Happy Joshua

Pigs in a Blanket

Dabney's new phrase has been "What are we making today, Mama?". I love this. I love to be in the kitchen and I love to be creative, so the question always inspires me. However, tonight we were in a hurry and I decided to do a quick dinner~ pigs in a blanket~ you know, hot dogs wrapped in a crescent roll. Dab came down from her nap and asked her new question and I said "Pigs in a blanket, but they're really hot dogs." She began to giggle and watch me roll up the "pigs".

Dabney: "They're really hot dogs, David. Are they warm now, Mama?"

Me: "Are what warm, Honey?"

Dabney: "The pigs with their blankets"

Me: "Um, I guess, but they'll be a lot warmer when we bake them in the oven"

Dabney: "Ohh! The pigs are getting done now and they're almost ready. They're really warm!"

Later at the table...

"Mmmmm. The pigs are really good, but they're not really pigs because they don't oink."

mid-October

Today has been a chilly day. The kids and I stayed in our pajamas a little later than usual this morning and I had to start another half pot of coffee after our first cup was gone. It's a comfort food day if there ever was one. We had soup and banana muffins for lunch and the wheat speckled dough for the barbeque chicken calzones for dinner tonight is rising on the stove. Our young maple tree is already losing it's tiny red leaves in the backyard. I have no desire to bundle up to face the blustery wind outside to even get the mail down the street~ usually one of my favorite parts of the day. The older kids are napping quietly snug in their beds upstairs and Josh is finding his voice in his bouncy seat.

You may think I'm crazy, but I'm counting the days until Christmas~70 to be exact. You see, I'm slightly homebound these days. It takes quite a while to get out the door when you have to change 2 diapers and see that the clothes the kids are wearing are clean and make sure you remember the sippy cups and then buckle 3 kids in the car and then you yourself want to look presentable... I do go out with the children, but I do love researching things online first so I can maximize the time and money spent outside our home. So, I suppose I am beginning early but planning to get the best prices never hurt anyone. And as I mentioned before, the kids are mostly getting books for Christmas this year so I've been scouring Amazon and half.com and ebay for great deals. (I've actually been finding the best deals on Half.com. When you buy more than one book from one merchant you get a very nice shipping discount.)

I love the whole season~from the first yellow aspen leaf falling in the yard to Autumn's culmination, putting up the tree after Thanksgiving. Autumn makes me want to bake like a mad woman~ spice cakes, gingersnaps, baked apples, strudel, pies, muffins with brown sugar streusel.

I've also been planning out my Pampered Chef Party for November 9th. I'm really looking forward to getting lots of friends together for fellowship. As far as the menu goes, I'll be making a sauteed pork loin and spiced cider and gingersnaps and a few other things I've been itching to get out of my system. I know we'll have a great time. Also, if you can't make it to my house, you can still order things with the link above.

I guess that's all for now. I's kind of a slow day around here.

Name That Giedd Baby!

I really miss my camera. As I mentioned earlier, it's being fixed~ I'll get it back next week I think. In the meantime, I've been thinking, "Oooh I need to take a picture of that!" or "Oh, that's so cute~ where's my camera" And strangely, I've thought how nice it would be to take the kids' Christmas picture this week. Then I ran across one of my husband's baby picture, and I realized that if I can't take new pictures, I can scan old ones! (Btw, baby pictures of me exist, but they aren't on the continent right now, and actually, I was never a Giedd baby.)

Problem-Solving Minestrone

I am always looking for healthy and inexpensive recipe ideas, and I use Allrecipes.com quite a lot. The ingredient search is extremely helpful when you have limited ingredients on hand. These days, I've been trying to stock my freezer again, after having cycled out most of the food put away for the summer. Anyway, I found this recipe for Minestrone and it really does solve a lot of my problems~ it's healthy (it has all the food groups included, if you grate the bowls of soup with Parmesan) and it's very economical (most of the ingredients are in your pantry , then add some fresh produce), and it's freezable! I'm really loving those new Twist and Lock containers ~ they're perfect for soup! This recipe makes a boat load and I doubled it. I think a large stockpot full of hearty soup is such a beautiful sight! Hope you enjoy it. Serve with a salad and nice crusty bread.

P.S. If you want to freeze the soup, do not add the pasta or spinach until you have thawed it and are reheating it.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 5 carrots, sliced
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 4 cups tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup red wine (optional)
• 1 cup canned kidney beans, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can green beans
• 2 cups baby spinach, rinsed
• 3 zucchinis, quartered and sliced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup seashell pasta
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese for topping
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large stock pot, over medium-low heat, heat olive oil and saute garlic for 2 to 3 minutes. Add onion and saute for 4 to 5 minutes. Add celery and carrots, saute for 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth, water and tomato sauce, bring to boil, stirring frequently. If desired add red wine at this point. Reduce heat to low and add kidney beans, green beans, spinach leaves, zucchini, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, the longer the better.
3. Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add macaroni and cook until tender. Drain water and set aside.
4. Once pasta is cooked and soup is heated through place 2 tablespoons cooked pasta into individual serving bowls. Ladle soup on top of pasta and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Spray with olive oil and serve.

