Adventures in Mommyhood

{this moment} {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

My posting has been pretty pathetic lately.  Not that there hasn't been anything to write on, it's just that there has been to much to do! Also, my camera is acting up, and I can't download pictures, so and I hate to blog without pretty pictures (or pictures of food).   I am really trying to not over-do it with Christmas-preparations this year.  Instead of baking my usual  amount of baked goods, I am instead reading to the kids, going for a run, or turning in early.  I have made a few favorite things that we simply can't do without: -Spritz (2 batches) -Sandboekles (using the tins from my Grandma Larson) -Pretzels dipped in almond bark (so simple, but sooooo goooooood). - Aunt Pat's Chocolate Mint Cookies Instead of taking my usual cranberry or pumpkin bread to our neighbors, I am going to intead bring them a jar of the apple butter I froze this fall (I am so happy I did that!).  The kids are also getting fewer presents from us this year, and they are things

I found  THIS recipe on Pinterest and made it Sunday night. CRISPY SOUTHWEST CHICKEN WRAPS - from Mel's Kitchen Cafe They are now the latest addition to our meal rotation.  The recipe makes 8 large burritos, which is more than our family of 5 needed, but I reheated the leftovers for lunch by wrapping them in foil and sticking them in the oven for a few minutes.  My husband was very pleased to this alternative to his usual noon sandwich! Since I had to make rice for the burritos, I made quite a bit extra to have on hand for the week.  My kids love rice warmed up in the morning with milk, cinnamon and sugar.  This afternoon, I made rice pudding, another huge favorite around here. RICE PUDDING - from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook 3 eggs 2/3 cup sugar 1 1/2 cups milk 1 tsp vanilla 1 cup cooked rice 1/2 cup raisins cinnamon and/or nutmeg Preheat oven to 325.  Beat eggs and sugar till light and fluffy.  Mix in milk and vanilla, then rice and raisins.  Pour into cass

This morning I woke up and realized that I didn't know what we were going to eat today.  I had breakfast covered with cold cereal and bagels, but beyond that- what were we going to eat?  Fisher needed a sack lunch, the girls and I needed lunch, we didn't have any snack food in the house and then there was supper.  I didn't want to spend time or money at the grocery store.  I was really determined to make it through the day making-do with what we had on hand.  So...this is what we ate today: Fisher's sack lunch:  Cheese, turkey pepperoni, crackers, an apple and honey-nut cheerios for "dessert." Our lunch:  "Toad-in-a Holes,"  bananas and milk  Toad-In-A-Holes are simply buttered bread w/ a hole cut in the middle and an egg fried in the hole.  They are delcious and the fun name makes kids more likely to eat them ;) For supper, I scoured my upstairs freezer and cupboards and couldn't make anything work with what was upstairs.  I took a

Our family celebrated a really wonderful thanksgiving this year and here's why: WHO:  We had everyone in my husband's family around the table as well as my brother-in-law's mother and her husband, who through their frequent presence in Sioux falls, feel a bit like relations to us too. WHAT:  Turkey, potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, corn casserole, green bean casserole, rolls, cranberry sauce and my Christmas Salad.  It was all so tasty- just as it should be. WHERE:  My sister-in-law's beautiful home.  They just moved in this Spring and was the perfect place for a large family gathering.  The first of many, I know. Little H had to have a modified Thanksgiving feast at a more todler-approprite time.  She loved the cheese, grapes and corn muffin and enjoyed a 2 hour long nap while the grown-ups prepared, ate and cleaned up the meal. Ready to dig in... Fisher and his best buddy, cousin Gus.  There was definitely more Pokemon talk than eating going on in the

