When Abby wept

• Lily went to nursery for the first time and enjoyed it,
• Elsie made a necklace choker out of bubble gum and got an unexpected hair cut,
• Timmy saved me several packages of candy that he knew I would like from the parade,
• Abby actually wept for joy while hugging Gina and me after scoring her first soccer goal,
• Kate deliberated quite awhile about whether to fast this morning and finally decided to fast,
• Gina gave away 6 or 7 large trash bags full of kids clothes and shoes, and
• I watched Aristocats with the kids while we cleaned the tiles in our kitchen with rags and water.

Oh, and the recipe that I made last week is ridiculously simple:

1 can crushed pinapple,

1 can coconut milk,

1/4 cup fish sauce,

1/2 Tb or more red curry paste,

1 1/2 Tb sugar,

8 oz. shrimp,

Serve over quality rice.

Allow shrimp to thaw if necessary (cold running water for a few minutes works well). Combine all the ingredients except the shrimp in a sauce pan and set it to heat gradually to a boil. (Underestimate the amount of red curry you will want by a little because it gets stronger with cooking.) While they are heating, thaw, de-vain, and shell the shrimp. After the sauce is at a boil, turn the heat down and add the shrimp. Bring back to a boil until the shrimp are cooked. (Should be just a couple of minutes.)

That’s it!

The last long days

• Lily knocked on our door and, when we asked who it was, responded “Lily,” except with y sounds replacing the l sounds,
• Elsie let me comb her hair this morning,
• Timmy got to bring home “Bobby Gorilla” from Kindergarten for the weekend,
• Abby played some great soccer defense,
• Kate scored two goals,
• Gina found tulip, daffodil, and iris bulbs in Santa Fe, and
• I cooked the best dish that I have ever cooked (a shrimp, coconut milk and pineapple red curry with Basmati rice).

Fall is coming

• Lily started clicking the top part of her car seat,
• Elsie had her diction tested, and will begin speech therapy in 1 or 2 weeks,
• Timmy decided to start saying his evening prayers by himself,
• Abby set the table as a favor for Kate,
• Kate ran into a wire fence, catching it on her eye but still managed to play a great soccer game 15 minutes later,
• Gina spearheaded the creation of many new jars of applesauce, and
• I wrote a draft of a new paper.

Glad Gina’s coming back tomorrow

• Lily challenged Gina, asking “what?” and “why?”
• Elsie ate more peaches than Timmy can count,
• Timmy made us toast for dinner,
• Abby taught the other kids to skin almonds,
• Kate made us eggs for breakfast,
• Gina went with Lily to Utah for the weekend to watch as her father received a Silver Beaver award, and
• I got almost all my home teaching done today.