Grape Pie?

Yessir, grape pie!

A local farm was having a Grape Escape weekend with you-pick grapes, so we headed down this morning.  None of us has ever picked grapes, so we figured it's worth a try, right?

It's super easy - a paring knife and a peck sized box and we were on our way.  The farm had concord and Niagara grapes, and we picked both, though mostly the concords.  They both have seeds in them, but were delicious.

We got home and it hit me that i had close to 10 lbs of grapes and no idea what to do with them.  I used my Google-Fu and whala - the first entry was Grape Pie!

isn't that handy?  Fits right into my Great Pie Experiment!  And we have a big dinner tomorrow, so I could go ahead and make 2 pies to take - one with Concord, and one Concord and Niagara mixed!

They look really nice - I did a double crust and crushed the top with beaten egg and sugar.  Forgot to put the butter inside the pie, but a lack of butter probably isn't the worst thing.  I halved the honey for the concord pie, the combo used sugar instead.

I tasted the overflow filling from both and they are delish!  It's very different - I'm used to either eating grapes or maybe grape jelly, but nothing else grape flavored.  And I have several more bags of frozen grapes in the freezer!  I used 5.5 cups for this recipe.

The Great Pie Experiment

So my husband loves pie.  Loves it.  And it's the only dessert he really enjoys eating - he will bypass almost any other dessert for a second helping of dinner.

And until the summer I couldn't make a pie.

Pillsbury was my go to crust and I usually only made a pumpkin pie once a year, for his birthday.  And he didn't eat the crust because he didn't like it.

So, feeling like i was perhaps lacking in the pie department I decided that if I would just commit to making 1 pie a week for a year, I would be a pie expert at the end of a year.  52 pies.  Can I do it?

Honestly, I should have started blogging about this when I started baking pies, but at the time I was busy and figured i'd catch up later...and I'd guess this is later :)

So far I've made:
Dutch Apple ( good)
Peach
Blueberry
Strawberry/ Blueberry

The crusts are getting better and the hubby is thrilled at my new venture.

So raise your fork!  It's pie time!

Summer Fun

The creek we hiked on our mini vacay

Curtis and I in Hocking Hills

Another one from Hocking Hills

Deer close to our cabin

 Blogger has updated and I'm having huge issues formatting with the change, grrrr.  Anyway, the above pics were from Curtis's and my weekend trip in the Hocking Hills - it was so beautiful!

Then last weekend Curtis and I had the chance to play some golf - the first time in 5 years (for me, he goes regularly).  Fun!

Curtis landed a gold ball IN a tree last week

Young's Dairy

 We also took the kids mini golfing - they've asked to go every day since!

Mini Golf can be a dangerous sport

 And we finished off the day the best way ever - Blizzards!  (Yes, we actually skipped the ice cream at Youngs, gasp.  I know it's the best ever, but we were there for another reason anyway and it would have ruined dinner appetites)

DQ always brings out the smiles

And family resemblance there?

The weather today is perfect and I'm enjoying some open windows so I can hear the birds singing and the breeze blowing!  I love June!

June Days!

School is out for summer and we are trying to fill some long days!  This morning we went to Brunkner Nature Center and checked out the rescue animals - the kids loved that!  We would have hiked some but the mosquitoes were out in full force and I was not prepared.  We've had fun in the sprinker on a couple occasions and lots and lots of popsicles!  So far, so good :)

Above is a picture of Lucy napping in her room - this is what she does when she wants to nap - put all her toys in her upside down playhouse and curl up.  I've found her like this more than once.  Cute!

Last Week of Preschool (sniff)

Yup, it is here.  It's been an entire year of preschool, and tomorrow is the last day.  And while at the beginning of the year I was wondering what I would do with those 7.5 hours a week while Toby was at school, I now find myself asking...

"What the heck will I do with him those extra 7.5 hours a week?"

School has been beyond good for him and I've learned the beauty of grocery shopping with only one child.  I am going to miss that all summer, for sure!  Not to mention he has a severe case of Spring Fever and his behavior has been marginal at best.

Eh, it would really help if the weather would dry out enough to really get out and play, but t-ball has been cancelled 2 weeks out of 3 so far.  Maybe we'll get lucky and be able to play tomorrow.

But I am going to be one  sad mama tomorrow at preschool pickup. 

At least they run summer camp and I already have the kids signed up for a week (yes, they did open it up for 3-5 year olds so both kids are in!  Woohoo!).  And between metroparks activities and library activities we shouldn't have a week with nothing to do...but it's still going to be a long long summer.

A Whole New Me...ahem, rather, US!

Short Hair!

Lucy's Long Hair (Before)

Long Hair (Before)

Ready to chop it off!

