How To Cook A Turkey

I love stuff like this. This is not my own writing, but I am merely sharing what Silje brought home from kindergarten today. Her teacher asked "How do you cook a turkey" and printed the responses from all of the kids in the class. Since it's only first names, I suppose it would be okay to share. Thank you Mrs. B for doing this, as it had me giggling for awhile!

So, how do you cook a turkey?

Anders: Get a turkey from the grocery store. Put it in the oven. Then after that, we get it all greased up. Then we cut it up. Then we eat it!

Joey: Put it in the oven in a pan. Put sandwich stuff with it. Cook it for ten minutes.

Kelsi: Add feathers to a turkey. Cover up the turkey with feathers to cook it. Put it in the oven for four minutes. It's done when it "beeps". Then we eat it.

Ellie: Go in the woods to get it. Take it out in a barrel. Take off the feathers. Wash it and cook it in the oven for thirty. Put it on a plate and cut it and eat it.

Lacie: I would put it in the oven. I would cut it up when it is done. It cooks for a long time. Check on it to see if it's done.

Anna: Roast it, in a pan, cook on stove. Cook for two seconds. You know it's done when it "beeps". Take it out. Put these things in it and some juice on it. Then bring it outside on picnic table. Invite all the family members and eat it.

Madison: Get turkey from the store. Cook it in the oven for ten minutes. Eat it.

Kellen: Big food. Make the body. Put it in a pan and put it in the oven. It cooks for fifteen minutes. Then eat it.

Sophie: Cook it. You would have gloves to put it in. It might burn your bare hands. Then put it in the oven. Let it cook for maybe ten minutes. Take it out and eat it.

Owen: Shoot some turkey. Bring it home. Chop it up. Cook it. Then eat it. Put it in a pan. Then mush it up like a big big hamburger. Then put it in the microwave for ten minutes.

Ben: You need a stove and a turkey. And you put it in the stove and you cook it for fifty minutes. Then you eat it.

Katie: Cut it. Get the skin and throw it away. We put it in a pan and cook it in the over for eighteen. Then we eat it!

Julian: Maybe put some pepper and some salt. Then cook it in the oven. The put some oil on it. That's all I would do, cook it for maybe twenty minutes. Then I would just eat it.

Alexander: Maybe some salt or pepper put some applesauce on it, or maybe putting milk and potatoes on it. Put it in the oven without a pan. Take it out in one half hour and then eat it!

Lindsey: Put it in the oven for ninety minutes. When it's all done let it cool off and eat it. It's going to be a good turkey!

Kacee: Get a turkey from a barn. Put it in a big pot. Then cook it on the stove for twenty hours. It's done when the stove goes "beep". Then take it out and cut it up and then eat.

Katelyn: Put it in the oven in a pan. When it's done we would eat it. It's done when the timer beeps.

Carter: Get a turkey from the store. Put it in a pan and cook it in the oven. Cooks for twenty-five minutes. Our mom will let us know when it's done. Cut it up and eat.

Annelise: We would make it with feathers. Putting it on a pan, and then put salt on it and cut it up. Put it in the oven for, like, one hour.

Ethan: Put it in hte pan and put it on the stove. Cook for four minutes. It is done when it "beeps".

Jenaya: Go hunting. Cook it on the stove in a pan. Cook it for one minute.

Silje: I would, like, boil it for ten minutes. Put in carrots. It's done when it "beeps". That's how our oven works. I think that would be all.

Zayne: Cut it up and put it in the oven. Then you can eat it. Cook it like, an hour. It is done when it "beeps".

Abeni: Help my mom. Salt and pepper, put it in the oven. Set the timer for five to ten minutes. Wait for it till it "beeps" and give hot pads to mom. Then bring it outside.

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So do you think Silje has seen me make turkey broth with a turkey carcass before? Also, I'm wondering how many kids in her class have dads who hunt. I have to say, besides my lovely Silje, "Owen's" answer was my favorite.

Elias' One Year Stats

Elias had his doctor appointment today, and weighed in at 25 lbs, and 30 inches long. His weight is continuing to follow a curve, but his height jumped from the steady 25th percentile to the 50th percentile. No other big changes other than that! He continues to be such a healthy little boy, and very active!

