Spoons aren't just for eating

In my Versatile Blogger post last week, I mentioned that I collect spoons. They are currently displayed in my dining room, and since I missed the dining room day on Roomspiration, I thought I'd give you a peak into my {simple-nothing-too-exciting} dining room! :)


See that cute girl eating her breakfast? I like her. :)

I think I've said before that we have an open floor plan, so the kitchen, dining room, and living room are all one big room. In this picture, I'm standing in the kitchen, and the living room is to the right.

One of the things that first attracted me to this house was the yellow walls in the kitchen & dining room. With the wood (laminate) floors, I thought it looked so warm and cheerful, and yellow is one of my favorite colors! (can ya tell? based on the colors of this blog?? :) Our dining table was given to me when I was in high school -- I used it as a computer desk in my bedroom for a number of years. And the chairs... Given to us when we cleaned out Rocky's grandma's storage unit. New chairs are on our Christmas list every year.

There used to be a huge painting in the middle of that wall, the previous owners must not have liked it enough to take it with them... Well it wasn't our favorite either. It was just of a door and walkway, in colors we didn't like. So it came down. In it's place, last Christmas I put together this picture collage of our first year with Abby.


I uploaded the photos to Shutterfly and created a 20x30 poster, got a cheap poster frame, and actually hung it on the wall in wrapping paper and a bow on Christmas Eve. :) I hope to make a new collage every year, and keep the previous ones, so we can see how Abby grows!

Now about the spoons! My collection first started when I was 4 years old and my mom, dad, and I took a vacation across the western U.S. They bought me a collectors spoon in each state we visited.


For YEARS (read: until I was 25) the spoons stayed in their boxes, often in a shoe box. I'd take them out every so often and look at them, arrange them by name or in chronological order of when I got them ('cause I'm like that...). I spent the summer between my sophomore and junior years of college doing youth ministry in Boulder Colorado. On the drive there and back, I managed to add 5 more spoons to my collection of 12. Then I was hooked, and starting looking for spoons every new place I went.


Our honeymoon in Ohio, attractions in Chicago and St. Louis, and eventually our trip to Europe in the summer of 2008. Rocky got me a spoon rack for Christmas one of those years, and another one the year after since I'd quickly filled up the first!

Rocky's mom passed away from cancer in the summer of 2004, and his dad remarried 6 years later. Last summer the family did some hard-core cleaning at his house. Linda had also collected spoons, and even though they were all places I had never been, I gladly took them to add to my collection.

So my collection jumped from 38 to 75. And since each rack only holds 24 spoons...


I'm asking for another rack for Christmas this year. :) There are some REALLY neat spoons that need a home...



What about you? Do you collect anything? Anything common, anything different?

Versatile Bloggers

ver·sa·tile - adj - embracing a variety of subjects, fields, or skills; turning with ease from one thing to another.

I was super excited to check my comments and discover that Elizabeth over at One Mom's Moxie had chosen me as a recipient for the Versatile Blogger Award! How fun!! Thank you thank you thank you Elizabeth!!!

Here are the official rules for this award:

• Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.


• Tell your readers seven (7) things about yourself.


• Give this award to fifteen (15) recently discovered bloggers.


• Contact those bloggers and let them in on the exciting news.

Ok then, seven things about me... Beware: some of these are pretty random... :)

1. I love to read. When I was little I spent a lot of time alone (my brother is 6 1/2 years younger than me) and I read A LOT of books. My favorite day of the week was Fridays when I could go to the library and get the next 2-3 books in whatever series I happened to be in.


2. I collect spoons. Not eating spoons, but souvenir spoons. It started when I was 4 and went on a trip out west with my mom & dad. They bought me a collector's spoon in every state we visited. I now try and look for a spoon every time we go somewhere new. I have 38 of my own, and 22 from my late mother-in-law, who also collected spoons.


3. I took a sheep management class in college. I got to do things like castrate lambs and spend the night in the sheep barn just off campus watching for baby lambs to be born. (I went to Michigan State University :)


4. I was a drum major in my high school marching band. It was an interesting role for me, as I was (and still am) quite the introverted person. But I decided to go for it, and was one of 3 drum majors both my junior and senior years. Marching band is probably the only thing I miss about high school.


