apricot platz

If you haven't grown up amongst Russian Mennonite folk, you probably have no idea what 'platz' is. Feel free to substitute the word cake. I enjoy using the word since it connects me to my Mennonite heritage. I like to imagine my ancestors enjoying their home baking as much as our family enjoys mine. This is a great base recipe for lots of different fruit. I haven't decided if I like the apricot version or the fresh peach version. It's a tough one. Whatever you choose, the smell that comes out of the oven is amazing!

Apricot Platz

Ingredients:
Set aside: 3 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Beat: 3 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp. butter, softened
until light and fluffy.
Stir in: 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Sift: 1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Blend into egg yolk mixture. Immediately fold in egg whites. Spread into greased 9x13 inch pan. Top with apricots (cut in half and remove the pit). Place cut side down. (Feel free to substitute peaches or plums).

Streusel: 1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, cold
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Mix by hand until crumbs form. Sprinkle over fruit.
Bake at 350 degree F. oven for 35-40 minutes or until the streusel is light brown. (This takes much longer in my oven. Closer to 55-60 minutes).

chicks

Andrew arranged with a family from our church to visit their chicken farm. So, this morning we took a trip out to the country to see the baby chicks that were born and delivered Sunday. I really didn't know what to expect but it was not this.


A room filled with yellow, fluffy chicks. They stay for approximately 35 days and then are big enough to make it onto your grocery store shelves all wrapped up in plastic, ready to go. After a week or two of cleaning, another round of baby chicks come for their month long visit to the farm. And so the cycle continues. I was not there to analyze the life of the poor chicken. I was there to experience the wonder of these cute little creatures.


And aren't they sweet. Apparently, they start losing their cuteness pretty quickly, so we came on the perfect day.

We asked Jesse if he wanted to hold a chick and without thinking, he reached out for one and held it long enough for me to get a picture. He wasn't willing to do a repeat so I could actually adjust the settings on my camera. Ah, good enough. The older two weren't brave enough to hold one.

Abigail got close but was content to touch their fluffy feathers. Here she is with Mark, our friend the chicken farmer.

They really are so soft.

The kids checking out the all vegetable feed. No by products here folks.

After the tour of one of the many buildings, the kids got to experience some more farm adventures.

The riding of the lawn mower. Abigail even got to take a little spin around with Andrew.

And we almost left with a souvenir. Who wouldn't want to take this sweet face home?

today

I'm not feeling any major inspiration today so I thought I would share some pics that I took during the day. This is a great documentation of the little things that happen in our house during the span of a day. I know that I may sound like a broken record on this issue, but I love capturing these every day moments that would seriously be forgotten in such a short time. Am I motivating any of you to get out your camera and take these kinds of pictures? It really becomes a habit to go run for the camera when these everyday moments happen during the day. And it only takes a minute. Trust me, you won't regret it.

Now, onto our day. We are pretty much laying low this week. Abigail is taking swimming lessons at the pool down the street but otherwise we have no big plans. It was refreshing not to have to hurry our morning routine. The kids stayed in their pjs until we went to the pool for noon. The three of them were playing in Jesse's room while I played guitar in the family room. I then heard Jesse crying and Nathaniel come running. Jesse had fallen and hit his head on the rocking chair. Abigail instinctively got out the ice pack and tea towel and set Jesse up in our bed to play patient.

Jesse obliged and uncomfortably lay on the ice pack like any well behaved patient would. Abigail was sure to make sure he was letting the ice do its work.

I was surprised that he actually lay there for a few minutes. (Sorry for the dark pictures.)
After we came home from swimming lessons, Jesse got side tracked in the side garden and started playing with the water. Of course he then got mud on his sandals and pants. I brought him inside to get him ready for lunch and then naptime. As I started making lunch, Jesse decided that his pants needed washing.

I found him here. He had climbed up into the bathroom sink to wash the dirt off his pants. My problem solver. He had the soap and was running the water on his pants. What a good boy.

Later while Jesse napped, Nathaniel got the idea to go downstairs and bring out all of our empty beer bottles.

