Flower tales

"Roses"
Roses are pretty things;
Some white, Some pink,
Maybe some blue.
They smell so good
And look so good too!
I love roses. Don't you?
~ Bri


"My Little Flower"
I picked a little yellow flower
Just yesterday,
so it is very new.
it is very pretty too!
And I like, it wouldn't you?
~Tori

Authoress maybe?

I hope so. I have tried to write books before but I've never really liked them but I'm hoping that that will change. I'm working on a new book right now that is called "Ruby". Will I be satisfied this time?

Also coming up is " Why Did They Let Snakes on the Ark" a talk me, Mom & Dad had, "Petal Tales" that mom thought we should write, That "Treasure Cove" for Andrew, & Short Boy Stories (Don't ask that one's name yet) for Andrew, "How to Make Cleaning Fun" for Tori & me, and (for those who have Nifty knitters) "My Nifty Knitter Lessons" that tell how to make some of the things I've made with mine.

I think I'll get at least one that I like (probably the Nifty Knitter one will be the top one ;)!) That is 1...2...3...4...5...6...7 books!

We love this recipe.....

...Try it!
Thimble Biscuits:
1 cup flour
1 Tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease pan.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt three times (We don't bother to do this ;)).
3. Rub butter into the flour (We cut the butter into the flour).
4. Pour the milk on gradually, mixing all the while with a knife, until a soft dough forms (Perhaps not all the milk will be needed).
5. Turn dough on a well floured board.
6. Pat it with the rolling pin until 1/4 inch thick.
7. Use a large thimble as a cutter,and cut biscuits as close together as possible.
8. Place in pan a little distance apart.
9. Bake about 5 minutes.
10. Enjoy!
We love these biscuits! The two times I've made them there were none left! This does make a small recipe so the second time I made them, I made a double batch. Hope you enjoy!

"Oh Madam, will you let me fix thine dinner tonight?"

That's how it started. The dinner I mean. At eleven-something I started fixing supper. On the menu was: Pasta, bread, corn, and best of all something I've never had before -Carmel Pie! I made the Bread in the bread machine first. It was basic dinner bread. Then came homemade whip cream and by then it was quiet time. When we got up I started the pie. Then I made the pasta. Then I heated up corn and set the table then the meal began......

The recipes were all easy and fun and I think you might want to have them.

The bread:

3/4 cup & 3 Tbsp. water.

2 Tbsp. Dry milk

3 1/2 Tbsp. sugur

1 teaspoon salt

3 Tbsp. butter cut in six pieces

2 teaspoons yeast

Put everything in in the order it comes above. Put on the dough setting of your bread machine. When done, set on the counter for 15 minutes. Put in a pan for 1 hour and 1/2. After that is done, put in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

The Whipped Cream*:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tbsp. sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Beat the heavy whipping cream in a chilled bowl slowly at first then more rapidly until stiff. Add the sugar slowly beating all the time (Don't beat the cream too long or it may turn into butter!). STIR in the vanilla. Chill until you are ready to use.

The Caramel Pie*:

3 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 1/2 cup water

2 eggs, separated

1 1/2 cup White sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 baked pie shell

1. In a bowl dissolve the cornstarch in 3/4 cup water. Beat the egg yolks &stir into the cornstarch mixture. Set aside.

2. Put the sugar, the butter, and the rest of the water (This may cause a cloud of steam so stand back while you add the water) in a big sauce pan.

3. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir until the sugar is dissolved and the butter melted.

4. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan and bring the mixture to a low boil, stirring it constantly. Continue to boil slowly until the mixture thickens, about 2 minutes.

5. Take the mixture off the heat, stir until smooth, and let cool. Stir in the vanilla and pour the filling into the baked pie shell.

6. Bake at 350 F for about 15 minutes. Put in the freezer until ready to eat (preferably at least two hours).

Makes one pie.
The pasta recipe can be found here.

