Sunday, March 27, 2011

Strawberries!

I did a new thing this week.

I do not like to do new things. I do not like to go new places.

I like to do the same things all the time. I like to go the same places.

But, this week, I did something new! It was so fun, and I'm so glad I did it.

I took the kids to pick strawberries!

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I've wanted to do it for years. I see strawberry farms around and I think, that would be so fun! But, I never know when is the time to go...and plus, there's the newness about it...

But, this week, someone mentioned that they had just gone, and went on and on about how fun it was, and how good the strawberries were. Man, I so wanted to go, too. I started talking about it to the kids. And on Friday, I even went so far as to say, maybe we could go pick strawberries today...

Well, then when I was ready to bail on the idea, since I'd never been strawberry picking before, the kids wouldn't let me. They all wanted to go. So I gathered up my courage, and we went.

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We drove up 231, where I remembered there was a place, and sure enough, I found the strawberry stand. With a little anxiety, I pulled in the drive, and went and checked things out. Of course, really, it was no big deal...but it was a big deal to me!

I paid our $10, and off we went!

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Mostly the kids picked, and I took pictures. They loved it. Everything was so clean and tidy that even my finicky boys were happy.

We piled our bucket as full as we possibly could...
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...and each grabbed one for the road (which we washed before we ate...city slickers that we are :)
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Some of us are nibblers...
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Fun!
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We came home and ate some more, and I froze 3 quart bags. I think I could easily have gotten 5 bags out of that bucket, but they were so good fresh that I wanted to be able to enjoy them right away.

The kids have already decided that we should go every 2 days, and pick another bucket full. Cute. There is another Strawberry farm I want to check out...now that I'm an expert. We'll see how long it takes before my courage fades. Maybe we'll have to check it out tomorrow!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Birthday Party

Okay...I tried to come up with a catchy title, but I just couldn't do it.
SO, here we go...
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William, William, William. What a funny boy. Man, was it hard for him to wait for his birthday this year. Hard luck being 3rd in the birthday line-up. He has pestered us for MONTHS about his birthday. He started in on us back in January, while we were planning for Samuel's party. But, it's finally here.

Here's a photo barrage from his actual birth-day.

I love how they all lean in to check out the gift...one from Samuel...
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From Grandma and Grandpa...the long awaited bedding:
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Sweet smile...there's gum in the box:
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Ya gotta smell it...
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Undies...
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And, Aaaahhhhh....the Mother Load...
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No surprise what we had for breakfast...
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On to the Birthday Party! The KARA-TEE PAR-TEE!

Decorations: Meager, but passable.
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Little Take-Out boxes full of Puppy Chow (got em from Walmart)
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His Sensei, Miss Emily, and her college-age son led the kids in a karate lesson. They loved it! Usually they line up, for class that is, but I liked that they sat in a circle for the party.
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Check out Samuel's good block...
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They learned how to say Happy Birthday in Japanese...
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After we sang...
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...Miss Emily helped William cut the cake with her huge saber.
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Fun Party!

And would you believe, we had even more partying to do?

We had a birthday lunch at Sharon's today--Pigs in a Blanket for the kids and Hamburgers for the adults. Then, we reused that cake, and sang all over again.
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I include these to illustrate what kind of photos William usually tries to give me. When I get a smile, it's a big deal.

This is typical...
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And so is this...
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And this...
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Makes me really appreciate pictures like this:
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Ah William. We love you, little buddy.

In other news...
We ate well this week. We enjoyed grilling out Friday night. Tim grills some good burgers. Samuel likes his with a little cheet-o on his...which William thinks is hilarious. He took a picture. Thought you'd like to see it.
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Notice the pickle...Samuel doesn't like the skin, so he just eats the inside part. Weird-o.

Afterwards, we made Fried Icecream. Ah-ha-ha! Yum!
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We liked this video that shows how to do it...Click Here.
Also, Paula Dean has a good recipe...just about the same recipe as the video.

Here's the recipe as I made it:

6 Ice cream balls (Ice cream scooper sized)
2 beaten egg whites
1.5 cups Honey Bunches of Oats, crushed fine

I froze the ice cream balls on a sheet of waxed paper for a couple hours, right after lunch.

In the afternoon, I rolled each ball in the egg whites, then in the crushed cereal. Then I re-froze them till dinner.

After dinner, we broke out the Fry Daddy! Tim fried those suckers till they started to melt...maybe 30 seconds total. He had to roll them over in the middle, since they didn't submerge completely.

They were really good with Carmel sauce on top!

Plus, they make a really healthy dessert! :)

Almost Lastly...

We are on Etsy! I'm so excited. We only have 3 products on there so far, but they're good ones, and there's more coming.

This votive holder is on there...
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You can check it out HERE.

And this one is at the Antique Mall...
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Plus, I've started a Poplar Head blog...we'll see if anything happens with that.

Okay...Lastly...
If you've read this far, you must really love us. So, I'll share something that encouraged my heart this morning. This is a hymn we sang this morning in church. With Tim's new job, and a new baby coming, there's a lot of uncertainties in our family right now. We feel like we are at God's mercy, and I really appreciated the perspective of this hymn. We sang it to the tune of Crown Him with Many Crowns.

Commit Now All Your Griefs by Paul Gerhardt
Commit now all your griefs
And ways into his hands;
To his sure truth and tender care,
Who earth and heav'n commands.
Who points the clouds their course,
Whom winds and seas obey,
He shall direct your wand'ring feet,
He shall prepare your way.

Give to the winds your fears;
Hope, and be undismayed;
God hears your sighs, and counts your tears,
God shall lift up your head.
Through waves and clouds and storms
He gently clears your way;
Wait for his time, so shall the night
Soon end in joyous day.

Still heavy is your heart?
Still sink your spirits down?
Cast off the weight, let fear depart,
And every care be gone.
He everywhere has sway,
And all things serve his might;
His every act pure blessing is,
His path unsullied light.

Far, far above your thought
His counsel shall appear,
When fully he the work has wrought
That caused your needless fear.
Leave to his sovereign sway
To choose and to command;
With wonder filled, you then shall own
How wise, how strong his hand!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

I'm Older Than I Was Last Week

I hate putting pictures of myself on here, but I know you love it, Mom. So, here's some pictures from my birthday...

A hand-made casserole carrier from Wonderwoman--9.75 years married, and it's my first one!
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And here's my second one! Two in one day!
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Gifts from Tim...
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Here's all the kids hovering around me...
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Thanks for the great gifts everybody!

Here's what Tim made me for dessert after lunch...a caramel decaf cafe frappe...yum...
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Kim and Miles got us a frappe machine for Christmas, and we love it!

In other news,

~it's strawberry season!
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One of my helpers wanted to make chocolate covered strawberries, so I let him!
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They were delicious.

~the dogwoods are starting to bloom...
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~Tim's been working on the house some more...
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The verdict is still out on the paint color in that gable...meanwhile, we have scaffolding in front of our house again.

~He's also been working on our tree-house. Trevor helped make a bucket-crank-thing...
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~and to finish up our Germany unit, we made some clay fairytale creations.
Trevor made this from "The Golden Goose"...
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and William made this from "The Princess and the Frog"...
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and then we put it all together to make a Glockenspiel like the one in Marienplatz Germany...
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We just made it out of a Grits canister...with plastic lids and a straw, but it really spins, and even though it doesn't make music, the kids loved it. Here's the real one...


That's all I got...but with William's birthday this week, I'll be back with more!