Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day!  I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend.

These babies are going in the ground this weekend!!

Going on 7+ days now......

Olivia sleeping on my chest. 

We are going on 7+ days of sickness in our house. Last week Abby and now Olivia. Olivia's temp last night was 105 degrees, which prompted me to call the Pediatrician. The doctor that called backed, chuckled and asked me if this was my first child and was this the first time my baby had been sick. No, I am a mother of two and I don't appreciate the under handed comments when I am worried. She's lethargic, she's flushed, she's burning up. This is a time to laugh? I don't often write "heavy" posts in my blog, I try to keep things light and funny. However, last night I was scared. I think I still would have called if I had 5 kids! Needless to say, she is fine, we all made it through the night and things looked better in the daylight, they always do. I don't regret my call. The doctor did not tell me anything I did not already know, but I felt better to check in with them regardless in case there was something I was missing or could do better for her. Maybe I am overreacting and over sensitive, maybe I am coming down with this awful sickness myself, maybe I have a fever, or maybe I am just over tired. Tired of taking care of two sick kids, cleaning up vomit, holding scorching bodies when I am over heating in this awfully hot weather myself.  It makes me wonder, does that doctor have kids herself and would she want things handled differently if she were the one awake in the middle of the night, holding her child and worried on the other end of the phone.

Rainy sick day!

It was raining out.  Both girls were sick and had low grade temps and were grouchy!  We crafted, we listened to music, we played dress up and when I thought I was going to have to hit the ON button on the TV we decided to bake!   We went with pretzels from the Bettter Home and Garden cook book.  You know the one everyone has with the red and white binder!   We had a ton of fun making these, but honestly they were like eating the bottom of your shoe.

Livy punching down the dough

Abby giving the dough a few good wacks.  Fairy princess dress a must for baking!

Wow- the dough came out perfect!

We had more fun making shapes vs. the traditional pretzel shape!

Chocolate Cake and Margarita's!

My brother in laws birthday is coming up next weekend and I volunteered to make the cake.  As soon as I saw this cake posted over at Thy Hand Hath Provide I knew I had to make it.   The directions were a bit long, but not complicated.  I did a trial run this Sat night when my mother was visiting.  oh my- one margarita and a piece of this cake turned us into comatose blobs!  I HIGHLY recommend this cake!

Is there something on my face??

The girls helping me bake.  Livy's upset b/c the flour did not taste so hot!

Happy Friday! (I won't tell you how LONG it took us to pick up the flour!)

 

No kitty for me? you?

We went back to Harris Farm last week to visit the kitties, get milk etc.  The cats are now ready to go home with a new family.  Unfortunately I was not able to convince my husband our family needed another cat.  Something about -you already have Plumpy and I won't ever adopt another feral wild cat beast again. Darn it.

When we first were living together we adopted two feral cats (one of them being Plumpy and his sister, Winter, who died this past year from kidney failure) from a friend that found them after the mother had been killed.  To say these cats were wild is an understatement- they were 4 weeks old when they came to us (way to young to be without a mom) and we had to feed them kitten milk replacement with an eye dropper until they could feed themselves.  When they were old enough to get around they wreaked havoc on our house, climbed the curtains, shredded the furniture, ran the kitty 500 at 1 in the morning and Plumpy even got himself locked in the refrigerator!   The biggest mistake I made at that time was telling my husband we needed two cats, because they would be lonely if we only took one home.  Looking back now I realize I used that line up way to soon in our relationship-he will NEVER fall for that one again!  Double darn.

BTW Thistle turned out to be a boy.  I figure we could have just called him Mr. Thistle.

Who can resist a kennel full of kittens! 

We also got to visit the bunny, cows and goats.

Flora!

Flora (or Four-ahh as Livy calls her) is my mother's old dog.  We really don't know how old-somewhere between 8-10 years old probably.  My mother found her on Petfinder.com last winter and she happened to be fostered near where I live so I went to check her out.  She is a great dog!  She was pulled from a shelter in Missouri (strangely enough where I was born-bet you did not know that!) and for certain would have been dead (or put to sleep) if my mother had not taken her in.   Flora is vacationing at our house this week and my youngest is madly in love with Four-ahh!

*Before you smirk at the funny name of Flora- just think when my mother adopted her the name was Bertha.  So it has gotten better and to hear Livy say Four-ahh is hilarious!

They are kind of like Smores??

Ever get that craving for Smores when you don't have a campfire available?  My kids love this special treat. 
I mix a handful of cinnamon life cereal, mini marshmellows and choc chips.  It is not rocket science and I don't know if I made it up or saw it somewhere along the way, but it is easy, cheap and tasty! 

