The Rubarb Is Ready

Today was wet, rainy and gloomy so what else is there to do? Bake, of course. We all ventured out through the soggy yard to collect the rubarb from the garden.

My Little Helpers

The end result.......

Rubarb Streusel Bread

Yummy! We ate an entire loaf for an after school snack.

A Little Bit Of Spring

I was inspired to work on this little project about six months ago. I had even bought all the supplies I need to create this beauty. Well... I do have 4 kids so needless to say I just got to it this weekend. What perfect timing with Spring having just arrived along with the arrival of many fat robins that look as though their bellies are full of eggs.

Here is what you need to create this:

Wire ( I used Parawire, in natural brass color/ 22 gauge) Hobby Lobby

Beads for the eggs, any color, but I like the blue. The ones I used were pea size

Chain ( I bought a spool of chain at Jo Ann's that matched the wire).

Miscellaneous beads to accent wherever you'd like.

Round end Pliers

Follow this link from Cathe Holden for instructions

I followed the instructions as a guide to get started but then I added my own touches and this is how it turned out.

Good Luck and Enjoy!

Rylee Is 10

Happy Birthday Rylee, We Love You!

I can't believe I have a ten year old. I remember when I was ten and it doesn't feel that long ago. Rylee is such a blessing and it is so fun to watch her grow up into such a wonderful young lady. She has been a great helper with Nora, dinner and cleaning since Steve has been working out of town. I am so lucky to have at least one of my kids with the same need for a tidy house. I hope the next few years start to slow down because the thought of having a teenager in 3 years is a bit much for me to think about.

Sharing A Friends New Blog

Just wanted to pass this link along to you all. April and Holly are two friends of mine that just started a new craft blog , trains, bows and two cosmos, and to kick it off they are hosting a "Give Away". So check it out any maybe you could be a winner!! Plus that have lots of fun super craft ideas with directions.

Enjoy

Coupon Queen

So I went to the grocery store yesterday and it got me thinking. I am such a coupon freak.! I love getting the Sunday paper so I can get my scissors out and cut it all up to little pieces and then file them away in my handy little coupon holder. Then the day I get to get them back out and maybe combine with a great sale or even better yet combine a Manufacturer and Store Coupon and possibly get something for free or super cheap, that is the best feeling. I have been known to save $20 with coupons alone at Target or even more if it is double coupon day at the grocery store. Oh, the excitement of looking at the receipt and thinking " Well done Laura".

The whole idea is rather ridiculous though. Me wasting all this time clipping, clipping, searching ( on the computer) printing, clipping, printing, searching clipping, filing. Wow that exhausts me just thinking about it. Oh and then there is me with my kids in the grocery store, searching, searching for the coupons in my handy little coupon file while holding my one year old in the cart because she now likes to wiggle out of the straps and jump out of the cart or reach in the back of the cart and pull out anything with in her reach and throw it out of the cart which causes me to CONSTANTLY , stop and pick it up and put it back in. On top of that I usually have a hand full of coupons in my other hand along with my grocery list and ad. All this causing me to drop at least one good coupon which I then have to go on a treasure hunt throughout the store until I find it. Of course, I am still doing all this with one hand on the baby so she doesn't go overboard and corralling the 4 year old from disappearing or putting any unwanted Pop tarts or candy in the cart.

I am sure if someone followed me around the store I would be very good entertainment. I wouldn't even know they were following me because I would be too busy cleaning cheerio's up out of the middle of aisle 5!

Pretty ridiculous! Of course this wont stop me from wading through the snow in my jammies on Sunday morning to pull the Sunday paper out of the snowbank in my front yard!

Nora Is One!