Again, sorry about the blogging absence this week. If I were to get into detail about it, it would probably go on and on for pages. Maybe sometime I'll have time to talk all of what's been happening, but for now I'm just experiencing it. I'll have to process it out to you all later. And I know I NEED to put some kid pictures up soon! You must all be starved by the absence of my adorable children's pictures...I know.

Whew!

Color #2 of my nieces' diapers is complete. It is apricot with hot pink snaps. I loved working with this color because it reminded me of my old peaches 'n cream Barbie doll whose dress was this exact color. (disclaimer: it was actually my sister's peaches 'n cream doll that was somewhere along the line passed down to me. I think she was both of our favorites!)

Sorry I've been a bit too busy to blog lately! If I have a moment, I'll finish editing one of the 3-4 "reflection" posts that are almost ready to post. I'm just having too much fun enjoying birthday parties and sewing, and knitting, and after all--we are in the throws of harvest now! With Knut being gone all day and most of the evening, I'm having to take over some of the things he normally gets done, or at the very least, have less help with my chores!

But harvest will be over eventually, and we praise God that we ARE harvesting! Finally! If I was a bit more disciplined, I bet I could keep up with it better, but as I'm not, posting might be touch and go for the next few weeks. Hang in there, because I am!

Happy Birthday Elias!

They say you mellow out with the more children you have. To an extent, I think that's true! We had a very small birthday party for Elias, with 4 great-grandparents, 2 grandparents, 1 aunt, 1 uncle, 2 cousins (and one in-utero) and of course, Elias' siblings and parents. Way smaller than any other 1st birthday party I've ever thrown, but I don't think Elias minded much. In fact, I think he wasn't used to that much attention!


Here's Silje with one of her great-grandpas...sporting the party hats!


Elias with Grandpa, and the plain chocolate cake. Again, I'm in was in the mood for simple.

One of my favorite part of a first birthday party is always the first piece of cake.

Hmmm, this looks interesting...


Seriously, you're not stopping me yet?


The pictures just get better and better as time goes on!


He was very proud of himself, and enjoyed his cake immensely!


I love this picture of Elias and his cousin, Kaeden, both so hard at work!


Opening his gifts was interesting, as he had lots of, well we'll call them "helpers." Although, I sometimes wonder if "vultures" would be a better word. As Elias gets so few things that aren't just the cast offs of his older siblings, I felt very protective of this event for him. I wanted him to feel the wrapping paper, and play with the boxes. I wanted him to examine each gift, before they were snatched out of his hands. He wouldn't have minded. That's pretty normal for him. But on his birthday, I wanted him to be able to enjoy every part.

So here's an expert of what you would have heard from my lips if you had walked into the gift opening:

No. There you go Elias, tear this part here. David! David, don't open that present either.
Elias is opening this one now. Yes I know you want to help but don't touch the presents. Knut, can you help me here? Look, it's a shirt Elias! Yes, that puppy is soft on there. Does it taste good? Now look at what Aunt Rondi and Uncle Chris got you! David back up. No, back up more. Silje, no, you cannot help. When he needs your help, I'll tell you. OOOOooo, is this a fun toy? Yes, we'll have to open that. David, it's not yours. Silje, back up too. This is Elias' toy. He gets one toy that he gets to play for a little while by himself. No, back up. Knut, do you want to get that out of the packaging for me? Here, Elias, look at this card. That's fun, isn't it? This tissue paper makes a funny sound, huh? David, no. Don't touch the tissue paper. This is Elias' tissue paper. Silje, you're sitting nice, do you want to help him a little? No, honey, help him, don't grab it from him.

In hindsight, I ought to have tied the other children up and gagged them before this part of the party. Well, live and learn.

Soy Beans Are Done!

I am thrilled to let you know that 11:30 last night, Knut came home. He had been working, stopping home only to eat about 2 times a day for 38 hours straight. (He did eat more than 2 times a day of course, but he only came home that often!) I think he was still buzzed a bit from his coffee, because if I came home after a 38 hour shift, I'd be sleeping on the first soft piece of furniture that my path crossed. Knut, however, took a shower, talked with me as I was cleaning up the kitchen, brought wood pellets in for the furnace downstairs, and then headed to bed.

