Oh-me. Oh-my. Oh-Connor

The 2011 Flashback Series: Wine-a-versary

2011-12-24T08:46:00.007-05:00

Oct 7th 2011:

In October 2006 my friends and I took our moms up to Traverse City for a girl's weekend to celebrate my up coming wedding. In October 2011 my friends and I took our moms up to Traverse City for a girl's weekend to celebrate the 5th anniversary of that girl's weekend.

The weather was perfect, the food was delicious and it was great to get away with my favorite girls.

2006

We found a great cabin to stay at on vrbo.com. It was on a quite little lake and the colors were gorgeous. Nickie, Kathy, my mom and her friend Carol got there in time to go downtown for dinner. We ate at the North Peak Brewing Company and walked around town a little.

Saturday afternoon we headed up Old Mission Peninsula in search of food and wine. On the way up just by looking at the website and reading about their farm to table concept we decided to eat at the Boathouse Restaurant. The food was amazing! After lunch we stopped at a few wineries but decided standing in the lines and paying $5 a stop for 4 tastes was not worth it. We stopped at a little grocery store, grabbed stuff to make pizzas for dinner and each picked a bottle of wine. We had a fun night!

Sunday was the last day for most everyone (Nickie and I stayed an extra day). We spent the morning on the lake, the afternoon walking and riding bikes and just relaxing. After everyone left Nickie and I headed out to find an adventure (and food of course). We luckily ended up in Glen Arbor at Blu. We sat next to a couple who are regulars there and had wonderful conversation with our fabulous food. After a bottle of wine, salads, and our dinners we looked at the desert menu and talked about how full we were when out came THREE deserts that the couple we sat next to ordered for us. They said "we could not let you leave without trying these". I could not move after that!

The 2011 Flashback Series: Mia's Quiche

2011-12-23T22:13:00.006-05:00

Sept 19th 2011:

Mia loves to cook and Gabriel loves to help Mia do anything. They made a spinach quiche for dinner and OH BOY was it good. Her first pie crust turned out great. She said "Mom, I don't know why you are so scared of making crust."

The 2011 Flashback Series: Preschool

2011-12-23T15:32:00.004-05:00

Sept 7th 2011:

This was Gabriel's first day of preschool! After taking too long to sign him up for the preschool program at the elementary school I was thinking about working with him at home on school stuff for the year. I did some research and found a curriculum that I liked and was all set. Then I heard the preschool that Mia went to had an opening and we signed him up! I am so glad we did because he loves it.

The 2011 Flashback Series: Eggs

2011-12-23T14:42:00.006-05:00

Aug 29th 2011:

After four months of feeding our chickens they finally fed us. The morning I found our first egg I was so excited. Yes, it was broken because the chick who laid it was on the roost and not in the nesting box where she should have been but it was something! After a few soft-shelled, a few more broken and even a shell-less egg we finally had our first dozen cute little eggs! Because we are sharing this "adventure in chickens" with Ron & Chloe we took them to their house and made a very yummy omelet.

The 2011 Flashback Series: Vacation O'Connor

2011-12-23T13:02:00.010-05:00

July 24th 2011:

We had a great vacation this summer with Mike's family! Grandma and Papa rented a beautiful house in Horton Bay right next door to Kathy's sister's cottage and invited the whole family to come up. We did miss Mike's sister Molly and his brother Patrick and family but we sure had a ton of fun with Uncle Bob and Uncle Brian, Aunt Wendy, Grace & Emma (they live in Connecticut so we don't get to see them enough). Our friend Amanda also came with her two girls to spend her Birthday with us. Kathy's two sisters Mary Ann & Debbie were up then too.

I have so many pictures it is hard to pick what ones to put up...

Uncle Bob & Gabriel

Smile Mia!

Mia after her turn tubing

Grace & Olivia

Uncle Bob & Uncle Brian

Mike with his farmer hat

Gabriel did great kayaking

Jumping off the dock

Emma, Grace & Gabriel relaxing in the hammock

cousins and mini-golf

Gabriel knows how to do it!

Aunt Deb jumping in the bouncy castle with the kids

Aunt Wendy & me!

On top of a super fun week we came home to a wallpaper free living room & bathroom thanks to Chloe who stayed to dog/chicken/duck/house-sit.

The 2011 Flashback Series: Bike Riding

2011-11-28T21:02:00.004-05:00

July 14th 2011:

We had a great summer around here. With the garden, ducks, chickens and just hanging out in the yard. Gabriel spent a lot of time on his bike. I decided to get out the sidewalk chalk and make him a "road" to follow around the drive way. Anytime we do this it entertains him for so long that I can sit drink coffee and read.

The 2011 Flashback Series: Cake Contest

2011-11-22T14:26:00.009-05:00

June 22nd 2011:

In my March issue of Hobby Farm Home Magazine they announced that for their 5th anniversary there was going to be a contest for readers to submit their favorite cake recipe using farm-based ingredients. Sounds like fun to me. So I came up with a recipe to enter into the "Best Vegetable-based Cake" category. Pumpkin Cake with Whipped Maple Frosting. I had Cori test it out before I sent it in. She made it and took it to work and said that everyone loved it.

I didn't get selected as a winner but I was thrilled to get an email from the assistant editor telling me: "we loved it too much to keep it to ourselves and felt it deserved honorable mention. That's why we've included it in a special online slideshow of our favorite entries."

You can see the slideshow on the website here.

And here is the recipe...

Cake

2 cups cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1¼ cups oil
1½ cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups shredded cooking pumpkin or butternut squash

Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 cup heavy cream, chilled

Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into medium-sized mixing bowl.

In large mixing bowl, cream oil, sugar and eggs. Add pumpkin, and mix well. Add dry ingredients gradually, stirring until just mixed.

Pour batter into greased 9- by 13-inch baking pan or two greased 9-inch round pans. Bake 40 to 50 minutes for sheet cake or 35 to 40 minutes for round cakes. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes before inverting onto wire rack. Let cool completely before icing.

Frosting

Beat together cream cheese and maple syrup until smooth.

In chilled mixing bowl, whip heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add to cream cheese mixture and beat until desired consistency is reached.

The 2011 Flashback Series: So Many Tomatoes

2011-11-19T20:59:00.008-05:00

June 4th 2011:

The past few years Chloe has started a whole lot of tomato plants. She sells them to support her gardening habit and this year Mike wanted to take home all the ones she didn't sell. It was a little cramped in the van getting them there but we did have lots for canning and freezing.

this is the trellis Mike made to support all the tomatoes

The 2011 Flashback Series: Paris

2011-11-19T19:37:00.006-05:00

April 23rd 2011:

Mike had yet another trip to Paris (and sometime back in April I mentioned that I was going with him this time). He arrived ON Easter Sunday and no one was going to be in the office that Monday so he asked if I wanted to come along, and I went. All I had on my "must do when I am in Paris for two short days" list was walk around and take a ton of pictures. And that is just what we did.

I have a lot more pictures in my facebook album all about this trip.

The 2011 Flashback Series: Early Birthday Gift

2011-11-19T18:57:00.005-05:00

March 3rd 2011:

I have been hinting to Mike for years that I would like a sewing machine... sometime. Well now I have one. We went to JoAnn's and picked out my birthday present a little early. I am glad we did because I got to make Papa O a birthday gift, before I even had my birthday.

I also have made a few other small projects. Maybe some day I can make Mia's wedding dress like my mom did for me.

pants for Gabriel out of one of Mike's Drupal shirts

an apron for Mia out of an old ripped shirt she had

a shower curtain from a ripped sheet

a backpack for Gabriel (that he now takes to preschool)

someday...

The 2011 Flashback Series: A Boy and His Papa

2011-11-19T18:27:00.004-05:00

January 12th 2011:

Don came to plow the driveway after a big snow and Gabriel helped drive the tractor with his "Papa coat" (The Carhartt Don & Kathy got him that looks just like Don's). It was so cute I just had to take pictures.

He came in and said, "Momma, Papa helped me with the snow."

The 2011 Flashback Series: Happy New Year

2011-11-19T15:49:00.005-05:00

January 1st 2011:

Because of all the traveling Mike does for work he accumulates a lot of SkyMiles with Delta. He was also very close to the next level for his SkyMiles account. A trip to Baltimore and back would put him right where he needed to be. So we decided to take advantage of that and take a little trip to see Cori and Paul for New Years Eve!

We flew out Thursday the 30th so Cori could pick us up at the airport after she got out of work. Got to her apartment late so we hung out for a little bit and went to sleep. On New Years Eve we stayed in our pj's ALL DAY! We played the Wii, watched movies and just hung out. I didn't even feel one bit guilty about leaving the kids. They had a ton of fun... Mia spent the holiday with Emma in Lansing and Gabriel was with Papa O and Grandma Kathy.

I didn't have any pictures of New Years either (I really must do better about taking pictures), but Cori took some.

umm... Happy New Year Mike, you might want to put away StarCraft for a little bit.

Cori and Paul know how to ring in the New Year

The 2011 Flashback Series: Christmas Goose

2011-11-19T12:44:00.010-05:00

Way back in January (I think) I promised a Christmas time post because I had a funny goose story to share. I was waiting to get some pictures of Christmas for a while and then I think I just didn't do it. I still don't have any pictures of Christmas (I must do better this year!) but I can wait no longer.

Sometime in December 2010:

You always hear about "Christmas Goose" in stories. I have never prepared or eaten any kind of goose, but for some reason I really wanted to prepare a Christmas Goose.