Happy Birthday Nora

I can not believe it has already been a year since we were blessed with are beautiful, little Girl, Nora. I keep thinking back to how before I was pregnant with her we thought our family was complete with our other 3 beautiful, perfect children and then low and behold God had a different plan and blessed us with Nora! I can't image our family without her and I am so thankful for how blessed we are. Now, I am not going to say our family is complete because that is not my decision to make although if you ask Steve he still thinks we have some control over this?? I am also not saying that we are going to have more because me just saying that would put my husband into a huge defensive panic. All I can say is I can see why my sister has 7 kids . I think with each child it gets easier and by #4 I feel as though we have things figured out for now. New things come up constantly and we deal with it and learn new ways to be better parents, but I love the excitement. Steve always reminds me that regardless of how many kids we have they do all eventually grow up. I is just so hard to think this the last baby and she will eventually be in school and I will be all by myself. Then what do I do?

So for now I will just love on my Baby Nora and enjoy every snuggle she gives my while we are both lathered up in baby lotion so I will always remember that smell

Finished Product

Thought I would share how the girls hair bows turn out. Hopefully the actual taking of the pictures goes as well as me making these little things.

I also included a picture of some other hair things I made recently. What will I do when my babies grow up?

My Day

Recently a good friend asked me to write out what I do in a day to helped stay organized in effort to help her get some ideas to go about her day and accomplish all that needs to be done. So I though I would share My Day:

To start my day I go and make all the beds. Sometimes I get in there while the kids are eating or getting ready for school. While in each room I put dirty cloths in the hamper. The girls should do both of these but that doesn’t always happen. I also straighten things up since 2 of the 3 rooms should stay kid free for most of the day.

Also in the morning after the kids and I are all done in the bathroom. I wipe down the sink and toilet with Clorox wipes (these are my best friends). I have them under every sink.

I try to do dishes after every meal just to keep the counter cleaned off since I don’t have very much of it to start with. I also try to sweep after at least 2 meals because I can’t stand having things stick to my feet when I walk through the room. Sometimes it is not as needed.

I vacuum and sweep floors every few days depending on the dog hair. I usually do this mid morning.

I try to get toys picked up before naptime so I can enjoy the peace in a cleaned up house. I also do this or have the kids do it before bed. I also find that is I keep up on it throughout the day its not such a huge task later and we all know that once they play with it for more then 20 minutes they are board and onto the next thing.

As for laundry, I will wash it throughout an evening and into the next day and then fold it all at once and immediately put it all away otherwise I don’t have the motivation to deal with it, then it is so frustrating when I finally get it put away and realize I have to start all over again because the hampers are full.

I guess my biggest thing is I don’t like clutter so if I keep up on things it’s less likely to build up. I am also a little O.C. and a messy, cluttered house completely stresses me out and I have a hard time functioning and knowing where to start.

Le' French Toast

This morning for breakfast I did my best at creating the best french toast from one of my favorite restaurants, Plum Hill Cafe. Here is the recipe for my version of:

Le' French Toast

4 eggs

1 cup of milk

1 tsp sugar

a couple dashes of vanilla ( sorry I don't always measure)

cinnamon ( to sprinkle on after on the griddle)

Store bought croissants ( got mine from Sam's Club)

Mix the eggs, milk,sugar and dashes of vanilla in a bowl. Warm of the griddle and melt some butter around. Dip the croissants in the egg mixture and place on the griddle. I then sprinkled each croissant with cinnamon and cooked on both sides till golden.

I then topped mine with raspberries from our garden this past summer and U.P. blueberries that my Dad picked. YUM!

It is also good with pure maple syrup, but if you are like me and didn't get a chance to get out and tap any maple trees this past spring then Mrs. Butter's Worth works just fine too!

Enjoy

"Surprise" I'm still here!

I'm back! I've decided I miss writing even if no one reads this, it still feels good to look back at my day or week and let my mind wander beyond the next daily task. Or maybe I feel like this is my only way of communicating with someone who is older than 9. Now since Steve is working out of town and only comes home on the weekends my communication with adults is even more limited. I will now be that annoying woman in the checkout line at the grocery store who tells her entire life story to the cashier because she is so lonely and is happy to have someone to listen to her. Okay, that is really sad, but true.

