Dear Pinterest...

Dear Pinterest,

I love you and I hate you.  I love you because you give me SO many ideas of what I want to do with crafts, my home, my hair and makeup, my food, photography cheat sheets and ideas, this list could literally go ON and ON.

I hate you because instead of actually doing these aforementioned things I am looking at more things, adding them to my to do "board".

So, in order to balance this love/hate, I am setting a goal to at the very least complete one pinned item per month - be it a recipe, hair style, kids craft, whatever so as long as I am using it for an inspiration not just a time wasting addiction.  Yes, addiction, I have started playing on Pinterest right after Nay goes to bed (around 8:30) and the next time I look at the clock it's like 11:00.  Time flies!

So my first project timed out well with when a dear friend called to say she had apples that needed to get out of her tree.  I found this recipe at: http://changingmydestiny.wordpress.com/2011/10/08/crockpot-apple-butter/
She has a ton of other fun cooking ideas too.

Crock Pot Apple Butter

Makes a little more than 1 pint
1 dozen apples, peeled, cored, cubed
1/2 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon All Spice

Step 1:
Peel, Core, and Chop a dozen apples.




Step 2:
Toss the apples in the sugar and spices.

Step 3:
Put everything in the Crockpot, cook it on Low overnight

Step 4:
It’s optional, but I blended the butter down smooth. You can eat it right out of the Crockpot, Naomi and I did. :)

I froze half of the batch and kept half the batch in the fridge to spread on toast, add to oatmeal, eat from the container.  YUM.

Cousin Weekends & Counting Blessings

An attitude of gratitude...that's what I try to have.  I count my blessings all day long, it's a coping mechanism that I've adapted through the years to get through challenging times.  It works for me.  THEN there are days that it rains blessings, days that everything just feels good and fits right.

A few weeks ago, we got some of the family together to celebrate Dad's birthday...Dad hung out for lunch and a while afterward but then had to get to work because as any old farmer (or farmer's daughter knows) "you gotta make hay when the sun shines" which I've found is Dad's way of saying that he can't bear to not be doing something productive if the weather co-operates.

So what was Dad's birthday celebration turned into a cousin play date with Marsha and her boys.  And play they did.  These boys have phenomenal memories and plot out how they are going to share toys when the get here, who will play with what and when.  This is ridiculously amusing to me because they are truly their mother's sons.  Planners.  But so am I so I can't poke TOO much fun :)  We played upstairs and downstairs, in the front yard and in the back.  There were minimal tears which I think is an accomplishment when talking about 3 kiddos under the age of 4 having to share toys!

That look right there kills me.  I love it.

Some of my favorite moments of the day were the quiet little moments that they shared.  All sitting around on the lawn together sharing a pitcher of water, drawing out our own little city on the driveway with sidewalk chalk, hearing the harmony of three sweet giggles.

It was ironic, life has been busy, it is always busy for everyone but this busy kept me from hanging out with Marsha and her family for most of the summer.  Not good.  But then, as fate would have it, we saw each other for the last THREE weekends in a row...first for Dad's birthday, then last weekend when Marsha needed an Internet connection and quiet time to get some tests for work done (do not be confused, she and Kris swapped houses with her in-laws and they watched the kids for them - our house is not the place to come for quiet and solace :) haha) but was swayed to meet Ryan and I out to help us celebrate our six-year wedding anniversary.

Anniversary dinner out on the town :)

 And once again, celebrate we did!  Super fun night, we played games, danced, were just carefree knowing that if we had sore feet and headaches in the morning thank goodness for kind in-laws that spent the weekend with their grand babies.

Finally, this past weekend we had Marsha, Kris and the boys up to the cabin with grand plans of going on an adventure to Jim Peck's Wildwood Park.

Nay and Daddy hanging out by the musky pond

It was a really fun but C.O.L.D. weekend.  If you haven't been to Jim Peck's GO.  It was really fun and huge compared to what I remember from a long ago third grade field trip.

Hoisting Naomi up a bit higher so she can see into the tiger cage a bit better

Naomi really likes snakes.  I know, it's weird.

See that snake slithering up the glass?  Ick.  But Nay thought it was great!

I don't hate snakes per se but they give me the creeps.  I try (some days harder than others) not to subject my opinions or feelings about things on to her because I would rather she form her own opinion but sometimes it's hard NOT to get the heeby jeebies when there are huge snakes all over the place.  It was a great time overall, the kiddos got to run around and feed animals and the weather actually somewhat co-operated, we were all bundled up and when you were in the sun it was beautiful.