One last look at those long locks

And she ages a year in 5 minutes

It's really all gone!

But much cooler for summer :)

First t-ball practice!

pictures!  As you can tell, we all had haircuts in the last week - I think Lucy and I are both enjoying less weight on our heads since it's terribly hot out all of a sudden!

This was also the first t-ball practice for the year - for Lucy, it's her first team sport.  They were so stinking excited to go, and both did really well.  They had a blast and Lucy's already counting down to next Wednesday so she can go play again!

We've been spending a lot of time outside this week - and using our new picnic table for lunches and snacks!  I think it's a good thing as it's supposed to cool off again this weekend.

Last night we had a kindergarten orientation meeting for Toby...sigh.  He's definitely ready for kindy, but it breaks my heart to send him away all week like that...but it had to happen sometime I suppose.  And I know it's good for him - he will blossom at school.  But i'll miss him!

Flying pig!

Michelle running

Curtis coming in to the finish

Curtis and Michelle after finishing the 5k

There were pigs everywhere!

Lucy getting started

Toby coming (he's wearing red shorts)

We all had a great time at the Flying Pig yesterday in Cincy - ok, so were weren't running the real deal full marathon, but the 5k was awesome - 3000 runners!  I came in 749th, if that tells you anything :) - actually, given how slow I was in high school, it was pretty cool to come in faster than half the people!  Curtis had a great race and made better time than he hoped for.  We're both tired today, but it's a good tired, like we did something really awesome :)

The kids had fun at the kids races too - and both earned their medal!  We're all wearing out matching Flying Pig teeshirts today (oh yes we are!), and proud of them.  It was an awesome time, and I look forward to doing it again!

Too busy knitting to post

Really truly, I have hardly had time to even take pictures of my work.  Right nowI'm deep in the Tree of Life Afghan, which despite my cursing, I do love. It's gorgeous and the pattern goes between intensely hard and super easy.  I'm also working on Aragorn socks - have one done and have started the second but it's hibernating right now while I work on the afghan.  Finished two bunny lovies for babies for Easter...super cute but forgot to take pics.  And i'm also making an ipod sock, something I'm working up out of my head (as opposed to using a pattern).

I even cleaned out my craft room in the last couple weeks.  All I really need is a super comfy chair so I can sit and knit or sew in there (I'm thinking pampasan, but need to find a cheap used one since I don't feel like paying for new). 

EEP?

Eek, it has been such a long time since i've posted, and I really have no good reason for that.  Except that we did buy a new computer, and instead of increasing my time online, it has decreased it significantly...to the point that I check in 2-3 times a week, and that's it.  We bought it in March, and I haven't even loaded pictures to the new computer.

Yes you may call me a total slacker.

We have been up to lots, maybe that should be my excuse...we just don't sit down long enough these days to type much up.  We did have a nice Easter, and now the whole family is gearing up for a Saturday at the races...the Flying Pig races, that is!  Curtis and I are running the 5k, while the kids are running in the piglet races.  We're all pretty excited and i'll report back on Sunday to let you know how we did.

toby only has 4 more weeks or preschool - I can't believe he's already registered for kindergarten!  He is growing up so fast.  I'm working on filling up the summer with some fun plans - we're thinking of heading up to Michigan for a week, I think the kids would enjoy it.  And I already have both kids enrolled in summer camp, they'll love that!

Lucy is getting so much bigger too - she's getting those long legs that come with the transition from toddler to preschooler.  It scares me every time I look at her.  She's really been my buddy this year while Toby's been in school...though since Curtis traveled for a week in March she's been somewhat of a Daddy's girl!


Ok, I just wanted to post that I am still around and we are still doing things, just doing a bad job of keeping up on the blog.  Will try to do better.

And we ring in the new month with a cough/cold...

In other words: Same old, same old.

It wasn't until this morning that Toby woke up with the sore throat, coughing, and sneezing that make me think this is going to be a long week...cause usually when one starts it, the germies get to make the full round of visitations. I think I'm keeping him home from school today - he doesn't need to be passing this around. I wish I had known yesterday, I would have kept him home since he was around several little ones during the course of the day.

Saturday morning I went to a craft gettogether featuring Uppercase Living crafts - fun! I made 2 chalkboard placemats to keep the kids busy at the table when I'm trying to work, and decorated a little tin for Curtis to take some candy in with him to the office. He seemed a little dumbfounded at the whole "decor in the office" idea, but is willing to play along. :)

Then Saturday evening Toby had a birthday party to attend at the Englewood Fun Center - what a cute place! He loved the arcade, and the bounce houses really wore him out - so I am a fan. I will have to take both kids back sometime.

