Happy Anniversary...It counts.

It's been a while since I blogged. I was afraid that this would happen. I am trying to embrace the blogasphere! I don't want to give up. I had a myspace...I had a facebook...and now I HAVE a blog! I must persevere! So, here goes.

A lot has happened in the last month, not the least of which was my 17th wedding anniversary!! Whoo Hoo!! Every anniversary is a milestone and a celebration. Of course, we looked forward to the special day with happy anticipation. We announced at breakfast one morning that the day was coming up. The kids were congratulatory and asked how many years. I proudly stated that it would be 17, to which Maren says, "Only seventeen? That's not enough."
"Enough for what? And why isn't it?", I say.
"Enough for it to count. You have to make it to 20 for it to count.", she says.
Her father and I decided that we would be reminding her of this same information on her 17th birthday.

Happy Anniversay to us anyway!

Abundantly Blessed,

Poppy

IPOP

Here's my favorite breakfast right now. It happens to be strawberry season and there happens to be a strawberry patch right behind my house! My kiddos jump on the "quad" or we drive by on our way home and pick up a couple of quarts freshly picked. Either way, they're great on my favorite Buttermilk pancakes. Here's the recipe just in case anyone else wants to give them a try. You can't be IPOP like me but you can still have pancakes with strawberries just like IHOP!



Buttermilk Pancakes



1 cup all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 beaten egg

1 cup buttermilk

2 Tablespoons cooking oil



1. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside. Combine the egg, buttermilk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Add additional buttermilk to thin batter, if necessary.

2. For standard-size pancakes, pour or spread about 1/4 cup batter into a 3-inch circle onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet. cook over medium heat about 2 minutes on each side or until pancakes are golden brown, turning to second sides when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and edges are slightly dry. Serve warm with LOTS OF Fresh sliced STRAWBERRIES!!

(courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens NEW cookbook)

I often double or triple this recipe depending on the number of people to be served.



Now.... if your really adventurous and you don't like to buy ready made syrup because it is full of high fructose corn syrup, you can try this recipe for homemade pancake syrup.



2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1/4 teaspoon maple extract(or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract "

1/2 teaspoon butter extract(optional)



Combine sugar and water in a small sauce pan over medium high heat until it comes to a boil. Turn done and simmer 2 more minutes(it helps to set a timer at this point). Don't over boil!

Remove from heat and add extracts. Serve over hot pancakes.



I love strawberry season!!



Blessings Abounding,



Poppy

Happy Birthday Landon

My "little" boy, I mean the youngest boy that I have, is now 12!!! He has been for a few weeks but I wanted to announce it. We took a lunch cruise on the Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island to celebrate. My husband had planned it well in advance and surprised us with the news just the day before. We were all very excited!!
As soon as we pulled up to the parking lot near the dock, hubbies facial expression changed and he started digging in his bag for papers of some kind. Upon finding the papers and looking at them, he was sure that we had missed the boat!!! The same boat that we could see heading away from the dock and out into the bay.
We all sat in the truck(and prayed silently) as he went and talked to the man behind the little window on the pier. We saw the man nodding sympathetically. Then we saw the man talking on the phone and my husband waiting(and praying silently). The man got off the phone and my husband turned around and RAN back to us in the truck. I took this as a good sign and started thanking God outloud! Hubbie announced humbly that the boat was coming back for us!! We needed to hurry to the end of the dock to be picked up.
Just our little family of five, waiting at the end of the dock, smiling and thankful. OK, maybe everyone was thankful except for one---the birthday boy. He was absolutely mortified!!! He did not want to walk onto the boat which had turned around just for us. He was glad to have sunglasses and was wishing for a hat.
When we boarded the boat, everyone clapped and cheered! Seriously!! We finally got to our table, where we were able to sit and try to blend in for the rest of the cruise. Landon finally relaxed as you can see from the smile on his face in the picture. It helped that the food was incredible! My family really does enjoy some good food!

Happy Birthday Landon!!!

Blessings Abounding,

Poppy

Let's Go Fly a Kite!!

Who knew kite flying could be so fun? Well it is in a place like Newport, Rhode Island. The wind is always whipping and perfect for flying a kite. For our kids, it was the first "successful" and truly fun kite flying experience. It made me happy just watching there faces light up. They seemed to enjoying it so much, standing there, reeling it in and out, staring up at the silly cartoon thingy. Childhood at it's finest!!

Blessings Abounding,

Poppy

Chocolate Dinner

This is what we eat at my house on Valentine's Day!!! For dinner!! It is so much fun and delicious! My kids love it and so do I. To my husband, it's a novelty he tolerates while wishing for steak and potato. We even tried steak once but it just didn't do the chocolate justice! We started this when the children were all very small so they look forward to it with tastebuds anticipating each year. It's one of the ways I show my family I love them.

It truly is one of my favorite holidays with my family. That's why I decided to make it my first post even though it happened almost 3 months ago! And because I had this lovely picture! Notice the marshmallow in my daughter's cheeks!

May God be glorified in all that we do!

Blessings,

Poppy