2009 garden update...

2009 Garden - week 9

Peas - total harvest: 3 pods.
Tasty 3 pods though

2009 Garden - week 10

Green beans are ready!
(so are the marigolds apparently, according to G)
First picking of beans yields enough for a couple of meals...

...and some to snack on right off the bush!

Little C didn't want to be left out of the fresh snack either!

Green beans have been such a great thing to grow with the kids. G&W really loved helping pick the beans, snap the ends off and wash them, as well as eat them!
They are the favorite veggie of choice for them, enjoyed dipped in ketchup and sometimes accompanied by monkey noises while they pretend to eat "green bananas."

Hey, anything to get the 2 yr old to eat something green.

2009 Garden - week 11

Green beans are coming out of our ears.
We had enough for another couple meals to eat fresh, and we also blanched and froze 6 pints and 1 quart of beans. This was something I was particularly proud of as this was the first time in 3 years that we have had enough beans to "put up" to eat later!

2009 Garden - week 13

End of the green beans! Would have had more to "put up", but we went on a mini-vacation and didn't pick before we went and they got big and gicky and went to feed the compost. Did get enough good ones for one more meal, though!

The weeds aren't winning yet, but they are putting up a good fight and we aren't trying too hard to obliterate them.

Oh, and how much this one grew in a couple of weeks! He is 7 1/2 months here and is getting so big! He now sits up by himself so well, is rolling, and can wiggle himself to get pretty much where he wants to go.

Little C is a really happy baby and loves to be outside with all of us. We love this sweet baby so much!


Promise of red goodness to come, Lord willing!

G-isms...

momma (reading G the joke on her yogurt container): "What do you get when you cross a rabbit and a cow?............Hare in your milk!"

--lots of laughs from kiddos although they don't know why or get it--

G (a few minutes later trying to re-tell the joke to W): "Why did the bunny and the cow cross the road?...............Milk in your hair!!!"

--loads of laughter, this time momma included!

swimming lessons...

I was not planning on the kids taking swimming lessons this year. I was certain that we would start them soon as I really want them to have more ability and comfort in the water than I do (Mom and Dad finally let me quit swimming lessons after I still couldn't pass advanced beginners and I was going into 6th grade!). But come on. G is 3, W is 2, C is still a baby, and S's schedule is not 8-5 everyday -- there is NO way I thought we could handle lessons this year!

Then, after dear s.i.l. C's blog post about their girls taking swimming lessons, I followed her link to Swim America's website and the following things fell into place:
-the last session of lessons was only 1 week (4 lessons) long
-the lessons were only lasted 30 minutes
-they offered lessons in the evenings
-S happened to have all the evenings off the week of the last session
-they started lessons at 3 yrs of age
-and they offered a parent/tot class at the same time as lessons for kids 2 and under

Hmmmmm...S and I talked and started to think maybe we COULD do swimming lessons this year. It would give G a good intro into the water and lessons, and S&W could do the parent/tot class as W is SO monkey-see-monkey-do where his big sister is concerned. So we decided to do it. And I have to admit, I think I was as excited for lessons as G was! It kind of felt like we were doing something "normal," if that makes any sense!

It was a family affair every evening and pretty much took up our whole week. We would make sure that we ate supper early, then we would get everything and everyone ready to go. Little C and I would watch from the stands, S&W did the parent/tot class, and G took level 1 lessons. Then we would quick rinse off after lessons, drive home, throw G&W in the bath and then in bed. Then S and I would take care of suits and towels so they would dry. Only to start all over again the next day!

G had her own teacher which was really nice. One of the things that they do with the kids in level 1 is get them to dunk their heads. We prepped G for this (thanks for the heads up, C!), and she was ready. So ready in fact that not more than 5 minutes into the first lesson she dunked her head under!

My big girl! I was so proud of her! After trying it once though, she didn't do it as willingly the rest of the week, but there were never any tears which we were so happy about.

W's class was more just getting him used to the water. Playing with water toys, dumping water over dadda's head and his head, lots of laughing and smiling (mostly by S and the teacher trying to convince W he liked it, but by the end of the week W joined in too).

But monkey-see-monkey-do W couldn't let his sister have all the spotlight...he dunked a couple of times too!

This really impressed S and I. On the last day, G held the bar and did 5 bobs with her head under water all by herself! She didn't pass to level 2 (which we were actually both glad about), but has a great start to continue with next year.

All in all, a pretty good week.

And now the kids don't yell so much when I dump water over their heads in the bath.

