weekend waffles

One of the things I love best about waking up early to exercise is the jump it gives me on my day. When Oliver asked for waffles this morning for breakfast, I had enough time to say yes! Waffles are usually a weekend-only occurrence around here, so it was pretty exciting.

These waffles are the best. They are light and crisp and so very delicious. This morning I put blueberries in mine, then topped them with fresh Utah peaches and a little powdered sugar. It was breakfast heaven.

Best Waffles

1 1/2 cups flour (I use white whole wheat)
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup oil (or melted butter, although that makes for a denser waffle)
2 egg yolks

2 egg whites
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside. Combine the buttermilk, milk, oil, and yolks in a large measuring cup with a fork. Set aside. In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until soft, glossy peaks form, adding the sugar gradually while mixing. Stir in the vanilla at the end. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix just until blended. Gently fold in the egg whites.

We use a belgian waffle iron, and this recipe makes 6 large waffles. You can keep them warm and crisp in a 200 degree oven until ready to eat. Don't stack them, though, or they will get soggy.

Have a happy weekend!

quiet time cuddles and other benefits

Stella and Elliot have never been the best playmates (something to do with Stella's strong will and Elliot's age, I think). But now that Elliot is a little older and they are home together all day, they have become the best of friends (mostly). This morning they spent hours in their couch tents, playing school, and working on their "computers". It was the sweetest thing, and left me with so much free time that I didn't really know what to do with myself.

Then Stella climbed into bed with me during naptime and showed me her best howls.

I'm so glad she's not at school.

today

Because I had a can of this.

Because I am just plain tired of summer.

And even though it's 106 outside. 

I made this.

And I didn't regret it one bit.

Happy almost fall!

p.s. The recipe makes two loaves.

thirty three

I always thought that the older I got, the more I would want to be young again. Maybe someday I'll feel that way, but right now, I am happy to be another year older. Happy and so grateful.

chocolate zucchini cake

Fall is my season. If I close my eyes while I'm eating a bite of this cake, I can pretend that it's November and my windows are open and a cool breeze is blowing through my house. Oh, November, you can't get here soon enough! Until then, I guess this cake will have to do.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 or 3 small zucchinis, grated
3/4 cup chocolate chips
powdered sugar for dusting

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Then mix in eggs, oil, and buttermilk until combined. Stir in grated zucchini and chocolate chips. Bake for 50-55 minutes in a well-greased pan in a 350 degree oven.

Cool completely and dust with powdered sugar.
 
It's so moist and chocolatey, but I think it's the bit of cinnamon that makes it a real winner.

recipe adapted slightly from allrecipes

My sister-in-law, Ginger, made another version of this cake here. If I'd had apple butter, I would have given her's a try. It sounds delicious!

the weekend, so far

Last night was the annual Daddy Daughter Campout. That made for two very happy girls, and one sad, sad little boy. Elliot was feeling so left out. So we went to the grocery store and bought a doughnut and drank some root beer and then we felt all better.

Mike snapped that picture of cute Mabel on their way to Sedona. They were stopped on the I-10 because they were rear-ended! Total bummer, but glad everyone was ok. (By the way, it only took Mabel ten years to appreciate my braiding skills.) I can't wait to hear how the rest of their night went. They forgot an air mattress + extra blankets. I hope they didn't freeze!

Some early 33rd birthday presents: washi tape + holder from Leslie, and a cake stand from me. How in the world am I supposed to bring myself to use that gorgeous tape, Les? It's so so pretty.

p.s. This is my new favorite.

mom school

Stella missed the cut-off for kindergarten this year. I was sad that she wouldn't be able to start with her two best cousins at our neighborhood school. I even thought about having her tested and sent early.  But the more I thought about it (and prayed about it), the more I realized that of all my kids, she needs my attention the most. So instead of rushing her off to school, where I'm afraid she'd be lost, or sending her to another year of preschool (which she loved, but doesn't really need), we are having "mom school" and she is in heaven. Sometimes we renovate bathrooms, or run errands. Sometimes we play with Elliot, or like yesterday, we make brownies. Lots of times we practice reading and writing. But whatever we are doing, she is right beside me, right where she wants to be.

I am grateful for the revelation we can receive as mothers. I am glad that I was able to listen to my heart and know what Stella needed most. I am happy that I followed those feelings and I know that I am doing the best thing for her this year.

But please bless me to be patient with her! Goodness, that girl can talk and talk and talk.

