The many me's...

I know, I know, I just published a post like an hour ago. But after reading Brooke's blog I simply had to post again. She directed me to a website called www.yearbookyourself.com and now you too can make fun year book pictures of yourself. Which one do you like best??

1956

1968

1986

1994

Way too much fun....ha!

~A

The New Abode

Just about a month ago the Washburn's moved into a new house. Both Marie and my mom requested that I post some pictures. We still have a lot of unpacking to do. We moved in right in the middle of my morning sickness stage, not fun! Here you go!

Here she is. 190 Dixon Rd. Now, I'd just like to say, this was the first day of sunshine we'd had since hurricane (tropical storm, whatever) Faye hit us. So, you'll have to excuse the grass. It's a little ridiculous.

We live across the street from a pecan orchard. If you've never seen one they are quite a site. Pecan trees get huge and it is lovely to see these massive trees lined up in rows. We have a nice, big window on the front of the house and I love to just sit and watch the orchard. This is the view from my front door.

When we moved in we found out how truly blessed we were! Our property has 3 pecan trees, a pear tree, and a peach tree on it. This is our pear tree with little baby pears. Pear recipes, anyone??
It's the little details about the house I love. Unfortunately some of the best pictures I took wouldn't upload for some reason. But these will have to do. These are the doors that separate the living room from the dinning room.

This is the window that looks out to the backyard from our school room. Yes, we have a school room, let's remember I'm a homeschooling mom. A school room is a must! :)
And here is the cute little window that let's me see what my rascally children are doing in the school room while I'm cooking dinner. Love it!

On a totally unrelated note, I went to the farmer's market today! And even more exciting than our new house is that I think I might have found a CSA for us to get involved in! I've been searching for one since last March with no luck. At the farmer's market to day I was talking to my organic farmer friend, Lucy. I've kind of been pestering Lucy for the past month to start one but she really doesn't want to. Today she told me about one that she had heard about from someone else. Totally organic and pretty close to home! So now I just have to track them down and see! Yeah! Here's my buy at the farmer's market. Basil, eggplants, tomatoes, snap beans, and blueberries. All organic and all for well under $20! I love it!


Anyway, thanks for reading again. Right now I'm watching the sun set behind the pecan trees.....sigh...see you next time.

Running the race,
~A

Pickles and Ice Cream-hold the pickles, and maybe the ice cream too.

I am happy to announce that my husband just subscribed to my blog! He's now a regular reader. Isn't that sweet?? So, if you're reading, "Hi, honey! I love you. See you at lunchtime!"

Moving on, I thought it might be fun to hear from some of you mama's out there as to what you did or have been craving during pregnancy. I think it's funny how different everyone is in this respect. My cravings have been different every time, with the exception of one thing. Orange Juice!! When I am pregnant I can't get enough of the stuff. The first time I was pregnant I must have tried a million different orange juices until finally I settled on one brand....gotta love Simply Orange. We've been in love ever since. With Lilly, I wanted slurpie's all the time. Not very healthy, mind you, but it was a texture thing. I loved the little chunks of ice in it. Weird, I know. With Luke, I want protein like mad. Chicken, to be more specific. I ate it all the time. With Brad, my taste got a little more sophisticated, I guess. I had to have a constant supply of baguettes to dip in oil and vinegar. You'd be shocked how often I ate that stuff. And that brings me to this pregnancy. Mmm...tomato melts. :) I'll share the "recipe" below. So, now I want to hear from you. What did (are) you crave?? (Maybe it will give me some ideas!)

Tomato Melts

So, basically you take an english muffin and spread some mayo on it. Then I put some sub sauce (it's basically a bunch of spices in olive oil, I bought it at Wal-mart) on it, top it with a tomato and a slice of cheddar cheese. Broil for, oh... 1-2 minutes. Just until the cheese is melted. Yummy!

Running the race,
~A

An introduction to the Flock

I realized the other day that it has been four years since I left Kansas. When we left Lilly was only 8 months old! Some of you I haven't seen since we left Manhattan. Some of you I haven't seen since high school! So, I thought I'd give a little introduction to the youngest members of the Washburn family. Maybe it will help you get to know us a little better and get a glimpse into our lives.

