Tuesday Morning Chat

As August whirs right along, I thought I'd stop in with a little chat.

See that big smile on my girl's face? She bought a car this past weekend! I don't know who is happier, Kati or me. Her old car (a hand me down from her Dad) was on its last leg (wheel?), and we prayed every time she left the driveway. Whew! Thank the Lord for watching over her...and for these new wheels!

Ron had birthday celebration #2 on Sunday. The meal featured homemade oyster fritters, a special request of the birthday boy. Three of the eleven people enjoyed them. (Have you ever eaten an oyster fritter?) More of us enjoyed the Boston Cream Pie that we had for dessert! 

Singing ♫ Happy Birthday ♫ to Papa (Dad) 

Speaking of birthdays (actually we are "speaking of birthdays" all month long!), Owen's birthday is this week. He had his party with his sister Maddie over a week ago, but tomorrow he is officially 8!

Happy birthday, Owen!!

August isn't just for birthdays; there are three anniversaries too! (As an aside, we have asked Kati and Bekah to consider choosing a different month when their time comes.) 

Brian and Kristin celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary yesterday. It seems like yesterday, and it seems like forever! Kristin shared some sweet pictures and memories on her blog. Happy anniversary, you two!

I had a great idea, so I thought.

I bought all of my August cards (ten of them, I think) at the end of July and put them in my card organizer. That way, I wouldn't forget to buy a card and have to scramble at the last minute. Genius, right? Piece of cake (so to speak). 

Nope. 

I have discovered that even if I have all of the cards selected, purchased, and filed, I still have to remember to give them! And that, my friends, is the flaw in my system. I am "a good forgetter" as Bekah once told me. Sigh...

Although I love to organize and be organized, it is an uphill struggle. I continue to work through my summer list. We have checked off all of the fun stuff except for one thing (which we plan to do this week!), but I'm still chipping away at all of those organizing tasks. 

The floorcloth, however, is nearly done! I'll be doing a post about it next week: detailing the process, sharing what I learned, and, of course, showing the finished project! 

Let's chat! What's left on your summer list? What things have you accomplished?

Birthday Stories

Last night, Ron's mom joined us as we celebrated Ron's birthday with a simple dinner. As we ate, she told us the story of the day that he was born.

"I had already started supper," she said, "but I wondered whether I ought to go to the hospital instead." She had called her friend Catherine, who came over to watch the other children (Ron was their fifth child) and to finish preparing the meal. Ron was born around 5:30 pm. (I think she made the right choice by going ahead to the hospital!) 

After dinner, Mom told us another part of the story. (Let me insert here that at the time of Ron's birth, his parents had a son, age 10, and daughters, ages 8, 6, and 4.)

"Your daddy was so excited to have another boy - it had been 10 years - that he went out and bought birth announcements." Dad had written them out and mailed them himself, something that they didn't usually do. In his excitement, he mailed one of those announcements to his brother and sister-in-law, and forgot to fill out the information inside! But since the outside of the card had said, "It's a boy," they put two and two together and they shared many laughs about that blank announcement over the years!

We loved hearing these stories, and something struck me as I listened. In our day, having even a 3rd child sometimes raises eyebrows. ("But you already have a boy and a girl." "Don't you know what causes that?" and so on and so on...)  But what a blessing to be child #5 and to be wanted and welcomed with such enthusiasm and love. 

Savoring Summer {Week 10 ~ Stuffed Peppers}

The garden is rather small this year: six tomato plants and six bell pepper plants. But those twelve plants are "going gangbusters" as I remarked on a friend's Facebook discussion about gardening. Kristin saw my comment and replied, "Ben needs to come live with you as you are mass producing his two favorite veggies." 

It's true. My 5-year-old grandson adores tomatoes and peppers and will eat them like candy! (He can put a serious dent in a veggie tray. ~smile~)

So we brought Ben a "party favor" when we went to Maddie and Owen's birthday party last Sunday...a bag of his favorite veggies! 

The next morning, Ben asked his mama if he could have a pepper for breakfast. Then he said, "You really need to figure out how to make these and stuff them with meat." 

I told you last year that I will always associate blueberries with Eve and "the best day of her life." Now I will associate green peppers with Ben. 

This week's recipe is a tribute to Ben: peppers stuffed with meat! 