It was a pleasant dinner and it was fun to do!!!

*Taken from the book "The Anne of Green Gables Treasury.

Yummm...

Tori helped me make these delicious cookies a couple of weeks ago. They are really good!

Frosted Drop Cookies (Taken from the book "The Anne of Green Gables Treasury")
2 cups sifted bread flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. milk
3/4 c. butter
1 c. powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
1 egg white
FROSTING:
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. cream
Tint with food coloring (opt.If using,use 1 drop red, 2-3 drops yellow)
Sift together flour and baking powder. Add vanilla to milk. Cream butter and sugar 2 minutes. Add unbeaten egg yolk and beat one minute more. Beat egg white until stiff. Set aside. Add flour and milk mixture alternately to the creamed butter, sugar and eggs; beat until smooth. Fold in egg white. Drop from spoon onto buttered cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes at 375 degrees. Frost while hot.

"I'm going to have the daintiest things possible...things that will match the spring, you understand...little jelly tarts and lady fingers, and drop cookies frosted with pink and yellow frosting, and buttercup cake. And we must have sandwiches too, though they're not very poetical."    ~From Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

Cooking Tuesdays with Bethani and Fridays with Tori.....

Bethi and I had a delightful day together the other day. We made these delicious candy bars called Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares from Tammy's Recipes.
These were absolutely delicious! Here is a picture of Bethi and I making them:



And one of my sweet kitchen helper:



And Tori's day...
We made Eggless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. Here's the recipe:

1 stick butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup sugar (optional)
13/4 -2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 a teaspoon salt
1-2 cups chocolate chips
Cream butter with peanut butter. Add honey (you can't substitute sugar for honey, as it is your main liquid.)and sugar if desired. Mix well. Add chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes, or eat raw!
I got this recipe from a pen-pal and her big sister and we love it :) (her big sister's blog is here)!

Here's a picture of Tori taken on our baking day:

Doll house news....

Many of you have not seen the people to the doll house so I took a picture:


Have I mentioned that the doll house people have gotten new additions to their family? They're from Grandma & Grandpa.........

One little barn,

one little groom,

seven little horses.



Isn't it pretty? At the fence is the horse's groom, and the doll house family's cousin who's parents are deceased (because Tori thinks it doesn't fit to have their "real" daughter is over a head taller than her Dad ;)...) so she lives with her cousins. It just so happens that she comes from a very tall family ;).

The horses names are Bullseye, Black Beauty, Sarah, Johnny, Rosy, Gray & Gray Black.
And that completes the line up of the Doll House family (except Edward who is at "camp". Actually... he's lost. Whatever works.)

My (very late) Independence Day post

Well, We were all just hoping that it would stop raining on the last day of June, because that is the day that the lake we watch fireworks at had decided to set fireworks off. Well I must say it did or I might not be writing this post! We left and had a delightful time especially at the lake and even in the car. It wasn't too hot, and we listened to songs of America. Well, it could have been better if only a spider hadn't made his home right where we sat. Daddy had to move him with a stick, and then we girls worried that he'd come back (I so wish I was better with bugs!).
On Independence Day, mother read what I quoted in my last post and right after I posted that I started to fix waters. No, there weren't any more fireworks at the lake, but we were going somewhere to see fireworks :).
Well, we went to Carolina Dreaming to eat, along with some of Daddy's employees, and really enjoyed it!
Then, we went to the house of one of Daddy's employees and Daddy set off fireworks! He got some really good ones too! And one of the nice things is that we didn't have to pay a thing to get the fireworks even though Daddy picked them out! You see, Daddy's store won a lot of money last year for a store party and they still hadn't gotten to use it, so they used it to have an Independence Day party! All in all everyone had a pretty good day!
We had our last celebration by ourselves. It wasn't long but like the others, it was fun! We did some sparklers,and a few fireworks, and then... homemade ICE CREAM! This is an every year thing. The ice cream and sparklers are really the only thing that doesn't change. We always have chocolate ice cream in tiny cones. The rest Daddy might get something different then last year, but these stay the same every year since we got our ice cream maker.