He got to work immediately with setting up and filling his bottles of "pop". He took orders and delivered his beverages.

I ordered the "white pop".

Abigail enjoyed a few moments of colouring time. Shortly after some neighbourhood girls joined us and the beer bottles became a full fledged business. After assessing the safety of having glass bottles outside with lots of kids carting them on our cars and go cart, I put a stop to the beer/pop business. Of course as I tried to carry the bottles back inside, one fell through the container and shattered on the sidewalk. That would be the reason why it was not such a smart idea. The kids quickly dug into our recycling bin and quickly came up with an alternative, plastic yogurt drink bottles. Much safer.

After supper, the playing with neighbours continued. Abigail was getting some Irish dancing lessons from her friend across the street. The boys watched on as the girls skipped across the lawn. Jesse and Nathaniel ran across the lawn a few times but then were finished with their go at dancing. Abigail hung in their quite a bit longer. This is why I love summer. Hanging out and playing with neighbours.

conspiracy

There is a conspiracy going on in our house.

And it is with these two. They might look innocent, but let me tell you that something is up. These two brothers have decided that their mission is to see that their mother does not get a full night's sleep. They must decide between them whose night it is to wake up and disturb their mother's restful slumber. I am starting to catch on because they never wake up on the same night. NEVER.


I realize that it is hard to believe that this sweet looking child could wish such sleeplessness on his mother, but it is true. Jesse must have gotten the shortest straw for most of the week since he was frequently up the past number of nights. Two nights ago he even managed to get into our bed and was awake for a total of 2 hours.

And it must have been this one that told him how nice and cozy it is to spend the night in Mommy and Daddy's bed. Last night it was his turn to wake up. He came to my side of the bed saying that he was scared. This is code for "I'd like to sleep in your bed." He spent a few hours with us until after a few hours of frequent waking for me made me finally have him go back to his bed. And guess who slept through the night. Jesse. Coincidence? I think not.

busy scrapping

My lss (local scrapbooking store, for those nonscrappers) had a sale last week so I stocked up on supplies. I am trying to finish up the last of summer 2008 pics. I'm thrilled with how much I've gotten accomplished since Sunday. These layouts came together super fast.

I wanted to document how quickly Nathaniel's mood can change when he gets frustrated or upset. It's probably not a layout he will enjoy looking at now, but it will hopefully be more meaningful when he is older. Let's hope this is just a stage.

I was going to include this picture in Nathaniel's summer summary layout, but I decided it was an important story to tell all on its own. I also love that it documents the relationship between my dad and Nathaniel.

This layout and the next one all document Jesse's love for playing in the dirt. They tell a different story, so I decided to make two layouts.

The beginning of Jesse's love of the sandbox had to have its own place in his scrapbook.

strawberry salad

We are at the very end of strawberry season, but this past weekend was the only time I was able to make this salad this year. The nice thing is that you can substitute fruit that is in season. I used the extra dressing and made a salad with raspberries. Just be careful when tossing the fragile fruit.

Strawberry Salad

1 head romaine lettuce, torn in small pieces
1 pint strawberries, sliced
1 pint blueberries
1/2 small red onion, cut in thin rings (adjust the amount of onion to your liking)

Dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. milk
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. poppy seeds
1 Tbsp. raspberry vinegar (you can use white wine vinegar or another fruit infused vinegar)

Wash and prepare the lettuce and fruit. Place all the salad ingredients in a salad bowl.
Mix the dressing (I like to use a small jam jar and shake it till the mayo and poppy seeds are fully encorporated). Dress the salad (I always have extra dressing) and serve immediately.

staycation part two

Here is the second installment of pictures chronicalling our week off. After the zoo on Monday, train ride to the market on Tuesday, hanging out at home Wednesday with an evening campfire and campout, Thursday was spent at the Kitchener Children's Museum. My niece Evelyn joined us for the day as we explored the many areas of the museum.

The kids loved driving the plasma cars. Their instinct was to play crash up derby.

Jesse enjoyed the water table...

and plasma cars too.

The pinwall was a huge hit.

The girls (me included) loved the dancing floor. Jesse would lay himself down and we would just dance around him.