I am sitting here thinking about how to start my day and what to do first. I would love to just sit and work on my many craft idea's that are floating around in my head. Last weeks project was knitting each of the kids a hat and embellishing them with crochet flowers which thanks to the internet I taught myself how to do. I will post a picture as soon as I can get my 4 kids to sit still and cooperated long enough for me to take that picture. This weeks project is creating hair bows for my girls because I have a picture appointment for the kids next week so I thought I would tie their outfits all together with matching hair bows.

Okay that is all for now. I am going to work on getting that picture.

Everyone's Invited To.....

A Night of Sweets

I am a hosting a Pampered Chef Cooking Show at my house , and I want you to join in the fun!

At the show I will prepare a wonderful recipe using many great Pampered Chef tools. We will all get to enjoy the recipe along with other sweet delicious recipes. Plus we get to know one another while we shop… and eat!

Bring a friend too. The more the merrier! You will receive a prize.

I will be doing a few drawings throughout the show to give away some great Pampered Chef products. And best of all I will be drawing the name of one lucky person who will receive all of the host benefits for the show, which includes: free and discounted products, half price products, 10 % off for a year, monthly host specials up to 60% off and free shipping!

Please come you might be the lucky person who goes home with lots of new Pampered Chef things.

Date: August 6^th 2009

Time: 6:30pm

Place: My House (call and I will give you directions)

If you are able to make it please call me at (920) 831-0977 or email me at palmer.laura @att.net If you aren’t able to come and would like a catalog or to hear about some upcoming specials , just let me know.

Preview the catalog at www. Pamperedchef.com

4th of July Weekend

Just wanted to quickly post some pictures from last weekend. We had a great time with 4th of July festivities and a visit from Uncle John and Aunt Lindsey (or as Gray would say "Uncle Don and Aunt Lizzy").

We had a great fun filled weekend. This week we are enjoying Lifest down in Oshkosh this weekend so hopefully this week I will get lots pictures of that up.

An Update On Us

It is amazing how quickly summer can go by.  I think we have just about every weekend this summer planned.  It sure makes the summer feel short.  

Well this has been one crazy house over the past 3 weeks.  It all started when Gray came down with Pneumonia.  Just when he got better I started getting a fever and a few days later the cough started and I ended getting phenomena.  Unfortunately I had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic the doctor gave me and ended up getting very sick.  By 5:00 pm that day I was so dehydrated and week I had to go into the hospital for I.V. fluid, antibiotic, and medicine that would stop me from throwing up.  I am so glad that is past me and I hope we never have that passing through our house again.

On tale end of that we were bless with extreme heat and humidity.  We spent the week in the kiddy pool in the back yard. (Yes me too!)  I feel like I have not gotten anything done the past few weeks with being sick, recovering and the heat, so my house is now in desperate need of some cleaning attention.

This week is a big week for me.  Both of my girls are gone for the week.  Haven went to Aunt Debbie and Uncle Jon's on Saturday. She is having a great time and I am not even sure if she misses me.  She is having a blast and I can't wait to see her.  

Rylee is at Lake Lundgren Bible Camp for the first time.  I dropped her off Monday and it looked so fun I wished I were  8 and could stay with her.  When did the kid's get so big that they can leave their Mommy for the week.  I am sure they are fine and having a blast, but I am a wreck, I miss them so much!  I will get to see them tomorrow night and I am sure they will both have lots of stories.  

So that's what's going on here.  We are looking forward to a long weekend with Steve's brother John and his wife Lindsey coming to visit.  So, Happy Forth of July!!!!!f

Gray's 3rd Birthday

I can't believe 3 years have gone by with our little Gray, or as Gray would say," I BIG Gray!"  He is such a blessing and I love having my little boy.  

We decided to celebrate his big day on Saturday since Sunday was a very busy day.  In the morning we packed a picnic lunch and headed to the zoo in Green Bay after we were done there we went to this little park along the Bay called Bay Beach.  Steve grew up going there as a kid and has always talked about it.  I have always wanted to go so we decided since we were already in the area to stop by.  This park had lots of good kid size amusement rides. Most of the rides were only 25 cents so the five dollars we spent went a long way.  After that we went to McDonald's for dinner and headed home for cake and presents.  