Sunday was church in the morning, church membership class in the afternoon, and then we had a Super Bowl party with our Sunday School class in the evening - of course, all of us attending have small kids, so it was more of half a Super Bowl Party, as we all left shortly after half time. Eh, what are you to do? At least Curtis got to see the end after we got home :)

And then this morning, hello germs. He's feeling fine, just acts gross. I know, what a mother I am.

Yarn Place?

This blog post - http://cfabbridesigns.com/blog/?p=6056 - inspired me, though I used beading wire and two strands of white yarn to wrap the purple around. A little flimsy, but cute!

Splish SPlash?

Both kids started swimming lessons this week - Toby's in Class 2 and Lucy's in Class 1 but since there are only 2 kids in each class, the teachers have combined them, so both kids are together in the pool.

They seem to enjoy it, although both are shivering by the time the class is over!

On Wednesday, Toby and I met friends at the rink at Riverscape. I hadn't been there before so it was fun to do something new - and on weeknights you only have to pay skate rental, so it was only $3 each for us to skate.
Toby was - ahem - not terribly talented at skating, but I think he had fun nonetheless. I KNOW he liked the Skyline hot dogs the rink serves :)

Another snowy day here - at least the roads were decent since I really needed to run to the post office this morning. And at that points we're halfway to Hobby Lobby so....the kids got to pick out a new craft project to work on. It's something that Toby spotted a long while ago and has been asking for ever since...he's really enjoying his craft time today!

Pine Cone Shawl

This was a Christmas gift for my mom, using Heart and Sole fingering weight wool/ nylon yarn. I used the Pine Cone pattern; it turned out lovely!

Flannel Pants

Sad news - My closest JoAnns went out of business this morning.
Good news: Got flannel for cheap :)

Made these "tool" pants for Toby - size 5/6. The pattern didn't go that big, so I used it as a guide and made it bigger. The hems are extra deep so as he gets taller I can let the hem out. I had just enough fabric left over to make a matching pair for his Waldorf Doll.

And Fancy Nancy pants for Lucy. Again, extra deep hems.
I have two more pieces of flannel to make more pants with...or I might wait and make shorts for summer sleeping, since they really have enough jammies for now.

Lucy wore her Fancy Nancy pants for 2 days straight after I first made them :)

A Time to Read

Not that I've been sacrificing time in the crafts department (far from it!) but I've been finding some time to read this year, and it's been fab. I haven't had time to read like this since...uh, kids.

And how, you ask. How, with kids, and crafts, and minor annoyances like laundry, cooking, and cleaning, do I have time to read?

Audiobooks.

Ok, ok, I know that these are far from a new fangled thing. I remember when our library first started getting them, and they were cassettes. But for years (um, probably decades) I've thought that I wouldn't enjoy audiobooks...I love putting my own voice, my own thoughts into each word, I love the smell of the paper, the anticipation that comes with each page turn. But then life happened, and I just haven't had time to read, much less get out and actually get my hands on books.

Last year I finally broke down and tried an audiobook...at the time I was starting up running and music, while nice, bored me. I needed something I could think about a bit more. About that time, I discovered our local library had audiobooks for download on the website.

No leaving the house. No leaving my CHAIR.

While I still appreciate the beauty of reading on my own, audiobooks have opened up a whole new world to me, one I haven't been this enamoured with since I was 11.

So far this year I've listened to "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society." I LOVED it. I made any excuse to hook up my ipod, and since I got several sets of ipod speakers for Christmas, I can listen in any room of the house. The best is in my craft room, where I can spin or weave on my new loom and listen at the same time. Pure awesomeness.

Now I'm onto "Ape House" by Sara Gruen. I loved "Water for Elephants" and the author is coming to my alma mater to speak in April, so I wanted to read some of her other work before I go. I'm really enjoying "Ape House", and best of all, have no idea how it will end, the mark of a great story, in my humble opinion.

I am still reading a little in ink and paper...right now I'm working on "Girl with a Pearl Earring," a book I bought a year ago and never made it though. I'm reading a little in the evenings when I have time.

In short, my audiobooks, my ipod, and I are a happy trio right now.

Snow Day!

They sort of waited til the last minute, but Toby's home for the day due to the snow! I'm terribly glad - the roads look terrible and I didn't want to go out at all. And bonus, Base closed early so Curtis is home too! Which makes me VERY happy since I don't have to shovel now! Woohoo!

In case you didn't know, while I think snow is very pretty to look at, I don't care to be out in it at all.

And the airport is reporting 3.9 inches of snow in the last 24 hours...and it's only 2pm and still snowing!

Pinkalicious

Working on a pair of socks for myself - the Cookie pattern from Knitty. Hope I have enough yarn to finish this sock!

