Pine Cone Bird Feeders.....
I wanted to make these with the kids last summer, but just never found the time. I had found the big pine cones at the park one day and so I brought them home. Now almost a year later and we made them this past week. The kids enjoyed it and it was a simple project. If your interest here are a couple of links here & here on how to make them.

Train Video.....
Here's the video of the Train at the Zoo. The kids had so much fun riding on it.

Henry Villa Zoo.....
It's that time of year when it nice to get out and enjoy the weather. The kids love to go to the zoo and the nice thing about the Madison Zoo is it is free. The kids had a nice time and mommy & daddy did too. It was a nice way to enjoy our Memorial Day weekend. We even got to go on a little try ride, which I hope to post a video a little later.

Monday: Potato Carrot Ham Soup

Tuesday: Sicilian Supper, Broccoli, Bread

Wednesday: Chicken Enchiladas, Salad, Guacamole

Thursday: Sloppy Joes, French Fries, String Beans

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Hearty Hashbrown Casserole, Biscuits

Sunday: Roast, Potatoes, Gravy, Corn, Bread

Salads......

I like to eat salads, but during the summer months more so. I think it's because of the warm weather and I'm not always very hungry in the evenings for a heavy meal. Well who would of thought that it would only take French or Catalina dressing to get my little guy Gabriel to be asking for a salad for lunch. It makes me happy to see him eating some greens. My kids don't like vegetables much especially Anna who is a very picky eater. Now Gabriel likes corn and salads. The kids do get pureed carrots slipped in there strawberry smoothies. Sneaky Mom!

Gabe's Happy Birthday Video....

Chair's Overflowing.....

Here I am in the morning trying to enjoy a cup of coffee with all the kids and dogs. I think I need a bigger chair!!

"Be still, and know that I am God..." Ps 46:10

Here's the Birthday Boy...

He had a great birthday party. We had some friends over and enjoyed a meal of Haystacks.

Gabe got a Bob the Builder DVD, bulldozer puzzles & a Caterpillar bulldozer to play with.

Here is a picture of our friends youngest boy. What a cutie:)

Happy 3rd Birthday Gabriel

Here is a sneak peak at the cake that I made last night. I had so much fun making this for my little guy. So do you think he will like it??

Before:

After:

P.S Grandpa & Grandma Kostman - Gabe got his card in the mail and loved it. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Busy Weekend Ahead......

I will be staying busy today and the days to follow. Brandon is having a couple classmates over tonight and we will be having Haystacks for dinner & homemade cheesecake for desert. Then tomorrow is Gabriel's 3rd birthday. I already have the frosting made so this afternoon when I make the cheesecake I am going to make the cake too, so it can cool. This evening after company leaves and the kids go to bed I plan on decorating it. I am keeping it simple, but I think Gabriel will like it. We are also having some friends over for the party Saturday night. We will be having Chicken Enchiladas, which are simple and yummy. The biggest job will be to get my house clean, which is difficult with 3 little kids and 2 dogs, but I'm not going to stress to much about it. I am just looking forward to having company and will enjoy showing hospitality.

Garage Sale Finds:

This weekend is also city wide garage sales in Deforest. I took the kids out yesterday. We had a great day! I found a desk and chair for Anna for working on school, which was $4 total. Then the big item I found was a Pro Form treadmill. It is a older model, but in good condition. This brand retails for around $800 dollars or more and I payed $50. What a deal and last night after I put the kids to bed I worked out for a good 30 minutes and enjoyed it. Last year at this time we go ourselves a nice like new up right freezer and entertainment center for the living room. I love garage sales and how much money I can save.

New Hair Cuts.......
Need I say much else. Yes, Gabe's buzz was dad's doing.

Sham-Wow Anyone????
My husband told me I had to post this picture of Anna. It was funny because Brandon bought these micro fiber towels and Anna asked, "are those Sham-Wow". We then both busted a gut from her commit. If you have never see the infomercial go here. So does anyone know if they do really work??

It's that time of the week again and I am running behind, but better late then not at all. Simple is the name of the game this week. I have a Birthday cake to make this week for Gabriel. I am looking forward to making it especially the butter cream frosting, which is my favorite. He wants a Bob the Builder cake so I will have to see what I can come up with. To find more menu ideas go here.