On Sunday Steve took Gray to a Timber Rattlers baseball game.  They had a great time despite the cold and wind.  

Here are some pictures of our weekend:

Last Day Of School

Last Day of School

1st Day of School

    

 The school year is over and I now have a 3rd grader an a 1st grader.  Wow! time flies!  I can't help but feel a little sad.  Both girls had wonderful teachers and the girls and I are going to miss them.  I hope that we are always bless with great teachers like we have had the past three years.  

     The girls will be going to summer school starting on the 15th of June and going until mid-July.  It is only 3 hours in the morning so will will be nice for them to get out of the house a bit each day. 

     I am looking forward to the summer and having my girls home with me and have a little more relaxed schedule.

The Backyard Project

     This past winter I had been doing a lot of thinking about our back yard and what I would like to change and what we could do to make it look better.  So after doing a lot thinking I had this thought, so I said to Steve, " I have a great idea! Lets dig a large hole in our backyard and make the neighbors think we really are crazy!" NO!  that's not what I really said, but I think that is probably how Steve heard it because he was very hesitant and not really motivated to start this project.  Since Steve is such a smart, wonderful husband he knew I would keep pestering him until it was done so he reluctantly said okay and helped me plan out what we were doing.  

     I believe the neighbors thought we were putting in an in ground pool or maybe that we were just board and wanted to dig a hole in the yard.  What we were actually doing was digging out a large section of lawn that swing set and play structure sat on so we could fill it in with mulch and make it look nicer and be safer for the kids when they are playing.  The other reason for doing this is because the grass wasn't looking so good from the kids playing and the dog's doing there thing on every corner of the swing set.  It seem like a simple, fun, cheap project......I was wrong!  After 7+ of digging out sod and dirt I was second guessing the idea but you can't really go back.  Let me just say I have a great husband, he knew all along it wasn't going to be fun or easy that is why he was reluctant to start and he went along with me anyway.  We went to bed that night very tired and sore and woke up the next day feeling the same way. We put nice garden edging around to help keep all the mulch in.  After wrestling with that and hauling load after load of top soil and sod out of the hole it was ready for the land scape fabric and mulch but since it was now 8:30pm on Sunday night we ran out of time and realized that the back of our little Ford Explorer wasn't going to hold all the mulch we needed to fill the large hole, we decided to beg Steve's parents to come the next weekend with the truck to help.Thankfully they said YES.

     So now a week later we were ready to fill the the hole and be done.  We had a truck coming and a few extra hands perfect!  Not so much!!  Steve thought he would take a trip over to the city where we were going to get the mulch the next day, FOR FREE. You will never guess!  Yup, nothing, they were completely out of it.  So now we have the truck and no free mulch.  You see this project was going to be a very cheap one.  I got all the garden edging for free from various places, I had to buy spikes to put the edging in and the land scape fabric, staples  and that was it.  Unfortunately we were forced to spend $106.00 on the mulch that was suppose to be free.  

All I have to say is it looks great and was well worth the money and it smells great because it is cedar mulch.  It wouldn't look that good with the free stuff we were going to use.  I am just glad it is done and I think Steve still loves me??  My arms and back don't hurt anymore and we can now return our new lawn mower because we can just trim our back yard with scissors since there isn't much lawn left.

England Here I Come!

Well, it is official, I am going to ENGLAND!!!!!!! Yahooooo.. I am a little excited if you couldn't tell.  I will be going to see my sister, Marti, and her wonderful husband Steve and their six, supper, great, beautiful kids.   I will be going on the 13th of August and coming home on the 25th.  My mom and I will be traveling together so I am sure we will have a blast.

Honestly I am a little anxious about leaving my kid's and Steve for 12 days, but I have a lot of time to let it settle with me  and I am sure my August 13th I will feel better about it.  I am sure it will be hard to say goodbye at the airport but once I meet my Mom in Detroit I'm sure I will feel much better.