Best brownie recipe here. This time we used dark chocolate chunks instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Oh dear!

a basement bathroom

 before: retro harvest gold disaster  ::  after: not gold

There were lots of things I didn't like about the old bathroom. Like that rusty corner medicine cabinet. And the gold "marble" countertop. The faucet didn't work well and the cabinet doors didn't close all the way. This bathroom has been on my list since we moved in, but was never a priority because it is so seldom used. 

But, we are having lots of houseguests in a couple of weeks and on a whim I bought this pretty dresser, which fit the space perfectly. I've always loved dressers-turned-sinks, so I decided to try it. I'm so glad I did!

I'm keeping my eyes peeled for the perfect mirror.

My first task was replacing the old baseboards. We had run out of baseboard-replacing energy by the time we got to this bathroom years ago when we did the rest of the house. It is an easy project and makes such a difference.

About five years ago, we had these hexagonal tiles installed on top of the yucky (gold!) linoleum. I still love them. All I needed to do was fill in the space under the old sink. (I didn't have quite enough, and they are discontinued, so I used a similarly colored but different shaped tile back by the wall. It's not very noticeable.) It makes the room seem so much bigger to see the floor under that dresser!

I have to admit, tiling was sort of a dream come true. I've always wanted to try it. I definitely need more practice, but I am happy to say that I would be willing to give it another go.

I can't even tell where the old tile stops and the new tile starts. Hooray!

I found the sink at a garage sale (thanks to Abbie) and my dresser on craigslist. It had already been refinished in a pretty blue color (See here. Darn basement lighting!). I used a strong varnish on the top to save it from water damage. I turned the top two small drawers into false drawers to make room for the sink. Then I shortened the middle drawer to make room for the pipes. I didn't follow this tutorial exactly, but I found it helpful.

I used Martha's Heavy Cream on the walls, which is the same color I used for my kitchen cabinets. This bathroom gets no natural light, though, so it turned out quite yellow-y, which surprised me, but I don't mind one bit.

He doesn't mind, either.

Elliot says

We kind of really need it to be fall already.

good things this week

Now that school is back in session, I've started exercising early in the mornings with a couple of friends again. (I'm still running with Mike at night, too. I'm like, super into fitness. ;) The reward for getting up in the dark on Monday morning was definitely that gorgeous sunrise. Oh, it was beautiful!

On Tuesday Mike took me and the little kids out to lunch. I love when he does that.

In home improvement news, the baseboards are in and the bathroom is painted. Next up, tile. Eeek! Luckily there is only a very small area that needs tiling. I think it will be a great first time tiling project. I'll let you know how it goes.

Anything good happening in your week?

I might be in over my head.

Usually I feel pretty confident when I'm doing projects around the house. I've seen enough This Old House and Hometime episodes to last a lifetime. Plus, I'd say that I have a good amount of experience. When we moved into our house seven years ago, we did lots of work to it, almost entirely on our own. Since then we've done even more work. But aside from painting the old bathroom vanities, we hadn't touched the 35 year old bathrooms.

Until yesterday.

In a moment of extreme over-confidence, I bought that pretty blue dresser (which I plan on making into a vanity) and started ripping out the old stuff in our basement bathroom. I wrangled Mike into helping me get it out of the house this morning, but the rest is up to me.

Things this project requires that I have never done before:
tiling
plumbing
drywall repair
and somehow putting a sink into a really old dresser! aack!

Well, it's much too late to turn back now. Wish me luck. And please share any advice if you have it.

through thick and thin

This past weekend marked the fortieth anniversary of my parents' marriage. They've been through quite a bit together in all of those years, and I am grateful for their continued devotion to each other and to their children. Their love is a tangible thing.

I'm so glad we were able to celebrate together in Sundance. Love you guys!

Just missing Mike and Mabel, who was too sick to come to dinner that night.

ordinary things

I love blogging because it makes me pick up my camera and take note of ordinary things.

Like:

 The pretty evening light that pours into the front of the house.

And Elliot's 15th outfit change of the day.

Blogging freezes time.

It keeps moments like this from escaping my terribly short memory. 

Thank you for reading, and have a happy weekend!

end of summer instas

I guess technically summer isn't over. But now that school has started, we are back to our old routine. I'm going to miss our lazy summer days. No more slow mornings spent on the kitchen floor watching the german pancakes puff in the oven with an Elliot on my lap. Back to frantic regular pancake flipping and lunch packing and homework doing.

