Quotable Owen

Owen is one cute and funny kid. He never fails to amuse me with his facial expressions, silly dances, and hilarious conversations.

One of his favorite playtime activities is dressing-up. Usually considered a "girly" thing, Owen does it, but in all boy fashion. His ability to create costumes out of found objects around the house is really amazing. For a 3-year old, he is remarkably creative. Some of the costumes he's made: Puss in Boots, Peter Pan, Captian Hook/Pirate, Cowboy, Football Guy, Yoda... list list goes on. He's a new character every week!

Kids say the darndest things? Owen does!

Recently he was asked, "Are you scared of the dark?"

"No", Owen replied, "not when the lights are on."

On a particularly demanding afternoon, I complained to Owen that he was making me sad because he was being mean to me. He had to explain it to me. In a rather condescending tone he said, "Mom, I am not being mean. I just want you to get me the things that I want when I want them." Oh, silly Mom...

He is so much fun! Every day is full of cute, sweet, silly, tender, crazy moments. Sometimes he wears me out with his constant "I'm hungries" and "Can I have my Star Wars toys?" then "Can I have my cars box?" (the one toy at a time rule combined with his short attention span keeps me hopping). But his unique personality that brings so much joy to our lives makes it all worth it.

Toothless Wonder

Emeline has lost her first top front tooth! It's been slightly loose for a long, long time - since she was three...

...that was when she, while monkeying around, bumped her mouth on the edge of the kitchen table and cracked her tooth pretty hard. She bruised her tooth and it has been a little wiggly since that day, but otherwise healthy.

Fast forward to December 2009: Emeline's upper six-year molars come in. Since she was already clued into the process from her previous lost teeth, she knew that she was due for a loose tooth on the top. Immediately, the search for the best candidate began.

I don't know if it was destined to be that damaged tooth or if it's because it was already a bit loose, but that's the tooth that Emeline focused her attention on. Pushing and pulling on it with her tongue and finger until the point of madness. Finally, she decided it had to come out.

Problem. It was so not ready to come out. That didn't matter to her. She enlisted Daddy in her attempts to loosen and pull that tiny little pearl out. I'll spare you the gory details.

As you can tell from the photo, she was no worse for wear and she was really pleased with the results.

The BEST Apple Crisp

OK so this is a little late...

We made our annual trip to Huber Farm back in October during the kids' fall break. It was a little colder than we would have liked, but we were determined to get our yearly haul of apples, pumpkins, and wine! So we bundled up and braved the wind, rain, and outright cold.

We picked Winesap, Golden Delicious, and Fuji apples. The Fuji were perfect eatin' apples... sweet and tart, crisp and juicy. The Golden Delicious were like a dessert. If Jolly Ranger could mimic that flavor... now that would be a good apple candy. And finally, Winesap... we'd picked them before and while their tart flavor lends them to baking they aren't very juicy and make rather dry pies, crisp, etc. But we had to have some cooking apples because that's the sweetest part of fall... the bevy of baking.

I've never met a baked apple concoction that I didn't like. Mom's apple pie... delicious! Baked apples on pancakes... a delight! Apple cake... apple cookies... apple sauce.... apple butter... it's all food for my soul. Mom made apple dumplins this year for the first time and I was in heaven! How could I have gone 33 years and not had apple dumplins? (Mom and I had a talk about that!)

But there's one apple dessert that I felt could be improved upon. Apple crisp. It never made me swoon the way other apple treats had. Don't get me wrong... I would never turn down apple crisp... come to think of it, no one in their right mind should ever turn down ANY dessert, but it lacked a little something. With a basketful of apples, a serious craving for something sweet, and a weenie roast to attend... it was the perfect time to find just the right recipe.

And that I did! Here it is:

12 cups of peeled, cored, sliced apples (tart cooking apples taste best)
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup water (depending on type of apples you use - a dry apple will need the full amount, a juicy apple will need less)

Place the apples in a deep 9x13 baking dish. Combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sprinkle evenly over the apples. Pour the water evenly over the apples. Set aside while you prepare the topping.

2 cups of regular oats
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter (yes, two sticks!)

Combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and soda. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumby. If desired, you can add 1-1/2 cups of chopped pecans to the topping. Crumble over the apples.

Bake at 350 about 45 minutes, until the topping is browned and crispy.

The topping is truly crisp; almost hard. But that was part of the problem with other apple crisps... the topping just faded away and had lousy texture. The apples are sweet, but not too sweet and there's good balance. I eat it without ice cream, but some wouldn't have it any other way. Fresh whipped cream would be good too.

Here's some more pictures of the fun we had, in spite of the cold...

I Love This: Green Earl Grey

I am on a never-ending quest to add healthy things to my life. And I love when I can do something healthy, but doesn't feel like I am moving mountains.

