First day of school

Obligatory first day of school photos are here!

Amelia started fifth grade today at McCullough Intermediate School (MIS). MIS is our district's lower middle school for fifth and sixth graders. As predicted, one of the highlights of Amelia's day was learning how to use the lock on her hallway locker.

John started second grade at University Park Elementary School. John is thrilled that he is in a "good class with lots of sporty boys". John also had to wear head-to-toe LBJ gear on the first day today.

We are looking forward to a good year ahead of academic and social growth for these two!

Wilson family devotional

One of the associate pastors at our church approached me recently about writing a family devotional for the daily email our church sends out to members of the congregation that have signed up for the "Daily Devotional". The pastor said that the church wanted to spotlight at least one family per week in order to have a child's perspective involved in the devotional.

I willingly agreed to this task and then convinced Amelia and John to help me brainstorm what we should say about the passage we were assigned to discuss. Amelia and John were OK with reading the passage and talking about it as a family, but they were reluctant to "let the other adults in the church read what they were thinking", as they said it.

Well, I went ahead and discussed the passage with them anyway, without them knowing that a brief synopsis of our discussion would be sent via email to a few hundred members of our church.

I am very proud of the outcome and am thinking that the Wilsons should conduct exercises like this more frequently. I know we don't emphasize the study of God's word enough in this house, so this was a refreshing awakening to something that should take more of a priority in our household.

Read the "Wilson Family devotional" below":

Mark 10:46-52

The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus

46 They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’48 Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 49 Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ 50 So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’52 Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

Faith is a powerful feeling, as illustrated by the importance of Bartimaeus’ demonstration of his faith in Jesus. At the beginning of this passage, the crowd tried to quiet Bartimaeus when he called out to Jesus. But Bartimaeus was determined to speak with him so he cried out again after others told him to be quiet. And then when Jesus called on him, Bartimaeus was confident to request that Jesus make him well, seemingly speaking with the strength of his faith. Demonstrating the strength of his faith to Jesus led to Bartimaeus being healed from blindness.

There are many ways that this story can be applied to our modern and busy lives as our faith is tested everyday. We all face with challenges that range from being inconvenient to feeling insurmountable. But this story teaches us that no matter the challenge, we can always turn to Jesus for assistance in dealing with our troubles. He will be there for us, just as he was for Bartimaeus.

Bartimaeus teaches us to shout out to Jesus even when external forces try to quiet our voice. Bartimaeus teaches us to be persistent in spending time in our relationship with Jesus because we love Jesus and want the opportunity to be heard by him. Bartimaeus teaches is that our faith in God will make our troubles better, whether the outcome from the test of our faith is what we personally desire or not. Our faith in him will guide us to acceptance of the answer to our troubles.

My children and I ready this passage together as a family, and afterwards we discussed what this story meant to each of us. Amelia, age 10, concluded that, “Faith can be a powerful emotion that can lead you to be healed from problems and receive God’s blessings”. John, age 7, added the following, “So for example, say you are really sad about a bad outcome, say you lost a big match in the neighborhood track meet. You can pray to God and talk to him about it, and even though he can’t change that you were not the winner of the track meet, having faith in Jesus will help you recover from not finishing first and will make you feel better about the sad outcome.”

Well said. I believe that faith in God can help us with everything from illness to dealing with personal problems to recovering from sad emotions after losing a track meet. But most importantly, having faith in God reminds us of God’s love for us and of his desire that we walk the path he has chosen for us - whether that means placing first in the track meet or not.

Please, Lord, help us to remember that the strength of our faith can help us overcome any obstacle that comes in our way. Help us remember that we can always turn to you for guidance and that you are always there for us. Allow our faith to remain strong so that we can receive your blessings. Amen.

Congratulations to Scott!

I took a screen shot of the photo below, so you may have to click on the image to read the fine print.

Congratulations are in order for Scott! After almost 16 long years paying his dues and remaining dedicated to the public accounting profession, Scott was promoted to the position of Director with Deloitte this week. This promotion is long overdue and one that Scott is ready for. Our close family and friends know the anguish and stress that comes with having a family member work through long busy season cycles per year, so I am glad (and Scott should be glad too) that all of his hard work eventually paid off with some recognition.

As some of you know, Scott worked with PWC for most of his career, but left to work with Deloitte about two years ago. One of the main reasons for his departure was that Deloitte promoted to the Director level, which was not an option with PWC. As a Director (from what I understand), Scott will be (hopefully) less involved in the drudgery chores associated with public accounting and will have more client-service responsibilities and more opportunities for leadership positions within the firm. In fact, Scott has already taken on a leadership role mentoring younger staff members who are from Deloitte's India offices. Scott has some funny stories about the Indian guys - ask him sometime for a laugh!