5. Speaking of high school, I do have one regret: that I never was involved in the school plays. A lot of my friends were in them, but between my introverted personality, and my super-busy schedule with 4H and church, I never tried out. I now go and watch a number of high school dramas each year (I know a lot of school-age kids, plus Rocky runs lights & sound for the school he teaches at), and I find myself wishing I'd done it. There just aren't the opportunities for that kind of thing now.


6. Have you ever taken those personality quizzes that rank you based on 4 animals -- lion, otter, beaver, golden retriever? I am very much a beaver. VERY much. A few points in the lion and golden retriever categories, none in the otter. Lots in the beaver category.


7. I have never met an ice cream I didn't like. Seriously. I like any flavor I've ever tried. It doesn't help me lose my pregnancy weight though...

Ok enough about me! Time to pick some winners! In alphabetical order:

The Better Mom -- "We are just moms who desire to be “better” even though we are busy. We believe God has placed a high-calling on our lives as we raise children who will impact the world, take care of our homes, love our husbands, and ultimately honor God with our lives. We would love to have you share in our journey! Mission Statement: Our mission is to build God-honoring homes by inspiring moms to be better moms through sharing life and learning together."

Cedar Hill Ranch -- "Cedar Hill Ranch is about creating a relaxed lifestyle and home that is also graceful and beautiful, a place that embraces family and friends in a comfortable way while making them feel special and celebrated. I think of French life being about family and friends in a beautiful setting, sitting around a outdoor table with good food and good conversation. I write about how to create a home that embraces your family and guests with interior design ideas, DIY projects, antiques, vintage dishes, great recipes, entertaining, and anything else I find interesting or helpful."

Coolest Family on the Block -- "I like to blog about our family and the traditions we're creating together. I love to help you find creative ways to have fun and make memories with your family. I'm also trying to go green, organic, vegetarian, and possibly crazy. Join me won't you?"

Eat What You've Got -- "Helping you control your budget by inspiring you to use the items you have on-hand. Good old-fashioned "making do with what you've got."

Growing Home -- "We're passionate about God's design for the family! We try to encourage ladies in God's design by sharing thoughts on Christian living, homeschooling, homemaking, and biblical femininity. We offer frugal tips, recipes, menu plans, gardening ideas, and a growing resource of wonderful blogs and literature that we've come to love and appreciate along the way."

I Can Teach My Child -- "You are your child’s first teacher! This site is dedicated to parents–mother and fathers, stay-at-home parents and working parents. Spend a few minutes each day investing in your child–and a lifetime of rewards they will reap! Within this site, you will find activities for young children, resources for parents, some crafts, and an occasional parenting tip or two!"

Joy Ever After -- "Inspiring joy in the relationships and role of daughters of the King." Posts about marriage, children, devotions, and the home.

My Heart's Desire -- "I am a homeschooling mom, a caretaker for my disabled mother, and a child of God. My purpose is to remember all the blessings God has given me. Through my writing I want to share ideas, experiences, and support to others. I hope you will gain insight and strength from my posts. As homeschooling parents we are the front line to raising future leaders, and the next generation of productive members of this wonderful world God created for us."

Natural Living -- "Simple Cuisine, Elegant Flavors and Real Food."

The Peaceful Mom -- "The Peaceful Mom is a blog dedicated to helping women everywhere gain peace and fulfillment through better organization, focused priorities and purposeful living."

Raising the Barrs -- "We do some pretty normal stuff like watching our favorite movies over and over again, and taking walks in the evenings when the weather is nice. We also do some (ok, a lot of) not-quite-so-normal stuff like co-sleeping, eating traditional foods, family cloth (including cloth diapers), extended breastfeeding, natural family planning, and living frugally on one income. There are some down right weird things that we do too. You’ll mostly be spared those. :) This blog is our place to share about the things that we are passionate about and the things that we are learning."

