Sweet

Potatoes
The size of a pie pumpkin!

After scrubbing them yesterday, Ashlynn was trying to decide which one to pick up to take inside for me.

She finally decided on the biggest one, of course.

But it proved to be a little bigger than she could handle.

I have no idea how my potatoes grew to this size.
We have a few so immense I'm sure not they're fit to eat.
I've never seen potatoes so big.
There is more out there.

Sweet potatoes anyone?

Top of the Summer

I love summer; the heat, swimming, ball games, playing outside, getting dirty in the garden, fresh produce, mowing...

Memories were made.
Giggles were heard.
Dirt was abundant.
It was all good!

In no specific order 10 of my favorite summer memories...

1. This little girls expression when I told her it was finally time to swim!
   
2. Baseball. We were busy with games 4 nights a week, but I loved every minute of it.
   
3. Both of my boys going to over night camp for the first time ever! We all survived and both boys are counting the days until they can go back.
   
4. Going to the zoo, 2 hours away, and realizing upon our arrival, my daughter didn't have shoes.
   
5. Celebrating a very special one year old birthday.
   
6. A bountiful garden.
   
7. Making over 500 ice cream cookie sandwiches for my husbands employees.
8. Making smores on a day that was so hot our chocolate melted before it hit the sandwich.
   
9. Going to the Omaha Zoo with my family to celebrate my parents 40th anniversary.
   
10. Weekly swimming parties in the pond.
    

So long summer.
We are looking forward to your return in 2011!

Caffeinated Randomness

....F.R.I.D.A.Y....
We've had so much rain this summer, my garden is a jungle.
Yesterday was the first I was able to work in it this week. Most of the day I spent weeding, tilling and harvesting.
This is what we found.

Plus a few enormous cucumbers, zucchini and yellow squash.
The boys enjoyed boasting their tremendous strength by cracking them over their heads.

Ah yes, the joy of extra large produce.
!Silly Boys!

I can't believe my baby is one.

She is such a little pumpkin.
.Love her.

How can summer be almost over. I'm not ready for fall yet. Do you remember being a kid and the summer taking forever?
Why isn't it like that anymore?

I really need to decide on our school material and get it ordered. Then I need to pick a start date. I'm not ready for that yet either. Anyone else homeschooling? I'm indecisive on our English program. What do you use?

Did I ever tell you I took my kids to the zoo, two hours away, and forgot shoes for my 3 year old?
Yip I did. They didn't sell shoes at the gift shop either.

So we made due with socks. Red snake socks and a pink outfit.
.Beautiful.

That same week, I was in a store in town and the baby exploded all over my arm. I didn't have extra clothes for her. We were headed to swimming lessons after the store.
.Lovely.

I really like raw yellow squash and zucchini. They go especially well with ranch dip or garden fresh salsa.
.YUM.

Last night for dinner we had all day baked bacon beans, fresh salsa, corn chips, fresh produce and watermelon. It doesn't get much better than that!

Did you see the pineapple in my garden picture. I said it was a jungle. Just kidding, I'm not growing pineapple, just seeing how awake you are :)

Have a terrific Friday!

Just the beginning

.Lettuce.
.Apples.
.Squash.

.Grapes.
.Berries.
.Zinnias.

Melons

Cantaloupe, Honeydew, Watermelon...

Cold, juicy, crisp, sweet...nothing beats the refreshing taste of a melon on a hot summer day.

Have you ever watched someone pick out their melon? It makes me laugh. I've seen people shake, smell, examine, turn, thump, push on the end and tap the melon in question. They pick one up, turn it over, and set it down. Then proceed to dig to the bottom of the pile in search of the perfect one.
People watching is funny stuff.

The best melon we've had this year was picked by the following method...
Braden 'Mom, can I pick put the watermelon this time?'
Me 'Sure, if it's a bad one you owe me $4.'
Braden 'It's a deal!'
He looks at the stack, grabs one and says 'This is it. The best one in the bunch.' And it was :)

You can't take my son with you shopping, and his method has no guarantee, except money back, so I'll share a few tips I've learned about picking a good one...

• First look for a melon with good skin. Meaning no tears, scares, bruises or blemishes.
• Examine the skin color. Cantaloupe should have a golden or orange color underneath the webbing. If it is green, it isn't ripe. A watermelon should not be dark green and have stripes all around.
• Look for the 'field spot' on the bottom of the melon where it was laying on the ground. It should be a yellowish/white color.
• Feel it/Thump it. A cantaloupe shouldn't be soft, if it is, it is over ripe. A watermelon should sound hollow when thumped.
  
