Christmas card pictures....

Last Sunday we went out to get a picture for our Christmas cards, it was a beautiful warm Sunday, especially for November. Our weather this month has been awesome, 40's and 50's with lots of sun....almost like we skipped a month of winter! The kids had fun playing outside but it was tough to get a picture of all 3. I must have snapped about a hundred photos and only got 4 -5 that will work.





Grandma's Christmas card

First spot we tried, the sun was too bright, Bella wouldn't look at me and the kids lost patience fast.

Mouth of the Gratiot in Keweenaw county, the warm sun and water was almost too tempting for the kids. Instead they had to settle for throwing rocks.

My boys ♥

November

Rob's latest project, put those glass blocks we bought 2 years ago to good use.








Jackson (and Tom) love getting in the way, I mean helping Dad.









Finished project, I'm pretty impressed by him, this is the first time he's ever done glass block work and it came out square the first time. Amazing :)

Halloween, halloween, my favorite time of year

I love the fall, and Halloween is one of my favorite things about fall. The kids have so much fun carving pumpkins, dressing up, getting sick on candy. We're all set for trick-or-treating tomorrow night, got the pumpkins all carved tonight. The kids are going to be Darth Vader, pirate/skeleton and cinderella. Jenna's been Cinderella at least twice, maybe three times. It's her favorite costume. Say a little prayer that the weather holds out...it was beautiful today.

Tea for 6

Another sister is leaving, that leaves only 3 of us left in Michigan. We went out for an afternoon tea last weekend with mom, she had been wanting to take us to the Tea Room in Houghton so we all went there. What fun! We spent a fun afternoon eating yummy food and drinking tea. A lot of tea. So many choices, it was fun to pick out of the different kinds. The "little" girls got to come along too, Jenna spent most of the time trying on different hats. Sadie kept hers on for a long time to the delight of all. It was a fun way to say goodbye to Katie, she moved to Phoenix this morning. Time for her and Robby to try something new. And they were excited to leave the early snow far, far behind. So that makes 2 sisters in Arizona, 1 brother in Alaska and 1 brother going leaving in January for boot camp. Soon there will be only half of us left here....good thing mom has grandkids!

My birthday surprise

Rob rarely surprises me, and I love surprises.....so it was really exciting when I opened up this greenstone ring. I'd like to say he found it and had it made, but we haven't had any luck finding it. Rob did find some on Isle Royale but it's illegal to take it off the island. Anyway, I love my new ring and had to show it off. He made me a table out of an old sewing machine base too, he's amazing ♥ and I am so lucky to have him :)

Gramma Nina

For those of you who don't know her, this is Rob's grandma, Nina Olive Rogers Swykert. (she'd be so mad if she knew I put her middle name in there) She just turned 90 on September 21st. She was the 9th child in her family, born in the 9th month and named "nine-a", kind of neat. She came to live with us about 3 weeks ago...after a lot of moving her around in apartments, assisted living and one nursing home Rob finally convinced himself and me to take her home with us. It's going better than I thought it would. She can't be alone anymore, too forgetful. But she gets around like a 20 year old....rarely complains about her health. Mostly she's worried about being a burden on us. Rob's been taking care of her for over 10 years now, being her "maintenance man" and general go-to guy, especially after her husband Joe died in 2003. Jackson has really gotten attached to her. I guess she's not old to him because he tries to get her to play with him, he has been caught trying to jump on her....oops, sorry Gramma! And one day he was hitting her with a styrofoam sword, Rob told him to stop hitting Gramma, and you can't play swords with someone who doesn't have a sword. Rob left the room and came back a minute later, there was Gramma holding a stick in her lap and Jackson jabbing at her with his sword! (probably wondering why gramma wasn't hitting back!) She used to work in a preschool, back in the 50's or 60's and has a lot of funny stories to tell about the kids. When her memory was working she had good stories to tell about everyone...and lots of memories of growing up in the Copper Country. Rob says she and his grampa Joe were always people he could count on, he did a lot of fishing with his grampa and they were good to him when he was younger so this is time for him to pay back.

It's definetly not easy having someone come to live with us, but on the bright side, I don't yell at my kids as much; cause it's kind of hard to yell when you've got gramma lookin at you like you're crazy :) And I feel like I've got to slow down a little and sit with her once in awhile to drink tea or coffee. I think we're all getting used to her being around now and she's getting used to us. Even better, we like having her around.

