Kitchen table talk....

As we have made our way through these last few months and I have seen how Brodie has changed from this time last year and the fact that we are closing in on two days before Keaton’s first birthday it seems like a good time to reflect on the past year and what is still ahead of us and how quickly the last 4yrs since I became a mommy has flown by.   Prime example, Kyle and I were out shopping just a few days ago and as we were chatting about nothing inparticular, we touched upon the subject of enrolling Brodie in kindergarten and Kyle said, “but that is not for another 2years” and that is when it hit me that oh my gosh 2years is the equivalent of tomorrow when you are talking about your children growing up.  For those who do not have children or are just entering into this arena of life you might not understand this but for those of us who do have children it is a heart wrenching ache that nothing can squish.   Now let me also mention that this is not the first time that this

Yummo is all I can say about my newest kitchen baking project.   I have begun making our bread and have decided that I will never buy another loaf of bread unless I am hosting large gathering or in dire need.    I love the look, smell and taste of yeast….nothing is better than the smell of yeast proofing or the smell of it in a fresh baked loaf of bread. I have found the best recipe ever for a fabulous white bread, it is from a website, although I cannot verify how authentic it is, claims it is an Amish loaf bread recipe, I don’t care if it really is or isn’t a authentic recipe, in my mind I am going to believe that I am baking the same bread that the fabulous Amish women bake in their homes.   I have a deep respect and a bit of jealousness of the Amish women.   I would love to be able to stay home and live a simple life and put in hard work of cooking, baking and cleaning all the while raising my children.   I tell mom and Kyle all the time that I was born in the wrong era

As a young girl my parents used to send my brother and I back ‘home’ to Kansas every summer for at least a month sometimes longer.  One of my many favorite memories of those visits back was visiting my Grandma M, she is our mom’s grandma so technically our great-grandma but we all just called her Grandma M.   Anyway, she and Poppy, our great-grandpa who passed before Nick (my brother) and I were old enough to remember him, had a farm for most of their married life and she was a canner of all the produce that they grew on the farm. My favorite were the canned tomatoes they were the best thing ever, they even beat most of the fresh tomatoes, which was very hard to do.     After Poppy passed Grandma M moved into town, and she still continued to can. I remember that the underneath of one section of her counter in the dining room was full of canned tomatoes it was like a wonderful treasure chest full of gold, and she never seemed to run out of her canned jars of goodness.    In beginn

As much as I hate to admit this Brodie has picked up a new shall we say 'choice word' to add to his vocabulary! It is the worst one that you can imagine, or at least that I can imagine....I will give you a moment to think about what word you think it is... Okay I will give you a clue; in the movie Christmas Story it is the word that Ralphie says while helping his dad change the tire...any guesses? Yes, you are correct the Queen of all swear words; it begins with an F and ends with a K. Can I just say that my world stopped for about 2mins the first time I heard him utter that awful word. Let me just set up the scene for you the first time the word passed his lips. Brodie and I were snuggled up watching the Olympic opening ceremonies when suddenly the dogs jumped up and started barking, Brodie jumped down went running to the window opened the blinds and noticed a gentleman walking down the sidewalk, and this my friends is when it happened.   He stated as clear as can be

Summer is here and so is the heat and watching the Olympic swimming time trials it has geared me up for the Olympics and to write a blog about the boys and swimming. The thermometer has been reaching close to 100 degrees for the past couple of days and the forecast for the next week doesn’t look like we are going to get much relief anytime soon.   So that means that we are either playing inside or we are only going to be outside if there is a large source of cool water in the close vicinity.   So in our mind that leaves two spots to be either out back in our pool or down at Legends dipping our toes in the water fountain.   The past two weekend we have ended up down at Legends on Saturday evening to grab a quick bite to eat and enjoy the summer weather and the cooler evening weather, we were also able to catch some free live music while down there which made Brodie happy he was able to enjoy playing in the water and dance around a little bit!   Keaton seems to have natural love