Now that the soy beans are done, focus can be turned to the corn--covering the other half of our land. From what I've gathered, corn harvest is when they really push hard because they can. Morning dew, light rains, and even a bit of snow does not stop them. Wet corn does not cause the same problems that wet soy beans do. So why didn't they just do the corn first this year during all the rain? Because we had such a cool summer that the corn simply wasn't mature enough to harvest. With the extra late harvest, it's now ready.

Normally they come home at night during soy bean harvest because there's nothing else to be done. (Them working through the night on the soybeans this week was the first of my short memory that I remember that happening. However there was a decent wind going on at the time, enabling them to continue on.)

During corn harvest, though, the night does not stop them. However, they can't work round the clock for days on end, so what they have done in the past is take 4 hour "sleep shifts" every day--Monday through Saturday. That way the harvesting doesn't stop at night...but I'm sure it does slow down a bit as everyone isn't on the field at the same time.I'm so grateful that they are one of the few farms left who don't work on Sundays. It truly becomes a day of rest this time of year.

And speaking of Sundays, this Sunday will be a special day in our house, because my little baby is turning 1. It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed by! It still feels like we just left the NICU. The next coming weeks I'm bringing Elias back up to the city he was helicoptered to after he was born, so that the same specialists that saw him there can do a "check up"of sorts. He still has his 1 year check up with our doctor here, too, as the specialists will be looking for more specific things. And of course, when we're up there I'm going to try to get Elias' one year portraits done. Life hasn't slowed down yet!

Book Review: Three Cups of Tea

Here's a post I've been working on for those who like to read.

I spent a lot of time studying literature in college. That was my major. Ironically, reading is what I spend almost the least amount of my day doing now. In the last few years, I've made a bigger attempt to get some reading done, and I don't mean Dr. Seuss.

My most recent book that I've finished is "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. (I know books are supposed be underlined, but I don't know how to underline on here!) It is Greg Mortenson's story, and David Oliver Relin is the writer who really tells it.

I chose this book because I've really had in interest in books pertaining to the middle east, and Muslim culture in general lately. Previously I read "Reading Lolita in Tehran" which was amazing, but alas, not the book that I'm reviewing now.

Also, I've heard so much about this book. It was the #1 New York Times bestseller, and I've been seeing people making comments on facebook and the like. So I picked it up last Christmas...and am just finishing it now. That is my life now.

In summary, it's about a Mr. Mortenson who is a avid climber, and in an attempt to summit K2 (a mountain in the same area as Everest, and although not as tall, much more difficult) he happened upon a tucked away village. The children had no school, and attempted their lessons by scratching things in the dirt. Moved by these people, he returns to America, penniless, but determined to raise enough money to build this village a school. In an uphill struggle, he raises the money, builds the school, and in the process, begins an organization that builds schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The book had a very gripping opening. With the summit in view, he has to turn back to save the life of a friend, and in the process gets lost and has to spend the night on the treacherous mountain without all his equipment. He had to break the ice forming over his nose and mouth, suffocating him while he slept. I was totally hooked.

This was followed by suspenseful adventures of his kidnapping, encounters with the Taliban, encounters with war, and fearing for his life on several occasions. It was fairly well rounded, though, in painting him as human, and not superhuman. For instance, he seemed to have trouble delegating, and when his organization was expanding much faster than he could keep up with, he obviously had a tough transition.

What is so stirring about this book is the view it takes on charity, religion, and politics. First, the basic premise of separating charity from religion. He was only successful in his work because he made no attempt to convert the people there, and even, on many occasions, prayed with them, reciting their creed to Mohammad. He had a respect for their faith, and in turn, they respected him.

While I respect the work that he has done, I can't help but feel an undertone of condemnation and frustration with charities that do preach the gospel. What "Christians" couldn't do, a "pagan" could. It does not allow for the differences in purpose of organizations. It's like when people sued eHarmony for not connecting gay couples. Well, that wasn't eHarmony's purpose, or business. There are other businesses that do that. In the same way, don't slam a charity that has a different purpose than your own. Maybe the reason other charities weren't successful in building schools in that area is because that's not their purpose.

There was a hole, though, that Mortenson's organization filled, and I am glad for it. However, I do not think I could bring myself to practice parts of the Islamic religion, like Mortenson did, in order to accomplish that. I felt sorry for him, as a missionary kid, totally not understanding what Christianity is about. He was open to whatever, and that floating around makes me sad, although, not angry at him.

