Crow Family update...modified for a general audience

I got an email the other day from a long time friend. It sat in my inbox for a couple of days because I didn't notice it at first. I have over 450 unread emails cramming up my inbox. Mostly junk. I'm afraid I've missed other emails in all that junk so if you have written me and I haven't responded that could be why. I have created a new email and will post to friends and family. If you would like the new address just let me know in the comments area.

But my point was...she mentioned she checks my blog to get updates and finds I seem too busy to post to the blog. Which is not that far off the mark. In my return email to her I gave a pretty comprehensive update of my family. While proof reading before I hit the send button, I thought it would make a good blog update. So here is The Crow Family Happenings update...slightly modified for a general audience. Enjoy!

"Glad to hear from you. We are doing great. Bruce is happy in his new job and we (me and the kids) are dealing with the frequent travel like champs. Bruce actually feels more comfortable and in his element in this new position so it was a blessing in disguise when he was laid off. Last week he interviewed for a new position within the company with encouragement from his boss. Bruce was told he is at the top of the short list for this position!

I am doing good and feel good for the first time in a long time. I have increased the amount of exercise I get and decreased the amount of food I eat. With 3 months of this I have only managed to lose one pound! Frustrating beyound belief. But the true goal is to increase my energy, endurance and health. The side benefit was supposed to be better fitting clothes but we can't all have everything we want right?

Alyssa has decided to be homeschooled with the boys this year. I am really excited about having all three kids home. It's amazing. It surprises me continually how much I enjoy teaching them and being with them all day. I have seen so many improvements in all the kids.

Austin is so much more relaxed and less stressed about school. Alyssa and Austin are getting along and on occasion actually act like friends! Andrew is just a little love and continues to bring happiness to all. Sibling rivalry is minimal and life seems more enjoyable without the demands of homework in the evenings. We now have uninterupted family time and less stressful mornings.

I love the research and planning involved in deciding what to teach the kids. I have settled on a literature based curriculum for history, geograpghy and language arts. Through reading both classics and "modern" classics we will study the cultures, history and places where we read. All of the writing and english type assignments will be based on what we read.

I am still looking at different sciences because a lot of homeschool science is based on "Christian" science. Meaning they believe in a young Earth (6000 years old) and there is no discussion of evolution. I have found science for the boys but still looking for something that will challenge Alyssa.

We just finished our plans for our family vacation. We are headed to Oregon for my Grandmothers family reunion. All of my siblings will be attending so we will also be doing a mini "Pratt family reunion". We finished planning our route and activities and decided we will stop in Utah for a couple of days. August 3rd-5th. Monday we'll hang out and go to Park City to do the Alpine Slide. (All Utah friends are welcome to meet us there!) Tuesday we are headed to Provo. Bruce wants to look at some documents in the BYU library and it would be fun to take the kids around campus, etc. Wednesday we'll spend in Salt Lake. Bruce has more documents he wants to see at in the Church Archives. (He's working on a historical book about The Cane Creek Masacre that happened in Tenessee in the 1800's.)

We'll leave Utah on Thursday and head to Oregon. Friday my sister and her family will be sealed in the LDS Medford temple. Saturday is the main reunion activities. Sunday we will head to Crater Lake for some hiking, etc. Monday we will go rafting on the Rogue River. Tuesday we drive to California through the Redwood National Forest and on to visit Bruce's parents in Stockton. Then down to Hollywood to visit my brother at his restuarant XIV. Our next stop will be the Grand Canyon! That was Alyssa's request for our vacation. We will travel through New Mexico, Texas, Oaklahoma and Arkansas. All places we've never been before. We will be gone a little over two weeks. We are excited for the family time and seeing many national parks, friends and family along the way."

So there you have it. Crow Family Happenings both past and future. Hope to see y'all soon!

Kitchen Aid Mixer & Other Good Gifts

Monday marked the first day of Winter break. The kids were home from school, Bruce was home from work and I, well I was just plain home. Bruce is taking two weeks of vacation. Sort of a use it or lose it policy with Ernst & Young. So truely, the Crow family, will be enjoying a Family Winter Break!

Monday also marked the arrival of my early Christmas present....my long awaited Kitchen Aid Mixer! Nearly 15 years of waiting. The blessed mixer arrived on my door step by a man in blue and orange...the FedEx guy. Like a kid I anxiously open the box and pull out the shiny black Artisan mixer. I dreamed of the delicatable goodies soon to be whipped up. Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Sugar Cookies, Gingerbread and Molasses Cookies. Oh and bread. Think of the breads I could make!

I decide the inaugural batch will be chocolate chip cookies. It's American, it's traditional, it's what I want to make as gifts for our children's friends at church and it's a favorite.

Oh my...this is easy! Creaming the butter, sugar and eggs is a breeze. The flour and other powder ingredients blend in a snap. Even the chocolate chips are no match for this beast. The dough...oh the dough is so smooth and tasty. I'd say one of the best I'd ever made. Bruce was even seduced by it's charms and had a finger full or two.

After the cookies are snugly tucked into the oven I begin the clean up process. Putting all the ingredients away, placing the dirty measuring cups in the sink and wiping down the counter and my new mixer. "Look at this white powder all over my mixer!" I exclaim to no one in particular. "I should have known a black mixer would show all the flour dust. Oh well. I am so much happier with this black one than the standard white mixer. It's not as bland."

"Jennifer", Bruce chimes in, "If I were to describe you, bland would not be the word I used."

Not missing a beat Andrew said "No. Beautiful is the word I would use to describe you Mommy."

Wow. I thought my gift had arrived at the front door hours earlier. Apparently it had been sitting in my kitchen all along.