Birthday pie

On Sunday my dear husband had a loose plan for making a pie for my birthday as a family but I decided that sounded more like a disaster waiting to happen than a bonding family experience! So, yesterday while the children were playing and Tripp was at work I decided to make the pie. What an experience. . .the recipe was written down incorrectly which proved a little challenging. But I was up for the challenge and after an 1 1/2 hours that seemed like an eternity my long awaited coconut cream pie was done. Happy Birthday to me! :)

YUMMY!

Here's my Mom's recipe if you want to try it out!

Coconut Cream Pie

• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 3 eggs, separated--use yolks for pie
• Pinch salt
• 3 T butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup shredded coconut (do not pack)

Mix dry ingredients well, add milk and egg yolks and stir until blended on top of double boiler (sauce pan will also work). Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thick (when you can make a track with your spoon that disappears slowly). Remove from heat and add butter, vanilla and coconut. Pour into baked, deep dish pie shell.

Meringue topping:

• 3 egg whites
• 6 T sugar
• Pinch cream of tartar (salt will also work)

Beat egg whites in a metal or glass bowl at high speed until foamy and white. Add sugar slowly and cream of tartar. Continue beating until stiff (meringue will form soft peaks when beater is pulled out). Spread meringue on top of pie filling. Cook at 400F for 12-15 minutes or until peaks are golden brown. Store pie in refrigerator.

The little artists

Cullen says "ta da" when he's done with his art work!

Here's his little masterpiece!

Emerson pasted the flowers and drew the stems and leaves (minus the one on the right that I did to demonstrate). You have to look really close to see the straight green lines with circles for leaves that she did.

Emerson is working on writing her name. Today she was really proud of herself and I was too! :)

Fun at the fair

Ironically enough, Tripp and I built a house right next door to the house that I grew up in. I lived there 21 years until my parents built a house outside of town. So, no, they do not live next door. Anyway, our house now (and mine growing up) is only 1/2 mile from the local fair ground. When I was a kid, my brother and I would convince our parents to take us to the fair to ride the rides, look at the exhibits and eat high prices deep fried food and lose our loose teeth in a candy apple. Everyone in our town went to the fair when it came. Maybe it was an 80's and 90's thing to do but it was definitely the place not to miss as a child. My poor Mom hated it when the air got crisp and my brother and I started talking about the fair because that meant lots of money blown and the worst part of all "the rides"! She was always concerned about how well the rides were put together and until last night I didn't really understand the full extent of her reluctance. Last night we had the great adventure of taking Emerson to the local fair. It is a very small fair but they have several kid rides. She rode almost all of them. She passed by the "boy ride" which was supposed to look like old fighter planes with fake guns. And her Daddy made her pass by the massive slide that he thought might take us on our 1st trip to the ER. However, she did try out 2 rides that went up into the air, little boats and a mini roller coaster, all of which she was thrilled to be on! And now I understand why my Mom hated when the fair came to town and why my Dad was the one who usually took us! It is a little terrifying to watch your baby flying up into the air on a bumble bee ride where only 1/2 the lights work. My heart sank as I watched her zoom 20 feet into the air all alone but then I looked at her smile and my heart went back to its original position. Thankfully all was well and we truly had a great time. My how times have changed though. There was hardly anyone there and there were no exhibits of farm animals, paintings and homemade crafts. Despite the changes in the last 20 years, the fun was still the same. I recognized that thrill and pure joy on Emerson's face as she defied gravity in a dragon and a bumble bee, held on to a caterpillar as it looped around the track and drove a little shiny boat as it bobbed up and down. Her imagination took her flying in the clouds, slinking through the tall grass and riding on the high waves of the sea last night. And the joy I felt as I watched her experience that is indescribable.

Her first fair ride!

Flying high!

Driving the boats.

Thrilled!!! Riding the roller coaster!Look at those cute pig tails! Riding the carousel with her Daddy!

Clearing the air

So far I've had about 4 people apologize thinking they were the person who said "I hate blogs". Well, there's no need for any more confessions to me. The person who said that is NOT on the blog list. I feel bad that I must have sounded like I was fishing for an apology in my post about why I had stopped blogging. That was never my intention. So, if you hated blogs in the past but like mine then great. Don't worry about offending me though. I should have never let someone discourage me in the first place.