It will be good for the kid's to have some time with Daddy and Grandma, which we are so blessed to have help Steve throughout the 12 days.  

Rhubarb Streusel Bread

I just wanted to share a recipe with you all, if you enjoy rhubarb.  We have a few huge rhubarb plants in our garden and it is all ready to be eaten.  The kids love to go and pick it and just munch on it while playing.  A little to tart for me, but I do remember doing the same thing when I was a kid.  I found this recipe on the Land O Lakes web site, I ended up using butter flavored criso instead of the butter in the bread part because I didn't have enough butter to make the 4 loaves I wanted to.  Yes 4 loaves, I was in a baking mood this morning.  Who knows maybe you will be one of the lucky ones to get one of the 4 loaves??  I hope you enjoy it! 

A Solution To Our Problem ( We Hope)

The last few days have been very difficult with the girls.  To say it nicely to wasn't the best weekend or Mother's Day.  Lots of disobeying, arguing and the use of bad words.  Now when I say bad words I don't mean they are cursing but the constant use of words that are associated with things you do in the bathroom.  I don't understand These are girls!! they aren't suppose to talk like that.  For instance, here are some of the frequent words and name calling our girls use, which then gets repeated by Gray:  Poop-Head, Fart-Butt, Diarrhea-Head, Stupid, Idiot, Diaper-Head, Crack-head ( oh yeah she call me that one!)  and Dingle-Berry.  Just so you all know Steve and I don't go around talking like this so I don't know where they get it from.  So anyway Steve and I figures it is time this stops.  So this is what we came up with.  Each week the girls have the potential to earn $2.  We put $2 worth of nickles in a jar with their names on them.  Each time they say a dirty word or a mean word we take a nickel out and put it in "Mommies Jar"  So the likelihood of them getting the $2 a week is pretty slim, at least till they get use to it.  We will see how it works, we just hope they don't run out of nickels by mid-week. Haven already lost one this morning for calling me a butt head while I was combing her hair. She seemed very disappointed that she lost a nickel so I think this might work.  

By  the time the kids went to bed tonight Haven lost 12 nickels and Rylee 0.  You can see where the problem started.  There is something with kindergartners!  At one point tonight after Haven lost a nickel she told Steve that she "doesn't want to play this game anymore".   At dinner tonight Haven asked Steve, "if Mommy says a bad word does she put a nickel in my jar?"  I think there may be some confusion since there is a jar with my name on it.  This should all be interesting, I will keep you posted.

What We Have Been Up To

This past week was a very busy week for me as you can probably tell since I haven't blogged since the 1st of May.  Well this is what we have been up too.  To start, I ended up having one of the kids that I watch Mon-Fri from 6am-5:30pm. instead of the Tues/Wed schedule that I usually have, plus the other 2 kids I had at different times throughout the week.  It  just made for a crazy week and limited schedule.  On Thursday the 7th was my Birthday.  Steve made me a delicious dinner with my favorite wine. Throughout the week I got lots of yard work/gardening done while kids were napping or playing .  I got some new plants from Steve's mom the weekend before so I had to get my flower beds ready so I could put them in before they got too wilty   We cut down two big ugly cedar trees that were on each side of our house and planted a hydrangea and type of peony shrub?? in place of the overgrown trees.

Saturday morning we woke the kids bright and early to go downtown because Steve was running in the Soleburner.  Unfortunately it wasn't the the sunny 70 degree weather that we had, had on Friday.  Instead it was rainy and in the 40's.  Steve enjoyed the run and the kids like to watch Daddy go through the finish line.  After the race we walked to Starbucks and got hot coco and coffee and then hit a few garage sales and the greenhouse to get a some plants.  On Sunday Steve made lunch and we worked outside in the yard, made a trip to Menard's and stopped at Culver's on the way home for dinner.  I am very ready to start a new week and hope to enjoy it a little more than last week.

    

                                                    

  Laura enjoying her Birthday dinner.

                                                                Steve before his race

Steve after his race

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Starbucks after the race

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Rylee and Kenai snuggling Sunday Morning.