Not Minding Too Much

Looks comfy doesn't he? For the past several weeks, at around 6:45 am, this little guy comes in my room wanting to get in the bed with Scott and I. I pull him (and Ellie) up into bed and put him in between us. We sleep for another thirty minutes to an hour with him sandwiched in between the two of us. I must say, I am quite fond of this little thing we have going. Our kids have been good sleepers and we all have our own beds. As much as we all need that, I am in no rush of Brayden growing out of this little phase. ;)

Swedish Apple Pie

Occasionally, I will find a doable recipe in Family Fun magazine. This one involves apples. I recently bought a bag of baking apples at Trader Joe's. I had planned to make applesauce with them, but then thought of this recipe in this month's issue. I whipped it together in about 20 minutes. It takes about 40-45 minutes to bake. You all ought to try it. It makes your whole house smell delicious!

Scott is returning tonight from a conference in Pittsburgh. I thought he and I could enjoy this treat after the kids and I pick him up at the airport. So, I have not actually tasted it yet. I have a lot of confidence in it already because it is a pretty pie and it smells so good. ;)

Swedish Apple Pie

Ingredients

For the filling

2/3 c raisins

3 medium apples (about 2 2/3 cups), any baking variety, peeled and sliced

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

For the topping

3/4 c butter or margarine ( I used Earth Balance)

1 c flour

1 c sugar (cane)

1/2 teaspoon salt (sea)

1 egg, beaten (I use egg replacer)

1/4 c chopped walnuts

1. Heat oven to 350. Place raisins in a small bowl, cover them with hot water, and microwave them on high until they become plump, about 20 to 30 seconds. Drain the raisins, then combine them with the apple slices. Transfer the fruit to a 9 inch pie pan (it should be no more than two-thirds full).

2. In a small bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and sprinkle the mixture over the fruit.

3. To make the topping, first melt the butter or margarine and set it aside. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt, and egg until they've evenly blended. Whisk in the butter or margarine, then spread the topping over the fruit and sprinkle on the nuts.

4. Bake the pie until golden brown, about 40 minutes.

Posters

I have a good friend that forwarded me a link for these posters. You can buy them and others off of Amazon. Her friend has them on her living room walls. Cracks me up. Moms need these reminders throughout the day. ;)

Can You Relate?

My kids were quite disagreeable today. It seems just when I would get one fire put out, another one would start. They are all tucked away now. Whew. Tomorrow is new day! Each day is unique, ay? As a Mom, you just have to roll with it. Some days I roll more gracefully than others.

Costume Fun

My mom and Annette visited two days ago and brought bags full of homemade costumes for our kids. Mom has been making them costumes for Halloween for the past couple of years. This year, she out did herself. She made several things; a dinosaur, clown, princess layered skirt, and a oriental costume. There is no telling how many hours were spent stitching these gorgeous costumes. Thanks, Mom. You love us so well. Thanks for using your special gift of sewing to give to us.

I am sharing lots of photos of us dressed up. Notice I said us. Scott found this awesome wig and we put a costume together for him. Julian is wearing a black cape that Mom made him last year, along with a mask for what he calls a dementor (inspired by the Harry Potter dementor characters). He found the mask at a thrift store. We thought we would let him go with the scarier costume this year. It is what he wanted. We figure you have to let them grow up sometime, right? I decided to dress up in the oriental costume that Mom made.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Cookies

Today, the kids and I made pumpkin cookies. I got the recipe from a book I checked out by Deanna Cook at my local library. I thought I would share some pictures and the recipe with you all. Enjoy!

Kalen took a nice shot of the wet mixture being poured into the dry mixture.

Pumpkin Cookies

(I made mine vegan, but you don't have to)

What you need:

1/2 c of butter or margarine ( I used Earth Balance)

3/4 c of brown sugar

1/4 c of molasses

1 egg ( I used an egg replacer)

1 c pumpkin mash or canned pumpkin

2 c all- purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 c raisins or choc. chips ( I went for the dark choc. chips)

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the molasses and egg, and beat well. Beat in the pumpkin mash; set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices.

3. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture until combined. Then, mix in the raisins or choc. chips.

4. Drop the batter by teaspoonfuls (I used a bigger scoop) onto an ungreased cookie sheet, spacing the cookies at least 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies spring back when lightly pressed. Serve with a cold glass of milk (or soymilk). :)

A Prayer

God, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world; give them strength to hold their faith in you, and to keep alive their joy in your creation. For peace, for reconciliation, for wholeness, for grace, for love -- may these things characterize your children.

Adapted from the Book of Common Prayer

Quote to think on

God's acceptance and forgiveness does not say that everything we have done and left undone is all right. It says that we can pick up from here and move on. Freed from the burden of guilt, we can live with our real, sinful selves, accepting ourselves because God accepts us and esteeming ourselves because if God prizes us, how can we do otherwise?

- Martha Graybeal Rowlett, from her book In Spirit and in Truth

Soccer Highlights

Our kids have really enjoyed soccer this fall. It has been quite the family affair. This weekend, we had games on both Saturday and Sunday. Whew!

Julian and Kalen have both had some super sweet goals this season. Watching them grow within a sport is really fun. Madelyn has dressed out for each of Julian's games, because his team is very low in numbers. She usually gets to play a bit. Sunday she got to play almost the whole game. Actually, when she wasn't in playing with the team full of nine year olds, Kalen was! Isn't that great? Thanks, Coach Scott!

Julian has not been feeling well today. He played goal keeper for his team. He didn't want to not play. I didn't get any photos of him. He looked kind of ghostly. When we got him home, he got nothing but the royal treatment. We have been waiting for sickness to make an appearance this fall. Maybe this will just pass on through quickly. As I hear him coughing in his sleep now, maybe not.

Here is a clip of one of Kalen's goals on Sunday:

Kalen played goal keeper for the final quarter. Here he is making a big goal kick.

After each game, Kalen's coach talks to the team about all the great things he saw as the team played. He calls them all by name and truly praises them. I like that and I know the kids do as well. :)

Green Fire 2009

Kalen is seated fifth on the bottom row

The following clip is of Madelyn. She did an amazing job today!

Pumpkin Pickin' and Tradition

This past weekend, we spent some time with Jerry, Jan and Shanda. Each year, they take the kids to the same place to pick out their own pumpkins. We made a pit stop at their home first. I snapped some photos outside in the front of their home. The trees in their front yard are always gorgeous this time of year. I have taken pictures of all of our kids, all throughout the years, right by these same trees. I am thankful for traditions. They serve as sweet anchors within our family.