Do you hear water running? cause I hear water running!

So tonight I went down to Lake Linden to visit my cousin Melanie and see her new/old house. Jackson came along because him and Melanie's little girl Anna haven't seen each other in awhile. Jenna came along too just because she likes to visit people, anyone really, she's not particular. The house is amazing by the way, it's the one that Sharon and Wil bought from Grampa and Gramma Lasanen way back in the 80's. Now Melanie and her husband Todd bought it from Wil. They've almost completely renovated the house, and in less than a month! Absolutely amazing work over there, stop by if you want to, they'll give you a tour. Anyway, Melanie and I were sitting there visiting and talking about something, Jenna was quietly playing with Anna's new dollhouse and suddenly Melanie heard water running, we walked out into the hall....no Jackson or Anna. Hmm, the bathroom door was shut.....and the sound of water was coming from in there. Guess who was sitting there in the tub? Jackson and Anna, buck naked! Water running, clothes all over the floor. And those two having the time of their lives splashing in the tubby! Melanie and I laughed so hard, sure wasn't expecting that :)

August

Wow! last day of August already, guess I better post something so I don't miss the entire month...summer's precious in the UP and we tried to enjoy every minute of it

summertime and the livin is easy....

Alien plants

I'm not much of a picture taker of plants but I couldn't resist these strange looking things in the swamp out behind my mom and dad's home in Traverse. Susie called them "pitcher plants" because they look like water pitchers and they fill with rain water.

The other plant had these tiny, delicate pink flower balls, I've never seen one like that either. Who knows what's growing out in these woods?

Thieve's oil

Since I'm a newbie to the essential oils I naturally have a little bit of skepticism regarding all these stories of healing.....but today I found out that Thieve's oil actually is amazing. I felt a cold sore coming on yesterday, that awful burning and itching feeling and you just know a big clump of blisters is going to pop out.... So last night I put a few drops of thieves on it, it was burning terribly but I figured it would be worth it if it cleared it up. Before I went to bed I had to look in the mirror because the burning and itching had completely gone away, I was totally amazed....the blisters had almost disappeared! Well, I thought, it'll be back in the morning. Nope, it hasn't gotten any worse....just a little red and small flat bumps. I put some more thieves on it this morning and now the redness has gone away and you can hardly see that I've got a cold sore. Amazing! I am now a believer in Thieves, watch out daddy and kids :)

Copper Country Supper Club

If anyone's interested in seeing the supper club blog and getting some great recipes just email me and I'll send you an invite, we had to make it private because some weird guy was following it :(

The kids and I went out fishing in Sedar Bay a few days ago, near Susie and Roger's. There's a nice trail through the woods along this river that ends at Lake Superior. We picked up Levi and Lia Tervo, Tom and Jenna's friends. Levi had a bite but no one caught anything. Since everyone was smiling and Jackson didn't end up in the water I counted it as a success!

Tom's 6!!

How can this little guy be 6 years old already? He was just born! My biggest baby at 8# 2 oz and he was a little chunker, always eating. From day one he was following his big sister, talking and walking early just so he could keep up with her. Now he's learning to read, write, add and subtract just as fast as she does. I have a feeling they're going to have some competition in the days ahead. He's a smart little guy, very articulate and sensitive. Not much gets by him, and he lets me know it too :) Happy Birthday Buddy.

here's me holding my new cousin, sadie. she was born on march 12th. mom says i'm a good smiler.

jenna drew a picture, it's her and sadie.

Irish Cream Pie

This one is from Karla, very light and delicious!
Irish Cream Pie
A chocolate pat-in-the-pan pie crust makes easy work of this special edition chocolate-plus pie!Prep Time: 25 minTotal Time: 5 hours 30 minMakes: 8 servings

Chocolate Pat-in-Pan Pie Crust
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts
2 tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa

Filling
1/2 cup milk
32 large marshmallows
1/3 cup Irish cream liqueur
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
Grated semisweet baking chocolate, if desired

1. Heat oven to 400°F. In medium bowl, mix all crust ingredients until soft dough forms. Press firmly and evenly against bottom and side of ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until light brown. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 30 minutes.

2. In 3-quart saucepan, heat milk and marshmallows over low heat, stirring constantly, just until marshmallows are melted. Refrigerate about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mixture mounds slightly when dropped from a spoo n. (If mixture becomes too thick, place saucepan in bowl of warm water; stir mixture until proper consistency.) Gradually stir in liqueur.