One Saturday morning my mom came over and said she was talking to a friend of hers who makes her own laundry and dishwasher soaps and said it really wasn’t that difficult so mom and I decided we were going to make a batch, my mom had no idea that I had been going back and forth on the topic and it was a shock to me that she had any interest at all in taking on the task.   The thought was a bit daunting to me, I mean really who makes these products when you can just run to the store and grab one off the shelf.   I figured that I would let her make a batch and see how it turned out, she bought all the needed ingredients and I thought if it went well for her that I would just use some of her extra ingredients and start my own batch.   Mom was successful and that pretty much solidified my decision to make my own.   So on Sunday I ran over to moms and grabbed the box that contained the ingredients and utensils need to begin the journey.   Both soaps turned out to be a complete success!

This weekend has been busy and the boys have enjoyed lots of outdoor activities, but first I was able to make a quick run the local farmers market.   It was a quick trip and I was able to get a couple of items nothing to big or great yet but the farmer’s market season is still young and there will be plenty of opportunities to grab up some great seasonal items, and I cannot wait!!! I have decided that I would like to do a small bit of canning this summer and would like to start out with some jams and then maybe tomatoes and salsa….I have to admit that I am a bit nervous about taking this on.   I have spent a good bit of time in the past seeing others I know can items and be able to enjoy them later in the year and have been very envious of them.   I, on the other hand am forced to buy all of my canned favorites because of my insecurity in my ability to conquer canning.   So hopefully with the help of the local farmers market, some pointers from other canners and this blog I will b

So it has been a good amount of time since I last blogged and the boys have grown in leaps and bounds. Keaton is now 4months old and is full of life like any little boy; Brodie still loves being a big brother and daddy’s big boy helper outside.   Keaton marked this past weekend with a new milestone, he began eating rice cereal and his first few feedings have gone very smooth that is until Sunday evening at grandma’s house but we will get to that later. Brodie spends most of his time in the evenings and weekends following daddy around outside doing this and that in our yard and grandma’s yard.   They are actually a pretty good team and Brodie is learning tons while helping, they have planted trees and rose bushes, removed and replaced mulch, edged the lawn and he is now a master lawn mower and this is only the beginning of April by the end of the summer Brodie will have his own lawn/landscaping business!!!! Along with this time of year comes Easter and Easter egg hunts, and w

We finally got some snow this winter and the boys were ready to get out and play in it as soon as we were home from school and work.   Dad was home about 10min after grandma arrived home with Brodie (grandma picks up Brodie from school on a pretty regular basis, more so than Kyle or I do).   Brodie and daddy got changed into more appropriate “snow gear”, because I am so crazy and neurotic about things in my mind they were going to get frost bite from being outside for 30min…..seriously something is not right with me... as if the ½ inch of snow that we received might freeze them to death, do you see what I am saying when I say something is not right with me :).   Sooo anyway, the headed outside and grandma Keaton and I stayed inside and began making dinner, grandma only lasted about 15min inside with me before she headed outside to show Kyle how to build a snowman, apparently he had no clue what to do since the snow was so heavy and wet .   Brodie wouldn’t have cared if the snow

Daddy has left us….okay let me clarify; daddy has gone out of town for work.   Sad news for us as we all three rely on daddy for a great deal, both around the house and emotionally.   I find it interesting that old sayings seem to sometimes be correct and not just stupid sayings and people can use to their advantage when they are trying to make a point in conversation. Point being “you don’t know what you have got until it is gone” ok now granted I am sure that whoever came up with the quote meant that the thing that you were going to miss was going to be gone for longer than 2 ½ days, but it is still relevant no matter how long the item you are missing is gone,right?.?.? Now that dad is back everything is back to “normal” and the house is functioning regularly so that is a huge relief….. With all the excitement of daddy leaving and coming home there was another big change that took place over the last week and a half that added a bit of excitement to the Whelpley house.   Brodie got