Politically, though, there are so many things to discuss! First I'll go for his stance on focusing on educating girls. I like this. I am by no means a feminist, but that is terribly lacking in that country, and the fact is, an educated man is an educated man. But an educated woman is an educated family.

As women are the primary caregivers for children in this culture, these women are given access to heath information, and they learn to read, which we could then assume the children would learn to read sooner, etc. It benefits the whole culture there to have women educated, because the women are the primary caregivers in the family! It's a plan that has exponential benefits.

Then there's Mortenson's obvious problem with the Bush administration. As a Bush supporter, I have to admit, this got old quick. Some of his concerns were valid, and I appreciated his insight, and my mind was changed as far as seeing why what the Bush administration made a wrong move here or there. Some of the criticisms were well thought out and explained well.

However, some of his disgust with the administration was laughable. For instance, Mortenson was for the war, until he saw that civilians were getting hurt in the process. Now, I understand, Mortenson saw these people first hand, and there's a deep emotional response to that. But come on...please tell me about a war where there are no civilian casualties. I have never heard of one. That's what makes war so ugly. That's what makes war so awful. You liked the idea of war until you found out innocent people were getting hurt? Do he understand the definition of war?

To me, it was not surprising that innocent people were getting hurt. I hate that there were refugees, and that people lost limb and life. I am not saying that should be taken lightly. But please do not say "let's bomb the Taliban" and not think for a second that these people who we are bombing have families, and homes, and villages, and schools where children are being indoctrinated. All of those are getting bombed. It's war. I remember well the climate in this country after 9/11 and the call to war supported by both parties. Then people start complaining about people dying. It makes me scratch my head. We weren't going to drop water balloons on them. What did people expect?

Other than taking every opportunity to slam Bush and Rumsfeld even when it was not appropriate, or completely out of context sometimes, it was one of the most intelligent criticisms of the Bush administration that I've read. I don't mind criticisms, I just can't stand stupidity. I learned a lot about the culture and climate in that part of the world, and that education, I believe, is beneficial.

I'm still a conservative, but I am a conservative that loves good intelligent discussion, and this book, for the most part, gave lots of food for thought.

Harvest Update

I had a different post written for today, but when I saw them combining the field that is adjacent to our front yard, I thought I'd post some pics for all those who have been praying for us during harvest. I can't tell you how relieved I am that I won't have to stare at those soy beans all winter long. Knut told me this morning that they have about 500 acres of soy beans left. That's about 1/4 of the soy bean crop. A big improvement! There is rain forecasted for Thrusday, Friday, and Saturday, and 500 acres is about a week of good harvest days left, so they're pushing their limits to get as much in before the rain comes again. With corn, they can harvest 24 hours a day, and often do. But with soy beans, it gets difficult to harvest as the night dew falls down, so they do need to stop at night. However, Knut hasn't been getting home till 11pm or so.

The whole yard is noisy and almost in constant motion. The grain leg is a noisy hub of activity now as grain is being poured into the bins after it is harvested and dried. In other bins, grain is being moved out as the seed company that we work with is coming to pick some up. From what I gather, the germination tests proved the dried soybeans to be "tolerable." (That's the word Knut used.) As we have just a few days left of sunshine, the guys are using every moment possible to harvest, and there simply isn't any time to deliver the seed. So the seed company is picking it up. There are semi's going past our house every few minutes. Both our semis that are bringing the grain in from the fields, and the seed company's semi's that have been waiting patiently for their product.

With all the hub, Knut told David he couldn't ride his bike in the driveway today, which crushed David. So Knut took him with, and David is now riding on the combines until naptime.

What a sight for sore eyes! I love seeing a combine on the horizon! They are trying to dig up the soy bean fields as fast as they can behind the harvest, with priority over harvesting the corn right now. The reason for that being the soy bean fields now are going to be corn fields next year. The corn has such a long maturity time, and every day matters in the spring and summer. A dug up field will warm faster in the spring, allowing them to plant the corn this spring on time--which is vital.

Still, the corn in the fields now is waiting. It is exciting to almost be at the halfway point of harvest...even though normally, harvest would be completely done at this point!