Summer - Vacation Guelph

Just a little bit behind again :)

Veggie Turkey

For Thanksgiving we went to Pedersons for a potluck turkey dinner. Most of the friends were there as many of their families are many miles from here. Was many people there, but was a beautiful day, so we ate in the garage and spent the afternoon outside. Here is a picture of one of the dishes I brought. Saw the idea online and had to try it. Was fun!

Little Scottish Clothespin Doll

For school, Devon had to do a project on his ancestry. He had to do a family tree, a writeup of what countrys they came from further back. Then he and I had to make a clothespin doll from one of the countrys they were from. Here is how it turned out...

Summer Vacation 2011

Summer Vacation - Harrisville

I found this program that makes collages with your photos, which I want to use in my scrapbooks. I am still trying to figure out how to get rid of their website on my photo... It is a free program so maybe thats why its there, and there is no way to get rid of it?? I did one of our whole summer vacation which has around 200 pictures, and the logo is in the bottom right corner, so I could cut it off after I print in and would lose the bottom 1/2 inch of the collage. Still working on it, but thought it was a neat way to show a whole bunch of photos if I could get this figured out.

Update on our patio garden

Here is what our "garden" looks like now... the beans are doing very well, and lots of buds now, so I am hoping we get lots of beans. The tomatos aren't going to make it I don't think... they had a bunch of buds a few weeks back and looked great, but then the leaves started curling and getting yellowy. Nothing has happened since the buds fell off. Don't know if its root bound, or needs less water, more water, different soil or what. Open to any suggestions..


Beans


Carrots



Sweet green peppers and lettuce (came good after I replanted them. Probably was too hot earlier)



Tomatos

Tenting in the Living Room???

This is what our living room looks like right now haha. We are planning on tenting for convention next week, and wanted to make sure our new cots would fit in there, as well as the air mattress and leave room for our suitcases as well, so we put it up in the living room to try it out before we got there. Can you guess where the kids slept last night ;)

Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins

These were yummy and moist. The kids made them all by themselves! I found it in a magazine as a regular recipe, but for the flour I used the feather-lite mix. It worked well.

Pumpkin Muffins
2 1/4 cups flour (I used the feather-lite mix)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 can pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 Tblsp butter melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease 12 muffin cups (I used the muffin liners, but found that the tinfoil ones work best... the paper ones, the muffins stick bad.
2. In large bowl mix dry ingredients.
3. In medium bowl, whisk milk, pumpkin, brown sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs together.
4. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
5. Spoon into muffin cups and bake 25 to 30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Our House in Mission, TX

Don't think I posted pictures here of where we are at now, so here are a few...

New Curtains

Here is what I have been up to lately... I made my curtains. Still not sure if I like the swags on top, but they needed something, and just wasn't sure what. My next project is to try and cover our rocker chair. I have never done that before, so could be interesting!





With help from Sammy :)


The lazy way of hemming :) No, thats not a fire (thats what I thought at first glance when looking at the picture), its the sewing machine light!


And when you hem that way, guess this is how you press the hem??? :)

Cheaper Contact Lenses

Just wanted to share this link that a friend shared with me. If you know your contact perscription (which is on every lens) you can order your own contacts online. Mine came to 1/2 the price it costs at the eye dr! Mine came in the mail yesterday, so it is a real site.


www.saveonlens.com

Spoiled doggy

Don't know what we would do without him!

Suprise Pictures on our Phones

You just never know what pictures you might find on your cell phone after the kids have been playing with them. Here are just a couple... welcome to our world :)

Roads on the Smooth Top??

Here is what the kids were busy at one day... Can you see the parking lots, round-about and roads?

July 4th

Time to get caught up on some older pictures that I need to get posted...
Here are some from the 4th of July.


This is where the kids watched the fireworks from... Had a good view above all the heads and vehicles in front of us :)




Craft time!

Gluten Free Recipe - Carrot Cake

Yummy Carrot Cake

3 cups flour (I used the feather-lite mix)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups oil
4 cups grated carrots

Beat eggs, add sugar, vanilla and oil and mix well. Add combined dry ingredients. Mix. Add grated carrots. Bake at 250 for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Icing

1 8-oz package cream cheese
4 tblsp butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups icing sugar
2 tblsp milk

Our little Fall Garden

Down here, you can plant 2 gardens - one in beginning of March, and the other in September. We miss our garden alot, and can't dig a spot here where we are renting, so we decided to try it again in pots and see how it works. So far, so good, except the lettuce never came up. I will replant that in the next few days. But here is what we have so far. Have to water every evening, and sometimes do just a little in the late afternoon too. The beans wilt very easy, so I just moved them so they won't be in direct sunlight and see if that helps. Looking forward to fresh veggies sometime in late Oct or early November. Will seem funny to pick veggies when we are used cold weather and sometimes snow at that time :)



Green beans


Tomatos


Green peppers


Carrots

Grandparents day at the kids school

The kids school has all kinds of activities that allow parents to participate which is fun. 2 weeks ago, it was Granparents day. The kids were sad that they couldn't have their real grandparents there, but were happy to ask some that we go to meeting with to be "grandma and grandpa" for the day. We got to meet them for lunch. Today was family picnic day where we took a blanket and a picnic basket and met them on the school playground at lunchtime for a picnic. Fun!! But I forgot my camera :(


With Pedersons and Lustys


Kylee "loves" her hugs... thats what all the laughing was about :)

Hummingbirds and more hummingbirds!!

This is what our hummingbird feeder looks like some days lately. Seems that we are in their migration path. Very interesting to watch all the action. Some days we go through 3 cups of water/sugar a day! Then for a day or so, goes down to 1 cup. One of the friends here has a video of hundreds of them at his 4 feeders at once!

Gluten Free Recipe - Rosemary Ranch Grilled Chicken

Another one that we tried and really liked... I have found it hard to find a good marinade recipe..so sharing. I halfed this recipe and it was lots for our family.

Rosemary Ranch Grilled Chicken
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1 TBLSP of poultry seasoning
2 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp white vinegar
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 TBLSP white sugar (optional)
5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into quarters

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the oil, ranch, seasoning, salt, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. Place chicken in the bowl and stir to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the frill for medium heat.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill for 8-12 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink in center and juices run clear.