When I was at my Mom’s she told me that she’s been wanting to try an old recipe that her Mom used to make.

When she was growing up, my Grandma used to buy a big tin of frozen cherries from Agway. She stored the whole tin in their large freezer.  One of the ways she used the cherries was to make a fruit topping by cooking them down with sugar and cornstarch to thicken, and some flavor like vanilla or almond extract.

While the fruit cooled, she mixed up some homemade sweet roll dough (without a recipe), rolled it out, and let it rise a little.

Then, she would spread the cherries on top and bake it in the oven.  When it was done and cooled, she made an icing and drizzled it back and forth on top.

Mom said it was wonderfully tasty.  I asked her the name of it and she thinks Grandma called it Cherry Pizza.  I did some research and it is very similar to the old fashioned Kuchen, which is German for “cake”…many of the old time housewives would cut away some of their bread dough on baking day to make a treat similar to this one.

Both of my grandparents have passed away and we all have so many good memories from when they were still alive….food memories in particular are are so vivid and meaningful (from all those family gatherings).  Mom hasn’t had this simple, homemade treat since she was a young teen, and because she had some cherries in the fridge and someone to bake with  (it’s more fun with a partner, right?) she decided to re-create the memory with Sarah and me. 

 (Sarah loved the feel of flour on her hands…)

How do happy bakers remove the pits from fresh cherries?  We used a bottle and a straw!  Mom learned a tip from a magazine and we tried it for the first time…….

You simply place the cherry on top of the bottle and, using the straw, push the pit down through the cherry, letting it land in the bottle.

Not only did it work great, it was very fun!  I imagine you could add vinegar to the juices and pits in the bottle, to make a special flavored vinegar for dressings.

Mom made a sweet, soft yeast dough (without a recipe) and then we made the fillings.

We had a bowl of nice peaches so we made peach filling, too.  The peaches ran a little so we folded up the edges to keep it neat and clean.

They were baked at 350 until done.

Oh, it was so delicious.  I think it satisfied mama, too, and Grandma sure felt close.  There were some tears shed by my Mom as we talked about her.

I can’t wait to make this again for Rich and the children.  I love using family recipes.

Do you have any unique family recipes that you enjoy?

“Your family and your love must be cultivated like a garden.
Time, effort, and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing.”
~Jim Rohn ~

On Friday, I waved goodbye to my family and drove away to go to my parent’s house (four hour trip) for a weekend visit. 

10 minutes later I turned around and went back.  I couldn’t leave my youngest one, Sarah. 

She’s two now but I haven’t ever been very far from her, and my heart couldn’t bear leaving her behind for days

I quickly collected her and her stuff, buckled in the carseat and away we went, the two of us, for a mini vacation. 

Music blaring, sun shining, a perfect day to travel.

We had a great time–I’ll be blogging about our adventures all week–but, in the meantime, here are some photos from this very morning’s visit to the coffee shop with my Mom.

The coffee shop is located in the city that my Mom’s office is located–she works as an administrative assistant for a judge–and I had never seen her workplace.

We got in our cars and I followed Mom to the courthouse.  After a tour of the (really cool) building and introductions to some of her friendly coworkers, we walked across the street to the place where she gets coffee every day.   

Mom ordered a regular black cup, and I had a latte.  The three of us shared an organic brownie (YUM)

I loved the natural lighting from the big windows, and the exposed brick.

My mom had blond hair, too,  when she was Sarah’s age.

After our coffee, I had to leave…I was on the road for 5 and a half hours today, with a stop for lunch and another stop at a rest area. 

Tomorrow:  blueberry picking

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

(She found my lipstick.)

inspired by soulemama

This was how our weekend began.  With my husband getting Sarah Joy from her crib and discovering…..the worst case of bed-head we have ever seen.

Normally, her hair is baby-fine and so thin that a pony tail is about the circumference of a pencil.  How did she get her hair like this?  It was so teased out that it felt like wool.

It was frizzled!  I had to wet her down to get it combed out. 