Marsha and Sam :)

Ryan wouldn't stop laughing after seeing this picture, Naomi's face clearly says, Mom, are you REALLY taking another picture of me? haha

After Jim Peck's and lunch we all took naps.  It was great.  Weekend naps are one of my favorite things.  The rest of the weekend brought playing around the cabin, one craft project that literally ended up with the kids playing with puzzles in one area and Marsha and I completing the projects.  Super funny.  Sunday we took a short and cold pontoon ride then played some more before it was time to pack up and head home.

Naomi and Sam snuggling - super funny!

It was a raining of blessings kind of weekend.  Memories were made, laughter was shared.  And it was good.

Much love and many blessings.

Sonny on a cloudy day

I don't write about my dad a lot and I'm not sure why.  I'm not sure if he's one of those people in your life that has always been there that you take them for granted and don't necessarily focus on them as much as you should.  So today I am changing that, Happy Birthday Dad, this post is for you...

I've known my dad for my whole life.  Haha.  Here are a few things that I've learned about my dad:

1) He loves practical jokes - especially when he has a gullible daughter as a target
2) He is more in tune to people than I gave him credit for
3) He can make mistakes but there is still that little girl in me that knows he is invincible
4) He likes puns and cheesy jokes, I have very clearly inherited this from him, I adore cheesy cliches, can't help it, its in my blood :)
5) He is often forgetful but seldom on purpose

This is just the tip of the iceberg of dad but they were the ones that came to my mind first.  In one of my last posts I spoke of finding the light in the dark and a big piece of sunlight that came shining through for me after my mom passed away was that I got really close with my dad.  I got the chance to know him in a much closer way that I honestly don't think we would have if my mom was still around.

I always knew that my dad was funny but I didn't realize how much joy it brought him to be silly about stuff sometimes.  Growing up I remember my dad working a lot, I can remember after supper him lying on the living room floor reading through a newspaper while we all lounged around.  I never remember him watching a movie in its entirety or any other show other than the news.  He and Mom would have friends over to play cards frequently and he would let me put mom's rollers in his hair.  He also would braid our hair when needed because mom couldn't/didn't know how - Marsha later took on the role of primary braider in the family however would give your hair a good yank every now and then and repeat, "Pain before beauty" haha.

Dad has always liked playing cards.  I am certain that we made up new rules to every card game on a whim.  I know this because when Ryan and I play cards now he always asks if we are playing by "Dassow Rules" - darn right we are! 

We had big family meals on Sundays, mom would make softboiled eggs for breakfast sometimes and it was Dad's job to cut them open and scoop them out onto everyone's plates because he evidently had hands of steel that he couldn't feel how incredibly hot those eggs were.  After breakfast we would play the Dassow version of Three Card Monte with egg shells and a stray fried potato.  I can also remember one lunch in particular, it was late summer, we were all at the kitchen table after lunch and dad was betting each of us to take a bite out of a huge raw onion.  I cannot remember to this day who all took the bet but I just can remember sitting there, all of us as a family.  Hmm...I wonder where my love of cooking came from?  Where the equation of food + family = love.

One of the funniest stories I have of Dad from when after mom passed is the Orange Juice Incident of 2006.  After a few rough patches and the initial adjustment phase of learning how to live a life without Mom, Dad really started trying to become more self sufficient in running his house.  One weekend, I was out at his house, Marsha and Kris were also out there and we all were sitting around playing cards and I went to look in his cupboard to look for something and found a carton of orange juice...huge...bloated carton of orange juice.  I squealed and asked him why in the world it was in the cupboard and not in the fridge and his rational was that he didn't have to refrigerate other types of juice so he assumed he didn't have to refrigerate this. WRONG.  Kris, with the stealth of a seasoned Hazmat pro, removed the carton without incident but in my mind I could just see that carton exploding all over the cupboards.  The lesson of the day, when it comes from the cold it goes back into the cold.

Ahh...the silly stories of life and family :)  We celebrated Dad's birthday this past weekend, the party that actually occurred was SO far off base with the plan that I had tried for that it became laughable.  It was just a comedy of errors of schedules and timing that it ended up being a very quiet get together at our house with Dad but at the end of the day, the important goal was accomplished, we celebrated Dad.  Dad with all of his practical jokes and sillyness.

See that look on Sammer's face?  THAT is the look of, "Wow, Grandpa is invincible!"

So, to Dad on your Birthday, I hope you have a wonderful day that is filled with laughter.  Thank you for all that you are and all that you do and the lessons and traits you have shared with us all.  Much love.