Romance on a Dime -- "Sharing adventures in healthy cooking, money saving, and DIY-ing"

A Slice of Smith Life -- "I am a homeschool mom of 4 whose one of many passions is creating and decorating birthday cakes for my "cupcakes". "A Slice of Smith Life" is also a way for me to document other areas of our family's life that are important to us. I hope you enjoy your visit here!"

Sunshine Sentiments -- "It seemed as though everywhere I looked I saw mostly bad news. It began to make me grumpy, sad, depressed, upset and unsettled (kind of sounds like a bad dwarf casting call from Snow White, doesn't it?) Then I noticed how often I was beginning to expect bad news. My glass was being reconfigured -- more half-empty than half-full. The lenses through which I view the world were turning gray. Sunshine Sentiments is my attempt to remind myself about all the positive, inspirational, encouraging things around me -- to let a little light in."

Sweep. Sew. Stir. -- "Currently, I struggle with keeping the house clean and organized, as many of us do. But my goal is to perfect a variety of homemaking skills. I’ll be tackling new projects all the time and sharing my successes and failures along the way. You’ll find articles containing inspirational pictures (because we all need a little motivation), cleaning and organizing tips and methods, delicious recipes, cooking techniques, and decorating ideas. Plus, you’ll get to see me battle with learning new skills such as sewing, crocheting, meal planning, and more. It’s bound to be both frustrating and fun!"

I hope you can find some great new reading material from these blogs! They are all part of MY Google Reader! :)

Mmmm applesauce...

'Tis that time of year! Fall is in full swing here in Michigan, and after today where temps might touch 80* one more time, it's back to sweatshirt weather. Yay!

Yesterday I had a real desire (I'm NOT calling it a craving because it might start some pregnancy rumors...) for some homemade applesauce. I actually love it frozen -- I grew up getting a container from the freezer, microwaving it for a few seconds, then scraping the chunk of apple-ice with a spoon. Yum!

I saw a few blogs and a few people on Facebook mention crockpot applesauce, and I really wanted to give it a try. Problem? No apples in this house. So I put out a plea on Facebook:


But had no takers. So in the evening after Rocky got home I had to go grocery shopping anyway, and I picked up two bags of apples (3 lb bags for $2 each). This morning after breakfast I took my apple slicer and a knife and got to work. I only did one of the bags, I wanted to see how long it would take and how much it would make and how it would taste. Put the slow cooker on low, added a 1/4 cup of water, a dash of cinnamon, and a little brown sugar, and 3 hours later my house smelled AMAZING. I mashed it up, took some out to cool for Abby's lunch, and took a bite myself. Wowsers! I don't think I'm ever going to eat store-bought again... As soon as it's cooled to room temperature I'm putting most of it in freezer containers!

Then I gave some to Abby... and she promptly spit it out. It wasn't too hot, I'd just tried it. Maybe too tart? Too chunky? I don't know. What a punk. Way to hurt my feelings.

Do you make your own applesauce?

 

 

Musical Mondays (belated): My Next Thirty Years

Today's Musical Monday post is somewhat purposefully belated... It's my hubby's birthday today, and I wanted to share this song in honor of him. :) I love you Rocky! Your next 30 years will be the best years of your life!!



I think I’ll take a moment, celebrate my age
The ending of an era and the turning of a page
Now it’s time to focus in on where I go from here
Lord have mercy on my next thirty years

Hey my next thirty years I’m gonna have some fun
Try to forget about all the crazy things I’ve done
Maybe now I’ve conquered all my adolescent fears
And I’ll do it better in my next thirty years

My next thirty years I’m gonna settle all the scores
Cry a little less, laugh a little more
Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear
Figure out just what I’m doing here
In my next thirty years

Oh my next thirty years, I’m gonna watch my weight
Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late
Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers
Maybe I’ll remember my next thirty years

My next thirty years will be the best years of my life
Raise a little family and hang out with my wife
Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear
Make up for lost time here, in my next thirty years
In my next thirty years

Waffles: an easy, on-the-go food

We frequently have mornings where I let Abby sleep in as long as I dare, then get her up and dressed and in the car within 10 minutes. This doesn't leave much time for breakfast! As the most important meal of the day, including for little ones, she needs to eat something. Enter "Oh Boy Waffles!"

