See You At The Fair!

The countless hours of preparation over the last weeks and couple of months are complete.
The kids' first 4-H projects were finalized and today they went before the fair judges to plead their case have their interviews.

We found out literally YESTERDAY that the student is judged 50% on the project itself and 50% on their interview with the judge. My kids freaked just a little as they were a bit leery on how this one on one talking would all work out.

Reed, doing the 4-H dad thing, took off work for the afternoon so he could take the kids to our county fairgrounds.

Last minute prep was done this morning, with final touches on Lily's cake and all the double checking that everyone's project components were present.

Lily's three projects she took to the fair were: her Midnight on the Heath cake, a penguin pillow she sewed herself following a pattern (part of a community ed class earlier this summer), and a homemade card with thread and needlework. (Click the photo below to see more detail)

Jonah, being more of the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-send-your-mama-into-a-heart-attack kind of kid, played it cool by waiting until exactly last week to FINALLY get all the moving parts together to finalize projects. Phew. But, they did get done!

His three projects: a traffic safety display board, a toilet paper roll owl (craft project), and his Lego creation (Ecto-1 from the original Ghostbusters movie, which he created himself from looking at Lego set photos online). (Again, click the photo to check out the details)

They survived their judging and came home with B-I-G smiles.

And these:

BLUE RIBBONS! for each of their projects.

4-H uses the Danish Award system which awards multiple blue, red, and white ribbons. Projects are not ranked in order but are judged against a standard of achievement.

Blue ribbon: signifies a member has done outstanding work

Red ribbon: is average work; you have done a good job, but there are areas you could improve upon

White ribbon: the exhibit and interview were below expectations; several things may have gone wrong, someone else did the project for you or you broke one of the rules

With that, we'll be heading to the county fair later this week. We're looking forward to seeing all of the other projects and our kids' projects on official display there. So excited! 

For now, I am off to go work off some of those calories I consumed in the last couple weeks test tasting Lily's delicious cake. Be back soon!

Summer Days Slipping Away

I've noticed that the blogosphere is quieted during summer. Which makes sense because our lives away from the computer are hectic and scattered. For those of us plagued with the long, dreaded winters, summertime is the season to take advantage of the outdoors. 

I am no different. 

Therefore, updates here are sporadic and random.

Sometimes there are just some things I can't help but post, even if they will only become reminiscent posts for myself one day.

Our newest additions at our household came just over two weeks ago.

They arrived in a small box with holes and made a chirping noise.

We are now 'farmers' or 'officially' REAL home schoolers because we have chickens. Our first 19 chicks arrived and the kids are enjoying watching them grow. They are also learning that sometimes animals don't all survive, even at a young age. So far, we've only had one casualty. Eighteen is an even number, so it all works out in the end.

Last week we took an afternoon outing with my parents. We went to check out a small grocery store not too far away that is ran by the Mennonites. It was a major score and such a quiet and clean place. We'll definitely be returning.

While in town, we visited this beautiful church and ran into the priest whom my parents know, so we had a nice visit too. 

An outdoor grotto just perfect for angelic little girls. You see they are folding their hands and implying they have never given their mama any trouble? 

In the swing of summer and the gardens are abundant! I've got to get a garden update posted soon. 

This year I planted cut flowers and I'm reaping the rewards of fresh flowers in vases in my home. I think I'll have to keep on doing this every summer to enjoy my gardens indoors, as well as from my windows. 

The yellow and green beans are also producing. I've already picked several buckets of them and I'm grateful they are doing so well. I was starting the inevitable rationing of last year's beans, but now I don't need to worry quite so much.

The highlight of this week was company coming for supper on Monday. We were blessed with our pastor, the diocesan Vocations Director and a transitional Deacon (he'll be ordained to the priesthood next June) all under one roof. My parents also came to spend a couple of days so they were here, along with another seminarian as well.

To say we had a blast would be an understatement.

As always, the kids were especially fond of the fun that can be had when priests and Deacon visit.

Of course, the little girls are easily entertained when anyone plays with them and does puzzles.

Priceless moment right here.

I insisted offered to take a photo to remember the fun and blog it too.

We also helped out with Vocations Camp: Men of Virtue day camp here this week. You can read more about some of the past years here, here, and here. Due to the small numbers, it was decided that we'd just do the one day camp rather than the overnight. It turned out to be a good decision and the young men who joined us were a great crew. 

My parents helped me cook the meals and entertain my kids so that we could volunteer again with the camp. In the end, as with every year, we enjoyed it and are so glad that we did it.

3 priests, 1 seminarian and 6 young men, just after our supper and before the end of camp.

Now with Vocations Camp behind us, we are looking ahead to the County Fair and sports camp for Jonah next week. 

Keep on enjoying your summer days. 

I know I am because winter will come whether I want it too or not.

