Mimi pz5wjj's Page

Yesterday I chaperoned Josh's class trip to the Etowah Indian Mounds.

We've been enjoying some beautiful weather here lately. Sunny, mild, not too hot. It's been beautiful.

So, of course, it rained yesterday. It rained a lot! But we still had fun.

The Etowah Indian Mounds is the most intact Mississippian Culture site in the Southeastern United States. It was home to several thousand Native Americans between 1000 AD and 1550 AD. The mounds are where the chief's lived -- elevated above the villagers and common areas.

One thing Josh thought was interesting was how each chief had to be up higher than the chief before him... so the mounds kept growing and growing.

Here we are on our way out to the mounds --



There are three that are clearly visible. The largest, Mound A, is where the chief lived, Mound B is where the second in command -- I guess we can say "vice-chief" since we're so close to an election -- and then Mound C which is the burial mound and where many of the artifacts in the museum were excavated.

We climbed to the top of Mound A and had a nice view...



The kids counted 124 steps (I think) on the way down.



We even got to go inside the "Wattle and Daub" hut they are re-constructing.



The website has lots of great pictures of volunteers rebuilding the hut. They expect it to be fully finished in the next few weeks.



We were quite lucky -- the second graders were split into two groups. One went to the mounds first and the other did the inside museum first, then they switched. We were lucky -- we got inside first when the rain was heaviest.

It was really interesting -- lots of cool artifacts, a dugout canoe, one ranger talked about the weapons they used (Josh liked this best) and how they progressively got better and better.

It's a shame it was wet and rainy because we really only got to go up Mound A and back down again. There is much more to the site -- you can walk trails up to the river and back to see where they fished, there is a large open field where they lived and also where they had their ceremonies and sports events. It was really cool!

And then when we got home, it really started to downpour!

More Wordless Wednesday at the WW HQ.

I know I've been missing this week. I'll post something later today or tomorrow... busy, busy, busy!

We've been in a rut. Food wise.

Like most people, we try to eat relatively healthily (is that a word?), and I have a few dinners that are family favorites. But we do tend to have them day after day, week after week.

But the other week Josh told me he was tired of "Salmon on Monday, Turkey on Tuesday... blah, blah, blah..." He asked me to mix it up a bit. But, since it was the end of the month, my grocery budget was down to the bare-bones.

Fortunately, my new issue of "Clean Eating Magazine" came with all sorts of yummy looking, healthy recipes. And, there was an article about feeding a family of four for a week for under $50. It was "dinners only" but still... an improvement! While they all looked good to me, there were only a few that I thought my family would actually eat. Also in the magazine is an article on "Kid Friendly Fare." So I chose a few new recipes to try out this week and see how the family liked them.

On Monday, I tried out the Sesame-Ginger Chicken with Brown Rice. I thought it was good. The boys on the other hand... not so much! There was a lot of garlic in it -- I cut back on what was asked, but still maybe just a wee bit too spicy for the kids.

Then on Wednesday, I made something I'd never made before. Ravioli. The recipe was from the "Kid Friendly" section -- "Quick White Bean & Spinach Ravioli." I wasn't hopeful from other attempts to bring some variety into our diet.

You mix spinach, white beans, low fat ricotta cheese and a tiny bit of low fat mozzarella in the food processor.


Use wonton wrappers to make the ravioli...



Cook and then serve with your favorite tomato sauce...



The verdict?

The boys loved them! Josh even asked today if he could have them again.

The lesson: Sometimes it pays to take a chance and sometimes it doesn't. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try!

It's no secret that Rich is a HUGE Liverpool FC supporter (that's an English Soccer team for those of you that don't follow football).

When we lived in England we only had one TV so I used to be forced to watch the games with him every time they were on. We also had a small flat/house so there wasn't any room to escape.

Anyway, I grew to really enjoy it as well. But since we moved over here and we have an INSANE number of TV's and a finished basement, Rich generally watches the games down there in relative peace and quiet.

This weekend, however, we decided the boys needed to be emerged in their history... We forced them to watch Liverpool v. Everton on TV. A local derby with a fierce rivalry. Everton's football grounds, Goodison Park, is just a stones throw (quite literally) from Liverpool's Anfield Stadium -- so as you can imagine, it was quite a big game.

So, what do you do when you want to get your kids interested in a football game they have no interest in watching?

You teach them football songs. Yes, my kids learned, and watched (thanks to YouTube) some Liverpool football songs... their favorite (and you can see why when you press play) was this one:



And since Sam quite likes "The Ants Go Marching One by One" even he got into the song! All weekend the video played over and over, the boys sung it, the boys hummed it... Josh even made up new words at one point for when HE plays #9 for Liverpool!

And now, the song is forever stuck in my head. So I'm sharing it with you...

And yes, Fernando Torres did get the ball and score again and again and again (but for some reason the thrid was disallowed)... The result was a good one... Liverpool 2 - Everton 0.

The past few weeks we've had a little pre-school romance blooming, cooling off and back again.

One day I asked Sam who his friends in class were. He replied, "Alex is my girlfriend." Alex is a girl, and he's been in class with her for 2 years.

I sort of let it drop. Then one day I was tucking him into bed and he said, "Alex isn't my girlfriend anymore. She's Tanju's." Tanju is a boy in his class.

I sort of teased him a little, as you do... "So are you sad? Did she dump you?"

Sam: "Yes, she's Tanju's now."

Me: "Well, you'll just have to win her back!"

Sam: "Yeah."

Then the next school day he got in the car after school. "Mom, I couldn't win Alex back. I just couldn't."

Me: "Oh that's okay, you can be footloose and fancy free!"

Sam: "Yeah..." Like he knows what that means.

Then yesterday, his teacher put him in the car and said, "Alex told me today she was going to marry Sam, but he spent all day holding hands with Alina."

So, of course, I quizzed him about this. "So Sam, is Alina your girlfriend now?"

Sam: "No mom, she's just my friend."

Me: "Well Ms. Lynn said Alex wants to marry you."

Sam: Starts crying.... "Mom, I don't want to get married! I'm only 3!"