This recipe came from my husband's family. The best part is that it makes A LOT of waffles, so I will always make a full batch and whatever we don't eat fresh get frozen. And when it's time to rush out of the house in the morning (or for an afternoon snack!), a frozen waffle is Abby's best friend.

Oh Boy Waffles 2 1/2 cups flour (I will often use wheat flour for at least 1 cup) 4 tsp baking powder 3/4 tsp salt 1 1/2 Tb sugar 2 eggs - beaten 2 1/4 cups milk 1/2 cup oil Sift together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients and add all at once to dry. Beat only until moistened. Bake in waffle maker according to maker's instructions. Makes 16-20 waffles

Now here is where I tell you how I cheat in this recipe. I use my 6-cup glass measuring bowl (this is the only recipe I use that big thing for...), add the dry ingredients, then the wet ingredients. I don't use two separate bowls. I'm THAT against doing no more dishes than I have to...


Because this bowl has a spout, I can just pour the batter directly onto the waffle maker. No need to dirty another scooper. :) I'm thinking in a few years we'll need to invest in (or ask for Christmas) a larger waffle maker -- it takes a loooooong time to cook all of the waffles with this thing:


And I inevitably make a mess... At least by doing a full, big batch all at once I only need to clean the waffle maker once in a while...


Abby loves waffles. Now that she's just starting to talk, I love asking her "do you want a waffle?!" And she points at the freezer and says "affa". :)

(she has added another tooth on the bottom since this picture was taken. :)

Have a great week!

Book Talk Thursday: A Mud Pie for Mother

A Mud Pie for Mother by Scott Beck is one of the books we received last spring from the Imagination Library. It sat on the shelf for awhile, but once Abby discovered it, it quickly became a new favorite! It's one of the first books she's actually searched for on the shelf, then taken it and plopped in my lap for me to read to her. So cute!

It tells the story of a little pig who needs a gift for his mother's birthday. He visits other farm animals, who all give an excuse why the pig shouldn't take the things he sees. So he gets sad that he can't find a gift for mother pig's birthday. But it has a happy ending. :)

The pictures are very simple and there are only a couple of sentences per page. It's a great chance to teach Abby animal sounds as the little pig visits a bee, cow, chicken...

I think there was one day when Abby had me read it five times in a row...

A very fun, little-known book! 

I want to know You more

"We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. Whoever says 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." --1 John 2:3-6

Whew! Quite a few if-then statements here, all basically saying the same thing.

If we obey his commands and walk as Jesus did, then we have truly come to know him and God's love is complete in us.

If we don't obey, then we are liars and hypocrites.

Yikes!

[It's not salvation at stake, just our everyday life of trying to know him more.]

Author Brennan Manning has said, "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." I wrote about this idea a little bit a few months ago. I can't change the way other people walk. But I can change myself.

My Life Application Study Bible has this note: "To 'walk as Jesus did' or living as Christ did doesn't mean choosing 12 disciples, performing great miracles, and being crucified. We cannot merely copy Christ's life -- much of what Jesus did had to do with his identity as God's Son, the fulfillment of his special role in dying for sin, and the cultural context of the first-century Roman world. To walk today as Christ did we must obey his teachings and follow his example of complete obedience to God and loving service to people."

Our GEMS theme song for this year is "I Want to Know You More." We're going to be teaching the girls how to "Get Wisdom" from the book of Proverbs. This should be the desire of ALL of our hearts. Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.  What will your walk look like today?

   

Musical Mondays: Just Another Day in Paradise

This has always been one of those "feel-good" songs for me. Some days life just sucks. Everything seems to go wrong. But I look at Rocky and Abby and realize I wouldn't trade it for anything...




The kids screaming, phone ringing
Dog barking at the mailman bringing
That stack of bills - overdue
Good morning baby, how are you?
Got a half hour, quick shower
Take a drink of milk but the milk's gone sour
My funny face makes you laugh
Twist the top on and I put it back
There goes the washing machine
Baby, don't kick it.
I promise I'll fix it
Long about a million other things

Well, it's ok, it's so nice
It's just another day in paradise
Well, there's no place that
I'd rather be
Well, it's two hearts
And one dream
I wouldn't trade it for anything
And I ask the Lord every night
For just another day in paradise

Friday, you're late
Guess we'll never make our dinner date
At the restaurant you start to cry
Baby, we'll just improvise
Well, plan B looks like
Dominoes' pizza in the candle light
Then we'll tiptoe to our room
Make a little love that's overdue
But somebody had a bad dream
Mama and daddy
Can me and my teddy
Come in to sleep in between?

