Things I Never Thought I'd Hear Myself Say........

 UNTIL I HAD A BOY..............

 


 Caught in the Act.....





Busted!!!!  (For the record, the t-shirt was a gift from a very funny dear friend of  mine....ok, Mary, you've been immortalized on the blog..... lol! :-)


Ok, now that you see just a taste of what kind of cheeky wee monkey he is,  some things I never in a million years thought would come out of my mouth.........



"No, Samuel, Woody doesn't want to walk in the poop, neither does Bob!!"  (Said while trying to change a very poopy nappy....)

"Yayyyyyy!!  Sir Samuel of Poopsalot has slain the evil cricket with his sword!!" 


"Let's go through this again, I am NOT Rapunzel, nor a jungle gym, and my hair is NOT your own personal leverage system!"

"Dude, the high chair tray is NOT your own personal surf board...."


"Ewwwwww!  Oh come on Samuel, stop licking the floor!!"


"Son, everything is NOT a football......"

"Son, dancing on the table is something you save for drunken college parties that I want to know nothing about......."  (that one was said out of earshot of any of the other kids.....:-)

"Sam, ladies don't view whacking as form of affection, pretty soon your cuteness factor will wear off and they WILL whack you back.......somehow, then, I don't think you'll think is so funny...."

I could go on......raising this boy is funny, challenging (he's full into the serious temper tantrum stage), and most of the time, just plain fun!  I'm sure I have more of these.....do any of you have some?  Boys are such a blast!  May your weekend be blessed....

Only Because of Jesus,

anne

When You Give a Sam a Haircut......

I know, I know, I'm really drawing it out between posts, but, life is extremely busy right now with some home renovations going on, (more on that later) living in limbo while trying to use this opportunity to clean out a bunch of junk.  So, I thought, I'd start things off by showing you the magnificent oaks in our front garden.  I just looovveee autumn, I think maybe I've said that before, but it bears repeating.  Fall ROCKS!!! 
Chaos indoors, but all I have to do is look outside my front door, and I see this....






Isn't it spectacular????  I mean really......gorgeous!!!!  It just feeds my soul. 

     Now, with that stunning start, what, you ask, could I possibly follow with that would top that?  True, but, what that shot is with awe factor, the following shots are with awwwwwwww factor....... 

     Sam got his first haircut last month.  I was trying to save $$$  that we don't have, by doing it myself.  Well, a wiggly 20 month old boy, coupled with Mum used to trimming folks willing to sit still equals, well, a haircut just like Daddy's!! 
      Here's the before.....




Here it comes.....



Wait for it......


Wait for it.............


Ta DA!!!!!!




He looks like such a little boy now....sniff.....sniff......I know he IS a little boy, but, the baby boy is passing into memory.......sniff......oh heck, who am I kidding ???  He just looks adorable!!! 

He's also been spotted doing this lately.......






He fights sleep for sooo long and then just gives in and leans over the first convenient spot, and conks out.....too cute, ok, and too funny!!!









It would appear to be that time of day again.....may your day be blessed.....and your dreams be sweet....


Only Because of Jesus,

anne

Mmmmmm.... Fall

 

Elly when she was 3.  My friend Valerie, awesome photographer chic, took this......I love how she captured Elly being herself....

Wow, has it been that long already?  I haven't been here in over a month, and I have sooo much to say and so little time!  I'll be posting before and after pictures soon, so be on the look out, and that's all I'm gonna say about that.... :-)  I did find a couple of pictures of Elly and Maddy that my awesome photographer chic friend took when they were much smaller.....where has the time gone.....the following two were taken at our church's Reformation Day party....loads of fun!!  



Maddy was 5 (she's now 13) and she was a magical monarch butterfly that year, this is one of my favorite shots of her....



Elly was 3 (she's now 10) and she was the little lion with her blankie, too cute for words!!!




     Today, I'm baking my first loaf of pumpkin bread of the season.  As a lover of pumpkin anything, our family recipe for pumpkin bread is the best I've ever tasted!! (Not that I'm at all biased or anything........lol!) I made some changes a few years ago, and the kids couldn't even taste the difference, so we kept em'.  I reduced the sugar by 1 cup, and used applesauce instead of the cup of oil, white whole wheat flour instead of white flour,  and, since we like our pumpkin bread spicy, I upped the spices a bit.  Yummmm, with a cup of pumpkin spice coffee, it's the epitome of fall yumminess!!!



"Healthy" Pumpkin Bread

3 1/2 c white whole wheat flour (I like King Arthur or Trader Joe's)
2 t baking soda
2 c succanat or sugar
1 c water
4 eggs or 1 cup egg beaters (for the 2pt per slice calculation, use egg beaters, but it turns out yummy either way :-)
1 c unsweetened applesauce
1 can pumpkin (around 1 3/4 - 2 cups of pumpkin puree)
1 t cloves
1 t nutmeg
1 t allspice
Dash of ground ginger
2 t cinnamon
1 c chopped nuts (optional)


Mix dry ingredients, add wet ingredients and mix well ( all in one bowl).  Pour batter into two loaf pans that have been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  Bake at 350 F for around 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from pans immediately, and place on rack to cool.  Can be served warm with butter, or we just like it plain.  Somtimes we even have it for breakfast with cream cheese.  Enjoy!!!  (for those of you on Weight Watchers, the recipe has been run through the points calculator, and it's 2 points per slice of a 10 slice loaf...just fyi :-) 


 




     I just love pulling out my great grandmother's mixing bowl, and making the same recipes I imagine she would've made, this unassuming bowl is one of my dearest possessions.  I love the feel of it, the weight of it , even the color of it.  I remember using it when I was a kid, and my Mum and I mixing this recipe, using this bowl.  Amazing that.  Now, I'm doing the same with my daughters, my little sous chefs, always wanting to help, to stir, to create......just like their Mama.....and their Nana.......generations of women creating for their families, making home.....well....home.  



 








    Autumn is my absolute favorite season.....I plan to rock it out this year!!  May your lovely autumn day be blessed....


Only Because of Jesus,


anne