Lilly- aka. "Bean" Lilly is 4 1/2 now (that 1/2 is very important!) She has grown up so fast and definitely has the traits of the oldest sibling. She is a little mommy. Always keeping an eye on the boys. She loves books, all of mine do, but her more than any other. She would be perfectly happy if I could read to her all day. Luckily she is just learning to read and so maybe soon she can start reading to herself now and again. Lilly loves to help me whenever she can. Tonight, after dinner, I was so tired I went to go lay down for a bit and when I got back up she had already put everything back into the refrigerator for me! What a gem! She also regularly does the dishes for me without even asking her to! Another thing she loves is to sing and make up songs. It seems as though she is always singing about something. I love it! She started school last year. We will be starting her second year in a few weeks. Often times she is the one reminding me that we need to start school. She really enjoys learning!

Luke- aka "Bud" Luke is 2 (soon to be 3 in October). He was born a very big boy. 23 in. and 9lbs 10 oz. to be exact. My mom always says he reminds her of a little football player. Luke is my little softie, though. He's the boy who will randomly come and curl up on my lap and say "I love you, mama." He's always been the sensitive one. Even when he was a little baby. If we said no in any way he would tear up. He's a people pleaser. He wants to make everyone happy. His favorite things to do are play with trucks, cars, and Tinker Toys. He loves to watch John build and fix things. But also loves to "help" me in the kitchen. Luke has a fascination with everything. He asks questions all the time-sometimes good, sometimes bad. "Mama, how does God go potty?" "Mama, can I die?" "Mama, can a toy boat get flushed down the potty?" uh oh....

Bradley- appropriately nicknamed "Bruiser" Brad is 17 months old. Ah...my little Brad. Where do I begin? Brad is unlike any other baby I have encountered before. Let me start out by saying he is very happy. Always smiling and laughing, very boyant. He's carefree and fearless. Which leads me to his other traits. He gets into EVERYTHING!! Not only will he empty all the contents out of my purse but then get into those things and empty those out too. Sigh... He's also a climber. He started climbing out of his crib at 15 months. This leads to a lot of bumps and bruises. But as I said before, he's very boyant. He'll cry for a minute and then, zoom, he's off again. In my house, there is no setting the table before dinner. Plates go on the table after the food has already been brought out because I know that if I attempt to set the table before hand I will come in to find it all on the floor! But, man, I love this kid. He is such a goof. He does the silliest stuff and loves it! He makes my day when he walks into the room and shouts, "Mama!!"


So there are my little ones. They keep me busy but insanely happy at the same time. I wouldn't trade any one of them for another. God has truly blessed us with them and I can't imagine not having them! I hope this has given you a little glimpse into what they are like. Thanks for reading!

~A

Carbs, oh boy!

I've come to discover over the past several years that even the puniest, most pathetic meal can be remedied with home-made bread. "Spagetti-O's again?? Oh! But there is bread to go with it!" And NOTHING makes your house more inviting and homey at the end of the day when hubby comes home as the wonderful aroma of bread baking. I've heard it said that if you want to sell your house, bake bread just before people come to look at it. I'd totally believe it. And, believe it or not, it's not that hard, especially if you have a bread machine. So, today I am going to share two of my favorite, simplest, more delicious bread recipes (in fact, I have one baking in the oven right now!) If you have a bread machine you just pop all the ingredients into the mixer and set your machine to "dough" cycle. Just a note, don't bake bread in the machine. It turns out an odd shape and the crust is super thick. Ick. If you don't have a machine....google it. I'm not very good at explaining things. But trust me, it's not hard. Here you go!

Peasant Bread

1 1/3 C water
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp salt
3 cups flour (feel free to use either wheat or white)
2 tsp yeast


Oatmeal Bread

1/2 c. quick oats
1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 T. salt
1 T. butter
2 c. water
1 1/2 tsp. yeast
2 1/2 c. flour

I bake my bread at 415* for 20-25 minutes. The oatmeal bread makes fantastic toast. Yum! Now, if you'll excuse me I hear my oven timer! Enjoy!

~A

Loving Kindness

This morning during our family devotions we sang a song that really touched my heart. God's been teaching me a lot lately about Himself. Mainly, His love for me. In the recent past, I've come to realize that I have a big problem with doubting God's love for me. But, praise Him, He's been showing His love in so many ways. I thought I'd write the song down here for anyone else who needs a reminder of what God's love is.

Loving Kindness

Awake, my soul, to joyful lays,
And sing thy great Redeemer's praise;
He justly claims a song from me,
His loving kindness, oh, how free!