Lunch was at the Exhibit Cafe, a super yummy cafe that provides food made from local, organic products. There are lots of vegetarian choices and I always love eating here.

After lunch, the older kids played outside while Jesse napped. Abigail spent the night and the following day at Grandma and Grandpa's with Evelyn. She really enjoyed this special time with her cousin. Again, she wished that she had a sister after all the intense girl time.

Andrew bought tickets to the Jays game Saturday afternoon. It was planned that Abigail would also go along, but she insisted on spending the day with Evelyn. Nathaniel was very excited to take the trip to Toronto with his Daddy.

He was very impressed with the CN Tower (which stands beside the Rogers Centre).

I was worried he would get bored during the game and that they would need to leave early. Fortunately for Nathaniel, there were a few snacks to space between the baseball viewing.

Chips.

Freezies.

A great afternoon for father and son. And the added bonus - the Jays won!

Sunday afternoon, Andrew took Abigail and Nathaniel for a bike ride and went to the park to check out Ribsfest.

There was a great midway and the kids enjoyed the carousel, motorcycles, firetrucks and huge slide. After supper, we all went and allowed all 3 kids a few more rides. No surprise that Jesse didn't want to come off the firetruck. I didn't bring the camera so there are no cute pictures of Jesse ringing the bell on his own personal firetruck.

The week went fast and we are back to our normal summer routine. Andrew is back to work and me and the kids are hanging out and spending the mornings at Vacation Bible School this week.

staycation part one

Andrew had this week off and we decided to spend the time doing day trips and special outings with the kids. Both Andrew and I agree that it was a great week. No, we didn't get a real vacation away from our home, but we got to visit local places that we just don't get to any other time during the year. So people, here come a whole lot of photos. I will divide them into two different posts. Here is part 1.

On Monday we spent the day at the Toronto Zoo. The last time we visited Nathaniel was 18 months. It was definitely time. Jesse is fascinated with animals so we knew we needed to make the trip.

I wish I could say these two were this peaceful during the duration of our trip. There were a few squabbles given the close quarters.

We got to the orangutan exhibit and watched as the two younger ones climbed around and played. The mother made a bed of straw and then arranged two shirts on them. She then came right in front of Jesse. Without asking Jesse his favorite part of the zoo, I think this would have been it. He was so content to watch their antics. When we went to leave he spontaneously shouted "Bye bye monkeys!"

Abigail checking out the orangutan family tree. The matriarch was named Abigail.

My troupe watching the gorillas.

Isn't she lovely?

I was looking forward to the elephants. The zookeeper was just beginning his presentation of the elephants when we arrived. Abigail and Nathaniel listened attentively but Jesse wasn't quite as impressed with these giants as I expected him to be. Perhaps they were just a bit too overwhelming. He ended up playing in the stroller most of the time.

Did I already mention how lovely she is?

The boys having a break climbing all over the rocks.

I have a thing for zebras. I took lots of pictures.

Nathaniel was most excited to see the lions.

When we arrived the male lion was snoozing. I think that is how you most often find the lions, especially during the heat of the summer. Every once in a while we would see the lion open his eyes. And then...

something got his attention.

What a treat to see such a beautiful and majestic animal.

And mama kept on sleeping.

The kids were all able to touch a ball python. It took Abigail a few times before she actually touched it. Jesse and Nathaniel weren't afraid.

At around 3:00 Andrew and I sensed the kids were getting to their max, so we got out of there as soon as we could to avoid the Toronto traffic. This trip was a definite highlight.

On Wednesday night Andrew and the kids set up the tent and built a campfire in our backyard. We invited the neighbours and shared marshmallows and smores.

We had a brief sprinkling of rain, but no one seemed to notice.

They were all busy digging into the marshmallows.

Jesse stuck with the graham crackers.

Jesse also elected himself for cup duty. He picked up every one's cup whether they were finished or not.

Before Andrew, Nathaniel and Abigail went to settle down for a night in the tent, there was a quick game of "Monster" with Andrew chasing all the kids around the play centre. Jesse loves this game. A great way to end another fine day.