Reason #350 why this isn't a food blog

While finishing up dinner tonight, Glenn pointed out that just about everything in the soup pot was something that we had harvested.  With the exception of one Yukon gold potato, the carrots, onions, purple potatoes, tomatoes and moose meat were either from our garden or from Glenn's recent hunt.  Okay, the salt and spices were from the cupboard because we aren't that hardcore (yet?). 

Moose stew - by all accounts, it was delicious!  My food photography on the other hand.... 

This year, we had a lot of gardening ventures happening.  Besides our shared plot at the community garden, we also carved out more space in our backyard for a raised bed.  We had pots of peppers and tomatoes, too.  The community garden was one of the best ones we've had.  We had more cucumbers than we could handle, spaghetti squash, potatoes, beans, peppers, peas and tomatoes.  Oh and beets!  At home, we grew pumpkins, more cucumbers, beets, onions, carrots, two cabbages and one magnificent kohlrabi.  Our summer started off extra chilly but we had good moisture and heat as the summer wore on.  We finally hard our first frost last week, so the season is officially done.  

Pie pumpkins - I think they are called Connecticut field pumpkins?  They went crazy in our small spot.  Any that grew outside of the fence became victims of our curious chickens.  

I didn't thin the carrots and so I ended up with a bowl of pinky-sized carrots.  They are really sweet and crunchy but have a slightly-disturbing finger vibe. 

 I should clarify that while the gardening season is done outside, inside the house, we are still working away.  Vicky and I picked these tomatoes (and more!) a few days before the frost and brought them in to try to ripen.  Vicky has at least half this much at her house.  These are more tomatoes than we've ever grown but we needed just a few more weeks to get them ripe.  I checked on mine today and some are starting to ripen but I'm also looking at recipes for green tomato pickles.  Yum? 

That time Vicky and I took two cats to the vet

How was your Monday?  Did you take two cats (who aren't best friends yet) to the vet?  No?  Well then your day wasn't nearly as entertaining as mine.  Coco was due for her annual check-up and Soxy hadn't been to our vet yet so it made sense to schedule them at the same time.  Once I realized the logistics were going to be tough, my amazing sis volunteered to come along and help wrangle cats.  

We dropped R off at school and we headed out.  Vicky took a great video of two cats howling in the backseat and we had that as our musical accompaniment as we drove across town.  I kept Soxy in the cardboard carrier we had leftover from Coco's previous visits and let Coco sit on laps or seats as she saw fit.  Soxy kept peering through the wholes in the cardboard with her eye and it was a little freaky - like a pirate cat or something.  

Okay.  Yes I do recognize that this is one whole post devoted to a visit to the vet but really, it's one of the more entertaining moments we've had and it was really fun to go with Vicky who is still fighting her battle with breast cancer but is feeling good enough to accompany cats that she is not legally responsible for to the doctor.  What's more fun than that?!  

So thrilled.  So very very thrilled. 

Once inside the exam room, I let both cats out while we waited to see the vet.  Soxy was brave and explored the room. 

Love this picture - she looks like she's getting ready to read her file on the computer.  

I didn't know she could stand on her hind legs to check out the shelf.  

 Meanwhile, Coco was not in the mood for exploring. 

Still not thrilled.

Both cats got up to date on their shots and both had a clean bill of health.  I took both dogs to the vet last week and they need a supplement for their joints and one of them (Tootsie cough cough) needs a little diet.  But not the kitties.  They are fluffy and healthy and I'm hoping that their shared traumatic experience will help them be better friends.  Or at least to stop fighting in the middle of the night. 

Football and Student Council

A few Saturdays ago, Will got to travel on the bus for his first out-of-town junior high football game.  He had to be dropped off at the bus at 6 a.m. and the rest of us followed in the car an hour later.  We drove to Scottsbluff for a sunny and hot morning game. 

I took this picture to capture how big the Scottsbluff players were.  Will is the in the black helmet across the line from the giant kid second from the right.  He held his own!  

#54 getting ready for the kick-off 

The whole team getting ready for the start of the game

The offensive line taking the field.  

This is how Will's team does the offensive huddle.  Will's kneeling on the front line. 

Look who agreed to take a picture with his mom!

and his dad!  

The game had a crazy finish.  The score was tied 6-6 when McCormick got the ball back with about 45 seconds left.  They had decent field position but nobody kicks field goals at this level so they'd need a touchdown to win.  None of us parents knew if there was overtime or not.  Will's team moved the ball down to about the 20 with 6 seconds left.  Then the quarterback snapped the ball, Will blocked a pass rusher and the qb threw to the end zone where the receiver caught the ball for a game-winning touchdown.  It should be noted that the receiver caught the ball because his mom (sitting behind me) yelled for him to catch it.  All of us parents were screaming like they'd just won the Super Bowl, it was a lot of fun.

In non-football news, Reina got elected to Student Council!  We are so proud of her!  A few weeks ago, she decided that she wanted to run.  She had to write a three minute speech which she practiced several times at home.  Last Thursday, she got up in front of all of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth graders and gave her speech along with 15 other fifth and sixth grade candidates.  I snuck in and watched her speech and she did an awesome job. She spoke clearly, told a few jokes that made everyone laugh and vowed to bring back the maze to the Halloween carnival.  She found out that she was one of the four fifth-graders voted in on Friday.

Football and public service at the Pauley household right now. 

