Pumpkin Muffins and Blessings

It has been a while since I have written a post but today I tried a new recipe and just have to share it! This is a wonderful fall muffin which will be perfect on any table this Thanksgiving. The recipe can be found here.

I started this blog at the beginning of the year in hopes of documenting our year as a family. Although I haven't posted as much as I had hoped, it has been a good starting point. The quilt I talked about in my first post is almost done! I just need to finish the binding. Although I have other sewing projects lined up to be done before Christmas, I am confident the quilt will be done this winter.

With Thanksgiving on my mind, now is a great time for me to give thanks. I have many things to be thankful for this year. I am thankful for my family, the good health we have had this year, and the many blessings we have had. I give thanks for my beloved Grandmother who recently passed and the influence she had in my life. Edgar and I celebrated 10 years of marriage this year. I am grateful to him for allowing me to stay home with our boys these early years of their lives.

Although the holidays can be stressful, it is important to remember how lucky we are, give thanks to those we love, and remember to help those in need when we can. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember to count your blessings!

New look for something old

When I was little, I remember asking my parents to see their toys from when they were children and I loved hearing stories about their childhoods. After a little begging, they would usually give in and let me hold what ever object it may have been. I understand now their reservation, I did break my mother's necklace that she bought in Africa as a young adult. There were Disney watches, books, an iron toy of horses and a wagon, an old chemistry set that I had A LOT of fun concocting all sort of things.  They didn't have many toys from their childhood, certainly not as many as I had. The quantity of things my children have acquired in their short lives thus far is much more than I ever had. My how times have changed! Toys now are cheaper, but they aren't built to last.
One thing my father had as a child was a metal table and 2 chairs. By the time it was handed down to me, it was pretty beat up. The brown paint was chipped, it was rusty and the canvas top was torn. I sat at this table to do my chemistry experiments in my parent's garage. Later, when my dad had a play house built for us the table and chairs resided in it. There it sat for at least 20 years unused.
Recently my parents drove from Kansas to visit me. On a whim, I asked my mom to bring the set for my boys. This summer I spent a little time fixing it up and giving it a fresh look.
Here it is!

I replaced the top with new fabric canvas, gessoed the canvas, then painted with chalkboard paint. I picked fabric with a school theme of letters and numbers and then used iron on vinyl over the fabric so clean up is easy.  I have 3 boys and they can be pretty messy at times!

I am always excited when I can recycle something old into something new and especially since it is now passed down to the next generation it makes me happy to see it shine once again! :)

This moment..........

A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, lovely moment I want to remember. Inspired by soulemama.

It's August already!!

I have missed this space and I have had an absence much longer than I expected. A few days turned into weeks, that turned into...well you get the picture. What have we been busy doing? Going to the shore, vacation in Montreal and Quebec City, summer camp for the older boys, and trying to have as much fun as we can pack in. Here are a few pictures:



Isaac and friend Scotty in Wildwood, NJ

Camp Invention

first 2 teeth lost!

A baby who is really no longer a baby

After his first haircut, no more curls! Sniff, Sniff

Benjamin is in heaven playing in the dirt! He spends hours laying in the dirt, moving the dirt, and digging with whatever he can find to dig with. I finally surrendered a small path of garden. Now it is all his and he couldn't be happier!

Benjamin LOVES trains most of all, but also enjoyed other modes of transportation this summer including a ferry, funicular, steamboat, and cable cars to name a few.

fun with Dad

It has shaped up to be a pretty great summer so far!



Summer is here..........

Longer days and more time spent outside; summer is definitely here!

Things are starting to take shape in the garden and I am excited to see what this summer will bring. The weather has been so crazy lately it is hard to tell what will happen! But these boys LOVE to be outside and growing stuff is just as much about the process of watching it grow for them as the harvest to come.

Celebration

This was a weekend of celebrating, fun, and relaxing.

Saturday we celebrated the birthdays of a special couple:

Today we could not have asked for better weather to celebrate Mother's Day! I had the honor of celebrating Mother's Day with my mother-in-law. We celebrated by spending the day outside with a great picnic, music, and lots of relaxing.

Thank you to all you moms out there! And thank you to my family for making today so special!

