Happy Veteran's Day - do you have today off? For your sake, I hope so - especially if you're a veteran, though I know that's not necessarily how it works, sadly. It should. Either way...thank you!

Actually, as I write this, it's Friday afternoon. I just finished my grocery list and I've got the weekend ahead. Did I mention it's also sunny and dry here, too...?!

A PNW November miracle!

We have some not so fun things happening over at our house currently. We discovered that an area of our house has dry rot and so we're in the middle of assessing the situation - to see how bad it really is and then making a game plan around fixing it. It's a bit of a mess over here so I'm actually taking the week a little more lightly with my meals. I recipe tested A LOT last week and this week, I just kind of need a break, especially with all the construction going on.

Did I mention that in the midst of our dry rot situation, we were also in the middle of painting our kitchen cabinets!? We had that one going before the dry rot was discovered, and you kind of have to finish once you start... So we're knee deep in projects here. One of our choosing and one of circumstance. 

It happens right? [Read more...]

Hey, hey it's November already - cue ALL the Christmas music and decorations!

Believe it or not, after all the hum bug I gave about summer leaving a few months ago and me not being ready for fall and winter...I'm actually quite in the mood for the holidays...which means, I could decorate right now, if Josh let me, haha! How are you feeling about it being November?

I've got a lot of recipes I'm testing this week for you for the holidays, cookbook reviews, etc. Almost every night this week I've got a recipe planned out to make, test, and photograph - except for Tuesday. On Tuesday, we've decided that we're making it a leftover night. I've got two different chilis in the fridge, macaroni and cheese, pizza, and leftover roast which I recently tested (and plan on making again soon). I should mention that "leftover night" was Grace's idea and God bless her for it. Tuesdays are our Awana nights, so dinners on those evenings are always pretty simple. I was going to make sloppy Joe's, but since we're doing leftovers, I'll keep the recipe in the post for you anyways. [Read more...]

Well, here it is. The last week of October. After this, get ready because it's going to be everything "holiday" related until Christmas is over. I don't think it's a secret, but just in case you didn't already know...I'm not ready.

This past weekend, Josh and Christian spent most of Saturday helping some friends move, while the girls and I stayed home and I cooked basically all day. We had a Mexican-themed potluck planned for church on Sunday, so I made my Tres Leches Cake (which was a hit and I didn't have any leftovers, yay!) and I made a Chile Relleno Bake - something soft for Grace since she had an oral surgery procedure last week. And I would love to share this recipe, but sadly it's a friend's recipe and I don't have permission to share...so...I may have to make my own version to share with you. 

In addition to Mexican food for the church potluck, I also did some recipe testing for ya guys. Recipe testing does not involve pictures. I prefer to make the recipe a few times just to make sure it turns out already. But I can't wait to make a new roast recipe, a potato side-dish recipe (that would be great for the holidays), and a new fall dessert - that could actually work all year long and is great for meal ministry. I'll be making it all again soon to share with you. [Read more...]

I hope you all had a great weekend! We got totally rained out - not even joking. Which is only making me happier that we chose last weekend to go to the pumpkin patch! I hear that this week isn't supposed to be as bad in terms of rain. We're actually supposed to have some dry days this week, which would be quite nice. 

Hey, speaking of this week, if you guys don't mind praying, Grace is having a small oral surgery on Thursday to help bring a tooth up that is trapped. She is not looking forward to it and I know she would appreciate everyone's prayers. She is nervous and not looking forward to this surgery at all. [Read more...]

Oh, how I love long weekends. I know we've got some issues with the legacy of Christopher Columbus, but I do enjoy the extra day with my family in the middle of October!

We had such a great weekend, you guys! We went to the pumpkin patch - where Ruby found the only red pumpkin, naturally! One of my friends was in town so she joined us for a Blazer game (her first live sports game ever...and they lost...) and she stayed with us for the night and came to church and lunch the next day. It was so good to see her. The rest of the weekend, we just relaxed (watched the new Lion King movie with the kids - so amazing) and made a good breakfast at home. It was just what we needed after two weeks of especially busy schedules. [Read more...]

What a week, what a week, what a very long week last week seemed to be. Haha, that sounded a bit Dr. Seuss! But in all honesty, last week felt very long to me and it had several challenging hours associated with it. Nothing bad, but I really had to be on top of my game and I'm feeling like the first part of this week is going to be a similar story. 

But that's okay. Only makes us stronger, and we are better equipped to deal with the days and weeks in front of us. Speaking of what is in front of us, we started school last week and I think it's going to be a really good year. We're taking a somewhat more relaxed approach to our homeschooling year for the younger kids, and I think it will be good for them and me. [Read more...]