Now that that is cleared up. . .thanks for caring and reading my silly little stories!

You know you're an American if. . .

. . .your child sets up this scene with her dollhouse figurines! Yes, Emerson actually did this the other night when she couldn't sleep. She had gotten up a gazillion times and I was going into her room to cut her off at the pass when I saw her doing this. I slowly backed out of her room so she wouldn't see me and waited. I went back in, tucked her in and waited until she was asleep to snap these pictures. I guess she was hoping I might see what she had done and get her hint that she'd rather be watching a movie with her Daddy than sleeping, but no such luck! Instead I take pictures and post it on my blog. :)

Matching outfits

Thanks to my very talented mother-in-law, my children looked precious this morning in their matching outfits. Everyone at church wanted to know if the outfits were from Strasburg, but I said "no, they are Oma originals"! That's right, she made the shirt and suit for Cullen and the dress for Emerson, including the embroidery. I took this picture as I was running out the door to church this morning so they aren't the best in the world but at least you can see their matching cuteness!

The little chef

While Cullen went to the Dr for his 18 month check-up, Emerson got to spend the morning with her Oma. Oma always has lots of fun things for Emerson to do. Today they made fruit salads and pizza for them, me, Cullen and Aunt J. Needless to say, Emerson had a great time being the chef for the day. Thanks Oma!!!

Oma made the adorable apron and chef's hat!

Making her cute little salads with raisin eyes, cherry mouths and cheese hair.

Rolling out the pizza dough.

This is her serious work face!

It's only fun if you get covered in flour!!

Spreading the sauce.

Her masterpieces were T-licious (that's what she used to say for delicious)!

I speak it better than I write it. . .

English, that is! Spanish is the reverse. I was just reading through my blog about Emerson correcting my grammar and I realized that I didn't proof read before I posted. I somehow managed to use incorrect grammar in the last sentence. . . embarrassing and ironic!!!

PS For everyone who rushed to that post to see the mistake, don't be confused. I already fixed it! :)

Prayer Request

Recently I heard an amazing story about a young couple who had a 24 week preemie and the wife has CF. The wife has been on a transplant list for a double lung transplant since the baby was born (12 weeks ago) and tonight she is in surgery getting her new lungs. Please pray for her, her husband, her daughter and all of her family and friends. Also, please pray for the donor's family. The husband has a great blog which chronicles their story from his perspective. Their story is inspiring.

Kid conversations

Today my best friend's 2 oldest children have been staying with me. While I was cleaning up the kitchen I heard Emerson and the little girl talking (she's 4). Here's their conversation. . .

B: (holding a stuffed toy horse) "This is a horse but I call it a pony. I call everything ponies."
Em: (little pause) "You call chickens pony?"
B: "No. I call a chicken a hen."
Em: "Oh!"

Guilty

Here's a good example of how easily I tend to run into things with the car. Today I had a Dr's appointment and as I pulled into the normally crowded parking lot I noticed how few cars there were. I see lots of spaces but opt for the one up front (right across from the man sitting with a little boy). The spot I chose had a metal post at the end of it. Also, the parking spot was at an incline, going down towards the sign. These two things combined should have been enough for me to go to another parking spot but in my greedy moment of wanting to be closest to the door I opted to give it a try. I turn in, probably to fast, and whomp! hit the post. Then I remember there is a man sitting right behind me and now he's probably laughing his head off. So, I decide to correct my error and back up and straighten out. Now here is where I should have just pulled out of the parking space and gone to another one but NO I'm too hard headed for that. I had to prove I could do it. I start to back up and wonder what in the world is wrong with the car because I can't seem to reverse. The car goes back about 6 inches and then whomp! right back into the post. I look down and realize that when I hit the post, the 1st time, I pulled up the emergency brake. Now I'm completely embarrassed and am seriously considering pulling out of the parking space and going to the other side of the building. Instead, I released the emergency brake, backed the car away from the post, put the car into park, turn it off and exit with my head held high. I glance over towards the man who is still sitting with his son and thankfully he quickly turns his head before we make eye contact. And as I walk to the door I know exactly what that man is talking to his little boy about. . ."those women drivers". And yes, I'm one of them!