One Evening...

One evening I walked up the stairs to find this.  I just had to take a picture before I moved him.

A trip to NC

We were able to head south for Thanksgiving with Perry's family.  So we decided to check out the NC transportation Museum in Spenser.  It was a chilly but nice morning.

 Of course the toy train set was a big hit.  They also enjoyed checking out the different trains in the roundhouse.  They got to see a engine turned on the turntable.

 We also enjoyed a short train ride.

 Perry and Andrew on the train.

Pumpkin Painting

We had a low key Halloween.  We did some pumpkin painting.  The boys had a great time.

 They were super proud of their painting.  We then set them outside.

 Perry and I got in on the act.

October Snow

The earliest I ever remember it snowing enough to make a snowball was at a youth retreat in the last weekend of October.  Well that has been beaten and it was so much more.  It was a great heavy snow.  This means it is great for snowmen and snowballs, however it increases the risk of power outages.

 The boys spent hours make snowballs.  They at last count had 23.  When the rest of the snow had melted we had an Easter Island of snow balls for several more days.

Mount Vernon

 We made a Sunday trip down to visit Jill and Amelie.  We throughly enjoyed our time at Mount Vernon.  They were having fall fair days.  We had a horse drawn hay ride, toured the home, enjoyed the hay maze.  Tryed to do some games.  They had a special map for kids and Andrew loved it.  Also enjoyed some indonesian food and get into Amelie's toys.

A few days later Aaron wanted to know why all the other presidents didn't live there. 

Yes I can still type

 Just after school started we made a trip to Pittsburgh.  Aaron, Grace and I met Bradley and he then came to the Cove for the week.

 Checking out the animals.

 Our two polar bears.

Experiment

The other night I tired this and it came out great.  I made peanut butter and banana french toast.  It was amazing.  I had leftover rolls.

Take bread and make a peanut butter and banana sandwich.  Note I did make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich too but I thought the banana was better.  Coat with egg and milk mixture ( 2 eggs and about 1 cup of milk for my family).  Then grill and serve with syrup.
Amazing.  So easy and so good.

One Step Forward

It has been a long time since we have had an adoption update but with my new slimmer sleeker husband we have made a step forward.  Since April my husband has faithfully been controlling his portions and exercising on the Wii.  With this persitance he has lost 30+ pounds and two pants sizes.  Well with this information forwarded to the Philippines we have been approved to move forward with the adoption.  ICAB the philippine agency that approves adoptions has said our paperwork is good to go.  So we are officially waiting to be matched with a child.  The average wait right now is 20 to 30 months so we will see how it goes.  Thanks for your prayers.

Tip

Well, I have had a vase with a candle in the bottom of it for a long time.  I had almost concluded that I was going to have to throw it out.  You can't put it on the stove to melt or the microwave.  I couldn't light the wick.  I had tried chiseling it out nothing.  Well I thought I would try one more thing... and it worked. 

Take a quart canning jar fill it 3/4 full of water and microwave it till the water is boiling.  Then set vase down in it.  Five minutes later candle slid right out.

Once in a while I succeed.

Little Red Hen

Before I get started I "upgraded" the blog so you have to hit more to get all of the pictures.

Now to the story of the Little Red Hen...this is a story you have probably heard. The little red hen keeps asking people to help her and everyone kept saying no. So she and her chicks plant the corn, take care of it and then pick it and eat the good results. When the rest of the animals come and ask for some she says no.

 So as worked on corn we talked about this story.  Well everyone helped with this corn and we are enjoying the good eats.  Mom and Dad planted and all of us have picked it even the boys.  This is last Sunday.  The boys shucking corn and racing mommy and grandpop.  With the game they stuck with the job really well and didn't complain. 

 By the end they were doing great even getting the silk.  I was able to freeze almost 20 quarts of corns and 15 bags of small ears to cook later.

 Thanks to all the hens that helped.

Fruit Punch

I have been meaning to put this recipe up for sometime.  I was asked to bring punch to a school function in May and this was a hit.  Super easy.  It should be noted I got it from allrecipes on line and I used Passion/Orange sherbet from the schwan's. 