Monday: Grilled Barbecued Chicken, Barbecued Beans & Rice

Tuesday: Spinach Artichoke Chicken Pizza

Wednesday: Ravioli, Broccoli, & Homemade Bread

Thursday: Leftovers or kids choice

Friday: Papa Murphy's Pizza

Saturday: Haystacks, Birthday cake for Gabe's 3rd B-day

Sunday: Chinese "Mom's Choice"

Here's the plants that I started a while back...

I was hoping they would be a bit bigger. I guess we will just have to see if they take off when I get them in the garden. I also went to the green house today and bought up a bunch of other plantsl. I am hoping to fill all of my jars with tomato fixings at the end of the summer and have enough vegetables in the freeze to get us through till the end of next summer. It should not be to much of a problem. So how is everyone garden plans coming along?

Anyone want some Superman ice cream?????

It is time for the May's Recipe Box Swap! This month's theme is no-theme at all, meaning you get to post any recipe that suits your fancy! This makes it easy for me to choose because I have rhubarb coming up in the garden, which is my favorite and makes such yummy deserts. I recipe I came across a few years ago was Rhubarb Custard Bars. Once I made it I was hooked & it's super easy,which is a bonus.

Rhubarb Custard Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 package (18-1/4 ounces) yellow cake mix
• 4 cups chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb
• 1 cup Granulated Pure Cane Sugar
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• Whipped cream and fresh mint, optional

Directions:

Prepare cake batter according to package directions. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Mix the rhubarb, sugar & cream together and slowly pour over top.
Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with whipped cream or refrigerate till cool and then spread the whip cream over the top. Yield: 12-15 servings.

Homemade Whipped Cream

1/2 pt. whipping cream
3 Tb. sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Whip cream with mixer. Be careful not to over beat or else will get too thick like butter. When it begins to thicken, add sugar and vanilla; stir. Refrigerate.

Rhubarb Custard Pie



1 pie crust in pie pan and ready to go

1 1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
3 eggs
4 c. fresh rhubarb cut in small pies.

Place rhubarb in pie crust. Then beat up the sugar, flour, nutmeg & eggs. Pour over chopped rhubarb in pie pan.

Crumb Topping

1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1/3 cold butter

Cut butter into the sugar & flour till it is a nice crumbly mixture. Then pour on top of pie. Bake pie at 400 degrees for 25 mins then turn it down to 350 degrees for 15 mins or cook till the top is nice and golden brown. Let cool, refrigerate & enjoy:)

Having fun with our little neighbor girl.......

I have a feeling that the kids will be playing with Avery a lot this summer, which will be fun for all of them.

Landscaping

We have needed to get shredded oak mulch for a while, but just didn't find the time. Well this year it got done and I am so happy. Here are the pictures to prove it. Why didn't we do it sooner?

Before:

After:

Here's a few more pictures.....

I have lots of pretty daffodils, which Anna loves to pick. I will definitely be sad when they are done blooming.

This is behind the house, but I was only able to do part of it. I ran out of mulch and I have rocks to pick up first. Hopefully I can get my kids to help me pick up rocks so we can replace the ugly rocks with shredded bark.

Monday: Grilled Hamburgers, Baked Beans, Squash

Tuesday: Grilled Marinated Pork Chops, Sweet Potato Fries, Asparagus

Wednesday: Tacos with Guacamole

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Fried Fish, Rice & Corn

Saturday: Barbecued Grilled Chicken, Season Baked Potatoes, Sting Beans

Sunday: Pizza or Breakfast Food

Happy May Day.....

Yesterday was the first day that Noah decided that he could climb down the stairs. So now early this morning he was already over to the stairs and climbing down. It's so nice because now when he gets to the top he does not have to scream and cry that he wants down.

Today is the first day of May. I am planning on making May Day baskets with the kids. I found this site A Bit O' Shine with a nice and easy idea that the kids will like to make. I am planning on using construction paper with yarn as the handle. I will probably find some nice flower stickers and cut out some flower construction paper flowers. Or maybe even better yet find one of my gardening magazines and cut out some flower pictures and don't forget the spring stamps.

