Nobody puts Baby in a blender !

Last weekend we visited Uncle Shaun & Auntie Katie to help Katie celebrate her graduation from Vet school. Poppi and Grandma Mar were there too! Poppi and Aiden

Ellie, Lola, and Grandma Mar, they loved that swing!
Me and my dad!

The Koehler sisters -Katie, me, & Missi (who by the way -is pregnant with Aiden's little brother or sister).

Shaun on Grill!

Uncle Shaun teaching Lola how to peel corn on the cob, let's hope she picked up some tips!

Tired girls.... it was a busy and fun day!

Lesson Learned!

A while back I blogged about the new time-out/reflection chair I painted for the girls. Well these last couple of weeks the girls have gotten a pretty good introduction to the reflection chair. The other day Lola started hitting me and her sister because she didn't get what she wanted... consequence was an immediate time out (I am really trying to nip this hitting thing in the bud) Well Lola gets the time-out concept, she just sat on the chair and cried it out with that "I'm so sorry look" on her face. The cutest of all, is that Ellie simply could not let Lola sit in time-out all on her own. She came up and sat right by Lola the entire time, she even tried to make her feel better by giving her a kiss.

Gosh-What more can a parent ask for-sisters who will be there for each other though it all!

Ellie you are such a sweet sister!

Waldorf Cuddle Doll for Emilie

Waldorf Root Child Doll for Abbie

Spectacular summer blooms

The town is filled with flowers of all types and colours. The hot
weather has really brought them all out. Little T particularly liked
the 'black' tulips - a very deep purple.

wake me when spring gets here

The older girls have been hanging out in the coop all day. No eggs this week. No eggs last week. The weather is nasty, to say the least. Rain. Hail. Wind. Cold.

Wanna come out today Wynonna?



Maybe... if you give me some cracked corn.



Sweet Nelly hasn’t left this spot for a week.

Feeling a little broody Nelly?



A little cracked corn might cheer me up.

And maybe a bowl of yogurt?

Could you put some currants on that too?

And some lettuce?

Thank you.



Did someone say corn?

You’re too little to know what that is.



These rhodies bloomed before the weather turned crappy. They’re providing a bright spot today.

Naked gardening

Little T and Little O are enjoying the nice warm weather we have had.
Here is Little O chilling out, poolside. Watering can is currently Toy
of the Month.

McDonalds and a playdate!

The girls and Bailey had a living room picnic and a play date yesterday. It was super fun to watch all of them play together! and Man did the girls love their McDonald's (they have only had fast food one other time in their life and that was just a taste... this was defiantly a treat they enjoyed. Why is it even the youngest of them can't resist a french fry?

bitter-sweet transition

So Tony and I said to each other the other day when we set this new shelving up to store the girl's toys and books, "it's not a nursery anymore it's a bedroom." Who stole our babies and gave us kids? My dad gave me some advice and suggested I take pictures of the stages of the girl's room, I am so glad I am taking his advice, this is the third transition we have made. The room first had only one crib they shared and a changing table, then two cribs and a changing table, then the changing table was out and replaced with the cute chairs and now it's a bedroom and no longer a nursery. This transition is bitter-sweet, Bitter that the girls are growing too fast and sweet because they love their new toy shelf and playing in their big girls room (look at the smile on Lola's face in the second picture).

Not quite ready to give up the rocker just yet... that might take me a while!

Daddy's Lap

Daddy's lap is prime Real Estate these days!

Cousins and Costco

The girls and Aiden are starting to have so much fun together...he's like their big brother!

We Love Costco, just not on a Saturday afternoon. I do not know what Tony and I were thinking when we ventured out to Costco last Saturday at 1:00 in the afternoon (it's like the most busy time). At first the girls loved the crazy cart ride, all the people watching, and of course the samples, but about 20 min into it the girls got just as cranky as their mom was starting to get and they were giving me multiple signs that they wanted out of this huge warehouse full of crazy people buying bulk. Needless to say we did not pick up half the stuff we needed but did end up having a bit of fun anyway. The girls did get some new PJs.... Costco has the best PJs at the lowest price!
So cute in the cart together... they did get quite a bit of attention!

a wonderful gift

Look what arrived on my front porch today...