Scott is a very shy and humble person, especially when it comes to work, so he would likely never mention this promotion in passing. So I am here to announce this honor for him, and to express how proud I am of Scott for reaching his professional goal. 

Congratulations, Scott! You deserve this recognition and I am proud of you!

Yummy summer salads (and more)

I love to cook and I particularly enjoy trying new recipes. But, this week I cannot cook because we do not have access to the kitchen due to the hardwood refinishing. The lack of cooking is a little frustrating for me, especially since I read several cooking blogs on a daily basis and continue to get inspired from postings.

So to get a small amount of satisfaction from cooking, I thought I would share a few delicious recipes that we have tried this summer. All of the following salads were great. The title includes a link to the original recipe source (all photos are also from the original source).

BLT Panzanella Salad

Serves 2 as a main dish (lunch)

Ingredients:
1 T. butter
two handfuls of good Italian or French bread, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
3/4 cup fresh corn kernels, cooked (one ear)
2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. olive oil
1 cup arugula
1 cup red leaf lettuce
1 1/2 T. low-fat mayonnaise
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup thinly sliced basil leaves
2 slices applewood-smoked bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Preparation:

1. Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bread; sauté 5 minutes or until bread is toasted, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in corn.

2. Sprinkle tomatoes with salt and pepper; let stand for 5 minutes.

3. Combine salt, pepper, vinegar, and olive oil in large bowl. Add lettuces and bread mixture; toss to coat. Combine mayonnaise, lemon juice, and basil in a small bowl. Add mayonnaise mixture to bowl with dressing and lettuces.

4. Place a large handful of the lettuce mixture on a plate and top with generous serving of tomato slices. Sprinkle with bacon crumbles.

Notes: My salad looked more full than the photo above because I used a lot more lettuce than the original recipe called for. I couldn't believe the outstanding flavor of the bread cubes from having toasted them for a few minutes in a pan with a little butter. I added sliced, grilled chicken breast to Scott's salad because I knew the small amount of bacon would not have been enough meat for him. The ingredients for this salad are simple but the flavor of the combination together was incredible.

Tricolore Beet Salad

Serves 2 as a side dish

Ingredients:

3 cups arugula

1/2 cup radicchio, washed and cut into bite sized pieces

1 Belgian endive, washed and cut into bite sized pieces

1/2 avocado, cubed

1/2 large beet, boiled, peeled and cubed

sprinkling of crumbled feta cheese

small handful of pine nuts

juice of 1/2 lemon

2 T. olive oil

dash of Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Preparation:
1. Toss first five ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Combine salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil in a bowl and stir into lettuce mixture.
3. Sprinkle with cheese and nuts.

Notes: The peppery arugula is fantastic in this salad, though you could substitute red leaf lettuce for some of the amount to decrease the pepper profile. I didn't feel like buying a whole head of radicchio for such a small amount, so I bought a bagged salad that had radicchio in it and used pieces from the bag. I don't think the small amount of radicchio I used added much flavor, but the purple color made the salad prettier. I think crumbled goat cheese and walnuts would be great substitutions for feta and pine nuts.

Avocado Tomato Stack

Serves 2 as a side dish

Ingredients:

3/4 cup fresh corn kernels, cooked (one ear)

2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1 small, ripe, peeled avocado, thinly sliced

1/4 cup buttermilk

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tsp. cider vinegar

4 tsp. olive oil

2 T. low-fat mayonnaise

2 T. thinly sliced basil leaves

1 T. chopped fresh chives

2 slices applewood-smoked bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Preparation:

1. Combine buttermilk with next six ingredients (through mayonnaise), stirring with a whisk.

2. Sprinkle tomato slices evenly with salt. Alternate layers of tomato and avocado on each plate. Scatter corn evenly onto plates. Drizzle each tomato stack with dressing. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top of salad stack. Scatter each plate with basil, chives, and crumbled bacon.

Notes: This salad has a beautiful presentation! The original recipe calls for grilling the corn. I pan-grilled the corn the first time I made it and didn't think the grilling affected the flavor at all. Now I use a fresh boiled ear of corn and think it tastes great. The amount of dressing above is likely too much for two salads, so you can adjust to your taste level. I made my own buttermilk using milk and cider vinegar.

To balance out all of the healthy meals above, I'll share one last dish that I made recently that was new to me, and very decadent. Homemade cinnamon rolls - these were AMAZING! So rich, though, that I think I would decrease the amount of frosting next time. I also think you could get away with less butter and sugar in between the layers. The link to the recipe is above, and the only change I made was to use the whole package of vanilla pudding mix. I also prepared the rolls in the pan at night and baked them in the oven the next morning. This worked beautifully for me and the warm scent of baking cinnamon rolls in the morning was divine.