Garden Post #10 Another raised bed.

We added another raised bed to the back yard this past weekend.   We are going to dedicate it to just pumpkins and squash since they take up so much room with large vines.    The girls already threw a few flower seeds in and two sunflowers.  Who knows what will grow!

Making Jam!

I visited with my friend Sue last week over at Above the Dam Jam and she taught me how to make jam. It was not as hard as I thought it would be, but it definitely takes some talent with timing and getting it to come out just right. We took all 5 girls with us in the fields to pick the rhubarb (a first for my kids seeing how it grows and eating it raw) and made a super tasty Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam. She even named it after me!



*Sue is working on getting her website up and running to sell Jam. She will also be selling at local farmer's markets. Any of my friends or family interested in Jam I would be willing to be the delivery girl.

TGIF

Some weeks are longer than others! 

 At least we got some wonderful (somewhat chilly) sunny weather this week!  

Rolling down the sand hill, rolling down the sand hill, ohh, ahhh, weeeeeeeeee.

Come on all you Wiggle fans-you know the words, sing along!   Did this song drive you nuts or what!! 

Ok, I really don't have anything against the Wiggles, I actually like the Wiggles (I know call me crazy-but Greg has a good voice-I'm telling ya he does-I was very upset when Sam replaced him!)

and the girls LOVE them and honestly, I don't listen to them in the car when I am alone, really, I don't.

Garden Post #9

Just an update on our garden progress.  Things are really cooking now so to speak!  The plants have been moved out of the house and into the sunroom.  (So nice to have that room in the play area back).  We re-potted most of them into bigger containers.   We hope to get all the seedlings planted Memorial Day weekend outside.

I can't express enough what a great experience this has been for the girls so far.  They have loved every bit of it-even the watering part!

The peas are doing really well in the garden outside.

Let's get physical!

Olivia Newton-John called and she wants her head band back! 

 I promise to draw the line when she puts on the "hot pants" Olivia wore in Grease.

My favorite thing about Mother's Day!

Ok, I have a few favorites- I DID get breakfast in bed and GOT to sleep in late.  That was fab!  However, the wonderful laminated "card" Abby made me at pre-school was priceless.  Check out my age!  I have not been 25 years old in, well, errr 10 + years and we will leave it at that!!

Easy dinner party craft idea!

Using left over scrap paper from one of my friends (beautiful, sparkley, shiny paper) Abby and I made little silverware rings.   It only took a few minutes and Abby wrote the initials of our guests on the circles I cut out.  I used scrap booking glue to secure the "paper rings" around the napkins (with silverware inside) and then glued on the the initial circles.

OMG-who knew squash could be so yummy!

Butternut Squash Casserole

Parents Magazine

1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes (2 cups)

2 tsp. olive oil

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 lb whole wheat elbows ( I used the whole box)

2 Tbs. butter

2 Tbs. Flour

1 1/4 cups reduced-fat milk

1 3/4 cups low-fat, white cheddar cheese shredded and divided

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Toss squash with oil and salt on a foil-lined tray. Bake for 20 minutes or until tender, set aside.

2. Cook pasta for 2 minutes less than package directions; drain and place in a bowl with squash. Meanwhile, melt butter over low heat. Whisk in flour; cook for 2 minutes.

3. Slowly whisk in milk. Bring mixture to a boil then simmer for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1.5 cups of cheese stir until melted. Stir cheese sauce into pasta and squash.

4. Spoon into 6 greased, individual ramekins. Sprinkle remaining cheese. Bake 10 minutes.

Ahhhh Spring!

Waiting for Abby's bus to come.  What great weather we are having!

The princess house has arrived!

The girls are very excited about this new addition to the back yard. 

Thanks Nana V for driving it all the way up here!

Pussy Willows!

According to a neighbor we have one of the last standing pussy willow trees in the neighborhood.    It is actually a good thing that she told us what it was b/c it looked like a huge mess to me last summer.  This year we were lucky enough to get quite a few pussy willows off the bush before it went into in bloom.. (Thank you Papa for the new "bucket" to hold the pussy willows-I love it!)

Would you have known this was a pussy willow tree/bush??

Super Kid!

Abby is going to be the "Super Kid" this week at school, this includes turning off lights in the classroom, being leader in line and helping the teacher with the daily calendar and weather report.   On Monday she needed to bring in a poster board with pics of her doing various activities, friends, family etc.   She will get to stand up in the front of the class and tell everyone about the pics.  

Oh, what I would give to be a fly on the wall this day!!