Mill City, Here We Come!

Today turned out to be a perfect day for our family field trip downtown.  It was sunny and forty degrees with no wind.  We started out by boarding the light rail train.  Although the boys have taken the train before, this was a first for Anna.

Along the way, we had previews of our destination.

Shortly after its 10:00 am opening, we arrived at the Mill City Museum. 

The museum is housed in a building that used to be the General Mills flour mill.  It ceased operations in 1965 when General Mills moved to Golden Valley.  In 1991, most of the abandoned building burned down in a fire that was presumably started by the campfire of homeless persons occupying the building.

At first, we nearly had the museum to ourselves.  Not too much later, several classes of first graders arrived from area schools {we must have been on the right track, bringing our first graders here}.  The boys enjoyed the water tables that demonstrated how the mill was powered by water from the Mississippi River {The machinery on all eight floors of the building was powered by the river!  Amazing.}.  Anna and I really enjoyed the "Flour Tower," which was a tour of the mill by elevator.

After we were done seeing the museum, we decided to take advantage of the weather and walk across the nearby Stone Arch Bridge to get a closer look at St. Anthony Falls.

We ate lunch at a little tavern called Tuggs.  I liked their "No Crybabies" clock.

Finally, we took the train back south and made a quick visit to Minnehaha Falls before heading home.

Mud, Glorious Mud

First, you find a good "brush."

Next, you dip it in some "paint."

Finally, you get down to work.

And occasionally you must sing, "Mud, glorious mud.  Mud, glorious Muu - uud."

Oh Shoot!

Yesterday, Dan asked me if I noticed the garlic was up.  I had not, so Anna and I took a little trip out to the muddy garden to inspect the situation more closely.  There they were.  Shoots of garlic about 2-3 inches high, and they did not look good. 

I'm sure the garlic sprouted in the beautiful fifty-degree weather we had, only to be struck down by the snow and bitter cold that followed.  The varieties of garlic I planted last fall are new to me, so I'm not sure if they are hardy in our northern climate.  Time will tell.

The Truth is Out

Dad is the fun parent. 

This was confirmed when he called me at work to ask if I was taking any time off for spring break.  I asked him, "Are you?"  He thought we should do something fun with the kids over their break.  "Oh, right..."  Why hadn't I thought of that?  The Fun Planner had all kinds of ideas. So next week, we'll be taking a family field trip to Minnehaha Falls and the Mill City Museum.  Thank goodness for Dad.

Our Chili

Big, beautiful bell peppers were on sale at the grocery store last week, as were canned tomatoes and chili beans, so it was time to make chili. There are a lot of amazing chili recipes, but here's the one Dan and I have worked out together over the years.

Our Chili

1 lb ground beef
1 large yellow onion (diced)
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 cloves garlic (minced) *
1 large yellow bell pepper (remove seeds & dice)
1 large red bell pepper (remove seeds & dice)
1 large green pepper (remove seeds & dice)
1 jalapeño pepper (remove seeds & dice)
2 - 15 oz cans diced tomatoes w/ green chiles
1 - 8 oz can tomato paste
2 - 15 oz cans chili beans w/ chili seasoning

In a large heavy pot, brown the ground beef over medium heat. Stir in diced onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add diced peppers, garlic and chili powder. Cook 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and beans. Stir, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for at least 30 minutes. Husband's note: Add a couple of dashes of every type of hot sauce you have in the house until you reach the desired level of heat.  He also wants me to note for the record that he prefers 2 lbs of ground beef and 2 cans of tomato paste.

* You can substitute 1 or 2 teaspoons of garlic powder if you don't have fresh garlic on hand.

Rays of Hope

Yesterday the sun came out, both literally and figuratively.  Earlier this year, I shared that Ehren and Christian were being re-evaluated to determine if they are still eligible for special education services.  As I expected, both will continue to receive social skills training (to help with social awareness, personal space, and other behavioral issues) and speech therapy (to improve articulation of [s] and [z] sounds).

What I didn't expect is that both boys showed an above average IQ.  I have said Ehren and Christian's report cards look good in almost every subject except handwriting, so you may wonder why I was surprised by their high IQ scores.  On Christian's initial evaluation three years ago, he scored below 70 on the IQ test, which classified him as a person with mental retardation.  I think this has always been in the back of my mind, lowering my academic expectations for the boys.

Like you might expect for identical twins, their new total IQ scores were nearly equal, but the subtest scores were not.  Ehren's scores were consistent across all areas of the test.  Christian's scores on the verbal subtest were just average, but on the performance subtest, he was in the 99th percentile.  The school psychologist said she has never had a student score so high on the block design test, which is one part of the performance subtest.  Wikipedia reports that it is common for persons on the autism spectrum to have superior scores on the block design test, but Christian also did exceptionally well on matrix reasoning. 

Although IQ only measures potential, you can imagine with these new numbers, the word potential has taken on a whole new meaning for me.

Cherish the Stories

Tonight, Anna reminded that she will be turning FIVE {but not until the end of the summer!}.  We had a long {one-sided} conversation about all the details of the outdoor birthday party she's planning.  But she's not five yet, and before my little girl grows up, I want to remember some of our favorite children's books.

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse (by Kevin Henkes)

Anna received this book as a gift when she was a baby.  It collected dust on the bookshelf for a few years, while we were busy reading boy-themed books to her older brothers.  When Anna was three, we watched Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse at the Duluth Playhouse {my cousin was in the play}.  That's when we started reading the book, and I fell in love.  If you want to know how I thought and acted in elementary school, just read the book.  Lilly is me {except she's way more fashionable}.

Anna now has the book memorized.  I think her favorite line is in the description of Lilly's teacher, Mr. Slinger (who thinks desks in rows are old-fashioned and boring): "Can you rodents handle a semicircle?"  She laughs everytime I read it, and I've heard her quoting it.  Probably only Anna and I think this is so funny.

We also love another book by Kevin Henkes called Chrysanthemum.  It's about a little girl who loves her name (Chrysanthemum) until she starts school, and her classmates mock her for it.  Of course, it's a feel-good children's book with a happy ending, so go read it!

Time for Bed (by Mem Fox/Jane Dyer)

Time for bed is a sweet book with short soothing lines for small children.  Even though you can't see it from our battered copy pictured above, the illustrations are beautiful.  I loved reading this book to the boys when they were small.  They always referred to it as "Mommy's favorite book."  If they wanted me to read it, they would always say, "Mommy, what about your favorite book?  Read us your favorite book." 

I have it memorized.  Sometimes if they were sick or having a hard time going to sleep, I would just sit by their bedside and recite it to them in the dark.