an accident and a new recipe

After school today Grace and I finished our puzzle.  I subbed 6th grade.  The kids were good and it was an early out day so that was all kinds of awesome.  Grace didn't have any after school activities, which is unusual, usually she has vex, or science olympiad or choir or YW or babysitting, or some combination of them.  We went to the grocery store together, went to verizon because her little flip phone has nothing but problems, and then worked on the puzzle.  

Ethan had soccer practice.  I went to pick him up and they weren't at the normal field.  I drove over to the track and there were lots of kids doing different things there or around there, the band was practicing, the football team, the baseball team and the soccer team were all practicing as well. I found a spot and watched until they were done.  When he got in the car I asked him why the field change and then he told me what happened.  It was pretty awful.  The boys go straight out to the practice field after school.  They often beat the coaches there by a few minutes.  Today they did and Ethan was warming up when he heard a bump and then screaming.  One of the senior boys was driving into the parking lot and another boy (both on the varsity team) ran up and jumped on his hood (because sometimes boys are very dumb).  Unfortunately he slipped off and the car ran over his leg.  Several of the senior boys ran over, someone called 9-1-1.  The kid was just screaming and screaming, I guess his bone was sticking out of his leg.  All the boys were super upset.  Eventually the first responders arrived, ambulance, police, fire dept. The coaches also came shortly after the accident. Once the boy left for the hospital the coaches moved the teams (JV and Varsity) to the other field where they alternated between lecturing them and making them run.  Ethan said they ran about 4 miles, and got lectured a lot.  I think it was rather a solemn occasion.  I felt just sick when he told me.  How sad for both those boys.

I tried a new recipe for dinner and everyone liked it. 

Slow Cooker Autumn Chicken and Apple Cider Chili ( kind of soup like though)

• Meat from 1 roasted/rotisserie chicken
• 2 cans (15.5 ounces each) Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1-1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup apple cider
• 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• Chopped apples, for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In slow cooker, stir together chicken, beans, celery, garlic, bay leaf, onion, stock, cider, sage, thyme, chili powder, salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne. Cook on high 4 hours or on low 8 hours.
2. If desired, serve chili topped with chopped apples.