Family Friday

Big news at our house, Little Mister lost his first tooth tonight(Thursday)! Sorry the picture is a bit blurry but he was very upset and I only had time for one picture. He was upset at first but mom and dad convinced it was a super cool thing and he was excited to tell his grandparents and Nana. He loved telling them how he tried to get it out by eating carrots today but that didn't work. His tooth fell out when he was eating a burrito instead :)

However as he fell asleep tonight he cried because he misses his old tooth and thought it worked just fine and he wished God would just put it back. After explain just why God made our teeth the way he did he was sort of convinced it would be ok. Plus the hope of the tooth fairy put a little smile on his face. It all happened just in time for School Picture Day!

Thoughtful Thursday...

When Ammy was told she might have to do Chemotherapy her Mom told her she could color her hair. As it got closer to starting her Chemo she asked her Aunts, cousin and grandma to join in too. It was a way to support her as she journeys through this new stage in life. I write this from am Aunts honest perspective and an older sis. If you don't want to read about my random thoughts please go ahead and skip to the pictures.

I have no idea what this is like for Ammy or Beth so I will tell you what it is like for me. There are moments when I want to break down and cry and cry at the injustice and cruelty of cancer. Times when I would trade places with both of them in a heartbeat to save them from the heartache and pain. Times when I see the miracles God has done and know he is with her and will use all of this for his Glory. Times when I wonder if our miracles have run out. Times when all I want to is hug them both and snuggle for a long time and pretend this not happening. Times when I want to help make a plan and research all I can. Honestly there are even time when I look at my kids and am so thankful they don't have to go through chemo. Then I feel guilty and then I start worrying about the little things because this is just too big for me. I wonder late at night what lies ahead, will Beth be able to finish school? Will Ammy be subject to mean cruel kids who don't understand why she is loosing her hair and is sick all the time? How do I teach my own kids compassion and understanding? How do I balance being supportive Aunty and Sis with being a wife and Mom? How many more times will we watch her go through a new Chemo plan? Will she catch an infection due to her weakened immune system? How do I not cross the line between being supportive to interfering? How will they ever know just how amazing I think they both are? So much more runs trough my head all day! Basically I am always thinking about it and what is my role in all of it. How I can best help and support them. Their bravery and courage are an inspiration and I am so very thankful to have them as family!

Sunday afternoon we all took a last min trip to the salon to color a strip of hair pink to show our support. It was a great time to laugh and let Ammy know we are all thinking about her all the time and stand beside her as she starts her chemo.

Because of her dark hair Little miss has just a faint streak you can see a little bit on the right side.

After the girls all wanted their pictures taken and they picked the spot and the pose :)

All The Girls and Little Mister. When Little Mister was asked if he wanted to put some color in his hair he said " NO, I want my hair just the way God made it!". I love that boy and the funny things he says!

My favorite picture from the day!

Tasty Tuesday

A few weeks ago Homebased Mom posted a recipe for The Best Biscuits that looked so yummy! I decided to save the recipe for our letter B week and make them with the kids. The kids had so much fun making them and they were delicious. We took the advice from Homebased mom and froze the extra ones for later use. The kids have been asking every night can we have them again, to me that does make them the best!

The BEST Biscuits

Printable Recipe

from The Sisters Cafe

4 C flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp soda
1/2 C butter
16oz sour cream
3-5 tsp water

Melted butter

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl or your food processor. If using food processor, pulse until butter is small and well blended pieces or cut in butter by hand using a pastry cutter. Add in the sour cream and water and mix well. Pulse again until well mixed. Add more water if it is too dry (just a little at a time.) Knead a few times on the counter and roll out to 1 inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut or dip a drinking glass into flour and cut. Freeze individually on a cookie sheet. After they are frozen, place in a freezer bag to store. Use as needed. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for 15-17 minutes or until top is golden. Twice during the baking process baste the tops of the biscuits with melted butter.

They go perfect with a big bowl of soup. Enjoy!

Make it Monday

I love cake plates but not the cost. It seems many others like them too as I have a hard time finding new interesting ones at Goodwill. I am one the search for a white cake plate if you see one let me know :)

So when I saw this plate for 2.99 and bowl 1.49 at target I knew what I wanted to do with them. I have seen many other blogs post on how to make a cake stand and was waiting for the right one to try it with. I made one last fall from a black bowl and plate and love it with my Halloween decorations. I recommend using E-6000 glue for the plastic type plates and glue designed for glass for glass plates and bowl. What are you making this week?

Sunday school

Brought to you by the Letter B
This week we read Brown Bear Brown Bear and lots of the Bernstein bears. Plus who could forget Little Misters Favorite Batman.

We made Biscuits to go with our Brown soup and for Breakfast later in the week.

We also made these cute little clothes pin Bats.

We practiced writing the letter B and went for a walk looking for things that start with B.

Lastly we made a B bee and a b butterfly. I will have to post pictures later because they are still drying. Hope you have a Beautiful day!