Mittens

I spent the better part of December hard at work on mittens. The original plan was 2 pair, but my kids loved them so much they needed matching pairs themselves, so it morphed into 4 pair. Thankfully they are done now, so I thought I'd share!

One of THOSE days...

Yup, it's been one of THOSE days...where certain individuals (under 4 foot high) have been wont to scream, yell, hit, push, etc to get their way.

And mama is FED up.

Before dinner I told Toby he was to keep a 5 foot distance between him and his sister (and I kinda figured he didn't know what I meant, but it made me feel better to say it - apparently he does know because he listened very well).

After dinner Toby wanted to play with their new computer keyboard (it allows them to play a game on the computer without messing with the keyboard or mouse) and I said all the toys needed to be cleaned first...and so the two kids who before dinner could not even be in the same room together are now working together to clean their rooms...and getting along quite nicely.

I'm sure it won't last, but it's nice for the moment. It's these moments of peaceful existence that get me through the Other Moments.

And by the way, I am quite aware that I haven't been posting pictures...mostly because I don't sit down at the computer for more than a minute or so at a time, but in an effort to rectify that, here's one of Lucy at her birthday party - she's 3 now! 3! How can I possibly have a 3 year old and 4 year old? Or more disturbing, how can I be 30?

(Actually I came to pretty good terms with 30, so no need to convince me that it's not the end of the world - I ran a 5k on my birthday, made it through the whole thing and finished respectably)

And yes, I'm planning on trying harder to keep up on the blog this year...we won't go so far as calling it a Resolution, but more of an...Effort. My New Years Effort.

11 RAOK for 2011

Happy New Year! I'm not generally one for New Years Resolutions - as a general rule, if I feel like I ought to change something, I do it then and there, not wait for the new year. But I saw a couple threads on Rav that got me to thinking this week, and I think I will make a resolution this year -

11 RAOK (Random Acts of Knit) in 2011.

It's pretty simple. Over the course of the year, I will make 11 items and randomly gift them. But I will add a disclaimer - I've just acquired two looms, so they may not all be knit, some may be woven :)

I'm not sure what Random Act number 1 will be, but I'm turning over the possibilities in my head.

Girl Time

Toby's been in school for 4 months now, and usually while he's in school Lucy and do grocery shopping or come home and have nap time. I had these visions of us doing fun girly things while Toby was in school, but that has just not happened.

Until today.

We had a few Christmas returns to make, and as luck would have it, we'd have to go to the mall. And Toby hates the mall. The thought of going to the mall with that boy...well, I'd rather pluck my eyebrows. Not the most horrible thing in the world, but not pleasant at the same time. So I thought I might just have enough time to make it to the mall and back while he was in school today.

We dropped him off at 12:30 and left straight for the mall. Lucy had duplicates on one toy, so we returned that and she had a ball picking out a replacement. She wanted everything :) until she saw the talking Dora Backpack, and the decision was made.

As luck would have it, I also had a $5 coupon for Build a Bear from Lucy's birthday, good on any purchase. It was so quiet in there - all the kids are back in school - and we had the place to ourselves. I've been in there on the weekends and this was far from the same experience! I showed her the clothes and said she could pick an outfit for her monkey, or she could adopt a new toy - she picked an adorable brown teddy bear and loved stuffing him.

The mall was almost empty and while we didn't have time to wander, it was fun to walk through with her. She's very chatty these days and we had a good time. I had doubles on a book, so we had just enough time to run to the bookstore across the street and she was happy to talk to me while I shopped for books - her brother isn't nearly so patient. The same boy who can happily play with legos for hours canNOT stand quietly for 10 minutes while I shop. Lucy, on the other hand, was as happy as could be.

I found a book (full of patterns for handweaving, which by the way, I have come by 2 looms lately), we checked out, and ran into Starbucks for a capp for me and a cookie for her. We didn't have time to sit there and eat, but it was such a fun girl date.

We made it back to school with 5 minutes to spare and the kids were able to play on the indoor playground for a half hour before we headed home. Both kids are incredibly happy right now...Lucy that she got to have some one on one time with Mom, and Toby that he didn't have to go to the dreaded store :)

By the way, we had a lovely holiday. It's been hard to get back into the swing of things, especially since I let the whole house slide the whole week Curtis was home (he took the week off work). I'm making up for it now, but it is nice to have routine again. And I KNOW the dog is happy to see us back on our regular schedule (he hates it when he doesn't know what is going on).

I think the best thing right now is that we have nothing on the calendar this month or next. I'm sure that will change, but for the time being, it's nice to have a break. Besides, with the shelves done being built downstairs, it's time for us to organize the basement, and I'd like Curtis to have time to build my laundry room before Spring.