We changed preschools, and holy schmoley did we change worlds.  In the one week my daughter has been attending the new preschool, she’s received four birthday party invitations.  Four.

Okay, great, except her birthday falls right in the middle of all these other birthdays, which means I had to scramble and organize a party!  Tomorrow I’ll be filling out invites.  Yowza.

And they seem to take these parties seriously.  Okay mama, time to step up your game!

Today was a very trying day.  A business situation that we thought was resolved, wasn’t.  It turns out it is an even bigger P.O.S. than we imagined.

But, a dinner of tamales, rice, guacamole, a couple kinds of salsa, and ceviche seems to have made things a whole heck of a lot better.

So, tomorrow we attack the situation from a new angle, and take the day as it comes.  Carpe Diem!  Or should I say Carpe Jugular?

Froebe Fibers had a busy weekend!  We have a new shipment of yarn heading out to Yarns To Dye For & More in Frankfort, and we have orders heading out tomorrow to Homewood, IL and Virginia Beach, VA.

Looks like we’ve got a fair bit of dyeing to do to get caught up.  I love it!

Jason decided that today, he’d make caramel rolls.  Normally he does this about once or twice a year, so it is quite a treat for us.

He started the dough around 2 p.m.

At 5:30 I asked him if he was supposed to do anything with the dough that was climbing out of the bowl and all over my kitchen counters.

Needless to say, as of 8 p.m. we have a heck of a lot of caramel rolls.

And a big ol’ mess in my sink.

I finished my challahs and had them cooling on the counter.  My sneaky little monkeys decided that the challahs smelled too enticing, and they helped themselves.

I didn’t kill them.  I don’t have time to make new.  So, we’ll just have taste tested and approved challahs tonight.

The boy was supposed to have his school pictures taken yesterday, but the photographer was sick and so they were rescheduled.  A proactive dad decided to step up and take class pictures since the kids were already all dressed up and jazzed about having their pictures taken.

Asher is in the center back, in a handknit sweater of course.

This is my chili recipe.  I make it all year long, but it is especially great for Halloween.  It fills up little tummies so they don’t eat too much candy.  It stays warm in the pot or the bowl so you can answer the door for all the little hobgoblins.  It goes really well with the hot mulled wine I pass out in dixie cups to hobgoblin parents.  Oh, and I never seem to have any leftovers.

This year, I made two pots of chili, using a little over 6 lbs of ground beef.  I fed nine adults and an unholy number of princesses, ninjas, pirates, knights (historical and jedi), and assorted hobgoblins of all shapes and sizes.  I also served cornbread with it, and goldfish crackers for one picky daddy.

Okay, so the recipe.  Please remember, this is all according to taste.  Your chili powder may be spicier or weaker than mine, and your hobgoblins may like more or less flavor in their chili, so doctor it up to suit your needs.

Chili:

1 lb ground beef
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 or 2 cans of beans, drained and rinsed.  I like kidney or black beans – use whatever you like, and the amount depends on how “beany” you like your chili)
1 large sweet onion, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, diced
3+ Tbl chili powder (start with 3 and add more as needed)
1 Tbl adobo seasoning blend (a blend of oregano, cumin, garlic, black pepper, and a few other things)
1+ tsp cayenne pepper (again, as your family likes it)
1 Tbl cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 handful tortilla chips

In a big ol’ pot brown the ground beef along with the onions and garlic.  Drain off the excess fat and put it back in the pot.  Add the 2 cans of tomato stuffs.  Dump in the spices, stir it around, and give it a taste?  Does it taste like chili?  Great.  Too spicy?  Add another can of tomatoes.  Too weak?  Add more spices.  This is chili folks, not rocket science. 

Let it simmer for a good while.  At least 20 minutes, a few hours if you have the time.  Give it a stir periodically so it doesn’t burn.  Add the beans and the tortilla chips.  Stir again and let it cook a little longer, until you can’t see the chips anymore.

Serve with corn bread.  I like to offer shredded cheese and sour cream as accompaniments, but you do what makes you happy.

Chili is love.

This is what came home in my 3 year old’s backpack today from her first day at the new preschool.  This is a huge change from the single worksheets we would get from the old preschool.  What really pleases me is that in all of the notes for parents, there isn’t a single typo, spelling, or grammatical error.

I’m so glad we changed schools.

Oh, and she already has an invitation to a birthday party.  Uh oh.

My darling husband and I were cleaning up the front room, and thought the kids were playing in their play kitchen.  They were supposed to be putting away toys, but seriously, so long as they aren’t underfoot during pick-up time we are better off.

So, we finally finish picking up 7,231 legos, 113 puzzle pieces, and an ungodly number of unmatched socks and assorted pieces of toy sets.  And we are planning on buying these kids more presents for birthdays and Hanukkah?  I need to have my head examined, but I digress.

We finally finish and DH goes into the kitchen to get a glass of water, and I hear him holler for me. Always a great way to get my attention.  So, I get up having just sat down with a magazine and go into the kitchen, where there is, once again, flour all over my floor.  Everywhere.  The boy again got into the flour canister and this time, did a thorough job.  The floor, a paper bag, all over everything on the bottom of the open shelves, and of course filling one of his gym shoes to the top, all with bread flour.

Okay, well we did leave him for 37 seconds unsupervised, so this is not unexpected.  We get to work cleaning this new mess.  DH has the brilliant idea to use his shop-vac.  Hooray!  He doesn’t need my help if he’s going to shop-vac it all up, so I get to go back to my magazine.

Color me a happy mama.

He forgot one thing though.  There was no filter on the shop-vac.

My kitchen finely dusted in bread flour, and the cute culprit #1

Guess who now has a completely scrubbed down kitchen?  At least we got a good laugh out of it.

I am exhausted.  Seriously.  In a fantastic way.  I got home around 11 last night from SIFAF in Corydon Indiana.  We had such a great time at the festival.  We met wonderful people, got to pet llamas and alpacas, sold a decent amount of yarn, and even had yummy fried green tomatoes, fresh from someone’s garden!  Life doesn’t get much better than that.

On our way home, Mom found Barking Dog Cafe in Indianapolis, continuing our record of always eating way too well on show weekends.  If you are ever in Indy, stop by and try their amazing clam chowder, and whatever the entree special is that day.  You will not be disappointed!

So, I managed to get the kids to sleep a little after midnight, and collapsed into dreamland myself.

This morning I’m lazing around, but before you know it we need to get hoping as we have another show coming up this weekend!

Fiber Expo in Ann Arbor, MI is breathing down our necks and we have so much to do.  It should be a great weekend, come out and see us!

Did I mention I really love this time of year?  Okay, off to find some coffee.  I need some kickapoo-joy-juice.