Thursday, November 30, 2017

Can you be friends with your kids?

Why do we have to have these parenting debates? Is there really a hard line between I'm not my kids' friend I'm their parent and I just want my kid to be happy! lol Both are ridiculous extremes.

Yes, I want my children to be happy but not stay in your pj's all day eating junk food happy.  I know so many of those and it's not what I aspire for my offspring.  I want them to have the joy of a successful life.  Being able to be a productive member of society, overcome difficult challenges, make a difference somewhere somehow.  Joy of a life well lived.  That will require at least on some basis that they will NOT be happy all the time because some of the struggles we go through in life are not pleasant.  I would love to but know better than to save them from all their own shortcomings.

That being said; I love hanging out with my kids once in a while.  My eldest and I run errands every other Friday (usually because she has forgotten a week's worth of coats and lunch bags at school) we might run to the library, talk about our favorite books, grab some grub for the weekend BBQ and probably stop in at Barns and Noble / Coffee shop for a cuppa joe.  She's an amazing person to talk to and has a huge heart for people.

My middle daughter is a bubble full of snuggles and usually covered in glitter or something pink and purply.  No one is more fun to take out clothes shopping.  Need to make something sweet, she'll point you in the right direction and come up with some amazing ideas along the way. 

My youngest has some speech issues but loves detailed projects.  She'll sit for hours working with a wrench or helping you with a puzzle. She's an awesome partner when I'm working on my studies and in general just good quiet company. 

So yes you can be your kids' friend, have fun and enjoy life but that's not all parenting is and nobody claims that.  People just see these one-liners and jump to extremes. Discipline your kid so they aren't obnoxious self-entitled brats, hang out with your kids and enjoy the people they are becoming.  Respect your kids for their ideas and passions that may be different from your own.  There is so much to this parenting thing and one-liners just don't cut it. Have a beautiful day peeps!


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Sunday, November 26, 2017

Russian Tea - Which one? Where from?

Years ago I started getting what some call winter allergies.  It's not an allergy as far as I know but I get a horrible cough for most of winter.  So when someone posted an all natural "Russian Tea" I had to try it out.  The interesting thing came when I tried to look up the recipe again.  You expect to find different variants but one thing is NOT like the other.  So today I'm going to be looking at the different recipes and try and figure what it's all about.  What actually came from Russia?


Lauren Greutman has you using tang sugar and instant tea (what the heck is instant tea?)
   
               I don't know, check it out for yourself it seems pretty simple.  Just not what I was looking for.  However, it is what I see most of the recipes look like, they have a powder mix that they just add water to when ready.  It's convenient for sure.

DIY - has you using a bunch of natural fruit juices and black tea.  This is the stuff.  We don't drink juice very often so the whole thing is a bit of a sweet treat.  I love it during the cold winter months when all you want is something warm and sweet. 

But where did it come from?

So from what I can gather, it's totally American.  First appeared in an American cookbook in the 20's and came from the south.  Considering it's like sweet tea with fruit juice that really doesn't surprise me much. From my studies though Russian's do love their tea, just not the same way we do.  This girl totally gets it and done her research too!

My Recipe

My recipe is a close variant of the DIY version so I highly recommend it for more detail.


  • 8 cups water - set to boil in a large pot
  • 1 cup water w 2 black tea bags set to boil


In first pot start adding after the boil has set.


  • 1/2 tsp cloves
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 cups orange juice
  • 3 cups pineapple juice
  • 2 cups apple juice
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice.


Then add your tea and simmer, the stronger you like that taste the longer you simmer.

Enjoy hot!

Some say they like it cold, I personally do NOT. It doesn't have the same taste cold but each to their own.



http://petersfoodadventures.com/2016/04/26/russian-tea/#comment-10228
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_tea_culture

Duolingo / German Notes #Preterite-1

Thought I'd put my duolingo notes online so that I could expand on them easier, share with others, and look back over them without the huge paper trail.  So here's the first one (I'm already 60% through the course, I might backtrack later).  Words to study or remember are underlined.  To practice yourself and look at all the cool notes Duo has (that aren't available on the android app yet ) check it out, tips and explanations are below that practice buttons.



  1. Er war vorher u Hause. He was previously at home.  Vorher: Previously, before
  2. Ich sah fit aus. I looked healthy.
  3. Was tranken Sie? What are you drinking?
  4. Wir aßen keinen Reis. We did not eat rice.    aßen  - did eat, ate
  5. Ich trank Bier. I drank beer.
  6. Er war da. He was there.
  7. Sie schwammen gegen den Strom.  You swam against the stream.  
  8. mit - with
  9. verschiedene - different 
  10. unterschiedliche - different
  11. noch - still
  12.  Wir kamen nach Afrika, als die Saison begann. We came to Africa when the season began. 
So our new words were:

Vorher - Previously or Before
Sah...aus - looked
Aßen - ate or did eat
War - was
Gegen - against

Most everything else was new tense of words we already learned.  So keeping it short and simple, don't worry it's will get more complicated soon!  


Review: Body

Auge um Auge! An eye for an eye
I'm looking for fun little matching games to add but can't find what I'm looking for as of yet. 


https://www.classmarker.com/online-test/start/?quiz=e7p5a1b9dce2df4c

So hopefully more fun stuff to follow.