Here's to a new week....

So there hasn't been much posting recently by me.... last week was a little rough here for me. Nothing major, I just think the boys and I are trying to get used to this summer routine or lack there of. Not to complain too much about it but it just seemed that two little boys were not listening well and one particular 4 year old was very angry (What does this four year old have to be angry about??!!) and the rough and tough boy play was driving me crazy!

But Andrew and I have made a pact to have a good week. So far we are doing well. When I talked about his anger he said "Mom, I just want to do the things that I want to do." I can understand that but we don't always get to do the things that we want to do! Anyways....

Here is how the boys spent part of Sunday afternoon, snuggling while watching a DVD on the portable DVD player.

Today I wanted to get some new pictures of the boys. I wanted to get recent pictures to replace some that we have in a picture frame. These are most likely not the photos that I will be using but I think they are cute/funny.

Then the boys decided that the Gator needed a wash. They were quite serious about this. I think they scrubbed and then rinsed it with the hose three times! We then decided to wash our car. I haven't washed either of our cars in many years. It's Chad's thing. I forgot how I do enjoy it! It is nice to be outside, having a little fun with the water. But today probably wasn't the best day to decide to wash the car. As I was drying the car I noticed it was already dusty. I didn't think about the crew moving dirt around on a lot next to ours and the nice breeze that blew the dirt/dust our way until then. Oops. Well it should be at least a little bit cleaner.

Fresh Strawberry Bars

Andrew saw this picture on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens, a magazine Renee gave me to look at while we were in Texas - I added some pictures that Renee sent us to my post about our trip. Anyways, back to BH&G! Andrew saw this picture and said very enthusiastically "Mom! Can you make this?!" I thought the picture looked pretty tasty too! So I told him I would.

I was surprised when reading the ingredients that the bars called for peanut butter. My first thought was peanut butter and strawberries?! But then I thought about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and decided that it would taste good. PB & J is a big hit with the four of us!!

It was pretty yummy! The bars reminded me of a peanut butter cookie.

Fresh Strawberry Bars

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup strawberry jam

4 cups small whole strawberries, halved or quartered

1. Heat oven to 350. Line 13x9x2 baking pan with foil, extending beyond edges. Set aside.

2. In large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter on medium to high for 30 seconds. Beat in sugars, baking powder, and salt until combined. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with mixer. Stir in remaining flour.

3. Spread dough in prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes or until top is lightly browned and toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

4. Cool completely on rack. Remove from pan by lifting foil. Spread jam and top with berries. Cut into bars. Serve at once or refrigerate up to 6 hours.

Make ahead. Wrap the peanut butter base in foil; store at room temperature up to 24 hours. Before serving, top with jam and berries. Or freeze the peanut butter base in a freezer container up to 3 months.

We just put the jam and berries on the bars that we cut to eat and left the remaining bars in the pan, covered; until the next time we were in the mood for something sweet!

The Office & The Bathroom

This is where our desk used to sit, inside our bedroom. This is the view you would see when entering our bedroom. The laptop carrying bag, Chad's work bag, several bags he receives at conferences he attends (what to do with all of those?), a large stack of the journals he receives in the mail but hasn't had a chance to look at yet...and that is just the floor. Plus the stacks of materials on top of the desk. Not really what you want in your bedroom.
Here is the desk's new home! (Thanks for helping Chad move it downstairs Justin!) It is so nice to have this space for the desk. (I would show a picture of the entry from the doorway of our bedroom now but all the stuff that was on the floor and on top of the desk is still on the floor there!) We would like to get some shelves for books and what not down there yet, (then we can move the stuff out of our bedroom - what will we do with the extra space in our room?) replace the socks under the desk with some furniture coaster things and hang some things on the walls. Probably some OSU paraphernalia! (You can see what the space used to look like here.)

This is the cork floor that Chad put down in the office and the nice trim work by Chad and Justin.

Here is the guest bathroom in the basement.

The shower.....

Chad stained the concrete floor in the bathroom. I will admit I was pretty sceptical about this. I wasn't sure how it would look. Plus it is a concrete floor and in the basement, so in the winter this floor could be quite cold! (Bring your slippers when you come to see us!!) But I really like how it turned out. Love the marble effect and the chocolate brown that pops out. It did turn out a little more orange than what the picture on the internet looked but we still really like it. We still need to hang a towel bar in here and get something for storage. (We did get an antique washstand but we have decided not to keep it in the bathroom. We would like to find something with a dark finish like the mirror for in here for towels etc. Maybe even just a large shelf for a spa like feel :) We plan on the putting the washstand in the guest bedroom or out in the semi-finished part of the basement to put toys/games in.)

Here is one of the 5 doors Chad has stained. He has one more to do and then the doors will be done. This one turned out really well. It is quite the process of two coats of stain plus two coats of top coat with sanding and allowing time to dry in between coats.

Our weekend

My sister and bro-in-law, Tricia and Justin, were here this past weekend. They arrived Friday evening just in time to share some strawberry pie that I mentioned in the previous post. Justin had offered to come help Chad with the basement.

Saturday morning the men headed to the basement to begin their work. The boys, Tric and I headed to the Farmer's Market. We enjoyed looking at all the produce, plants and baked goods. We purchased some rhubarb for the crisp I mentioned earlier and a cilantro plant. I used some of the cilantro to make guacamole. After that we headed to the boys favorite playground. From there we stopped at the hardware store to get some freezer containers for the strawberry jam and then we were off to the bike path. Andrew rode his new ride pictured below riding in our driveway. We found this bike at a garage sale so now he can strech his legs out a bit more while riding. Tric and I walked and Carson enjoyed a nice stroller ride.

