Almost every week during the summer I take the little ones to our local story time hour. Here are a few photos of the children from last week. (We did not attend this week, due to sickness)







On this day, we went to a little indoor play area afterwards. This Kansas heat has been extreme, so I have preferred to do indoor activities as much as possible. I am so ready for fall weather to arrive!








Then this last couple of photos were taken at a Sam's club in a near by town. Justin found this 4 wheeler, and we thought we would never get him off of it...just look at the joy in his funny little face!

I cooked with our garden fresh pumpkin!!!

This morning I made my pumpkin bread recipe with a pumpkin that my husband grew in our garden! I thought it might be hard to do...but it was not at all! I am happy to report that this is the best tasting pumpkin bread I've ever had!

First I cut the top of the pumpkin off.



Next I cut it in half and scooped out the seeds with a spoon. (which I cleaned and have drying to make pumpkin seeds with this afternoon.) Then put it in a glass baking dish with about an inch of water.




Next bake on 450 degrees for 50 minutes. (this is with a semi-small pumpkin) The key is you must be able to pierce the skin with a fork easily.



After it comes out of the oven, let it cool off a bit. Then scrape the pumpkin into the blender and add 1/4-1/2 cup of water and blend and stir until smooth. Mine made about 16 oz. of pumpkin. (which is the same as a can of pumpkin.) Now you can use this to make what ever you like! My pumpkin bread recipe is on this blog, if anyone would like to try it.

What I'm Reading~

I read about a set of books, that was dear to one of my family member's heart. It is the Miriam's Journal books by author, Carrie Bender. I ordered the first book, A Fruitful Vine, and am just loving it. I am going to get the entire series, as these books are a rare find. This is a fictional book, of an Amish lady's journey through her yearly goings on. It is written like a journal, but tells the story of her life and her feelings and her walk with God. I truly thank Teri for writing about these books on her Simple Blessings Blog.

Happy 14th Birthday Tristyn!!!

14 years ago today, God transformed my life when he blessed me with Tristyn. The moment I looked into his big blue eyes for the first time, I was transformed, from the me I had always been... to a mommy. Everyone has always said he has me wrapped around his finger, and I suppose that is somewhat true. He never takes advantage of that fact. He is such a great young man and he amazes me every day with his wisdom (which is well beyond his years) his compassion his intelligence...I could just go on forever. Anyways, today he is 14 and I hope he has the most wonderful day ever. I love you Tristyn. Mommy~

Happy Saturday~

This morning, after breakfast the children and Steven and I decided to go to a few yard sales. (the girls and I consider this...treasure hunting) Total we spent ten dollars. I do not allow them to get "junk" because I myself do not like a lot of clutter. I did find a cute set of vintage 1950's dishes. (That I plan to use in my retro dream camper someday) I found a very neat book, a cute shirt, and a very cute tote bag. The girls found some little flowers to decorate their new playhouses, and Lauren got a phone to use in her play house as well. Justin found a cute puppy stuffed animal (which he does not get to play with until I get it to the washer...my rule with stuffed toys.) Anyways, it was fun! Then it was so hot, so Steven took the girls swimming and Justin and I went out on a little adventure. The photo above is of some wild flowers we saw! Then he and I spent some time hanging out together...he is such a sweet little fella! Now we are all just relaxing and doing nothing much, which is a blessing!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Tomorrow is Tristyn's 14th birthday. He is in Colorado with his father right now. I am so proud of the young man he has grown up to be, what a gift all my children are to my life. Happy Saturday!

Our Gardens Gifts of Summer~

We have been very blessed this summer with more than enough tomatoes. Because we have more than we need, I had my husband take a huge bag of tomatoes to work, for anyone who could use them, to have. I also have shared them with a few friends as well. I have been making home-made fresh salsa, pasta sauce's, using them for salad and snacks, to go on sandwiches...basically every way I can think to use them!





Here is a photo of a simple pasta topping, using one large tomato. It was so easy, just dice the tomato, put in a pan over med. heat, add a little olive oil, salt, sugar, garlic, basil, and Parmesan cheese with black pepper to taste. Cook for about ten min, and pour on top of your favorite pasta. YUMMMMM

A July Week in Our Little Life~

Happy 4th of July

Parade~

We went to our town's 4th of July parade this morning, and I thought I would share some photos.