Holy Week

Last week, Isaac had his spring break from school. We had an extra playdate, a few extra day trips, and a busy fun time.  On Thursday I took the boys to Howell Living History Farm near Lambertville, NJ. It is free and we always have a nice time there. This visit we saw sheep being sheared and watched a field being plowed with horses-not a tractor!

Friday we went on a train ride with the Easter bunny!

I hope you had a wonderful Easter!

Easter Eggs...

This weekend I colored Easter eggs with the kids for the 1st time. Being another sweet seasonal memory from my childhood, it  is something I have wanted to share with my boys for several years, but never seemed to get it done when Easter came and went. The one big detail being that neither my husband nor I like hard boiled eggs!  This year I planned ahead and blew the yolks out of about a dozen eggs over the course of a few weeks.  The kids had a great time and honestly I did too, trying a new coloring technique. Ours did not turn out as beautiful as these, but still very pretty.

Before coloring the eggs, I baked them at 400 degrees for 10 minutes just to make sure they will keep longer and be stronger.

We followed Martha Stewart's directions using food coloring and vinegar in warm water, then putting the eggs in an olive oil, food coloring, water mixture for the swirl look.

Isaac made himself a bunny snack while we waited for the eggs to dry.

The eggs were then trimmed with ribbon to be hung.

Maybe, just maybe we may be able to get a few more done before Sunday :)

I just love all the color that spring brings after a long gray winter!

Dreaming about warmer weather..

The weather the last few days has been typical spring weather. 30 degrees one day and 70 degrees the next. Yesterday was cool, windy, and rainy. The spring tulips are growing nicely and each day I watch as they grow another inch or two reaching for the sky. Soon all around us will be blooming. What a beautiful site to see! This weekend it was cool and I was already thinking about summer days at the NJ shore. So much planning is going on in our family: little trips and vacations, festivals to be attended, gardening ideas, home improvement projects. Many evenings will be spent at the park riding bikes and playing soccer.

Here our the results of Isaac's and my longing for warmer days:

Ice Skating, a Field Trip, and Other Fun

Yesterday's sermon at church was about time, our time and God's time. The days seem to fly by and I try to pack as much in as I can just leaving me more exhausted at the end of the day. I have the same 24 hours as everyone else. Why do they feel shorter then that sometimes? This past week was no exception with birthday parties, a field trip, lessons, and much more. Sometimes I just need to be still and observe how much my boys are growing and changing.
It was a good week and I hope yours was too. Here are a few highlights:


Isaac got invited to an ice skating party. This was his first time in skates and I think he did pretty well. Even though he fell down many times, he kept getting back up. I had a lot of fun too!

Isaac with some of his classmates at the Philadelphia Zoo. I went along as a chaperone and took my younger boys. That day it was so cold that it was actually snowing in the morning. We dressed warm and had a lot of fun at the zoo.

A maze of boxes set up in the family room has provided much entertainment for all those small enough to crawl through them. I tried once and well, let's just say it was a tight fit :)  Samuel is especially enjoying the maze.



Helpful Tip of the Day

A small ball of aluminum foil does a great job of removing burnt food on stainless steel pots and pans. It is a great way to reuse aluminum foil and cleans with great ease.

Today I am....

• dreaming about the future
• nurturing two sick little ones
• baking my Aunt Becky's blueberry coffee cake
• praying for people on the other side of the world
• planning another busy day tomorrow
• purging and organizing things I have been ignoring for far too long
• enjoying many new books from the library
• grateful for warm spring days and walks with my boys

This moment..........

A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, lovely moment I want to remember. Inspired by soulemama.

Having taken his first steps just recently, Samuel is so anxious to do what his big brothers are doing whether that be drawing or playing outside.  This time he had to watch from inside as his brothers played on the driveway.

St. Patricks Day Craft

I like to decorate our house for holidays and seasons. My mom used to decorate the house for different seasons when I was growing up and I remember anxiously awaiting the holiday as I helped her put up window decals or whatever. I have expanded this and now celebrate the seasons with my boys, bringing nature into the house with found objects from our walks or we make crafts themed with the seasons. We do as much homemade things as we can and save them from year to year when possible.
For some reason St. Patrick's Day always gets lost for me between Valentine's Day and Easter. Many years I am lucky if I remember to wear green on St. Patrick's Day! This year I made a little pin, one for Isaac to wear to school and one for me to use on the special day.

