Strawberry Pie

Strawberry Pie II

Yields: 8 servings
"Half of this pie 's strawberries are arranged in a baked pastry shell, and the other half are crushed and cooked up with sugar, water and cornstarch until thick and bubbly. This lovely glaze is then poured over the whole berries in the pastry shell. Chill this pie for several hours and serve it with mounds of whipped cream."
INGREDIENTS:
1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
1 quart fresh strawberries
1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Arrange half of strawberries in baked pastry shell. Mash remaining berries and combine with sugar in a medium saucepan. Place saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
2.
In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water. Gradually stir cornstarch mixture into boiling strawberry mixture. Reduce heat and simmer mixture until thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour mixture over berries in pastry shell. Chill for several hours before serving. In a small bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. Serve each slice of pie with a dollop of whipped cream.

Hydro Farm

OMG! What a nice day. We took a Cub Scout field trip with our pack to Hydro Fresh Farms, in other words a working hydroponics farm. I just love going there. This time the kids got a real tour of it, including how the stackers are made, a stacker making contest, a lesson on bugs (good and bad) and how they treat them, a tour of their veggies and strawberries, the most unusual strawberry contest (Ethan won a gatorade) and a word scrabble. Then we got to pick strawberries, GLORIOUS strawberries... Incase you didn't catch that we got to pick YUMMY STRAWBERRIES. :) Anyhow we came home for a few minutes and then got ready to go to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. I have since made 2 BEAUTIFUL Strawberry Pies... Which we will enjoy tomorrow. YUMMO!

Megan's Girl Scout Investure

Well Megan is now "officially" a Daisy Girl Scout. We went to her ceremony that was with a Brownie troop that her leader leads. So cute they were. Unfortantely true to form Miss Megan had her own agenda and it was always necessarily what the other girls were doing. She wasn't being bad, just not participating. Anyway, she is still very excited and Mommy had some sewing to do. :)

Apple Bread

OMG!!! This is sooooo yummy and screams fall....

2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
3 eggs (beaten)
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups peeled and chopped apples (I used green)
1 cup chopped nuts (didn't have them this time, still good)

1. Beat together sugar, oil, and eggs.
2. Sift together flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda
3. Add to liquid mixture.
4. Add vanilla, apples, and nuts to mixture.
5. Put into two loaf pans sprayed with Pam.
6. Sprinkle tops with sugar. (forgot to do this)
7. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until done. (I baked at 350 for 25 minutes and got 16 mini loaves)

Some Fall Pictures of the Kiddos

Pumpkin Patch

A few new pics from the Pumpkin Patch when we visited my Dad today.

3 Months Ago Today......

I hate to be a downer. Most of the time I am ok and don't dwell on the loss of my mom. But lately it has been hitting me harder. I get to the point that I have anger about things that mostly likely are not worth my efforts (like friends and family who let her passing go and didn't even bother to contact Kim or I). I don't want to lose the pain because that means she is further away. But most of all I just miss her and the holidays are just going to be so painful without her. I wish I had some better pictures of her on my computer... but most of the better ones are on the broken hard drive I haven't had luck getting fixed. So here are a couple of our more recent memories... Love ya to Moon and Back Momma!!!

Meuw & Some Soccer Pics....

The two littles started soccer 2 weeks ago and Ryan starts practice friday. And of course here is lil Red sleeping in my laundry. Lil Stinker!

Not to much new here. Kids are doing fine at school. Ryan's tummy aches appear to be taming down. Megan hasn't had any notes home from school. And Ethan is finally starting to work harder on homework and such. YAH! We had a nice supper with Dennis on sunday, the kids had really been missing him (and Buddy ;) ) We are knee deep in Scouts and Soccer now too. I will try to upload some pictures soon.

A couple pictures from our weekend away. We got to see our friends John and Jenn, as well as my dad and stepmom. It was a very nice weekend that we definately need to repeat.

Small Update....