"This post is soooo three weeks ago, but I wanted to do it anyway."

This is more from "the weekend" in Edgerton. There was SO much that went on that weekend, and I have so many pictures to share, but life and kids got in the way of posting in a more timely manner. I still wanted to post about it, plus to make a long process and story short, I got a discount to upgrade my collage program and have been messing around with that here and there and wanted to share those too. So here we go!

It is a 4 hour drive to my mom and dad's farm. With kids that is generally 5+ hours. We actually made this trip in a little over 4 hours, because the kids did so well and we had a...


...van picnic! We stopped for chicken strips and fries and shakes for supper on the way and decided to try to eat in the car and the kids were so excited about it! Made easy for G&W by cutting up the chicken strips with "purse scissors" and putting them and fries in a cup. The kids thought that this was seriously awesome. =)


Little bit of background on the first event of "the weekend." When my parents had been married 25 years, we as a family went and had professional pictures taken. When they had been married 30 years, we took another family photo (not professional for that one...I set it up...Grandma K climbed a ladder and took the photo...turned out great though!). Well, they now have been married a bit over 35 years, and we were all going to be home for "the weekend", so Thursday morning we had a professional photo shoot at the farm...


...in front of the barn. It was a lot of fun and the pictures turned out great! If you would like to take a peek at a slideshow of them, click here.


And this...


...is my brother M (and his lovely wife A). This picture is not from "the weekend." This is back from May when he graduated from Western Theological seminary. Baby C and I flew out for that and had a great time, but I never got around to blogging about that trip! Anyway, the reason I post this picture here is for 2 reasons. #1: "The weekend" was really all about M. He was ordained as a minister in the Reformed Church in America and we all were in Edgerton to witness that and be a part of the service. #2: Even though "the weekend" was all about him, I did not take one single picture of him! I did not try this. It was not repressed oldest child feelings of it was ALWAYS all about him, the baby, coming out. It was not because I did not enjoy the ordination service. And it was not because I did not like his new haircut. It was just one of those things that happened! Fortunately, I was able to get a few pictures from others...


...so I can show you a little of what happened at ordination. It was a beautiful service and very meaningful, really tying the stories and words of scriptures vividly to the here and now for M and all of us. Friends and relatives participated with music, preaching, reading the charge to M, and serving communion. M's first church is in Nebraska and him and A will start there in September. M, it has been a privilege to see you graduate from seminary and be ordained this year. We know that God will do wonderful things through you and A and are excited for you to be a pastor (a real live one! =). We love you and will continue to pray for you and look forward to coming to visit and being able to worship with you!


OK, another possible reason that we don't have any pictures of M & A is that they left on Friday for a month long vacation starting with a family reunion at Yellowstone Nat'l Park and then spending the rest of it in Washington with A's family where they will celebrate her brother's wedding. S also had to leave on Friday to go back to work being that it was semi-annual inventory on Saturday. But the kids and I stayed at the farm for the weekend and so did a lot of our relatives so there was much more fun to be had. Like with this guy...


...my Uncle R. He works for the National Park Service and lives (literally!) at Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park in Colorado. One of the things my Uncle R is famous for is his pizza. Oh, his pizza! =) So Friday night 14 of us gathered to eat Uncle R's pizza. He makes his pizza from scratch...


...and we always have fun helping him. And this year Uncle R gained a little helper, G, and became her friend forever for how much fun she had with him! Uncle R commented that it was a little bit of de ja vous having G help him as he remembers me helping him when I was little too. W helped too - he helped himself to a large amount of pizza toppings while we put it all together. So much fun! Thanks for the awesome pizza, Uncle R!


This is Dad:


This is the shed that Dad built (or is building):


My dad is building a new machine shed this summer and was working on it throughout "the weekend" too. When we arrived, the large vertical poles were being put in, and by the end of the weekend they were all up with crossboards on too. G&W had so much fun watching and "helping" and also playing in the large pile of pea gravel near the shed. Update on the shed: the cement floor has been poured and now rafters are also up!


On Saturday, Mom and I and the kids took a quick trip to visit my Aunt R and cousin C. Here is our attempt at a group picture!

It was so much fun to see my cousin C and her little guy E, who is 10 months old! It is neat because there are 10 grandchildren on the K side and we were all born in the span of 6 years! So all of us are in very similar stages of life right now. And of my Grandma K's 8 great-grandchildren, one is 6 yrs old, one is almost 4 yrs old, and the other 6 are 2yrs old and under! So lots of little kids fun. And Gma, I have to tell you what G said the other day to a lady in the grocery store. She was wearing one of the outfits you made her for this summer, and when the lady complimented her on it, she told her proudly that "My Nana made it! She make ALL my clothes." =)


The last event of "the weekend" was of course, Sunday dinner...