Not knowing where to get a goose I called Walt at Prime Cuts and asked if they had one. He told me that he didn't have any but that he could order one. When he called back he told me he had to order them by the case and that meant he would have to get four. Because of the lack of interest in geese, he would order them if I wanted all 4. I was so excited that I was going to have my Christmas Goose I didn't ask any questions and told him "Yes!! Order them!! I will take them!!" He told me they ran about $6 per pound.

When Mike got home and I told him about my wonderful goose find and told him the price (per pound). He of course asked "well, how much does a goose weigh?" I had no clue... then I thought about it. It was less than a turkey I knew that, but no idea how much less. Mike called Prime Cuts back and asked if they knew how much a goose weighs. The answer he got was maybe around 16lbs. OH NO!!! I just ordered almost $400 worth of GOOSE?!?! Needless to say I was freaking out for a few days and calling people to let them know I had lost my mind.

Luckily, they didn't weigh 16lbs each and I am sure Walt gave us a great deal on my crazy goose adventure. It only ended up costing about $200 (a real relief) and turned out delicious when I used the recipe in my Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine.

The 2011 Flashback Series: Winter Solstice Party

2011-11-19T11:44:00.012-05:00

I know I said "The 2011 Flashback Series" but the first two posts date back to 2010!

December 21st 2010:

Winter Solstice, what a great reason to get together and have a celebration! Chloe got two pinatas (one for the little kids and one for the big kids), we had a great bonfire, yummy pizza and of course wine & hot chocolate. We decided this party has to be an annual event and I am looking forward to this years celebration.

Lucy, Carson, Gabriel & Katy's pinata

Grandma had to help a little

and Cora

Jackpot!

Emma, Ryan, Myles & Mia's pinata.

No help was needed here!

It was a great night for a bonfire.

The 2011 Flashback Series:

2011-11-19T11:31:00.002-05:00

I said it once (or quite a few times) and I have to say it again. I have really been slacking big time on the blog front. The past year has come and almost gone and what do I have to show for it? On here, not much. So I now welcome you to the 2011 Flashback Series. Between now and Christmas I will have caught up on almost 12 months of blog posts. Here goes... a lot of blogging.

Chickens and Ducks oh-my

2011-07-19T08:20:00.007-04:00

Last time I blogged about our birds we were going to get chickens. Before the chicks arrived we decided (on the spur of the moment) to get ducks as well. And I am so glad we did because they are so much fun to watch and listen to.

We did lose one of the yellow ducks in the beginning. :(

When we ordered the chickens we told them we wanted straight run (both girls and boys) so we could have about 20 egg laying hens and 20 roosters for meat. When they arrived we found out they had ordered us ALL GIRLS! That's a lot of eggs, 40 chickens laying about an egg a day each... that is a little over 23 dozen eggs a week!! Good thing we have a big family to share them with.

We did end up getting one rooster, Mike says "Poor guy, he has 39 hens to nag him." I think he is doing just fine... he is even starting to crow.

I give up!

2011-07-19T08:13:00.001-04:00

Finishing the picture thing is just not happening. I think it is time to just move on.

My picture class

2011-05-04T14:51:00.006-04:00

It's back! The Joy of Love class I was in the middle of blogging about way back in February. I only got to day 14 and decided that taking a class that has to do with taking pictures of my loved one when my loved one is out of the state or country more than not was NOT going to work out. So I thought I would put it on hold. Before this decision was made I did get a few more days of the class done. So I will post the days I did even if Mike looks half worked to death in some of the pictures.

15: kiss

This assignment was just to snap a picture of a smooch. And to keep working on the camera settings. Also to check out how to use the timer on the camera. Of course Mike had his computer when I bombarded him with flashes from the camera.

Early Easter

2011-04-19T21:03:00.005-04:00

Mike has to go to both San Francisco and Paris so he decided to get it all done in one big trip. He is leaving on Wednesday and will be gone on Easter. So, we decided to celebrate Easter with his mom, dad and brother last Sunday. As always dinner was fantastic! We had ham steaks on the grill, cheesy potatoes, asparagus and Kathy got me a super yummy piece of salmon and made dill sauce for it. OH... I CAN'T forget the Easter bread, cream puffs and spinach dip!

Mia and I dyed eggs on Monday. Mike worked late and Gabriel didn't want to help, he said "I just wants to play with my train". I had read about tie-dying with kool-aid so I figured it might work with eggs... And it did.

I was having a hard time deciding if I should do easter baskets when Mike was home or wait until Easter, but then it ended up that I am going to meet Mike in Detroit on his way from San Francisco to Paris on Saturday and go with him for a couple of days. (More on that when I get back!) Now that I won't be home on Easter we just HAD to give the kids baskets early (if you don't know, I am HORRIBLE at waiting to give people gifts I have for them), bummer!!

Last week Hasbro had a lot of great coupons in the paper and Target had quite a few of the games on sale. So for Easter they got... Chutes and Ladders, Sorry (that our dogs had eaten about 2 years ago and we still used the chewed up pieces) and Connect 4, some Play-Doh, M&M's and super cute cupcake suckers I found at Prime Cuts made by "Oh Susannah" Specialty Cupcakes.

I think Mia got to her chick before I took a picture... the beak and wings look a little... eaten.

Another Business Trip

2011-04-07T20:54:00.014-04:00

Mike takes A LOT of business trips (as I am sure by now you know). San Francisco, Denver, Dallas, Chicago, Copenhagen, Paris... the list goes on. People keep telling me I should go with him. So I did! To Grand Rapids, MI (Insert the "I crack myself up" laugh here)!!

Mike had a meeting with a client in Grand Rapids this afternoon and was not going to be home till just about time to put Gabriel to bed. So we decided to tag along. With Mia being on spring break this week (and spending all week at her dad's house) it worked out perfectly because I didn't have to be home at a set time for her. Gabriel and I met Mike at his office and I drove us up to GR (That worked out great for Mike because he could be on the computer THE WHOLE WAY. Please refer to my "love to hate" post here). After dropping Mike off at his meeting we went to the Grand Rapids Children's Museum. Gabriel had a blast playing with everything. After the museum we decided to go to Target to waste some time and so when Mike called us to come pick him up we would be close. We walked in to the store, grabbed a coffee & chocolate milk and Mike called (I think he has a call out to all Target stores so when I go in he knows!). After grabbing dinner at Smoky Bones we headed home (with Mike driving this time)!

A Sneak Peep

2011-03-29T13:50:00.013-04:00

I am sure that you have heard... we are getting chickens. They will arrive at the local feed store on April 19th and I am getting so excited!!!

It was hard to pick what kinds of chickens to order. We knew some of the traits we wanted... Good at foraging (so they can run around the yard and find food), A docile temperament (so they don't attack the kids playing in the yard), Cold hardy (we don't want any frozen chickens) and a breed that is both good egg and meat bird. Yes, the boys are going to be eaten (Sorry Tiffany they aren't going to be sent to a chicken farm to live happily ever after).

After seeing what was available at the feed store we narrowed it down to three breeds. Australorp, Buff Orpington and Barred Rock (or Plymouth Rock). Here are some pictures of what our little babies will grow up to look like.

Australorp Hen

(this is the best picture I could find to put on here)

Buff Orpington

Barred Rock

We went to Tractor Supply today to get everything we needed to get ready for the babies to arrive. I couldn't help but set up their house when we got home. Gabriel helped me make a little baby chicken house and now he keeps asking where the babies are. (Maybe I should have waited a couple of weeks to set up the brooder.)

And I couldn't help but get the peeps to test out the brooder for me.

It's Here...

2011-03-24T21:21:00.006-04:00

Garden Time!!! And I have a few pictures to prove it.

Look at all that spinach!!

I started to thin the spinach and pulled the weeds on the other side to plant radishes

Our first spinach harvest of the season. I wilted it and added cream, pepper and nutmeg!

Here is the real proof of garden season... dirty jeans.

Updates are coming... no, really.

2011-03-24T20:58:00.002-04:00

I think Mike has been gone more than home this month! Me trying to do that photo class thing with him so busy at work when he IS home and out of town more than not I haven't had a lot of time to take pictures of him. I am hoping to spend a lot of time with him for my BIRTHDAY WEEK (That is coming soon!!!) and getting the rest of the pictures taken and blogged about then.

Now I am wondering... Hold on... I have to look at a calendar and do some math.

Yup I was right, as of today he has been home 10 days in March and out of town 14. BUT out of that 10 days 6 of them were "crazy office days" (that's what I call it when they have any of their out of town Commerce Guys at the office) and that means working late and sometimes having a house guest or two. Don't get me wrong, I love entertaining and having people stay at our house, it is just not good quality Mike time.

14: wedding band/jewelry

2011-02-24T13:31:00.003-05:00

As maybe you can tell by my post about vinegar... I would rather be given food than jewelry so for this assignment I chose to work with Mike's wedding band (while he worked with his computer). I got to practice my tight crops, good exposure and interesting camera angles. The "good exposure" didn't work out too well, we have really bad lighting for taking pictures in.

13: routines

2011-02-18T07:34:00.005-05:00

Only 5 days behind... Ohhh well, this way I will have "regular" blog posts well into March.

Day 13's assignment was routines. Capturing your loved one going through their daily routine. Of course the day that I get to this assignment would not be a typical day. Mia has no school so the "getting ready for school" routine was out. BUT we can always count on Mike and his morning tea.

