the beginning...of summer fun

"Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love
and to work
and to play
and to look up at the stars."

~H.VanDyke

Here's one last little peek into our world here...

And, our summer plans.....

Reading, quietly

Playing (lots and lots), laughingly

Singing, brightly

Vacationing, daringly

Learning, carefully

Walking, steadily

Observing, widely

Visiting, adventurously

Growing, quickly

Loving, boldly

Praying, peacefully

Praising, joyfully

Breathing, slowly

I just wanted to hop back online one last time.  I read through all the comments/messages and I thank each of you for writing to me.  Have a wonderful summer. 

"God be with you till we meet again;
by his counsels guide, uphold you,
with his sheep securely fold you;
God be with you till we meet again."

~J.Rankin~

Love, Shanda

back to the basics

Imagine, life without TV, movies, videos, video games, emails, or internet.  Strange that the idea of life without these things would sound strange to me.  I want to try, though, and so I talked to Rich about my idea and we came to a decision over breakfast, just this morning:

We are literally going to unplug
both the computer and the television until September. . . .

I am looking forward to a unique summer full of fun for my whole family and I will be back to tell you all about it, Lord willing, in mid-September.  Three months isn't that long, is it?    What I am truly hoping for is just a little more extra time to spend with the Lord, and with my husband, and our six children who are growing way too fast. 

I've been blogging here for three years and it will be so strange (there's that word again) not to be part of this community of friends that I've discovered here.  I'll be lonely for you all at times, I know I will.  I won't forget you and I hope you don't forget me, either! 

Of course, I'll be back in the next few days before we "unplug".   I look forward to hearing from you "one last time" before I go.......

Here's to an amazing summer with God, family, and friends!  I hope you all have the best one ever with the ones you love.  I will be praying for you, my special and dear xanga friends.

Your loving friend, Shanda

blackberry cobbler

Thanks for your opinions about the header!  I just got on the computer and was shocked to see so many comments...very helpful indeed.

About the picture...yes, it's of Grace.  The two of us walked down to the stream the other day to check on a moth cocoon that we are waiting to see hatch.  Grace, in her bare feet, was going all over the place, not caring if she got wet.  She started going off in one direction and sunk clear up to her knees in black mud.  The noises she made and her cautions, "Don't come over here, Mom!  I DON'T recommend coming THIS way." made me laugh and laugh.  (And take a picture).

I thought I would share a recipe today.  I made it last week and Rich said it was his new favorite dessert.

I found this in the book linked to this post.  It's probably just a basic recipe you could find in any ol' cookbook, but here you go:

Blackberry Cobbler

Biscuit Topping:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 T. cold unsalted butter, cut in pieces
3/4 cup heavy cream

Blackberry Filling:

4 cups berries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 T all purpose flour
1/8 tsp. allspice

Preheat oven 375.

Make the biscuit topping.  In a large bowl, toss together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add the cream to the crumbs, tossing with a fork until a soft batter forms.  Set the topping aside.

Make the blackberry filling.  In a large bowl, toss together the blackberries, sugar, flour, and allspice.  Spoon the filling into an ungreased 13 by 9 inch baking pan.  Using a large spoon, drop mounds of the biscuit topping on the blackberry filling.  (The batter will spread as it cooks).

Bake the cobbler for 45 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.  Let the cobbler cool slightly on a wire rack before serving.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Serves SIX

My own personal tweaks to the recipe:

used regular butter instead of unsalted
used 1/2 cup sugar instead of 3/4 cup
used half and half instead of heavy cream

used 5 cups of mixed berries instead of 4 cups of blackberries
used cinnamon instead of all spice
(also, next time I make it, I will try adding honey to the filling instead of sugar)

I know I could make my life a whole lot easier if I skimped on homemade things like desserts, breads, and nice dinners.  However, I really really enjoy baking and cooking, even though it can be hard to make *for example* homemade dinner rolls (like I did yesterday evening) when it's "that" time of the day (everyone is getting tired and grouchy, and mom can't wait for dad to come home!).  But, I'll tell ya, Rich was one happy man when he was eating those warm from the oven rolls last night...the children were happy, too....the noises of delight, "hmmm! hmmmm!" made me smile.  It's totally worth the trouble!  And Rich gave me a nice kiss right at the table, he was so pleased.  Food isn't the only way to a man's heart () but yes, for most men, it is a big step toward those lovin' feelings when his stomach is satisfied after a long day of working away from home.

I don't like cleaning the kitchen after dinner but the children are old enough to do it now.  What a blessing!

Speaking of food.  I made an odd lunch for the children yesterday but they loved it.  It was a pound of hamburger fried up in a pan, with one big can of baked beans mixed in, and some leftover corn from the fridge.  I didn't even add anything else...but, like I said, they enjoyed it, and it was healthy so there you go.  Jacob got out rolls and had his mixture on a bun.  They were impressed, and said they would add it to their menu.  (They say they will own their own restaurant someday which is a favorite ongoing topic of discussion).