Canned Applesauce

Alright. Nobody raised a fuss, so I suppose I'll post the tutorial. I know some of you (if not most) already know how to do this, so please bear with me.

A few posts ago, when I wrote about the apple farm, I failed to mention that I had been communicating with the orchard's owner and he told me that all the apples on the ground were free. Yes, free food. We loaded up the car with helpers (aka children) and headed south to Penrose at the first opportunity. We gathered about 90+ lbs of apples! Praise God! Now, these were definitely not perfect apples, but free apples in exchange for a bit of chopping and removing bruised spots and twig holes was definitely worth it.


First off, gather all your supplies and make sure they are exceptionally clean. For successful canning, you have to kill all bacteria, or the lids won't seal and your food will spoil. Canning supplies include glass jars made exclusively for canning (like Ball or Mason jars), canning rings, new canning lids, a jar funnel, a bubble wand, a jar lifter, and a canning magnet. Because we're making applesauce, I'm also using a heavy duty strainer (shown above, made by Victorio). Also you need a very large canning kettle in which to process the jars. Please notice all the supplies are on a cutting board covered with a towel.

You also need apples.

First, wash the apples. This is a lot easier when the apples are from an orchard and not from the grocer and you don't have to deal with waxy apples.

Do not peel or core the apples, just remove the stems and quarter them. Place them in a large stock pot and cook until soft~ with enough water to make them not stick.

At this time, you want to fill the canning kettle with water and bring to a boil. My kettle holds 5 gallons and it takes quite a while to bring all that water to a boil.

I had an observer (optional)

When the apples are soft, run them through the strainer. Make sure you have a vessel to catch the pureed apples (I used 9x13 pan) and a vessel to catch the peels and pips. I think a loaf pan works wonderfully.

Return the pureed apples back to the stockpot and and add sugar and spices if desired. I think the rule of thumb is 1/4C.. sugar for each pound of apples you have, but that's completely up to you.
I didn't add any sugar or spices to this batch. (When we eat applesauce here, I top the kids' bowls with cinnamon sugar.)

Hopefully by now you kettle water is boiling, and if it is, boil your exceptionally clean empty jars and rings for 10 minutes to sterilize. When the water cools a bit, place the new lids in the hot water to sterilize. You don't want to get the lids boiling or too hot so that the sealing compound melts or doesn't seal later on. Take the rings and lids out of the water with the canning magnet.

Cook the applesauce until the color is to your liking .

Place the hot jars on your towel covered cutting board and fill the jars with the hot applesauce using the jar funnel. Do Not Overfill! Be sure that you do not fill the jars above the lowest thread or bad things will happen and the jar will not seal.

Remove the air bubbles from the jar with the bubble wand.

Top the jars with the lid and a canning ring. Tighten the rings but not so much that you can't open it easily later. Place the jars back in to the kettle and bring to a boil.

Process the jars for 20 minutes at a rolling boil.
Remove back to the towel covered cutting board and let cool. As they cool, you will hear little "pops" from the jars as they create a vacuum seal. You can know the jars are sealed when you press down on the lids and they do not pop back up.

Label with the contents and date. Store in your basement or pantry and use at your convenience.

ENJOY!

A few random shots

On Friday my camera's flash stopped working, so yesterday I took it in to the shop to be fixed. I'm thankful we got the 4 year warranty, but of course, now that it's gone for a week or two, I'm really missing it. So I scanned my files for some picture that haven't been posted yet. Enjoy!

Also, I thinking about posting an applesauce/canning tutorial~ let me know if you think I should go ahead.

Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin hunting

Looks like a good one!

Sweetie Pie

Clean toes, wrinkly toes

Storytime/ Sleepytime

I love this picture. Two or three times this week, David has fallen asleep towards the end of storytime. He runs and plays so hard during the day, he just zonks when he's still for a second. (In case you are wondering, his face was still dirty from lunch which is just before storytime.)

We seem to have a pet..

"Mom, I think her name is Dabney"

Tuesday, Dabney and David found a ladybug.
Dabney immediately asked for a jar in which to put her captive. Actually, I shouldn't say it's her captive. Dabney says goodnight to the ladybug, gathers grass for her and reminds me to give her water, and when Dab comes downstairs in the morning, the first thing she says is "Where's my ladybug?" David, on the other hand walks around with the jar and says , "Coot! Coot!" (he's trying to say "cute") I assumed after they caught her that she would die within 30 seconds~ remember the 6 hour goldfish for her 1st birthday~ but here she is 3 days later. I'm beginning to really like her. Dabney told me yesterday that she was "the most beautiful ladybug I've ever seen in my whole life!"

Fixin' Up the Place

As you can see, my blog got a new "outfit". Do you like it? I'm aiming for the 'classical journal / homeschooler' look. I like it because it's a little less run of the mill, a little more personalized.

