One Year Ago Right Now...

I was making pancakes. A midnight meal before going to the hospital to deliver baby number four in the morning!

Outdoor Explorer

Another beautiful November day, so Olivia and I decided to take the party outside for a bit.

She's been walking a lot on her own today without any prompting, which surprises me. Usually we have to use some kind of bait to get her to walk anywhere! She's also becoming a little too confident going down the stairs {I think we'll keep the safety gate up for a while longer, just in case!}. She's eating more than ever, pointing at anything and everything in sight, saying mama, dada and nigh-nigh (night night), and waving pretty much whenever I carry her from one room to another in the house. She's getting a good sense of humor too, I love it!

Vintage. Swedish. Picture Books. Need I Say More?

Here I am with another little batch of goodies for you. I know I say this every single time I write about books, but these really are my favorite! Just look at all these illustrations...what's not to love? Maybe it's because my heritage is mostly Norwegian and Swedish, so these have a special meaning for me, but I think they would still be my favorite no matter where my grandparents came from.

Okay, so first I want to tell you about this very talented Swedish author/illustrator named Elsa Beskow. Her books are about 100 years old now, and {lucky for us} translated into English, and still in print. I have four of her books in my collection, but I hope to have all of them one day {in case you were wondering what to get me for Christmas!}.

Peter in Blueberry Land comes in this hardcover mini edition, with embossed gold lettering and blue linen along the spine. And for the price it is a real treasure if you ask me. It's the story of a boy who magically becomes small and visits the tiny folk of Blueberry Land. While he's there, they help him find the perfect birthday gift for his mother. This little Peterdoll is so cute too, and I think it would be a fun Christmas gift along with the book, don't you?

Woody, Hazel, and Little Pip is so beautiful, I use it as a fall decoration! Such a charming little story too, all about the adventures of the woodland people in autumn. I love how all of Elsa Beskow's books include the linen spine with embossed lettering. I promise you will not be disappointed with any of her books. The vintage illustrations alone make me happy!

I love Pelle's New Suit, and Peter and Lotta's Christmas too. Just so you know.

Side note: My in-laws went to Sweden this summer, and my mother-in-law knows how much I love Elsa Beskow. She found this Elsa Beskow baby dish set there and brought it back for me! Isn't that just the cutest thing ever?

I recently discovered another vintage author/illustrator name Maj Lindman. Her books are not quite as old, more from the 1950's, but just so cute. Check out Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka, the Swedish triplet girls, and Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr, the Swedish triplet boys. I know, the names are ridiculous, but the books really are fun to look at. There are several of these books in the series, so make sure you see them all!

One last thing...you need to read There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie, since Thanksgiving is right around the corner! Too funny! Your kids will get a kick out of it, and so will you as you stuff in just one more piece of pie.

Pumpkin Waffles

You have to try these!

Make sure you top them with the Buttermilk Syrup.

P.S. Ben carved this little pumpkin!

Pumpkin Waffles

2 c. flour

2 Tbsp. baking powder

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

1 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. salt

4 eggs, separated

1 1/2 c. milk

1 cup pumpkin

3/4 c. butter, softened

1 Tbsp. vanilla

Combine all dry ingredients. In separate bowl combine egg yolks, milk, pumpkin, butter and vanilla. Add to flour. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold into waffles. Cook in a waffle maker, and serve with Buttermilk Syrup.

Buttermilk Syrup

1/2 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. buttermilk (no substitutes, use the real thing here)

1 tsp. Karo syrup

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

In a large saucepan combine and heat all ingredients but baking soda and vanilla. Dissolve sugar. Stir in soda and vanilla. Mixture will fizz and double in height (beware, it boils over easily and makes a sticky mess!). Stir occasionally until fizz is gone and syrup is thick and caramel like. Serve hot over Pumpkin Waffles (or ice cream if you have any leftover!).

Trick or Treat!

Hooray, I actually got these posted before Thanksgiving! Ben's costume was so much fun this year...we saw it in a magazine. He was basically grass with his hair spiked up and green, with snakes and bugs all over him. Hannah was a beautiful butterfly, and the two little girls dressed as mermaids. Nina borrowed her costume from a friend, and Olivia's was made with an old white onesie and an inexpensive aqua blue sweatsuit. I made puffy star fish out of pink felt for her mermaid bra, and cut the jacket of the sweatsuit up to make layers of fins down the front of the pants. I left them as pants so she could still get around. We carved pumpkins that day (so nice having Halloween on a Saturday this year!) and I made hot cider and chili. Grandma Ruthie stopped by with treat bags for the kids, and Grandma Becky and Grandpa Harold came by later while we were watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and sorting candy.

Nina didn't last very long trick or treating this year. She had to pee when we were only a block away, and whined most of the time. What? Trick or treating is supposed to be FUN, don't you know? Olivia was happy because we gave her a lollipop. So she was content in the stroller, bouncing her little mermaid legs up and down along the way. And I couldn't even keep up with Ben and Hannah!

Gardner Village Witches

{Just a few pics from the annual witch visit to Gardner Village. The girls wanted to dress up and they had so much fun. Ben, on the other hand, hated it this year. He's just getting too big for this "dumb stuff." But hey, he scored some rock candy in the candy shop, so I won't let him whine about it too much.}

The 5th Annual Halloween Party!

My brother as Jareth {David Bowie} from Labyrinth, and

our friend Tony as the Geico caveman.

My sister Hailey, the cute little French mime.

Tatum as Sarah from Labyrinth.

Check out the stick figures on the far right!

Lucy and Ricky Ricardo.

That is her real hair sticking straight up {with a whole can of hairspray}.

They won second place in the costume contest.

Hailey and Brad.

My cousin Nick and our friend Brianna.

My parents, believe it or not. Cross-dressed as Asian Disneyland tourists!

They won 3rd place. I can't believe my dad gave in.

My cousin Anika and Nate.

My cousin Amy and Ryan...best costume winners!

The magic Goblin King ball...

I love it, hahaha! David Bowie!

My brother Trevor and my sister-in-law Tatum host the best Halloween party! It's always at my parents' house to accommodate the crowd, but Trev and Tate plan all the games, and as you can see from the video, Trevor provides great entertainment! Oh my GOSH. If you've seen the movie Labyrinth with David Bowie, this video is the funniest thing ever. If not, then you just won't get it.

Clay and I went as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo from I Love Lucy, but some of the people at the party had never heard of the show. Are you kidding me? Do you live in a cave?

Everyone goes all out on their costumes since there are prizes, and it's always pee-your-pants-hilarious watching all the great costumes walk through the door! Everyone brings a dollar for the prize money, so the winner usually takes home about fifty bucks, plus movie tickets, and a lame plastic trophy. Yay! My cousin Amy and her date won the best costume this year, dressed as Smurfette and Papa Smurf. They used blue liquid latex on their faces, which was like using Botox to the 100th power. Neither of them could move their mouths enough to eat, and could barely talk, the latex was so stiff! So they just looked angry all night since they couldn't make any facial expressions, which made me laugh every time I looked at Amy. "I'm sorry, I can't stop laughing at you!" I said. "That's alright," she muttered, "I'm laughing, I'm laughing," she said. HAHA!

Thanks for another fun party Trev and Tate! Can't wait for next year!