Pizza Goodness

Doesn't this look amazing?  An organic whole wheat pizza crust topped with melted garlic butter, sliced roma tomatoes, fresh mozzarella chunks, and chopped basil. 

Well, it was.  I needed a little dose of summertime so I turned up the heat, put on my shorts and a tank top, and made something with tomato and basil, which are the two most delicious summer ingredients.  Heavenly... 

Green Pastures

Today's goal: to measure the field and plan the layout of the pasture fence.  As soon as the ground thaws we will hook up the post hole digger to the tractor and start building the fence.  (I can't wait!)  I also have to visit the white barn and pick out a spot to build the stalls.  Lambs should be ready to purchase in early spring and there's a lot to get done!  (I can't wait!!)  This is what it looks like now. 

It's not a huge amount of land but just enough for what we want to do.  I can't wait!!

Oh Snap!

 This is Ani's favorite thing to do.  What you can't see in this photo is that she is wearing only her blanket, a common sight in our house.  Another reason we use cloth diapers.  If I had to pay for every time she dribbles in her pullup and takes it off, we would be broke!  

That being said, I also refuse to buy disposable diapers for the new baby doll that poops and pees.  What happened to imagination?  Can't we still pretend that the baby is peeing or pooping?  That makes so much more sense to me...

  This morning I broke out the sewing machine and my most favorite sewing tool, my snap press (yay!), some rubber ducky flannel, and some elastic, and made a baby diaper. 

It turned out to be way more complex than I had originally planned...  Issue #1, I only have navy blue thread, not white.  Issue #2, the feed in my sewing machine would periodically not move and created some ugly thread snags.

This is my snap press!  It weighs about 25 lbs and lets me put snaps on everything.  Yes, everything.  I love snaps and labels and organization by color, numeric, or alphabetical order...  whew!  Better stop before I get too excited...                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

The end result

And it fit like a glove!

I Heart Cooking!

Guess what!  I love cooking!!  I do not, however, love the cleanup... 

 

 There's only one thing I despise almost as much as laundry.  I say almost, because there is nothing in this world as loathsome as laundry.  It doesn't help either, that my laundry room is in the basement.  Out of sight, out of mind...  But when it's all said and done, it's such a breath of fresh air.  Clutter is suffocating!

(Sigh...) 

Twilight Zone

Here I sit...  with the most amazing headache I've had in a long long time.  Thank goodness I ran around like a mad woman cleaning and organizing the Christmas clutter last night.  (I need to pause here to go blow up some chickens in the game Chicken Blaster)  Whew!  That felt good!

It was sort of a Twilight Zone morning.  I woke up groggy, to an immaculately clean house and quiet kids who were playing nicely together.  It was so surreal I was tempted to go back into my bedroom, close the door, and re-open it to find that there was indeed cereal on the floor and milk spilt all over the table, violent bloodshed between the siblings, and a baby who doesn't seem to mind removing her pullup and pooping on the floor.  I chose, instead, to savor the sweet harmony in the house and love on my kids.

`

Epic Fail

Those words echoed off the walls in my living room as Ethan, my oldest, announced to his sisters, the dogs, the cat, and just about anyone living nearby, that my attempt at making homemade candy canes was a disaster.   I mean trying to roll strips of hot molten sugar before it hardens is almost as difficult as trying to spread grape jelly!  And for those of you who have no difficulty spreading grape jelly, well... you can't possibly understand my frustration.  

Pressed, folded, and smooshed - not rolled - candy canes.

Strips of poured hard candy that hardened before I was able to work with them.  But...

It was the best ever after-naptime snack for little Ani

If this blog was well established and if I had a lot of faithful followers, I would totally have an ugly candy contest.  I'm sure there are those excellent home cooks out there that have epic failures of their own.  I would ask my readers to submit their ugly candy photos and, since in my little fantasy here I would also have some sponsors who would periodically donate prizes, I would have a little giveaway to the ugliest candy photo.  Now, wouldn't that be fun! 

Snow

 I love how there seems to be this loud silence.  Like a heavy thickness.  A silent roar.  I cant describe the sound of snow...  but there is one. It's almost magical, as if in that moment I am the only one who has the ability to hear it. 

