We are now THAT family…

Oh sure, our family’s been lots of things before.

But never THAT family.

Until Saturday that is.

We were at Costco.

Text book, right?

Did you know we have a Costco here?

It’s always packed.

With a bunch of old people.

Buying vitamins and oranges.

No offense.

But it’s always crazy busy.

Which is why I have no idea why we were there on a SATURDAY afternoon, of all days.

But, we were.

Buying flower bulbs.

Which is right by the jewelry counter.

The locked jewelry counter.

Which Spencer was ‘admiring’.

And was told repeatedly not to.

By us.

{And a member of the staff.}

{Text book, remember?}

So, apparently if you finagle the glass door just right and put a tiny three year old finger between the sliding panes….

The alarm goes off.

And it’s not really just a quiet, jewelry counter alarm.

It’s more like a prisoner has escaped and all of Costco should be made aware.

And lose all of their hearing.

At the same time.

Kind of alarm.

Well, the wardens employees with special keys were dispatched and sprinted {probably more exercise than they’d received in a while, let’s be honest} to our exact location.

Where they found a crying Spencer being lectured by a humiliated mother and father.

So embarrassing.

Spencer said sorry through a veil of tears and hiccups and was put in solitary in the cart.

And that, my friends, is how we became THAT family with THOSE kids.

Katie

I’m Back

It’s a good thing I don’t blog for monetary gain.

We’d be bankrupt.

But, thankfully, you’re a forgiving audience.

And will forget my almost six week absent.

{Probably because most of you are related to me.}

I actually have no idea how long it’s been.

I’ve also been gone gone.

On a trip to Ohio.

With Bryce.

For like 12 days.

By ourselves.

Without kids.

A-lone.

For our 11th year anniversary.

{We were supposed to have gone for our 10th, but someone got pregnant and had a baby and really complicated the whole thing.  Seriously.  Rude.}

We went antiquing.

Bryce says a cruise would have been cheaper.

But not as fun.

For sure.

And now we have like 50 souvenirs to remember the experience.

I’m debating about how to share the finds.

My mom wants me to take pictures of every individual item.

Which would be a long post with a lot of pictures taken by an inferior photographer.

I’m kinda leaning towards taking pictures of the items as I utilize them.

So…what do you think?

Also, Bennett turned one!

{Only some of you will get the significance of this sign…}

Katie

Tomato Soup And Fresh Peach Pie

This tomato soup came from Bryce’s cousin’s wife’s mom.

I never remember the exact quantities when I’m at the grocery store, so mine isn’t always ‘by the book’.

Canned Tomato Soup

1/2 bushel tomatoes (30 little)

4 onions

1 celery bundle

2 green peppers

Cook for 1 hour, then strain.

In a smaller, separate pan combine:

1 cube butter

1/2 C flour

Mix together then add 2 C soup

Pour into pot of soup with 1/4 C salt and 1 C sugar

Return to boiling, and cook till slightly thickened.

When I made mine on Thursday I had two enormous pots of skinned tomatoes.  I added 11 little onions, 4 green peppers and 2 celery bundles.  I made a roué with 2 cups of butter and 2 cups of flour and added 4 cups of soup, then added 1/2 c of salt and 1 1/2 cups of sugar.  I like my soup a little thicker, so I let it cook down a little bit more before I make the roué.

If canning, process for 10 minutes in water bath.

Peach Glace Pie

1 Baked Pastry Shell

6 cups sliced, peeled peaches

2/3 C sugar

2 T corn starch

For glaze, in a blender combine 1 C peaches and 2/3 C water.  Cover and blend till smooth.  Add enough additional water to make 1 1/2 cups.  In medium saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch, stir in blended peach mixture.  Cook and stir over medium heat till thickened and bubbly.  Cook and stir two minutes more.  Cool 10 minutes without stirring.

Spread 1/4 C of glaze over bottom and sides of baked pastry shell.  Arrange 1/2 of peaches in pastry.

Carefully spoon 1/2 of the remaining glaze over peaches, covering all peaches.  Arrange remaining peaches over first layer.  Spoon remaining glaze over peaches, covering all.  Chill 1 – 2 hours.  (After 2 hours, filling may begin to water out.)

Serve with whipped cream!

(Can also substitute peaches for six cups medium fresh strawberries.)

Have a good weekend!

Katie

It’s Still Summer

The kids and I tried our hands at oven made raisins.

Fail.

Except Bennett liked them.

Apparently he has a very sophisticated pallet.

The kids did puff paint.

Notice Meg’s shorter hair – she found a lonely pair of scissors and she just couldn’t resist….

And so.many.tomatoes.  That one on the right is a normal size tomato.  The one on the left is almost the size of Bennett’s head.

 

We heard about this cool old covered bridge with a fun river running under it.

So we packed a picnic and checked it out.

