Raspberry Walnut Muffin Recipe

Here's my modified, doubled version of a basic muffin recipe in Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (pictured in my last blog post)

3 1/2 cups flour (2 1/2 cup whole wheat flour , 1 cup white flour)

2/3 cup sugar (1/3 honey, 1/3 white sugar)

4 tsp. baking powder

2 beaten eggs

1 1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup applesauce

Approx. 1 to 1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries

Approx. 1 cup chopped walnuts

Oven 400 degrees

In a mixing bowl, combine flours, white sugar, baking powder, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Make a well in the center. Combine egg, milk, honey, applesauce, and oil; add all at once to flour mixture. Stir just till moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in raspberries and walnuts. Lightly grease muffin cups; fill 2/3 full. Bake in a 400 degree oven about 20 minutes or till golden. Remove from pans; serve warm. Makes about 18.

Last Friday in pictures

So I woke up last Friday morning wanting to do something a little different on what was going to be just an ordinary day. I thought it would be fun to take pictures of what happened and share. So bear with me. Nothing really breathtaking or inspiring...but it was our day. 7:15 a.m. Raring to go...these two join me in the kitchen. Levi browses my Taste of Home magazine and DJ asks if he can break the eggs.Kade is sleepy but happy enough to wait for something to eat.Everyone wants a banana while I mix up breakfast muffins.8 a.m. (or so) Hot raspberry walnut muffins Breakfast clean-up and the start of a batch of bread.

8:30 Kalai is busy at school work after breakfast. (Math, English, History online)
Malia also works on school work (math and English online).

Tana and Kent do exist in our house as well. :) Only, the basement doesn't register on my radar much throughout the day, so I didn't manage to get any pictures of them. Kent worked in his little office space much of the day, and Tana stayed busy with her college classes, work, and an evening outing. (I need to devote a post to Tana soon because I just never seem to get enough pictures of her. That busy senior girl is growing up!)

The boys and I head upstairs to make beds...

brush teeth (Levi could spend at least 10 minutes brushing his teeth)...

and Kade tries to get in the shower.

Finally, it's time for me to get a shower so Kade goes in the crib with some toys...


and Levi sits in the playpen with books. Ahhh!

9:00 (or so; do you really think I could actually remember?) Reading time with Levi while DJ finishes his teeth brushing, bed making...and I'm not really sure what else!)

9:30 (or so) DJ and I do Bible, Reading Lesson, Language, and Math.

Levi entertains himself with play dough (for a full five minutes or so!)
11:30 Levi and DJ take an outside break while I fix lunch and Kade naps. DJ brings in the mail just before it starts to rain.

Levi comes in nice and wet from playing in the rain. He goes for the play dough again.
I notice the dishes I'll be working on later.


12:30 (or so) Lunch of Chicken and Biscuits from Taste of Home (not something I'll be making again, but it was edible, I suppose, but it hardly looks like it!)




The boys head back outside with Malia until Levi's nap time.

So at this point, I think I started forgetting the whole "take a picture of every silly thing!"

1:30 Levi's nap; DJ and I do history, reading aloud, and finish up spelling. The girls and I finish up some scoring and memory recitation, and Kalai gets ready to leave on a weekend retreat.

4:00 The boys are back outside jumping on a wet trampoline wearing outfit number 2.

5:30 - A slightly early supper (frozen spaghetti sauce, noodles, garden veges and fresh bread) so we can play games

After dinner: Wearing outfit # 3 (Levi...and later I realize the shirt I put on him is actually a 12 month and supposed to be Kade's!) and DJ (put back on outfit # 1 because it had dried) attempt more play dough and Sky Capers.

This was DJ's creation, and then we had to put Sky Capers away because we were missing some pieces for a real game.

DJ takes a picture of some play dough art.