Fruit Punch
64 ounces fruit punch
64 ounces pineapple juice
2 liters ginger ale
1/2 gallon sherbet

Mix together everything but the sherbet scoop on top.  After ten minutes gently mix and serve.

First day of school

Andrew has been counting the days till school started.  He has a new teacher and a couple of new students.  He wanted to wear his new soccer shirt and take soup for lunch. 

What Do you do While you wait?

What do you do while you are waiting to adopt?

The magazines tell you to go ahead dream and do something. Some people fix up the nursery which we did a little. Some shop and others find something else to do as they wait. Well I am going to confess to something that I did with Aaron but didn't tell anyone and I have started doing with our 3rd. Andrew was super quick so I didn't do it with him. I let my hair grow out. This didn't mean that I didn't get it trimmed from time to time. After Aaron got home I got it chopped. I found it therapeutic. I was able to physically mark time. So I have begun again. I am not promising that I won't get frustrated at some point and just chop it off. So as I wait...it begins to grow again. This adoption is to be a slow process so I don't know when the time will come. But for me this is how I wait.

Zucchini - More Zucchini

We have zucchini everywhere. So in an effort to use some zucchini one night I created this. Andrew loves potato cakes and both boys like zucchini.

Zucchini Potato Cakes

1 medium to small zucchini shredded

1 packet of instant loaded mashed potato mix

1 cup of bread crumbs

Make instant potatoes according to directions. Stir in zucchini. Make into cakes and coat with bread crumbs. Fry until golden brown on both sides. Makes 8 large cakes.

Note: I have made potatoes with plain potatoes then just load them the way you like them. In the Barbee house than involves cheese. If no bread crumbs grab a little food processor and a couple slices of bread. Instant bread crumbs - season if you like.

Finally Aaron's Birthday Pictures

I am finally posting pictures from Aaron's birthday a month plus later. He wanted cupcakes this year so we went looking at pictures on the Internet and he liked these. They were very easy. Remove cupcake paper set on top of gummy worms and ice. I let the boys ice them and cut apart the gummy worms. If you want longer tentacles use whole gummy worms. Use candy or icing for the eyes.

This is the finished project.

Aaron loves cards but sometimes in the mdist of all the presents they get lost. So this year we had them open them first. He squealed with delight with each one and wanted them read.

We went swimming for Aaron's birthday.

And presents of course.

Summer

Yes we had a great vacation but most of the time has been spent at home. And as you can see from the pictures we are pretty low tech. Have done some Bible school and a little with the grandparents on both sides but overall just staying home. The slip n slide provides fun for both boys and cars.

Perry cooking marshmallows at a picnic.

Andrew helping make strawberry jelly.

Boys dressing themselves for church. Notice the ties.

Wrestling with Daddy.

Asking to wash cars.

I did make a camp run. I am tired but appreciate more how much work goes into this. Enjoying my garden. Life is about the simple things.

Our other adventures in vacation land

Well besides waterfalls we checked at the Crayola Factory at our friend Becky's suggestion. The boys loved it. Basically they show you how they make crayons and then let you play with all the other crayola products. Upstairs they have a kid friendly museum. We spent a good part of the day there. Here are the boys using chalk.

Glow in the dark pens.

The boys in the train at museum upstairs. Which was about the railroads and canals in Pennsylvania.

This moth took up residence at our condo door for a day. We saw deer, raccoons, birds and squirrels. It was nice to comeback to a place where there was room for the boys to move around. Grandpop took Andrew up to the little mini golf course every morning so we could sleep in. I could just hug him. Of course some serious swim time happened. That was the one thing my boys wanted to do.

We went back out to see Uncle Gabe one last time and checked out a children's museum and a park. The children's museum was a converted warehouse but they had done a nice job with the space they had. The boys had a good time.

Riding in the airplane.

There was a small train set. Musical instruments. Activities to try.

Andrew painting.