One day last week (I can’t remember which day, I was working) SuperMan and the girls went strawberry picking.

It was a beautiful sunny day – although you can’t really tell it here in these pictures.  Just warm enough but not so hot that it was unpleasant outside.

They had a great time picking the berries and then when they came home, Big Girl washed the berries and they trimmed the tops and put them in the freezer for us to enjoy later.

The berries were tiny, but so sweet. Little Bit ate them like candy after they had been cleaned.

My girls are getting so big – their faces are changing – and their little bodies are getting so long and lean.  My babies are growing up so fast!!

Are you?

It’s a great way to wind down at the end of a busy day – especially when SuperMan is watching something on TV that I don’t care about.

I feel like Johnny Five when I’m browsing – “Input! Input!”

So, I thought I’d share some of my more recent pins – things that got me thinking about how I could do them myself:

• LOVE this vertical garden. I was thinking how neat it would be to do your herbs this way – especially if you are limited in outdoor/deck space.
• And I’ve always wanted to make a terrarium and for some reason lately I’ve had a hankering to make a succulent garden. I may have to give this a try once school’s out and the kids need an afternoon project.
• I’ve developed a love of Mediterranean food and Thai food and I’m now obsessed with finding recipes to make these delicacies at home – like these falafel wraps, chicken tikka masala, coconut curry chicken,  and Thai fried noodles.
• Some Project Life inspiration – here and here and here and some journal card bonanza!
• I’m making this pasta salad for lunch today – I’ll let you know how it tastes.

What are your favorite things you’ve pinned lately?

Please share! I’d love to see!

Hope your week is treating you well – so far so good for us here.

It’s time for another update on my Project Life pages…

A little background

This year, I’m doing my Project Life album digitally. I’m using Creative Memories’ Storybook Creator software and Becky Higgins’ Turquoise Edition (for the most part)  I’ve also purchased these nifty little overlays that allow my pages to look like true pocket pages (I’m loving them).

I’m planning to print my pages as a book – hopefully, it will all fit in one volume and take up less space on the shelf than the 2009, 2010, 2011 & 2012 versions which are 2 volumes (2 3” binders) each!

This week’s pages

Journaling reads:

We spent Spring Break at Mom’s house.  SuperMan came down for the weekend and then went back to work at Plant Jack for a shutdown. While we were shopping at Sam’s they had beautiful strawberries so we decided to teach the girls to make strawberry jam. We had such fun making it and by the time we were finished, we’d already had offers from friends to purchase the fruits of the girls’ labors!

And the right side:

Journaling reads:

A fun week and weekend ~ On Saturday SuperMan, Big Girl and I went to River Street for a few hours. We ate lunch at Spanky’s and walked along the river like tourists. On Sunday, the girls hunted for the eggs they’d dyed the day before ~ bittersweet as this might be the last Easer Egg Hunt they decide to do (they’re growing up!) The silly pictures I found on my phone after we got home ~ that’s what I get for letting them “play” on my phone while we are waiting in the restaurants. Later in the week, Big Girl and I got pedicures ~ her first since her surgery. Overall, a very relaxing and pleasant Spring Break week.

More pages coming soon – I’m on a roll!!

Related articles

• Project Life Tuesday ~ 14 May 13 (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
• Project Life Tuesday ~ 6 May 13 (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
• 2013 Project Life 365 :: Week 15 (xnomads.typepad.com)

FOUR MORE DAYS

ONLY

FOUR.

MORE.

DAYS.

I can hardly wait!!

Four more days until the girls are out of school for the summer.

It’s almost like we’re “on hold” right now, waiting for the 24th to arrive.  Even though the next week or two after that won’t exactly be slowing down, there’s that milestone looming for us, and mentally, it’s pretty much our sole focus right now.

Once we get past school, we’ve got the holiday weekend, dance rehearsals & recitals and then my annual trip to HQ for work, which means “Ammi Camp” for the girls.  So, the next four weeks or so are busy ones.  But just being over the hurdle of school (and those early-morning wakeup calls) will be major for us.

SuperMan has a busy week this week, too, so I’m planning easy things for dinner for us – less stress and less mess. Always a good thing.

Here’s what’s on our menu plan:

What’re you planning this week?

Related articles

• Mother’s Day, Menu Planning and Counting Down to Summertime (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)

Amish Cinnamon Bread was what the recipe was called, but then she talked about how it was an alternative recipe to traditional Amish cinnamon bread which, apparently takes a long time to make.
I have to say, this one didn’t take long at all.