•30-minutes of walking (and talking with Ben).

•Skipping Starbucks.

•A dropper-full of berry flavored B-Complex under my tongue.

•And my personal favorite... therapeutic massage.

I read a lot of health focused magazines for ideas; the easy ones that is. And I read "green tea" over and over again. Problem is I don't really care for green tea. It's a little, well, green tasting. So I was excited to find Twinings Green Earl Grey Tea at of all places... Big Lots. Traditional Earl Grey tea is my tea of choice so I thought the flavors would mask the greeniness of Green Tea.

It does!

I love this tea!

Be warned: Green Tea does contain caffeine and a day of "being healthy" could leave you with heart palpitations and a late, late night. You can "decaffeinate" your tea yourself by steeping the tea for 30 seconds, pouring off the water, and re-steeping the tea. However, you may loose the healthy you were after in the first place. I just take any "extra" energy I get from caffeine as another bonus to tea drinking.

The Tooth and Nothing But The Tooth!

Emeline has lost her first tooth and she is so excited!

It all started about a month ago when she complained about having a blister in her mouth. Upon investigating, we discovered that it wasn't a blister, but rather her six-year molars coming in on the bottom. She was thrilled about this amazing coincidence... six-years old, six-year molars! Later we found out that the emergence of these teeth was the prerequisite to losing baby teeth.

And right on cue... that first baby tooth came loose. An ever-so-slight shift that she first noticed last Saturday came a long way in just one week. By this Saturday it was downright wiggly! Breathing in made it wobble around. While showing off just how loose her loose tooth was it plopped right out into her palm.

So much for all her planning to tie string to it and yank it out with a slamming door. Or her plan to hang on to it... even if just by a thread... for school on Monday so she could get a tooth necklace from the school nurse.

She's placed it in her treasures box and it is her newest most prized possession. Funny how a lost tooth gets so much more attention and admiration than when they are doing their job in your mouth. In fact, Emeline is so impressed with this first lost tooth that she's already on the hunt for another one!

Back to School

I tried to post the summer in pictures. We did way more than got posted. Summer was really great this year!

My only complaint... and I do have one (as usual): Summer's not long enough!

Emeline and Holden went back to classes on Friday for a half day. Monday is teacher in service and Tuesday it's back to reality. Both of the kids had their reservations with back to school. Holden starts middle school (6th-8th grades). Emeline is in first grade this year; "real" school. And big brother's not there. Plus there's the bus. Holden's comes at 6:35 am... ouch! Emeline will be riding on her own this year.

But they both took day one like troopers.



Holden's bus almost passed up our stop. The bus came flying over the hill and past our driveway... only to stop short to get him. He walked on without looking back. And couldn't help but cry as he got on that big yellow box filled with teens and preteens. All on his own. I think I was just as scared as he was that day. When he got home his smile showed me how much he enjoyed it. Even though he doesn't really have any of his elementary school pals in any of his classes he seems to be eager to do back and experience this new part of growing up.


Emeline skipped the bus on the first day and I took her to class. I like to meet the person I am leaving her with rather than just ship her off to the unknown. It is total chaos at that school because I am not the only one who feels that way. In fact, more people bring their children that day than not. But we managed the parking lot... even though Emeline did suggest just going home since there was no where to park. I would have liked that myself... I am a fan of living in denial... even if I don't get to practice it often. Emeline decided by the end of the day that she really loves her new teacher, Mrs. Ferrell. She thinks her Kindergarten teacher has communicated with her new teacher so that she knows exactly what kind of girl Emeline is... hence, the PINK Playdoh on her desk. She can't wait to go back on Tuesday. Wonder if she remembered that she has to take the bus then. Probably not... she's a fan of denial too.

I still wish they were going to be home with me. August is proving to be the hottest month of the summer. Perfect for swimming at Gramma's! Guess Owen and I will get to work on our tans while they are stuck inside... learning. But I am happy they are happy with what life has handed them this 2009-2010 school year.

Let's get it started!

@ District Convention/Evansville, Indiana

Thursday night we start the weekend off right at our favorite place to dine while in Evansville... The Tin Fish. It's actually in Newburg, Indiana - an adorable little town just outside of Evansville - right on the river. The restaurant ships fresh fish and seafood in daily. The have everything... even Walleye... a rarity in these parts. Ben got oysters on the half shell and Holden was eager to try one. It wasn't his first oyster; that was in Alabama when he was about four years old. That one didn't go down as easily as this one. I guess his tastes have matured.


The kids... happy to have Granny. They'd all be on that lap at once if it was possible!


Cousin Pierce and Emeline. Best buds.


Emeline with Granny. I love her smile!


The whole gang... this doesn't happen that often. And when it does, we usually aren't all looking and smiling. But this one is pretty good... even if we aren't all looking, we all look happy. Guess 'cause we are.