GUEST POST! Five Senses of Summertime by Jill Koehn

🌳Five Senses of Summertime🌳

🛶Summer sounds like a ripple of water my paddle board paddle makes as it dips into still water.  

💦When I see summer I see sparkling drops of water the boys & I splash up in pools & lakes.

🥜🥤A VERY BAD Haiku about how Summer tastes:

Peanut Butter, Milk

Cold Ice Cream in the Ninja

Add Malt BLEND ROARRR 

Sluuurrrp

🌾Summer feels like the hard earth & like the scratchy grasses I sit among while I watch the train go by in the valley. 

🍊What does Summer smell of? Fragrant blooms of my Tangelo tree



What is Summer? 

So sweet and so fleeting ... somehow it holds by far the best of every passing year.

JRK

Scotia, NE

8.12.18

The Five Senses of Summer

Summer looks like melted ice cream and sprinkles making sticky rivers down a waffle cone...

It smells like freshly cut grass clippings baking in the sultry sun....

Summer sounds like airplanes whining and beach waves crashing...

It tastes like the ice cold heart of a ripe red watermelon...

Summer feels like forever,

 but slips away like a popsicle melting on a July day...

SMF

8-10-18

Play Day 2018

Last Saturday was Play Day 2018! We had witnessed the amazing Magic of Science program the night before and the graduation of six of “my kids.” 

But before I begin to wax sentimental, let’s move on the Magic of Ice Cream! 

This year I was in the mood to make a freezer of 

Raspberry Cheesecake Ice Cream! 

6 large eggs

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 small box of Jello cheesecake instant pudding 

1 T. clear vanilla

1 8 oz. pkg of cream cheese

2 cups heavy whipping cream

whole milk

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 T. sugar

1 tube of raspberry pie filling from bulk food store

Mix the crumbs, 2 T. sugar, and butter, spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Beat cream cheese and sugar together, add eggs and beat until smooth, light, and fluffy. Add vanilla and pudding mix. Then stir in cream. Pour into 6 qt. ice cream freezer. Add whole milk until 3 inches or so from top of can. Use 1.5 boxes (26oz) of salt alternately with ice to freeze. When totally done, remove dasher. Spoon most of ice cream out into a chilled bowl, and layer it back into the can with pie filling and graham cracker crumbs. 

I based it off my mom’s basic Homemade Vanilla recipe, and was happy with the results! I’ve since made it with blueberry pie filling per Daniel’s request for his birthday, and it was pronounced a winner as well! 

Like usual, the play day proceeded to get pounded with rain, but we had long gone HOME per my little homebody's request! 

Let’s just say play days aren’t what they used to be for me... 

but Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got married, Danielle splashed in the much-prayed-for puddles, and everyone lived happily ever after!

CURRENTLY...

(Disclaimer- I saw and saved this post idea, thinking it would be a good format to use to get me into writing again! So here goes!)

CURRENTLY... The 14th of May, 2018!  

INSPIRED BY... The moms on our BabyLife chat. #keepingitreal

WATCHING... Diesel begging to go out - AGAIN! 🙄

READING... The Four Tendencies by my favorite author Gretchen Rubin, and Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. I started and stalled on this one, but now I’m gonna read it through! 

THINKING ABOUT... How I’m going to blog more now that I downloaded the “BlogTouch” app which makes blogging from my phone so much more doable!! And how I'm going to keep my phone cleaner LOL. The cashier at Piggly commented that alcohol works wonders! 

LISTENING TO... The clicking of my Insant Pot as it turns whole milk into creamy yogurt. 

DREAM LIFE... The one I’m living! Daniel spoiled me rotten yesterday - He planned ahead and purchased the makings for a seafood feast! Once Danielle and I were home from church, he told me to sit and relax while he cooked his amazing garlic parmesan baked oysters, grilled Royal Red shrimp, yellow and zucchini squash with mushrooms, toasted garlic bread, and poured pink lemonade! Then later he fried homemade French fries and fresh grouper! I say the way to a “woman’s” heart is through her stomach! I also absolutely adored the handmade card he and Danielle created for me. 💗 #feelingunworthy #bestmothersdayever 

EATING... Piles of plain and lemon-filled Krispy Kreme donuts! #fundraiser

DRINKING... Too much Diet Coke! 

Three Things on Thursday

I'm thankful for Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies.

They pair perfectly with coffee and/or whole milk for a quick and satisfying breakfast, even packing 11 grams of protein with 1 cup of milk! And the oatmeal gives a nice illusion of health. We all love them; they're pretty much a staple for us. Danielle often toddles to the pantry and says, "Pie! Pie!" right after glugging her milk. And I'm happy to oblige. Let Little Debbie do the cooking on groggy mornings.

I'm thankful for Perfectly Posh products!

This face wash almost makes me want to get out of bed in the morning. Almost! It's that good! Fresh and zingy and tingly. And has those little scrubby beads in it for a good scour.

Shop with my friend Jill to get some for yourself! And check out all the rest of the amazing Posh products! I have more reviews coming!

http://jillkoehn.po.sh/

I'm thankful for my boss 

who told me, "Your most important job is being a mama..." when Danielle wasn't feeling well today. Just what I needed to hear. There will always be more work to do than we can get done. 