Family Friday

A few weeks ago my brother and sis were in town so we planned a fun get together in the park with the whole family. I am so annoyed that I didn't take the chance to get a group photo of all but one of the cousins together. I however was able to get a least one picture of each of them. It always makes me so happy to see the cousins all playing together. I have some amazing cousins and remember great memories with them over the years. I hope the kids continue to enjoy time together as they get older. I just love these kids so much!

Miss K I love your laughter and silliness.

Miss G I love your quiet gentle ways.

Mister E I love how you patiently teach the other kids new things, and your sense of adventure.

Little Mister I love your curious mind and kind heart.

Little Miss I love your determination and smile.

Brian I love how you are the "Big Kid" on the playground and always want to have fun with the kids. Plus I have heard you are the only one who can do an under dog on the swing the right way.

Cousin A I love your positive spirit and courageous heart.

Miss A I love your on the go spirit( almost every picture of you is blurry because you were on the go) You also have the greatest laugh that makes me smile.

Can't wait to see all of you soon!

wonder full wednesday

I wondering as this is the first day of fall how we made it a whole summer with out one family trip to the beach?

Guess it is time to plan a fall trip. Any trip you are planning this fall or things you ran out of time for this summer?

pumpkin muffins

Tomorrow is the first day of Fall!
Some of my favorite pictures from last year....


So for breakfast we are having yummy Pumpkin Muffins and apple cider. Then I hope to find the decorations in storage beaneth all the boxes that are still packed up and get the house looking festive.

Last year my friend Kim made some yummy muffins and I wanted to try making some too. So while at the store I called my sis Melissa and asked her to find one on line and tell me the ingredients. Can you tell this was before I had my own iphone :)

She found a recipe on allcooks. com and it was a hit. I was asked for the recipe many times from friends and family. I will be honest and say I think my friend Kim's are better but these are still pretty tasty. So here it is....

Yummy Pumpkin Muffins

3 1/3 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
3 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Mix dry ingredients and add:

1 c. oil
4 eggs
2/3 c. water
2 c. pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Prepare muffin tins by greasing with vegetable oil or butter and sprinkling lightly with flour. Shake out excess.Fill muffin tins three-quarters full and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

For an extra treat you can add some cream cheese frosting to the top and call it a cupcake :)

That is how my husband likes to eat them!!!

This recipe makes about 25 or more muffins so I usually cut it in half when making it for my family. However tonight I am going to make up the whole thing and freeze the extra for a later date.

What are some of your favorite ways to celebrate fall?

Make it Monday

I am hoping to start some fun sewing projects this week to share with over the next few weeks. Today however I am going to share with my little time of craftiness that came from necessity. I e-mailed my talent and super mom friend Lisa for advice on chores for the kids a few months ago. From our conversation back and forth and her post on her amazing blog Simply... This That and The Other. I came up with this for our family. Sorry the color is a bit off as it was late when I took these pictures. We Keep the same chores for one week then switch every Monday.I decided to make it from paper and slip it in a page protector so that we can change it when we want or need to .

We use these magnets to switch from each set of job list. I made them with scraps of paper, flat glass stones, and glue. It helps to have heavy duty magnets on the back.

Are you making fun anything this monday?

Sunday School

Each Sunday I will post what we have been learning this week in our at home preschool. I had hoped to do more this week with the letter A but to tell you the truth I am so glad we didn't. We are still trying to figure out our daily routine with Kindergarten starting and trying to find balance between keeping up the house, preschool, and enjoying the time we have together. We are going to continue in the letter of the week this school year but I want to make family time come first so some weeks there may be very little to share with you.

Letter A

While the sun was out at the beginning of the week. The kids enjoyed playing with play dough out on the deck. While it was raining we worked on some practicing of writing the letter A in our workbooks.

We did some apple tasting one night after dinner. The kids loved the "yellow" apples while mom and dad loved the Granny Smith green apples. Little miss loved the carmel sauce they got to try after tasting each apple.

Little Miss played for hours one morning with corn starch and water. I left it out and Brother played with it too when he got home. It has nothing to do with the letter A but it was hours of fun and great "science" experiment.

We read the book Apples To Oregon that Grandma bought the kids last year after meeting the Author at her work . This is a very cute book about bring apple trees and other fruit trees across the Oregon trail.

And what week would not be complete with out some sort of craft. I got the idea from the website Homeschool creations. First was a lower case a apple. Then the next day was a Upper case A alligator.

Lastly today we are making some warm red cinnamon applesauce. (warm applesauce with red hot candies in it) Something I remember having as a kid but have not made for my kids yet. Yummy!!!

What have you been doing at home this week?

Simple Saturday

Thanks Grammy for the Milkshake machine you let us borrow. The kids loved it this summer!

Family Fridays

Fridays are the days when I am planning on sharing what the family is up to for those of you who use this blog to keep up with what we are doing.
Little mister has started soccer and enjoys playing in the rain more then any other time. Last week was our first game and Nana, Aunt sissa, Aunt Beth and Cousin A came out to see him play.
Sorry no time to edit the picture the PC is acting up and not cooperating with the mac :)




Hope you have some fun family time this weekend!