BOO!!

Yep, Halloween pictures! We had our Trunk or Treat at church last Thursday, it is the big candy night for the kids. On Halloween night we get dressed up, makes lots of yummy treats, watch fun Halloween movies and the kids give out candy, it is LOTS of fun!!

Riley flip flopped about costumes up until a couple hours before... no surprise here! He's a pilot!!
Jake was also a flipper, he settled on a spy!

Miss Fern's dreams came true! She grew!! Finally after MANY years of waiting Fern was big enough to wear MY princess costume that my mom made me! She was beautiful!! And SOOOO happy!

I think I had a similar haircut when I wore this costume! ;) Mom you'll have to dig out a photo of me in this dress!!

Sweet Leili once she saw Fern was going to be a princess wanted to be one too! Luckily just the day before a friend had given her a dress that had been outgrown in their house! I whipped up a crown to match and Leili was a HAPPY princess!!

My spookables are not so spooky this year but they had big smiles and that makes for a happy mama!!

Happy Halloween!

(this moment} + a couple words...sorry!

So it's 3:30pm on a Wed. night we have no scouts... 2 1/2 hours later we were strolling through Ikea ( I love Ikea). And we crossed the Sierra Nevada's, saw Donner Summit, and I finally went to the capitol city of my birth state (did I mention Sacramento has a Krispy Kream to make my yearly pilgrimage to get a pumpkin donut!!)!!!

I LOVED this moment!

Oh the Randomness of Our Days...

I seem to have a few pictures from the last week or two that are all just so random that they don't fit together nor do they need their own post (or most likely a post at all). So we'll just be random and then move on!

My little artist, she sat there LONG after the big kids had their flurry of art and ran off. The older three are whirl wind artist but Leili savors it!

Yes, a mama and her silly boys. Just this time someone got us with the camera!

We had a fun visit from Grandma J. & Grandpa M. And how about that this is the only thing there is pictures of from their visit and I did not even take it!! And now that I look at it this is not even the picture I wanted to share but I don't want to reload... sorry. They are playing army men!

We foraged and dried two levels of elderberries!

We celebrated Fern's 6th birthday!

Miss Cool, pizza for breakfast wearing sunglasses. She is mine!!

And we found a fun nature center/study area just across the river from our house!!

We've Got Knitting Fever....

It is fall, it is getting cooler (some days), our rhythm is moving more indoors these days than out and I have tried a new angle on a desired goal...

More than once I have had someone teach one of my children how to knit, and then they get home and get stuck or mess up and then that is the end of knitting. I have always regulated learning how to knit as learning Chinese, or learning to read music... just not in my brain level. :) So fall is here, I taught Jake to crochet. I taught Fern to finger knit (I learned that on youtube)! And then I found another willing (crazy) kind person who would show Riley how to knit... but she didn't. She sat down next to me. ME? She showed me how to knit. My fingers have not felt oh so awkward in I don't know how long. I thought of Jake and how awkward his hands were just a couple weeks before and I felt a deeper connection with my children. They learn new and awkward things all the time but do I give them enough time and understanding?

So guess what! I KNIT a washcloth! And I taught Riley to knit, and I figured out how to fix his mistakes! What in the world?!

And since then there are the impromptu knitting parties that spring up, just like our impromptu book times that I love! And so Fern finger knits (she a professed professional), Leili "finger knits" with her yarn, Riley is knitting a doll blanket for Leili, and Jake crochets or weaves! All while I knit. And I am not so awkward now. I think I like it more than crocheting. Maybe I'll learn to pearl too!

When you teach a girl to fish, everyone eats fish...

{this moment}

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Ketchup!

Ever since I was a little girl and was traumatized by my sister eating ketchup with a spoon it has not been my favorite condiment. I now eat it on my french fries but that is about it (which is better than when I boycotted it for fear of retching). Thankfully I have grown hard and crusty in my old age as ALL OF MY CHILDREN EAT KETCHUP LIKE AUNT MARY! Bleck! Oh yea and my husband...while wearing his Heinz ketchup shirt...

Anyway back to this post! As you can see we go through enough ketchup that I run out easily. SO the perfect storm of canning season, a shared ketchup recipe, and a good friend inviting us to the farm to pick tomatoes at .50 cents a pound lead to the CRAZY idea of, "lets make ketchup and can it!!!"!

Picking was a great day, I almost moved to the farm...
I haven't found my kitchen scale so we made due...

Tomatoes, green bell peppers, & onion chopped (all from local Nevada growers)!

Spice bag made...

Simmered and run through the food mill! This food mill was my grandma's, I think I have used it more than she did and let me tell you I would have never guessed that when I inherited it!

SMOOTH....

And then I started cooking it down....

And down....

Until finally! We have ketchup! We celebrated by having tater-tots for lunch... and then we started another batch...

Yes we are crazy...

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

This Summer we Enjoyed...

As the temperature is changing and our rhythm too it is clear that summer is leaving us! I always enjoy looking back on our summer to see the natural rhythms that fall into place, themes or anthems of our summer if you will! Foods we eat over and over, places we visit as many times as we can, and just regular things that turned into cherished things!

:: watermelon

::picnics in the backyard

:: swimming in mountain lakes

:: strawberries

:: goodwill finds

:: road trips across the desert

:: the Truckee river

:: Debbie's rice salad

Debbie's Rice Salad

2 C. cooked brown rice

1 1/2 C. black beans

1 lg. tomato, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 scallions, chopped

1/4 C. cilantro, chopped

1 pkg. Good Seasonings Italian, prepared

Feta cheese, crumbled

Mix all together and serve with feta on the side.

We have been busy this end of summer/ nearing fall with putting away all of the beautiful colors of summer for a colder, whiter day!

We love fermented dill pickles so I tried my hand at making some on my own by loosely following THESE directions. I think I may jar up another couple jars too!
And I got some strawberries jammed before they were all eaten last week! ;) I use Pomona's for our pectin so I was able to use honey as the sweetener in this.
We have also frozen strawberries, blueberries, and corn. And we are looking forward to apples of course, and anything else we can get our hands on! Pears are tomorrow!
One of my favorite canning books is Putting Food By, and I covet The Natural Canning Resource Guide and Root Cellaring!
What is your favorite summer goody put away for the winter months?

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Using Up Summer!!

School may have started but we are not wasting this last precious bit of LOVELY weather and LOVELY friends!

So this week we took advantage by meeting friends up at Lake Tahoe after school and staying as late as we could! It was a wonderful beautiful day and we are starting to get use to the "bear-proof" trash cans here! Mountain lake swimming is quickly becoming a favorite activity for me (as yesterday's picture proves)!

Then Friday morning we got up before the sun and met friends for the Great Reno Balloon Race! What a beautiful sight, but I have to tell you the sight on the ground was most beautiful! I loved the rainbow balloons and Smokey the Bear, and on our walk back we got to see a balloon land on the road to refuel!

Enjoy!

~