New Church Shirt

I was kind of grumpy Sunday morning. I had plans and expectations of getting to church early to practice special music for church and I was changing a diaper when I looked up to see Erik watching something on youtube.com. I think I snapped something to the effect of, "Is that really important to be doing right now?!" To which my dear, loving husband snapped back, "I'm trying to figure out how to tie this stupid tie!"
We apologized to each other later.
And he wasn't referring to the tie on my sweet Ivan; Ivan's is a clip-on. Hannah and Ivan got together and suggested that Erik wear a tie because Ivan was wearing a tie and Erik being the amazing dad that he is said, "Okay" even though he doesn't wear them often enough to remember how to tie them.
Alas, Clayton did not have a tie but it didn't seem to bother him.
And is there a point to confessing all this to you?
Nope.
I just wanted to share the picture of Ivan (sorry about the whole "squinting into the sun" look on his face) in his new church shirt and tie.
I suppose I could have shown you without all the back story, but what's the fun in that?

Happy Mother's Day

Wonderful nap in my hammock, in the garden, in the sunshine with a favorite quilt; this is what my afternoon looked like:

Breakfast at Emily's

I'm thrilled to announce that starting Thursday, May 13 I will be posting as a guest contributor on my new favorite blog Cowgirl Clippings (yes, it was a favorite even before they asked me to contribute and they are kindly overlooking the fact that I am not a cowgirl).
My title may have clued you in but it will be about breakfast. Every Thursday I will be sharing an old or new favorite breakfast recipe over there and reminding you over here to check it out. I hope that between times you will check out all the other fun stuff they have. Did I mention I'm really really excited?

Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

CAMERA!

It's here! But more importantly, IT WORKS!

The UPS man actually came early to my house. My camera was waiting on the doorstep when I got home from MOB this morning. I quickly grabbed my battery and memory card and put them in and flipped the switch to on...YES! It turned on! It took pictures!

And since a camera can't take a picture of itself I had to use my old camera. Can't wait to start sharing more pictures with you!

Pumpkin Soup

Yum. That's pretty much all there is to say but you guessed it, I'm saying more because, well, I can.
Usually I use pumpkin in things like pumpkin bread, pie or waffles but that just didn't sound thrilling at the moment and I've wanted to try pumpkin soup for awhile. And so much for the "not running to the store all the time" - I was out of carrots and celery.
I'm attempting to cook one meatless dinner a week, we eat a lot of meat. Not that that's a bad thing, it's just really expensive.
The kiddos weren't quite thrilled with the soup but they ate it. Erik on the other hand almost ate himself sick he liked it so much. And paired with sourdough bread straight from the oven...YUM!

Pumpkin Soup Recipe

1 large onion, chopped
6 fresh carrots, grated
3 stalks celery
4 TBSP butter
3-4 cups mashed cooked pumpkin
1 TBSP minced garlic (I used 3 or 4 cloves, pressed; we like garlic)
2 tsp thyme
4 TBSP chopped parsley
2 cups 1/2 n 1/2 (I used 1 cup milk and 1 cup 1/2 n 1/2)
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion, carrots and celery in butter until soft
Add the remaining ingredients except the 1/2 n 1/2 and simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
Add the 1/2 n 1/2 and reheat gently, salt and pepper to taste.

We sprinkled Chives on top because my children are obsessed with chives right now.

Happy Spring...

...we're having pumpkin soup for dinner.

I know, they don't really seem to go together. Pumpkin soup, spring...nope...but it is what it is. I have a whole bunch of frozen pumpkin, real pumpkin from a friend's garden, that is languishing away in my freezer and no ideas for dinner tonight. Okay, well, I had no ideas until I remembered the pumpkin. It's part of my "use it up and don't go to the store more than you have to" goal.

And the rambling is only to get to the point of telling you that I have never made pumpkin soup before but I've heard of it.

Last night it was really cold and windy and today is much of the same, so I think winter is still keeping it's claws in and holding on for a few more kicks and giggles...at least it's a good excuse for something warm and cozy like soup. I like soup. I'm hoping I like this soup; I'll make sure to let you know how it turns out. Maybe if you're lucky you'll get a picture too. Not off my new camera though, that doesn't get here until Wednesday and I have hopes that the soup won't wait around that long to be photographed.

Happy Spring to you!