I am also hoping to get out with the kids and go to a few garage sales. The kids always enjoy it and it's nice to get out and find some great deals. Hope it does not rain????

Now I'm Dangerous.....

He went from climbing down the stairs yesterday to climbing up on the chair to the table top today. There is no stopping him now:)

Garden Tilled....
We got the garden cleaned off, the dirt tilled up and now it's ready to be planted.

I gave it a good rake with the garden rake to level it off.

I also noticed that I have asparagus coming up. Yum!! It's one of the favorite vegetables.

Here is also the rhubarb that I planted a few years ago. I got the plants from my Grandma Beulah. I am looking forward to Rhubarb Pie:)

"O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him" Psalm 34:8

I definitely missed having my menu plan last week. I can't say I follow it completely, but is so nice to have a plan for the week. I don't have to ask myself each day, "What should I have for dinner?" I'm excited about the some of the dishes that I am going to try this week. If there are any winners I will let you know next week and post them on my recipe blog.

Monday: Grilled Steak, Broccoli & Rice, Squash

Tuesday: Texan Lasagna , Side Salad

Wednesday: BBQ Meatballs, Cheese Potatoes, Corn

Thursday: Leftover Night

Friday: Grilled Marinated Pork Chops, Sweet Potato Fries, String Beans

Saturday: Fried Fish, Coconut Curry Rice, Salad

Sunday: Pizza or Breakfast of Choice

Philippians 4:13

I try and work with the kids in memorizing simple, but powerful Bible verses. This is one that the kids have mastered. It great to be going about your day and have your little one say a verse or sing a song about Jesus.

Ballerina Girl....



This little tutu skirt we found at a garage sale yesterday for 50 cents. Can't beat that price! Now that I have seen how they made it I can make Anna another one sometime.

Update on my Plants....

I am so surprised to see that I have tomato plants up out of the ground & cucumber plants as well. The kids were very excited. Now we just have to get the garden ready to do some planting. If it would stop raining maybe we could get the ground ready. One nice thing about the rain is it has green up the grass and all of my daffodil plants are up and ready to bloom.

I Love Spring....

The kids have been playing outside as much as possible. It is wonderful for them and me as well. It's nice having a quieter house, but I especially love to listen to the kids through the kitchen window as they play a way outside. Noah has also been having a great time roaming around outside.

Menu Plan Monday or Not.....
I think I am going to wing it this week. I really can't believe how fast Mondays come. This evening we had barbecues, hash browns, baked beans and corn. It has been a long time since we have had barbecues and they were so good. Some of my favorite foods include barbecue chicken, meatballs & meatloaf. I also love to read cooking magazines and find new recipes to try out or old one's that I have forgot about. If I make something that we really like I will make sure to post it.

We had a great weekend. Brandon and I spent most of the day on Saturday shampooing the carpets down stairs and up stairs. I also shampooed the couches in the living room. It sure feels good to walk on clean carpet and to sit on a clean couch. I also did a good pick up of the lawn with the lawn mower. I got it done just before it decided to rain for a few days. Projects for next weekend include getting some shredded mulch for our front mound. I will take before and after pictures. I am also hoping to get the garden tilled in a couple of weeks. I just love spring!

Making Music....

Here's one the things the kids love to do. Play drums or any kind of instrument they can. I also have an electric keyboard, which has songs recorded on it so. They love it!

Landscape Work....
I should of taken a picture before I started, but forgot. There was a big evergreen bush that covered the whole curved area up to where the green shovel lays. It was big and ugly. I decided this year to get rid of it, so the kids and I can plant some flowers and herbs.

Before:

I hauled out probably 8 red wagon's of rocks from that area. There were so many rocks in there, but now they are all gone. I then hauled in 4 red wagons of dirt. I have to say it looks really nice. Now I need to find a fence tall enough to keep the dogs out, but not to tall. Then we will have to go and pick out some flowers and I think I already have some herb seeds.

After:

I'll post some pictures in a month or so when we get it all done.