This was inside...



I love the simplicity of the background.

I love the intricacies of Wynonna’s feathered pattern...



... and the quick brushstrokes that provide depth.



I love that it was painted in a cozy little house in the French countryside.

It was created by Bruce Anderson, who captured Wynonna perfectly!



Bruce Anderson and his wife, Alisa Rosseter are artists I met blogging. You can read about their adventures here. They did something most of us only dream about. They left already seemingly perfect lives behind in Los Angeles, California, and spent a year living, teaching, bicycling, hiking, eating, drinking wine, having fun, meeting new people, in France. The year went by oh so quickly, as you can imagine, so they’ve managed to find a way to live the dream full-time when they move back to France this winter. They’ll be providing art education to kids and teens who will travel to study with them. You can read about their plans here.

Now I’m trying to figure out how I can pass for a teenage girl.



I like Wynonna so much as an oil painting! She’s beautiful. There’s no poop to clean up. No ornery attitude to contend with. She can’t run away when I approach her. She can’t boss her coop mates around. She can’t plop herself in the middle of my potted flowers. She can’t trample through or eat my newly planted vegetable garden. No food or water needed. She’s perfect!

First Hair Cut....

Well, it's actually just a bang trim and it is much overdue. I really, really didn't want to cut bangs, but poor Ellie would always have hair in her eyes. If Lola hadn't pulled her hair clip out that held back here hair than Ellie would manage to pull it out in her own... there was really no other option to keep that hair of hers out of her eye. So I took the challenge and trimmed a 15mo old bangs on my own. Let me tell you it was no easy task (that is why the cut is not super even) forgive me Ellie.

Don't worry I did keep a lock of that hair for the scrapbook!

If Lola's beautiful locks stay as curly as they are she will not need a trim for a very long time!

St George's new advertising campaign

Check this out! See anyone you know? (2mins 33sec)

Http://www.YouTube.com/user/MySGUL#p/u/0/yOBGEAO2th0

Great Windsor Park

Spent another productive day and night in Cumberland Lodge. All in the
name of education, of course.

Apple Apple Bread Pudding & Classic Strawberry Tart

This week for Tuesday's with Dorie, Elizabeth at Cake or Death? decided on Apple Apple Bread Pudding as our treat to try. Thank you Elizabeth, I absolutely loved this delicioius bread pudding! I am a new fan of bread pudding, I used to be scared off by soggy bread and eggy custard, but have found a "formula" to adapt recipes for those of us who still think bread pudding sounds good -- but would prefer it a little more solid. When we made the Chocolate Bread Pudding for Tuesdays with Dorie I tried using 3/4 recipe of the bread and 1/2 recipe of the custard, so more bread and less custard. Now I do that with any bread puddding recipe I try, and I've been pleasantly surprised with every bread pudding that comes out of my oven.


I used homemade brioche and crock pot apple butter (made with apple sauce) for this recipe. The apple butter was great and I'd never even thought about making it on my own before this TWD pick. I do love the stuff and have fond memories of it, Mussleman's Apple Butter had been a pantry staple growing up and I loved it on bagels as a kid. Nice to know I can now make my own, and next time around, it will hopefully be with homemade apple sauce :)


Was this how the bread was supposed to be placed? Since I only used 9 ounces of bread and overlapped a little more than I should have, I didn't have enough bread to sandwich the caramelized apples, so I just put them on top, and broke up my last piece of brioche and stuffed it in around the edges.

Whoa Nellie, that's a lot of custard, and that's after halving the custard recipe!

Not to worry, it baked up perfectly! What a yummy dessert, I thought it was especially delicious with some whipped cream and grade B maple syrup, mmm. Sadly, I couldn't convince picky husband on this one, and the kids only liked the apples and picked them out, oh-well.


Last but not least a quick photo of the Quick Classic Berry Tart, picked for us to try last Tuesday by Cristine of Cooking with Cristine -- so sorry I didn't get a chance to post this last week even though I baked along. Picky husband liked it, although he did say it wasn't as good as strawberry shortcake, and the tart was a huge hit with the kids :)