College Fair!

This past Sunday the whole family (YES ALL 5 OF US) went to a college fair. First off we did not know how long it would take and the idea of leaving Middle Peep home with Baby Peep did not appeal to Papa and I. They have stayed home before but this was a bit far away (usually I am no more than 5-10 minutes away) and we did not know how long we would be away so into the minivan we all went. Fortunately, there was a place they could hang out at while we went from booth to booth.

I discovered a book that talks about small liberal arts colleges and while I was still reading it (and loving it), someone on my homeschool email list shared about a college fair the organization was hosting. Since I didn't know if they would be coming back to this area and I was really enjoying learning about the schools in the book, I marked the calendar and shared with Papa Peep and Oldest Peep the date.

When we arrived, we filled out a registration card. On one side it asked our name and address and what year she would be graduating. On the other side were all the colleges in attendance and we were free to check off the ones we wanted to contact us further. They had a small 30 minute information session where they introduced their organization....Colleges That Change Lives....and made us feel comfortable and relaxed about the whole process. There were over 200 people in attendance and you could tell all were anxious to get to the booths. When they opened the hall, just about everyone ran over to talk to recruiters. Oldest Peep and I hung back and tried to figure out who would be our first stop. Papa stayed back with the boys to settle them into a game on his iphone. We stopped at Agnes Scott College as we remembered them from our time in Atlanta. As soon as the recruiter said, "All girls....." she lost Oldest Peep. From there we went to The Evergreen State College.....no swim team....keep moving. We wondered some more and then settled on Kalamazoo College. Swim Team? Check! Study abroad program? Check! Languages Department? Check! So far so good! We talked to the recruiter (who did not believe I was her mom) and he really sold the school to us. We were both very impressed with what he had to share with us. From there we went to a few others she enjoyed hearing about. What we.....really she.....most learned from this is that she can stand in front of a complete stranger and share with them what she thinks she might want to study, the importance of an active and competitive swim team, and her desire to see the world and interact with it in its languages. We also learned that she needs to work on eye contact and speaking up, but I say not bad for a first time!

To be honest, I did not really prepare her beforehand. We took her without really telling her what a college fair was all about. She was nervous once she realized what it entailed since she is always pretty shy around strangers.

Job well done sweetie! And don't worry, we will have plenty of chances for you to practice over the next few years!!!

Thanks to Sara at Source: Sara for this find. To be honest I have never heard of Lupe Fiasco but I live in my own bubble. Apparently Papa Peep thinks I am not hip. I disagree!

So where have I been????

Driving!!!

I wish it was for pleasure to so some exotic location. No! It has been for sport's practice. The boy peeps were both involved in basketball in the winter, while the girl peep continues swimming. This "spring" season the boy peeps were both involved with baseball and basketball. This, but baseball especially has taken over our lives. There were practices just about every day for someone and/or a game. Madness!!! But I think it all paid off.

Swimming went well this year. Oldest Peep has really enjoyed her new coach after much trial and error with other teams. This coach really understands what motivates her and exactly when to push and when to back off. He has been a positive experience in her life. To top the year off, she earned a spot in her team's relay team for 13-14 girls at the Championship meet and although her shoulder is giving her troubles (rotator cuff issues) she swam well. Her teammates were very happy to have her since we discovered the injury just days before the big event. Her PT dr gave her the go ahead for the two swims and we were all relieved when they were over. For the next month she will focus on strengthening it so she can have another great swim year. The new season starts in September and after only having the last 2 weeks off she is already anxious to get back in the pool.

Sports for Middle Peep went well for him this year. He has really made huge strides in basketball. He has been fortunate enough to have the same wonderful coach for the past 2 years. Sadly this coming year will be the last year he can be on his team. Coach is moving away and Middle Peep is aging up. (Where does the time go??? A question for another post.) Middle Peep has finally become comfortable in the role of point guard and earning double digit numbers for rebounds and assists in most games. He is also shooting the ball more and trusting his instincts. Baseball was a BIG WIN this year. We lucked out again here as he was drafted by the BEST coach in our league (in my opinion). We hope to be as lucky next season. His baseball team only had 2 loses in the regular season to win the division championship and then went on to be completely undefeated in the Tournament of Champions earning their team two trophies and an ice cream party from coach. The coach promised the kids ice cream if anyone hit a home run. Well, middle peep, at bat in the first inning of the last game, hit a 3-run home run. The final score was 10-8 for the win!!!! Go ANGELS!!!

Baby peep had a great sport season as well. His basketball skills improved greatly. He has managed to not push it so hard against the ground causing it to bounce everywhere. He now is smooth and in control. He is also working on a great jump shot. The hoop in the back yard is in constant use between the two boys! Baseball season was a bit tough for baby peep as he was on a team with complete newbies. It took the team several games to figure out how to win together but they did in the end. Baby peep in the meantime learned how to motivate his team and be patient in the outfield. He still much prefers the infield....1st base or short stop but has learned the value of a good outfielder. He is currently working on his pitching as he would like to be a pitcher as well.

As for school wise...well....things are moving....slowly....but moving. I think it has taken us all a long time to adjust to our new seasons here. Also with all our sports activities, getting everything done has been a challenge. I hope to start our days earlier (UGH!) so that we can accommodate everything. With Oldest Peep approaching high school, middle peep put pacing me, and baby peep starting 3rd grade, I need to stay on target! I will save the 2009-2010 school update for tomorrow. For now, thanks to all who have emailed asking me to update. You have been my motivation. I will try to put the blog back on the schedule!

