Pie Inspiration

I will admit I am not a big pie maker. I think I have done a few here and there but nothing too fancy. Part of it may be because Eric is not a big fruit dessert type of guy and pies just seem to be more fruity. 

I myself have enjoyed pies, so when I got an email from my sister-in-law Luisa I decided to give it a whirl. Luisa is the pie baker of the family and has made a lot of really fun pies. She had the opportunity of teaching a class for a Relief Society activity in her ward. She was kind enough to send/share her recipes and tips with some of the other women in our family.  

Luisa talked about how much better a homemade crust made a difference so I decided to try her all butter crust. I have been wanting to make this strawberry pie for a while and we had some really yummy strawberries in season. The boys who tell me they don't like pie I thought I would have a chance with this one because it was pretty much strawberries, sugar, and whipped cream….really can not go to wrong with that ; )

I will definitely agree with Luisa the homemade crust does make a big difference and it was a big hit with all the family. I'll have to work a little more on making the crust edges a little prettier, so it was good it called for lots of whipped cream  : ) but I thought for my first time it was a success! Thanks for sharing with us Luisa! 

Walking home

When the boys started back to school , I think the best part of the day for both the boys and Olivia was getting off the bus and walking home. Livvy would get very excited when it came to get the boys and wait at the door for me to come and walk her down to the bus stop. 

When the boy saw her waiting for them to get off the would run to her and give her a big hug. Then they would walk home together holding her hand tell her all about their day at school : ) 

First day of school

The school year seemed like it started about a week earlier this year. I find that I really like the school year starting in the beginning of August. It is pretty much too hot outside yet do do anything and getting out earlier in May is nice.

This year Thomas was starting 3rd grade and Phillip was starting first grade. It was nice the week before we were able to stop by the school and see where their classes were and drop off all their supplies. 

This made the first day a less crazy. I wanted to make their first day special and neither one was really nervous because they were familiar with their classmates and the school. So for breakfast they had pancakes, sausage links, and fresh strawberries. Livvy wasn't sure what was going on but she was happy for the breakfast choice ; ) 

All the kids were into Minions this year so both of the boys got Minion backpacks and lunch boxes. I am finding it is nice to have boys because neither one really cares about clothes so they were happy with just their new shoes and a new shirt.  

The first day is the only day we get to walk the kids to their class. But it was nice that the boys had their lockers happened to just three or four apart from each other. This was nice for Sup as he didn't have a locker in kindergarten so Thomas was able to help him for the first few days getting his locker opened for him. 

For dinner I wanted to do some fun finger foods to celebrate getting though their first day. So I made some homemade chicken fingers and mini pepperoni muffins. 

For dessert I found this rice crispy apples I thought would be perfect for a back to school treat. The boys thought they were really neat and I think they ended up eating all the "apples" that night. 

The art of dying

Late in the summer before the boys started school we had made plans to go camping with some of our extended family over Labor Day. 

Eric wanted to make a target game that we could take with us as some entertainment for the kids. He had made these wooden shaped guns that would fling rubber bands at the targets and flip them over. 

All of the kids thought these rubber band guns were pretty cool. He ended up making three and he colored them green, blue, and yellow. It didn't take Livvy long at all to catch on to the game. She soon learned that she could run around and play dead just like everyone else. 

Because the neither one of the boys like to be the "bad guy" and Liivy doesn't really know the difference her and Daddy were the "bad guys" chasing the "good guys". 

The dinosaur dig

After Thomas made his dinosaur fossil cast he let it sit around for a few days so it could harden. It was fortunate that he put the toys and dinosaur pieces that he could live without playing with for a couple for days. 

This was also the last part for his digging in the past badge he needed to sign off for so he was eager to get it completed. Because he has actually done a few of these before he had a lot of the tools he needed to get the toys out and how to do it. 

We wanted to make sure it was a nice day so later on in the afternoon we went ahead and dumped out his cast on the front porch. This way Livvy wouldn't be as eager to "help" ; )

It took him a little while to get everything out. And it was a good thing he remembered everything he put in it and had a count because I had no idea and some pieces may have ended up in the trash : )

Daddy at the Dutch Oven

At the beginning of August Eric wanted to try his hand at the Dutch Oven. So on a Saturday morning he wanted some help making some cinnamon rolls. 

After finding his mom's roll recipe and making them up he got the dutch oven all set up. This was the first time we actually did  rolls so we were excited for the challenge.  

After about 30 minutes in the dutch oven we had golden brown cinnamon rolls that were smelling pretty good. Olivia was anxious to get in and eat some so was a little up set when Daddy wouldn't let her get too close to them. 

We were able to get them out of the oven and spread the icing on the warm rolls and we gobbled them up!