A few of my favorite things

I have been offered 3 different pianos since we've lived here. None of them would fit into my house. Finally, I was able to get this one. It is in such good shape, and it sounds beautiful! Looks pretty good, doesn't it? Best thing of all, it was free! I'm so happy to finally have a piano. I've been playing it a lot lately. The girls like it too, and take time to play it themselves. =)

We went to the fair yesterday. I LOVE the fair. I spent most of the day there. A few hours with the girls, and then a few more with just Randy. Emma and Kenadi loved all of the animals. After I told Kenadi we were going to the fair, she worried all day that I was going to take her on a ride. I told her that since she was worried about it, we wouldn't go on any rides. It didn't stop her from telling me "Mom? I don't want to go on the rides" about 20 times that day. We had lots of fun doing other things.

I liked this part where the kids get to pretend like they're farmers. They plant seeds, pick apples, collect eggs, pumpkins, etc., and take them to market where they get some "money" to take to the store.

Last but not least. We have "Family Home Evening" every Monday night. We sing some church songs, say prayers, and have a little lesson. This one Randy taught on why we need to read our scriptures. I love having my family together for these FHE nights. We always end our night with a song, a prayer, and a family game/activity with a treat. Kenadi loves them, and Emma usually does, except this time she wanted to hold the scriptures, and she got a little mad when Randy needed them back. I love my little family and all of the time we get to spend together.

Lots of Food for Thought

I finally cooked one of my pumpkins this week. It was the largest one and gave me over 6 cups of puree! I am so excited for all of my pumpkin recipes. I made my favorite Pumpkin Pancakes, and I tried a new recipe this week. Pumpkin bread, but I (of course) changed a few things. It was definitely a great recipe, and I will do it again many times I'm sure. Veronica asked me a question on how I cooked my pumpkin, and I will explain that one to you all first. There are a few ways to do it; boiling chunks, microwaving, and baking. I chose the baking method, but I have done all 3. This time I preferred the baking method, because I wanted the smell in my house, and I didn't want extra water in my puree from the boiling method (you can always strain it and get extra water out).

How to Bake a pumpkin

If you have a normal size of baking pumpkin, cut it in half , scoop out the goop and seeds, and lay both halves face down on a baking sheet. Cover with foil, and bake at 375 for 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Check it at an hour. For my bigger pumpkin I cut it into 8 big pieces and layered them face down on the cookie sheet and cooked it about 1 &1/2 hours.

Let the pumpkin cool so you can handle it, and then scoop out the flesh into a strainer (over a bowl). Get rid of the extra water. Put pumpkin into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. THEN, I put the puree back into my fine strainer/colander and covered it and the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit most of the day to get out more water. If you don't have a mesh strainer, you can put cheese-cloth down inside your strainer so you don't loose puree out the bottom. I strain it because most recipe's call for canned pumpkin and it is much less watery than fresh pumpkin.

Pumpkin Bread

1 C whole wheat flour

2/3 C white flour

1-1/4 C sugar

1 t baking soda

1 t ground cinnamon

3/4 t salt

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t nutmeg

1/4 t ground cloves

2 eggs

1 C pumpkin (canned or fresh)

1/2 C canola oil (my next experiment will be doing this with applesauce, and of course less sugar)

1/2 C water

1/2-1 C chocolate chips

In a big bowl combine the dry ingredients and chocolate chips. In a smaller bowl, whisk the eggs, pumpkin, oil, and water. Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour into a greased 9X5 loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 65-70 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it cool 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

My next food for thought: look at this spider that is hanging out between my basil and strawberries! Randy and Kenadi go out and check on it every day, so I don't think I could move it. Besides, it has a beautiful web, and it writes designs in it. It's called a writing spider, and ours does zig-zags. We have our own Charlotte's Web. But, it does make it hard to get my basil when I need it.

Kenadi has been taking walks with "Grandpa Curtis". One day after their walk he took her inside for a cookie, and she told him she didn't want cookies, she wanted a Popsicle. So, then next day he showed up for their walk with Popsicles. He went to the store and got some for her. They each had one at the beginning and the end of their walk.

The girls always like to help cook. Emma's helping involves scooping out the batter and putting it on the counter. Kenadi's helping involves lots more help, with a taste here or there. I enjoy cooking with them. They make me laugh.