I put this little table out on the deck on Friday. I put a plastic storage container filled with water and water toys on top of the table. The boys have had fun playing with the water and toys. It is perfect since our deck is right off the kitchen and I can see and hear them yet still be inside getting things done! The boys played with it Saturday afternoon while Tric and I cleaned strawberries.

Miss Tricia cleaning strawberries.
We began the process of finishing off some of our basement I think back in Feb.? We had a local construction crew out for about 2 1/2 - 3 weeks. They did the framing, plumbing, electrical, & drywall. Chad has done the finishing work. He did a lot of painting, staining the doors and trimwork and some flooring (perhaps pictures later).

Justin brought several saws and other tools {I don't really know what all :)} and together they put up the door casings and baseboard in the basement this past weekend. I think they had some rough moments but then got in a groove and it looks really nice!! Justin was the jokester as usual, saying how he was heading back to the dungeon or that Chad doesn't let him take breaks.... Chad has a little bit to finish up in the guest bedroom closet and then one more door to stain. I think all we need then is the carpet and it will be done! We are really excited to have that extra space for guests (Come and see us!) and a large area for the boys to run and play.

Thanks Tric and Justin for all your help. We enjoyed having you here!!

Strawberries, Strawberries, Strawberries!!

Last Tuesday evening Chad, the boys and I went and picked strawberries. We picked 19# of strawberries. The boys helped for a little while but then played inbetween the rows of strawberries or in the car. The strawberries were tiny but tastey. Wednesday for supper we had strawberry shortcake and then made 8 batches of strawberry jam. We froze the rest of the berries for smoothies.

Then Friday I went to a local Amish farm and bought 12 quarts of strawberries. These strawberries were so much larger than the ones we picked and very delicious. I think I will return to this Amish farm in years to come; the strawberries were already picked, much nicer and less expensive!!

I made this strawberry pie to share with my sister, Tricia and Justin were here this weekend. (more to come on that) We also enjoyed this wonderful Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp recipe. Tric and I made jam for them with 4 quarts of the strawberries, we ate some fresh and froze the rest. I'm actually thinking about getting some more, if they are still available. I love fresh strawberries!!

Carson's snack

Carson opened his snack cup today from the diaper bag. It contained a mix of mini chocolate teddy grahams and square cheese crackers. (odd combination, I know)

Carson gasped very loudly and said "Thanks Mom! These are my favorite!"

Such a little sweetie.

A big Oops!!

Today the boys and I enjoyed a beautiful day. Today was really the first day of Andrew's summer vacation from preschool. He was supposed to have a play time/picnic at a local park with kids from preschool yesterday but it was raining. He was very disappointed about not being able to go!

This morning we went to the bike path. Andrew rode his little bike with training wheels on it and Carson rode in the stroller. We walked two miles. I think Andrew's bike is getting too small for him, his legs looked so scrunched up! Maybe we can just raise the seat....

We had lunch at home and then Andrew was asking to go to the park. I said "would you like to go to the pool?" An enthusiastic yes followed. So we got our swimsuits on, applied sunscreen, packed the towels and clothes to change in to and we were off. I told the boys that I thought the pool was open, but if not we could run through the sprinkler instead and that they shouldn't be disappointed.

It was not open. Andrew was very upset. Crying "I want to swim!" Guess I should have called. It doesn't open til next week. The flyer I have just says June-August. Oops!!

So they had fun playing in the backyard, running through the sprinkler. I sat in a chair and looked at a magazine. Very nice.

Andrew attempting to drink the water
Andrew trying to dry off/warm up

Carson all smiles

My favorite photo of the day.

The boys attempting to plug the holes with grass

I love summer time!!

Meeting Maddie

The boys and I went to my parents' this past Friday after Andrew was done with preschool. Chad was on call and had to stay here. Someone asked Andrew why his Dad couldn't come and Andrew replied "He had to call." Call who?? Anyways.... we always have a good time with the grandparents and Tric and Justin were there as well.

The boys slept on the car ride to my parents' and then I let them stay up way too long once we arrived. When I finally attempted to put them to bed, it didn't go well. To make a long story short, the three of us fell asleep after midnight! The boys are usually asleep a little after 8! Getting only 7 hours of sleep when they are used to getting 11 or 12 is not good!

Saturday morning Mom, Tric, Buddy the dog, the boys and I walked down to the park. The boys love this park in my parent's neighborhood. We had considering taking a dip in my parent's pool. Mom had turned the heater on and it was 87 in the pool! Unfortunately the air was rather cool and windy. No pool time yet.

Saturday afternoon we all went to Ben & Kristy's to meet little Madeline Louise, our newest niece. We had a good time visiting with them, meeting Maddy, playing in their backyard and eating pizza-a Short family must for Saturday night. :)

Tricia & Carson swinging
Justin & Ben playing corn hole

Abby swinging, smiling and saying "Cheese"

The only picture I took of sweet little Maddie Lou and it is blurry. :(

The boys and grandma zoned out watching a show

After eating pizza, the boys and I headed back home. I think Carson was asleep in a matter of minutes after getting in the car.

Sunday afternoon Chad's parents came for a visit. The boys were blessed with seeing both sets of grandparents in one weekend! Andrew had lots of fun putting puzzles together with grandma and playing hide and seek.