Maple Syrup time

Lots of fun!! Or it is when you only spend a few days doing it :) Last year we missed, but this year we got in on the tapping as well has gathering and boiling. While we were there, we helped make mom and dad's first 11 gallons of maple syrup. This year they have 500 taps on pipeline and 800 taps in buckets. And... we came home with a gallon of maple syrup to enjoy through the year!

Devons Camping Scrapbook

Lately the kids have been scrapbooking with me. Here is the project Devon is working on.

Valentines Scrapbook Pages

I have been doing some scrapbooking lately, and its lots of fun getting back into it, after a year? More?
I have a ton of pictures from the kids preschool years, as I was in the school helping out alot, so I have decided I would like to put together a scrapbook for each of the kids preschool year.
And the other thing I am working on is a current scrapbook. Its called project life, and it comes with little slots that you stick the pictures in, and a kit with the correct size cards/papers etc. Idea behind it is quick and easy! And its a 3 ring binder so you can stick 12 X 12 layouts in if you want, 8 1/2 X 11 page protectors showing off kids art, and other memorabalia. I am going to give it a try this year and see if I can keep close to up-to date. We will see! Will share some of those layouts soon....
Going to share some layouts I have done once in a while, to see if it will keep me going on this project.
Being Valentines Day is almost here, I was just working on these layouts...

Here are a couple from Kylees preschool year













And this one is current. The blank spaces are for family pictures, if I can get my husband talked into going with me to get them done!!

Gluten Free Recipe - Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies

Working through my "to do" pile today and came across this recipe I made a while back and was going to share...

Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies - Gluten Free
3/4 cup margarine
1 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour mix (I used the feather lite recipe)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xantham gum
1 1/2 cups choc chips

Cream butter and sugar together. Add effs and vanilla. Stir in mixed dry ingredients. Stir until blended - by hand. Then stir in chips. Bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes. Cool on pan.
(These were awesome... couldn't even tell they were gluten free!)

Gluten Free Recipe - Peanut Butter Cookies

Another yummy recipe - and super easy...

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies
2 cups white sugar
2 cups smooth peanut butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp xanthan gum

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Pour all ingredients into a bowl and mix until dissolved (cookie dough will be on the thicker side)
Roll dough into 2" balls, dip into sugar and place on an ungreased cookie sheet
Flatten each ball.
Bake for 8 minutes (I ended up baking for 13 minutes to get them cooked through - but maybe didn't press down enough)
Let cool and serve - makes about 2 dozen cookies

Tip when making gluten free doughs

I found this tip on the GF Pie Crust box that I just made, but thought I would share because it worked awesome! Gluten Free doughs are VERY sticky and VERY HARD to work with. They suggested putting a piece of suran wrap/plastic wrap on the counter, then the dough, then another layer of suran wrap. Then use hands or rolling pin to roll the dough to the correct size/thickness. Take off the top layer of suran wrap, and use the bottom layer to carry and place the dough in pie plate or on top of the pie. This would work for pizza crust, or anything else dough. Made the crust a breeze!!

Gluten Free Pie Crust Recipe

I found an awesome pie crust... its a box one, but its the best I have found so far. Actually, we hardly knew that it was gluten free!! The brand is Gluten Free Pantry, called Perfect Pie Crust. There are 7 additional ingredients that you have to add so its kindof a recipe. One box makes 4 crusts, (or 2 pies if you use the upper crust.)

One Gluten Free Pantry Perfect Pie Crust Box
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 TBLSP white sugar
10 TBLSP cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
10 TBLSP butter flavored vegetable shorthening, cut into small pieces
2 eggs beaten
2 TBLSP cold water
3 tsp cider vinegar

**** see tip in my next post

Blog All Caught Up!

Wow, I can't believe it! I am all caught up with my postings! I don't think its been that way all year. Now, just to keep it that way :) Next project is my scrapbooking!! Got my scrapbook table all set up now, so just hope I can remember how to do it, its been so long!

Sock Day at School

Here is my crazy kids on sock day :)

Kylee learning about Our Community

At school in October, Kylee had a week that she was learning what was available to us in our community. One project that week was that each student had to pick from a list a place, then we had to go that place and look at what it was like. Then Kylee and I had to decorate a cereal box to make it look like that place in our community. Kylee picked a park down the road from us. Here is what our project turned out like...

Fun emptying the pool

Our pool finally had too many leaks and we were topping it off almost every day, and the top wouldn't hold air anymore, so it was time to get rid of it. They sure did have fun emptying it :) We learned that you shouldn't put one of these pools directly on the concrete down here. I think the heat from the concrete on those 116 degree days deteriorated the plastic. It was super wrinkly (like what your fingers look like after being in water too long) over the whole bottom of the pool. And there were a zillion hair-like slices in those wrinkles!

Creating a Volcano

The kids wanted to try out the baking soda/vinegar volcano again. This time we used dirt to make it more "realistic"

First Day of School - 1st and 3rd Grades

Even Sammy had to get in the picture!

Summer Vacation - Iron Bridge

Summer Vacation - Wisconsin

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.