Cherry Coffee Cake

Since I first made this recipe years ago it has been a favorite of mine.   The recipe came from a cookbook that was made at my Mom's place of employment that she gave us when we first got married.   This cake is moist and delicious and stays good for days.  The only change I've made over the years is substituting greek yogurt for the original sour cream.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour                                               2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. baking powder                                 1 cup greek yogurt
1 tsp. soda                                                1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sugar                                               1 can Cherry Pie Filling
1 cup butter

Crumb Topping:
1/2 cup sugar                                            2 T. melted butter
1/2 cup flour

1-  Whisk flour, baking powder, soda, and sugar together.

2-  Cut butter into mixture until crumbs form.

3-  Add eggs, yogurt and vanilla.  Mix well.  The batter will be very stiff.

4-  Spread half of batter in the bottom of a greased 13 x 9 inch pan.  I use a little over half for this layer.

5-  Spoon the cherry pie filling over the top.  Then spread evenly with the back of the spoon, covering the bottom layer.

6-  Drop spoonfuls of the remaining batter on top of cherries.  Using two forks, spread the batter over the cherries.  You can leave some cherry showing through.

7-  Mix the crumb topping.  I usually melt the butter in a small bowl, then add the sugar and flour.  Stir with a fork until mixed well.

8-  Sprinkle crumbs over the cake.

9-  Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

Printable Recipe

Deviled Eggs

After coloring easter eggs, there is only one logical thing to make ... deviled eggs!  These are a favorite in our family.  I know that many different deviled egg recipes exist, but mine is slightly sweet.  The recipe was developed from combining two recipes from a church cookbook I have from when we first got married, along with a little tip received by my Grandma.  We love these eggs, and we dare you to eat just one.

Ingredients:

6 hard cooked eggs
1 tsp mustard
1/4 cup miracle whip
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
sugar to taste
1 T. butter, melted

Cut your eggs in half, removing the yolk and placing in a bowl.  Place each half of egg white onto a platter or egg holder.

Mash yolks with fork until there are no longer any lumps.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.   I usually add 1/2-3/4 T. of sugar, but we like them pretty sweet.  You can use less or more sugar to your taste.

I then place a spoonful of yolk mixture into the hole of each egg half.  If you want to get fancy, you can pipe them full.

Printable

Josiah is 11!!

Josiah turned 11 today!

 

He's funny.

He loves football.

His favorite team is the Bears.

He loves video games.

He never stops moving.

He's sweet and thoughtful.

He hates anything involving work ... including school.

He likes to golf.

He likes to play basketball.

His favorite food is Moroccan Lamb (he had it at Disney).

His favorite song is still "Moves Like Jagger".

His favorite TV show is Adventure Time.

He sometimes runs his mouth when he shouldn't.

He's a homebody.

He makes life more fun.

He's 11!

Wordless Wednesday - Super Egg Hunting

Organizing Under the Bathroom Sink

Our Master Bathroom sink is very small and we have little storage.  I was not utilizing the area under the sink at all.  It was a disaster most of the time, with everything just thrown in haphazardly.   The small area limited what I could do, but I had a small lidded container that fit one third of the space perfectly.

My embarrassingly messy BEFORE.

So, I made a quick trip to Walmart and picked up 4 more.  They fit my space perfectly.  Although, they aren't pretty, they are functional.  I accidently got the wrong lids for three of them (that's what I get for trying to shop with kids!), so I need to exchange those for the correct sizes.  

A place for everything ... and everything in it's place.

Easter Egg Hunt

Yesterday we had our annual Easter Egg Hunt at my Mom and Dad's .  Here are a few pictures.

All 14 grandkids.

Best Friends - Sarah and Reuben

Sarah

Caleb

Jada

Rachel

Josiah

Alex

Joe, Micah and Shad put an egg on the ground for Alex to find ... he took off on a run!

I meant to get a picture of my six altogether, but they were to busy to be corralled long enough. 

Coloring Easter Eggs

Yesterday, we did our annual Easter Egg coloring.  

Alex

Sarah

Josiah

Caleb

Rachel

Jada

I didn't notice at first, but look closely at what Alex is doing in this picture.

And here's what he thought about it!

