Pumpkin Pie

I get asked for this recipe so often that I decided to share it here.  I got it from Mom, but I think she got it from the Mennonite Community Cookbook.  I've never made a different pumpkin pie so I don't know what makes this one better than any other recipe.  Possibly the spices.  Anyway, it's very easy and everyone enjoys it. 

I use Pioneer Woman's The Perfect Pie Crust recipe.  I use half butter, half Crisco and I mix it in my food processor.  

Pumpkin Pie

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 teas salt

2 teas. cornstarch

1/4 teas. ginger

1/4 teas. cloves

1 teas. cinnamon

1 15 oz can pumpkin

3 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 c. milk, scaled

Preheat oven to 425.  I usually put an empty cookie sheet in the oven at this point so it is hot when I am ready to bake the pie.  I also back pies on a lower rack than other things because sometimes the crust doesn't brown right even with the cookie sheet.  Any suggestions?

Mix brown sugar, salt, cornstarch, ginger, cloves and cinnamon together.  Stir in pumpkin. Add beaten eggs and stir.  Added scalded milk and stir.  (I usually add the milk a little at a time so it doesn't mess up the eggs -that could happen right?)  Mix well and pour into unbaked pie crust. Then (this is important!) sprinkle more of the spices over the top of the pie and swirl with a fork.  

Back at 425 for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 and continue baking for 30 minutes (longer in my oven, but my oven is weird) or until crust is browned and pumpkin is stiff in the middle and does not move when you move the pan.  

Easter 2013

Pictures from our Easter celebrations this year.  

I love Zach's face on this one. :)  By the way, this was taking AFTER church.  Easter pictures before church didn't happen.

This might be my favorite picture from the whole weekend. 

 A highlight of our weekend was meeting our newest nephew Joshua, he's just 5 weeks younger than Zachary.   He's a sweetie!

We have high hopes of Zachary and Joshua being great friends someday.  Maybe next year. :) 

Isaiah at his great-grandma's yearly brunch and Easter egg hunt

Callie loved the hunt too. 

Nate posed for this picture.

My cousin's beautiful daughter 

Another cousin and her beautiful daughter. 

Zachary getting to know one of his great-uncles. 

The oldest holding the youngest.  Zachary with his Great-Grandma L. (Mom's mom)

So sweet

Life

Life just keeps rolling along.  I try to constantly remind myself to hold on to each day, but often I forget.  Pictures are one of the best ways to slap myself in the face and remember to enjoy each moment, craziness and all.  So in celebration of life being lived here in our little house here are some favorites from the last few weeks. Or maybe months, I've lost track

I wonder if there has ever been a baby loved more than this little guy.  I am constantly reminding the kids not to wake him up when he's sleeping.  When he is awake they try to give him toys and play with him and make him laugh.  He loves being held and having people talk to him.  As of Tuesday the 2nd he's two months old!

Painting Easter eggs.

We tried a new recipe this year.  Mix food coloring with 1 T. oil and 1 T. vinegar than fill the cup with enough water to cover the egg.  This gives a lovely marbled look to the egg. 

This month we're celebrating Jeremy's good health.  I'm so thankful to be laughing and enjoying life with him.  One year ago this week we met with the doctor that said "80% chance it's cancer".  Several weeks ago Jeremy spoke with the surgeon from Johns Hopkins about a follow up CT scan he had done.  All is completely clear.  

Isaiah hard at work.  Or something like that.  He's an excellent reader even though he doesn't enjoy phonics.  He loves math, history, geography and history.  

Always a princess.  I was folding laundry the other day and realized Callie's pile of folded laundry was very small.  It's because she lives in her dress up cloths.  She's always pretending something or other.  Often she's getting ready for a wedding, or taking care of "her kids" or talking about "her husband".  I love watching and listening to her.

These beads have provided Callie with hours of fun.  Here they are smoothies and strawberries I think.  She's also been playing a lot with dried beans.  They make a mess to clean up, but it's worth it for the entertainment it gives her.  She also LOVES to play at the sink washing dishes.  So far I've been fairly successful at keeping the beans and water separate.  Sprouting beans all over the house is just what I need! 

