soup's on

Up until two years ago my soup making repertoire was limited to taco soup. And occasionally chicken noodle soup.

I suppose I had more soups than that, but its was a very planned thing if I made soup. (And most of the time they would involve cream of chicken soup in one step and I've all but sworn off the stuff.)

Then one day my sister-in-law made potato soup, and I thought "that sounds yummy." And I made it. It was yummy.

A little while after that, one of my favorite food blogs rookie-cookie came up with her "make a soup from anything" guide. So I started experimenting. Bean soup, lentil soup, beef soup, chicken and wild rice, etc. My love grew and grew and continues to grow to this day.

I now make soup at least once a week. A lot of times if I don't know what to make, I throw together a soup with whatever I have in the fridge. My recent favorite is homemade tomato soup. Served with a crusty grilled cheese sandwich and you, my friend, have ultimate comfort food.

The other day for lunch I made some corn chowder. I think the last time I had corn chowder was at my Grandma's house at least 10 years ago. It was so divine, I think I might have it again later this week.

And then tonight I made pumpkin-apple-cranberry-beef soup. The flavor was totally delicious. (The texture was a little mushy, so I need to work on that, but I totally nailed the seasonings. Delish!)

I usually like to make biscuits or french bread or have some yummy crackers on hand. Soups are like, my new favorite food.

Go make some!

i also made a pumpkin pie today.

On the first day of fall the kids and I had a fall celebration. We made pumpkin-shaped cookies, read autumn-y stories, and went for a walk to collect signs of autumn. Then we made this poster:



Since then, we have been mostly stuck inside. It has been one rainy fall.

But today Fall was in the air, the sun was shining (most of the day), and we took a walk to the park. On the way home the kids got distracted by some beautiful falling leaves.





Fall is here, and we are loving it!

*Thanks Christy for the photos. So cute!*

cool

One of my favorite places we've been so far here in Vermont has been the orchard.

Here is a refresher course for you.

*All these pics were taken the first time we went by our amazing friends and neighbors, the Morey's. We love them!*

The awesome swing.

The picturesque views. (I love this pic of us, by the way!)

The coolest slide ever.
If I could live on any land on earth I'm pretty sure I would pick that acreage. It is divine.

Friday we went back. I met one of the mom's from Ana's tumbling class there. She told me she was going to go and I thought it was a good chance to let Ana play with a girl-friend and for me to expand my circle of friends. So even though it was cold out, and I had just been there with my sis, and I needed to clean house, I felt like should go.

My friend had invited another friend too, who happens to run this non-profit organization a little south of here. I was pretty amazed. Such interesting people doing great things.

But the best thing to come out of the trip was not the great conversation or the incredible cider donuts. It was that I realized something that I love about my daughter. And those moments have been somewhat hard to come by of late.

See, while we were waiting for my friend to show up, we were swinging on the swing. And I convinced Ana to drop from the swing into the hay.

Because that's what cool people do.



And she did it. She was a little apprehensive at first, but she did it. And then she did it over and over and over. Unfortunately I left my camera at home.

See what I love about that girl? She has the perfect combo of caution and courage. She'll try anything and I can get her to do crazy things. Not just dropping out of a swing, but roller coasters, and the monkey bars. And in the moment I felt so much love for my little girl.

She really is a cool little girl, even if she has un-cool moments. And who doesn't anyway.

saturday is a special day

on second thought...

First thought:

"Pipe cleaners work really well the clean the nasty crevices of sippy cups."

Should I be letting my children drink out of things that have "nasty crevices?"

the day i wanted to quit my job

Wow. Yesterday was a rough day. Honestly, sometimes I think a certain child has the wrong mother.

Remember the yogurt incident?

It happened again.

With ketchup.

I made her clean it (and herself) up, I gave her a timeout, AND I talked to her about why it isn't a good idea to "skate" in food on the floor.

And then she did it again. With apple cider.

I was only a foot away.

I spent most of the day doing housework, and still my house is dirty. I had two tornadoes following me around the house.

I went to bed at 9:30. I didn't sleep well. I have a cold this morning.

But still, its bound to be better than yesterday.

wonderful weekend

I had a fabulous weekend with my sister. We did as much as we could fit in her 4 day visit. The leaves right now are gorgeous and it was the perfect weather. (For a complete run-down of the visit, see HERE)

Overlooking the lake at Shelburne Farm:

The puppets Ana made for us all:


The view from the gondola:

The Joseph Smith Memorial (it was awesome to watch conference here Sunday morning):
We've been looking so forward to this weekend; I can't believe its come and gone already. Thanks for coming, Shari!!!

the other direction

If Pres. Monson could have looked through the camera the other way when conference started this is what he would have seen:

The rest of the session I am pretty sure he wouldn't have seen these two at all.

while i was making dinner...

Dave studied on the couch,

Jack watched ...

The Magic School Bus,


and Ana snapped photos.






*all photos by Ana

i live on the scenic route

I love the beauty of the west: the high mountains, the sprawled towns, the mountain streams, the smell of pine trees. I love how the mountains are so easily visible from everywhere and that the towns are spacious and open. I loved the smell of pine trees high up in the mountains.

I miss those things. Admittingly, sometimes I feel a little claustrophobic with all the trees blocking my view of everything. And I miss my sense of direction.

But there have been moments when the beauty of what surrounds me here leaves me speechless.

This weekend was full of those moments. Friday night after Dave's first comprehensive final of his medical school career, we headed to Shelburne Orchard to pick apples. The apple picking was fun enough. We brought home a couple bags. We also purchased some apple cider and apple cider donuts and sat down at a picnic table to devour our goods. (Have you ever had apple cider donuts? They must be devoured immediately.)

Then I saw it.

Tucked back behind one of the old farmhouses on the property was a large tree with a rope swing tied high in the branches. There was a slight slope downward that opened up to more orchard, a few old farmhouses, and in the distance, a glimmer of Lake Champlain.

And I died.

Or at least I thought I had because surely I must have stumbled upon Heaven.

Amazingly, no on else was there. We spent the rest of the time playing on the swing and on a way cool slide (Think mini-alpine slide.) Our friends took some awesome pictures of Jack running down that thing and crashing into the hay at the bottom.

It is probably my favorite memory so far.

Saturday we went back up the Farm for their annual Harvest Festival. That place is beautiful. Awe-inspiring. We snacked on corn on the cob and cotton candy, listened to fiddle music, played with toy tractors and sat on big pumpkins.




Then Dave and I decided to go on a little fall foliage tour up to a town called St Albans. Gorgeous. Quintessential. It was a lovely afternoon. The town square is lined with cool old churches and the square park has and fountain and beautiful, tall red-leafed trees. And the drive home was gorgeous and relaxing and rejuvinating.








Its heaven I tell you!

Friday my sis gets here and then it will really be Heaven.