I'm pretty happy with these photos.  It's nothing fancy, just simple point and shoot but it's exciting to get a shot like the second one here on the right.  I love circles, especially overlapping circles in different shades of the same color.  I used to have a picture hanging on my bright green wall in the apartment that resembled this photo, only it was orange. 

Mama Gots The Frizzies, Fart Fart Fart

     There are some major distractions going on here but I have vowed to be a faithful blogger by writing something everyday.  I'm lovin' the diversity of activity in the house but at the same time I'm distracted by...

1. Sleep deprivation
2. Half naked children streaking through the house playing one of their games, mom and babies.
3. The keyboard song Ethan is trying to learn, doodley doodley doodley'ing on repeat
4. The Beast's insanely loud snoring
5. Jocelyn's super creepy babydoll, Kelsey, that I hesitantly volunteered to babysit.

     I am, though, being thoroughly entertained as I sit here attempting to write.  Jocelyn, my most imaginative little girl, is serenading me with her new song, "Mama gots the frizzies, fart fart fart.  Mama gots the frizzies, fart fart fart..."  It's a mystery to me what goes through that girl's head sometimes...
 
     I wanted to take a minute to post the most adorable picture I've found so far on the internet.  Are you ready for this?

      I told you!  I fell completely in love with them the first time I saw a photo.  Right now we are in the planning stage but come springtime, folks, we are gonna have ourselves some of these Icelandic Sheep.  Wahoo!!

Introduction to the Family Circus

Ethan, my 8 year old is usually Mr. Serious but every once in a while he lets loose and gets a little crazy.

Alaina, age 6, is the artist.  Paper, paint, pencils, crayons, clay, or in this photo, some body art.  I forsee her tattooed later on in life.  Not quite sure how I got that assumption...

Gwen, my monkey, is 5.  I knew she would be wild and spontaneous when she was only one.  She stripped naked and somehow scaled up the kitchen counter, sat in the sink, and hosed down the kitchen with the sprayer.  Still not sure how she accomplished that feat.  Scary...  And she is still keeping us on our toes!
She will someday be embarrassed by this I'm sure...

Jocelyn, my 3 year old, is fragile yet full of life.  She has a quiet elegance but at the same time is eccentric and sneaky.  She does hair, too. 

Little Ani, my miniature 2 year old, is the boss.  She runs the house by walking around initiating orders to everyone around her.  Her sweetness and comical personality can make even the most grumpy days entertaining.  

The love of my life.  That's his "I'm gonna get you" face.  Usually it is the prequel to a bear hug and passionate kiss, which is then followed by "Ew" and "Gross" from the older kids.  If only they knew that someday... 

This is Kitty.  Well, his actual name is Ramsies but we call him Kitty.  I unknowingly misspelled his name in the beginning.  He's an Abyssinian, once bred for Pharaohs in Egypt, and named after Ramesses (notice the misspelling)

 

The Beast

Gunny, our American Bulldog is our massive horse-dog.  Not really a horse-dog.  I don't think such a creature exists but if it did, he would be a likely candidate.  He thinks, though, that he is a lap dog and that is fun for a short time, until our legs start to go numb...

This is our newest addition to our family.  Gretchen, the Minature Pinscher, is an actual lap dog that doesn't cause our legs to lose feeling.  She gets way more cuddle time than Gunny and knows it.  She probably sits there eyeballing him trying to get a reaction - on purpose - but he will never show her how irritated he is.  

Sweet Honeysuckle

Need I say more? Well, I will. Gorgeous!
Wild honeysuckle, a rare find here in the city, portrays such simple beauty as well as the sweetest floral aroma. There's nothing i love more than walking down to the garden in the sticky heat of summer and breathing in the calming sweet scent... Ahhh... I cannot wait for the snow to melt and springtime to arrive. Only 91 more days! Heheee!!!
Urban Honeysuckle, the name of my new blog as well as my soon-to-be backyard farm is representative of the beginning of the next exciting chapter in life. We're embarking on a new journey. Dunt dada dun! (said in your most regal voice)