30 questions....just in case you were interested.

1. Name someone with the same birthday as you.  Tret Bushman from my church

2. What has been your favorite age so far? senior of college was a lot of fun...i was 21 then.

3. Where did you meet your husband? for the first time when i was in 5th grade...

4. How many children do you have? 3

5. Have you ever sung in front of a large number of people?  in a choir

6. What’s the first thing you notice about the opposite gender? overall impression

7. What really turns you off? whining

8. What do you order at Starbucks? i'm partial to caramel macchiato

9. What is your biggest mistake? not trusting

10. As a child, what did you want to grow up to be? A Chef!

11. Say something totally random about yourself.  I picked out my own engagement ring

12. Do you still watch kiddie movies or TV shows? yes, some i enjoy much more than others.

13. Did you have braces? no

14. Favorite Social Network? facebook

15. What is the most romantic thing someone has done for you? In high school, my then boyfriend, now husband, walked from his house to mine (which according to google maps is a little over 4 miles) the morning after a blizzard.  There was no way his car would have made it in the snow so he walked.  :-)


16. When do you know when it’s love? When you go to bathroom with the door open.

17. Do you speak any other languages? Dutch, a splash of french & spanish - mostly food items


18. Have you ever been to a tanning salon? never

19. What magazines do you read? Cooking Light, Bon Appettite, Family Circle,

20. What is playing on your iPod right now? no iPod

21. Have you ever ridden in a limo? yes, for weddings.

22. Has anyone you were really close to passed away? yes

23. Do you watch MTV? no

24. What’s something that really annoys you? laziness

25. Which television show you were sad to say goodbye to? La Femme Nikita, Life, Alias,

26. Can you dance? no

27. What’s your favorite place in the world? love to be on the beach...love to sit around a fire too.

28. Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room? no ambulance rides for me!

29. If you could meet anyone (dead or alive) who would it be? mmm...my sister.

30. If you could change one thing in the world for your child, what would it be? security in all areas of life.

some things i want to remember

Upon Ben completing a puzzle Cali is clapping for him saying "yeah Ben."

Cali telling mommy "no see Mommy. Go Kitchen"  when she is being naughty and doesn't want to get in trouble.

Cali talking on the "phone" to Oma, Emmy, Auntie Mama, Uncle Cliff, Matt (bushoven), from church.

How much Ben & Cali love each other and miss each other.

How Ben includes Cali when he is playing outside with the boys & lets her tag along.

Finding Ben inside the garbage barrel we use for grass, crying b/c Luke didn't want to play with him anymore & he hurt his feelings.

More Higher! - Cali

it's the most wonderful time of the year

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

A little early yet... but starting to think about Christmas cards.
With all my great pictures from  Emily Photography i'm getting started.
Here is 1 idea so far from Shutterfly.
I love their variety of cards and they such good quality. 
I really loved my card from last year so I am not sure if I'll be able to find something I like just as much or better.  But we're going to try.
about 3 months till Christmas....CRAZY!!!!!

Time Flies

Each day I have so many good intentions and make a to-do-list.
I seem to so often get side-tracked from this list.
Other things get done, random things (like today cleaning the fridge/freezer door handles).
It's all good but some days I just put too much on that list.  Too many things that need to get done w/o little hands helping.  The days seems to pass faster than ever.  Where is time going?  Can we slow down just a touch?  Love having full days but right now it all passes in a blur.
Right now is quiet.  3 sleeping kids.  1 husband who went back to work for a few hours.
A few moments to take some deep breaths.  Dessert for one?  I think so.

My Birthday Gift from Em

My dear friend Emily gave me the best birthday gift. A morning/afternoon in NYC so we can have a just girls lunch at a trendy NYC restaurant. We had decided to go to the ever-so-hip meatpacking district where there is plenty of choice. We spent time drooling over various menus and looking at all the options. We settled on Spice Market, a restaurant owned by Jean-George Vongerichten.


I love Asian food…my husband can leave it. I could not wait to have a quiet, delicious lunch. It was so exciting.

We arrived in NYC on a warm clear day. The sky was blue & we enjoyed our ride down the Henry Hudson Parkway as we made our way from the George Washington Bridge downtown. Traffic around the Holland Tunnel was terrible & after an illegal turn and not obeying the GPS we made it to our intended destination. We spent time browsing & exploring, (and coveting) many items in Anthropologie.  We walked the few blocks to the restaurant and were immediately enchanted by the hardwood decor and the staff uniforms. We were seated near the open kitchen and loved being in a quiet corner.

We read over the menu options trying to decide what to eat. It was quite the task trying to decide which of these delicious things we would sample today. In the end we decided on the following items to share.

Appetizers:

Spiced Chicken Samosas, Cilantro Yogurt.

Salmon Tartare, Soy Ginger Dressing, Avocado & Radish.

Main Course:

Halibut Cha Ca La Vong, Herbed Salad, Coconut Sticky Rice Steamed in Banana Leaf.

Dessert:

Thai Jewels & Fruits with Crushed Coconut Ice

Ovaltine Kulfi, Caramelized Banana and Spiced Milk Chocolate Sauce.

Everything was delicious. Em is not a big fan of raw fish but was a good sport and tried the tartare. She ended up liking it. We lunched for over 2 hours. It is a beautiful restaurant. Their website offers beautiful pictures and descriptions of the interior. It was a pleasure to eat there! I would go back in a heartbeat. Thank again Em for my great b-day gift.

Labor Day Adventures- Just Peachy

For Labor Day I wanted to go peach picking.
I ended up getting 25 lbs of peaches and an assortment of hot peppers.
Let's not forget about the 12 large baseball sized green tomatoes we picked off the vine.
What to do with all this produce.
I had dreams of jars of jam & jelly.
I've been busy.
I made 2 kinds of peach jam - one in the crock pot & one on the stove top.
I made hot pepper jelly that really has some kick.
I made a peach pie that is baking away right now. 
I made sambal, Indonesian hot sauce similar to Sriracha.
Ben has been asking for peach cobbler so that is coming yet.
I have an incredible peach cheesecake bar recipe but it is super indulgent.
I made fried green tomatoes on Monday night with plenty of tomatoes left.
maybe green tomato jam....or more fried green tomatoes.
Ben also had the idea for peach sherbet.  Looking up recipes & determining how hard/simple it would be to make.  Need a grocery store run first...I'm out of sugar & flour!

more consistent blogging

I really would like to be more active in my blogging.
I constantly have ideas for posts running in my head.
But alas time is not on my side.
I have 3 or 4 things I want to post about.
I hope to do one or two posts later.