• Smell it. Cantaloupe and honeydew will smell sweet.
• Pick it up. The melon should feel heavy for it's size.
• Shake it. A honeydew should rattle with loose seeds when it is ripe.

What is your method of picking a good melon?

A planting tutorial

I've started to plant a few flowers here and there.
And boy do I have a great helper!
She'll show you today how to do it...

First you make a little whole for your flowers to go in.

Then ya gotta fling a little dirt, it gets in the way sometimes.

Next tip um' upside down, and tap, tap, tap.

Then, plop the flowers in the whole and press the dirt back around.

Perfect!

What kind of flower's you ask?
Petunia's.
Color? PINK of course.
Picked out by my little helper.

It's here!

My 1st seed catalog of 2010!

Let the fun begin!!!

Home Ec Day

Friday we made goodies and crafts.

I've never made Caramel corn before.
It was time to try.
It turned out great!

First Tyson popped popcorn.

Then we cooked the syrup.

1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp salt

Melt butter in heavy pot on stove. Add sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, and boil 4 minutes. Do not stir after bringing to a boil.
Remove from heat, stir in:
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda

Pour syrup over the corn. Stir to coat all popcorn.

Bake for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes.

Remove from baking pans to cool. We put ours in Holiday tins.

Then we tried Popcorn Snowmen.
I had great visions in my head of little snow men with red hot buttons, raisin eyes and pretzel arms.
It didn't work so well.
The taste is delicious, but the syrup dried sooo fast we couldn't get the parts to stick....
...So we made balls.

Not as festive but still good.
Next time we will add red hots to the popcorn and stir in with the syrup.
Or maybe we'll add food coloring to the syrup and make colored balls.

Any recipes for Popcorn Snowmen?

Fall Fun

We've been blessed with gorgeous weather recently. We took advantage of it last week and went hiking in our timber.

Braden found a rock and decided to see what was under it.

There was a worm, which was immediately used to...

scare little sis.

The girls...
Which I have been informed by my two year old I am not. No, I am a mom, NOT a girl :)

The three oldest on the log we always take pictures on.

All of us, minus dad.

Gabrielle enjoying the leaves.

Christopher Columbus, er, the boys, seeing a new land!

Thank you Lord for the beautiful weather! I needed it. My patience was a bit lacking last week. ~Annika

Simple Gingerbread Houses

We Love making 'Gingerbread' Houses in the winter. We use graham crackers, instead of baking our own.
The secret is in the icing.
Royal Icing
3 egg whites
1# powdered sugar
*Whip together for 8-12 minutes. Icing will get fluffy and fairly stiff, but not dry. It should look like this...

Keep your icing covered with a damp cloth or it will begin to harden.
Gather odds and ends of dry food items and candy, and you are all set.

I rubber band the decorating bags closed so the icing doesn't squirt out the back for the children.

Start by spreading icing on a plate or piece of card board. Place two of your graham cracker walls on the icing, then ice the cracks. Repeat with the other walls. Wait 10 - 15 minutes and then do the roof.

Let the houses sit for 10 or so minutes before decorating to harden. When the icing is dry, the houses will be very solid and stable.

You can use... sugar cones and dyed coconut flakes/sprinkles to make trees, beans for side walks, rice chex and golden grahams for shingles, noodles for mailbox posts, gum drops for shrubs, pretzels for fences, brown sugar for dirt, pretzel rods for a log cabin, animal crackers for animals, Keebler Elves for people...
Let your imaginations run wild!
It's so much fun!

Maple Cookie Cut Outs

1 cup butter, room temp
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
6 T maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 tsp maple flavoring
1-2 T real maple syrup
2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups flour
*Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs. Mix well. Blend in maple syrup and flavorings. Add dry ingredients. Mix well. Divide dough into 3 parts. Color one red and another one orange, leave the last one plain or color it green. Wrap each section of dough individually in plastic wrap. Chill for 3 - 4 hours.
Gently fold about 1/4 of each color of dough together. Roll out on a floured surface. Dough should look marbled. Cup with leaf cutters. Bake at 350* for 7- 9 minutes. Don't over bake.