Few Words Wednesday

I love Wordless Wednesday blog posts, except for the fact that they don't contain any words. Now there's a head-scratcher for you...

Though I've done a few Wordless Wednesday posts here on Chasing Roots, there wasn't a one of them with which I felt fully satisfied when I hit "publish". I couldn't/can't help but want to write something - even just a sentence or two - to better explain, elaborate on, or even poke fun at my pictures.

I realize that adding text defeats the purpose of these photo-centric posts, but I plan to do so anyway, and to call my next few Wednesday posts, "Few Words Wednesday" posts instead of "Wordless Wednesday" posts. I'll keep the words to a minimum, but they'll still be there to shed just a little bit of light on my photos.

Happy Few Words Wednesday to you!

Despite our attempts to expose them to art, music, literature, and a
wide variety of sports and hobbies, nothing makes them happier than the
expensive - and somewhat lame, in my opinion - carnival rides at the fair. 

Johnny's Newest Fan

Last fall, the custodian at the elementary school where my sister teaches second grade made a Johnny Football t-shirt for my niece, Lily. Lily totally rocked her shirt - and demonstrated her knowledge of the traditional TAMU expression, "gig 'em" - despite the fact that she lives more than 1,000 miles from Aggieland. Despite the fact that neither of her parents, none of her relatives, or not even the custodian herself attended TAMU. Even before he brought home the Heisman Trophy, Johnny Football's influence had spread beyond the boundaries of his home state.

Fast forward one year...the same lovely custodian decided that Lily's little brother, Carter, should join Lily on the Illinois-based Johnny Football bandwagon. Here's baby Carter showing off his new Johnny Football t-shirt:

Baby Carter may already be on his way to a career in football: at his four-month doctor's appointment he weighed in a more than his big sister weighed at one year, and though he's only seven months old, he's already wearing 15-month clothes. Perhaps he has a future as an Aggie linebacker 18 years from now...he's already working on his "gig 'em".

Game Day in Aggieland

I had high expectations for game day (last Saturday) here in Aggieland. For starters, the #6 ranked Aggies would take on #1 ranked Alabama in the most highly-anticipated college football game played since our arrival in Texas. Additionally, the ESPN College GameDay crew, which our family loves (most of the time, at least - ESPN's coverage of Johnny Manziel throughout the last few weeks has been, at least in my opinion, questionable at best, and it's tough to rally behind Lee Corso when he dons our opponent's mascot head) - would be in town, broadcasting their Saturday morning college football analysis program live from right next door to Kyle Field.

In some ways, the day delivered. We spent the morning with friends (grown-up friends for me and Tom as well as kid friends for Will and Hallie), smack dab in the middle of the GameDay and tailgating hullabaloo. We arrived just in time to see hear the GameDay crew - including guest Lyle Lovett - make their TAMU vs. Alabama predictions, and caught a glimpse of the band.

Chris Fowler, mediating the crew's picks.

Lee Corso, picking the Crimson Tide.

One of the many Johnny-related signs on display.

But that's where the positives end.

When we've ventured out to Aggie tailgates and games in the past, we've parked on the street in campus neighborhoods, no more than a mile from the stadium. But because so many fans came into town to both attend the game and experience the "spirit of Aggieland", the closest we could get to the stadium by car was around two miles. We brought our small stroller for Hallie (a 1/2 mile is her limit), and allowing her to ride eliminated one whiny voice from the mix, but by the time we walked to the GameDay set-up, to a friend's tailgate, back to the stadium, and then back to the car, we'd covered at least four miles and the kids - especially Will and Logan - were DONE. D.O.N.E. DONE. The kids and I couldn't have made it back to our car at all if it hadn't been for Aaron, who carried both boys for at least half of the trek. (Tom went to the game, so he was no longer with us at that point.)

No need to CrossFit when you spend your day carrying
two first-grade boys up and down hills in 95+ degree weather.

I planned for two miles of walking, and wore shoes in which I knew I could manage that distance. But because we parked in what felt like the next state over, by the time we arrived at the GameDay venue - our first stop of the day - we'd already walked more than two miles and my feet were as done as the boys. I went through all nine bandaids in my bag and still came home with souvenir blisters the size of dimes.

It was more than a 1,000 degrees outside. Sweat ran down every inch of my body. My hair dripped as if I'd just stepped out of the shower. (You're welcome for that image.) We drained our water bottles, filled them up, and drained them again, but the extra water intake did little to cool us off. As a relatively-new Texan, I've yet to figure out how people actually do anything in this weather. I could barely function, let alone grill burgers, drink beer, and play tailgate games like the thousands of fans surrounding me were doing. All I wanted to do was go home, take an ice cold shower, sit on the couch in my air conditioned living room, and write about how hot it was outside. Which, incidentally, is exactly what I just did/am doing right now.

And then, to add insult to injury, the Aggies lost the game.

...two hours, one cold shower, and five major blisters dealt with later...

I take back a statement I wrote earlier - that wasn't where the positives ended.