The idea was adapted from here
I used green felt instead of fabric and added a little glitter glue to glam it up a bit. It was very easy to make, so if you want a little something extra for St. Patty's Day this may be it!

Last Weekend

Last weekend there were several milestones for our family:
1. Isaac rode his big 2 wheeled bike by himself! He has known how to ride a two wheeler since last fall-but this is his first time on the big one without training wheels. I am proud of him because his feet still don't touch the ground when he sits on it.
2. Benjamin is (finally!)officially potty trained! He feels like a big kid and I am very happy to finally have one less kid's diaper to change.
3. Not really a milestone, but a change-Edgar got Lasik surgery on Friday and is now happily without glasses for the first time in many years.

Spring feels like it is in the air and my mind is full of gardening plans. More on that subject to follow soon!
Have a great day!

Yogurt Making

Yesterday I made yogurt for the second time. It is so easy and I can't believe I waited so long to try making it! You might ask why I would bother making my own yogurt. 1. It is fun to see if you can make something from scratch. 2. For me, the reasons were health and economics. We go through A LOT of yogurt in our house. I have been buying various fruit flavors in the large container for quite a while. Since it was yogurt and fruit, I thought it was pretty healthy for us. Then one day I looked at the label a little closer and saw all the sugar and artificial ingredients added! Eating plain yogurt still takes a little getting used to when you have had the sugary stuff for so long, but we add a little jam or some granola cereal and it is really good. Give it a try!

There are lots of ways to make yogurt, but this is how I have been doing it with good results:

• First, I warm 1/2 gallon of milk to 180 degrees.
• Once the milk has reached 180 degrees, I take it off the stove and cool it to 110 degrees. I do this by filling the sink with a little cold water and put the pan in the water, careful to not get any water in the milk.

• Next I add the starter. The first time I used store bought plain yogurt and added 1 cup to the 1/2 gallon of milk. This time I just used some left over yogurt from my first batch.
• Mix well and pour into a very clean 1/2 gallon jar or smaller jars.

• Now this is where the magic happens! With the milk and starter well mixed, I place the jar in an insulated cooler with a heating pad wrapped around it. I turn the heating pad to medium heat and zip the top of the insulated cooler. I leave the lid off the jar (I don't know if that matters or not, but I don't want extra moisure in there). I then let this sit and incubate for 6-8 hours.

And there we have it-yogurt!

Crayola Factory

Last week was plagued by stomach illness in our house and today it looks like it has come back for a second round.
On Saturday, it appeared that everyone was on the mend-well enough anyway to take a little roadtrip to Easton, PA.  We had been planning to go to the Crayola Factory for several weeks, but something such the weather usually postponed our plans. The nice thing about the Crayola Factory is that there is another museum to visit in the same building and admission price includes both museums.

The Crayola Factory is set up with many different stations for kids-or kids at heart-to try out Crayola products and make different projects. They also have a little theatre where they do live demonstrations of how crayons and markers are made in the factory.

The National Canal Museum is housed in the same building as the Crayola Factory. Here vistors can learn more about canal history with lots of hands-on learning.

We had a great time-and can't wait for our next family roadtrip!

Valentine's Day

We had a busy weekend with lots of activity for the boys and a even a birthday party to attend.  We forwent the typical commercial valentines and decided to design and make our own valentines this year for Isaac's class party. Isaac got exactly 6 of 20 valentines done before he decided he didn't want to do anymore!  So, I finished them for him and then this morning he wrote his name and his classmate's name on them. They turned out nice and I am proud of him (and myself!) for sticking with it. When he came home today and we looked at all the valentines he got I was surprised to find he was the only one in his whole class to make homemade cards.
We did other homemade things this weekend, but more about that later!
Wishing you a very happy Valentine's Day :)

This moment..........

A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, lovely moment I want to remember. Inspired by soulemama.

Samuel spends his days pulling as much stuff out of bookshelves and cabinets as he can. When I put things away, it isn't long before he makes another round to pull things out again. Lately he is having lots of fun exploring the kitchen and discovered that pot lids make very good cymbals-maybe all that tagging along to big brother's piano lessons is going to pay off!