Thata Girl!

Today, Julia finished all her summer reading! The children are required to read 2 books that I assign to them, plus 5 books of their choice (okay, within reason!), and then they must write summaries/reports on each book. And Julia is ALL DONE! Today she finished reading "The Eagle of the Ninth" and wrote her report. Then she decided to build her version of Hadrian's Wall:

The blocks along the top are the Roman legion, she says. Or perhaps the barbarians?

Demolished with a foot!


I promised reports about food, and have been lax. Last night, Adam and I went to a favorite local Italian restaurant: casual, low-priced and rarely busy. We got there to discover that they'd changed the name, come under new management, refurbished the inside, upped prices slightly, but still offered the same pleasant eating experience. Adam had veal parmesan, and I had chicken parmesan. We began with a simple, delicious bruscetta, and finished with coffee and a piece of shared cheese cake. It was a slowly luxurious meal. We talked about a multitude of things. Afterward we took a drive in the country to a nearby town. It was a lovely date. Adam had received probably his last "teacher thank-you" from a dear school family, and we used it for that evening out.

But food at home? Well, I made a disastrous pumpkin pie, if that counts. Actually, only the crust was a disaster, so we're eating the innards :) And tonight we're having baked chicken. Adam cut it in half for me, so we get more yummy, crispy skin. I sprinkled it with sea salt and tucked a sprig of rosemary under each little chicken leg. I like rice with chicken, and believe it or not, I'm making a box of Rice-a-roni tonight! Adam made a box at Music Conference, and I REALLY liked it. The box tonight is a parmesan cheese flavor. We'll have green beans and corn, and call ourselves done.

Right now, however, I'm enjoying a cup of hot Assam tea, sweet with cream. Ahhh.