September and some sideways pictures

Everyone is in bed, except the author of this blog and several pets.  Tuesday nights are usually hectic but we kept everything organized tonight.  The Rockies won a game and I find myself with a few minutes to write about this crazy family.  September is moving a long.  We are in the full swing of dance and piano lessons. I'm taking piano lessons too so Reina and I practice together when we can.  She helps me read bass clef and I help her stay on track or at least not get up and check how much time she has left every five minutes.  Will has football practice after school every day and they had their first game last week.  He has two more games this week and he's playing offensive line and special teams.  Last week, he recovered an onside kick and I was thrilled he touched the ball.  Glenn is in pre-hunting mode (but really when is he not?) with a bunch of big hunts coming up this fall.  I'm busy at work and trying to finish up the gardening season before it snows. 

We are all plugging along.  School is going pretty well for both monsters.  Reina provides me with endless details about 5th grade and Will is typically circumspect about 7th grade.  If I can just be patient for two more years, Reina will tell me all I need to know.  Will is happy to share details about his day but he waits until 9:00 p.m. so that's fun.  Bedtime around here is like it was in the toddler years again, bursts of energy, requests for snacks, trips up and down the stairs 900 times with the added excitement of "You have to sign this permission slip" and "I don't have any clean socks for tomorrow."  

We are getting into a routine and in a few weeks, this will all be normal.  Until then, he are a few highlights of the new school year.  

Will is taking a tech ed class (home ec for us Gen X'ers) and the first segment is all about childcare.  Will had to fill out a questionnaire about his childhood and it made me giggle.  

We've had a rather warm September although the weather might finally be changing.  We thought Labor Day was a good time for outdoor dog baths.  Trigger didn't appreciate our multi-tasking.  

First Day of School

Reina's first day of Fifth Grade and Will's first day of Seventh Grade 

The big day finally arrived. Summer 2019 is officially finished and the monsters are back at school.  I've thought about this day since the last day of school and I admit that I've dreaded it a little bit.  It's hard to believe that our little Bronco Baby is headed off to Junior High and Reina is a fifth grader!  I think I say this on the first day of school every year but I have to repeat it again.  The days are long but the years are fast.

We all woke up early this morning and since I had taken the day off of work (so I could cry at home and not at my desk), I made pancakes and bacon.  Will and Glenn left early because school starts at 7:30 a.m.  Yikes!  Reina and I hung out for a while and perfected her hairstyle (the picture above is pre-hairdo) before I dropped her off.  After I left Reina's school, I golfed with my parents for a few hours and then came home to a quiet house and did a bunch of random chores before picking up R.  I admit to thinking about them both as the day wore on and hoping that everyone was having a good day. 

Reina was super enthusiastic about Fifth Grade and while we were still in the car on the way home, announced that she couldn't wait to go back. She likes both teachers, she has a lot of friends in her class, she likes the book they are already reading, her lunch was yummy, etc. etc. etc.

Will had football practice after school so he came home tired and hungry.  Once he had a plate of spaghetti in his gullet, we heard a few details about his day.  He likes his teachers, lunch was way better than elementary school, he didn't bother with locker, etc. etc. etc.

So on to the second day of school tomorrow.  I think this is going to be a great school year for both of the Bronco Babies.

Lately

It's officially the last week of summer and we are packing in a lot of stuff.  Will has started football practice and Reina is hanging out with her aunt and grandma and friends.  We are packing in all of the last little bits of this summer and here's proof.  

Coco would like for certain members of the family to go back to school as soon as possible. 

Well shoot.  I took this cool pic of Reina at the Rockies game and now it's rotated.  Urgh.  

Ditto for Will.  He was more thrilled to be at the Rockies game than he looks in this picture but hey that's tweenhood.

I canned some peach jam on Sunday and by the end of the project, it felt like it was 900 degrees in the kitchen.  Coco still decided the best place for a nap was the dining room table next to the warm cans of jam.  

7th grade football is happening.

A bunch of stuff that's happened this summer

So it's already August and I'm still trying to figure out how that has happened. We've had a whirlwind of activities since my last post and I'm determined to give each one it's own due.  But in the meantime and for posterity's sake, I'll be lazy and make a list of stuff that's happened lately.

1.  We went on a cruise to Alaska with the Pauley grandparents and saw amazing sights and had a lot of fun family time.  On the way home from the airport, I asked everybody what their favorite part was.  Reina and Will really liked the pool and the on-demand movies in our cabin.  Reina also really liked an octopus that we saw at an aquarium in Sitka.  Glenn's highlight was halibut fishing and I liked seeing a bunch of whales from the ship and the octopus in Sitka.  Pictures and more details coming up!

2.  Will finished up the baseball season and had a lot of fun.  He tried out for a traveling team for next year and he made it.  It'll mean a lot of changes for our family summer but we are excited to see him play. 

3.  Reina's time at theater camp was awesome and she played the part of the Grinch's dog like a champ.  More pictures of that too! 

4.  Frontier Days came and went with Reina spending an evening at the carnival with a friend, Will going to a Post Malone concert and Reina and I watching the rodeo with Aunt Vicky.  Reina and I also watched the parade and she's determined to ride on a float next year. 

5.  We made our annual trip to Water World with friends last week.  The kids are getting braver and braver on the crazy rides that they'll attempt.  Meanwhile, I got queasy on the little dinosaur ride and had to spend the rest of the time on solid ground.  Oh middle age. 

6.  We survived another round of school clothes shopping.  School starts in two weeks and we are all set.  We did some shopping at the outlet mall on the way home from Water World and finished up in town this weekend.  I'm pretty sure I've seen every tshirt Nike has in their fall collection.  Will officially has bigger feet than me.  Reina has had more opinions about her clothing options but she's still relatively easy to please.  Will has a thousand opinions but we managed to find some sales and not completely break the bank.

I don't know if that catches me up or not, but it's a start.  Back to the blog soon with vacation pictures.