 I've got to soak up this sun and beautiful weather while I can. 

Tween Test Kitchen

Yesterday we celebrated Lily's name day on the feast of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the Lily of the Mohawks. For several years now we've tried to at least hold to the tradition of feasting on cake for each child's saintly name day. 

Since Lily is entering a cake in the County Fair in a couple weeks, we need to do some test runs. What a perfect time than the present to put on the apron and get to baking.

This was her first cake done completely on her own (I was just in the background for suggestions and some direction) and I can't tell you how proud I am of a job well done. I think she was pretty impressed with herself too. I see many more afternoons in the kitchen together in our future.

The critics of the household all agreed that she did quite well for a first cake. Both taste and presentation were excellent. We may make a variation and perhaps glaze change next week when we do another trial. Then we'll decide how she'll make her final for the Fair presentation. 

Would you like the recipe? 

I believe it's a handed down family recipe from Reed's family. I will also include our variation which was vanilla yogurt and I believe this makes this cake much more moist (and appealing IMHO).  Lily also renamed the cake to show her creative flair for the Fair.

Midnight on The Heath Cake

* 1 1/2 this recipe to make 3 (9 inch) round cakes

2 1/4 cups Flour

1 1/2 cups Sugar

2/3 cup Cocoa

1 1/4 teaspoons Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder

2 Eggs

1 1/4 cup Water

3/4 cup Crisco

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1 cup Vanilla Yogurt

Mix all ingredients with electric mixer and pour evenly into greased pan (this single recipe makes a 9 x 13 cake). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven when toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool. 

Filling (for layered cake):

5 oz. Cool Whip

1 cup Heath Toffee Pieces

Mix together in a bowl and divide evenly between layers of the cake when assembling. 

Glaze/Frosting:

1 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips

8 Tablespoons Butter

6 Tablespoons Confectioners Powdered Sugar

Put above ingredients in microwave to melt, being watchful not to get too hot or bubbling. Check periodically until ingredients are starting to melt and whisk together checking consistency. Put back in the microwave if needed to get to a smooth consistency thin enough to pour on cake and spread. (Ours was too thick at first, so we added a bit more melted butter) Glaze will become more thick as it sets, so be sure to work quickly if you do not want it to become a thick frosting before you have it all spread out. 

When finished with glaze, sprinkle as many remaining Heath Pieces on top to your desired taste.

Refrigerate cake immediately and keep refrigerated after serving.

If nothing else I think this is a great time (with the Fair as the incentive) for her to spread her wings a bit in the kitchen and for me to let her do it. I remember enjoying baking and cooking in my teen years and helping out in the family kitchen. I can't wait to now share my kitchen space with my oldest daughter.

**Note: I will either revise this post or make a new post of any changes we make leading up to the fair. 

Signs Of Summer

There are lots of signs of summertime here in Minnesota right about now. There are also signs of summer on this here blog with the absence of any regular posting.

We're all busy and I've learned that we've got to take the steps back sometimes to enjoy the every day. This morning I read Mary's post (thanks, Colleen) and realized small time blogger status is just fine so I shouldn't feel obligated to post. I've also been thinking more about sitting at the stoop front porch and how to settle in each day when there are so many things to be done this summer.

After a ton of work painting, reorganizing, moving and some redecorating, the great bedroom swap is finished. I'll post photos, I'm sure, but in the meantime I still have all of my school supplies that need a new home. Let's not even consider discussing school plans for the fall, okay? Those are very much still up in the air.


Alas, just some photos I threw together this morning to check in with you all. We're thriving and surviving our summer.

Summer Is:

Swimming at home and at a local outdoor waterpark...

4th of July celebrating with family...

Recitation of his 4th of July poem he wrote...

Fun with glow sticks that grandma brought us...

Blooming flowers that splash the yard with vibrant color...

A spontaneous trip to Como Zoo & Como Town yesterday...

Lots of smiles and fun memories...

Next week has a few things on the calendar and following that will be Vocations Camp and County Fair. I've got kids in 4H for the first time, so we've got some projects that need to get completed. Yikes.

I hope you are enjoying summer and finding plenty of time to relax and have fun.

Toss 'n Go: Sweet & Salty

 Don't call me a genius by definition on this one.

Call me Summer Savvy Mama's In A Hurry Woman.

Ok, genius is shorter.

A few weeks ago when I wanted to put together my own snack mix of some sort I checked the pantry. In a display of the usual pantry randomness I found these few items:

Corn Chex, Honey Nut Cheerios, Pretzels and Raisins

Let's throw them together in a bag, shall we?

And thus was created the easiest snack that suits both the sweet and the salty side of this household.

I'm winning back that Mom of the Year award with this one folks.

**I've also used Multigrain Cheerios instead of Honey Nut Cheerios with the same yummy results.