Every single time I attend an TAMU sporting event I am reminded that this school produces the most welcoming, polite, and respectful fans - including students - in the business. (Though Nebraska Husker fans are a close second.) It's the little things, like the student who read the situation and directed us to the closest, uncrowded bathroom, the woman who offered Will and Hallie her bags of potato chips because they looked hot and tired, and the crowds that parted to let us pass through with our stroller. It's also the big things, like, I don't know, NOT getting hit in the head with a full can of beer, NOT having to plug your kids' ears to prevent them from hearing the obscenities swirling around them, or being called a jerk for lifting your kids up in the air so they can see better.

A day with friends in the best college football town around? Maybe I can overlook the fact that said college football town is ON THE SUN and that I may never wear shoes again.

Hallie's face most accurately describes how all four kids felt. 

The only reason the other three are semi-smiling is because we 

told them we'd go home as soon as they smiled for the picture.

Weekly Wrap-Up (9.13.13)

Friday the 13th
Prior to yesterday, I was inclined to believe that all of the superstitious hoopla associated with Friday the 13th was just that...hoopla. But then I expanded my "research" beyond Pinterest (scrolling through page after page of Friday the 13th movie posters and images qualifies as research, right?), to About.com, Wikipedia, and a 1993 study published in the British Medical Journal titled "Is Friday the 13th Bad for Your Health?".  Did you know that there is a significant increase in traffic-related accidents on Friday the 13th? Supposedly - and according to the above-mentioned scientific study - the risk of hospital admission as a result of a traffic-related accident increases by 52% on Friday the 13th. I may have to rethink my stance on Friday the 13th...or at least stay home today, just to be on the safe side.

How to Make Your Athlete Proud
I've linked to this article before, but now is the time of year - fall sports practices have begun, and games commence in a few short weeks - to talk about what it means to be a good sports parent.

Will has played some form of team sport every spring and fall for the last three years, and in that time I've crossed paths with quite a few parents who, at least on the sidelines, scare me. I'm especially nervous this fall because Will moves up to machine-pitch - rather than tee-ball or coach-pitch - baseball and I've been told that at this point (when our boys are seven years old? Really?) parent "involvement" starts to get ugly. If your children will play individual or team sports this fall, I highly recommend reading the article I linked to above (I try to remember to reread the article every season) so that your sidelines behavior will make you, at least as a fan, someone of whom your child can be proud.

Irish Cups
I find this "Cups" video mesmerizing - I literally couldn't look away once I started watching. Even if you can look away, I encourage you to stay tuned until the end, when the kids celebrate their "accomplishment" (hundreds of students, hundreds of cups,a gigantic snake of a circle to keep the hundreds of cups moving between the hundreds of a students, and no major, visible mistakes? I'd call that an accomplishment).

On a related note, my bro-in-law, who works as an elementary school principal in Illinois, had to ban the Cups song from the cafeteria less than a week into the school year. Wonder why?

Genius, Guiness
Need to smile? Watch this video.
Need to cry? Watch this video.
Need a pick me up? Watch this video.
Need a reminder to see the best in people? Watch this video.
Whatever you do, watch this commercial. It has nothing to do with beer and everything to do with "dedication, friendship, and the choices we make".

MomsEveryday: If you missed them the first time around, MomsEveryday ran When I Grow Up (about Hallie's realization that I don't bake cupcakes and vacuum the carpet for a living) and The Cliche  is True...Painfully So (about sending "babies" off to school) this week. Check 'em out!

Kitchen Challenge: Clearing the Counter for Fall

This fall I plan to challenge myself with new pumpkin, apple, and carrot recipes. I don't know that carrots are necessarily a fall vegetable, but their bright orange color makes me think of fall, so I'll throw them into the mix.

Yum!

Curiosity got the better of me, so I Googled "fall vegetables". Carrots qualify as a year-round vegetable in temperate climates, but unusual varieties of carrots are harvested in the late summer and fall. More than you wanted or needed to know about carrots today, right? Moving on...

And because I plan to start working my way through the 25+ pumpkin, apple, and carrot recipes I've already bookmarked online or cut out of magazines, I need to share with you my favorite summer recipes in order to free up a little virtual counter space (otherwise know as my "blog recipe queue"). Here we go!

1. Baked Spasanga
Adaptations: I substituted nonfat plain yogurt for half of the sour cream and used low-fat cottage cheese instead of Ricotta cheese. When it came to the sauce, I used ground beef and essentially made a batch of my usual spaghetti sauce (instead of just adding meat to a jar of store-bought sauce).
Comments: Tom and I LOVED this recipe, and Hallie ate three bites without complaining (which translates to a rave review from her). Will still doesn't like cheese, but this recipe lent itself to an easy adaptation for him: I just pulled out a serving of cooked noodles before mixing the rest with the cheese mixture and topped his serving with spaghetti sauce. A win-win-win-win in our household!

Double yum!