Just out of the oven, before icing.

After icing. So gooey!

Having fun?

Do you think John is having fun at camp?

And a closer shot, just to get a more complete effect.

I have no idea how Scott discovered John's face on this section of the Sky Ranch website. This is not part of the parent portal, the section of the camp's website where parents can view photos taken of their child at sleep away camp each day. Rather, this is a section that advertises day camps offered in the area, which John and Amelia have attended for the past two years. I would guess that this photo came from Sky Ranch day camp last year, and yes, I would answer that John is having fun at camp! If he can have this much fun at day camp, goodness knows what this kid is doing out in east Texas for six days.

I always talk about how frustrating it is to take photos of John because of his exaggerated facial expressions, but this photo takes the cake! Love it!

Empty

Our house is empty this week, in more ways than one. The first reason our house is empty is because Amelia and John are away at camp this week.

Amelia and John are attending Sky Ranch this week, a popular camp located about 80 miles east of Dallas. The kids were so excited to decorate Scott's car for the drive out last Sunday (see above) and once we arrived at camp we joined the long line of decorated SUVs for the warm welcome to Sky Ranch.

I know the kids are having a blast enjoying tons of fun activities, from swimming and zip-lining, to archery and scavenger hunts with their cabin mates and more. Sky Ranch posts photos of the kids a few times a day and yesterday I found myself checking the photos for a glimpse of Amelia or John way too often. Today I am going to try to let go more. I miss them tons but know this week away at camp will be a great experience for them.

The other reason our house feels empty is because it literally is empty.

Nope, we aren't moving (though it certainly looks like it!). We are having our hardwood floors sanded and re-stained this week. The front of our house was built in the 1940s and the back addition dates to the 1990s. I don't know the last time the floors were redone, but we have been in the house for 7 1/2 years so it has been at least that long. The floors looked really worn and scuffed, so we are hoping this makes for a much-needed improvement to the condition of the interior.

We spent dozens of hours prepping the house, since both kids' bedrooms, the two living rooms, the dining room, and kitchen had to be cleared for the repairs. I sure hope this is all worth it! Already the floors look so different after the men spent eight hours yesterday sanding the old stain off. They also put plastic sheeting up everywhere, so the whooshing sound from the sheeting combined with the crispness of freshly sanded floors is a bit eerie. In the meantime, Scott and I are hiding out (with Leo, Amelia's cat) upstairs in the master bedroom in the evenings after work.

Whew, what a week! When friends asked how Scott and I were going to "enjoy our time without kids" while both were gone to camp the same week, it would have been nice to have said something along the lines of relaxing on a beach in Mexico, or something like that. Maybe next year!

Boston harbor

We spent one day in Boston exploring more of the harbor. Our first stop was the aquarium, where we saw many animals and learned a lot about penguins. 

Amelia was excited to see this harbor seal at the entrance to the aquarium. A seal named Amelia - how funny!

The first floor was devoted to an enormous penguin exhibit. The penguin keepers were feeding the animals when we arrived and later they gave a talk about the penguins. We thought it was interesting that the keepers fed the penguin by hand and recorded the number of fish each penguin ate on a clipboard. The penguins were tagged for identification so this must have been how how they could distinguish between them.

Just above the penguin exhibit was a wide, winding staircase that you could walk on all the way up to the fourth floor. Inside the staircase was a gigantic fish tank that was filled with coral and many different kinds of animals - sharks, fish, and even giant sea turtles. It was fascinating to watch the sea life swimming around from so many different angles.

John touching stingrays above plus one of the strangest animals I saw at the aquarium. This is a seahorse that appears to be covered by leaves. The leaves are a part of the animal's camouflage.

After we enjoyed the aquarium we took a walk out along the harbor to find a restaurant for lunch.

We had lunch at the No Name! I remember my mom and dad taking us to No Name when we were kids (in high school, maybe?) so I wanted to revisit this spot for lunch. 

No Name is an old, reputable Boston restaurant that serves seafood in a warehouse on Boston's harbor. The restaurant is no-frills and laid back, but the food is delicious and so fresh. In fact, most of the other locations in the same warehouse were equipped by seafood distributors that were processing seafood caught off of the coast for shipping around the U.S.

After lunch we rode the T back to town and got off near Boston Common, the large public park in central Boston. We enjoyed a lazy ride around the pond in the middle of the park on the historic Boston Swan Boats.