Matthew just returned from his 1st boy scout camping trip this afternoon. He had such a great time! They did the COPE course, where he did rock climbing, rappelling, and various bonding activities. This was his first trip away from all family members. I'm trying to build on the 'letting him have more freedom' that came with allowing him go on the trip, and I'm letting him walk the dog down around the green way by himself now. He just checked in after being gone about an hour, and everything is fine. Sometimes it's hard letting them grow up and test their boundaries outside of our protection.

I've been working this weekend and need to work some more, but I've been taking a break and cooking while Hannah is sleeping on Daddy's chest while he's napping on the couch. Very peaceful lullabies are playing on the TV. What a perfect autumn day.

And what can make a perfect autumn day more perfect? Trying out a new recipe involving winter squash! I'll be the first to admit that I'm a picky eater. I need to learn to eat my veggies. I'm hoping actually cooking interesting vegetables will help me develop a taste for them. I will keep you posted how it goes.

But today I am making a Buttercup Squash casserole. I'm living dangerously and not really using a recipe. I've just been looking at a few recipe ideas and figure I'll just wing it. The plan right now if it works out right is this. I split the buttercup squash in half and removed the seeds. I'm baking face down in the oven. When I'm done I will try to scoop out the flesh and make a "mash" of it. When I'm mashing it I will add in some pumpkin spice, a small amount of chopped nuts, and probably some brown sugar. I will cook it in the oven in a casserole dish for a little bit with a layer of brown sugar and nuts on top. Then when it's almost finished I will top it with halved marshmallows, cut side down and return it to the oven until the marshmallows are melted and browned.

Fingers are crossed that we'll like it. If not, I'm making Matt some peanut butter rice krispie treats too since I had promised I would. :)

I just remembered I created this! Okay, so here's the deal. I spoke too soon. Being a grown-up stinks! Hah, okay that's an exaggeration, but let me sum up what happened the past few months. The day after my first (and last) post, I wrecked my car. When I say wrecked, I mean that it looks like I entered my car a jousting tournament with a pole/gate by CarterFinley stadium and lost. Mazda3 0, Gate 1. It was a very windy day and someone didn't properly secure the gate and it ended up in the road, and also in my car. In. My. Car. Inside. My windshield was ruined, as was my roof (b/c the gate was so high and my car is not).  I was without it for a full month.

Aside from that I've been working A LOT. Quite often on Nights & Weekends. BLECH.

But there were nice things as well. We had the most awesome Christmas tree (I'll try to post pictures later). Then in January, we went with Matt's family on a trip to Myrtle Beach. Matthew turned 9 recently and this weekend was awesome. :) Matthew has been following birds around the neighborhood creating his on little nature video the first weekend after he got a small camera for his birthday.

NOTE: i didn't realize that I never published this. It was actually written around the beginning of May. :)

Being a Grown-up is Okay After All

What a day! I spent an extraordinary amount of time in meetings and working to get a project out the door. I am so thankful for the great company I am working for and the people on my project that are so often smiling and cheerful and work very hard as a team.

I'm also thankful for the 4 days off of work this week! (And the 4 days off of school-- parents of young boys may understand that one!!)

I'm relaxing a bit now after work, but in the back of my mind I still have a running list of things that need to be done.. the dishes (ugh), studying for my final exam for the class I decided to take this semester, the dishes, grocery shopping, the dishes....

While picking my son up from school after play practice I was wandering the kindergarten/first grade hall (the music room is located on this hall -- my son is in third grade) looking at the artwork and reading some of the writing samples posted outside classroom doors. They were so cute and amusing and it got me to thinking about when life seemed more carefree.. scribble scrabble was the most fun way to color, you could run with no apparent form and feel like you were flying, and the biggest decision of the day was deciding between reading Blue Bug's Christmas or Amelia Bedelia.

I'm sure it wasn't all roses and cupcakes. My son's notes home from the teacher are a constant reminder of that! At least at work I can get up and stretch my legs when I feel like it. Talking is considered an employee bonding exercise and is widely encouraged at my office. I have walls around my desk to keep me from being distracted if I'm trying to focus. And if the mood hits me and I need to just release some pent up energy, it's perfectly okay to scribble scrabble on the notepad beside my monitor. So I guess being a grown up has its perks as well. Maybe being a kid is fun; maybe it's tough sometimes. And maybe there are worse things in the world than kids sneaking toy cars to school in their pants leg.

Happy Thanksgiving!