Got Pumpkins

We grew a ton of pumpkins this year. We grew both giant and regular pumpkins. We even had volunteer pumpkins growing out of the compost pile. We were pretty happy with how big our giant pumpkins got. I have never had any luck growing them before so I thought they were wonderful.

They were fun to watch get bigger and bigger. We thought that they were big. That is until we went to Buaman Farms and saw their big pumpkins. It was pretty cool to see the new world record largest pumpkin. Now we think our pumpkins are pretty small. I am not sure I will grow giant pumpkins again next year. They take up a lot of space, but if I do I will probably try harder to get bigger ones by keeping only one pumpkin per plant.
Did you know you can eat giant pumpkins? You can you just roast it up like a regular pumpkin and cook with it the same. I made a pumpkin pie out of it already. One approximately 100 pound pumpkin made 18 quarts of puree.

2014 Summer List

 While we school year round we still take time to have some summer fun. We try to check off everything from our summer list between Memorial Day and Labor Day. We start next weekend. Bring on the FUN!

What fun things are you doing this summer?

Snow Ice Cream

While I have heard of snow ice cream before. I have never eaten any before and I probably shouldn’t have tried it. I did though and it is YUMMY! Good thing it rarely snows here.

SNOW ICE CREAM
4 quarts fluffy snow
2 C. Heavy cream
1 C. Sugar
1 t vanilla

Mix Cream, sugar, and Vanilla. Then slowly fold in snow. Enjoy!

Mr. Handsome’s First Haircut

While most of America was watching some football game, Oh wait I guess to some the Superbowl is kinda a big deal but don’t hate us just because we aren’t fans. In fact I count myself blessed that my husband doesn’t watch sports on TV.

Before

Today I cut my baby boys hair for the first time. I am not gonna lie I got super chocked up. He has the straightest hair of all my kids at this age but he did have a tiny bit of curl in the back. I am gonna miss that cute little bit of babyhood. He was a very good boy. He sat very still which shocked me.

During

Funny little side note is I wasn’t the only one sad Mark was getting his hair cut. One nameless older sitter refused to even look at him because I cut his hair off.

After

Gonna miss his long hair but I am pretty sure he is glad it is out of his eyes.

12

Happy 12th Birthday!

A trip to the mall. Pierced ears, legos, books, and yarn. Crafts, cake, and ice cream.

Legal to babysit. Growing up and still my baby.

  Love you sweet girl!

2014 Goals

Here are my goals for 2014. Some are lofty goals like dishes and getting all that scrapbooking done. Some of my goals I do in the year anyway. I like to write down goals. I am more likely to accomplish things if I write it down and yes, getting to cross something off is highly motivational for me. For the most part I don’t feel bad when I don’t finish a goal. I know I put more than is probably humanly possible but that is the point to push myself harder than I would normally. No matter what the Lord brings our way this year I am determined to grow. Happy New Year!

Goals for 2014
1. Read Bible 2 times
2. Memorize 50 Verses
3. Exercise at least 4 times a week for 30 min.
4. Read 50 books
5. Take kids to Multnomah Falls
6. Mark’s 1st year scrapbook
7. Lydia’s 1st year scrapbook
8. Joseph’s 1st year scrapbook
9. 2013 Family scrapbook
10. 2012 Family Scrapbook
11. 2011 Family Scrapbook
12. 2010 Family Scrapbook
13. Lose weight to 130
14. Date Tad twice a month
15. Have Company twice a month
16. Take dinner to someone once a month
17. Memorize 50 states and capitals
18. Preserve 600 Quarts of food
19. Attend 5 corporate prayers
20. Deep Clean house in Jan and July
21. Do a once a month cooking
22. Put $300 in savings a month for $3,600 total
23. Do craft Project with the kids once a month
24. Play board game with kids once a month
25. Go fishing 10 times
26. Run a 5k
27. Learn to play chess
28. Send Birthday card to all nieces and nephews
29. Finish all mending
30. Start a quilt with Tads Old Shirts
31. Sleep outside or camp 2 nights
32. Date each kid twice in year
33. Read a digital photography book
34. Sew 4 diaper covers
35. Plan trip to central OR for 2015
36. Butcher and eat 10 chickens
37. Make a picture ornament of each kid for each Christmas
38. Finish all dishes before bedtime
39. Sew advent bags
40. Blog once a week

A Little of What We Did in 2013

I just got a review of my blog for 2013. Wow! I managed just one post. So here is a second one. I didn’t write a Christmas letter so this is it.

In January Tad and the kids ice skated. 
In febuary we added this sweet boy to the family. We all love, Love, LOVE him.

In May Lydia enjoyed alot of frosting. Then we enjoyed a stay at the beach.Next we had county fair. The four older girls all showed their rabbits and lots of other things in the exhibit hall. Abby got Champion in Poetry.Elizabeth had fun dressing up at fair.The kids had a vegetable stand. They actually made some money enough to take us to the movies. We spent alot of time in the garden this past summer. Wore some people out.

Mark turned 6m.

We started school back up in full force in September. I decided we are going to work on how to take a group picture this year.In October we finished up the garden. We still had a lot of tomatitos and green tomatoes. I finished preserving for the year. 588 quarts total. We also we to the zoo.

In December we have enjoyed some snow, Christmas, and finally getting over the flu.We were very blessed in 2013. We are looking forward to the new adventures 2014 will bring us.