Apple Butter (from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook) 4.5 pounds tart cooking apples, cored and quartered (about 14 medium) 3 cups apple juice 2 cups sugar 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon 0.5 teaspoons ground cloves 0.5 teaspoons ground allspice In an 8 to 10 quart heavy kettle combine apples and cider.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Press through a food mill or sieve until you have 8.5 cups pulp.  Return pulp to kettle. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, cloves and allspice.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Cook, uncovered, over very low heat 1.5 hours or until very thick and mixture mounds on a spoon, stirring often.  Be sure to not have the heat too high, or the apple butter will burn to the bottom of the pan, which would be very sad. Pour into 8-ounce containers with lids.  Freeze or store in the refrigerator.  This keeps for a really long time in the fridge.  If you freeze, make sure to leave some room at the top of the cont

It is hard to believe that November is here.  Really here.  The leaves are sparse on branches and plentiful in our yard.  Even though we still are having warm sunny afternoons, we definitely need gloves and mittens each morning and unfortunatley there are toy catalogs in our mailbox nearly every afternoon.  I like November. Spending days indoors hiding from the cold wind still feels special and I love the anticipation of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season to come (without actually being in the middle of all of the hustle and bustle).  And then there is the hope (yes hope!) of snow and all of the fun and hastle and excitedment that it will bring.  November is a transition month.  A transition from evenings with sunshine to dusk in the afternoon.  From burgers on the grill to chilli on the stove.  From bike rides to board games and from hoodies to parkas.  December will be here before I know it, but for now I'm doing my best to enjoy November and all of the lovely things i

Well, we made it through Haloween at our house.  We had an eclectic bunch that included a witch, a watermelon and a Pikachu.  It was an ideal night for being out past dark and my biggest mixing bowl was filled to the brim with a wide assortment of sweets by the end of the night.  Here's my adorable little watermelon.  I found this costume on clearance a long time ago and  giggled every time I saw it these past weeks.  But of course the little stinker refused to wear the hat and there fore it just wasn't the same.  Toddlers...hurumpff.  The Little Witch. In this one I have her subdued a little... A.Really.Bad.Costume.  But he is all about Pokemon these days... so I let him have his wish.  To be Pikachu on Haloween.  Yippee. Now this is really frightening.  The Pikachu and his friend "Deranged Grandpa."  My Dad has had this mask since before I was born.  It looks scarier every year. My goblins.  Notice sneaky Grandma trying to stealthfully pla

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Three jade plants I started today... will probably end up as Christmas presents for the kids' teachers. Our Autumn Blaze Maple is more stunning than any year we've lived here.  A benefit of a dry fall, according to my husband. Our backyard.  Almost time to put the sandbox to bed for the year. The new window decorations Claire and I came up with for Autumn.  We're pretty handy with scissors, construction paper and scotch tape.

{this moment} {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  The wind was blowing, as it usually is around here, but in spite of this, it was a day worth getting out and doing something in.  I decided we'd go to the zoo as soon as we picked up Fisher from school.  I warned him about this possibility, as to set his expectations accordingly.  This is a very wise thing to do with my son- he does not like surprises.  I packed up water and an apple for each of the kids and we headed out on our trip. And...we had SUCH. A. GOOD. TIME. It was almost magical, really.  Usually when I plan outings such as this they are just O.K.  Mostly fun, but plenty of whining, a little fighting and always someone telling me how tired they are. There was NONE of that nonsense yesterday.  We were four of a handful of people at the zoo, there was not a cloud in the sky and the leaves shone bright against this backdrop.  The animals were feeling frisky in the delightful weather and we even got to help a vet "train" the goats

What more do I have to say... as soon as I read about this I knew it was something I had to try.  Crockpot Pumpkin Spice Lattes Ingredients 1/2 cup brewed espresso or3/4 cup strong coffee 2 cups milk (preferably 1 percent) 2 tablespoons canned puréed pumpkin 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or: 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon cloves, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, tiny pinch of ginger) 2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons vanilla extract whipped cream (optional) Cooking Directions Use a 2-quart slow cooker. Add coffee/espresso and milk to the stoneware. Whisk in pumpkin, spices, sugar, and vanilla. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours. Whisk again. Ladle into mugs, and garnish with whipped cream and additional cinnamon. When you serve them, be sure to serve a spoon with each mug.  If you don't stir them every once and awhile, you will end up with too much pumpkin puree at the end.  I added a little more coffee than the recipe called for; I felt like the amount call