We finally settle on this game. Dad and Mom against Malia and DJ. (Kalai was at a retreat and Tana went to visit a friend). Levi really tried to play too. And Kade desperately wanted to taste the game pieces. Kent said, "I love game night," a little too convincingly (note sarcasm) when all these things were happening at once. And we all laughed. I put away my camera, and I think the dishes got done. It was an ordinary Friday...but not so ordinary as I realize how special and fleeting these days are!

Sleeping peacefully

I enjoy looking at my sleeping children. Granted, I relish their unique way of saying things, and I love seeing them bouncing around happily, but there's something about sleeping. They're not going anywhere, they're safe, my work is "through" for the day (to a certain degree), and I can just look at them. And pray for them. And take pictures of them. I hope you don't get tired of sleeping children pictures. :)

Levi

Kade (no, my children's pj's are not always color coordinated and adorable)

Kade loves balls!

New picture

This is a picture of a picture I just had taken of the boys. It was one of those promotional gimmicks where ONE picture is a good deal, but if you buy any more it's very expensive. I'm happy to say I walked away with ONE picture (although so very hard to do so)!

Why I Like Blogging

I've been pondering on this lately and was just telling someone today that it took me a full year from the time I "started my blog" to an actual successful post. But why has it become one of my new hobbies? I think it's because blogging is a combination of some of my very favorite things...pictures (and I've always loved pictures, esp. those of people), scrapbooking (it's pretty to look at), and journaling (I've filled over 13 journals or so over the years). Best of all, it's fun to share life, ideas, blessings, and challenges with friends and family. And by reading other people's blogs I've actually made a new friend recently...one I got together with in real life. We had a wonderful time together with her family and I'm looking forward to seeing her again. So do you like blogging for any of the same reasons I do? Are you an interested reader? Happy blogging and reading.

First pumpkin

Do your children start asking, "When are we going to get a pumpkin?" as soon as they start showing up everywhere for sale? These two boys love pumpkins! And so we found one at a decent price and decided we'd cook it up.First, we decided it wouldn't hurt any to draw some faces. DJ did this side.And Levi drew this face.Then we scooped out the seeds to cook later. I never thought I'd hear so many giddy squeals from Levi as I did while he as taking seeds out of the pumpkin! Oh! I didn't plan for them to wear orange either. It just worked out that way. Kinda fun!

Jackpine

We packed up our stuff and headed up the road for more than a few hours to this beautiful place to camp for the weekend. It was fun seeing everyone and staying up until the wee hours of the morning playing games. The weather was beautiful and didn't have any traces of the cold and extremely wet weekend last year. We enjoyed lots of fireside singing and devos, along with all the best camp food! Pancakes and sausage...It takes three to make breakfast...two to cook and one to hold Kade, so he won't eat everything on the ground (not that I care if he eats it; rather I don't like the fact that he chokes on everything)!

Our sleepy cook makes delicious stuff!

All worn out from a long day of playing, playing, playing.

If I didn't see DJ around, I knew I could find him and a dozen other boys by the fire. What is it about fire and sticks and boys?

Levi attempts the "take the hat from Daddy" game.

Malia shares a chair...

and they take turns??


DJ listens intently...or is that sleepily? We let him stay up until midnight the first night. I think that's the first time!

Love the dolly sharing.

Another little one conks out!
And finally...two of our young friends rode home with us. Oh, to be able to sleep any where in any position.

Grape Jelly

If you get out on the trails around town, you'd be amazed how many wild grapes grow around here. They're very small and aren't that sweet, but they have a nice flavor nonetheless. Kent made grape juice with some of them. And I attempted to make some jelly using this...

Kent's mom helped me, and it was a good thing...because I'm not knowledgeable about canning. I barely remember anything from the two times I've done it in the past. However, I was quite pleased with how well these jellies set. Since the fruit I was using wasn't very sweet, the package directions did allow for the option of adding sugar or honey (anything from 0-3 cups). I did one with some added honey and another batch with some sugar (but not very much). They are very delicious and not extremely sweet - which I really enjoy.