Loving Kindness,
Loving kindness,
His loving kindness, oh, how free!

He saw me ruined in the fall,
Yet loved me not withstanding all;
He saved me from my lost estate,
His loving kindness, oh, how great!

Loving kindness,
loving kindness,
His loving kindness, oh, how great!

Tho' num'rous hosts of mighty foes,
Tho' earth and hell my way oppose,
He safely leads my soul along,
His loving kindness, oh, how strong!

Loving kindness,
loving kindness,
His loving kindness, oh , how strong!

When trouble, like a gloomy cloud,
Has gathered thick, and thundered loud,
He near my soul has always stood,
His loving kindness, oh, how good!

Loving kindness,
loving kindness,
His loving kindness, oh, how good!

I hope this encourages someone today! It certainly encouraged me. :)

Running the race,
~A

Books Books Books

Butterfly in the sky....I can go twice as high....take a look...it's in a book...the Reading Rainbow.... Okay, I'm just trying to set the mood here. My children LOVE to read. I say, it's because of the lack of T.V. (we don't even own one) and video games. Just this morning I spent half an hour looking at books with my one year old. Pretty cool. And, let me tell you, we have A LOT of books. At first we tried to keep them all on a book shelf but with children running and grabbing books every minute, that was a mess. Now we have a book box. That way all they have to do throw the book back in when they are done. So, for those of you who have children who are old enough to enjoy stories here are some of our classic, all-time, favorite books!

Mouse Paint - by Ellen Stoll Walsh. I am an artist at heart. I love art but have no talent for it. It probably stems from my years of working at an art museum in college or being married to a super creative guy. This book is a great educational tool for teaching children about colors. Plus, those little mice are so stinking cute. If you give a mouse a cookie- by Laura Joffe Numeroff. A total classic. If you have children and don't have this book, get it. John still has his copy from when he was a boy. Any of this series are great. My personal favorite is If you give a pig a pancake.Any Maisy book- by Lucy Cousins. My children love this character. Simple pictures and stories. So simple it makes me think I could write children books, but the kiddo's love her.
Friends- by Helme Heine. Quite possibly my favorite children's book of all time. The illustrations are adorable and the story is so sweet.

That Magnetic Dog- by Bruce Whatley. Fun book, great pictures. It makes me want to go out and get a dog and I'm not even a dog person.

I could go on and on but these are top of the list. So, go to your library, check them out, and enjoy! But ya don't have to take my word for it....(did you get the reading rainbow throw back???)

~A

...and thank you, God, for my dishwasher...

Yes, I actually thanked God for my dishwasher the other night. You see, we just moved into a new house a couple of weeks ago and our new house has...a dishwasher. Believe it or not, it's a first for this family of five. When we moved in I thought, "I won't use it that much. Probably only when company comes over. I'm so used to washing everything by hand." Fast forward two weeks and I've already used it five times. Granted, three of those times have been washing dishes that had been packed up and needed to be washed. We try to stay globally minded, remembering that most of the world lives in third world conditions and try not to use any extra resources than we have to but, wow! Are these things nice. Especially, for this very tired, pregnant, mother of three. So, I'm saying it again. Thank you God for this wonderful invention of the dishwasher. :)

Running the race,
~A

This one's for you Eeka!

I told my friend Erica that I would give her a healthier version of Bisquick. In case you didn't know, Bisquick (or any other baking mix, really) has bad stuff in it. Trans fats, if my memory serves me correct. So here is my version that has no "bad stuff" in it.

7 c. flour
1/4 c baking powder
1 1/2 c powdered milk
1T. salt
1 c. shortening* (see note)

Mix thoroughly with mixer or by hand. Store in tight container and use as needed.

* a note: When using shortening you have to make sure you get the kind with no trans fats in it. Even the "new" Criso which boasts of having not trans fats does. Look at the label. Partially hydrogentated oils = trans fats. I buy the kind they sell in the organic section of the grocery store. It's a little more expensive than Crisco but I use it so infrequently and it's so much better for you that it justifies itself.

Enjoy!

P.S. Erica that pancake recipe looked very yummy and I can't wait to try it out!

Running the race,
~A

New Beginnings

I am happy to announce that we FINALLY have the internet again! In my brief sabbatical from blogger I've had some time to think about what I want to do with it. I'm looking forward starting over. So, stay tuned! Changes are in store!
~A