We went to a really fun pirate birthday party last month- Holland pranced around looking cute the whole night. Every year we go to the pumpkin patch, and every year I have refused to pay for the kids to ride the little red train around the orchard.  Until this year.  And it was worth every dollar to see the kids enjoy it.  Holland waved and said "Hi." to everone she passed. We've been playing in the leaves!  Our Ash tree dumped on us this week and we are still surounded by dozens of trees that haven't yet to drop their leaves or even start to turn colors yet!  We're going to have a lot of fun in the leaves this fall!

Today I was expecting to wake up, dress and feed the 3 kids and scoot them off to daycare, preschool and school, and then head in to work.  I was then planning on working for the next 7 hours, then picking up Claire, then Holland, then Fisher, then dropping Claire off at gymnastics, prepping supper, eating supper and then putting the three kids to bed. Instead... -Holland woke up at 5:30am, and came into bed with Lance and I. -Holland threw up at 6:30am.  At this point, I knew that I would not be working today. -I took Fisher to school and then Claire to school -Holland and I came home and played with blocks.  Then we took a bike ride to our neighborhood park and spent time on the swings and slides. -We came home and had a snack.  At this point the poor little girl was out of energy. -For the next 3 hours we spent lots of time cuddling, napping and rocking. -When I was able to leave her, I snuck away and caught up on laundry and made chocolate chip cookies -I changed everyon

I love casseroles.  My husband gags at the word "casserole."  So, I don't make many casseroles. However, my husband was out of town last night, so guess what we had??  I finally got to open up that can of cream of mushroom soup I've been saving for just the right occasion.  :) There were so many options to pick from, but I decided on this one:  Hamburger Chop Suey Casserole, straight from my Grandma's recipe book.  I remember her serving this to me many times from her farm house kitchen.  My kids went nut-so over it- my 20 month old even had 3 helpings! Yes, it is nothing pretty to look at.  It tastes WAAAAAY better than it looks, I promise! Hamburger Chop Suey Casserole 1 pound ground beef 1 green pepper, chopped  1 large onion, diced (about 2 cups) 2 stalks celery, diced (about 1 cup) 3/4 cup uncooked rice 1 can cream of mushroom soup 2 cans water 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce 2-4 Tbsp. soy sauce (or to taste).  I used low-sodium Brown ground beef, gr

My supply of tomatoes is slowly dwindling.  I have these three friends ripening on my windowsill and a handfull of them still on the vine that I am hoping will ripen before frost.  Today for lunch I just had to have another one of these... Sourdough, romas, romaine, bacon, light mayo, salt and pepper.  I have eaten probably 20 BLTs this summer and I never get tired of them.  After the last of my tomatoes have been sliced and sandwiched I'll say goodbye to my favorite sandwich for 9 long months.  Any BLT that isn't made with garden tomatoes is not worth wasting my time on, in my opinion.

Easter 2011.  She was so proud of this fruit arrangement she brought.  Isn't she pretty?  My Grandma had a stroke a couple of days ago.  I got to spend the last two days with her at the hospital.  At first I thought we were going to loose her.  Her stroke was described as "massive" and she was asleep.  Then she opened her eyes and has been asking (with slurred speech) about things like my cousin's pretty new kitchen cupboards, and if the Cyclones are playing next weekend.  She's been tickling Holland's legs with her good hand and commenting on her pretty dress and shoes.  She's been taking jokes and even trying to smile.  My Grandma is still here and she's still herself and I am so thankful that the last of my time with her has not come yet.  But still there is so much sadness for what has been lost.  A stroke that came in the night changed my Grandma forever.  She's lost her mobility and her independence.  Just a few days ago she was driving ar