Of Homework and Chili Pepper

I've started posts and had to leave them this week - or had parts of posts running around my head and no time to get them down. So once again this will likely be a rambling update...Stretch and Squirrel are both at Wednesday night church, B is in the shop working on an engine and Dipstick is working on homework inside. Dipstick is struggling getting homework done - he hates doing so it's a daily battle. The sad extra frustrating part of it is that he's very intelligent and would do very well in school if he got his work done and turned in. I'm rather at a loss as to how to help him get it done without being a nag and having daily arguments and tears over it. Even now - he's talking and dawdling over getting it done - though he now understands how to do it. B and I have taken away just about everypriviledge and activity that he wants to do - yet still seem to get nowhere. I'm going to continue printing out his homework agenda daily - as well as pages that show where he's not turned stuff in. Then I will go over it with him and B, then will file it in a folder somehow. Hopefully - while causing me some extra paperwork it will start to show a pattern and Dipstick will be able to see where and how to improve. What makes this extra challenging for me is that it's not something I've dealt with before so it's all new to me.

On a different note - we've had sunshine the past few days. It's been very nice - to see the sun sparkling on the snow. It's been cold and we've had freezing fog the last couple of mornings - that is so beautiful as it leaves gorgeous hoarfrost on everything. The roads sure have not been very nice - the top layer has melted off but there's still ice andsmooshed snow underneath everything. That is finally beginning to change as of today. This morning we had red sky so I'm waiting to see how the weather changes - I'm certain it will just not how.

The other night I made a batch of brownies - cheated and used a mix with a couple of additions. First off I used applesauce in place of half of the oil - a relatively common substitution that lowers the fat content. The other addition involved a 1/2 tsp of a spice...I did not tell anyone in the family what I did. Squirrel begged for a brownie after supper and was eagerly allowed one. He ate a couple of bites then screwed up his face asking "Mom...what did you do to these?...Wait....Mooommmm....you didn't?!!" By that point I was laughing hysterically as I confirmed that indeed I had putChipottle chili pepper in the mix. I think I laughed until I cried - Stretch got into the fun by asking me whatever possessed me to add chili pepper to the brownie mix...then I had to get the magazine to show him that it's supposed to increase one's metabolism. I don't know yet if it will work...but the reaction sure was funny! And I have certainly found that I'm less likely to eat a HUGE amount of brownie - I'm much more content with a smaller portion. Next time I will try a little less chili pepper...