Yeah it's ok, it's so nice.
It's just another day in paradise.
Well, there's no place that
I'd rather be
Well, it's two hearts
And one dream
I wouldn't trade it for anything
And I ask the Lord every night
For just another day in paradise


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Musical Mondays -- Pick a song, post the song, tell why you love the song!

Girls and their stuff

I've decided I want to let Abby's hair grow out rather than giving her bangs. Once she gets older, if we think she'll look better with bangs, we'll cut it, but in the meantime it's all staying put. Which means she's in this stage:

 
Not long enough to tuck behind her ears. It doesn't seem to bother her, but it does bug me... Luckily we were given lots of hair clips (and have bought a few too)



I do have to readjust it several times a day, but it's worth it. So of course she has lots of colors -- she's a girl, her accessories have to coordinate with her outfit! ;) Up until this morning, here is where they all were kept:


Her "accessory drawer", as I like to call it... Shoes, socks, hats, hair bows... But do you realize how difficult it can be to find a specific bow to wear during the Sunday morning rush-around-we're-late-for-church? So down to the sewing room I went. Found a ribbon. And a thumbtack.


(Yes, she does have a blue and yellow clip. No, it's NOT for U of M. I can't help it that the school my husband teaches at has the same school colors as my alma mater's arch-rival...)

Tada! I just tacked it on the wall next to the door and changing table, where we get her dressed in the morning.


Just enough out-of-reach. :) Why didn't I do this a year ago?!

On another note, I've got an idea in my head for what to finally do with that big blank blue wall... Just gotta get some poster putty... Hopefully I'll make it happen and post the results by the end of the week!! :)

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Today's edition of Roomspiration is all about Closets and Nooks. Go check out the link party at The Blooming Hydrangea for some really creative ideas! I wish we had space for a really nice closet or a reading nook!!

The Saturday 7: September 24-30

1. Abby decided her 6th tooth was going to be a molar. She now has 2 top and 3 bottom incisors, and the bottom right first molar starting to poke through. I think that's what's been making her miserable all week.
2. She has been SO fussy and clingy!! I can't get ANYTHING done because she freaks out as soon as I set her down!! (ok she doesn't do it all the time, but most of the time...)
3. She was sick last weekend. Threw up on Saturday evening, and during the night the next two nights, and had diarrhea pretty bad on Sunday-Monday. On Monday all she wanted to do was cuddle. Which I was fine with. We read lots of books and watched some Baby Einstein. She didn't eat much of anything. Just yesterday she finally got her appetite back and holy cow! She'll almost eat more than me the last few meals!
4. It's October, which means baseball playoffs! I don't mind watching baseball throughout the year, but I'm not one of those die-hard fans that knows the ins and outs of their team. But now that the Tigers have been on a great streak, I'm actually wanting to watch their games. Here's to hoping for the World Series!
5. It's October, which means the heart of fall!! Pumpkins, apple cider, sweatshirts, candles... Mmmm... :)
6. Keeping a budget is tough. September was the first month that we've truly sat down and planned out how much we were going to spend in each category, and try to stick to it. I went over our initial grocery budget (but we readjusted things toward the end of the month so it turned out ok) and realized I hadn't bought any meat all month except a family pack of hamburger. :( Grrr how do I make this work?! And we have like NO money for anything extra like a movie or clothes or birthday gifts... Sigh. I guess we'll just keep plugging away...
7. Abby learned a new animal noise this week. What does a chicken say? Cluck cluck cluck! Soooooo cute. :)

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The Saturday 7: Post seven things that happened to you this week. Just a quick summary. Things you might not necessarily write a whole blog post about. Idea taken from Sadie's Lovin' Life with Lucy.