All summer long, Mike and I have been running. Running is so hard! Especially in this heat. My face turns magenta and stays that way for the longest time. But as much as I hate it, I really like it, too. Especially with Mike as my partner. Turkey Trot here I come! Maybe.

Our back to school prep included: an eye exam and new glasses for Mabel, family school supply shopping at Staples, and not much else, luckily.

Here's to a new school year! Hopefully it cools off soon!

back to it

Well, they're off.

I can hardly believe it, but school started today. I think we could have all used a few more weeks of summer. Poor Mabel had her eyes dilated yesterday at the optometrist. It was supposed to wear off by this morning, but it didn't quite all the way. Luckily, there's a heat advisory in effect so they probably won't be going out to recess in the scorching bright sun. (113 today! Yuck.)

I decided our family needed a theme this year. After lots of thought, I chose "I can be courageous". Because it takes courage to try new things, and to meet new friends, and to stand up for the right. It's something I hope we'll work on all year. Do you have a family theme? Do you choose a new one each school year?

Now it's just me and these two monkeys. Oh dear.

our book dilemma

The bedrooms in our 1978 rancher are not large, and Mabel and Oliver's book collection seemed to be growing by the minute! I was tired of seeing the books stacked on the floor, but I couldn't stand the idea of taking up valuable floor space with a book case. This was my dilemma.

Rain gutter shelves were my solution. I'm sure you've seen them around. They were quite easy to install, and very inexpensive. We had a length of rain gutter left over from our roof, so I only needed to buy one 10 ft length (about $5) and 16 clips (about $2 a piece).

We jammed as many books as we could into them, and so far they seem up to the challenge.

There are caps you can buy to enclose the ends of the shelves and make them look neater, but with 8 shelves they were out of my budget. (My budget = as close to free as possible.)

When Mabel and Oliver's room is clean and the beds are made, it still might be my favorite room in our house.

p.s. I found this tutorial helpful.

buttermilk syrup

For the amount of pancakes we eat in this house, I am awfully disappointed in myself for not trying buttermilk syrup sooner. Have you ever made it? It's pretty simple, and I like knowing exactly what's in it. It definitely wouldn't qualify as healthy, but it isn't 100% high fructose corn syrup like most pancake syrups, so that's something, right? (For a while we were only using pure maple syrup, but I'll be honest, we didn't love it.)

Buttermilk Syrup

1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla

Stir everything except the vanilla together in a large saucepan (it sort of grows while it's cooking, so use a nice big pot). Bring to a boil and cook for 7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

We came home from our trip to lots and lots of fresh eggs, so we've been eating German pancakes with strawberries and this syrup almost every day (go easy on the syrup, you only need a little bit!).

recipe from allrecipes

the birthday

The most important reason for our detour to California was to help celebrate my Grammy's 82nd birthday. I don't get to see my grandparents nearly often enough, so I was happy to spend a few hours with them at my brother's house last Sunday.

My Grammy is probably the most stylish lady I know. She always looks so put together.

And that cake! Oh, my sister-in-law, Katie, outdid herself. It was delicious.

 My handsome Grampy and brother, Matt

These two girls had the best time.

Thanks for letting us crash at your house, Matthew and Katie. We had so much fun.

the beach

I had a hankering to see the ocean, so we stopped in California on our way home. I think maybe all of the world's ills could be cured with a little ocean breeze.

These photos were taken before Mabel and Annie were soaked by a rogue wave. Elliot was smart and wore his swim suit from the get go.

It was worth all of the extra time in the car just for that one hour of salty sea air, I tell you.

celebrating

This is a big year for my parents. They are both turning 60 years old, and also celebrating 40 years of marriage. Leslie organized a family dinner for them at the Foundry Grill. It was a good night.

Pretty Leslie and Audrey.

My little brother, Lincoln, his wife, Mimi, and baby David drove into town just in time.

sisters-in-law Katie and Mimi

cousin Sadie and baby David, getting lots of attention from the boys

cousin Jack making a toast and Max and Miles

my Elliot and a wistful Stella

Lincoln, Jooj, and Toni

Jack and Oliver

A good time was had by all. 

We had posters printed of our favorite instagrams (we love prinstagram!) and hung them around the room. They were a hit.

My parents and some of their grandkids.

Thanks for making it happen, Les!