Special Time

I have very much enjoyed the past few days with two kiddos at home. Madeline feels special to be the oldest child in the house. She feels so grown up to be able to go on outings with me while "the other guys" are at school. Although I was sad to see B & A start school and be away from me, I find that I am cherishing the time I have to spend with the littler ones. Here is my attempt to capture some of our fun moments:

First day of school

How bittersweet to see my little ones growing up. We had a fun morning preparing for the day that's been talked about for months. How strange it seems for me to have a second grader AND a kindergartner. Looking forward to a great year!

Summer comes to a close

Next week marks our last week of summer before the school schedule begins again. What a relaxing, joyful summer we've had. We've spent our last days of summer with some good old fashioned fun...

Caleb loved playing in the laundry basket:

He also tried his hand at the piano:

Brendan enjoyed many weeks of good reading. Here are his favorites from the summer:

While sorting through some of our stuffed toys we discovered Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. We read the accompanying stories and reminisced about my days as a little girl playing with these dolls. I am surprised and delighted to find that my children enjoy playing with them as much as I did.

Favorite Cookbook

I use this cookbook several times a week and so many of our staple meals come from it that I thought it deserved a post of its own:


The authors of the book tested hundreds of varied recipes for the same dish and after significant taste-testing, display their list of the very best. Our favorite recipes therein: homemade pizza dough, banana bread, Indian crock pot curry, beef stroganoff, quick cinnamon rolls, philly cheese steaks, bake sale brownies, pasta carbonara, and on and on.