I've been making the children all eat breakfast and lunch together around the table again.  We were starting to "just make yourself something to eat when you're ready" but then I realized I did not know what they were eating and I didn't think it was healthy enough.  I think it's better and easier for us all to eat together, it makes for some fun family times and the work of the meals is all at once, instead of scattered over an hour or more.  The children start off on the strangest topics and we all get to laughing.  Although, I must admit, there are times when I put a ban on talking.  Sometimes I really need the quiet. 

It's been rainy here the last few days.  Yesterday I was so drowsy that we watched a movie after lunch.  The children had listened to Hans Brinker on my IPOD (*Unabridged version*. I've been buying books for my ipod lately and they love to listen...Bambi, Where the Red Fern Grows, and Redwall) and then I had ordered the movie off of Netflix.  It is an old Disney movie and it was good!  Everyone liked it except Caleb (it was a little over his head).  They all wanted to go ice skating afterwards, but they satisfied their urges by "skating" with socks on the bare floors instead.

My little lamby just woke up (baaaaa-ing like a lamb to call me) and he's soaked so off I go.

Have a good day!

Love, Shanda

Currently Mary Engelbreit's Sweet Treats Dessert Cookbook By Mary Engelbreit see related

?

I'm undecided about the header.  Should I keep it? 

~Shan

Seth, now that he's past the sleepy newborn stage, is demanding more of my time.  I told Rich last night that I feel like I spent the whole weekend with a baby on my hip.  Not that I mind, of course, but it leaves me with far less time (for now) to do other things (that involve two hands).  Thankfully, at the moment he is sleeping, so I have a chance to quickly post a few pictures from our weekend.

Weekends are wonderful because Rich is with us all day and we do so many little family activities.

On Saturday we went to McDonald's for breakfast, then to a little bulk-food store (the owner is a young Christian man, and he is so nice.  His mom helps out and she talks way too much, but I always try to be patient as she over explains everything...she really does have a heart of gold and means well.  She sent me out the door with a handful of free candy for the children.....pop rocks...Caleb had no idea what they were and I didn't tell him that the candy would pop and fizzle in his mouth.  He put that candy in and then FROZE.  I laughed and laughed.)

ummmm...where was I?

Oh yes, and I'm so excited to report that we went to a farmer's market for the first time!  It was a treat, to say the least.  The first thing I did, with baby Seth in his Ergo carrier and my husband (with the money!!) and my children around me....was buy a bunch of yummy smelling peonies.  I thought it would be so nice to carry flowers in my hand as we looked around the booths.

We got to one booth where the warm, sweet smell of strawberries induced me to spend 12 dollars on 2 quarts of first of the season berries (they were just picked that morning).  The farmer's market had a married couple providing live music (fiddle/folk music) and it was wonderful to sit with the family and eat fresh juicy berries as we tapped our toes in time to the music.  We also ate a loaf of fresh bread.  We left with pink lips and pink fingers, from those wonderful strawberries.

I also bought a pack of cherry tomato plants, and some local honey.  I've been eating the honey drizzled on my buttered toast.  YUM.

(Here is a random photo of Seth, I think he grows in his sleep)

Well, I didn't say this earlier, but before we even went to McDonald's for breakfast, we made another nature memory.  It was early in the morning, and I was still half asleep, but someone had called to me that the mallard ducks were down in the stream.  I think it was Jacob.  So, I went down (with Seth, of course) to see them, and as we were looking we came across a big snapping turtle digging in the loose sand on the side of the road.  It was laying eggs!

Rich, Grace, and Ethan came to see, too.  When we realized what was going on, Ethan, all on his own, went to get David and Caleb (who were still in bed)....this was the first we saw of the two little boys that morning, holding hands with big brother, letting him take them down the road to see something cool.

David was clumping in a pair of Ethan's shoes.  So precious.

Snappers are vicious and could bite terribly.  Have any of you been bitten by one?  They are interesting to look at, we couldn't help but think of dinosaurs.  The tail of a snapper has those scales that stand up along the top, just like you would see on a dinosaur picture.

We left her alone, and later on, when we got home hours later, I went down and she was gone.  So were the eggs.  I wonder what happened?  Any guesses?

We spent a lot of time on the porch.  I would (try to) read a book, and people would come to talk to me.  I took this picture of Grace, when she came to ask me if she could start earning an allowance again.

Rich holding Seth.

A friend of mine sent me some beautiful owl jewelry this weekend.  I don't even know how to explain how touched I was when I opened the note and the box....I felt very loved.

This was my favorite piece.

I let Grace model her favorite piece.

Darling, wouldn't you say?  How fun it will be to wear these things.  I will smile and say "I know WHO WHO WHO will get a big hug the next time I see her!" 

More pictures:

(I was alone with sleeping Seth in the carrier when I took these pictures in a warm, perfumed, and peaceful field.  I got pretty drowsy, myself!)

I had never seen this pretty little moth.......

We had some nice rain yesterday evening but this morning the sun is shining again.  Seth is still sleeping, so I will quickly get as much done as I can before he wakes up.  I just love productive mornings!  Thanks for stopping by my blog, I hope you take a moment to write me a little note...and I wish you all a happy start to your week!

Love, Shanda

"From the rising of the sun
unto the going down of the same
the LORD'S name is to be praised."

Psalms 113:3