Katie Belle's Doggie Party, Part 1

I had a lot of fun finally decorating for a girly birthday party!!! I'll post again with some pictures of our awesome birthday girl, but here are some pictures of the party.I thought it seemed appropriate to tie the balloons to the fire hydrant. But they flew away! My husband is the pro-knot-tier. That's what I get for doing it myself.
My sister-in-law sells cakes. Aren't they awesome?!?! She's fantastic & it matched the invitation so well. Let me know if you want her number!Among other foods, we served "pupcorn", "puppy chow" and dog biscuits (made from this graham cracker recipe.) Another talented sister-in-law made the cutest doghouse cookies.
We hid stuffed dogs (scored at the Dollar Tree) around the house and the girls hunted for the dogs. Then they took them to the doggie spa & put collars on them, and combed their hair.

Katie Belle Turns Two!!!

My sweet baby is turning two in a few days! It seems like just yesterday we welcomed her into our arms! The wonderful Amanda Mankin took some great pictures of our little nut. Isn't she a ray of sunshine? Wild, energetic, hilarious sunshine? I love this little one.

Dog Biscuits

We've been having fun making preparations for KB's 2nd birthday party. We're having a doggie theme, and last week we tested out a recipe for homemade crackers. But we're renaming them Dog Biscuits. A fun little name change always works for my kids! (Remember Superman Soup?)
Can't wait 'till the party!

Happy 4th

I know this is late, but I wanted to say that I hope you had a fun day filled with sparkle, fun and celebration!

Pie in a Jar

Mark my words. I will one day bake pie in jars.

Canning Tomatoes

Now look...It is not my goal in life to be cool. I would much rather start a quilting bee with girlfriends than go out for a night out on the town. I don't know why I like old-fashioned things, I just do. So that is why I get excited about things like learning to can tomatoes. It was tons of fun. My friends Nancy & Marge came over, as well as some other girlfriends who enjoy this kind of thing & we canned tomatoes! We also ate some delicious seasonal local foods, like squash casserole, green bean and tomato salad, fried squash, tomato sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches (from local chickens) with homemade pickles, blueberries and blueberry banana bread, homemade blackberry cobbler & homemade ice cream & fruit tarts.
It was crowded but fun! I hope we can do it again, because I'm so sorry that there were several people who really wanted to come but couldn't.

But I Digress...

The kids and I were having a sweet moment singing in the bathroom tonight. They were singing so sweetly and...normally. But then, of course, the camera became visible, and those tender moments dissolved into some sort of shouting match. This is such an event. I promise that only moments before it was a very sweet moment. But these are moments of parenthood, however, that make me laugh. And I am glad to catch them on film.

Catalog Living

This website is hilarious. It takes all those contrived photos from home catalogs and imagines the conversations behind the "real life" scenario.(above) Elaine wasn’t about to let some hot flashes get in the way of balancing the checkbook with the abacus.
We’re so happy you could visit! The room’s all made up for you, and I ripped out some pages of my favorite book and taped them to your wall in case you’re like me and enjoy reading before bed.Elaine was not amused by Gary’s passive-aggressive response to her request to “garnish the cocktails.”

The Little Things

Every morning, and after naptime, KB takes her assortment of blankets & stuffed animals and insists that they be tucked behind her back before she sits down for breakfast. Children and their little quirks are so entertaining. It's hard to believe that she's nearly two, and that soon we'll be welcoming baby #3 into the picture!

Missing the CSA

Hey Guys. If you haven't noticed, I have not yet signed up for my CSA, Avalon Acres. I'm a huge fan of the csa, we have been traveling a ton, so I just haven't gotten around to it. Plus, we had high hopes for our garden, and the csa is a lot of work. And a lot of veggies. But boy have I been missing it! I haven't been motivated to do lots of cooking, or try anything new. But my sister-in-law gave me her CSA share this week! Yeah!!! It's like a field day around here. It's amazing how much the csa changes our diets in my household. I'm not very motivated to buy green beans, but when they are sitting in my fridge, I think, "Okay...it's green beans for dinner tonight!" And I love the creative challenge of scouring cookbooks to find out what I can do with carrots, beets and potatoes. I would have never been inspired to make Borscht Soup otherwise.

And I'm so glad I have a history of the CSA on my blog. This is what we got in our box this time last year. Like I've said, it's different every year.

So for a recap...This week the CSA included potatoes, green beans, blackberries, carrots, kohlrabi, zucchini, pattypan squash, lemon cucumbers, corn, squash & a purple green bean.

Blueberry Muffins

In high school, I used to eat an Otis Spunkmeyer blueberry muffin every morning. Then one day I noticed they had like 400 calories in it. I don't know much about calories, but I know that is a lot. Sometimes I think that the only difference in a muffin and a cupcake is the icing.

This blueberry muffin recipe from Simply in Season is a pretty dramatic contrast. They are tasty and light. I have mentioned this cookbook before, but I highly recommend it if you like to cook seasonally. The recipe is extremely versatile, and is the least sweet recipe I've ever found. And my kids still loved it. I must mention that I was a bit surprised at first, because I was expecting them to be sweeter, but they are tasty, once you remind yourself that you are not actually eating a cupcake.

The basic recipe is as follows:

Dry ingredients: 1 1/2 C whole wheat flour, 1 C rolled oats (alternatively you can skip the rolled oats and instead add 1/2 C additional wheat flour and 1/2 C raw wheat germ. OR use an additional 3/4 C whole wheat flour and 1/4 C flax seed meal), 1 T baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon (optional).

Wet ingredients: 1 egg, 1 C milk, 1/4 C oil, 1/4 C honey.

The star: 1 1/2 C blueberries or any kind of berries, fresh or frozen, or go crazy and substitute an equal amount of shredded summer squash.