Summer 2013 Bucket List

  We have finalized our summer list. Tomorrow is the first day that we can start working on crossing things off.  September 6th will be the last day to finish anything on the list. We are hoping to accomplish everything but in reality we probably won’t. Still we think it is fun to discuss what to put on the list and then to mark things off. I am planning on updating a couple of times this summer what we get done. So whether you are cheering us on or you enjoy seeing what we don’t actually do here is the list of 150.

SUMMER 2013

1. Memorize Psalm 119:1-5
2. Daisy Chain
3. Catch bugs
4. Build a fort indoors
5. Write a book
6. Invent something
7. Kids make dinner
8. Memorize Psalm 119:6-10
9. Paper airplanes
10. Play Settlers of Catan
11. Shadow puppets
12. Flubber
13. Canasta
14. Memorize Psalm 119:11-15
15. Press flowers
16. Bad mitten
17. Origami
18. Basketball
19. Thumb Print Art
20. Smore’s
21. Family movie night
22. Memorize Psalm 119:16-20
23. VBS
24. Soccer
25. Snipe hunt
26. Sword drill
27. Swimming
28. Pick strawberries
29. Memorize Psalm 119:21-25
30. Make strawberry Jam
31. Library reading program
32. Fishing
33. Zoo
34. Make Popsicles
35. Sparklers
36. Memorize Psalm 119:26-30
37. 4^th of July Parade
38. Beach
39. Portland Children’s Museum
40. Picnic in Park
41. Can green beans
42. Marion County Fair
43. Memorize Psalm 119:31-35
44. Solar Cooker
45. Creek Walk
46. Camp in Back yard
47. Monopoly
48. Freeze Corn
49. Banana Grams
50. Memorize Psalm 119:36-40
51. Pick Raspberries
52. Play dough
53. Hike
54. Bike Ride
55. Fondue
56. Bowling
57. Memorize Psalm 119:41-45
58. Make cookies
59. Pick Blueberries
60. Make Christmas ornament
61. Collages
62. Bubbles
63. Pick Apples
64. Memorize Psalm 119:46-50
65. New School Schedule
66. Paper Mache
67. Pick Blackberries
68. Star Gazing
69. Lego Creations
70. Paint
71. Memorize Psalm 119:51-55
72. Water War
73. Can pickles
74. Make Ice Cream
75. Spa Day
76. Sew Something
77. Invent a game
78. Memorize Psalm 119:56-60
79. Nature Walk
80. Write a Letter
81. Baseball
82. Deep Clean House
83. Scrapbook Day
84. Read Johnny Tremain
85. Memorize Psalm 119:61-65
86. Play tourist in Albany
87. Tea Party
88. Have Lilly over
89. Recover Notebooks
90. Green Smoothies
91. Baking Soda/Vinegar Volcanoes
92. Memorize Psalm 119:66-70
93. Fudgesicles
94. Camping
95. Make Salsa
96. Volleyball
97. TV free week
98. Leap Frog
99. Memorize Psalm 119:71-75
100. Sundial
101. Boil water in leaf
102. Hobo stew
103. Cool Pool
104. Potluck
105. Scavenger Hunt
106. Homemade glow in the dark bottle
107. Memorize Psalm 119:76-80
108. Nerf war
109. Elephant Ears
110. Family Picture
111. Plant Garden
112. Make yogurt
113. Chocolate Play Dough
114. Memorize Psalm 119:81-85
115. Read Stuart Little
116. Potty Train Lydia
117. Kids make a movie
118. Read Wind in the Willows
119. Create a Memory Pottery
120. Memorize 50 States and Capitals
121. Visit Huttingas
122. Memorize Psalm 119:86-90
123. Linn County Fair
124. Bible Trivia Game
125. Garage Saling
126. Read Grandmas Attic
127. Sidewalk chalk art
128. Watch clouds
129. Have Leah over
130. Wash Van
131. Memorize Psalm 119:91-95
132. Eat Watermelon
133. Try a new Veggie
134. Grow herbs
135. Dry flowers
136. Bird watch
137. Make Ketchup
138. Memorize Psalm 119:96-100
139. Enchanted Forest
140. Make Cards
141. Marshmallow war
142. Make toothpaste
143. Fruit soup
144. Run 3 Miles
145. Cartwheels
146. Weed free flower beds
147. Picture of Garden
148. Ooblec
149. Parachute
150. Hula Hoop

Sweet Potato Casserole

Don’t tell me you don’t like sweet potatoes. These aren’t your average sweet potatoes. This is really a desert but I serve it at dinner. I received this amazing recipe from my older sister a few years back. Every time I make it people ask for the recipe. You will want to double it and freeze the extra uncooked. It is amazing and yes my sister is an amazing cook.

3 C. cooked, mashed sweet potatoes (peel and boil just like regular potatoes)

1 1/4 C. white sugar                          2 eggs

dash of cinnamon                           3/4 C. butter

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Mix ingredients well. Pour into a buttered baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees F.  uncovered. Remove and sprinkle topping of

1 C. crushed Ritz crackers

1 C. chopped pecans

1/2 C. brown sugar

1/2 stick of butter

melt butter and stir in brown sugar, add Ritz and nuts – mix well until crumbly.

Bake for another 15 minutes.

Lydia’s latest mess

Lydia had a little bit of fun while I was helping other kids try on new shoes.

a little Hershy’s syrup anyone?