The water was freeeezzzing.

But still so much fun.

I’ve been busy canning pears, tomato soup, tomato sauce, pickles, raspberry jam, sewing here and there {finally managed to get two quilt tops quilted and bound, two years later} and as always - lovingly nurturing my growing children.

Which I’m awesome at.

And as a result, Bryce received this little gem at work today:

Dear Bryce,

I think you should know that I just locked your son in the bathroom.

Using the old 'prop the chair under the door knob technique'.

Because he decided to poop and pee in the shower.

Instead of using the toilet.

Which is exactly 24 inches from the shower.

Katie

{I let him out after he had gotten his mess cleaned up, justsoyouknow.}

And finally, my friend took these pictures after book club of the grape arbor at night.

Hope you had a good weekend.

Katie

I’m Really Terrible About Posting in the Summer

So here’s what you’ve missed:

Adeline turned 7 and wanted me to make her a quilt for her birthday.

With flannel.

In July.

 

Bennett discovered blackberries.

And loves them.

His bum?

Not so much.

My wild flowers in my garden are doing awesome so we’ve been able to enjoy some really pretty bouquets.

Elizabeth and Adeline play Legos every single day.

I bought this homemade rug at an estate sale.

Bryce bought this Antiques sign for me when he was out of town on business.

{He’s the best.}

He doesn’t love it here.

But I like it, I just think it needs something underneath.

Ideas?

I’ve been picking a lot of this stuff.

And freezing it so I can bottle it when it’s not so hot.

Which feels like never.

I also bought another kitchen scale at an estate sale.

Total number?

A lot.

I also finally got around to painting this project.

I had purchased the table in Colorado, about six years ago.

And hauled it around a couple of states.

Until I decided to do something with it.

So one day I sanded it.

And minutes later

it tipped over and one of the legs broke.

I have lots of other ironic projects, too.

I bought the chairs at a garage sale last year and just spray painted them with some left over cans.

It turned out pretty cute.

And I’ve also been doing a ton of this.

So, in conclusion, I’m busy but never seem to get anything accomplished.

Which, I’m pretty sure, makes me just like every other person out there.

Katie

Guest Posting

I’m guest posting over at my very talented sister-in-law’s blog today: Get Your Crap Together.

I’m as surprised as you to think she asked me.

On purpose.

Here's how to get there.

Katie

How To Not Travel Through Eastern Oregon

I love my family.

I do.

Which is why, every single year, I go visit them.

And travel through the desolation know as eastern Oregon.

People who think the world is over populated have never driven those sorry stretches of state high ways.

I mean, it’s pretty barren.

Which is exactly why I was pluggin’ along {going roughly 30 miles over the speed limit} earlier in July.

And also why I got pulled over.

In Christmas Valley.

Actual name.

Actually as lame as the name implies.

I had just driven through the center of town.

And by center of town I mean I rolled through it’s one stop sign and glanced at the one store. 

And I picked up speed. 

And then quickly slowed down as I saw the Sheriff that had just passed me make a U-turn and flip on its lights.

Officer: Hello.

Me: Hi.

Officer:  Do you know how fast you were going?

Me: Yes, sir.  I was going 60.

Officer:  Did you know it was 35 mph?

Me:  Are you kidding me?  I thought it was 55 mph.  {I really, and truly, thought I had hit the sign that said 55.}

Officer:  Nope.  It doesn’t turn to 55 mph till that sign right back there.

Me.  I’m sorry, I had no idea.

Officer:  Where are you headed?

Me:  Idaho.

Officer:  What for?

Me:  To see my family for the 4th of July.

Officer:  I’m from Orofino.

Me:  Are you really?  That’s such a nice area.  {Never been there in my life.}

Officer:  And a guy I trained and is now my friend is working in Meridian.

Me:  That’s amazing.  I grew up in that area.

Officer takes my license and registration.

Officer:  Normally I would ticket anyone that was going 25 miles over the speed limit…..

Me:  I can understand that.

Officer:  Ten over the speed limit…?  Wouldn’t have even batted an eye.  Twenty-five over the speed limit…?

Me:  Totally different story.

Officer:  But I’m letting you off with a warning.

Me:  {Obnoxiously thankful}

Officer begins to walk away and comes back:  I’m also letting you off because you only have one more kid than me!

Thank you, Officer

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And on the way home…

we got to see this beauty:

How you might ask?

Because our tire had shredded.

Forty miles on the east side of Christmas Valley.

And we weren’t breaking 50 mph.

Driving with a spare tire.

Which we had no idea we had in our car.

{P.S. it wasn’t in the trunk.  Discovered only after we had unloaded all of the luggage for seven people coming home from a week long trip to Idaho in 100 degree weather on a deserted highway.}

The trip home took two hours longer than normal.

I love you, family,

so much, that I’m letting you come visit me from now on….

Katie