The kids and I took a crash course about Thanksgiving yesterday~ what happened at the first Thanksgiving, what we do to celebrate the day, why we celebrate, what a feast is, and why Thanksgiving should be an everyday part of life as Christians. We checked out 20+ books about the holiday from the library a few weeks ago and we plowed through about 7 yesterday.

Also, last night was Josh's first night by himself. *Sigh* For the last 10 weeks, Tim and I have been seriously exhausted while Joshua was in the bassinet in our room. He's also a kind of noisy baby ~ just fussy really. Plus, most nights I'd fall asleep while nursing him and obviously not put him back in the bassinet. Not only that, but I'd wake grumpy and impatient towards the other kids from lack of sleep. (I'm not making excuses for my sin...) So last night we had to do the hard thing and move the bassinet into Dabney's room and move Dabney into David's room so Tim and I could get some rest. I was pretty nervous about it... until I passed out from exhaustion when I hit the pillow. We would have put him in his crib in David's room but we really didn't want Josh to wake David by crying. We'll put Josh in his crib when he gets the routine down. I nursed him around 3am, put him back in bed and lo and behold, he slept until 8:15am! Praise the Lord! I woke rested for the first time since July and practically ran in to Dabney's room to see my infant sleeping peacefully. I'm so thankful for the sleep I got~ now I feel like I can be a better mom to all 3 children and get a jump on the day.

Our Smiling Chunky Monkey

Check him out! When did he fill out? He just cracks me up~ I can't believe how big (and pale) he is! David was a shrimp compared to Josh! Which leads me to wonder... How big will Josh get?!?! Last Saturday I had to accept the fact that at 10 weeks old, he can't wear 0-3 month clothes anymore. It also happened to be that day that he started cooing and smiling (at the same time).

October

I love October! Next to April it's my favorite month. And actually, April and October a lot alike. They are both gateways to a new beautiful season. Our maple leaves are red already and we're letting our lawn go dormant now. And it is definitely apple-picking time. We almost went last Saturday but time escaped us so we'll have to put it off for a few more days. An orchard near us will let me have all the apples on the ground for free and I plan on taking all I can find, and making lots and lots of applesauce and apple pie filling. Maybe they have pears (I can't remember) ~ we could use some more pear butter... Canning season! Not to mention pumpkins! I'm very excited. I'd like to get a few families to go with us and we can come back to my house for a canning party. Although I could be dreaming. I'm sure not everyone dreams about produce.

It's also at this time of year that I get excited about being a homeschooler. I leaf through the Veritas Press Catalog and practically drool~ such wonderful, beautiful books. I'm working on an Amazon wishlist composed of the books we'll need first. (I love Amazon because you can get the books used and save money. And saving money means more books!) The wish list will be really helpful, especially around Christmas time, I think. Ok, maybe I'm jumping the gun a little. Dabney is 3 now, but very soon, I'll be going through the phonics with her and hopefully she'll be reading within a year. First though, I want to be proficient in the phonics myself.

Happy October everyone!

Something funny from Dabney

It's Friday afternoon, so after the kids woke up (early) from their naps, I put Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on as a nice start to the weekend. (Not the scary old version~ which still frightens me at 28 years old~ but the funny one with Johnny Depp.) It was at the part when rude and demanding Veruca Salt wants a squirrel to take home and I mentioned to Dabney how rude she was being to her daddy. (I try to make object lessons out of just about everything.) Dabney turns around and says, "Yes! She should say 'Please, may I have a squirrel!"

I don't know, it just struck me as funny...

And Now For Something Completely Different

My beloved spatula collection



Mark Your Calendars!

I'm having a Pampered Chef Party!
Friday, November 9th
6:30

I haven't given out invitations yet but friends, family, and everyone from church is invited, and I think we'll have a great time. My Pampered Chef lady Leora and I think that Nov 9 will be perfect timing~ the things we order will be delivered in time for Thanksgiving and hopefully we can plan a little ahead and do some Christmas shopping, too!

Please plan to be here (at my house) and we'll have good food and good fellowship.
Be there or be square!

(Let me know if you need a catalog beforehand)

Wedding Pictures

How fun to go to a wedding! We had a blast at Lindsay and Andrew's beautiful wedding last Friday. Good food and great fellowship and dancing away into the night. David especially loved the dancing- first with his Mama and then when the really fun music came on, he really got down with his buddy Daniel. They bopped together, with their daddies watching and laughing. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of that great scene, I was tending to the tiny one. Not only that, Tim and I got to dance to a few songs too! That really doesn't happen a lot, unless it's in the living room.

Going to weddings almost makes me relive our wedding~ it was so fun but at the same time so heavy with meaning. I think the part that gets to me most is when the bride and groom drive away. It seems so final for them to leave the party. We blew hundreds of bubbles at Lindsay and Andrew but I couldn't help but feel a little pang for Judy and Marty and Meri (the family of the bride). It was at that point I cried my eyes out, just like a baby, at my own wedding. Things change and people grow and it is just beautiful to see a new family form before your eyes.