12: the eyes

2011-02-15T19:50:00.004-05:00

Lesson 12 was all about how to take a great picture of eyes. Where to place your subject, in what direction they should look, what light works best and to turn off the flash.

Even with the wiggly subjects I chose today I got some great pictures of their eyes. Even Mia has a hard time holding still if I need anything other than a quick snapshot.

11: dreams

2011-02-15T15:39:00.008-05:00

"What does your loved one dream of accomplishing or doing?" was the prompt for this assignment. We have a lot of goals for the near future. I think having a new house comes with a big list of things to do. One of the biggest dreams Mike has is being more self-sufficient. Growing lots of our own food, hooking up the windmill to something so it can produce some kind of energy we can use and getting a few animals. (Chickens, (maybe)a pig or two and (maybe) a miniature cow... we are still in the discussion phase of some of the animals I just listed.) A little bit of that dream was delivered by UPS today... my big seed order! I am so excited for spring!

07: generations

2011-02-13T16:31:00.008-05:00

I finally got a chance to take some pictures for lesson #7 this afternoon when Gabriel was out cutting wood with Mike and Papa O. Gabriel loves working outside with his Daddy and with his Papa but with both, at the same time! He had a blast!!

I knew I was going to have to adjust my camera settings taking it outside on this nice sunny 49 degrees day. (Not that the temperature has anything to do with how much light the camera has to work with.) So before I walked the 1/4 mile back the snowy old railroad track bed where the chain-sawing was taking place, I adjusted everything so I had a great reading on the internal light meter. What I didn't take into account was the trees that blocked a lot of the light on the path. Luckily I got a few pictures that turned out anyway.

10: Space - where they are comfortable

2011-02-11T13:14:00.004-05:00

See, I knew if I put it in writing I would take the time to read about how to select my focal points. It took maybe 5 minutes to find the part in the manual and figure out what buttons to push. I also too more baby steps and am starting to understand what all the settings actually do. Maybe by the time I finish this class I will stop asking Mike WHY he wanted to buy a camera with so many... buttons.

Mia and I had a lot of fun with this assignment. I don't think Mia has a "space" that she is most comfortable in, it could be a chair, the floor, up a tree. She is most comfortable with a book in her hand.

09: passions and hobbies

2011-02-10T21:13:00.004-05:00

For lesson 9 I was told to work more on my selective focal points (still haven't really figured out how to do this part) and my "baby steps to shooting in manual mode" (that does make it sound a little less scary). But did I do this... NO... I stuck my camera in AUTO and took the pictures! I'm going to tell both you and myself that I will take the time to read about how to do the selective focal points (I do know my camera has 17) then maybe I will. I DID get a few shots with different spots in focus so I don't think it is a big deal.

It took me a while to figure out what to shoot for this assignment. Passions and hobbies... It has been so long that Mike has had time for passions and hobbies. Maybe his passion is the business? Helping making it a success and not loosing his mind? But that didn't sound like much of a hobby to me. Then it came to me... firewood! Every spare moment he has he is trying to make sure we are warm.

06: who they love

2011-02-10T06:16:00.004-05:00

With Mike's crazy work schedule it has been hard to get a picture of him without his computer in his lap. He had no choice this time... When your order of 200 fast growing poplar trees comes in you can't just let them die!! So Gabriel and Mike scooped dirt into the little bags that came to start them in. We are going to have a forest in the basement until it is warm enough to put the trees in the ground. I'm told if we plant 100 trees every year for the next five years we will have our own supply of firewood for the winters to come. I grabbed the camera and hoped to get some good shots of Mike with who he loves. (or is it Gabriel and who he loves?)

08: gift from the heart

2011-02-08T18:24:00.004-05:00

Lesson 6 & 7 are coming... But Mike has been super busy and it is hard to get the perfect picture for them. But #8: something they have said, promised, done or given.

For the last two years Mike has been in Paris on Valentine's Day. I don't really mind if he has work trips on holidays... as long as he is home for the really important days like my birthday, kid's birthdays, Christmas or MY birthday. The first time I asked him to bring me home something "French" & "Valentine's Day-ish". He had a hard time figuring out something that I would love. He ended up getting me some wonderful smelling French perfume called Chloe (yes he picked it because of the name). I don't wear perfume but I really do like this one (I think I have put it on twice).

The next year he brought home something way better than perfume, jewelry, flowers or chocolate... Balsamic Vinegar! I love this guy!!! I made it last almost a year and last weekend I went to the craft store and got a flower to stick in the bottle (It looks great in my kitchen).

After spending a few days playing with the focal points and metering today was the day. Today's lesson: Baby steps to manual mode... at least I get to take baby steps. I just spent 30 min figuring out the in-camera light meter. With a little help from the new lights Mike got to help us start our garden I got a very nice picture (along with some very NOT nice ones) of my vinegar bottle.

05: love to hate

2011-02-08T17:04:00.006-05:00

I am a little behind... SURPRISE... but don't give up on me yet!

Day five was something that drives you nuts. Oh boy, the possibilities for this! ;-)

I am working on not letting everything Mike does that make me say "WHY?" bug me. But one thing that I just can't let go is, in the van, when I am driving down the road talking to him, and it is his turn to respond or say SOMETHING, and I glance over to the passenger seat, and he is on his phone looking up something or emailing! It drives me NUTS! I didn't think taking a picture of Mike on his phone while I was driving down the road was the best idea so I took a picture of IT...

I am now learning my camera's selective focal points and exploring my metering more. I still have to find in the manual how to toggle my focal points... I always just push the picture taking button halfway down and if what I want focused isn't in a little box I try again. Hehehe! I am nervous about taking the camera off auto mode. But I'll work on it.

04: what they wear

2011-02-04T12:37:00.004-05:00

This was a fun assignment, photograph your loved one's clothes, accessories, shoes, pjs, diapers, training pants, etc. For the camera tip of the day I got to explore my camera's metering.

What is more perfect for this task than Mia's socks? They NEVER match! For her birthday she asked Grandma Nancy for socks she could miss match and got a gift bag full of fun socks.

03: then and now

2011-02-03T21:32:00.006-05:00

Three days in and I am still doing good! Today's assignment was to show what has changed since you first met your loved one. For the lesson she talked about cropping both with the camera and in photo editing software.

I think if Mike wasn't in San Francisco I would have use him. I am amazed at how much older marrying me has made him look! (Maybe when I pick him up tomorrow I will add an extra day 3 to the blog.) But this little guy has changed so much in the last 3 years! You would think I would remember that babies grow up fast but I guess not. Today Mia called home from school for a ride (she had thought she was getting picked up so didn't get on the bus). I told Gabriel that we needed to go pick up Mia from school because she missed the bus and his response was... "Oh no, don't tell me that".

02: how they look

2011-02-02T12:10:00.011-05:00

Today's assignment is to capture the true essence/attitude of your loved one. Some of the idea's given are their facial expression, in pjs, in a typical outfit for them, funny face they make (the list goes on).

The little skill I get out of the lesson today is camera position. This was not hard for me to do with today's loved one because it was Mia and she is just about as tall as I am. That makes it easy to have my camera on the same plane as my subject.

Mia had a snow day today (along with A LOT of other people) and before she even got out of her pjs she went outside to try her new snowshoes (that Santa brought her for Christmas)! So here is Mia and "how she looks" all dressed up to go romping through the snow.

01: what they do

2011-02-01T20:25:00.010-05:00

Today's assignment for the joy of LOVE was to document your loved ones "doing" something they "do". I am sure most of the pictures for this class will be of Gabriel because I am home with him all day (and he is so cute) and who really has time at the end of the day to get the camera out? Between making dinner, cleaning up dinner and getting the kids ready for bed... not me!

The lesson today was about indoor lighting, how to find it in your home and catchlights.

So here it is... Gabriel doing two things he does... making a mess with the games and playing with trains! It was nice and sunny today and we have huge windows so I had no problem finding my light.

BONUS PICTURE: Something else I love doing what it does... food... cooking.

Goodbye New Year's

2011-02-01T06:53:00.005-05:00

Looks like I skipped right over the holidays and right over all of January (who likes January anyway, it is cold and dark). I will do a Christmas time post because I have a goose story to tell you. I just have to find a few more pictures.

Over the next month I am taking a FREE online photography class given by Willette Designs (thanks Nicole for posting the link to this great way of getting my butt back into my blog). The class is called "the joy of LOVE" and it starts today! Everyday I will get an e-mail with a task/moment to look for during the day along with a small tutorial on photography and how to improve your (or get some) skills. It's not to late to sign up, just CLICK THIS LINK!

Birthdays

2010-12-17T20:33:00.008-05:00

I am now the mother of an 11 year old! Every time I think of my little girl as being a middle schooler I am flabbergasted! I don't have another word for it... I can't believe it but my baby is growing up. I know, this post is a month and a half late but that's ok... so is Mia's birthday gift. She is so hard to find the perfect gift for because she doesn't ask for "stuff". So although her birthday was the 9th of November I just this week figured out what we are giving Mia for her 11th birthday. She decided for her birthday she wants to give her school library money to get more Accelerated Reader tests. What a girl!!!

Gabriel's Birthday #3 being the day after Thanksgiving was pretty low key. Mike and Gabriel went on a BIG tractor at Grandma Kathy's cousin's and Mike's mom and dad came over along with my mom and Jon for cake (cranberry coffee cake) that Mia and I made. He is growing up fast and before I know it he will be 11!!!