And it was really, really good.

Most definitely worth the trouble to make.  And, really, it wasn’t that much trouble anyway.

As you can see here, the recipe makes two LARGE loaves.  As a matter of fact, next time I make it I will probably make three loaves.  See the “overflow” in the oven there?  It was like the incredible alien-possessed bread when it baked.

It rose

and it rose

and it rose

all over my oven.

So, a word of caution to you. Put a cookie sheet under your loaf pans when you bake this.

And maybe consider putting into three loaf pans instead of two.  Makes good gift-giving.

The bread itself is very light and fluffy. Almost cake-like. But not too sweet. Just enough. Especially with a cup of tea in the morning (or coffee).

I think, too, it would be good to make in muffin form to have for easier sharing for a crowd.

Of course, this is so good you are not going to want to share. But there will be plenty so share away.

Cinnamon Bread

Makes 2 or 3 loaves

Batter:

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups buttermilk
( You can make buttermilk with 2 C milk + 2 Tbsp vinegar or lemon juice. - Let it sit for about 5 minutes before you use it.)
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda

Cinnamon/sugar mixture:

1 cup sugar
2-3 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Cream together butter, 2 cups of sugar, and eggs.
2. Add milk, flour, and baking soda.
3. Put 1/2 of batter (or a little less) into greased loaf pans (1/4 in each pan).
   If you are making 3 loaves, split the half of the batter between the three loaf pans, reserving the other half for the next step.
4. In a separate bowl, mix cinnamon and sugar together.
5. Sprinkle 3/4 of cinnamon mixture on top of the batter in each pan.
6. Add remaining batter to pans; sprinkle with remainder of cinnamon sugar mixture.
7. Swirl with a knife.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 min. or until toothpick tester comes clean.
   Be sure to put cookie sheets below the loaf pans in case you have some overflow.
9. Cool in pan for 20 minutes before removing from pan.
   (this is important or it will fall apart. this is not a bread you can eat straight out of the oven)
10. Slice & serve.

I finished this book a month or so ago, but I find myself thinking about the storyline over and over again.

If you’ve ever read any books by Elizabeth Peters, like Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody #1), you may find this one a little bit similar. Set in the same time period – the 1920’s – and in the same area – Egypt – I found it reminding me in some ways of Peters’ novels. But other than the era and the geography, they are nowhere near the same novels.

Dreamers of the Day: A Novel features a young woman who has always been the “ugly duckling” in her family. Never smart enough, beautiful enough or anything enough for her mother, she is forever in her sister’s shadow.  Agnes is a dutiful girl and cares for her nagging, overbearing mother while teaching school throughout the Great War.

As she loses family to influenza and wartime, Agnes suddenly finds herself completely alone – without the responsibilities of caring for others and a nice little nest egg.  She decides, after attending a session about Egypt, to take off to explore and learn more.

She prepares for the trip and meets a few memorable characters along the way, including Mildred a shop girl at a department store (whose boyfriend, I suspect, was the comedian Bob Hope).  Mildred helps Agnes begin to come out of her shell, in spite of her mother’s voice ringing her unworthiness in her mind.

Agnes is ready to leave. Ready to learn more about the world beyond Cleveland, Ohio.

What she learns more about, however, is herself – and how to be herself.   She arrives at the Semiramis Hotel in Cairo just as the Peace Talks of 1921 are beginning.  She becomes enmeshed with the dignitaries and powers-that-be who are carving up the spoils of war, befriending none other than Winston Churchill, T.E. Lawrence and, somewhat, Lady Gertrude Bell.

As she hovers around the periphery of these world-altering talks, Agnes befriends Karl Weilbacher, a German spy.  She struggles with deciding whether he wants to be with her for her or whether he is using her to gather information about the Peace Talks – and whether or not she really cares.

Rosie, her faithful dachshund keeps her company, and Agnes forever hears the warring voices of Mildred and her mother as her “voices on her shoulder.”

The story is engrossing and colorful, full of rich details that take you right into Egypt in the 1920’s.  It is interesting to watch Agnes blossom as she tells her story – learning how to become her own person, think her own thoughts, and make up her own mind.

As I finished the book, I just had to research further the history – to know how things wound up with the Peace Talks and what happened to Lawrence of Arabia.  As I re-read my history, the characters seemed that much more realistic, thanks to Russell’s characterizations and storytelling.

I’ve been reading another of her books and hope to share that one with you, too, soon.

