And now the other...

And now Annika is sick.

She's missing the first field trip of the year (her class is going to a farm). Tomorrow is the class Halloween party. I hope she doesn't have to miss it since she's been talking about it for weeks.

I'm feeling gross but I can't tell if it's just from cleaning up.

At least the carpet steam cleaner is getting a good work out these past two weeks.

UPDATE- Annika is out sick again today. That means she's going to miss the school Halloween party. :( She's watching a movie wearing her black cat costume.

Read more...

It's snowing!

I cannot believe it! It's actually snowing! (it's not accumulating but still)

I finally cleaned out the gardens this weekend. Oof. Was that a lot of work! I still need to till under the beds in the veggie garden....we'll see if I get around to it this year. I replanted the perennials that I had in my window boxes. I planted a bunch of allium bulbs (thanks Mama!). I also replanted plants that were getting a little crowded. While I was doing all this the wind was howling and whipping past me. And it decided to snow. My hands were very cold by the time I finished. But it's done.

Read more...

Pumpkin Pie Popsicles and Toadstool Cupcakes

Oh joy! Oh joy! Oh joy!

The latest "Family Fun" magazine has a recipe for pumpkin pie popsicles!

Ava and I made them using the pumpkin leftover from the pumpkin pie spice lattes from the previous nights. We added some heavy cream, maple syrup and Penzeys pumpkin pie spice...mixed it all together...naturally tasted it to see if it was any good (oh...and it WAS SOOOO GOOD!).

Then we had fun putting it in our popsicle molds (ours is from Ikea)...kinda tricky. Ava couldn't get the hang of it....truly a mess....and then we stuck them in the freezer.

They're still in the freezer. I'll let you know how they turned out. (my sourdough starter is in the background...thanks Mama! Hopefully it'll work.)

VERDICT- OH MY! The popsicles were rich and creamy and tasted just like pumpkin pie (minus the crust). Definitely try these!

AND then there are the toadstool cupcakes.

That's another story.

I'm not sure what brought this up but Ava kept saying that she wanted toadstool cake for her birthday just like the one I made for Annika's last birthday.

So...like a good mommy (or a silly one) I said we could make some toadstool cupcakes today.

First we baked up a batch of carrot cake in regular and miniature muffin tins. (Ava and I did this before nap time).

After we picked up Annika from school we made the cream cheese frosting and I stuck some of the frosting in a Ziploc bag. We colored the rest of the frosting red. I tried adding black to the red to make it a deeper red- didn't work. It's a dark pink now.

Then the MESS really started!

We frosted the cupcakes. Some of it landed on the cupcakes. And on the counter. And on our faces. And on the floor. Red everywhere!

After we covered them all with red frosting we put the white dots on...using the frosting in the bag. I squeezed the frosting to one corner of the bag and cut the corner off. It worked!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love toadstools? (Fliegenpilze) ??? I'm sure I must have. I just don't understand why...the real mushrooms ones are poisonous!

OH! I totally forgot to mention that yesterday a little black capped chickadee found its way into our garage. I tried helping it out but it wasn't having any of my help. So I left the garage door open and it finally found the way out.

Read more...

My mouth is still drooling!

I just have to tell you about our dinner last night. It was so darn simple but yet so freaking delicious!

First of all- after watching the movie "No Reservations" I just had to find a recipe for the spaghetti dish. I wanted to eat the TV after staring at that dish (don't ask me about the movie- I just wanted to eat those noodles and basil!). Funny, in the German version of this movie ("Mostly Martha") he cooks up gnocchi - not spaghetti. I wonder why they changed it for the American version.

Anyway...I found a recipe online...Click here to see the recipe. It's called Spaghetti Orgenata with Tomato Sauce. It's really quite simple- onions, garlic, tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, fresh basil and fresh oregano- BUT it takes an unusual turn with heavy cream AND cooking water from the pasta.

I didn't take a photo of it- drat. I should have- it was certainly worthy of one. We paired it with a delicious Pinot Noir and had ourselves an excellent dinner!

And for dessert? Oatmeal cookies with peanut butter chips...AND pumpkin spice lattes!

Do you LOVE pumpkin spice lattes you can buy for a hefty price at Starbucks and they're full of sugary syrup?

Well...this recipe beats those drinks by a mile! And it's done in a crockpot!
Here's the recipe.....
2 cups milk
2 Tb canned pumpkin
2 Tb sugar
2 Tb vanilla (I used 1 Tb of Penzeys Double Strength Vanilla Extract - don't tell me you've never heard of Penzeys!)
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (again from Penzeys)
3/4 cup brewed coffee

Whisk together and cook on high for two hours (in crockpot). Whisk again. Serve with dollop (or in our case a ton) of schmoo.

Yummy!!!!

Read more...

Check me out!

My Egg Carton Birds are featured today on No Time for Flash Cards. We really did love making them and I hope you will to!

Thanks Allie for featuring the birds. :)

Read more...

This just in...Etsy Kids BOGO sale!

I just read that Etsy Kids is having a BOGO this Friday and Saturday! I've just been doing a lot of window shopping on Etsy Kids and there are so many cute things available!

Think Christmas gifts! Think supporting local families. Think supporting moms. I think it's a win-win situations!

Click here to check out the Etsy Kids BOGO sale. Or go here to visit a listing of all the sellers.

Read more...

My red front door

I finally decided on a paint color for my front door! Now...I love whimsical and fun...and I do love the purplish blue color that I had before...but not on my door. I felt it was time to make things ...well...a bit more

HARMONIOUS. I think that's the right word for it.

I color matched the storm door and that was it. I can't believe it took me so long to figure out that one! DUH!

I know there are lots of colors that would have worked (I was this close to painting it black) but I didn't want to paint the storm door. AND I LOVE the results!

If I ever get bored (HA!) I think I might paint the shutters but I think that idea will vanish quickly.

Read more...