Believe it or not, ski lessons have commenced for the season. The gap between school pickup and the start of lessons is just short enough to make stopping at home unreasonable, but long enough to leave us with an awkward stretch of idle time to fill in town, so I thought to make the most of it — I would take him to the library to pick out books to borrow and play a game or two on their computers.

The librarian there knows us well after years of faithful story time attendance. As I browsed the books, she instructed me to ask him to quit growing, and commented that he has changed so much in such a short time, and I agreed. I shared with her with immense pride that over the holiday break he took a major developmental step and has started reading. She praised him and encouraged him to keep it up while she helped us check out our stack of bedtime books.

Our first ski lesson this year was rained out, but the second was blessed with fat, heavy snowflakes and warm temperatures, so we made our way through the crowd of jubilant families and found our spot among our little crew.

His very first lesson last year was a cold and frustrating ordeal (for everyone involved) but this year he is confident on his skis and practically runs through the snow. Instead of crying out for a lift when he fell, he popped right up on his own. Instead of needing to be carried up the hills, he herringboned up like a pro.

It’s amazing what a difference a year can make when you are 5. It feels like every time I look at him, he’s a different kid, and like our librarian friend said, “he’s growing too fast.”

Just like last year at this time, I’ll be relying on my crockpot to help us get through our busiest time of year. I made chicken bone broth in our crockpot over a few days last week to use in a quick soup. This vegetable minestrone soup is satisfying, nutritious, and comes together faster than you can deadbug.

Vegetable minestrone

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

3 large carrots, diced

4 stalks celery, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon basil

2 teaspoons salt

1 can red kidney beans

1 can cannellini beans

1 bunch lacinato kale, shredded

1 can diced tomatoes (or about 2 large fresh)

6 cups broth — chicken or vegetable

1 ½ cups small elbow macaroni

Fresh parsley to taste

Directions:

In a large pot, saute the diced onion, celery, and carrot in the olive oil until the onions are translucent.

Add in the minced garlic, dried herbs and tomato paste, and stir to coat.

Cook for just two minutes before adding in the stock, salt and diced tomatoes.

Bring the soup up to a simmer before adding the dry pasta.

Cook, stirring frequently, until the pasta is nearly cooked.

Strain and rinse the beans before dropping into the pot. Cook for 3-5 minutes.

Turn off the heat and stir in the kale, being sure to push it under the hot broth.

Stir in the fresh parsley.

Let the soup sit for 5 minutes before serving to be sure the kale is softened.

Garnish with extra parsley, black pepper, and a heap of Parmesan cheese.