Croissants

2010-11-30T12:03:00.001-05:00

Going to Paris so often has definitely spoiled Mike in the food and drink categories. His usual French breakfast is two croissants and an espresso. Every time he comes home he wants to try to make croissants and we finally did.

It is a long process so we decided to grab a wine six pack from cork n' cap and spend the night at Ron & Chloe's and give the croissants a try.

After making the dough roll it out and let it chill for an hour

While the dough is chilling the fun part comes... pound the butter flat with a rolling pin.

Roll the dough out again and fold it into thirds around the butter

Now for the next few hours the dough has to be chilled-rolled-folded. So it becomes layers of dough and butter.

(Chloe had a few 1/2 bottles of wine in the fridge so we hardly touched our six pack)

When the rolling and folding is done let it chill overnight.

In the morning you shape the croissants, let rise for an hour and bake.

They turned out so yummy! I also read you can freeze them after they have risen. Then at night take them out of the freezer to thaw overnight and pop them in the oven in the morning.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Vacation

2010-10-27T09:56:00.012-04:00

Back in the summer of 2009 Cori and Paul found out that Paul's sister was going to be getting married in Orlando in the fall of 2010. Cori thought "Orlando, YES! I haven't been to see my Nana in way too long and she is only and hour from Orlando." What a perfect opportunity to get us together and spend some much needed time with our Grandma. So the planning began...

Mike, Allison, Jacob, Mia, Gabriel, and I flew into Orlando on Friday (the same day as the wedding) and drove the hour and twenty minutes to Paisley. When we got there, of course, Nana had food waiting for us (tortillas, pork chili, and beans).

Saturday Cori and Paul drove up and we spent all day sitting around talking and "practicing to be old ladies" (a.k.a. crocheting and knitting), oh and eating.

Sunday Nickie and Rascal drove down to spend a couple of days with us. It was so great to be able to see them! Sunday night we had a fire at my Aunt & Uncle's house by the lake and drank some wine. Thankfully the bear waited till we went to bed before coming to see if we left any food unattended.

Monday we got up at 5:00 to say goodbye to Cori and Paul. After a little bit more sleep Allison, Nickie, and I took the big kids to Universal's Islands of Adventure so we could go to the new Harry Potter theme park and Mike took Gabriel to Disney's Animal Kingdom! The kids (and adults) had a great day. Mia rode her first, second, and third roller coasters and Gabriel got to meet one of his new favorite guys, Donald Duck!

Tuesday we spent the day relaxing. Nickie and I went to check out a few hiking trails and springs before she had to go back home. We took the paddle boat out on the lake, played in the sand pile, and went to bed early.

Wednesday off to the beach we went. We drove down to Cocoa Beach and spent to day in the sun and waves. Gabriel loved the water and Jacob had fun burying Mia up to her neck. We all slept very well that night.

Thursday was another day of relaxing and homework! I know homework, on vacation? But that's what happens when you skip school to go to Florida!! Allison and I took the kids to the library (that's a new thing in tiny little Paisley, FL) so they could cram in lots of homework time.

Then it was Friday, time to fly home. It is always nice to come home after being away, but coming home to a house you love is so much better. Mike's cousin Hillary stayed at our house with the dogs and everyone did great.

Keeping Warm

2010-10-21T10:10:00.007-04:00

What kind of old farm house would we have without a wood burning furnace?

So far heating with wood is going great. We did have a few days that is got REALLY warm in the house (so warm we had to open all the windows). But after Mike got the furnace figured out it stays pretty consistent. We are also very lucky to have an abundance of dead trees available for us to use (saving money). Not to mention cutting the trees and splitting the logs are great exercises for my computer geek. ;-)
It is a lot of work but over all I think we are going to like this chore. The kids are pitching in as well, gathering sticks, loading the wood onto the trailer to bring home and piling it into the basement.

They took the wagon around the yard looking for sticks

and got quite the pile!

Helping daddy start the fire.

"Mommy don't touch it. It is berry berry berry HOT."

Into the basement it goes.

Papa O had the brilliant idea to use an old slide for this job.

Blueberry Oat Muffins

2010-09-30T11:23:00.002-04:00

Today was the perfect day to try out this delicious looking blueberry muffin recipe in my new issue of Hobby Farm Home magazine. So this morning Gabriel helped me whip up a batch. They are super yummy... this is definitely going to be recipe used regularly around our house!

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
2/3 cup sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups blueberries
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In large bowl, combine dry ingredients and stir well. Fold in blueberries. In small bowl, beat eggs, milk, oil & vanilla. Add liquid to dry ingredient and stir until thick. Bake in muffin tin for 20 minutes.

He even lined the muffin tin all by himself

Broken Computer: Update

2010-09-29T09:10:00.004-04:00

We got our computer back from Apple yesterday... the hard drive was dead (just what we thought) and NO I didn't have it backed up. Most of the pictures from before Gabriel was born I had on disks. A lot of the pictures I took in the last two and a half years have been from my phone (all still saved on the phone thank goodness) but I have no pictures from Gabriel's birth or his first 8 months. I am just really glad we have lots of Grandmas that like to take lots of pictures of the kids cause I am going to need some. (I bet I have some on Facebook.) The only other thing I am bummed about are the 100+ episodes of Curious George we had on it! George is on iTunes so we can just save up our "Entertainment" budget and get them that way (or hope for iTunes gift cards for Christmas) and back them up!!!

What is this THING?

2010-09-16T11:13:00.001-04:00

I found this at the local farm market (Adams Farm) and couldn't pass it up!

They had it labeled "Peanut Squash". After googling "peanut squash" all I could find were links to Delicata Squash (also called a peanut squash). So I did what any other googler would do... I googled "squash with peanut like wart" and found some people are calling them "Peanut Pumpkins". Come to find out it is called Galeux d'Eysines and it is a French heirloom traditionally used in soups and sauces. YUM!! I plan to put the 15 pound giant in the oven today.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Oh no... a broken computer

2010-09-15T21:45:00.001-04:00

I have a few updates but the computer broke (with pictures already on it). So I decided I had better get an app for blogging.

The best news is that Mia is LOVING her new school. She has started band and is playing flute. Her papa Ron (the Douglass one)(She has 3 papa Rons, a papa Jon and a papa Don!! That's a lot of "ONs".) has been working with her this summer because at her new school they start band in 5th grade. She also is running for class representative for student council. It was very surprising to me because Mia is very shy before she gets to know people. (according to Mike she is shy for a minute then she is in your lap.) But she told me "I'm going to be more outgoing and less shy at my new school". So, I guess a new school, a new Mia. We will find out if she will be on student council on Friday... I will keep you posted.

A Winter Garden

2010-09-05T08:54:00.010-04:00

We are starting to prepare our winter garden! The plan was to get a hoop house but we don't want to spend all that money right now. So we are going to go with low tunnels this year. I am very excited about veggies from the garden this winter cause I had a lot of fun with my garden this summer. BUT next summer should be even better if I get a earlier start (we couldn't start the garden till June this year when we got the house) (that's 3 month later than I would have liked to start things). Here are some pictures...

Bean plants (before beans)

Crookneck squash

One of the 37 tomato plants (all kinds of varieties) this happens to be one of the 2 kinds of cherry tomatoes we had.

Watermelon

Eggplant (I thought I had a picture of this guy when he was all grown up but I can't seem to find it.)

I also planted Beets (never made it past the sprouts cause I put them in the ground too late), Zucchini (just started making its fruit cause I started them too late), Sweet Potatoes (not time to dig them up yet), Peppers (got about 2 bells and 10 jalapeño), Cantaloupe (got one that we ate today it was yummy!), Broccoli, Cabbage and Cauliflower (that the woodchuck ate ALL OF the same night I put them in the ground!!!). That's what is great about having a garden... There is always next year.

But we did get 21 bags of this Tomato Glut Sauce roasted and in the

freezer for the winter. I can't wait to eat it!!

Our Monarch Butterfly

2010-09-02T08:30:00.000-04:00

Between having Nickie and Aunt Cori home, Mia had her cousins spend the night. As Cora was dropping Ryan and Emma off she found a monarch caterpillar in our field that was ready to form its chrysalis. We took it in the house with some milkweed and put it in a box with plastic over the front so we could see what it did. Cora told us what to watch for so we could see it form the chrysalis and watch it when it was opening up. We missed watching both of these amazing acts of nature because when we woke up the next morning it was a chrysalis and it popped out when we were shopping for school clothes. But the kids LOVED watching the butterfly fly away!

Cori's Visit Home

2010-09-01T14:10:00.000-04:00

As we all know Mike is traveling a lot for work these days. He had a two week trip to Paris in the middle of August but didn't leave me home to fend for myself this time. He used some of his airline miles to fly Cori home for a week (what a great husband)! We had a lot of fun and even got a few things done around the house, like painting the playroom. We didn't tell my dad she was coming home and that made a great birthday surprise for him.

Nickie's Visit Home

2010-08-29T13:45:00.001-04:00

Nickie hadn't really planed on coming home for her birthday this year. I told her I was going to have a party for her 30th birthday with or without her, so north she headed!! She had a family reunion the same weekend so it worked out great. She and Rascal drove up on a Thursday and stayed with us until Wednesday. We had a great birthday party on Saturday and did a lot of "home" running around getting things for her to take back with her that she can't get in Florida. We of course HAD to go to Ann Arbor and we snuck in a trip to IKEA. The visit was way too short and I miss her already.

