Wow...it's been a long time....

Since we took some time off here, to well...live, really.  We thought you'd like to see what we've been up to these past few months....get ready for a serious photo bomb, month by month.

We last left off in....

MARCH

Our daughter celebrated her 9th birthday (waaahhh, why oh why do they have to grow up???)

No seriously, I'm asking here...just lookie at that ol' cutie pie.  Love, love, love her...

APRIL

All of this white stuff finally "left the building"...thank you global warming

MAY

My oldest daughter and I got the crazy notion to compete in our first triathlon....oh my goodness people, never again.  Childbirth was easier...

JUNE

We took this crazy bunch to the "happiest place on the planet"....

We locked Grandmom on quite a few roller coasters before she started getting smart and then gently "declined" our request to ride the rides with us...(tee, hee it's payback time, mama...)

We ended our vacation on the island of Anna Marie off the coast of Florida.  Sun, water, and sand...what more could a swimming family ask for?

...except an extra week or two...

JULY

This month brought on weeds, weeds and more weeds (especially since we were gone for so long in June - ugh!)  But our garden was enormous this year and we were blessed with such an abundance this year.  (I saw jars and jars of canning and bags and bags of freezing in our future.)

AUGUST

Soccer came bursting in with my little one competing for the first time.  Can you spell FIERCE?  Hmm, wonder where he got that competitiveness from?  

...must be from his father he's standing next to, whom by the way was his coach.  Man, I adore all my boys...

Our oldest girl celebrated her 14th birthday.  She is such a beautiful young lady...but watch out in the water, she will hunt you down - so competitive...

So much love going on here...

...okay, maybe not...

SEPTEMBER

Swimming came back into our lives with a vengeance.  Not that it ever leaves since we swim year round, but still.  Our oldest daughter started her freshman year on the high school swim team.  It was two a day practices and in the pool all the time...a dream come true for her.  Mom and Dad (who value their sleep...not so much)

OCTOBER

In October, we were able to take some time out to enjoy cool evenings together.  Ain't nothin' better than that...

Our son wanted to be a knight this year for Halloween.  That boy is seriously cute, even in his "protector" pose.

Our little girl was a queen with a unicorn balloon hat.  Doesn't every queen have a unicorn balloon hat?

Our oldest girl talked her friends in to coming over for a little bit of trick or treating (which for us is basically about 8 houses).  So glad they're still not too old...

Whew...I'm worn out just thinking back.  Well, that's it from this family.  Until, we can figure out how to squeeze something else into our lives...oh wait, there's more swimming coming up.  Our oldest son is about to start his two a day practices for high school swim season.  Aaaaahhhhh!!!.....can't a couple of old people get a little sleep around here????

Prioritizing...

That's a word that is so very hard for most of us to do.  Prioritize.  To figure out.  To sort.  What should go first, second and so on.  It's not easy.  You have to make a hard choice.  Something has to always be second or third or even get dropped off the list completely.  It just has to, it's life. 

These past several months I've had to do some serious prioritizing in my life.  Rather than write about our lives here, I've had to live that life.  Probably more like, hang on while life flew past.  With four VERY active kids in a boatload of activities, I find myself more in my car than I've ever been.  It's a tough choice for me, because while I'm in my car something at home is not getting done.  Laundry, cooking, schooling for that matter.  But it was our choice to do this.  To raise these four kids.  To have this schedule.  But...it doesn't mean it is an easy choice. 

Prioritizing...

For now, this is what I have to do.  Be in the car.  Be in the moment.  Be present in my children's lives.  Live.  Right here.  Right now. 

So while we are a little bit absent from our blog at the moment, know that we are living passionately everyday together...

...and that is as it should be

An amazing thing happened...

Today, God showed up and answered the prayers of a crying little girl.  After 4 days missing we found our escaped gerbil and our little girl couldn't beam any brighter.  My husband and I are absolutely shocked as to how this all played out. 