*Side note and recipe: Dad requested carrot cake - I found one that was quite healthy, I don't know the exact nutritional values but it clocks in around 100 calories per cupcake.  I wasn't a big fan of the frosting but they were good without it or you could use a basic cream cheese recipe too.

Carrot Cake Recipe

Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup egg substitute
- 2 egg whites
- 2 1/2 cups shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 12 oz fat free cream cheese
- 3 tbsp hot water
- 1 7 oz jar of marshmallow creme
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with non-fat cooking spray , line the bottoms with parchment or wax paper, and spray the paper with the nonstick spray.  I used muffin tins and the recipe made about 20 muffins.

Combine the flour, both kinds of sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

Whisk the egg substitute and egg whites in a large bowl. Add the carrots, applesauce, oil, and raisins, and hot water stirring until blended.

With a rubber spatula, add the flour mixture to the carrot mixture, and stir until blended. Spread the batter evenly in the cake pans. Bake until the cakes are nicely browned and the center of each one bounces back when lightly pressed with a fingertip, approx 30-32 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans, peel off the paper, and cool completely on racks.

To make the frosting, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the remaining ingredients until smooth.
Place on layer of cake on a cake plate, and using 1/2 cup of frosting, frost evenly out to edges. Place other layer of cake on top, and spread remaining frosting on top and on sides. Slice into 16 servings.

It's the Little Things

In case you haven't noticed, I try to keep the posts in this blog upbeat, it's not that I don't think about all of the harder points in life but that's not what I want to focus on by writing this blog.  However, it's been a hard week for our community both locally and our personal community of extended friends that feel like family.

There have been a number of beautiful lives that have ended tragically in this short week that I cannot stop thinking about.  The grief their families must be feeling is enormous.  How do you pull yourself together and put the pieces of your life back in place when the life you had before has been completely changed.  My heart is heavy with grief for the families of the four young girls that are no longer with us.  I, like every other person, have a really hard time with understanding why these things happen to the people they do.

These situations also make me want to hold tight to those I love and keep them close.  It brings to the surface a fear anyone that has ever loved someone feels - how do I keep this person safe?  For me its Naomi, how can I assure that nothing horrible ever happens to her?

Keep her in a bubble wrapped world tucked safely away in an ivory tower?  Not likely.  The hard realization is that you can't.  You can't always protect them.  And that, sucks.  You can arm them with knowledge and wrap them with love but there will always be so many factors in life out of your control.

So, armed and wrapped with these events on my mind, these tragedies sitting very heavily on top of my heart, I was very thankful to have a quiet weekend at home with my little family.  That I could just sit and be thankful for the huge blessings that I have in my life everyday.  It's hard to feel like celebrating life when you have the knowledge that people you know and care about are suffering. I had a goal of the weekend to keep updating this blog until I was up to date with photos and stories and I literally couldn't write about the small things in our life with these big things looming in my mind.  So last night I didn't.  I just allowed myself to feel the grief I needed to feel without trying to "power through" and be ever so cheerful.

Today I am feeling more clear headed and realized that part of this beautiful, crazy, frightening journey of life IS embracing the small things, for taking the balance between the exhilarating moments and the ones that break you down and trying to find a way to get through both with grace.  When your heart and mind are filled with dark feelings of hurt and confusion you need the let in the little pieces of light as they come; today those pieces of light came in the form of my family.  My sweet husband, amazing daughter, silly father, sanity-saving sister and fun nephews all brought pieces of light back to me today and reminded me of the great moments in life that help you get through the rough times.


For the families of those who have so tragically passed this week, I am so deeply sorry for the grief and sorrow you are feeling right now.  I cannot pretend to fathom to know what you are going through right now.  Please find comfort in knowing that people are there for you if you reach out, and in time, when your grief has abated, let those little particles of life in.

Peace and love to all tonight.

Not so labor-ey Labor Day

I am not sure how exactly the stars aligned and we lucked out to get the cabin to ourselves over Labor Day weekend (as we did for Memorial Day weekend) but we did and we had some great friends up to enjoy some quiet time at the lake.  Friday night was our first girls slumber party with our dear friends Beth and Charlotte, it was so relaxing and quiet and the perfect start to the weekend...

Charlotte and Nay playing puzzles

 we made homemade pizza and drank wine and giggled and talked and it was fabulous.

