Little Incredible Boys

Pictures from our wonderful family vacation-

A son will make Love Stronger

Days shorter

Nights longer

Bankroll smaller

Home Happier

Clothes Shabbier

The past forgotten

and

The Future worth living for!

-Author Unknown

An Amazing Game of Mini Golf

"We find a delight in the Beauty and Happiness of

  children that makes the Heart too big for the body."__ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our joy was made complete this weekend when we were able to

steal our little nephew, Brayden (alias, "lightning") away for

a nice long game of Mni-Golf.

Random Scribbles from Mommy's hands

Just thought I'd post this for my sister... I designed a new herb garden for her, and we

put the garden in this past July in her backyard while I was in Pennsylvania.

I plan to duplicate it in my side yard next spring.

I love the idea of an Italian Herb Garden.

Herbs are the easiest edible plants to grow, need little water, and are so useful, and HEALTHY!

Growing herbs is a wonderful hobby for mothers, mothers-to-be, or even young women. I have been studying the use of common herbs for a few years, and have grown many herbs in my "Dooryard" garden (a garden outside the kitchen door, a british term).   Last week, we were playing out in the yard with our lovely four year old neighbor girl.  The bees were busily pollinating everything, and she stepped on a red wasp.  Screaming and holding her foot, Popcorn rushed to her side, and called to me.  When she told us she had been stung, my son frantically started running to the back corner of the yard, chanting, "Plantain...I need Plantain!"  He pulled some of the herb (weed) up and began tearing it in his hands.  He ran over and placed the green shredded mess on his little friend's foot.  Shortly thereafter, her cries about the stinging pain were subdued.  We had read earlier this summer that Plaintain was used by the early indians for wound healing and "de-stinging" properties.  I was surprized and happy that the informantion had rubbed off and "stuck" in my boy's mind.  Perhaps young popcorn will become an amature herbalist like his mother after all!

Fast food: "McBlackberries"

The last of the Blackberries are harvested.

Here is one very speedy way of squelching hunger pangs, while

nourishing the body in a wonderfully delightful way

 (with tons of anti-oxidants included).

I love this for a mid morning snack.

Mike eats it for breakfast.

Popcorn eats this whenever he is hungry.

A little midmoring snack for the lady of the house

Simple Recipe for Dawn's McBlackberries

(one has to give them a perky name, after all, to get the kids to consider eating them!)

1/2 cup blackberries, straight off the bush, washed thouroughly

1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese (organic preferred)

1 tablespoon sugar

Place Blackberries and cottage cheese in a bowl,

sprinkle with sugar,

Eat!

High Tech Outdoors

Our family went for a "last weekend before school starts" boat ride

on the Little Red river this past Saturday. 

This was a photo of a scene on the river bank.

Someone was Camping out High Tech-like, we suppose!

Scripture Memorization at Blueberry Cottage

This summer Mike and I set a goal for each member of our family to learn

a key verse of scripture for each letter of the

Alphabet.  I wrote them on "sheep" and tacked them up in the Toy Room

for daily review by all.  Of course, Our Son out-memorized both

of us!  They say those young brain cells are like sponges, and I believe it!

The Scriptures really are helpful in daily struggles and discipline.

I challenge any mom to do the same with their little ones!

They pop into my mind at the most wonderful times!

The Word of God truly is alive and useful!

Treasures

These are Popcorns's favorite animals presently.

He begs us to take our next family vacation in Antartica.

He asked me to post this photo of his collection of Penguins on our blog.

Calzone- using a great pizza dough recipe

Homemade Pizza Crust

Makes 2 Medium Crusts, or one extra large crust
4-6 servings-(at about 67 cents per batch)

2 ¼ teasp. Yeast, or 1 envelope active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (100-110 degrees)
2 ½ - 3 cups all purpose flour, divided
¾ teasp. Salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil

In a mixing bowl, soften the yeast in the warm water.
Add 2 cups of the flour, and the salt and olive oil.
Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough.
Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth, about 4-6 minutes.

Place dough in a bowl sprayed with cooking spray, or greased wit a bit of cooking oil; cover with a clean towel and let it rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size (about 30-45 minutes).

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Punch down the dough.
Pat the dough into a large pizza pan for one extra-large pizza, or divide it into 2 pieces and roll out 2 medium-size pies.
Top the dough with desired toppings.
Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until slightly browned around crust edges.


I made this by rolling tomato sauce, basil, oregano, mushrooms,
and cheese up in the dough using the recipe above,
and baking at 375degrees for 35 mins.
DELICIOUS!