@ the playground

Last week Rich was on a business trip from M-F.  Here at home, the children and I had a great time together.  We did fun stuff just about every day:

Monday:  Free day/cleaning/laundry
Tuesday:  Marcia came with her eight children for a visit
Wednesday:  Lunch and movie with Aunt Amanda and cousins
Thursday:  Breakfast at Crackerbarrel, playground w/ all 7, library and coffee shop with Jacob 
Friday:  Lunch and Mall, blood  (Caleb fell and broke a plate, cut wrist and finger.  Seth fell and got a bloody nose)

Rich got back on Friday night to find us all happy and healthy, with only minor injuries.  However, for some reason, I didn’t sleep well the entire time he was gone.  I was so focused and busy with all the many events of the week that by the time I got to bed I couldn’t get to sleep and I couldn’t STAY asleep. 

By Saturday morning I was beaten down, admitting defeat, tired with a roaring headache.  Rich said, “You need a break.  I’m going to take a shower and by the time I get out you need to have a plan or I’ll make one for you.”  I honestly wanted nothing more than to be HOME with NO ONE AROUND.

I’m so thankful for my husband.  He left about an hour later, with eight children…our seven and the neighbor boy, Nick.  They went to the track so he could run and they could play baseball, then to Moe’s for lunch, then the mall.  I had hours (4, I think) to myself in a quiet house!

I made 4 quarts of refrigerator pickles with cucumbers from my own garden, and from the neighbor’s vegetable stand.

I also read a book, took a nap and I don’t remember what else, the main thing was:  my brain got a rest.  🙂

Rich came back home at about 2 and put the littles to bed for naps.  In fact, we also took a nap.

After waking up, we sat on the porch in rocking chairs with our little ones……

And even though I told him I didn’t want to go anywhere, I was too tired, he made me go on a date with him.  It ended up being a blast, I think I talked his ear off. 

Getting on his back proved to be difficult.  LOL 

We went out to eat, walked around the mall (I had gymbucks to spend and Rich got annoyed b/c the outfit he wanted for Sare didn’t come in her size.)  And then, we got decaf coffees at Starbucks for the ride home (I had a cinnamon dolce latte). 

On Sunday we didn’t get to church…too tired and just wanted to be home together.

Seth wore his newest “baseball shirt”….he LOVES baseball.  I got this on clearance at Gymborree w/my gymbucks.  The lady dug around in the back room to find it for me.

He’s a dreamboat!

I fixed the girl’s hair.  They looked so pretty.

We went to the track again and then to the grocery store.

After lunch we took naps again.  It was truly a nice, lazy weekend.

After naps, Rich and Jacob mowed the yard and I puttered around on the porch, cleaning and rearranging and adding pretty things.  Like this teacup bouquet of wildflowers.

We went out for ice cream and Sarah matched her sprinkles.  I had the best strawberry sundae….so yummy.  Rich yelled at Seth for getting ice cream all over himself.  Jacob ate his while reading a book, and three of the others at theirs in a tree. 

Back home, we had watermelon outside (what gorgeous weather we are having!)

C H I C K I E S

My new baby chicks are growing nicely.  I am afraid it has been a bad season for my chickens.  One night, we lost most of our laying hens to raccoons.  On another night, we caught (at dusk) a raccoon in the coop eating my babies.  Even though they were enclosed in a dog kennel and couldn’t get out, a raccoon managed to pull three through and eat them all but a random foot or wing!  The last remaining layer does not lay anymore (trauma?) so we are eagerly awaiting these youngsters to grow up and start laying for us.

Jacob couldn’t put his book down.  Later that evening he finished it and reported that it was the first book he ever read that didn’t have a happy ending. 

Sarah was concerned because Dave and E were burying their legs in the sand. 

Oh it was such a wonderful weekend together as a family.  Rich and I both feel refreshed and energized for another week (no travel!)

I slept like a log last night and woke up at 5:30….with enough time this morning for devos, blogging and breakfast on the porch before the children woke up!

“Oh God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you……”

“Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.  I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will life up my hands.”

“My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.”

Psalm 63:1, 3-5

Happy Monday, my friends!  xoxo

You are loved.

I’m sitting in the dark livingroom with Seth wriggling next to me.  He’s watching Little Bear.  He’s already had his morning bowl of cheerios.   I’ve made my cup of coffee, started the dishwasher, threw in a load of laundry, and opened all the windows.  Thankfully, it’s much cooler outside this morning.