Sprinkle top with cinnamon sugar and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. (Other than this, these muffins are sugar-free. If you aren't ready for the lack of sweetness, feel free to give it a hefty sprinkle of the sugar.)

Blogging Friends

Hey Again Friends. I'm going to AGAIN add my blogroll to the sidebar, so would you please leave me a comment if you are still blogging? I can't find anyone anymore, and when I do, you have a tombstone for a blog!

Thanks.

Bake Sale

Bakin' for the bake sale...

Fruit Stand

We're loving all the fresh fruits & vegetables these days! Even more, I'm loving having my energy level back, and not feeling like everything I cook makes me sick to my stomach!

ADHD Linked to Pesticides

Articles like this make me angry, but also confirm my suspicions about the chemicals & toxins in our air and in our food. I just ran across this in Time magazine. An extensive study does link the use of pesticides with an increase in ADHD in children.

If you follow the links in the online article, you can see that plastics are linked to developmental problems, as well as a myriad of other household toxins that cause problems. Sometimes I feel like I'm viewed as a crazy mom who doesn't put bug spray on my children, but this just reaffirms my viewpoints.

Thoughts anyone?

15 Fabulous Squash Recipes

I was excited about this post of 15 awesome squash recipes, since squash season is just around the corner here!

Ring Bearer & Flower Girl

Cuteness! E & KB did so well as ring bearer and flower girl in Becca & Tommy Caldwell's wedding. It was adorable!!!the wedding party in beautiful estes park, coloradoi love this picture of ethan and his dad. it's rare to catch such a special moment on camera!on top of being such gorgeous scenery, the weather was fantastic! 70's every day...and then we return home to weather high in the 90's. yuck!Apparently, if myself or my husband is in a wedding, I will be 6 months pregnant and wearing this dress.

Natural Mosquito Repellant

I LOVED this! I do not like storebought mosquito repelllant, and haven't found a more "natural" brand in the stores that I like. This year, we're trying cintronella and eucalyptes plants in the yard. Remember we thought about a bathouse, but never went that route. But I'm excited to see this recipe on Design*Sponge out there! Here are a few more plants that mosquitos don't like. Think I'll be buying some of these!

What about you...What do you do to keep the mosquitos at bay?

Wedding in Estes Park, CO

Here are my cuties at the wedding rehearsal for Tommy Caldwell and Rebecca Pietsch. The kids did great at the rehearsal, so I'm just hoping they do as well at the actual wedding!!! I can't WAIT to show you pictures! The wedding is going to be shot by the amazing Corey Rich, so I hope we get to see a few of those pictures as well. I know his photos will make mine look like kindergarten photographs. Doesn't this background make you want to pack up & move? I think Lance is hoping that the feeling takes hold. The whole town is like this. Absolutely gorgeous.(rehearsing their walk! E was skipping he was so excited!)

Bump Watch

There she is, y'all. 22 Weeks and counting.

The Freshest Ice Cream Ever

Today we made homemade ice cream. And not just any homemade ice cream. This was homemade vanilla ice cream with milk from a cow that was milked this very morning. Added a little pure cane sugar from a farm nearby, and homemade vanilla extract that I made myself. The only way you get more homemade is to crank the ice cream yourself. And I'm thankful that I did not have to do that, although I loved doing that as a kid. It was so yummy! Next time, I'm going to attempt chocolate-mint ice cream, with mint from my garden!

Preparing for Travel

We're about to head to Colorado with the kids for Becca and Tommy's wedding. Lance is the best man, and Ethan & KB are ring bearer and flower girl. I can't wait to show you pictures, even though it hasn't even happened yet. The kids look SO cute in their clothes.

Anyway, I'm storing away all sorts of treats and surprises to ease the travel. We're flying there & driving back. That will be a long drive.

Rhubarb Muffins & The Local Cook

Recent posts on this blog have had me wondering...WHY HAVEN'T I USED RHUBARB YET THIS YEAR?" So I've been scouring the web for some good rhubarb recipes, when I came across another great website: The Local Cook. Check it out!

Picture from Straight from the Farm.

Broccoli

The gardening efforts took a bit of a back seat when the floods came. They washed away newly planted seed, and put other planting & weeding efforts on the backburner. On top of that, bunnies ate a bunch of tomato plants. And finally, we've been on water restrictions, so we have been asked not to water plants. This does not set us up for a successful planting season.

However, I have started to see the fruits of our labor with the broccoli plants! Yesterday, we ate broccoli that was cut right off the stalk. Fun. And yummy!

It's a Girl!!!

Well, it's official. We are having another GIRL! Tonight we celebrated with a Pink/Blue Party. We took a sealed envelope directly to a baker yesterday, along with pink & blue gumballs. She put a pink gumball in the center to reveal our suprise!!! We found out with some of our closest family & church friends! Here are a few pictures of our fun evening. Everyone was asked to dressed in pink or blue, based on their guess.
We ate bell pepper and pesto crostini, egg salad pinwheels, and jalapeno rosemary cornbread muffins with white bean hummus. the cutest little cupcakes!we had lance & my baby books out for fun & redecorated the room with baby stuff. with pink lemonade of course!the grandmothers
separated by color, right before the "reveal". the majority was voting for boy!sorry to all in here caught in the picture with their mouth full (myself included). I just love the surprised happy faces!
girlfriends karina, kelly, me, danna & paige

21 Weeks

Tomorrow we find out if we're having a boy or girl and are celebrating with a Pink/Blue Party! I'm so excited that the pink & blue hydrangeas are in full bloom!!!! I'm sure I'll be posting the results tomorrow!!!

Pigtails

Her hair is getting long enough to "fix." Pretty cute, huh? Too bad she won't let me keep it in for longer than a minute!