I hope you had a good day too!

Where do you think I found......

76 paper clips on the third of July? O.K., here's the thing: Bethi had paper clips out, dumped them, and stuffed 76 of them in a play kitchen set coffee maker! What a goose! It didn't take as long as you might think to get them out though, even if the opening is small ;). Well, aside from the fact that I stopped to count them :).

Happy Fourth of July

I just wanted to share a few things my Mother just read to us out of the Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident,

that all men are created equal......We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America...

appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world... do

...Publish and declare, That these United Colonies are...

Free and independent States...And for the

support of this Declaration,

with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we...

pledge to each other our lifes, Our fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

........................................................................................

And a quote from George Washington when he took his leave from his post in war:

"As my last official duty, I want to commend the interests of our dear country to the protection of Almighty God. I now take my leave."

........................................................................................

And some say that we were never a Christian nation?

I'll post our Fourth of July tomorrow ;).

Look at this...

Isn't he adorable? He actually ate almost a whole muffin in baby way. You know how they drop all of that food on the floor and the high chair ;). Here is the recipe:

Cinnamon Muffins

Muffin mix:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 t. salt

1 t. ginger

2 T. cinnamon

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1 stick butter, melted

1 egg

1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray. Stir together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients. Mix well. Put in muffin tins, bake for 15-20 mins.

Topping:

2 T. butter, melted

Cinnamon sugar

Brush the tops of the muffins with butter after muffins have cooled. Dip the muffins tops in the cinnamon sugar.

Makes 1 dozen.

Note: Don't stop to fill the spice bottles in the spice rack while cooking ;). When you do it takes twice as long. I've tried it ;).

Answers about the next two projects

Is there anything new in the two new projects?

Nope. It is knitting again.

What is the first project?

A blanket.

I thought the marathon was over!

Yes it is. This one is for mom's cousin who is having a baby.

What is the second project?

The next project is a afghan for Tori & Me.

Were did you get the yarn to do it?!

Our kind neighbor who taught me to knit gave us a whole drawer of yarn. We have decided to go to her house sometimes so she can help with some of it.

Will you do any more baby hats?

Yes. I just need a break from baby yarn ;).

Bethi is growing up ........

...... Yawn . Bethi started to sleep in our room on Monday and the first night she was o.k. The second also........... but last night she had a really bad night.

Big sister is tired ,

Bethani is not,

Daddy comes in

and she SLEEPS!

HURRAY!

That is exactly how it was.

The last post on the hats.

O.K. so the hat thing is over but I thought you might like to know a little more about them. There were 7 hats, (2 pink and 5 blue) and a pink blanket. If you did do anything for them I hope you had a nice time doing it, and to the rest of you have a nice day!

Update on the hats.

The pinks are done!

On to the blues! Actually I've started on them. I may not have time for another blanket so I'll probably  just make hats.

Hurray!

I am starting to see a blanket take place from the yarn I started with. It is starting to look big too. Yesterday it was 2 inches long in the morning, by night it was 8 1/2" now it is 13"! You can see what I'm talking about in my post  called  "I'm busy......"

Bye for now!

Whats been going on in our house.

We have been having a lot of fun lately. I have 4 letters to write to my pen-pals and Tori (Tori and me write to each other all the time!). I had gone through my desk drawers the other day, but when Mommy went through Tori's I decided I'd have to do it again........ SOMETIME! I haven't done it yet. I'm going to go do it now. It looks like Tori can keep her's cleaner right now than I can!

Update: I did it! Yesterday I started doing it , and I went through my folders today. I would have much rather read but my work was worth it... I can open my drawers now! All I did was put my letter stuff together in the bottom drawer, odds and ends, pencils, pens, stamps, and scissors in the middle drawer, and more odds and ends in the top one . You get the picture. Our room looks beautiful now! After the clutter it was before we went in, it looks like a new room... well, wait a minute... It is in a way a new room ;) :).