Picnic In The Yard

2010-08-18T23:56:00.008-04:00

Having a big yard that isn't taken over by dogs for the kids to play in is the best thing! Mia loves being able to take Gabriel out for adventures and to explore. They also love to pack their backpacks to have picnics. I snuck along the first time and got some cute pictures.

Cupcakes From The Last Few Months

2010-08-16T23:29:00.006-04:00

Kathy's Birthday

Nickie's 30th Birthday Luau

Chloe's Birthday

My Helpers

2010-08-16T15:21:00.008-04:00

The kids had a blast washing the van in the hot weather we had earlier this month.

What's New?

2010-08-08T09:12:00.009-04:00

A LOT...

It's safe for me to say now (or really MONTHS ago) that Mike's company CommerceGuys merged with a French company af83, hence all the trips to Paris Mike gets to take. He is getting ready to head that way two times in the next 30 days! Business is going good for them and they are all very excited about what the can accomplish in the world of e-commerce web development.

We found a GREAT deal on a GREAT house that we fit in, even Dutchess (our 130lb Great Dane). We have 7 acres, 2 barns, a pump house with a windmill (great place for a playhouse) and a chicken coop (I really hope to have chickens next year). The first thing we did was till up some land for the garden. :)

Because we moved Mia is getting ready to start the new school year at a new school. At her new school middle school starts in 6th grade! At her old school she wouldn't have started middle school till 7th... I though I had another year before I had a middle schooler! We are both a little nervous...

So now that we live in the middle of nowhere having one car is becoming a bit irritating (thank you Don & Kathy for letting Mike use the 4runner when we need it). But Mike just bought a new truck... OK not at all NEW. It is an old 1980's Chevy pick-up truck from the military complete with camo paint... Yikes! I'm not sure when I moved to the country that I signed up to have a hillbilly truck too. I am working very hard on talking Mike into getting it painted... wish me luck!

Papa O's Birthday

2010-03-09T08:00:00.005-05:00

Today is Papa O's birthday! On Sunday we went out to Grandma and Papa's house for dinner with Uncle Bob and Laura to celebrate. Grandma Kathy made prime rib, chicken, cheesy potatoes and broccoli salad (YUM) and I made cupcakes! One of Papa's hobbies is scuba diving so when I found the "shark attack" cupcakes I figured if I just added a dive flag it would be perfect. They turned out great after a few shark catastrophes. One thing I was disappointed about is that I used white cupcake papers. (I bought blue papers but didn't use them?!?!)

Happy Birthday Papa O we love you!

Lazy Triathlon

2010-03-04T13:53:00.008-05:00

During the month of March at the Jackson YMCA they are having their annual "LAZY TRIATHLON". I thought about doing this last year but decided not to because COME ON it's a lot more running, biking and swimming (I don't swim!) than I do even in a month!!! BUT this year I am going to give it a shot. Better yet, Lisa and I are going to give it a shot (on our own). We will see maybe next year I will sign up to do it and get the T-shirt.

There are four goal levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Ironman. I am of course opting for the Bronze level! SO... as of March 1st I had 31 days to:

Bike 50 miles
Run/Walk 20 miles &
Swim 2 miles (144 lengths of the pool) EEK!!

I started a day late so that didn't help but I think I am off to a good start now. I have started an on-line log at running-log.com. If you would like to see how this is going for me HERE IS THE LINK. For the sake of keeping track I am logging my running and walking just as running. Don't for a minute think that I ran 3 miles in 3 days (I can only run about 1/8 of a mile right now without feeling like I'm going to die!).

Happy Birthday Grandma Teresa

2010-03-02T10:00:00.005-05:00

I finally got the chance to use one of my Christmas presents that I was most excited about. My mom got me a cookbook that is full of super cute, fun cupcakes called Hello Cupcake! Last Thursday was her birthday so I made her "a box of chocolates". I was so happy with how they turned out! The best part is Papa O's birthday is in a week and I can't wait to make his cupcakes. :~)

Big Bed, Big Boy!

2010-02-23T12:45:00.003-05:00

It seems to me that this happens every time... Mike leaves on a business trip and Gabriel has some huge developmental milestone.

Mike went to Paris for the week and now Gabriel is sleeping in his "Big Bed". Which right now is just a twin mattress on the floor that we put in his room after painting and getting new carpet (before that he was sleeping in Mia's old VERY pink room). He would lay down in the "Big Bed" and would pretend to sleep but always wanted in his crib to go to sleep. The past two nights he crawled into the bed and said "Go night momma" and has been sleeping all night!

Today after we took Mia to school we went to Target so he could pick out a blanket (or "bacon" is how Gabriel says it) for his bed. I was sure he was going to pick the Disney Cars set that they have, he did notice it and wanted to hold it but then told me "Oh-key back" and wanted me to put it back on the shelf. He did pick one with vehicles on it that I do really like...

Mia's Dress

2010-02-21T20:24:00.009-05:00

As you can tell I am NOT doing very well with the catch up blogging. So I have officially decided to "skip over" the last four months and work on now. I did just find the camera that had been missing for the past few months and put all the pictures on the computer so I can work on catching up some. It is also important to keep up so...

If you don't already know Mia is WAY into fashion design (She already has plans of attending The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago for their Fashion Design-Bachelor of Fine Arts program) and is always sketching up designs in her notebooks. Last week Mia had Monday off of school and Grandma Teresa had no work, what a perfect time for a little Grandma/Mia project. They took her notebook to JoAnn's and picked out fabric for two of Mia's designs. The plan was to get the stuff they needed for the two outfits and work on getting it all cut and ready to sew for "next time". So I was very surprized when I walked in and Mia was wearing her very first dress that SHE herself had designed! She planed on wearing it to her Daddy/Daughter Dance that Girl Scouts had on Friday but they didn't make it to the dance... she did however get to wear it bowling!

Halloween @ Home

2009-12-03T14:12:00.001-05:00

Sometime before I took off for Mexico we did all the fun pumpkin carving, costume making, Halloween-ish fun. This was the best time I have ever had carving pumpkins! I just loved watching Gabriel scoop his pumpkin's guts back INTO his pumpkin, it was so funny.

Don't worry, I didn't forget to make sure the kids would have a great Halloween without me. Mia went to Lansing to spend the night with her cousins. They had nursery rhyme themed costumes so Mia decided to be Jill as in "Jack and Jill". Her costume turned out super cute and she had lots of fun (as always) with Ryan, Emma, Katy & Lucy.

Gabriel and Mike flew the coop on Halloween to relax at Grandma Kathy and Papa's house. Gabriel's costume was a shirt I found at Target that said "Mummy says I'm sweeter than all this candy."

My Halloween Trip

2009-12-02T11:47:00.000-05:00

For Halloween it was my turn to take a trip. I went on my first cruise with Nickie and a few friends that live in Panama City Beach. We had so much fun!!!

I flew to New Orleans (also my first time in New Orleans) on the 30th where Nickie picked me up from the airport after her 5 hour drive. After having a great night in New Orleans (seeing all the people up and down Bourbon Street in there costumes) we boarded the Carnival Fantasy. We had two stops in Mexico on our trip, Progreso and Cozumel. After returning to New Orleans I had about 3 hours before I had to get to the airport so we spent that time walking around New Orleans and enjoying the nice sunny day.

I am glad I got the chance to take this very needed vacation but nothing beats coming home to your family.

Then It Was Time For School

2009-12-01T11:25:00.002-05:00

I know Mia loves summer vacation but she is always so happy to go back to school (we will see how long this lasts). Here are a few pictures from the end of summer, beginning of fall and Mia's 5th grade school picture. She looks so grown up!

Mia's 5th grade school picture.

Going for a walk.

Waiting for "Sissy Mia" to get home from school.

Mia made this chicken noodle soup all on her own and WOW was it good.

More Summer Updates

2009-11-18T12:40:00.008-05:00

As I said in the last post Mike was gone A LOT this summer. I just got the calender out and counted the days he was home. Starting from June 26th and going till October 20th Mike was home exactly 59 days! (Huh, that means he was gone 59 days, no wonder he get free first class upgrades now.) He went to Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco (2 times), Cologne Germany & Paris (2 times).

During his last trip to Paris we had quite the trying day at home. Gabriel was having a hard time breathing, took him to the doctor's (asthmatic bronchitis). Got home from the doctor to find that Dutchess had punctured her foot on something in the backyard (blood was all over the kitchen & dining room), took her to the vet to get stitches and they had to tie off two arteries. And Mia called from school, she was sick and needed to come home. But don't worry we had lots of fun days when Mike was gone too. Here are a few pictures to end our summer updates (well into fall).

Mia's outfit Mike brought back from Paris

Rust & Dust Days in Hanover (he sure loves tractors)

Playing in the sprinkler

I sure have busy kids! This is one of the very few pictures I got of them both this summer.

Summer Road Trips

2009-11-12T16:31:00.012-05:00

Because Mike was so busy this summer with his work stuff we didn't go on any long vacations. We did however get to take a few quick trips for some fun family time!

*At the end of June Cousin Krista (Peter's cousin) got married in Madison, WI. Mike didn't get to go with us because he had to be in Denver and Gabriel spent the weekend with Grandma Kathy (I was not about to attempt to corral this busy body alone at a wedding). Even without our two guys we had a van full, Peter, Lisa, Mia, Myles, Carson, and me! We had lots of fun hanging out with everyone. I am so lucky that I still have such a wonderful relationship with this part of my family!

