Because this is what we do on The Fourth

Sorry for the fuzzy picture but I had to post it. Some of my favorite childhood memories come from our culd-e-sac Fourth of July parties. From these super fun family parties, I claim The 4th of July as my favorite holiday. Since my parents moved from the house I grew up on at the bottom of the Pickwick culd-e-sac, we have been seeking other adventures to celebrate the 4th. My family, along with our Pickwick neighbors, have been hitting Branson for the big firework shows. It has sort of been a running joke with us because every year it is a flop! You would think this would ruin our 4th of July - absolutely not! We are all pretty easy to please so we laugh our way through it. At this point...it's hard not to laugh! The first year we decided to do the fireworks and BBQ at the Chateau in Branson, we arrive already to celebrate to find that the celebration was really the night before and we didn't show up for our reservation. The next year we tried the Chateau again but had to sit in the car due to the heavy down pour of rain. One year we drove around looking for a firework show with no luck. This year, the kids were all dressed in their cute little 4th of July outfits for a picture, and this is the best I could do. We decided to watch the fireworks at the Chateau...again...but on our way there it started lightening very badly. By the time we got there, everyone was parking along side of the road near the Chateau so we followed suit. The winds blew at about 30 miles per hour, it was lightening, but we were NOT going to miss those fireworks! Then came the rain. We all ran to our cars and watched the fireworks/lightening show through the windsheild of our car...again. Ha! Gotta love it! What will Branson have in store for us next year?

What to do with all of this Kale...

Did you know that Pizza Hut is the largest consumer of kale? They use it to decorate their salad bar. Well, we're going to eat it! Farmer Millsap has been supplying our household with plenty of kale this summer. It's a pretty thick leaf, much different then the salads we are used to but I have found a couple of things to do with it. Millsap Farms has a great blog, full of ideas on what to do with the produce they give us. One of the recipes that caught my eye was Massaged Kale. Basically, you use a salad oil, rub it into the leaves and let it sit for about 30 minutes. I happen to have Blood Orange Olive Oil and Tangerine Balsamic Vinegar so that is what I used and it was AMAZING!!! Put a few strawberries, almonds, radishes, tomatoes, mandarin oranges and whatever else I could find to make this super yummy lunch. Definitely give massaged kale a try, you will not be disappointed!

Thank you, Curious George!

Jeremiah has been OBSESSED with radishes this year! What 4-year-old do you know is begging his mom to buy radishes!?! There is a Curious George epidose that Jeremiah absolutely loves (any other PBSkids lovers out there?). The episode is basically about George wanting to make his own juice in his new juicer...he picks out all different kinds of "red" foods to make a special treat. One of his red foods was, you guessed it, radishes.

This all started last fall, Jeremiah wanted a juicer so bad. He even asked for one for Christmas! Thinking that the obsession would pass and that he probably wouldn't be overly excited about opening a juicer on Christmas morning, I asked for the juicer and Santa Claus delivered. Once Jey realized we now had the capability of making juice he was ready to buy radishes. I thought, really? We are going through with this? But I went along...So after buying him a bunch of radishes at the store, I let him taste one knowing he probably wasn't going to like it. They do have a very intense flavor after all! Of course he didn't want to chow down on them, he wanted to JUICE them! We did and the craze still hasn't died down. I can't keep buying radishes...so we decided to plant some! I have never seen a kid so excited about growning radishes in my life. Here is Jeremiah with his first radish harvest (and some strawberries - we ate them, they didn't make it into the juice). The creative juice he came up with included 4 apples, 4 strawberries, 2 carrots, and 2 radishes, 3 drops of lemon juice - all Jeremiah's idea and he loved it (so did mom and dad)!!! How can I say no to that?!?

It's that time of year again!

You know me and my blueberries...love, Love, LOVE them! We picked our first batch a couple of weeks ago and I am sure we'll be back before the season ends. You think this is a lot? It's only about half of them...Ava ate the other half. That girl is just like her momma! Save some for the rest of us, Ava!


You may remember me talking about Pappy's last year, here and here. We love pickin' blueberries!

When God gives you a rainy day - dance in it!

It's the middle of summer now but this past spring was a WET one! I happen to LOVE rainy days!!! A couple of months ago, there was no playing outside because it just rained all the time. But I'm here to tell you - you CAN have fun in the rain and that is just what these two full-of-energy-I'm-bored-inside-and-want-to-play-outside kiddos did! It was starting to rain pretty good so I didn't let them get too far. Jeremiah is trying to teach Zeda how to do the robot...she is definitely a free spirit and wanted to bust out her own moves! :-)

My students would appreciate this...

So for those of you who don't know.... I teach in the Dietetics Program at MSU and one of the things I teach is a Food Preparation course - so basically I teach people how to cook. I get so inspired by all of the food/cooking blogs that I read and the pictures are always so appetizing but you never see the imperfections...the things that didn't rise or those things that burnt. So here you go!

Yes, even this food prepapation instructor, can burn a batch of cookies. What are burnt cookies good for? Dipping in coffee, of course! Just pretend like you meant to burn the cookies!

Not just another CSA post

I know you have all heard about my CSA share for the year and quite frankly, I could talk about it all the time. I absolutely LOVE it! We are definitely bringing foods into the home that you wouldn't normally find at the store and that I probably wouldn't buy anyway (does anyone else get stuck in cooking ruts or is it just me?). The reason that this CSA share is so neat is that I harvested some of it myself! Yes, ME, out in the feild at Millsap Farm cutting down the Bok Choy and pulling the beets. How cool is that!?! To be a part of the CSA you have to...actually, you "get" to work out at the farm for one day. My sister and I signed up to work together and it was SO MUCH FUN! We laughed our way through the day, harvesting veggies, eating lunch with the farmer and his family, cleaning the produce, squashing bugs...well, sort of, and at the end I got to take a huge sack of yummy looking food home with me. Poor sister wanted some but it was my week to pick up...sorry sister. :-)

Garden 2011

Our garden is a little slow moving this year but we are still getting some nice produce. So far we have gotten lettuce, spinach, strawberries, beets, radishes and a few carrots (probably sounds more impressive than what it really is). We are waiting on brussel sprouts, zucchini, green beans, edammame, tomatoes, and cucumbers. We decided to plant a few more seeds and thought the kids could help. Boy did they ever love it! Perhaps a little too much...

Leaving a Legacy

Yes, I'm behind on the laundry.
Yes, I have work to do to get ready for the next school year.
Yes, my house needs a major cleaning.
Yes, I want a nap. :-)
Yes, there is always something that needs to be done.

H-O-W-E-V-E-R.....

Will these kids remember if my house was dusted, my laundry folded, or the dishes done? Do they care? Do I WANT them to remember that I was "too busy"? Nope. Nope. And REALLY NO!

What I want "my" 5 kids to say about me is "I loved hanging out at my Aunt's Sarah's", "I loved the summer time when we got to go to Aunt Sarah's for no special reason", "Remember the time at Aunt Sarah's...(followed by something good)" :-) "My Aunt Sarah loved me so much". "She always made me feel like I mattered." "She plays." "She's happy." "She listens." "She cares."
That is what I want those babies to say.

At some point they will get too old to want to come hang out with me so I've got to take it all in now and cherish it!



My Babies: Isaac, 10; Zeda, 2; Mason, 7; Jeremiah, 4; Ava (not pictured, she is napping), 1