wordless wednesday

weekend

This pretty much sums up our weekend. 

 

Lots of friends.  Lots of giggles.

Oh, and not pictured...the sweet little puppy that will be settling into our crazy life in a couple weeks.

last weekend

It seems like I'm always a little behind here on the ol' blog.  Here's what we were up to last weekend:

 

Playing in the snow. 

 

We have a future weather forecaster on our hands.  This last week the kids were all bundled up and ready to go to daycare, but we had a few minutes to play outside.  When I called them in to head to the car, Mason was carrying two of his big trucks in and Emma was following along with another truck in her hands.  When I asked Mason why he was bringing his trucks in he responded (as serious as can be)..."Mom, it looks like an early frost."

 

Next up it was two birthday parties.  On Saturday we headed to Olivia's minnie mouse party.  Emma hasn't taken her cute little ears off since.  Then we stopped to visit the newest little member of our extended family, Ella, a precious, tiny baby that is a huge answer to prayer after a complicated pregnancy for my cousin and coming quite a few weeks early.  Then we continued up to Greeley for Jackson's Thomas the train party.  We had dinner at an awesome chili cookoff (my brother-in-law entered some amazing green chili) and hung out with Nana and my sister and the boys.  The kids are getting way more into birthday parties, which is so fun.   

 

This weekend we're hanging at home, cleaning this house, and getting ready for company coming this week.  More cousin time!

pumpkins

On our way to visit my little nephew, we stopped for a bit to visit with my best friend, Mindy, and her family.  We started the morning with coffee at quite possibly the most crowded Starbucks I've ever been too.  Luckily we scored a huge table out of the way where the kiddos could sip their hot chocolate while we visited.  Then it was off to the pumpkin patch.  

 

 

 

 

They were totally into the smaller pumpkins that they could carry all by themselves.  Livvie was also very into the goats and spent most of her time feeding them.  Mason and Emma weren't about to get close to them, which was a little amusing. 

 

 

 

 We are so thankful for this sweet family and the special times that we get to spend together. 
 

happy fall

We spent the last day of summer riding bikes and catching bugs.  Enjoying the small wonders of being outside.  

 

Then the kids went down for naps and my best friend and I headed off to a knitting retreat.  Two days of mind-boggling knitting techinques, chatting with new friends, and catching up on what's new in our worlds as only best friends can do. 

The house is cozy and smelling of fall as jars of applesauce boil in their water bath.  We're ready for a new season and all that comes with it.

friends

The kiddos and I got to spend a special morning with some of my best friends from high school. We now live in three different states, but it just so happened that we were able to meet up at one of our old stomping grounds.  Brunch at the park.  It was a beautiful morning, and a beautiful time together.  

We tried to get a picture of all 8 kids. Actually 7 of the kids since tiny Barrett was sleeping away.

Mason and Livvy had a blast chasing each other around the park, swinging, going down the slides, and spashing in the water left behind from the sprinklers. 

Even though it's been years since some of us have seen each other, nothing changes true friendship. 

parks to camping to greeley

It's a good thing we love to be outside, because we've been all over the place lately.  We had a great playdate with my best friend, Mindy, and her two girls.  We found a nice park about halfway between our two houses last summer and we met there again. A great place to play and enjoy a little picnic.  And plenty to keep the kids entertained while we chat.

Then we spent a couple days camping.  Lots of dirt, exploring, and s'mores.  Mason told me that he wanted to sleep under the stars because one might come down to sleep with him.  Sweet boy.

 Then it was off to Greeley for a visit with Nana and my sister's family.  The cousins had a blast playing at Nana's house while I squeezed in a class at UNC.  Once all the school business was taken care of, my sister and I scrapbooked the night away. 



They'll all be back to our house this weekend since my cousin is getting married!  We're loving all the time with friends and family this summer.

generosity

We have some friends at church with a milk cow and to say they are generous with their extra milk is an understatement.  Every week they bring their delicious milk (and eggs and yogurt) to church for anyone who wants it. We've ended up with quite a few gallons thanks to their gracious generosity.  They always mention that they can't consume that much milk on their own.

We don't consume that much milk in one week either, so we've been making a couple gallons into mozzarella. We love to make pizza at least once a week and the addition of fresh mozzarella is wonderful!  

After making mozzarella there is a lot of whey left over. I recently discovered that you can use that whey to make ricotta cheese.  So, now we're coming up with all sorts of things to do with all that ricotta. 

While Uncle Luke was here we enjoyed roasted garlic and chive ricotta with homemade crackers. We've been making crackers almost as often as cheese because they don't last long around here.

 A couple weeks ago we made 3 cheese tortellini, which was amazing.  Mason was a big helper and Emma ate her fair share (maybe more than her fair share...she's been finishing Mason's meals lately!)

Making cheese is so much easier than I thought. Now I think we just need our own milk cow too!

weekend

A little weekend picnic with some of our favorite people. 

of fishing

 On Friday we decided at the last minute to pack up the car and meet some friends for a couple hours of fishing.  It was a little chilly and windy when we left our house, but it was lovely at the lake. 

Emma enjoying the sunshine!

Mason fishing with Uncle Tim

In big news....Mason caught his first fish!  He wasn't quite sure what to do with it, but after we let it go he couldn't stop talking about it.  Nikki had been catching all the fish up to that point and Mason kept exclaiming, "I caught a whole fish!  Nikki shared one with me!"  Way to go, little guy!

little lamb

We had a little lamb birthday party for Emma yesterday.  It was such a blessing to be surrounded by close friends and family to celebrate her birthday.  It was so nice to just hang out and be together.  All the kids kept us plenty entertained.   

Emma loved her cupcake.  She wasn't sure what to do with it at first, but once she tasted it there was no stopping her.

She also had a blast opening her presents.  She got a little help from her friends, which was sweet.

The sunglasses were a big hit (thanks marylin!).  Mason got some too. 

It's hard to believe your first birthday has come and gone.  What a special day with special people. 

another week

Another week has flown by. This week has pretty much been categorized by sleepless nights, report cards, Emma squeals, hundreds of questions from Mason, homemade bread baked in our woodcook stove, snow, salads from our greenhouse, bible study, and dinner with my cousins.

Last weekend me and the kiddos headed north for a weekend with my sister's family and Nana. My mom watched the kids while Kati and I scrapbooked the weekend away. I think I set a record for the most number of pages I've ever scrapbooked in a 24 hour period. I may have also set a record for the amount of chai I consumed.

I am so thankful that my sister lives close enough for weekend visits. We had such a good time chatting, scrapbooking, and laughing at the kids. It has been so fun to journey through motherhood together! I just can't get enough of my sweet little nephew...his chubby cheeks, tiny teeth peeking through when he smiles and his dinosaur growls. And he totally busted out the crawling moves while we were there. The real thing--on all fours. It was great to watch my sister and brother-in-law take it all in. I think Emma was taking notes too.

Mason was almost overwhelmed by the toys at Nana's house. Since she does home day-care she had so many different learning stations and Mason played from morning to night. I know my mom had a blast with the kids.

On the way home we stopped at my best friend's house to meet a new little baby girl. Mindy and Raul welcomed precious Natalie into their family last week. At just a couple days old, she already has more hair than Emma. It was wonderful to visit with them.

Ryan and I were able to sneak away for a little date night tonight...dinner out (Mason informed us that he ate dinner in). Mason also informed me this morning that my hair looked like a rooster and I needed to comb it. The rest of the weekend will be filled with friends, projects, homemade granola, and hopefully some rest.