...around Mom and Dad's ping-pong table. There were 20 of us for Sunday dinner which doesn't fit around Mom and Dad's dining table. This has never been a problem for Mom and Dad, they just moved dinner to the basement, threw a table cloth over the ping-pong table and we all enjoyed sitting down together, eating and fellowshipping with each other. The piano was handy too for a hymn sing - Aunt M played and we all called out favorites that we wanted to sing. I remember doing this at my Grandpa R's house and think it is a great tradition to continue.


After dinner, Dad and Aunt J drove the kids and I a little over an hour down the road to meet S. After switching cars, we kept on driving, had another van picnic for supper, and we were home in time for the kids to go to bed. It was a wonderful weekend - tiring!, but just wonderful.

And totally worth writing about 3 weeks late...

family...

Last weekend in Edgerton we were able to spend a lot of time with family. And not just my immediate family but a lot of extended family that we haven't seen in a while. After all was said and done, we spent time with Mom, Dad, 2 brothers, 1 sister-in-law, Grandma, 4 aunts, 5 uncles, 1 friend, 3 cousins, 5 2nd cousins and 1 farm dog. Here are some pictures of these dear and loved people...

Uncle R entertaining (oh what grown-ups will do to make little ones smile!)...

...these cuties

Everyone watching little C get his picture taken

Auntie M and little C

G and Auntie J

Dad and Boppa's big helper G

Uncle K reading to W

Auntie J reading to G

little C sitting up so well by his Auntie A

W in "his" chair

Little C and Auntie H

Dixie, Uncle M, Uncle J, Uncle K, Auntie J and little C

Friend J and brother L giving G & W a wagon ride

Uncle R reading to G

Cousin C reading to her little guy E, G & W (do you sense a theme as to what my children like to do with any adult that is willing??? =)

Happy C!

Aunt R and little C

Sometimes these two can be so sweet!

Little C and Uncle R
Cousin S, little C and S's daughter J

W with his bud Uncle L!

Auntie M holding little C, C holding W, Auntie J holding G


Time with family is SUCH a blessing!!!

talking with Nana...

We had a wonderful weekend in Edgerton this past weekend celebrating my brother M's ordination and catching up with a lot of family. I will post more about it later, but thought I would start out by posting this video clip of little C talking with Nana...

in this together...

Today marks the anniversary of a very nice day in Edgerton. We are back in the area celebrating other milestones in the R family, but it is nice to remember OUR day 9 years ago when we said "i do." Life has changed significantly in those 9 years, but we love each other more than we thought possible back in '00.

Here's to 9 years of us!
-Love you babes

sunday night breadsticks...

Families have traditions. We are a family. Therefore we have traditions.
(I love logic - Proofs was one of my favorite math courses in college. =)

One tradition our family has is eating breadsticks for supper on Sunday while watching a movie -- a nice and relaxing way to end our day of rest. We started this tradition right after we were married in looking for something easy and not too filling for munching on Sunday evenings (growing up we often would have popcorn and peanut butter toast). I love breadsticks and so we settled on that one Sunday night, really liked it, and started doing it again and again. When we started, we would use 2 pizza crust pouches and the Betty Crocker breadstick recipe on the back (minus the egg wash).

Then one Sunday a year or so later, we didn't have the pizza crust pouches, didn't have yeast, and didn't have money to order them from the pizza place across the parking lot from our tiny apartment. So on to the internet (dial-up connection at that time!) and to the Recipe Source website, which I used a lot then, and found this recipe for Soft Breadsticks. That recipe worked and tasted pretty good, but it only made 4 breadsticks (we like them thick and soft, not thin and crisp) and it was not exactly what I was looking for. But it was close, so I tried it again and again, doubling it and tweaking the ingredients until we came out with something that we really liked. And 8 some years later, we have made it every Sunday night that we have been at home, and some Sunday nights when we haven't been at home too!