As for the bottom line here, I’d most definitely recommend this story to you. It’s a great read and one that will definitely keep you entertained throughout. It’s not a vapid, cotton-candy kind of book, but rather one that makes you think and engages your mind as it whisks you away to another time and place.

Related articles

• Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters (librarygirlreads.blogspot.com)

Hope your week is treating you well – so far so good for us here. It’s time for another update on my Project Life pages…

A little background

This year, I’m doing my Project Life album digitally. I’m using Creative Memories’ Storybook Creator software and Becky Higgins’ Turquoise Edition (for the most part)  I’ve also purchased these nifty little overlays that allow my pages to look like true pocket pages (I’m loving them).

I’m planning to print my pages as a book – hopefully, it will all fit in one volume and take up less space on the shelf than the 2009, 2010, 2011 & 2012 versions which are 2 volumes (2 3” binders) each!

This week’s pages

The journaling reads:

Spring is springing and one of the ways we can tell is that, for the first time ever, the farmer has transformed the hay bales into bunny rabbits! We are so excited. * One of our new traditions is homemade pizzas on Friday nights * My latest snack obsession are these “protein bites” that are made from oatmeal, honey, peanut butter and coconut. They are SO good. * My latest crochet project is this beautiful afghan I’m hoping to make for the living room.

And the right side page:

Top journaling:

Taking advantage of his time off of work, Rob decided to paint for me. He spent the better part of the week painting the foyer, kitchen, stairs and landing. My SuperMan!

Bottom journaling:

Very interesting fortune cookie at dinner and even funnier text with my boss the next day ~ hee hee!

Love my little one’s Visitor’s Day at dance – one of the highlights of the year. I love to see how much progress she’s made since the beginning of the year – and then again between Visitor’s Day and recital day two months later.

What about you?

How are your Project Life pages coming along?

Related articles

• Project Life Tuesday ~ 6 May 13 (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
• Project life Tuesday (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
• Project Life (thegoodlife.typepad.com)
• Project Life Tuesday (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
• 2013 Project Life 365 :: Week 15 (xnomads.typepad.com)
• Project Life 2013 (confettiandink.wordpress.com)

I hope those of you who are mothers (by nature or by heart) had a terrific day and were spoiled and pampered by your families.  We had a nice day here.

SuperMan and the girls gave me some beautiful plants ~ a fern and hibiscus for my back deck ~ and some very sweet cards that were made with lots of love and care by them.  I also got the devotional that I’ve been eyeing for a long time – very excited about digging into that one.

Little Bit made the cutest things for me at school:

LOVE the answers she put – especially #10, #12 and #4.  A Spa Day at Disney World – so cute! And #7 – I guess she forgets that I do that for work! LOL

Here’s a shot of the three of us girls that SuperMan took yesterday -

And moving on to Menu Planning and back to the real world, here’s what we have planned this week:

What’s on your menu for the week?

We’re also counting down the days until Summer Break – 10 and counting. We can hardly wait!!!

Related articles

• Menu Plan Monday (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)

SuperMan got some great action shots -

First, there was the mud course (apparently)

And then the marble moving race (?)

That nasty water gives me the heebie-jeebies…

Then they moved on to the very large, oversized ring toss

And your traditional relay races – the sack race and egg race
(except in this case it was a golf ball and not an egg – a fact about which the boys were reported to be extremely disappointed.)

More fun – not quite sure about this one with the baseball bat – apparently she was supposed to spin around three times with her forehead on the bat and then run back to the group?  I told her that I would’ve fallen on my face if I’d tried that one.

Hula hoopin’

And her favorite activity of the day – the Tug o’War. I think it is because she gets to use those oh-so-strong dancer’s legs and annihilate the boys. (that’s my girl!)

Look at that determination!

I bet she will sleep good tonight.  What do you think?

Cooking a batch of shredded beef burritos in the crock pot. They smell SO good right now.

Listening to SuperMan shampooing the carpets for me. I’m such a lucky girl to have a man who spoils me so.

Nibbling on some almonds and dried cranberries – my new favorite snack.

Counting down the days until school is out. 12, if you are wondering. I think I’m just as excited as the girls.

Planning my annual trip to California for work and hoping the flights are not too wretched. I miss the days of frequent flyer perks, even if I don’t miss the days of frequent flying.

Looking forward to my garden giving us some yummy foods this summer.

Enjoying the time we have at home with SuperMan between big work projects (and hoping it’s not too long-lived)

Reading Angelology ~ devouring it is more like what I’m doing. It’s really engrossing.

What are you up to these days?