From years past:
    
   
                2011                             2010                                            2009

                                 
                       2007

Wordless Wednesday - Curls

Waiting for Spring's Return

Here in Indiana, we've just been blanketed in another layer of snow.  Spring has forgotten us.  It feels like it will be winter forever.  One of the things I love about living here is the change of seasons.   When it's time for the next season, I'm ready for it to move on!  Each season brings its own set of sights, sounds, and feelings.

Spring.  Life bursting forth before our very eyes.  Renewal.  Hope.  Spring breaths life into our very souls.  A reminder of  the constant renewal given to us by our Father in Heaven.  Though we may seem dead, through His forgiveness, we can have new life.  A life filled with beauty.  A precious gift from a loving God.

Spring holds such a special place in my heart ... year after year.  It marks the passage of time by reminding of the hope I have.   Showing me that God is faithful, even when it feels like he's forgotten us.  Sometimes I really need that reminder.

I'm waiting and dreaming that you will return to us ... soon!

Week in Review - Weeks 26 & 27

The last two weeks have gone pretty well.  One of the biggest events of the 2 weeks was Sarah celebrating her 4th birthday.  She had to have a pink cake!

We've finished the first 2 weeks of Sonlight's Core F and we're enjoying it for the most part.  I don't think the kids are enjoying the Encyclopedia, and I wish there was a "spine" book in addition to (or in place of?) the encyclopedia.  We're loving our first Read Aloud - Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.        All 4 kids have read Li Lun, Lad of Courage and Silkworms.  The older three also read God's Adventurer.

We've been reading through John.  We take turns reading verses aloud, which is a great way for the kids to practice reading aloud and a bit of "public" speaking.  Math is still going well ... they all four do their math without complaints.  We also have restarted  All About Spelling (Jada is about to finish level 1, and Joe and Rachel are both in level 2).  We're also working our way through Writing with Ease (Jada in Level 1, Rachel just starting level 2, and Joe about to finish level 2).  Now that we have Math under control it is much easier to get to these subjects that were getting skipped.

For Science, Caleb has been studying Simple Machines.   The other three have learned at about our atmosphere and about atmospheric pressure.  We finished up our week this week by making a barometer.  I had trouble finding a clear straw, so we used a white one instead.  We also had a lot of trouble keeping gum on hand to use for our project!  Every time we'd buy some, a couple of little ones (who shall remain nameless, LOL) would chew it up.  (In their defense, I think they probably had some help from the older kids).

Our pathetic barometer.  We're expecting some weather changes this weekend - so we'll see how it works!

For Sarah and Alex, we're reading a book through the week and doing activities to go along with it  ... kind of Five in A Row style.    Last week we read Don't let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.  This book is a fun one for kids!  We kept things pretty simple last week.  We acted out the story, with each one taking a turn being the Pigeon and begging to drive.  We also made an adorable handprint pigeon that I found on Pinterest.   I didn't have that color of paint - so I mixed green, white and blue until I got a color that was close. Sarah made a really cute one (and I love that it's her handprint - I may just have to frame it!).  When I stuck Alex's hand in the paint, he freaked out and tried to wipe the paint off on his pants.  Needless to say, we didn't end up with a handprint pigeon from him.   We also sung "Wheels on the Bus" and watched a movie of "Wheels on the Bus" on Netflix.

Sarah's Pigeon

This week, we read If You Give a Moose a Muffin.   We made very simple sock puppets.  They both loved these and have played with them all week.   I just hot glued two wiggly eyes onto the sock.  You could obviously be much more elaborate with these, but my two didn't seem to mind the simplicity.
We also made muffins.  Sarah chose pumpkin muffins, and we made enough to not only for a snack, but also for our poetry tea on Friday morning.   Sarah and Alex each ate 6 or 7 mini muffins, so I think they were happy with the handiwork!  I looked for printables to go along with the book, but couldn't  find anything,  so I decided to make my own.  I made Muffin Counting, where she had to count out the number of muffins on the moose.  I also made some sequencing cards to practice sequencing.

 

Sarah enjoying her muffin.

Sarah's Sock Puppet

Alex trying to figure out his Sock Puppet.

Muffin Counting.

Sequencing.

