My Littlest Helper

A "Sharp" Product

So this is probably one of the silliest pictures I've shared.  But hey, I like posts with pictures.  So there you have it.  A picture of my {new!} knife :)

My husband bought me a set of these knives sometime soon after we were married.  I like them. Alot.  A couple of months ago I had a knife break on me.  I called the company.  Yes, they would replace it.  No hassle.  So here is my advertisement for Warther's Knives.  An American family company that will sharpen for free for a lifetime and will also stand behind their product.  Can't beat that!

The Best Kind of Saturday

Start the day with grapefruit....they were surprisingly very sweet and good. I wondered how they'd taste. You just never know with grocery citrus. (helps that they were on sale :))

Followed with a plate of pancakes. Made with love by hubby dear! Somehow someone elses cooking just tastes so good!

This little guy ate more pancakes than the rest of us...he kept asking for more and more.

And then some time perusing the Christmas catalog (trying to teach the lesson of not coveting while looking at all the things little boys like!)

Color Me a Rainbow

I went to the garden today to see what all veggies I could use for Stir-fry for supper. I found a rainbow! (except we don't have any blue veggies!)

Onions Peas Tomatoes Broccoli Carrots Squash Beans Cabbage Peppers

All stir-fried together and put on top of hot rice.

Add a side of sliced tomatoes and you have a meal fit for a king! At least this household thinks so (with the exception of Little M...it took a little creative encouragement to get him to eat his veggies. The funny thing is that I bribed him with tomatoes. "If you don't eat your stir-fry, you can't have any tomatoes." You know. Not a typical bribing tactic for 2 yr. olds. But he's not typical. He adores fresh tomatoes.)

I decided to leave out the meat. It seems that we consume more than enough animal protein, so I thought I'd try it without and see what the hubby said. I don't think anyone even noticed. Yay for a cheaper, healthy, filling meal.

If you are really savvy with kitchen colors, you will be able to quickly tell we were married in the late 90's. Blue was the color of choice for kitchens. And yes, I still use the same dishes. Although some are starting to chip and crack. I do have some nice white dishes waiting to be unpackaged, but I guess I'm a little more sentimental than I normally admit.

Anyway...I think the blue (most of the time paired with yellow or green!) gave way after a few short years to red. And now I have NO IDEA what the hot color for kitchens is. I'm stuck in my well-loved blue kitchen. You know the kind that newly-marrieds cringe at? The ones that have old scratched Tupperware, various styles of drinking glasses, and cracked dishes? Yes, that's my kitchen. But my little kitchen has served my family well now for 12 years and I have been able to serve them many meals cooked with love in a sea of blue!

Bread Baking

Wheat Berries

Fresh Ground Flour

I've heard it said that you should train your children so that you work yourself out of a job. I'm not sure that will ever totally happen, but I did give in today to the "Please Mom, will you teach me to make bread? Please, Please?"

Ready for 350 degrees for 22 minutes.

The finished product!

Around Our Home

Today is such a beautiful, invigorating day. Spring seems so much more likely when it actually IS officially spring, it's warm, and the sun peeps out.

Anticipation

Studying

Laundering

(don't mind the stringy towels..we've been married almost 12 yrs and those towels have seen a lot of showers!)

Creativity

(L with her 'Stellan will Live' bracelet...she has such a concern for baby Stellan. Every once in a while she'll come to me and ask if Stellan's heart is still beating too fast. Check out his story here and please pray!)

A little sweetness to bless my family with!

My Boys "Reading"

Books open up a whole new world in your imagination...even when you don't know how to read!

LittleM likes to do what his big brother is doing!

My New/Old Laundry Sink

When we bought our house, there was an old porcelain (I think) sink hanging on the basement wall. When we started fixing up the basement (many yrs ago now!) we just took the sink down and put it in the garage. We were just hoping that someday we'd find a perfect spot for it.

Well - now it's in use again - and I really like it. Thanks to some dear friends (you know who you are!) who willingly helped, we have a usable basement. And use it we do! I think we spend more hours downstairs than up. School, laundry, sewing, playing, office work, etc. When you live in a small house, every space counts!

I'll post some before/after pictures of the basement another time. I don't have the before pictures from a friend yet, and the basement is too messy right now to take after pictures!

Another post for another day....!