Just to prove that he has a mother. :)

Nate's fort.  This is the second fort built.  The first one had the pillows directly on top of Zach's face.  I didn't respond real well when I found it. :(  Nate was very proud of himself for finding a way to build a fort that kept Zach's face free to breath.  I felt a little sorry for Zachary, but I had to take a picture.  I wish I had a picture of all the ways this baby's siblings love on him.  The pretzel up the nose was another moments I didn't respond real well to. :(  On this picture Zachary looks so much like Isaiah did as a baby.

"Look Mom, he's sleeping in his fort!"

Love this face

He loves his daddy and he loves to snuggle. 

We fought through a week of sickness a few weeks ago.  I was about at my wits end by the end of the week.  The kids were feeling better, but weren't well enough to go anywhere and it was too cold to force them outside to play.  I did force them onto the porch for a few minutes though.  Believe me, those smiles were not in place when I sent them out.  For the record, Isaiah is wearing pj's and my crocs.  Nate is wearing his church loafers without socks (I find him at church like this sometimes.  I always feel like I should look to make sure his shirt is fully buttoned and he's not wearing a gold necklace.  sorry) 

Matt and Heather and their girls came to meet Zachary a few weeks ago.  Sadly, most of my pictures weren't very good. :(  However, this one did turn out.  Chloe knitted this hat for Zachary!  I was so impressed.  She does NOT  get her knitting skills from her aunt!  Thank you Chloe!

P.S. Mom, the Easter pictures will be posted soon. :)

5 Weeks

Zachary was 5 weeks on Saturday.  He continues to be a very sweet lovable, liked-by-all kind of baby. His smiles are starting to become more frequent.  He melts my heart.  As long as he doesn't need to eat, burp or poop he's a pretty happy baby.  Getting him settled at night is a struggle at times, but once he's sleeping he's usually only up once during the night. Usually. ;) 

Mom's visit

We were thrilled to find out last fall that my mom would be able to fly here soon after Zachary's birth to help out for a few weeks.  We decided picking her up at the airport would be a fun activity for us to do as a family.  I have fond memories from my childhood of picking up grandparents/relatives at the airport.  

I don't think it really hit us how "big" our family looks now until we were walking through Dullas International Airport with four kids.  We felt slightly out of place among all the hip business people on their cell phones pulling carry-on suitcases.  We were holding kids hands, diaper bags and a baby car seat.  It made us smile. We're just find being a little odd.  Speaking of odd, as we were getting out of the van at the airport we realized that the boys had brought along everything they thought they might need for their great airport adventure.  Items in their pockets included, binoculars, flashlights and pocket knives. Thankfully we discovered the knives before we entered the airport. 

We were in the airport about 10 minutes when mom called to say she was delayed in Toronto and wouldn't make it to Washington for another 5 hours.  We knew staying in the airport for that long was not going to work.  So we spent the afternoon at the Air and Space Museum that is very close to the airport.  It was the perfect way to spend the afternoon.  The museum was very quiet with only a few people there.  Zachary and I spent a lot of time just sitting and relaxing.  

Space Shuttle Discovery 

Astronaut Roger Crouch 

She's finally here!

 I worked mom hard while she was here. :)  Sadly, I didn't take near as many pictures as I should have.  While she was here Jeremy flew to Phoenix for a pastor's conference.  I'm not sure I would have survived the week without Mom here to help.  Thank you Mom!  You're the best!

Mom and Callie spent a lot time together.  Here's just part of the batch of  granola they made.

Lovin' on Zachary 

I should have kept track of how many hours they spent playing with this doll house.  Callie absolutely loved all the attention Mom gave her.  She even got to go shopping with Grandma.  She came home with this new princess hat and gloves.  A true princess indeed. 

Now that's a talented and much loved grandma. :)  

Zachary David

Today our little Zachary is 1 month old.  I guess it's time to update the blog.  What a sweet gift God has given us.  Zachary is a very typical newborn.  He sleeps a lot, poops a lot, and yes some days he cries a lot.  We love him so much.  Here are few things I want to remember from the pregnancy and his birth.

Pregnancy: 

-40 weeks, 3 days (Even though I thought I would be early this time.  Why do I do that to myself?!)