*The weekend after the wedding was the 4th of July and once again we headed west (slightly). We went to Great-grandma Douglass' (Peter's Grandma) 4th of July party (and Mike came with us)! It was raining but that didn't stop us from having tons of fun. The kids played in the yard with umbrellas and we had lots of fun with the African drums.

*When Nickie was home at the end of July to celebrate her birthday/move all her stuff down to Florida we took a trip to Cedar Point. It had been 9 years since I had gone! And I loved it just as much. :)

Nickie was home for a week (not long enough but I guess I will take what I can get) then I helped her drive her 26 foot Penske truck the 993 miles to Panama City Beach. That sure was an adventure! I am sure you heard all about it if you follow us on Twitter or watch our status updates on Facebook. It was an early morning!

Why are we up at 4am? Oh cause we have to drive across the country with this truck full!

Girl Scout Camp

2009-10-29T13:34:00.011-04:00

As I told you WAY back in June... Mia went to two camps this summer. She had such a great time meeting new friends and learning new skills.

Packing for camp!

In June she went to Art Explosion for three nights, we wanted to start off slow just to see how things would go. The first night she was a little nervous and said she didn't sleep at all that night. In the morning she fell asleep at breakfast, after rest time they couldn't wake her up, and she fell asleep DURING painting. She did however paint an awesome picture. After getting to know the girls and her counselors she had a great time and didn't have trouble sleeping at night. When I went to pick her up she was NOT ready to leave.

So Sleepy

Mia's painting

In August she went to Trial Blazers where she got to learn the importance of horses to the pioneers and basic Western Horsemanship skills. I would have to say I think this was her favorite part of the summer. Mia had a pony named Anne. They played musical stalls (like musical chairs) on the horses with roped off "stalls" to practice getting them in and out. The best part is she got to scoop the horse poop and now says "cleaning the dog poop out of the yard in not really that bad" BONUS!

One post in SIX months?

2009-10-29T13:27:00.002-04:00

I keep waiting till I "feel like Blogging" and I am starting to realize that is not going to happen until I just do it. But really, one post in six months, there is just no excuse for it. So this is it, I am back. I am going to start updating you with a few things (and pictures) that happend over the summer.

It's Summer

2009-06-12T11:29:00.007-04:00

It has been over a month since I posted anything and I have no excuse, sorry for my lack of bolggingness. A few updates from the last month...

Mia is now a FIFTH GRADER!
Gabriel is saying new words everyday. Some of them include: Dandi (the dog), fish, yes, no, bye-bye, eyes, and a number of other "words" that I can't make out yet. (And some I can't think of right now)
Aunt Allison got Gabriel a pair of squeaky shoes and he loves them. She put a video on her facebook page (if you are her friend you can see it). Too cute.

Now that it is summer vacation Mia is going to be a very busy girl. Some of the things she has planned are:

Participating in the library's summer reading program. (they are doing it different this year) They have 3 activity sheets to complete. Mia is done with the first one already! She did things like read a book by an author you never read before, read a biography, and read a non fiction book.

Spend the weekend in Lansing with her cousins.
Go to "Art Explosion" Girl Scout camp for 3 nights.
Take a trip to Madison, WI with me to go to cousin Krista's wedding. While Mike is in Denver and Gabriel is hanging out with Grandma Kathy.
Go to Great Grandma Douglass' huge 4th of July party!
See Aunt Cori & Uncle Paul when they come home HOUSE HUNTING!!
Visit with Nickie when she comes home for her birthday.
Spend a week at Girl Scout camp learning about horses (how to ride them and take care of them).

We are also going to try and fit a few family getaways in there sometime. Wow summer just started and I can tell it is going to be over before we know it.

So About This Derby...

2009-04-26T07:52:00.006-04:00

It's a good thing Mia had such a great time building her car with Papa, because the poor car would not even pass the finish line! The funny thing about this is that Mia's best friend Haylee's car also would not pass the finish line. I think they "cared" for about 10 minutes then it was off to play on the playground and eat cake! They did both get medals and had lots of fun watching their cars race.

The "Computer Fun" cake Papa Don bought (and Mia ate)

Haylee & Mia with their medals

Powder Puff Derby

2009-04-24T21:55:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow Mia's Girl Scout troop is competing in a pinewood derby. She and Papa Ron (Peter's dad) spent two days last weekend working on her derby car and it turned out GREAT! It was fun watching her take her time painting, she is normally in such a hurry with everything she does. And at the derby for family partnership Mia's troop is selling cakes representing a Junior Girl Scout badge. Mia picked "Healthy Relationships".

I will be sure to let you know how everything goes tomorrow.

First Hair Cut

2009-04-24T12:47:00.003-04:00

Gabriel's hair was getting a little WILD, so Mike took him to the "barbershop" in Meijer to get it cut. I sent him armed with chocolate milk and a toy computer. We didn't get any pictures during the trim but I did take a before and after shot. Now he looks less like a baby and more like a little boy!

Easter Days

2009-04-22T10:17:00.008-04:00

We had a lot of Easter celebrations this year.

First we had Easter Dinner at Grandma Kathy's a week before Easter so that Mike's brother Patrick, his wife Jill, and their new baby girl Ava could be with us. Gabriel got his first beater of whipped cream to "clean up" and of course loved it.

Then on to the egg dying... We colored the eggs on Friday, Gabriel had decided that he wanted to go home with Grandma Kathy when she stopped by after school so he missed out. That's ok though, because Logan helped out instead. I got two different kits to use (and not one regular dip the egg in the dye kind) they where both MESSY! (but that's the fun right?)

On Easter Day we had Grandma Kathy & Papa Don and Grandma Teresa & Papa Jon over. We played Mario Kart on the Wii (My birthday gift from Mike :)) and Gabriel shared his chocolate bunny with anyone who could look past all the baby slime on it. Later that evening Uncle Rich invited us over for an egg hunt and dinner with LOTS of great food!

Mobile Blogging? Huh, Let's Try.

2009-04-21T09:45:00.004-04:00

Well I can't seem to keep up with my blogging because it seems like I never get a chance to get on the computer. So I thought maybe "mobile blogging" would help me keep you up to date. We will see how it works. Now I just have figure out how to get picture from my phone to Blogger.

Our Easter post is late, but I do have some cute picture to post. And Gabriel's first hair cut, Wow I am behind!

Spring Break Road Trip. Part 1

2009-04-06T11:33:00.006-04:00

For spring break Grandma Chloe, Lisa, Myles, Carson, Mia, Gabriel, and I decided to take a road trip to Cincinnati for some of their famous chili.

We got on the road at 9am on Wednesday and headed south. That night we stayed in Dayton to check out the National Air Force Museum. Gabriel loved walking around he walked almost the whole time. That did slow us down a bit so I didn't get many pictures of Mia and Myles. Mia's favorite was the Fokker D. VII, she said it looked like a plane Barbie would have flown in the war.

On Thursday the weather was gorgeous so we decided to go to the Cincinnati Zoo before we checked into our hotel. That evening we walked around downtown, ate at Skyline Chili, and had wonderful ice cream at Graeter's (the blueberry pie ice cream is soooo yummy).

Falling Down

2009-03-18T21:20:00.003-04:00

Of course the very next post after one about a new walker would be about falling...

Saturday I went with Mike's cousin Cara to a women's expo and to a movie. After the movie I called the boys to see what they were doing and they just happened to be at Outback waiting for a table for dinner (perfect timing). Two minutes later I got a call, Gabriel was walking around on the sidewalk and fell. Mike said he got a "little" scratch and sent me a picture.

Mike said he didn't cry much and by the time he got it cleaned up and I got home this sad little boy was "Happy Gabe" again. It has turned into quite the nice scab. I am just dreading the next bump. I think he has fallen 5 times more already that Mia did by this age. I don't remember any major bumps or falls with her.

And He's Off!

2009-03-09T21:16:00.005-04:00

Gabriel is walking!! He is so proud of himself. I think it was last week he decided to try to brave a few steps without holding on to anything. Already he is going so far. Mike took him outside to walk around today and said he walked down the sidewalk for about two houses.

A Few More Updates:

Gabriel got his first set of molars. He has been working on them for awhile and they are finally all here. That is 12 teeth total!

Curious George is "his movie" I know kids "should not watch TV until they are at least 2" but he LOVES it. So I let him!

Anytime he wants something he points to it and says "momma"??? He was doing this with Grandma Kathy this weekend and I was nowhere around. (Really Gabriel, I am not the only one who can meet your needs!!!)

Miss Mia had a Daddy Daughter Dance at school last month and had so much fun.

Like Father, Like Son

2009-02-17T13:04:00.003-05:00

Gabriel is getting more and more like Mike everyday, in the technological sense that is. He knows how to work our iPhones, the computer, and is even getting good at playing tennis on the Wii! He can't quite swing the racket at the right time to hit the ball yet but I am sure that is not far off. What he can (and has done a lot) is call people. Grandma Kathy and Grandma Teresa get the most surprise calls. I walk in the living room after a few minutes and he is talking about who knows what. Last week he even thought it would be a good idea to call Mia's school. I finally put a passcode that you have to enter before the phone will unlock so hopefully that will cut back on my outgoing call log.

