Black Raspberries

We have an abundance of wild raspberries this year! Thanks in part to Mark mowing them off a couple years ago. Eating them plain and making pie are our favorites. Look below for a simple Raspberry pie recipe I use.

Picture perfect berries!

Ethan showing off his picking.

The kids and I near the coalmine picking raspberries.

Raspberry Pie

3/4 C. sugar

3 T. cornstarch

1/8 tsp. salt

5 C. fresh red or black raspberries

2 T. butter

pastry pie crust for a 9-inch pie top and bottom

sugar for top of pie crust.

In a small bowl place sugar, cornstarch and salt and mix. Gently mix in berries and let set of few minutes. Pour into pie crust and dot small pieces of butter on the berries. Cover with other crust, flute the edge and put a few slits in the top. Bake at 400 for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar after 30 minutes. May need to cover the crust edge with tin foil.

Kitty, Kitty

Kitty's have to be one of the most entertaining things for kids. We currently have 7 kittens 3 bigger ones and 4 smaller ones plus 4 adults. Yes, this is WAY to many! However the kids love to cuddle and love them. Elijah is still learning to be gentle. :)

Amelia is loving her kitty.

Ethan always picks the orange ones.

"Do you want to hold her?"

I wonder what's in here?

Another litter of kitties!

Swimming in the Pond

The summer heat is upon us and what better way to enjoy it then with a cool dip in the pond! The kids love to swim with their cousins and enjoy challenging each other to jump off the "diving board" or do other tricks. Because the sun was setting I couldn't get all the pictures I wanted. Look for more about how brave they are later in the summer.

Amelia and Rachel jumping off the dock rails.

Elijah hanging out on the flooded dock.

Elijah's favorite part of the evening seemed to be playing with Uncle Kurt's wet socks.

Riding with Uncle BJ

Grandma's cabin overlooking the pond is coming along nicely!

Elijah's Birthday Party

Elijah turned one year old yesterday! Last night we had a little party for him with family. Thanks everyone for helping make Elijah's birthday special! Here are several pictures from the evening.

Elijah and his cake.

He wasn't very interested in opening gifts. Plenty of big kids were willing to help him out opening his presents.

Elijah loves his 4-wheeler!

Elijah and most of his cousins.

His train cake.

A BIG dump truck that Ethan enjoys pushing Elijah in.

Taking a rest.

Playing with his cousin Logan.

Sidewalk Paint

If you need an fun and easy way to entertain your kids try making sidewalk paint. Simply mix equal parts of cornstarch and water with a little food coloring and your set. I used 1/4 C. water to 1/4 cup cornstarch. Mix it well, it starts off as a big clump but will soon mix smooth. I also recommend soft bristle paint brushes, they just worked better. Warning: This project is for children over the age of 3 unless you don't mind a messy baby. :)

Kids working on their sidewalk art.

Elijah messing up Amelia's area.

For some reason he liked to lick it up. I know that's so gross!

Dirty, Dirty!!!

Another dirty boy!

Fishin with the family

This weekend the kids and I met up with my family at mom and dad's pond for a little fishing. We showed up late so Elijah could nap, but we still caught a few.

Katie, Alex and me going for the big one!

Amelia caught a big catfish with a little help from Ang.

Grandpa showing her the fish.

Hanging out with cousin Logan on the blanket.

Ethan and his fish.

Big cats or tiny bluegills seemed to be the only ones biting, at least while I was there.

Catfish are seriously ugly, why would anyone want to eat something so ugly!

Taxi service to the house was provided by Dad.

The Goose

We've had our goose for a month now and he continues to grow and change daily. He is now bigger than the chickens and getting his feathers. I let him run around the yard during the day. He likes to hang out in front of the house by the deck and beside the bushes. If we go outside he happily follows us around the yard. The other day the kids and I took the Ranger to the coalmine to watch Mark in the excavator and within a couple minutes here comes Goose. He actually followed us down the field path nearly 500 feet from our yard. We loaded him up and he road around with us in the Ranger through the coalmine as we followed Mark. He isn't much for swimming yet but actually floats now; before he would dive up and down and never actually float. At night I still lock him up in Mark's shop in a large dog box. The chickens don't like him or I would put him with them. Here are a couple pictures showing his growth.

Hanging out in the front yard.

These WERE peas in my garden. NOT COOL GOOSE!!! The spinach didn't look much better.

Ethan posing with goose in front of the house. Notice the green pot with flowers behind them. It should have a nice tall grass about two feet tall and lots of pink flowers but the goose ate them too.

Ethan who's that nibbling on your ear?

To give you some comparison this is a picture of the goose the day we got him 5/7/09. He has really grown!

He absolutely LOVES to listen to WHO talk radio. He will sit and listen for as long as we let him. Unfortunately Mark no longer allows this do to excessive pooping.

I'm not sure what he's trying to do. Don't worry buddy we don't have Steve Deace locked in there. :)

My Garden

I enjoy gardening a lot, I don't have a big area but it's about all I can handle with three small kids. It looks like a lot of green leaves now but in a few weeks it will be bursting with blooms from all the daylily's!

This is the north side of my garden were I have flowers.

This is the south side were I have vegetables.

The peony section, which is only pretty for a week.

School Field Day

Last Thursday Ethan had a very fun day at school. They started the day off by doing a service project with the 5th graders. The project they choose to do was planting pots full of flowers and delivering them to the neighbors of the school. In the afternoon they had a friendly competition between the chapel groups. Ethan was part of the orange group this year. The groups are made of a kids from all grade levels.

Ethan running with a wet sponge trying to fill a bucket first.

The orange group.

Walking with an egg on a spoon.

Elijah getting some attention. :)