Saturday we ventured into town wondering what sort of crazy holiday traffic we would encounter and it wasn't bad at all - we stopped at a cute little store that sells gourmet snack foods and has fresh produce and then hit up the grocery store for some staples (aka more wine) for the weekend.  We had a nice leisurely lunch - which was pretty amazing considering we had an almost 1 year old and a 2 1/2 year old with us - and then went on our merry way...to the end of the drive way of the restaurant and then ran into a wall of traffic for as far as the eye could see...thankfully a nice man in a Honda CRV waved us out.  Bless him :)  The afternoon brought the rest of the group up.

Natty, Charlotte and Naomi

It's not an urban legend...they can share! :)

We had a very low key afternoon and evening of pontooning,

Sweet Baby William had the sun in his eyes and this was my remedy...poor dear will someday be embarrassed to all shades of red but I think it's pretty darn cute!

Rach and her sweet girl Natty P

Charlotte and her mommy Beth

Naomi giving us the guided tour of the lake

 and cooking out, after all of the littles went to bed we sat around the campfire.  Sunday brought fishing for the boys and playing with the kiddos for the girls.

Naomi will one day be a great baby sitter - she was so sweet with William

Feeding the fishes

Snuggled tight with mommy...

A lone duck cutting through the water

I love these chubby fingers and toes and soft little limbs...

Such a happy and easy going little boy

Seriously, I don't know if babies can get much cuter than this!

 It was a great weekend of relaxing and just laying low.

I love watching Naomi play, she has developed quite the imagination and her gestures and motions change dramatically every week.  It is such an amazing journey to see each stage of development happen.

Boat buddies - two of MY favorite girls :)

A weddings we will go, a weddings we will go...

August was a busy month for us with weddings and travel for said weddings.  The first August wedding was for Ryan's cousin Sara and her hubby-to-be Ben - it was at a beautiful resort in Eagle River. 

 

 There were special little touches that spoke of the couples style throughout the day.

   

There was a cocktail hour and hors oeuvre's prior to the ceremony, the ceremony itself was down by the water.

The toasts at the dinner were filled with funny stories of the start of a great love story. 

Our little family at the dinner

 The dancing...oh the dancing...girlie got her groove thing going courtesy of her Auntie Jillian.  It was h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s.  Everything that Jillie did, Naomi tried to imitate.  Pictures are below but I don't think that it will do it justice to just how funny it was.  Like bent over, can't breathe laughing.  It was GOOD. 

I mentioned in an earlier post from a different cousin's wedding earlier in the summer that Naomi got Boppa to dance which is no easy feat (or feet if pun intended) and this wedding was the same, she actually removed the drink from his hand and put it on the table so it would not interrupt their dancing...

My favorite memory of the wedding was at the end of our night there (my oh my how your "curfew" changes when you have a toddler in tote).  Ben and Sara got paper lanterns for each family to release - if you haven't seen it in person it is quite a sight, ethereal and beautiful.  Naomi was mystified.  She also hasn't spent too much time star gazing, as it proves to be a challenge when your bedtime is around 8:00 so she was oohing and ahhing over the stars and the moon and when the lanterns were released she got so excited.  Super sweet.

For Sara, if/when you read this, thank you so much for including us in your special day, you were radiant and it was a wonderful night.  Many wishes for a very long and happy marriage.

The second wedding we had in August was for another one of Ryan's cousins...count 'em...that's three cousin weddings in one summer.  This is the most wedding's we've been to in a number of years although the summer before we got married I think we had nine!  Cr-a-zy.  Ok, back to the story....

The second wedding was for Andy and Nicole - Andy was one of Ryan's closest pals growing up from when they were little and both living in Medford to later in life when Ryan would go down to visit Andy in Madison...there are many boy stories I've heard from these events but I am going to leave THOSE out of the blog :) Andy is now an orthopedic surgeon and his now wife is also a doctor and they live in Grand Rapids, MI.  Luckily Andy and Nicole's families were incredibly supportive and helped them plan a wedding from afar.  The wedding was at the Union in Madison on a very balmy day. 

It was elegant and beautiful.  There was a very limited number of guests allowed so there were not any children invited so Ryan and I had a date night!  Don't get me wrong, we adore taking our sweet girl with us when we go places but it was a nice change up to go somewhere as two adults.  I got to eat my food on my plate without having to share it, or cut someone else's up first! Ha. 

The Thomas Family

The highlight of the night was when Bucky Badger showed up with a few of his friends.  It was awesome and Bucky was such a great sport taking pictures with I think literally every guest. 

Our good friends the Bauers were gracious enough to not only host us but also watched Naomi while we were at the wedding...she also had a great time playing with her "boys".  We got to hear ALL about these boys on the way home on Sunday.  Super cute.