Breast Cancer Awareness Week

2009-02-12T23:49:00.003-05:00

Last week Michigan Center School District had Breast Cancer Awareness Week. They had a different "theme" each day, the kids payed $.25 a day and they could dress according to the theme. Mia's favorites were mix-match day & pajama day!

The kids also had a coin drive to raise money for breast cancer research. Mia had decided a while ago that when her piggy bank was full she was going to give it to a charity. It was not quite full but Monday she emptied it and took all her money to school.

"The Cousins" Sleepover

2009-02-04T10:01:00.006-05:00

Over Christmas break Mia had her cousins Ryan and Emma over for sleepovers.

First it was Emma's turn. We went to Grandma Chloe and Papa's house to hangout with Uncle Rob visiting from Germany and the rest of the gang. The first thing Emma said when I walked in the door was "Is it time to go to Mia's house yet?" she was super excited to be having a sleepover. We didn't get home until late so the girls pretty much just went to bed. But that didn't matter cause it was a sleepover! In the morning I made waffles for breakfast and the girls headed up to Mia's room to play. Until Grandma Chloe and Aunt Cora came to take them to see "The Tale of Despereaux" part of their Christmas gift from Aunt Cora and Uncle Dave. Mia was so excited to see the movie, she had just finished the book and started to read it to Emma for a bedtime story the night before.

After the movie Grandma and Aunt Cora dropped Mia and Ryan off for his sleepover party turn. After a lot of playing school in Mia's room we ordered a pizza and wings and had movie night. In the morning it was waffles for breakfast again and back to Grandma's to drop Ryan off so he could head back to Lansing.

Two Year Anniversary!

2009-01-17T21:35:00.005-05:00

Ya this post is late but oh well...

On December 16th, 2006 Mike and I had the PERFECT wedding. And for our 2 year anniversary I had the PERFECT surprise planned. This is how it was going to work...

Monday December 15th I was going to get Mia off to school (she was going to stay with Grandma Chloe & Papa) and drop Gabriel off at Grandma Nancy & Papa's. Then come home and tell Mike to get in the van, no information about anything. I had made reservations at Chateau Chantal, a Bed & Breakfast/winery located on the Old Mission Peninsula just north of Traverse City.

What happened you are asking, why did I say "had a plan" and "was going to". Gabriel was in the hospital with croup :( poor baby. So we did get our night away, but not the one I had imagined. But one night in the hospital and Gabe was back to his happy self.

Christmas time WAS here

2009-01-10T20:00:00.010-05:00

I have been trying to get this post up for some time now. Then we (yes we all) got THE FLU! But now all is well and I AM going to get this post done. This was a WONDERFUL Christmas! We got to see a lot of family that we don't get to see very often.

Aunt Cori and Uncle Paul came home for 4 days! I really did get spoiled seeing my sister so much during the spring and summer, and I was so glad they got to come home. EVERY year ALL of my life we get together with my mom's side of the family for Christmas Eve. It was so great to have Cori and Paul (for the first time) there with us this year.

Another thing I do every Christmas Eve is get the kids new Christmas jammies, but this year I decided to TRY and make them. I picked out some super cute blue flannel with snowmen for the pants. First I cut Gabriel's pants out (I really did it!). I was super excited because I have never been good at cutting patterns out (they are never straight). Next on to Mia's pants, after what seemed to be another successful pattern cut out I took a closer look and found out, I CUT TWO right legs. :( I went back to JoAnn's for almost a month with no luck looking for more of the flannel. It is a good thing I have an Awesome mom (who by the way made both my sister's and my own wedding dresses). I took my two right legs and the rest of the flannel to her house and Mia got her jammies. By that time i just let Grandma sew the rest of the stuff. They turned out just how I wanted.

As always Christmas was a whirlwind of a day. We woke up and found out Santa not only thought of the kids but brought the whole family a Wii! Wow Santa, I am not sure the chalk board that we got Mia and the chair for Gabriel can quite measure up to that. Next year you might wanna tone it down a little. Oh and, Gabriel was so cute looking in his stocking!

Next it was off to Grandma Kathy's for Christmas breakfast, she makes eggs benedict every year (yum). Mike and I even got to take a nap after breakfast.

On the way to my Dad's house for Christmas we stopped at Grandma Chloe's to take Mia so she could spend the day with her dad. We stayed for a little to watch the kids open their gifts and headed out. We met up with Cori at my Dad's house and spent some good down time making bouncy balls (a gift my brothers got) and watching movies.

The next plan was to go back to Ron & Chloe's house to hang out the rest of the evening but by the time we left my dad's house it was already past Gabe's bedtime and Mike was also worn-out. I dropped the boys off and went to Cook Rd on my own. Ron made the kids catapults and got them A LOT of ammo (ping pong balls & squishy soft balls) so of course we had to have a full out catapult launch in the living room! At around 9ish everyone headed home after a long day of good food and great family fun. Everyone but me :) I stayed until 11:00 playing canasta with just Ron & Chloe. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful holiday.

Santa Face Cookies

2008-12-21T23:54:00.007-05:00

Grandma Kathy has a Christmas tradition that started when she was a little girl, her Aunt Joene used to make "Santa Face Cookies" every year. When Mike was in kindergarden Kathy started her yearly "Santa Face Cookie" extravaganza. Last Saturday she started cutting cookies at 7:30. We got out the door at 9 and still arrived in time to help cut out the Santas. Mia is becoming quite the helper, she made the eyes, mouths, sprinkled the hats and put most of the coconut on the beards. I am so glad we can be a part of this tradition, I know it is something that Mia will remember forever.

Christmas Countdown

2008-12-10T13:53:00.003-05:00

Only two weeks until Christmas Eve already. I thought I was doing good starting my Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving (not something I normally do). We put our tree up last weekend (last year I think we got a tree the weekend before Christmas) and even got it decorated. We decided to use Nickie's artificial tree this year, it fits in the little space we have perfectly. I didn't want to put the tree in the living room this year because I'm afraid Gabriel would try to climb it. One thing I wanted to find this year was a Christmas countdown something, I found one in a magazine that I wanted to make but guess what, NO TIME. But I did find one at Target on sale for $20 that I love.

A Letter

2008-12-09T18:53:00.003-05:00

Last night when I went to bed I found this on my pillow.

"Hi mommy, gabey Baby Is screming
and me and Him
want to thank
You for every thing
yove done for us
Love you lots,

gabey Baby and
Mia Pia Pricess

XO XO XO XO XO XO"

First Birthday!

2008-11-23T19:13:00.010-05:00

That's right, Gabriel will be ONE on Wednesday!

Today we had a Luau Birthday Party at Grandma Teresa's house to celebrate. I made the cake a "beach" with blue frosting for the ocean and graham crackers for the sand. Mia greeted everyone at the door with a lei and she also made a Hawaiian mixed CD from some songs on her iTunes (she is such a good helper). Gabriel got a lot of fun "big boy" toys and much needed new clothes. And he dug right into the cake!

Spaghetti

2008-11-23T19:07:00.003-05:00

Thought I would share some pictures from dinner last Thursday.

Nine

2008-11-15T11:30:00.010-05:00

Last Sunday Mia turned NINE! I still can't believe that I am the mother of a nine year old.

On Saturday we had a super fun "Backwards Party" at Grandma Chloe and Papa's house. The party "ended" at 1 and "started" at 4. When the guests arrived Mia greeted them with a "Goodbye I am glad you could come." The best part of the whole backwards theme, we got to eat cake FIRST. We forgot to take our camera to the party but I know there are pictures out there. I will ask around and post some later.

On Sunday we had a relaxing day at home with not much to do. (Hold on is this my birthday or Mia's?) She wanted to go to Red Lobster for dinner so she could get her favorite... crab legs.

3 months old

Nine years old

Halloween Fun

2008-11-02T08:26:00.006-05:00

I know this post has taken FOREVER for me to get to. Sorry for that but here it is.

This year Mia decided she didn't want to go "Trick-or-treating". I of course put up no argument and jumped at the chance to hit the high road and skip all the "in town" Halloween madness. So we decided to go have a quiet fun Halloween at Ron & Chloe's (Mia's dad's parents for those of you who might not know the Douglass family tree). She didn't miss out on candy entirely, she had no school on Halloween so we went to Grandma Kathy's school and Grandma Teresa's work and they both had treats for the kids.

Peter (Mia's dad), Mia, Gabe, Mike, and I went to Grandma and Papa's around 5. We had a LOT of fun cooking hot dogs on the fire. We also had a flashlight scavenger hunt, we had to find something for every letter of the alphabet (bonus points for halloween items). I made a super yummy brain to bring (made out of a watermelon).

I didn't get many good pictures of the kids in there costumes. Mia was a princess and Gabriel was her knight in shining armor. But here is what I did get...

Pumpkins

2008-10-30T18:21:00.009-04:00

A few weekends ago we made it out to finally get our pumpkins! The kids had so much fun and I got some very cute pictures. Not only did they get to ride around in a wagon but Gabriel crawled thought almost the entire patch.

Wednesday Veggies

2008-10-08T12:05:00.004-04:00

Grandma Kathy takes part in a CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) at Adams Farm Market in Hanover. It is where people get an assortment of farm fresh foods throughout the season. You pay at the beginning of the season and the money helps with costs the farmers have. Grandma Kathy gets so much stuff that she gives more than half of it to us every week! Wednesday is our veggie day and we are always excited to see what we get. So far this year I have canned tomatoes, dilly beans, dill pickles, made 2 batches of chili, eaten about 4 whole watermelons (myself), and we have some very yummy corn in the freezer for the winter. We also get 3 pumpkins this year as part of the share and Mia is very excited to go pick them out.