STUFFED PEPPERS

6 medium green peppers

1 pound lean ground beef

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon salt

dash of pepper

1 1-pound can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

* * *

Cut off tops of 6 medium green peppers; remove seeds and membranes.

Cook ground beef and onion until meat is lightly browned. Season with salt and pepper.

Add diced tomatoes, water, rice, and Worcestershire sauce. 

Cover and simmer until rice is tender, about 18 minutes.

Stir in shredded cheese.

Stuff peppers with the beef mixture; stand upright in a baking dish.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

NOTES: 

• If you prefer your peppers soft, precook them in boiling water for about 5 minutes before you stuff them. I like them crisp, so I omit this step. 
• I like to add a little extra cheese to the top before baking.
• If you are short on peppers (we were, as we had used 24 peppers to make pepper relish and then had taken Ben his "party favors"), you can place the meat/rice mixture (we call it the "stuffed") into a greased baking dish, and lay pepper strips over the top. This week, I combined the two techniques and my dish really looked like this:

Kind of a hybrid.

What's your favorite summer vegetable? 

Looking for a recipe from another week?
Week 1: Marinade for Chicken
Week 2: Black Bean Salad
Week 3: Cappuccino Pops
Week 4: Roasted Sausage and Vegetable Pasta
Week 5: Easy-Freezy Vanilla Ice Cream
Week 6: Farm Fresh Corn Chowder
Week 7: Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Week 8: Jill's Dill Dip
Week 9: Apricot Upside-Down Cake

Or last year?

Fruit on Tuesday Week 10: Bostonian Blueberry Muffins

Or two years ago?

Salad on Tuesday Week 10: Caprese Salad

Chain Reaction

This afternoon, I put new sheets on my bed. 

A bed freshly made with new sheets inspired me to say (not really meaning today), "I am so wanting to try the living room rug up in my bedroom."

Bekah (who loves changing things around and, in fact, had flipped her duvet and changed up some things in her room just this morning) said, "Oh, let's do it!" and then begged and pleaded until she wore me down and I consented. 

She and I rolled up the living room rug and moved it into the kitchen.

Kati vacuumed the living room floor. 

Kati and I lugged the rug upstairs, nearly knocking a few things off the wall in the process. 

Bekah moved the red checked chair out of the way. 

Kati and Bekah rolled out the rug...

...and then we shifted and turned it until it was right. 

We talked about where we were going to put our printer which has been housed in the computer cabinet that Ron is going to makeover to house The Grandmother Dishes so that they can be released from their storage boxes. 

We found a place in the bottom of the built-in bookshelves in the living room, but first we'd have to find a new place for the household bill organizer. 

We could find a place for the household finance folders if we could clean out the homeschool filing cabinet. 

Kati and I set about cleaning out the homeschool filing cabinet, because I told her that I felt emotionally able to do it today. (Tomorrow I may have a meltdown.) 

Some of the files went to the trash. Some went to the laundry room floor (the location of the homeschool filing cabinet...which is no longer the homeschool filing cabinet), to be sorted and transferred to the filing cabinet in the corner of my bedroom. 

Kati had to go to work and I had to prepare dinner so we took a break. 

After dinner, Ron and I cleaned out and organized the household finance folders and put them in the filing cabinet (which is no longer a homeschool filing cabinet) in the laundry room. 

Now, as I get ready for bed, the living room floor is bare, there are piles all over the house, and the vacuum cleaner is still out. 

But we have new sheets to sleep on! 

Sunday Snapshots: Birthday Birthday!

Counting the years, and counting our blessings...

Yesterday afternoon, we went to Kristin and Brian's house to celebrate Maddie's 10th birthday and Owen's 8th. With their birthdays a little over two weeks apart, they often celebrate together.

For Maddie, it was a milestone birthday, and it was her year to get ten birthday gifts from Papa and Gran and a special treasure box made by her Papa. (We began this tradition when her older brother Gavin turned 10 and we plan to continue it with each grandchild.)

He has a couple of years to wait for his milestone 10th birthday, but Owen had a great day too. His mama provided me with this Owen quote: "I got so many great gifts! Like my chips!" ("Chips" referred to the mini can of Pringles sour cream and onion potato chips that was tucked into his birthday bag! ~smile~) 

One of Owen's "great gifts" was a kit for making balloon animals, given to him by Gammy (my mom, Owen's great-grandmother). In fact, it became quite the party hit! 