-Cravings: Snickers bars and gum.  These two things got me through the yucky sickness of the first 12-13 weeks.

-2 ultrasounds.  One at 20 weeks (it's a boy!) and one at 35 weeks because I was measuring about 2 weeks ahead of where I should have been.  This was pretty consistent through the whole pregnancy.  

-I gained 27 lbs. 

Labor

-born Saturday, February 2, 2012

-9+ hours of labor.  After Callie's 5 hour "easy" delivery I was hoping for a short labor.  Nope.

-Contractions started around 8:30 on Saturday morning.  Zachary was born at 6:27 PM

Zachary David

I'll never forgot April 26, 2012 sitting in the little waiting room when the doctor came and told us Jeremy's tumor was benign.  I'm not one to see visions, but I felt like Gods arms opened up and a flood of hopes and dreams that I had laid down or had tried not to think about came pouring out.  The first being the hope for more children.   On April 1, 2012 I marked this verse in my Bible:

"I am still confident of this: 

I will see the goodness of the LORD 

in the land of the living;

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart

and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27: 13-14

I've loved the name Zachary for a long time.  I think it's been on our name list since before Isaiah was born, but we never used it.  When we found out we were having a boy I started looking for names.  The meaning of a name has always been important to us when naming our children.  When I saw that Zachary meant "God has remembered"  it seemed fitting for a little guy.  Even in the midst of hard times God does not forget His promises to His children.  David means "Beloved" and is Jeremy's middle name.   

Daddy and Zachary bonding.  One of the sweetest moments in the hospital  happened when I was holding Zachary and Jeremy called his name.  Zachary turned his head toward Jeremy at the sound.  Jeremy talked to our kids a lot while they were in the womb.  I'm sure Zachary recognized Jeremy voice.  

My aunt and uncle brought the kids into see Zachary soon after he was born.   We're realizing more and more what a blessing siblings are to each other.  While Jeremy and I are Zachary's parents, I have a feeling we could just move aside and let these kids raise him.  They love him so much.  They were all anxiously awaiting his arrival, but Isaiah was the most tuned in and got the biggest smile when we told him we were leaving for the hospital.  We talked often during the pregnancy about Jeremy calling and telling Isaiah when Callie was born (Nate was too young to remember much).  It was very important to Isaiah that this be repeated with this baby.   When they came to the hospital Isaiah and Nathan were very interested in Zachary.  Callie was interested in him, but was more interested in what I was wearing and my arm bands.  She and Nate were very impressed with the tray of food delivered to my room while they were there.  Nate (always my little helper) offered to hand me whatever I wanted to eat off the try.   

Our big "little" guy.  My midwife mentioned several times during my pregnancy that this could be a big baby. The first thing she said when he was born was "that's a big baby".  Zachary is my biggest baby by 1 pound weighing at 9 lbs 3 oz.. I like this picture of him because it shows his chubby legs.  Needless to say the NB size sleepers are no longer being used.  :)  

So much more to share about Zachary and life as a family of 6.  I'll probably blog again in about a month or a year. :(  

Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas!  Much to the delight of the kids (big and small...) we actually had a white Christmas.  It started snowing yesterday afternoon and continued into the evening.  We didn't get much, but enough to bundle everyone up and head outside.  The picture of Callie and I is not great, but it's proof that there were 6 of us out there. :) Thank you Jeremy for letting me borrow your coat.

We all slept on the living room floor last night.   Jeremy drug our mattress out of our room so that I could sleep in comfort (thank you again!)

Our Christmas morning was spent listening to Isaiah and Jeremy take turns reading the Christmas story, opening gifts, skyping with my mom and dad and Jeremy's brother and sister-in-law in S. Korea (Brandon and Cindy are scheduled for later today) and eating French Toast casserole.   I had good intentions of adding fruit to make it somewhat of a healthier breakfast, but hey, it's Christmas after all. The rest of the morning was spent building Lego sets and playing with new toys.  

Jeremy made this doll crib for Callie.   She loves it!

Merry Christmas to all.  We have so much to be thankful for each Christmas.   I feel especially blessed this Christmas.