Our house is a story and a half.  Our little girl's room is located on the second floor.  This gerbil must have like a bazillion lives for here's everything this animal had to overcome.  First and foremost, it had to figure out a way to get out of its cage...that was from a hole on the top (we have since tape shut).  Then it had to fall 4 1/2 feet from the top of a desk, make its way down 19 steps (all hardwood, I might add), past the dog's bed...which sleeps basically at the foot of the stairs, down 12 more steps (which leads to the basement), all the while NOT waking up or disturbing the dog.  We found her behind a playhouse in the middle of the play area.  And let me be the first to say...

...gerbils are so incredibly fast.  We had her cornered twice with four people surrounding her and she still ran past us.  Finally we were able to get her into her cage and I can safely tell you that upstairs right now I have 3 kids (our oldest sleeps in a large room in the basement) and two gerbils fast asleep.  Trust me...I definitely did a head count.

One gerbil found...mission accomplished.

Lock down mode...

Tonight we are in an all out lock down mode.  We were at a swim meet all day and returned late this evening to find that one of my older daughter's gerbils (which she got for her birthday in August) escaped from her cage.  She is absolutely heartbroken and sobbing herself to sleep.  I realize that this really does sound so small in comparison to everything that people face...but to this special little girl of mine, it has crushed her heart.  We have searched and searched...but with a dog loose in the house all day as well, the odds are not in this gerbil's favor.  So as we are getting ready to go to bed, we placed several items around the house in hopes of still finding this gerbil.  But more importantly, we said a little prayer for the little girl whose feeling so very sad.

I have conquered french fries...

I never thought I would say it but I have finally conquered french fries.  How to cook them that is.  I've cooked them before.  Lots.  And lots.  But they have always come out soggy and limp like a greasy ol' noodle.  Never have they come out like they do at that place which we don't mention in this house because 3 year old ears are ALWAYS listening.  I'm not saying any names but it rhymes with...pacdonald's (okay, totally made that one up...but nothing rhymes with that greasy ol' place - serves it right).

But I have finally been able to say that I can cook up a mean ol' bunch of crispy french fries.  Totally not good for you.  Yes, I know.  But given we don't have them very often I think it's okay to bend the rules a little and fry us up a bunch of these.  It is a process.  But once you "get" the process then it's really quite easy. 

So tonight, grill you up some BBQ bacon and cheddar burgers (seriously, if you're going to break the rules...go all out) and enjoy this recipe.  It's worth it!


Ingredients: (recipe credit:  Emeril Lagasse - food network)

4 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4 by 1/4-inch thick batons

2 quarts peanut oil

Salt and pepper

 

Rinse cut potatoes in a large bowl with lots of cold running water until water becomes clear. Cover with water by 1-inch and cover with ice. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.

 

In a 5-quart pot or Dutch oven fitted with a candy or deep-frying thermometer, (or in an electric deep fryer), heat oil over medium-low heat until the thermometer registers 325 degrees F. Make sure that you have at least 3 inches of space between the top of the oil and the top of the pan, as fries will bubble up when they are added.

Drain ice water from cut fries and wrap potato pieces in a clean dishcloth or tea towel and thoroughly pat dry. Increase the heat to medium-high and add fries, a handful at a time, to the hot oil. Fry, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are soft and limp and begin to turn a blond color, about 6 to 8 minutes. Using a skimmer or a slotted spoon, carefully remove fries from the oil and set aside to drain on paper towels. Let rest for at least 10 minutes or up to 2 hours.

When ready to serve the French fries, reheat the oil to 350 degrees F. Transfer the blanched potatoes to the hot oil and fry again, stirring frequently, until golden brown and puffed, about 1 minute. Transfer to paper lined platter and sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve immediately.

Decorating for Christmas...oh, and some of the best blueberry muffins EVER!