3. In chilled medium bowl, beat whipping cream with electric mixer on high speed until stiff. Fold marshmallow mixture into whipped cream. Spread in pie crust. Sprinkle with grated chocolate. Cover; refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours but no longer than 48 hours. Store in refrigerator.

Special TouchTop pie slices with chocolate curls for a restaurant-fancy finish.

SubstitutionNo liqueur in your house? Use 1/4 cup half-and-half plus 2 tablespoons cold coffee and 1 teaspoon almond extract (or 1/3 cup Irish cream-flavored nondairy liquid creamer) for the liqueur.

Irish Potato Soup

In honor of St Patrick's day we did an Irish themed dinner this month. Thanks to Kirsten who was the hostess and did a scrumptious corned beef! When I get the recipes from the other girls I'll post Kathy's delicious potato salad....and Janell's apple bacon salad....and Nora's quiche. And I can't forget about Karla's Irish cream pie....delish!! Jen made a drink with cucumber and honeydew, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it....can't wait for warm summer evenings to make that one! Connie was missed, but she has a good excuse....a new little guy in the house, congratulations!!

The soup:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 med onion, thinly sliced
3 leeks, white and pale green parts only, rinsed and thinly sliced
3 large potatoes, thinly sliced
2 cups of combination of kale, parsley and spinach, chopped
6 cups good quality vegetable stock/broth
salt and pepper to taste

1) In a heavy bottomed soup pot over low heat, melt butter and add onion and leeks. Cover and let "sweat" for 20 minutes.

2) Add potatoes, stirring to mix, then cover again and cook 15 minutes. Stir in broth and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes just until potatoes are tender.

3) Add greens and continue cooking 10 minutes or until well wilted.

4) Process soup in batches in food processor or with a hand-held immersion blender. Return to soup pot and heat through.

5) Top with chopped scallions, fresh chives or shredded sharp Irish cheddar cheese.

i'm baaack!

we're babysitting midas, ok dogsitting, but he's kind of like Katie and Robby's baby. jenna and tom wanted to take him to school, tom said 'look, he can even wear my backpack!'

aren't those beads pretty? i love the colors. mommy knows how much i like to help her sweep and when she wouldn't let me i decided that the floor must be too clean, that's why she wouldn't let me sweep. when she came in and saw the floor she wasn't laughing, i'll tell you that! there went all jenna's beads....in the garbage. mom did let me hold the dustpan this time though.

Italian Sausage Soup Recipe

Italian Sausage Soup

Nora Olson made this in January for our Italian Night. It's absolutely delicious, I've made it at home and Rob and I loved it!

It's great with fresh bread or warmed store bought bread.

1 lb Italian Sausage
1 clove minced garlic
2 (14 oz) cans beef broth
1 (14.5 oz) can Italian Style Tomatoes (slice up a little if large-cut)
1 cup sliced carrots
1 (14.5 oz) can of Northern Beans, undrained
2 small zucchini, cubed
2 cups of torn spinach leaves
1.4 t pepper (or more)
1/4 t salt (I didn't think it needed it, so I didn't use)

In stockpot, brown sausage with garlic. Stir in broth, tomatoes, carrots and pepper. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in beans and zucchini. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes more, or until zukes are tender. Remove from heat and stir in spinach, replacing the cover to allow the heat of the soup to cook the leaves. Ready in about 5 minutes.

mama's turn

ok, so Jackson's been behaving himself lately or else I'm just getting immune to it :) anyway I decided to take over the blog now, maybe I'll let him post once in awhile. Jenna and Tom don't really care, all they want to do is play games on the computer. I'm going to try adding a few recipes in the next few posts, tried and good recipes....not ones that I pretend I'll make someday. For those of you who don't know, I get together once a month with some friends and we all try new recipes, usually based on a common theme....chinese, hawaiian, italian, mexican, red, etc. It's been about 2 or 3 years now, and lots of fun times! Good recipes too, not all but most of them :) So I'll add a few of those good ones too.

February thaw?

uncle roger made that huge rocking chair, it's like papa bear's chair. and mom caught me just itching to strum her new violin. and i peeled my own apple, little bites and spit out the peels all over the floor. i don't like the peeling.

Beautiful winter days

we've been having some cold, snowy days here but mom likes us to get outside anyway. that scary guy in the mask is tom, not some crazy which is what he looked like to me and why i didn't like the face mask