 minutes. Stir in 4 eggs/ cover; cook until eggs are cooked through, about 9-10 minutes. Slide frittata onto serving plate (nah, we just cut it and serve it straight from skillet!).

We serve this up with a big side of smoothie and voila - supper is served!

BUT, I have to confess that this dish tasted better when Jas made it. We compared notes, and I don't know what explains the difference, except that **I** didn't make it the first time!

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I so want to have fun, neat and meaningful traditions with our children, to surround the major holidays.

But I usually mess around and procrastinate long enough that I don't end up doing anything very special.

But I want this year to be different!

And when I saw this post I thought this sounded like something I could handle (except E & I just painted ours onto posterboard, not canvas!):

Our "Thankful Tree" is now hanging in a prominent place...

...where it is getting "Thankful Leaves" attached to it every night.

LK helped me cut out all the leaves - she was such a big helper! And we're all having fun (even mama and daddy) writing down something we're thankful for and then sticking them on this tree right before bedtime every night!

I should share some of what the children are thankful for when this project is done - too cute!