Last night the boys dragged up all of my Christmas boxes/decorations from our basement.  Now, the process of decorating begins...you know, where you get REALLY messy at first in order for it to be neat and clean later....well, we are not quite at that neat and clean yet.  Truth be told, I'm about as far from it as you can get.  So tonight when I looked around at the chaos gaining speed as the seconds went by, I decided that there was no way I was going to add to this mess by cooking some elaborate dinner. 

Nope. 

It was breakfast at night.  Have you ever had breakfast at night?  Oh man, sometimes it is exactly what you need.  The smell of muffins and eggs drifting through the house.  These muffins are seriously the best blueberry muffins ever.  Of course, I cannot take credit for this recipe, if I could then I would have a cookbook and be rich and famous and have a personal shopper because I have a serious issue with shopping...food shopping, not a problem...clothes, toys, and everything else - ugh!  That would mean I would have to venture into the mall (think, evil music playing) and that's a whole other blog post right there.  So since that whole cookbook thing is not panning out for me, I guess I'll go and try and clean up Christmas tree needles and that silver tinsel stuff - which by the way, in the winter will stick to EVERYTHING. 

Enjoy the blueberry muffins...

Ingredients:  (recipe credit - all recipes "to die for blueberry muffins")

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

 

Directions:

 

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

2.  Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup   measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

3.  To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

4.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

An obession...

Last night our house smelled like chicken noodle soup.  Except that it wasn't soup I was cooking.  Just smelled like it.  I had baked a wonderful chicken in the oven for dinner .  When dinner was over I shredded the chicken off the bones and I was not about to let those wonderful chicken parts, bones and all those other things I don't want to know the name of, go to waste.  So at 8 o'clock I threw that chicken back into a pot (along with a bunch of veggies and spices) and by 10 o'clock I had 7 mason jars filled with wonderful golden chicken broth.  It's incredibly simple and tastes wonderful in soups and stews.  Best news is that I know exactly what's in it.  And that's why I do what I do...

I am finding that the deeper I go into making everything homemade, the more I am using every last inch of the food we eat.  If you go to the trouble of peeling or chopping or shelling something, by golly, you begin to appreciate just exactly where your food comes from and what goes into preparing it.  If the kids sit and shell peanuts for a while just to get a jar of peanut butter, then they are more likely to eat every last drop because they took the time to make it.  I find myself looking at food very differently right now. 

For instance, if I am shopping for vegetables right now in the store, I wonder where in the world is it warm enough to grow a good ripe tomato.  Because it sure ain't warm here.  Many times our fruits and vegetables are being shipped from a great distance.  And that means that this tomato, I'm holding in my hands, has been on a truck for at least a couple of weeks (or more) before it has even come to me.  It's no wonder that a tomato bought in the middle of winter tastes so bad in comparison to one at its ripest during the summer.  There is no comparison. 

So what started as a game to me just to see how many things I can make homemade is very quickly becoming an obsession of finding the best quality food for my family.  I realize that this will take me some time, but my new goal is to provide (meaning canning and freezing) this summer enough fresh quality fruits and vegetables that we can put away to last us throughout the winter until next summer garden season rolls around. 

It will take LOTS of planning on my part, for this is a big family that likes to eat...a lot.  It will take getting a WAY BIGGER garden.  And it will take...going local.  Local for the things that I cannot grow.  Going local for my apples and blueberries and strawberries.  Going local for my honey and going local for the things I cannot grow.  I already lined up a cow from a local farmer to eat...the cow that is, not the farmer.  And also a pig.  Now, I just need to find a farmer with free-range chickens and fresh eggs.  That shouldn't be that hard, right?  We live in Iowa.  Farm belt city.  Surely there's some farmer out there who can hear my plea.  Or....better yet....maybe I'll just talk my husband into moving out to the country and buying some land.  Our own little green acres....it's the place to be....farm living's the life for me....(sorry, just started belting out a song there). 

Well, I may not make it through perfectly this time...but I will prevail.  I must, it's definitely an obsession now.  Plus, think about what it will do for our food bill...yippee for us!