Category: Family Time

Dream Home

July 2 Sunday dinner

Each year on July 2, I remember this was the day that I walked into our house for the first time and I knew that this was where we should live. It was a unique experience for me, where I suddenly understood the meaning of an old dream. This was my kitchen in the Salt Lake Valley that my dream prepared me to recognize.

I have filled books with our experiences, photos of youth activities and neighborhood parties, and handwritten cards from this era of our lives. It is the neighborhood connections with specific people, including our children’s spouses, Michael and McKenna, that make me I believe that the Lord brought us here.

Structuring home life with children

Over a year ago, someone asked me to write my advice for someone who was a new homeschooler. I haven’t talked about homeschool on this blog in many years, but I had an interesting moment this morning where I not only remembered this email, but felt a strong urge to post it here.

I think most of these points apply to anyone trying to structure home life with children, especially during the summer, so take what you need, and forget the rest.

1. Pray first thing as a family every day. Establish routines for start time, subjects, breaks, and lunch. Consider scripture time a daily subject.

2. Do things regularly with other families. It is good that kids play with children of all ages.

3. Choose a curriculum strong in language arts and math. Have a plan for the year, each month, week, and every day.

4. Steel yourself to criticism from those who don’t understand what you are accomplishing.

5. Go on dates with your husband without the kids.

6. Fill your house with books of all kinds and read, read, read together and independently.

7. Find a friend with whom you can share your experiences so school and children aren’t the only things you talk about with your husband.

8. Plan unstructured time for kids to explore their own interests. Their interests can propel their desire to read, write, and learn how to be proactive learners.

9. Celebrate achievements with certificates or stickers or whatever makes your kids happy. Don’t feel like you have to mirror a public school classroom with big charts, etc. You can do simple, meaningful things to track progress.

10. Go outside together or do crafts when things get too intense in the house.

11. Explore nature, go to museums, run and play, visit the elderly, take art classes, make collections together. Some of the best advice I received was to play with playdough with my children. Your children will need to help around the house, too. You can’t do everything yourself.

12. Look at every subject as a means to increase reading and writing skills.

13. Take pictures and cherish the time together. Don’t broadcast everything on social media. Honor your children’s privacy in learning and development.

14. Listen for and expect the Lord to lead you in small things and big things. Heavenly Father is even more interested in helping your children progress than you are, so be willing to accept answers that aren’t part of your original plan.

15. You can contact me if you want to talk. I was a homeschool mom for 14 years.

Art by Paige, around 2010

Sweet pork salads and burritos

Today I’m sharing our favorite recipes for sweet pork, cilantro lime rice, and cilantro lime ranch salad dressing. Think Cafe Rio. Yum.

Add some fresh tortillas, black beans, pico de gallo, cheese, lettuce, corn chips, and guacamole, and you are ready for a party. Our family loves this meal, and I estimate it serves 12 people.

I like to prepare the meat and dressing ahead of time, then it is an easy Sunday dinner or party menu.

Crock Pot Sweet Pork

  • 3 lb pork (boneless roast, country style ribs, etc.)
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
  • 3 T butter

Sauté onion and garlic in butter. Put roast in crock pot and cover with the sautéed onion and garlic. Cook 3 hours on high (or low equivalent). DRAIN. You can add the juice later to taste. Refrigerate the liquid and skim the fat if you want to add this liquid later.

If possible, shred the pork. If it is still tough, you can shred it before serving. Mix the following ingredients and pour over the pork in the crock pot:

  • 2 T. soy sauce
  • 3/4 c. lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 1 t. salt
  • 1/2 t. pepper

Cook an additional 2 hours on high (or low equivalent) in the crock pot. Shred the pork and and serve with tortillas, rice, beans, etc. for salads or burritos.

Cilantro Lime Rice

  • 2 c. rice
  • 2 c. chicken broth
  • 2 c. water
  • 2 T butter
  • 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
  • 1 handful of cilantro, finely chopped
  • 1/2 lime, juiced
  • 1, 4-oz. can diced green chiles

Pour everything into a rice cooker and follow product instructions. Or, to cook in a pot, heat liquids to a boil, add the rice and other ingredients, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 20-30 min., or until tender.

Remove the lid, fluff with a fork, add salt to taste, and serve.

Cilantro Lime Ranch Salad Dressing (Cafe Rio Style)

  • 3 T. salsa verde (green salsa with tomatillos)
  • 1/4 t. cayenne pepper
  • 1 small pkg (3 T.) ranch dressing mix
  • 1 c. mayonnaise
  • 1/2 c. sour cream
  • 1/3-1/2 c. milk
  • 1/2 bunch of cilantro, including stems
  • Juice of 1 lime

Mix together in a blender until smooth. 💃

Moab Trip

The Ross family tour bus departed on Memorial Day, just as most people packed up their RV’s to come home. We passed masses of traffic traveling home in the other direction, and discovered that the places we visited near Moab were not crowded. Richard made excellent plans and accommodations for us. He is so good at this.

After such a wet winter, the landscape was more green than we can remember. There were so many wildflowers, that whole fields were dusted in color, mostly orange, but many other colors, too.

Do you spy Paige and Michael, and Daniel and McKenna traveling with us? Lucky us! My brother Joe shared his van with us so we could all ride together.

The magic hour

The magic hour for conversations with Mark is between 10 and 11 pm. This has been true for most of our kids, and I read somewhere that teen circadian rhythms shift several hours beyond usual bedtimes. Late nights simply don’t feel late to them.

We try to be available for conversations late at night and early in the morning before school. This is also when we pray together.

I hope the rhythm of prayer will continue for our children long after they grow out of the funny rhythms of their teen years. I can think of no better comfort and help than prayer.

Current “family time”

I will never get tired of seeing all of these faces, even if it’s only possible through a video call because of distance.

Utah, Guam, Alabama…these are places we never guessed we would be. Our family is open to change, and this has enriched our life experiences. Sometimes, despite loving a place or a situation, we have left because we felt led to do it.

I have learned to not identify myself by where I live or even what I do. It can all change very quickly.