2. Strawberry Yogurt Cake
Adaptations: Instead of plain or vanilla Greek yogurt I used nonfat plain yogurt. I also didn't make the lemon juice/powdered sugar glaze because I had a feeling the cake would be sweet enough without it.
Comments: My adaptations in no way negatively affected the finished product; the sweet strawberry and tangy lemon flavors swirled together in perfect harmony, and the cake literally melted in my mouth. Like most baked goods that include strawberries, the cake didn't last very long, even in the refrigerator. Tom and I each ate pieces for three evenings in a row, but after that third night we had to toss the remaining 1/4 of the cake. I highly recommend this recipe, but make it when you're feeding a crowd. Or if you're planning to eat A LOT of cake in one sitting (I won't judge).

3. Toddler Muffins
Adaptations: I've made this recipe multiple times, each time using oats instead of oat bran. I also always replace the teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice with 1/2 teaspoons each of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, simply because I don't keep pumpkin pie spice on hand. I've experimented with using Stevia instead of brown sugar, and while the muffins turned out just fine, the kids and I didn't enjoy the flavor as much. I've also experimented with using whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour, and while I could tell the difference, the kids couldn't.
Comments: These delicious muffins seem like a treat - they're a baked good, after all - but will fill your babies' (of all ages) bellies with healthy bananas, squash, carrots, and oats. I found that these muffins disappear especially quickly if they're made in "miniature" form - they're perfect for popping in your mouth on your way out the door to baseball practice or dance lessons.

4. Balsamic Chicken Thighs
Adaptations: The first time I made this recipe I followed it exactly. The second time I made this recipe I used chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs. The third time I made this recipe I slightly increased the amounts of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, tossed all of ingredients together in a plastic bag, and marinated the chicken for a couple of hours before grilling the chicken on a charcoal grill. And the fourth time I made this recipe (yes, I made it four times this summer), I followed the same steps I took the third time around except I added one Blue Moon beer to the marinade.
Comments: First time = a simple yet truly delicious chicken dish. Second time = despite cooking the chicken until just done (as in I didn't overcook it by leaving it in crockpot for an extended period of time), it was dry and tough. I don't recommend using chicken breasts. Third time = oh heavens, it was good. Grilling really does make every meat (and most vegetables) better, doesn't it? Fourth time = everyone who ate this dish - my family of four, but also both of my parents, my sister, and my bro-in-law - declared it one of the best they'd ever tasted. In summary, the original recipe is worth making, especially on a busy fall or winter evening. But for an end-of-summer grilling treat, go with the adaptations I made the fourth time around - you won't regret it!

This picture, which shows a Spotted
Cow beer, motivated me to try this
recipe. Spotted cow is one of my dad's
favorite beers, and it's brewed less
than an hour from my parents' house. 

5. Roasted Garlic, Chicken, and Herb White Pizza
Adaptations: I used a store-bought/pre-baked pizza crust (no matter how hard I try, I cannot make pizza crust - all previous attempts have proven disastrous), so in the end I cooked my pizza for about 12 minutes. Also, it's likely I used more cheese than the recipe called for...I'm from Wisconsin, friends - using/eating too much cheese is in my DNA.
Comments: I felt strangely indifferent toward this pizza as I assembled it, but the end result was heavenly. Perfectly-seasoned crust, cheesy chicken, and crisp red onions, all held together by a warm, gooey white sauce? Mmmm. I may throw a few chopped red peppers on the pizza the next time around - I think they'd be a delicious addition, but on the other hand, why mess with perfection?

You can check out the recipes from my previous Kitchen Challenge blog posts by clicking on the links below:
Soup's On
Desserts
Tomatoes (which, to clarify, has nothing to do with tomatoes)
Fall
Vegetarian Dishes

A Moment of Peace

Late summer sunset over Booth Lake, Minocqua, Wisconsin.

On anniversaries like today, a moment spent in recognition of and 

appreciation for the peaceful beauty and faithful hope that surround 

me does wonders to lift my spirit and rebuild my broken heart.

In Memory of September 11, 2001

My Last Year Here

I can't believe this brilliant, hard-working, kind, sensitive, and handsome little boy of mine started first grade this year. He dove head-first into the increased workload (he'd rather clean his room than color, so he loves that first grade means working more and coloring less), embraced the added responsibility that came with his "sophomore" status, and emerges from the building every afternoon with a smile on his face and an update on who he sat by at lunch, the score of his recess basketball game with Ben, and exactly how many minutes he spent on the computer. He makes my heart swell with pride.

This little firecracker had trouble understanding what I meant when I told her that this was her last first day of preschool, but that didn't stop her from repeating the phrase throughout the day. I can hardly believe that this year is my last as a parent of "little ones"; when she starts kindergarten next year - a milestone she can't wait to reach - there'll be no more pretending that my children are babies. So no matter how difficult, I will slow down and savor as much of this year as possible. I will look on with joy - and hopefully find peace - as my sweet, spicy, smart, silly, creative, dramatic, and beautiful itty bitty grows and learns and leaves her mark on her corner of the world.

Here's to a wonderful 2013-2014 school year!