(This is a pretty old post so I thought I would finally post it now that I am back to blogging again ;).)

In the process of learning.....

My big sister Ambrielle's duck noise which came from Daddy ;).



Whhhaaaaa! Is what sister's sounds like,

Here's mine: aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

She says make it to where your cheek feels like your sucking them in, and then you make noise.

I don't get it. I'll just keep up the lessons. Mom doesn't know how to either.

So who do you think sounds more Ducky'ish? Pray tell!

I'm busy...

...With knitting! ;)

I just finished a hat and scarf, and then moved on to baby hats and blankets. Mommy was on the computer and she found this thing that asked for them for sick preemies, so I started a set.

Our New Years Eve...

We did all our celebrating at night and here's what we did: First we did fireworks then came a fire inside in the fireplace and toasted marshmallows and made s'mores, and then we had our ending... a prayer and juice in our special occasion glasses. Andrew wore his bib for the first time that night just so I could see how he looked. Mom took a picture of it too!



Isn't he cute!? He already weighs more than 15 lbs.
If this keeps up I won't be able to hold him when he's 6 MONTHS!

Penguins, and bears, racoons AND owls OH MY!

You may be thinking that this post is about the zoo but it isn't. This is about what I've learned through reading and thought might interest you. Lately I just finished a penguin (Tori's), bear (Tori's), raccoon (mine) and we're on the owl book but, since it's mine, I've read it so I can tell you about owls too, so here it goes!

PENGUINS!

The first weird thing was you can tell if a Empire penguin is a girl or boy. You want to know how? The boy is the one who keeps the egg warm so he has a feathered flap to keep it warmer. Secondly they only lay one egg each year. And thirdly some Empire penguin eggs are as big as a grapefruit! And last of all "When a group of penguins reaches the ' shoreline' the birds don't always rush into the water right away, even if they are very hungry. Often, one brave bird jumps in first to make sure the water is safe and no predator is nearby that might attack. Then the rest of the penguins jump in, sometimes all at once"*!!! Just thought you might be interested.

BEARS!

1: Black and brown bears are not always black and brown.

2: Brown bears have smaller ears, and whiter nails (don't even try to tell by the nails though!).

3: Some bears SLEEP on crooked branches!

(And have you ever seen a baby bear and thought "Oh, aren't they cute!"?)

RACCOONS!

1: They can open doors by them selves!

2: (This is my all time favorite) If mother racoons think their playing is too rough she tells them to calm down by growling. If that doesn't work she cuffs them on the ear or spanks them.

OWLS!

1: They can turn their heads TOTALLY BACKWARDS!

2: They also send messages with feathers that look like ears!

Well that's all I have for you.


*Quoted from All About Animals: Penguins, published by Reader's Digest Young Families

Welcome to our home!

I want to take you on a tour of our house so you have idea on what it looks like. The first thing you see when you come in is the living room. It is in a pansy theme (because pansies are my Mom's favorite flowers) it is the most pretty room in the house! If you go sideways to the left you will find that it leads you to the kitchen and you will see that it is a grape theme (my Mother's favorite FRUIT). It also is a pretty room and it is where I am sitting right now (it is the computer room/schoolroom/dining room/and kitchen all in one). In the hall there isn't anything special going on but the bathroom (to the left) is full of roses, and Bethi's room (to the right) is a butterfly theme. Tori and mine room (also to the right) doesn't have any real theme, but it has horse pictures, flower wall stickers, and a lot of little toys. Last of all, you have Mom and Dad's room (when you go left again). It has a pretty black wrought iron theme. It also is a pretty room and (going straight and turning left) you will see the bathroom comes off of their room and IT is done in a seashell theme. That's our home! So bye!