The accompanying book had instructions for lots of animals, but some of them were beyond the ability of the novice balloon animal creators. Owen decided he wanted to make the balloon snake, but requested his mama's help. Before long, he had left the snake project to pump up more balloons and create balloon hats and balloon fish...leaving Kristin and Kati to puzzle over that instruction book and twist and figure and confer and redo and twist some more, trying to get that balloon to look like a snake! At one point, Owen reported to one of his siblings, "I'm making a snake." Kristin looked over at me, her face full of consternation, as she and Kati were practically pulling their hair out trying to make said snake! 

The balloon fun caught on and the younger kids got out some regular balloons to play with. Balloons were everywhere! And the boys kept giving Brian balloons to pump (the kit came with a small pump) so that they could create more designs. 

Before everyone left, the birthday kids had a photo session with each group: 1) with their parents and siblings, 2) with Gammy, 3) with Grandma, Brian's mom, and 4) with Gran and Papa and their aunts.

{Gathering the Moments} July

"The Little Beach"

Moving Day for my sister...

Making an omelet with bounty from the garden.

Birthday girls: Eve, 7, and Maddie, 10
(Thanks to Sarah for photos from Maine!)

I am ever amazed at how quickly the calendar turns from one page to another. On and on we go, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year...those pages just keep turning and the things that happened just a short time ago really happened twenty years ago and it all goes so fast. 

Some months hold the end of a chapter. Some, the beginning of another chapter. Sometimes there are both. Often the endings and the beginnings are nearly imperceptible, and unless we're watching closely and minding the moments, we can miss them. 

* * *

July is the month that my sister moved. The month that Bekah learned to make an omelet. The month that Kati had another health crisis (although "crisis" is too strong a word because all is well, but can't things like that give pause for thought?!). 

July is the month that we ate summer food...seafood, garden produce (ours and others'). 

July is the month that Kati hosted a game party for friends. The month that we all hosted the five nearby grands for the summer sleepover.

July is the month that I got some more pieces of The Grandmother Dishes, and we washed up the cups and saucers and drank apricot tea on a Sunday evening. The month that I thought about my aunt, Lynn, and the fact that last July no one even knew that she was sick and The Grandmother Dishes were hers. And now they're mine (but I'd rather have Lynn). 

July is the month that we took time. For a trip to The Little Beach. For meandering drives, iced coffees in hand. For dinner with new(ish) friends. For an afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese's because Bekah said that she was not too old for it yet. For a trip to a water park with the two oldest grands. For smelling (and watering) the flowers, and for noticing their changes as the days pass.

July is the month that two grandgirlies grew another year older. The month that Eve learned to swim. The month that Maddie moved into double digits.

* * *

And so, I am minding the moments...and savoring them.

One never knows just when a chapter will begin or end...

Again this month, I am inviting you to join me in "gathering the moments." You may wish to share two or three photos, or several collages, or bunches of photos...with words, or without words. The link-up below will be a gathering place for us to reflect and share and connect. (The link-up will stay open for a week, so you have plenty of time to gather.)

Savoring Summer {Week 9 ~ Apricot Upside-Down Cake}

I have recently discovered food blogger, Jean, who writes and shares tempting recipes at Delightful Repast. I am intrigued by her Magical Meyer Lemon Bars which are made with whole lemons and intend to test the magic. I also plan to make her Potato-Leek Soup when cold weather returns.

But then, last week, there was this.

"This" was Apricot Upside-Down Cake and when I saw it, I knew I wanted to try it. I love upside-down cakes (there's just something about that buttery sweet topping), and this one was especially beautiful.

I made it on Monday evening and served it, topped with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream, with our evening coffee and another episode of All Creatures Great and Small.  The touch of almond flavoring, that buttery topping I was expecting, the sweet apricots...all combined to make a beautifully elegant and delicious dessert, one that my family raved about. (And when I say raved, I mean raved! As in, "This is really good." And "I love this!" And "What are the flavors in this cake?" And even later that night, "Mom, that cake was really good!")

Yep, they raved.