Fall Festival

2008-10-01T20:21:00.006-04:00

On Saturday we had our very first playdate (that we could make it to) with the Mom & Tot group that I joined back in April. My friend LeeAnn is a member and she is the one that got me interested. Anyway it started at 10:30 and guess what, I didn't leave the house until almost 11:20. Gabriel had a lot of fun for the hour he lasted (cutting into nap time mom!).

After the playdate we went to Grandma Kathy's to go to the Fall Festival in Hanover. Mike had a conference call so he stayed behind and was going to meet us. The best part was Gabriel got to take his first tractor pulled wagon ride. The festival is held at Heritage Park a plot of 82+ acres of farmland that the Hanover-Horton community raised funds to buy. The tractor pulled us around the fields of corn and soy beans, Gabriel loved every minute of it.

Flavor Fruit Farm

2008-09-25T23:31:00.004-04:00

Now that it is fall and officially apple season, we will be making lots of trips to Flavor Fruit Farm. Not that I have not already been out there but I am still looking forward to the next trip. Two weeks ago I took the first trip out of the year. And Gabriel's first of his life! It was a Wednesday afternoon so there where not a lot of people there and we got to spend a lot of time watching the animals.

Just posting about it is making me want to go tomorrow! I think we just might. :)

Classes

2008-09-25T23:05:00.004-04:00

I have so much to post about! the past few weeks have been super busy...

The kids are both taking swimming lessons at the YMCA and they both love it. We go two times a week and are there from 5:30 - 7:10.

Mia and Gabriel are not the only ones going to the YMCA these days. I have been taking a few classes with Nickie, and I think we have found a schedule that works great.

Monday ~ Yoga @ 8:30.

Wednesday ~ Shallow H2O aerobics @ 1:30 (our old lady class :) ).

Friday ~ more Shallow H2O aerobics @ 1:30.

Gabriel loves going to the child watch and is always so happy when I come to pick him up after class.

Speaking of taking classes Nickie and I also have taken a few classes at JoAnn's. (Remember Mia's crochet class) The same person that taught that teaches knitting. We took knitting 101 and to tell you the truth I like crocheting a lot more. Maybe it is because I don't have to think about crocheting as much but knitting seems a lot harder. I guess if I want to get better I have to keep trying. We also took Sewing 101, now this I loved. It just so happens that my cousin Jessica was taking the sewing class too (it is alway more fun to take a class with people you know). We are taking sewing 201 in October and are making a wrap skirt. I already have the fabric and everything!

Big Boy!

2008-09-08T20:49:00.006-04:00

We took Gabriel to his check up last Thursday and he is growing! He is not as heavy as I thought, but he now weighs 19.5 pounds and is 28 inches long. He also had his first dental appointment last week, I know it seems early but he has 8 teeth. Oh ya, he got a new tooth about two weeks ago. The dentist said they all look great and that he will get a break and the next few teeth that come in should be his first molars (that should be fun!)

So for a week or so Gabriel has shown "signs" that he wanted to try using a spoon. By "signs" I mean grabbing the spoon anytime it came anywhere near his mouth. The first try was very cute, once he figured out he could fling food with his spoon it was all over (and all over the room). He was so proud.

Daddy is Home!

2008-09-03T20:44:00.004-04:00

Mike had a wonderful time in Europe he did lots of fun things including climbing to the top of the Cologne Cathedral (that was Mia's favorite part of her trip to Germany last summer) and sneaking into a Hungarian rock concert! I will have to get more details to you on that later along with some of the million pictures he took. Don't worry there is NO WAY I am posting any of the hundred pictures he took of a presentation slide show???

Mia got her ears pierced. We are using a behavior reward system that we got from Mike's brother Brian. Mia has a pebble jar and earns pebbles for good behavior and looses pebbles for bad behavior. When the jar is full she gets a prize. She asked me if she could get her ears pierced about a month ago, I told her she had to ask her daddy and Mike what they thought about it first. She asked them and we decided that could be her next pebble prize. Well she filled up the jar and on Tuesday last week we went shopping for new shoes and to get her ears pierced. She is doing a great job taking care of them and they look super cute.

9 Months

2008-08-27T23:05:00.006-04:00

That's right, 9 months already. With Mike being gone this week, I scheduled Gabriel's 9 month check up for next Thursday. I will let you know all the fun height and weight stuff then. My guess is he weighs at least 21 pounds. But for now here are a few updates on what's new with Mr. Gabe.

* He is a talker~he has been very vocal all along but now he is starting say some words along with all the babble. His first was "mama" but he only said it twice so I am not even sure it was real. For sure he is saying "dada" and "bye-bye" although bye-bye comes most often after whoever has already walked out of the door. I noticed today he was making a sound that kind of sounded like when I am calling Mia down from her room. He did it every time I would call her. He stopped whatever he was doing, looked around, and kind of listened for her to come down the stairs. Somewhat like this:

Koleen: "MEE-ah"

Gabriel: "deeee-ah"

Anyway, it was very cute.

* He is starting to pull himself up with whatever he can grab onto. The crib rail was the first thing. It will not be long until he is trying to climb the stairs.

*He likes playing in the dog's water...Ewww! Anytime he gets a chance he is heading for it. He tipped it over once and got soaked. Now he just splashes in it for as long as he can before I pick him up and take him back into the other room. Then he is off again.

Trying to corral Gabriel while folding laundry. (This picture reminds me, I need to get online and order some diapers.)

Dog water, fun!

So true :)

Green Girl

2008-08-26T21:40:00.003-04:00

We try to be a health conscious ~ earth friendly family. I guess we are doing a good job because today shopping for school supplies Mia picked the Earth Friendly pencils (made from sustained yield forests) and Recycled paper and folder. She also reads the ingredients list on almost every thing she eats looking for the "Bad Partially Hydrogenated Word" or High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Jackson County Fair

2008-08-24T23:47:00.004-04:00

Almost a month ago we took the kids to the County Fair with Grandma Teresa. This was the first time I have gone in a long time but Mike and Mia have made sure to go every year for the last 3 years. Mia and Gabriel both loved seeing the animals. It even got Mia a little interested in 4-H, she would love to have a bunny!

"Camping"

2008-08-23T11:02:00.007-04:00

We have wanted to go camping all summer but with Mike being super busy with work and all the other things going on we just have not found the time. Last weekend Mike's mom and dad went away for the weekend, so we went "camping" in their backyard. It was a last minute decision around 6pm so we packed the van and made our way out to Grandma's house. We got the tent up and the fire started just before dark. After getting ready for bed we sat around the camp fire and roasted hot dogs and made s'mores. Gabriel sat watching the fire for a long time before falling asleep (without a fight). During the night somehow Dutchess rolled over and opened the plug to the air mattress so out came the loud pump. Gabriel did wake up once but went back to sleep easily after drinking a bottle. So overall it was not too bad of a night with four people and two dogs in a tent. :)

The next morning at 5:30am it was time to wake up, or Gabriel said it was. Mike took him inside to make a bottle and try to get him back to sleep. After my two heaters were gone, I got really cold so I was glad we had a place to "cheat" as Mia put it. Mike made breakfast and I took a nap on the couch. After it warmed up out Mia rode her bike around the yard and we started up the fire and roasted hot dogs for lunch. I didn't get any pictures of the "camping" but I did get some on the way home.

Even Dandelion was exhausted.

Quilting & Crawling

2008-08-22T19:30:00.011-04:00

I told you I would have some pictures of Mia's bookmark she made at Jo-Ann's and the quilt she made at The Ella Sharp Museum. Also I scanned one of the pictures from Monday, it didn't turn out wonderful but it is cute. So here they are. :) She is so crafty!

Exploring "The Ella"

Mia's Quilt

and the Bookmark

Mia has been so busy with fun things lately that I have not given any updates on Mr. Gabe.

#1. He is crawling! He has been mobile for quite awhile now but he finally decided to give crawling a chance and is he good at it. I thought keeping up with him before was hard but WOW this kid can move.

#2. Another tooth. I can't believe how fast this kid is getting teeth. Now he has the next one on the bottom left. That is 7!

#3. We got a new toy today and Gabriel loves it. It is a super cute giraffe that you put balls in the top and they roll out the bottom.

One Day Wonders

2008-08-21T22:21:00.005-04:00

For the last few years Mia has gone to Ella Sharp Museum for a week during the summer and taken art class. With everything she already had going on this summer (going to D.C. & Williamsburg, going up north, going to Girl Scout Camp with her daddy, and don't forget crocheting at Jo-Ann's and with Aunt Cori) she decided to pick a few "One Day Wonders" to participate in this year.

It all started on Monday with "Secrets of The Ella". The kids spent all day exploring every nook and cranny of the old buldings at the museum including the cellar and the cupola in Ella's house!

the cupola

On Tuesday was "A Day in the Life". Mia took the super cute bonnet she got in Williamsburg and went to work. They did chores and played games just like the pioneer kids did. They made peach jam and biscuits for their morning snack, churned butter, and made ice cream in the afternoon.

Tomorrow is the last wonder, "Quilts are Fun". They will be making a 9 or 12 block quilt. I can't wait to hear about it and let you know how much fun she has.