The kids are settling into school nicely. There biggest beef is that they don't have recess. I am going to approach the school about this, but I have been forewarned by my teacher friends this is a losing battle. :(
Ryan is coping so much better and I am really proud of him for that. Last week we had to take him to the dr because he had an ear infection and his glands were swellend. We also went for Soccer Tryouts this past friday and we should get a coach assignment this week. We found out his old coach (2 seasons) is going to competitive and even tried to talk Rob into the competitive team but honestly we just don't have the time. On a down note I am having listening issues with him, I know some of it is his age... but some of it is well just defiance. I want to figure a constructive way to work with him on this as he is such a loving child.
Ethan is blending well with his classroom and really just excelling. He is just so much different than Ry. I mean he can be stubborn (MAN can he be stubborn) and defiant, but its just different. He started soccer wednesday and has Megan asst coach from 2 seasons ago and he is awesome! Ethan is just not showing as much enthiusasm for Soccer as he used to so Rob and I decided to offer him some more options next time around, but the season is just begining so we shall see. Ethan starts scouts tuesday night! YAH!
Megan is my little firecracker!! Lets see we already got a note in her agenda saying she needs to listen better, a progress report saying she needs help with listening and a phone call from the teacher saying she is not doing what she is supposed. Now she is not being mean to the other children, she just simply marches to her own band... LOL!! Of course I keep reminding her that she really needs to listen to her teacher, that its not fair for her to follow the rules. She still loves going to school. She started soccer on wednesday also and the person who stepped after Rob stepped up is an awesome coach. We are still waiting to hear from Girl Scouts which she is so excited about after being a part of the boys for almost 3 years now.

I am still adjusting to the whole working thing plus everything I used to do and most days I am pretty much flat worn out. But the extra money helps, so I will keep plugging along. I do enjoy the job, it just is hard to get all the other stuff done in so much less time. Rob is busy busy with the business and we are working on getting more advertisement going. YAH! Well I need to go pack lunches and back packs and hit the sack.

A couple pictures from our weekend away. We got to see our friends John and Jenn, as well as my dad and stepmom. It was a very nice weekend that we definately need to repeat.

Watch this MOM!!!!

Yep, baby girl learned how to ride her bike without training wheels tonight!!! She is just getting so darn big! Well they all are, but this blog post is all about the girl !!! She decided a couple days ago she wanted to learn and when Rob came in he took her out to the road showed her what to do and she was off on her own. She was even doing pretty good with turns by the end of the night. Of course we didn't even walk back in the house till almost 8 pm... normally they are feed, showered and almost ready for bed by then. It was a lovely evening outside no matter how you slice it! :) Here is a link to the little video if you would like to peak: http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b146/alwaysdreamin/August%202007/?action=view&current=MVI_1893.flv

Update on School & a JOB for Chrissy

Well the rest of the week went along much better! Thankfully I think they are all adjusting and thriving well with their new school. They have all made some new friends and found some old friends. I guess the next adjustment is that I got a job working part time (about 25 hours a week) I tried to get ahold of the gal today to be sure tuesday was ok to start, but she is so swamped she is not even picking up the phones. So I am just going to take intiative and show up at 9 am for work ;) Its working in an insurance office as a secretary. I am very excited to go back to work after almost 9 1/2 years of being a Stay at home mom and working from home with our businesss. We have sports coming up and scouts, so I am hoping I can handle all the new duties. It will definately help us, since we are basically paying a double mortgage till we sell this house. Anyway, I will update later. I need to go finish laundry and pack the kids lunch so I can hit the sack.

3rd Day DRAMA... (upset stomachs, headaches and bloody noses)

Well I actually got Ryan to sleep last night and he set out happy and ready for school. Well 8:20 the phone rings and its Ryan's teacher. She says she has him in the office and he is unconsolable (sp?). I talked with her that he is having alot of anxiety about the school change and she asked me to talk to him and just get him calmed down. Well Rob and I took turns talking to him for almost 30 minutes. He was literally hyperventilating on the phone. UGH!!! He went through the whole gammit of problems (tummy ache, headache, naseau) trying to get himself home because he basically is not wanting to allow himself to adjust. Finally after trying to reason with him I said bottom line... we can do this everyday but the same outcome will happen, you will STILL be in that classroom. So please take a deep breath and go have a good day. I am hanging up now. He took a big deep breath and told me he loved me and I told him I loved him and to please have a great day. Soooo after all that about 40 minutes later the school calls and the clinic has Ethan with a headache and tummy ache but no temp (do you see where this is going? ) UGH! I explain about Ryan and that yes Ethan has been having headaches, but he had Motrin in the am and should be ok. So she she sent him (reluctantly) back to class. Well about an hour later again a call from the clinic..... Megan had a bloody nose. Well she wouldn't tell her what happened. Well I get on the phone and she is just bawling and asking me to please come get her. She tells me that a boy stuck a straw up her nose. So I ask for the nurse and told her I would come hug her in a minute. I get there and hug and love on her, she clearly still had blood around her nostril. I spoke with the asst principle who was supposed to talk to the teacher and said girl. I told him that I just wanted to make sure it didn't happen again. I also spoke to him about Ryan and he is going to have a counsler speak to him. So now you see that I am emotionally tapped!!!

