Tea and a Pity Party

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrarywise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?"

~Alice in Wonderland~

I am drinking tea & honey to soothe a sore throat and keep the coughing at bay. And feeling a little sorry for myself, although I shouldn't. And looking around on Etsy. I like this print from couragemylove.etsy.com.

Remembering When:

I was looking through Savannah & Isaac's baby album and thinking about how tiny they were! The top picture is right after they were born. Isaac is on the left, Savannah on the right. The bottom picture is after we brought them home. Savannah on the left, Isaac on the right.
Savannah was 6 lbs, 2 oz, and Isaac was 6 lbs, 11 oz.

For me, and for Joe, looking at each other and hearing our babies cry for the first time was the most amazing and miraculous experience we have had. There is nothing else like it in the world!

Psalm 139: 7-14
"Where can I go from Your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me," even the night shall be light about me;
Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the light shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb,
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

Thankful For Sunshine!

Isaac and Savannah sharing their wagon this morning. And they wonder why I take breaks!
Isaac flashing his very winning smile! He knows what gets Mama's attention!
Savannah likes to carry things in the "trunk" of her car. :)
Savannah was so into eating this plastic apple, I had to take a picture!

We had so much fun outside today! It has been raining so much lately, it is nice to be outside in the sunshine and cool air! I know I just posted pictures, but these are so cute I wanted to post them too... I definitely have a weakness for pictures of my babies. And don't try to tell me that they aren't babies anymore! They are! :-)

Festival, Hayride, and Everyday Things

1. Saturday we went to a local Fall Festival. These are some pics I took with my camera phone. I thought this one was sweet because they are sharing cotton candy. Isaac's hat kept unfolding and falling over his eyes. They ate way too much junk that day! Thank you, MiMi ;-)

I had explanations under each picture, but blogger is somehow messing up the order that my words and pics are in! I will just give a summary of what the pics are about. The first pics are of Isaac & Savannah at the festival on Sat.

They had their faces painted, I'm glad it was only a dollar ;-)

The farmhouse pic is at Country Pumpkins pumpkin patch on Sunday. We went to a twins play group there and had lots of fun! The next several pics are hayride scenery. Isaac and Savannah loved the hayride!

The wagon pictures are from our yard this morning. They love riding in the wagon, and I like pulling them around! :-)

Just a Couple Pics...

I just wanted to post a couple pics of things we have been doing lately. Savannah and Isaac had so much fun at our local "Country Pumpkins" pumpkin patch! I will post more of these pictures later. Savannah is so enthusiastic it is infectious!!












This morning was wet and cold, so we stayed in and dressed up in Halloween costumes. Isaac was so cute in this monkey costume, and I thought his expression was so sweet!

Green Tomatoes and Other Things

Some of our green tomatoes. Most of them look like this right now. I accidentally let the chicken's out today. They are fine, they've just been walking around the yard eating bugs. I hope they eat all the mosquitoes! We usually let them out right before dark - they eat some bugs and roam around, then go back in the pen to roost. I feel a little nervous when they are out all day.
The Rooster likes to strut his stuff!

Jalapenos on our table....they just looked pretty.
Isaac with his tractor. :-) He likes to push it around, and then get on when it is in the perfect spot.
Laying on the grass together. so cute. Picture quality, not so good.
Hamming it up!

Best Tomato Soup Recipe - Update with Pics!

This pic is borrowed from 101cookbooks.com. I made this soup tonight, and it is the best tomato soup ever!!! And I was able to use veggies from our garden, which is great! I also made the best cornbread ;-)

Isaac snuggling in the covers. This and the next 3 pics were taken w/ my phone, so are not the best quality.

Savannah "cooking". She loves to cook.

Some peppers from our garden. We have a bumper crop this year!!

After pickling.

S & I sitting on Savannah's bed. She doesn't sleep in this room yet, but I have been decorating it for her.

Roasted Tomato Soup Recipe:

5 tomatoes, cored (if necessary) and quartered,1 large red bell pepper, seeded and quartered,3 medium yellow onions, peeled, quartered, extra-virgin olive oil,5 plump cloves of garlic, unpeeled,fine-grain sea salt,2 - 3 cups light vegetable stock or water,1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika.

Preheat the oven to 375F degrees and position 2 racks in the middle of the oven. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper, alternately you can just rub them down with a thin glaze of olive oil.Arrange the tomatoes, skin side down, on a baking sheet. Coat the bell pepper and onions with olive oil and put them on the other baking sheet along with the garlic, place the pepper skin side down as well. Give both sheets a light showering of salt, then bake until the tomatoes start to collapse and the onions start to brown and caramelize, about 45 minutes. Turn the onions if they start getting overly dark on the bottom .Check on the garlic as well, once the cloves are golden and oozy inside, pull them from the oven.Peel the garlic, dump all of the roasted vegetables into a big, high-sided bowl, and puree with a hand blender. Alternately, use a conventional blender or food processor and work in batches. Blend in a cup of the stock, and keep adding the rest 1/2 cup at a time until the soup is the desired consistency. I like a little chunk and texture to this soup particularly if the weather has a bit of a chill, but smooth or chunky is your call. Add the paprika and a bit more salt as needed - adjusting to your taste.

I thought I was going to have to add butter and cream, but this soup is surprisingly very creamy! I doubled the recipe and used chicken stock.