Yesterday, it was an oppressive 100 degrees outside, and so very humid…the kind of day that all the little one’s faces turned pink and sweaty with the heat.

Also, yesterday was the day I met Marcia, after we met each other through this blog years ago.  My friend came with her suburban filled to the max with her eight children.  Oh it was so exciting to meet face to face for the first time, after several years of letters and just a few phone conversations.  Inwardly, we were excited, but outwardly…..as the moms hugged and began chatting, the children stood around quiet! and shy! awkward!

Very soon, after introductions, and lunch, things began to warm up and we all headed outside in the HEAT to the swimming pond and dock.

I went up to the house to get pops…and this was her baby’s first one, ever!  She was so cute. 

After we baked ourselves in the sun for a while, the thunder started rolling in.  The older ones ran up to the house while Marcia and I talked and let the little ones dig in the sand for a while. 

One of my favorite memories of the day was when we went back into the house to find it so nice and cool, music blaring, and all the older children playing a game around the table.

While their older siblings played a game, the middle children went downstairs (just these three boys) to shave bark off of sticks with a knife.  They spent the rest of the day fighting with their homemade swords.  I think Jordan went home with his.

While we were inside it got darker and darker outside, until the sky opened and it rained buckets.  I wish I had taken a picture of it….I was so happy to see the rain.  It didn’t last long but it did cool off the land somewhat and Marcia and I took the little ones out on the porch to play.

I took Grace away from the game to take a few pictures for me.

(The second one she took is the one I posted first.)

After the older ones played some basketball, it was time for the visit to end.  They stayed for about 4 1/2 hours in all, and it sure went by fast.

Before they left, we wanted to take some group pictures. 

One of her older boys had a small Nikon (I also use a Nikon camera)….we used a little table for a tripod (couldn’t find mine) and I thought he was cute setting his camera up with his little brother looking over his shoulder.

And here we all are!

Grace and Brooklyn

The big, handsome older boys! 

Seth must’ve been watching….and just knew he should be in the picture, too.  (so cute!)

We wanted one more picture of the two of us…and this next shot is the best representation of busy moms of many…..

Marcia running away from the picture to save her child from falling off the hammock.

It took a few minutes, but she finally reappeared.

We said our goodbyes after a satisfying visit.  She came with a gift for me (actually,for Sarah)…a little fiesta cup. 

She left with a gift from me….a fiesta shaker and bowl.  Fun. 

I put the children to bed early last night (Rich is gone this week on business) and I hit the hay at 9pm to read my book and relax, happy to have met my friend.   

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things
you can be.  ~Douglas Pagels

About four years ago, I met a sweet friend through this blog.  She doesn’t have a blog, but after reading mine wanted to introduce herself and be friends.  We started writing back and forth (old fashioned snail mail) and we’ve also chatted on the phone a few times.  She is from Massachusetts but when she got married she and her husband moved down south.  She is visiting her parents for a few weeks and is coming over to my house TODAY so we can meet face to face for the first time! 

And guess what else?  She has EIGHT children, all about the same ages as my seven!  Her daughter has been writing with Grace and they are both very excited to meet.

Yesterday, my sister and I took her children and three of mine out to lunch.  Then, we watched Ice Age 4.  (fun movie)

After the movie, I went to Target to buy stuff for lunch today.

To feed 15 children (some are teenage boys!):

4 packs of hot dogs, and buns

40 individual chip bags

40 kool aid drink pouches

homemade macaroni salad (using aunt colleen’s recipe!) so yummy, I also used the healthy, whole grain pasta

I want to do something sweet…I’ll probably make brownies.

She told me not to stress out getting ready and I haven’t, but it’s been a fun few days cleaning my house!  It’s amazing how I let things go, only to realize the fact when Important People are coming over.  We’ve even moved out furniture!  LOL  Today I need to vacuum floors, walk around with paper towels and windex, and throw the stuff I don’t know what to do with in closets, but that’s it.  I’ve got everything clean and the laundry caught up. 

My camera battery is charging.  She’s been reading my blog for years….I’m a little nervous….please pray, & send us your happy thoughts for a great day!