Sarah cutting and pasting.

Make Your Own Chalkboard

When Aaron and I first got married, we inherited a bedroom suite from his parents.  It included a bed, dresser and mirror.   Over the years, we moved up from that full bed to a queen and then to our current king.  The mirror continued to hang on our wall.  Then, the mirror broke at some point.  We stuck it out in our shed.  

I thought a chalkboard would be perfect in the short hall leading to the nursery.  Then, I remembered that broken mirrror.  I decided I would try to remake the mirror into a chalkboard.  This was my first attempt at a furniture "makeover".   I painted the frame white (it was an oak color, before).  Then, I just painted the cardboard insert with several layers of chalkboard paint.   A perfect chalkboard!

I added a few buckets from the dollar spot at Target to hold the chalk.  A perfect place to be creative!

My Desk Area

Our living room has a dead corner where the hallway, dining room, and living room all meet.  Over the years we've tried different pieces of furniture in this area.  Last year, I decided I really needed to have a desk area.  I needed a place to organize, plan, and blog.

So, I turned that dead corner into my little area.   I bought my "desk" at ikea, when Aaron and I made our first trip there last fall.  It's actually a small table with leaves that pop out.  I just keep the leaves in, and it makes a perfect desk.  I used the step stool Caleb made for 4H last year to store a few more books on the floor.  The red case on the floor was from Hobby Lobby and holds various papers, notebooks and my hole punch and paper trimmer.

 

I have an organizer which holds file folders and other various papers.  Even though it's often cluttered, I still love my little corner.

Soft Pretzels

My family (except for one) loves soft pretzels.   I found this recipe several years ago online.  My family likes them better that Auntie Anne's or even Jo Jo's (a local pretzel place).

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups warm water                                  2 cups flour
1 T. yeast                                                    
1/4 cup brown sugar                                     1/2 cup baking soda mixed into 3 cups hot water
2 cups bread flour

1 - Dissolve yeast into warm water.

2 - Add sugar, then flour.  Mix well.

3 - Let rise until doubled, at least 20 minutes.

4 - Make pretzels.  I made pretzels during summers in college, so I've made a video of my technique.  You can just form them into a pretzel shape, though.

5 - Dip the pretzels in baking soda solution.

6 - Place on a GREASED (don't forget this part like I occasionally do!) cookie sheet.   At the shop I worked at in college we used non-stick baking sheet liners, so you can use those as well.  I think that's why I forget to grease them ... I didn't have to when I made them all those years ago.

7 - Sprinkle with pretzel salt.  I use Morton's Kosher coarse salt.

8 - Bake at 500-550 degrees F for 4-6 minutes.   A very hot oven is very important for making soft pretzels!

9 - Once they come out of the oven, dip them in melted butter.   They taste fine without this step, if you're wanting to keep the calories down.  Of course, they taste even better with the butter!

We usually serve ours with cheese sauce or honey mustard.   You can also dip them in cinnamon sugar for a sweet snack!  We have snacky things for dinner on Sunday nights, and this has become the favorite Sunday night meal at our house.

Sarah is 4!!

It's hard to believe that my baby girl is now four!!

She's smart.

She's sweet.

She's loving.

She loves playing with her big sisters.

She loves playing with her little brother.

She loves mermaids.  She wanted to be one when she grew up earlier this year, but now she says she's old enough to be one.

She loves princesses.

She loves to do puzzles.

Pink is her favorite color.

She loves wearing dresses - sundresses especially - I have trouble keeping her in warm clothes in the winter.

Her favorite TV show is Team Umizoomi.

Her favorite foods are macaroni and cheese and broccoli

When she grows up she wants to be 14.

She is outgoing, yet can get overwhelmed in new situations.

She is funny and super silly.

She loves to cuddle.

She still sucks her two fingers.

She lights up our lives and makes us laugh every day.

I asked her at the end of the day if she had a good birthday.   She thought for a second and then replied, "Ehhh.  It was all right."  So I asked her what wasn't good.  She replied, "I only got one pink candle on my birthday cake."   Two greens, one yellow, and one pink candle ... the way to ruin a birthday!  

    See how she's grown, changed and stayed the same:  Three, Two, One, Brand New