Can you believe this all in one day? By the way they all got off the bus happy campers... I pray tomorrow is an easier day. Can you imagine if I had a job and had to deal with this all?

Notice Ry's Unhappy face.
And the girl is happy to FINALLY rid the bus.


Well the kids have made it through Day 2 or at least 2 out of three of them did.





The first day went well, it was crazy in the afternoon picking them up and I decided that I would just try the bus. Megan loved her first day and told me "I made 2 new best friends mom, Isabella and another girl I don't know the name" The boys were quieter but seemed ok with their first day. I was able to get my dvd's sorted and put away in the dvd albums yesterday and some odds and ends. Also I took Ethan to the dr, she is pretty sure that Ethan's headaches are stress/tension related and perhaps he is not dealing so well with my Mom's death. Which is not shocking since I am still having a tough time with it.





So they rode the bus this am and that went off without a hitch. The bus driver seems very nice and she only had half a load (not bad). Well today I got a call at 8:45 am that Ryan was in the clinic with a headache and a 99.5 temp. UGH! So off I went up there to get him and ran 2 errands. The boy is a bag of nerves and I know that is all that is wrong with him. This is a new school and he was basically crying that he wanted to go back to his old school with his friends. Poor kid... The bus came a bit late but again Megan had a great day and loved riding the bus. And Ethan made some new friends and one of them rides the bus. YAH! So now if I can just get Ryan on board and happy we'll be good. Tommorrow if I don't have the big boy home I plan to go run to Target and see if they have pants in my size (w/ a birthday giftcard), go to lunch with a friend and HOPEFULLY drop off a resume and interview for a reception job at an insurance office.

Last night my oldest was all nerves and couldn't sleep at all. He had pulled this a little two nights before, but went back to sleep. Last night he was up and down all night. Rob and I took the kids and walked them to their classes. Holy Smokes, you should have seen all the parents. We walked Ryan to class first only to be told that they couldn't go in in the room for like another 10 minutes or so, so I went ahead and walked Ethan to his classroom while Rob stayed with Ryan. I stood with Ethan for a few and then figured I better get Megan to her class so she wouldn't be tardy. He seemed to be doing well and just sorta sat with his classmates in the hall. They had all the kinders in the lunchroom, so we found her teacher and talked a bit and then all of a sudden we noticed that a little girl (who we had saw at kinder orientation) was in her class that she went to prek with. This is pretty cool since her prek was in another city, about 20 minutes south. So they are quite happy that they are together and Mom and I were too. Rob went and stayed with Ethan till he went in and then we left together. I got home and after having the kids home all summer its just a wierd silence here. Now I am a bag of nerves hoping they have a good day and are enjoying their new school. I am picking them up today and we have a drs appt for Ethan (re: his headaches).

Summer is officially almost done...

Check out the rain coming in, it was crazy!

Aunt Kimmy with Megaboo
Ryan chattering with some locals ;)
Ethan goofing off in the water. :)

Wow! I can't get over that in 2 days my kids will all be in one school on the same schedule. YIKS! We have enjoyed the last week with Aunt Kimmy visiting, dinner w/ Pappy, a visit from Lisa and the girls, and a visit from Penny. We had open house on friday night at the kids new school and all the kids seem to have very nice teachers. I am excited for them and hope that they have a great year! I am still trying to figure out what to do with myself. I have worked on my resume and sent it to the school district unfortantely one of the jobs I applied for (at the kids school) had 500 applicants.. YIKS! So, I will continue on in hopes of finding something that I can work while the kids are in school and be there when they are not.

We also have been doing some allergist visits over the past two weeks. Megan only got food testing and if she has a bad fall I may take her back to get her enviromental allergies done. But she is not allergic to peanuts which I am oh so thankful for. She does has some minor allergies to some stuff she eats on a regular basis without any reaction, so the dr said go ahead. The pineapple is processed that she was tested for and we know that she has reactions to the fresh. I don't want to challenge that, so she is going to kinder with and epi pen jr incase. She also came back with a low immune system and a low tetanus count. So I had to take her to the dr to get a shot yesterday and I will take her back for more bloodwork in 6 weeks to see if she is holding the tetanus. Ryan came back with very little all together, his worst allergy is Dog Dander. The doctor is taking him off all allergy meds and we will see how he does. I have noticed that he appears to be outgrowing most of his allergies. Ethan on the other hand has LOADS of outside allergies and some food allergies. Again the food is mostly stuff he eats frequently with no reaction so the dr said not to stop him. Because of his outside allergies the dr would like to put him on shots but we will try meds a bit longer to see if he copes with the fall transition. He has been having headaches so he ordered a CT scan and we went in today for results which are good. He did have swelled glands so they cultured and will have results on monday. The headaches we are a bit puzzled over, since they are NOT sinus headaches he is thinking they could possibly be Migraines. We have an appointment with the Ped on monday. Such fun, but I am very thankful that one of my children seems to be growing out of his yukky allergies.

