Winding down the Summer

2 weeks left before Oliver starts Kindergarten!  The boys are going to spend their last week before school in MI with their grandparents.  They are getting excited!  We went to the Dodge County Fair this weekend and spoiled the kids a bit with rides and corndogs and rootbeer.  Then we went to the Rubicon Festival in one of the nearby small towns.  They have a helicopter drop pingpong balls on the baseball field and the kids all run out to collect them.  It was hilarious and insane!

One Haircut Down, One to Go

I really need to quit cutting the boys hair myself.  But getting to the barber, and finding one that we like has been a challenge.  Archer took it upon himself to cut his own hair a couple of weeks ago and luckily it's not too noticeable.  One big chunk on top right down to the scalp but his other hair lays over it.  Silly kid.  I butchered Oliver's hair last time so I figured I would let a professional do it this time.  His hair is so thick!
We made tie dye t-shirts last weekend while John was in Michigan.  This is not something I would recommend for the control freak parent, like myself.  They love the tee's though so maybe next time we do it outside?
Oliver has a field trip to a farm this week and we're getting ready for kindergarten!  We have started to think about school supply shopping and school clothes shopping and all of that fun stuff.
Summer, don't end!

This Woman's Work

Life is crazy, crazy busy now that I've started work.  I have a bit of a commute but I love my alone time in the morning with coffee and music.  The job is going well so far.  I have a lot to learn but I am enjoying being back out in the world.  For those who hadn't heard, I started on July 1st at the Medical College of Wisconsin.  I'm the administrative assistant to the Chief of Transplant Surgery.  It is a busy job but I love to juggle! 
No photo's this go around but some to come soon!

heart

Oh my heart swells for these two little sweet things.

Amazing

I just figured out how to change the email on my blogger account.  I know, I know. ...  but I will hopefully post more often now that I don't have to log out of one email and into another just to post.  Not that anyone is reading this.
Ahh!  It's almost July!  Summer is half over and I'm headed back to work.  Staying at home with the boys has been amazing but I am very ready to talk to grown ups and have someone tell me that I'm doing a good job.  I will miss my free time immensely.  Goodbye reading a novel a week, goodbye long weekend trips to Michigan, goodbye Summer afternoons in the pool.  Hello Medical college of Wisconsin and Froedtert hospital, hello spare $ to save for a real vacation, hello getting to wear real clothes that may or may not need to be ironed.
The boys have been busy since I last posted.  Oliver is 5 and has lost his first tooth.  Archer is 3 and loves to dress as a cowboy and carry a plastic snake around.

Last day of 4K

Lake Superior

January 2013

John turned 37 and we had visits from both sets of my parents this month!  Oliver was a star student of the month for "self discipline" month at his elementary school as well.  We are rolling into February, thinking about how nice a vacation to somewhere warm would be right about now.  Why didn't we plan that?  

wine with chocolate cake?  hell yeah!

some days

Some days these sweet boys actually get along.

Best Banana Bread EVER

Wow.  I have tried a lot of banana bread recipes over the years and the search is over!  I don't even have a picture because we ate the first loaf so fast!  I found this recipe on TasteSpotting.  Have you checked them out?  Amazing site!    Here is the original recipe to give credit where credit is due.
Banana Bread with Browned Butter Glaze

To make one loaf of bread (I doubled this and it worked perfectly)

3 TBSPs of butter, softened

3/4 Cup of packed dark brown sugar

3 Medium-sized, ripe bananas, sliced (I used brown banana's thawed from the freezer)

1/2 Cup of fat free buttermilk

3 TBSPs of canola oil

2 TBSPS of amber or gold rum ( I used brandy)

2 Large eggs

2 Cups of all-purpose flour 

3/4 Teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 Teaspoon of salt

Baking spray with flour (such as Baker’s Joy)

For the Glaze

1 TBSP of butter

1/3 Cup of powdered sugar

2 Teaspoons of Half and Half

DIRECTIONS

Make bread:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

3. Add brown sugar and bananas; sauté 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Remove from heat; cool 10 minutes.

5. Place banana mixture in a large bowl.

6. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.

7. Combine buttermilk and next 3 ingredients (through eggs).

8. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt.

9. Add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately to banana mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat at low speed just until combined.

10. Scrape batter into a 9 x 5-inch metal loaf pan coated with baking spray.

11. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs clinging.

12. Cool for 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

13. Remove bread from pan, and cool on wire rack.

Make glaze:

1. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a small, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat.

2. Cook 3 minutes or until butter begins to brown; remove from heat.

3. Add powdered sugar and half-and-half, stirring with a whisk until smooth.

4. Drizzle glaze over bread.

5. Let stand until glaze sets.

2012, so far

Wow, so it's really been over a year since I've posted?  You all have probably given up on the blog.
So, we moved to Wisconsin in April and have had a fun Summer.  Lot's of trips to see relatives in Michigan and a trip to NY for my friend Brigitte's wedding.
 Now that I'm home with the kids I will try to post more often.  I spend enough time reading other blogs that I should be able to contribute to my own!  I can't promise anything interesting about our little town Hustisford  but you may get to see some good recipes on here!

These Cookies

Well, these cookies were pretty fantastic.  Definitely not as easy as whipping up a batch of tollhouse but they were worth it.  I will make them again and again... and you should too.

nutella-stuffed-brown-butter-sea-salt-chocolate-chip-cookies-my-favorite-cookie-ever/

Vallecito

This past weekend we headed up to Vallecito, just East of Durango. OMG, it was amazing. I miss the green so much and this was a healthy dose of it! We packed up the tent, cooler and whatever else we could fit in the back of the VW (not much). The kids did really great considering Archer had a cold and Ollie had some sort of stomach bug. We hung at the campsite, played at the waters edge and hiked a bit. We can't wait to go back!

Master marshmallow cooker

Abiquiu reservoir and Los Alamos

We went for a drive a couple of weekends ago and ended up checking out the reservoir in Abiquiu. It was beautiful and sunny but so windy. We didn't stay long, just long enough for Oliver to skip some rocks. We then headed over to Gallina and had some awesome green chile burgers at a little restaurant (the only one in Gallina?). The kids fell asleep in their car seats and John and I enjoyed a quiet, scenic drive down a forest service road. We stopped in Los Alamos on the way back to stretch our legs and let the kids play. We often stop at this park for it's wide expansion of grass which we don't get to see in Santa Fe. It was an awesome day (until we got home and I realized I had left my keys on top of the car and they fell off somewhere during the drive)!

El Rancho de las Golondrinas

John took Oliver to El Rancho del las Golondrinas a couple of weeks ago. It is a living history museum on 200 acres just South of Santa Fe. I've never been but it looks like they had a blast! I'll have John edit this with some of what they did while there.

a few randoms

My sweet mischievous boy getting into something he shouldn't.

pouring water from cup to cup

just chilling

omg, so so good shrimp and grits

things we've been doing lately

turning one, walking first steps, flying kites, eating waffles, taking swimming lessons, riding bikes, peeing in the bushes, playing superheroes

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