Tag der Deutschen Einheit

An email to Oma, Opa, and Jennifer:

Haben Sie eine wunderbare Tag der Deutschen Einheit!
Liebe,
~ Shannon

Have a wonderful Day of German Unity!

Love,

Shannon

I've got a great excuse to have German food tonight!  I’m trying a new slow-cooker recipe and  for dessert I have brown bag apple pie, ahem, Apfelkuchen, from the Long Grove Apple Festival we went to yesterday.  Can't wait!

Slow Cooker Smoked Pork and Sauerkraut Dinner

Ingredients:

• Use 1 1/2 lb. peameal bacon roast or a smoked pork loin roast.
• Use 4 potatoes, preferably Yukon Gold because they are firmer and don't fall apart as easily.
• Use one 28 oz. can Sauerkraut, drained.
• Liquid - 1 cup of either apple juice, orange juice, or water.

Instructions:

• Put Peameal Bacon Roast and Sauerkraut in slow cooker (crock pot).
• Add peeled potato quarters to the slow cooker, making sure the potatoes are pushed well to the bottom. Potatoes need to be in liquid to cook properly. Even though there is not enough liquid in the cooker to start, there will be once it cooks for a few hours.
• Pour in about 1 cup of apple juice, orange juice, or water.
• Cook, covered on low to medium, for about 6 hours. Check your slow cooker instructions for approx. times.
• Remove potatoes, meat, and sauerkraut. Keep warm.
• Put cooking liquid into saucepan, bring to boil, and thicken with 1 - 2 tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in some cold water. Use as sauce for the meal.

Serves 4.


Abby came over shortly after 7:30 am this morning, while Shawn slept in until a little after 10:00 am!  That gave Abby plenty of uninterrupted time to play with a box of books and Shawn’s new magnetic Thomas the Train book all to herself.

Gymboree’s free Bonus Class schedule changed this month, so we were left without a class today.  I had plans to take the kids to a much needed excursion to Costco, but instead, we spent the day playing at home.  Ahhh… the simple pleasures of a pile of boxes.  (I keep meaning to put these out to recycle, but I just don’t have the heart to take them away!  Maybe tonight will be the night.)  Here, they show off their favorite game – riding a Choo Choo Train!

Sometimes staying home is just as much fun, if not more, than running out to planned activities.

After a stretch of great days, potty training seems to have taken a setback today.  I feel like both Abby and Shawn are peeing every 10 minutes or so – whether they’re on the toilet or not!  Lots of clean ups today.  (sigh)  On the other hand, Abby got enough stickers on her Potty Paper to finish her sheet and take it home!

Luckily, I got a break when both went down for naps easily.  Abby woke up minutes before Bill arrived and Shawn woke as she was leaving.  It was an early wake up for Shawn, but he also went to sleep faster than he has lately.  I was a little nervous that Shawn’s sleeping in this morning was going to mess up the rest of the day, but (phew!) not the case.  He must have just needed a few more hours of shut-eye.

Grandma Fanny came over for her English lesson.  We reviewed short a and short e sounds and introduced the short i sound.  I've given her small picture cards of words that contain those short vowel sounds rather than written words and she LOVED sorting them. It helped build her vocabulary, her spelling (I had her write the words on the back), and it gave her something to practice at home between our sessions.  She has a hard time differentiating them and an even harder time getter her mouth to cooperate when trying to enunciate, but she’s such a hard worker and incredibly motivated.  What a difference it is to work with her and struggling middle schoolers!

After emailing with Jennifer, Oma, and Opa, I added soft pretzels to the German meal.  I cheated and bought some frozen from the grocery store.  Not the best, but they fit the bill. Shawn loved his!  After all the food from dinner, we didn’t have any room for the Apfelkuchen for dessert!  It’ll have to wait for another day.