For this recipe, I am going to send you over to Delightful Repast. It's worth the trip click of the mouse. I will simply note that I did not have any almond flour, so I just increased my all-purpose flour by that much. I did use the almond flavoring, however, and I wouldn't make this cake without it! 

For Jean's recipe, click below...

~ Apricot Upside-Down Cake ~

Do you like to read food blogs? Do you like to try new things in your kitchen?

Looking for a recipe from another week?
Week 1: Marinade for Chicken
Week 2: Black Bean Salad
Week 3: Cappuccino Pops
Week 4: Roasted Sausage and Vegetable Pasta
Week 5: Easy-Freezy Vanilla Ice Cream
Week 6: Farm Fresh Corn Chowder
Week 7: Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Week 8: Jill's Dill Dip

Or last year?

Fruit on Tuesday Week 9: Peach Chutney

Or two years ago?

Salad on Tuesday Week 9: Greek Pasta Salad

Monday Potpourri

No Sunday Snapshots this week. Why? Because my camera didn't leave its case all weekend. We had a relaxing, no obligations weekend which included a Friday night invitation to dinner with friends, some puttering around the house, catching up on chores, take-out dinner on Saturday, lunch out on Sunday, a little birthday shopping, a couple of Netflix movies...just what we needed! 

I can't believe that we are at the end of July already! I was saying to a friend this morning that I have not hit the "I CAN'T STAND ANOTHER STINKING DAY OF SUMMER" yet...which is pretty good for me as summer is my least favorite season (by far) and I hate humidity and sweat. (I am so sorry, summer-loving readers!) But so far, so good this year. 

We've been chipping away at our summer plans. 

We have done many of the fun things on our list, partly because my sister moved further away this past month, so we packed a lot of our outings into the early part of the summer so we could do them together. 

I have made new curtains for the dining room...so there will be no more running up and down the stairs to festoon the windows! 

After looking at a gazillion floor cloth ideas, I decided to order a kit for my first attempt. I am hoping to get started on it later in the week. 

The organizing/cleaning stuff...we have made a dent, but it's slow going. Same with planning for the upcoming school year. Too much fun stuff, I guess. Hopefully, we'll make some progress between all of the August birthdays and anniversaries. 

But before all of the August birthdays, there are the July birthdays...our niece Amy, our granddaughter Eve...and today, our granddaughter Maddie turns 10! 

Happy birthday, sweet girl!!

I almost forgot!! It's time for me to gather the moments again, and I'll have that here on Thursday. As I have done for the first six months of this year, I will be providing a place for you to link your own "moments." (More details ~here~.)

I will be hosting this gathering each month through December. Feel free to join in!

One of Those...

Yes, it's been one of those weeks. 

(We all have them, right?)

It was not a week of fun and games, or summer outings, or of getting things checked off the list. I'll spare you all of the gory details, but let's just say that we're happy to see it end!  

I came across these words this week, penned by Charles Spurgeon so many years ago, and I believe them to be absolutely true...

May we continue to believe the God who hung the stars in their places, who holds the universe in His hands, and who is working everything for the good of His children. 

Savoring Summer {Week 8 ~ Jill's Dill Dip}

Raw, crisp veggies are a perfect summer snack or side dish. And a simple, yummy dip can make them even more enticing! 

My friend Jill (she has shared some wonderful recipes with us here at Thinking About Home) brought some of her garden cucumbers and a container of this dill dip on a beach outing years ago...and we've been making it ever since!

NOTES: 

• I used to have a non-onion eater in the house, so I omit the onion. Sometimes I add some onion powder. But now the child who had onion aversion likes onions, so I ought to add it!
• Summer is definitely not the only time I make this! It is an old friend. 

Do you like raw veggies? Do you dip? :)

Looking for a recipe from another week?
Week 1: Marinade for Chicken
Week 2: Black Bean Salad
Week 3: Cappuccino Pops
Week 4: Roasted Sausage and Vegetable Pasta
Week 5: Easy-Freezy Vanilla Ice Cream
Week 6: Farm Fresh Corn Chowder
Week 7: Mediterranean Pasta Salad

Or last year?

Fruit on Tuesday Week 8: Watermelon Cucumber Salad

Or two years ago?

Salad on Tuesday Week 8: Broccoli Salad à l'Orange