Lastly, I ordered a Pumpkin cookbook from the Library, and I'm going to experiment with it this week. I also got a kids cookbook from the library for Kenadi. She reads it every day, and today I'm going to let her do a recipe from it on her own. (with me looking over her shoulder)

Pumpkins

I know... 3 posts in one week! You can't keep up with me. I'm even posting this Food for Thought Friday ON FRIDAY! That's big. But I'm just talking about food today, so, no recipes. Anyways, please don't judge my weed-stricken garden, but I just had to show you how beautiful those pumpkins are. That big vine is all ONE vine, or ONE pumpkin plant. Huge, huh? It means I'm well on my way to my dream of being a pumpkin farmer, right? I get so excited every time I see them out there. It means that fall is coming! And Halloween! And after that, Thanksgiving and Christmas! Yep. I'm definately excited for the holidays.

I picked the first one 2 days ago. It is beautiful! I have all sorts of pumpkin pies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin____ planned. This variety is supposed to be good for eating and carving. I like that it is so useful since it takes up so much room in the garden. Anyways, I will cut into it this weekend and let you all know how it tastes. I can hardly wait.

And to end this post, let me tell you about Emma. In this picture she is holding my cell phone to her ear saying, "Ellow? Loodle leedle doodle do!" She is so funny and already tries to talk on the phone! I promise, I really don't talk on the phone that much, she must get it from Randy. =) She has also started "walking" and has taken 5 GOOD steps from me to Randy, him to me, and to the couch, etc. She doesn't always walk, but is pretty good at it when I set her up and encourage her. She also says, "tankyou!" and "uh oh!". Kenadi told me today that now Emma is HER baby. I told her that Emma is her sister, and Kenadi asked me, "When can she be my baby?". We are enjoying our sweet girls.

A Baby in Her Tummy

I found Kenadi sleeping lately with this lump in her shirt. On her side, like a pregnant lady sleeps. Can you see it?

All of my picture-taking woke her up, but at least I got a better view. THAT lump is puppy. The one that she can never go to sleep without, and comes everywhere with us. She is always telling me that "there is a baby in my tummy". Sometimes she says it's a baby in our church, other times it's "Baby Jesus", and lately, it's puppy. She wakes up, walks around and (oblivious that he's still in her shirt) then he falls out. When he does, she nurses him under a blanket. I have so much fun watching her be a little mother. Until she says, "You're puppy's Grandma!"

Put my High Heels on...

I love Oklahoma. I love that it is horse and ranch country. I LOVE rodeo's, and there are plenty here. I also love dressing up like a cowgirl. Maybe it's because I am one at heart. I grew up riding horses, and I rode them at BYU-Idaho. I was even in a rodeo. Yep. I did barrel racing and pole bending. It was a student rodeo, so it wasn't anything special, but I LOVED LOVED LOVED it. I love team penning, and all of the gaming you can do on a horse. I miss it now. SO, Randy (my dear sweet husband) decided to sell himself for me. He gave blood, and in return got tickets to the Oklahoma Cattleman's Association Rodeo. In other words, REAL cowboys/girls, REAL ranchers, and a different batch of games. My favorite was the "wild cow milking". I laughed my head off while the cowboys all tried to hold a cow by her head and tail and keep her still while one got enough milk in a bottle and raced across the finish line. Oh, it was funny. Poor cow.

Anyways, I will tell you a secret desire of mine, and risk getting laughed at. I want to have a ranch of my own someday. Yep. A big one. All started and masterminded by me. Oh, and Randy will help of course... but this is my thing. I'll start small, and eventually compete among the big boys. I hope so. I have a game plan. I can't tell it all to you, but yes, I've been thinking about this for YEARS, and I've thought it through. There is just something about ranch and farm life that lures me. FAMILY time, hard work, dirt, big cows, using my horse every day, etc. I'm gonna have a pumpkin farm too. First I need Randy to finish school. Hurry, honey.

So, I decked out for the rodeo. I hate showing up to something like that looking like I don't belong. I don't have any fancy dress-up boots like a lot of people had, but at least these are real, and the scratches and dirt on them were done by me. Kenadi dressed up too, and made me proud.

We took Kenadi and Emma with us. Kenadi just stared at the rodeo, and I could see her thinking, "That poor cow! Why do people like to throw cows on the ground and write on them?" Emma spent most of the time picking her nose, and the rest of the time asleep in the wrap.
Thanks for taking us honey!