Monday, July 20, 2009

Project 12

Just a quick share of a project I'm working on.

I've half-heartedly (until now!) been participating in "Project 12", a project hosted by Davinie in an effort to capture pictures from each month of 2009 and record them in some creative way, with the challenge to use these calendar cards. I decided to make a little mini-album for each child, focusing on my favorite picture of each from that month. I like how it's looking so far...but I will honestly admit that I'm playing catch-up right now! My plan has been to get down the picture and basics and then once the album's complete, embellish it some more!

This peek is of Madeleine's June picture, taken while she was watching her Aunt Katy and bridesmaids have their pictures taken. I wish I could have just frozen time when she (and Hadleigh and Nathanael) were in wedding garb...so so precious!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Reading List

I love to read...especially in the summer. I only wish that I had more "lazy time" and two trees for a hammock to spend reading in!

I recently finished reading Love Walked In and Hotel on The Corner of Bitter and Sweet. I really enjoyed both, if you're in the market for fiction.

I'm currently rereading my copy of Emma by Jane Austen...I started reading Anna Karenina by Tolstoy forever ago and need to finish it...I never tire of the classics (the English major in me, I suppose) but here are a few recent books I've heard about that have peaked my interest...

And if you've read any of them, please let me know what you thought...and if they're worth the time!
The Scenic Route by Binnie Kirshenbaum

The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Sweet By and By by Todd Johnson

Thursday, July 16, 2009

First Time Visitor

Can you guess who visited our family for the first time while we were on vacation?*

I'll give you one more chance :)

(And I must say that I'm relieved and I'm sad.
Relieved that my little girl didn't have to have first teeth pulled by the dentist in second grade like her Mommy did--especially since her two bottom permanent teeth were already coming in, just as mine had.

And sad, because once again, her smile has changed. And I'd grown a bit attached to it. But I must say that her toothless grin is absolutely adorable...and it will probably be joined soon by two more empty spaces!)

* Hadleigh was super excited about the dollar and note that her tooth fairy left under her pillow!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

a couple things to get me started.

Whew. It's no secret that returning to blogland after a long vacation is not my forte! I feel like there's so much to share but no place to start...so I'll start back today--since we've been home for over a week--with a few favorite things from today! (And I'll be back tomorrow too!)
I'm wearing this shirt today and it's my new favorite go-to comfy shirt. It's SO soft...and the perfect color green for me. (Not so spearmint-y as the picture looks though.) Have I mentioned that I love Boden???

The kiddos and I bought cherries today. I love fresh cherries. There is something SO summery to me about cherries. Makes me think of picnic tables and checkered tablecloths and America. :) Oh yeah, and my old Mary Engelbreit "life is just a chair of bowlies" t-shirt from high school!

I picked these up today at the store too...and they're pretty good. A great idea (2 points for those WW people!) although I want to try some other flavors, as these are a tad too sweet (Can you believe it?!) for me. And to be honest, I picked them up first because I really loved the package design--love those two fonts together!

Oh. Did I mention the cherries? I don't like maraschino cherries. And cherry pie filling just doesn't thrill me. Brent's not a huge cherry pie fan, so I'm always curious as to what to do with the fresh cherries once I get them and we have our fill of fresh ones. I found this cobbler recipe a few years ago, and it was a hit with everyone! Hope you enjoy it too!

Cherry Cobbler

5 cups pitted cherries (3 lb.)
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp. sugar
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
1.5 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
6 Tbsp. cold butter, cut in 1/2 " pieces
1 Tbsp. sugar mixed with 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Use a 9 inch pie dish with 2 3/4 inch high sides.
2. In a large bowl, stir together cherries, lemon juice, and sugar until well-mixed. Pour into pie dish. Bake 10 minutes.
3. In a small bowl, stir together buttermilk an dvanilla. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the flat beater attachment, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add butter. Beat on low speed until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Slowly pour in buttermilk mixture and continue to beat just until combined.
4. Drop dough by heaping spoonfuls onto fruit, spacing evenly. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over dough.
5. Bake until fruit is bubbling and topping browned, about 30-35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool 15 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
 

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