For now enjoy these pictures of our year since the elections!

Always something (or someone) to laugh at!!!

Love Love Love!

Can you feel the love?

Mt. Rainer from above...one our way to L.A.

MamaLee's Birthday Bash in L.A.!!!

There is a teenager in the house!!!!

Are there really all those kids in my house?

Easter Egg Hunt in our neighborhood!

Baby Peep is always in front of the camera!

Go Baby Girl!

Ichiro is the man!!!!!!

Go Griffey Jr.!

Advice from the coach!

STAR FISH at the Tide Pools!

Ready in the outfield!

HOME RUN!!!!!!

TEAM CELEBRATION!

It's a New Day!!!

I went asleep last night

Tired from the fight

I've been fighting for tomorrow

All my life

Yea I woke up this morning

Feeling brand new

'Cause the dreams that I've been dreaming

Has finally came true

It's a new day

It's a new day

It's a new day

It's a new day

It's a new day

It's been a long time coming

Up the mountain kept runnin'

Souls of freedom kept hummin'

Channeling Harriet Tubman

Kennedy, Lincoln, and King

We gotta maninvest in that dream

It feels like we're swimming upstream

It feels like we're stuck inbetween

A rock and a hard place,

We've been through the heartaches

And lived through the darkest days

If you and I made it this far,

Well then hey, we can make it all the way

And they said no we can't

And we said yes we can

Remember it's you and me together

I woke up this morning

Feeling alright

I've been fightin' for tomorrow

All my life

Yea, I woke up this morning

Feeling brand new

Cause the dreams that I've been dreaming

Has finally came true

It's a new day

(it's a new day)

It's a new day

(it's a new day)

It's a new day

It's a new day!

It's been a long time waitin'

Waiting for this moment

It's been a long time praying

Praying for this moment

We hope for this moment

And now that we own it

For life Ima hold it

And I won’t let it go

It's for fathers, our brothers,

Our friends who fought for freedom

Our sisters, our mothers,

Who died for us to be in this moment

Stop and cherish this moment

Stop and cherish this time

It's time for unity

For us and we

That's you and me together

I woke up this morning

Feeling brand new

'Cause the dreams that I've been dreaming

Have finally came true

Yea, I woke up this morning

Feeling alright

'Cause we weren't fighting for nothing

And the soldiers weren't fighting

For nothing

No, Martin wasn't dreaming for nothing

And Lincoln didn't change it for nothing

And children weren't crying for nothing

It's a new day

It's a new day

A new day

It's a new day

It's a new day!

2 DAY MEAT????

Humitas

So what is in here???

One of my favorite things about different cultures is the food! I am an eater!!!! Papa Peep eats to live and I live to eat!!!! Being snowed in for Christmas was rough on my waistline especially since my mom was here.

We made all sorts of treats and I will share the one we made in the above photo.

Humitas as described in Wikipedia is a dish from pre-Hispanic times. They are common in many countries in South America with each creating its unique version. The ones that I will show are the Ecuadorian version, sweet of course!

First find corn with the husks still on. Be sure the individual corn kernels are not juicy. Believe it or not, the harder the kernal the better.

Cut the ends off each corn.

Carefully remove the husks as you will need these later. Try to get them as whole as possible.

The ugly and harder outer ones will serves as string to tie the humitas. I will show you how to do this later.

The softer inner ones will serve to house the masa.

Once you have undressed the corn then, using a sharp knife cut the kernels from the cob carefully. I did not get a picture of this as my cooks moved too fast for me but I snagged this off the net.

 

Eventually you will have a bowl full of kernels.

Using a food processor turn the kernels into masa.

I know my food processor is puny! Stop laughing now!

If the masa is too runny, you will need to add some corn flour (also known as harina) to thicken it.

Fortunately we got good corn and we did not need to add this step.

Now add some salt and sugar to taste.

I know you need measurements, but I just don't cook with measurements and my mom much less so. We cook by taste. Since we are not adding eggs, feel free to taste the masa. It won't hurt you!

Mix well!!!!

Meanwhile someone should be washing the husks!!

Now we are ready to begin!

Chose a husk and right in the center add a large spoonful of masa.

This is where the variations come in. Us Ecuadorians like to add .....you guessed it......CHEESE!!!!

The closest kind of cheese to what we would use natively is Queso Freso (love Wiki!!!!). Again no picture I took, but here are a few varieties I found online.

The Ranchero is what I can find locally, but there are many brands.

Now the packaging!!!

You can fold over the middle. You may need another husk to cover the top. It really depends on how big each husk was and how carefully you removed them. Make sure there are no holes or your masa will fall out before it cooks.

Remember those tough husks we were keeping separate??? Get them out and pull strips from the leaves. You can make them about 1/2 inch strips.

Get the ends together and tie them. Depending on how you tie the humitas you may need 3 strips tied together or just 2.

Tie each end.........

OR

Fold the ends over and tie each bundle.......

Or recently my mother has seen them served this way......

Same as before with the masa in the husks, but instead of typing them with strips of corn husks....

Aluminum to the rescue. I prefer them being tied but if you plan on freezing them, I find the foil protects them quite well. OH YES!!!! Make a ton and FREEZE them. They make a yummy breakfast!!!!

Steam for about 45 minutes!!!!

We made about 30 humitas out of 10 ears of corn.......

Well, not counting the ones I ate before we counted them!

Enjoy!!!!

Buen Provecho!!!