Now you think making it that many times they would turn out perfect every time? No. Added factors of humidity levels in the house, freshness of baking powder, type of pan, state of mind of the chef all change things a little bit. All kidding aside, S & I love these soft, almost biscuit-like breadsticks with pizza or alfredo sauce, and our kids now love them too. Here is the recipe:

Sunday Night Breadsticks

3 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Whisk dry ingredients in bowl to sift together. Add milk and oil and stir till mostly combined. Then knead with hands to finish combining. Add more flour or milk if needed to get the right consistency which should be a soft dough that doesn't stick to your fingers when you pinch it. Break into 8 pieces and roll those into 6-8in breadsticks. Place on greased baking sheet (air bake or thick commercial grade is the best) and bake for 11-13 minutes until just slightly golden brown on top. Brush with butter and enjoy with favorite pizza dipping sauce!

Note: You can doctor up this recipe to whatever you are in the mood for. We have added italian seasoning and parmesan cheese, we have substituted 1/3 wheat flour and used honey instead of sugar, we have also turned them into dessert breadsticks by adding a lot of cinnamon and sugar and dipped them in cream cheese frosting.

Per request from my cousin G (same name as our little G! =) we decided to photo-document the process of how we make the basic recipe. This was fun and I am glad to have this tradition documented for our kids at least! I collaged the pictures so as not to have to post 30 some pictures, and hopefully you can figure out the captions...

Cast of characters:

• S, dadda and chief photographer
  
• C, momma and chief chef
• G, big helper 1 and chief taste tester
• W, big helper 2 and chief commentator
• (not pictured) little C, baby and chief napper
  

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Ingredients!
• G telling us how many cups of flour to add.
• In goes the flour - G and W help dump all of the ingredients in the bowl.

• G likes to make a hole in the flour for the rest of the dry ingredients to go into.
• In goes the sugar.
• Testing the sugar to make sure it tastes ok.
• In goes the salt.

• In goes the baking powder. (I measure 3 tsp instead of 1 Tbsp as to make more turns for G&W)
• W is usually right there helping out, but he was camera shy so had to be held by dadda while dadda took all the pictures.
• G showing us the whisk - nice, G!
• Whisking dry ingredients together.

• 1 cup of milk is next.
• G helps momma pour it in the bowl.
  
• After the milk goes in, G gets to sip a little extra out of the measuring cup.
• Now W gets in the game! He wants a sip too!

• W helping momma pour oil in the bowl.
  
• Dadda, can we get a fork? (see the awesome stepstool that G&W are using that I found on craigslist for WAY cheaper than the normal price?)
• Stirring with fork to combine...
• ...until it looks like this. (basically until you can't stir anymore)

• Time to use the hands! (G licks off the fork)
  
• Knead until combined. (but not too much otherwise breadsticks will be tough!)
  
• Dough should be soft, not dry, but does not stick to fingers when pinched. (we did good this time!)
• A look at the dough. (maybe I shouldn't have used a bowl that was the exact same color!)

• G & W then get tiny "tries" to roll and make sure it tastes right.
• G always rolls a "try" for dadda.
• Then momma breaks dough...
• ...in half! (boy, this is exciting, isn't it?!)

• Dough divided into 8 pieces.
• Roll pieces into...
• ...breadsticks about 6-8 inches long
• Everybody gets to roll out breadsticks! (we divide 2 of the pieces to make 4 kid size breadsticks =)

• Uh-oh! W dropped his on the floor! (5 second rule applies at our house - we sweep the kitchen floor a lot =)
• Breadsticks ready to go on greased Air Bake cookie sheet. This is the one that we have always used and have always had good luck. If you don't have Air Bake, I would use a thicker or commercial grade cookie sheet, or just watch them so the bottoms don't get so dark.
• "Kids stand back, the oven is hot!" Yes, I yell this every time.
• Ours take 11 minutes until they are done.

• G licking out the bowl.
• Mmmmmm...G loves making breadsticks as it is the only "dough" that I will let her taste. Everything else that we make always has eggs in it.
• 11 minutes are up - time to check the breadsticks!
• They look just right.

• Close up of finished breadstick - light colored with just a hint of golden brown on top. S also checks them by making sure the sides of the breadsticks aren't doughy.

• Turn oven off. (this is something I forget more often than not...although I am getting better - there is hope for me yet!)
  
• Rub tops of breadsticks with butter.
• Mmmmm, happy breadsticks!
• Getting sauces ready for dipping!

• Come on! Can't we stop taking pictures and just eat?!!!!
• Ready to go downstairs!
• Movie of choice tonight? Cars!
• Enjoying the breadsticks and the movie...

Are you still there? Did you stick with me to the end? If so, congratulations! Are you one of those people that will sit and watch all the movie credits in the theater after a movie is done? (We usually are!) Have you ever gotten rewarded by a silly bonus clip at the end? Tonight is your lucky night! For your diligence, we offer you something silly...