Well enjoy the pictures I am uploading and I will likely have more for you monday or tuesday after the kids start school. :)

Just wanted to say quickly that everyone who sent us cards and/or flowers for my mom's memorial, we really appreciate it. We heard some beautiful things from many friends from mom's past and even some family. It truly means so much to us to see how much Mom was cared and loved for. I was amazed at how much love came from my dad's families. I couldn't have made it through with my Aunt & Uncle that was here, Kimmy, Dennis, and hubby and kids. I also have some wonderful friends who checked on me often and I appreciate and love you all for it!

Well our trip to Alabama, was nice. We stopped on saturday and had lunch with my dad and step mom. It was nice to see them both and the kids enjoyed seeing them. Then we buzzed on down the road and got in around 6pm. I started unpacking and the boys headed out to do some fishing. Sunday am we set up for Rob's cousin's suprise party, while the kids played at the beach (the clubhouse is right on the "beach"). We got a little jet skiing in and went to the party. After the party his cousins came back to the trailor and we went for a walk on a beachy area that is normally covered with water. Rob took the kids out on the jetski and tubing. Ethan unfortantely went flying in the air, flipped over and came face first to the lake. He was ok, but mad because a) his face hurt and b) he lost his loose tooth. LOL!!! The tooth fairy rewarded him handsomely with $5 after Mom wrote a letter. Anyway the next day we did a bit of fishing (we did some on sunday too), went to see Grandma at the nursing home who was actually a little talkative and then came back jet skiid, grilled and went for ice cream. We also for the most part got everything ready to go for the next day. Got up at 7 am (8 am our time) and took off by 8 am (9am our time). We stopped through Ocala which was quite eventful since it evoked a lot of memories of my mom. We also found out we are upside down on our land :( And then we were one car away from an almost head on car accident. Holy Smokeys!!! That was super scary. Anyhow, we finished our trip home sorta somber after the "almost accident" Its funny because your life really does flash in front of you.
Today has been sort of a laid back day. But I did apply for a job through the school system and I am working on a couple other positions within the school district. Other than that not much else to report. Just getting the kids ready for school that starts in 18 days!!! Tommorrow is an Allergy Testing Day for all three kidlets... Wish Rob and I luck, its gonna stink because they all know what they are in store for.

Not to much to share. Have been in thought a lot and trying to work through my grief. Also the kids keep me or should I say us very busy. Anyway, I have spent today trying to get my house in order and tomorrow will be a packing day. We are going to alabama for a short trip. Which we look forward to every summer. From what I am being told the lake is about 8 foot (or maybe its more now) lower than the normal. So we will likely be a little more limited on our activities, but it will be great to see the family anyhow. If I don't check back in tomorrow I will be back around wednesday and be prepared to see lots of pictures! :)

Not much to post. Things have been very up and down this direction, today was a particularly low day. Nothing I can specifically put my finger on, just a feeling of low energy or inspiration. Anyway, this week I will be preparing for our quick dash up to Alabama. It will be nice to see Rob's family, I wish the visit was longer but we just don't have the time this year. Anyway, just checking in to say hi and for all those who have supported us through this very rough time I thank you!

My Mom's remains came back today. My dad came by and showed me the urn which immediately made me cry because well she would have loved it in life. It was so perfect it was beyond words. He also made some beautiful Memorial Cards that had beautiful poems in them, which I immediately teared up and cried over. And then last but not least he pulled out two jewelry cases which he said was for Kim and I. When I opened mine I started bawling. It is a beautiful tear drop which as some of my mom's ashes in it. Its soooo beautiful and I can wear it close to my heart which is exactly where my mom is always.

Happy Birthday Momma... You got Airmail

Well Kim, Rob, the kids and I went to the beach and we sent a huge ballon w/ a banner that said I LOVE GRANDMA! I am sure she is in possesion of it by now. We also wrote some messages on the ballon. When we were walking back we had a guy ask us if we set the balloon off for someone to which I said yes for my Mom and said awee!!! I told him that she had passed last sunday and today was her birthday and he said how sweet that way. Anyway, we had Dennis and Kim at dinner tonight a little belated birthday wishes for Dennis and of course we sang for Mom.