And everything will be OK.

"Love you, Dad."

Breakfast à la Française

Today was the day to finally try this recipe which had been hibernating on my Paris Pinterest board ever since I pinned it while gathering ideas for my focus-city themed classroom years ago! Since it is still February, aka "Month of Love & Romance & Chocolate," the timing felt right!  And was it ever decadent! Sadly, I did not have bittersweet chocolate on hand and therefore had to substitute with semisweet and (gulp) even some milk chocolate! But nevertheless, it slid down the hatch very smoothly! I'm sure the copious amounts of whipping cream aided in that department... I sipped it whilst tearing off pieces of a crusty baguette leftover from Joe Pattie's that I warmed in the microwave and then toasted in the toaster oven, and felt ever so French as I enjoyed my very Parisian breakfast. But eventually the conjured images of the Eiffel Tower faded into the reality of the very American Monday that was before me. A Mondayish Monday brim-full of attempting to work from home, continuously feeding my ever-scavenging toddler, gathering groceries in local ole Atmore, laundering our soiled clothing, and preparing grub for growling middles. But looking back, it was a good Monday! Although seeing the City of Light is most definitely on my bucket list, I wouldn't trade my little world in Walnut Hill for anything! 

Bonjour!

French Hot Chocolate

The most decadent dark hot chocolate recipe that tastes just like the French hot chocolate found in Paris cafés. Intense, rich, and absolute heaven for any chocolate lover. Recipe based off of the famous Café Angelina in Paris.

YIELD: 2 large, intense cups or 4 smaller ones

 

PREP TIME: 3 minutes

 

COOK TIME: 5 minutes

 

TOTAL TIME: 8 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder (optional, but delicious for intensifying chocolate flavor)
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, at least 70%, chopped*
• Giant bowl of whipped cream, for serving

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the whole milk, heavy cream, powdered sugar, and espresso powder until small bubbles appear around the edges. Do not allow the mixture to boil.
2. Remove from saucepan from the heat and stir in the chopped chocolate until melted, returning the sauce to low heat if needed for the chocolate to melt completely. Serve warm, topped with lots of whipped cream.

The Best of 2017!

Happy 2018! 

We bring to you the Best of our 2017 backwards! 

I started this epistle long ago and realized that if I continued each month as I had done December; it would need to be a leather-bound bookshelf edition! So I chose to follow the advice of my sage stepfather, "It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be DONE." Therefore, I selected ONE "best" event for all of the following months! This does NOT mean it was the only good thing that happened each month; it was just the event I felt to elaborate upon! In typing this, I inadvertently ended up reading through my entire daily dairy, and came to the resounding conclusion that we are so blessed! God has been beyond good to us, and we have so much to be thankful for! I know that sounds trite, but it is the truth! Daniel has had an amazing, albeit busy year as Faircloth Land Services has expanded. I have enjoyed so many daily normal days with Danielle and in the office at Schneider Farm Fence. We both love what we do and we love our little girl and our two furkids! And we love you, our family and friends! 

May 2018 bring you PEACE, LOVE, & JOY.

The Best of DECEMBER....

Hearing Danielle say "Baby Jethusth" with her sweet little lisp... She played and played with her Little People nativity set. Various toys including her precious ScoobyDoo ornament from Nana got to sit in the stable next to the manger.

Date night in Pensacola eating at Outback and Christmas shopping for Danielle at Toy R Us and Academy... Daniel sure knows how to spoil his girls!

SNOW in FLORIDA! Daniel and I stayed up most of the night watching it magically flutter to the ground and coat everything in sugary whiteness. Danl woke us up around 6:30 and we bundled up to explore and play and take in our rare snow day! It truly felt as if someone had changed out our normal brown world for someone else's glittery white one! We threw snowballs, Danielle and I built a snowman family, and I made one snow angel and the hugest snowball ever which amazingly lasted for days; one ever-melting reminder that our now brown-again world truly had been whirl of white!

Cuddling in the cozy glow of our fake flames...blankets and pillows piled around! This little heater from Lowe's has been the best Cyber Monday purchase ever!

Christmas in Callaway with Alex, Ashton, and Paxton! "Fantasy in Lights" is always so fun and festive, but taking our friends and Danielle through for their first time was the best ever! Afterwards, Danielle and I delightedly devoured the hugest donut we have ever seen! Then we winded our way through the back roads to end up at the mansion of a Marriot we had booked online. Wow. Let's just say we don't always stay at golf resorts, but when we do, we stay at the Auburn Marriott Opelika Hotel & Conference Center at Grand National.

Oysters with my family on the 25th! After attacking Mt. Giftmore, we had an absolute feast of the sea! Raw oysters, Cajun baked oysters, crabcakes, hushpuppies, fried trigger fish, cheese grits, coleslaw, baked beans, 3 Musketeers chocolate mousse dessert and assorted goodies! 

Family time in Guntersville! Five grandkids age 3 and under made for some amazing times! And of course we had another Mt. Giftmore!

The Best of NOVEMBER....

Getting a new but old-fashioned style coil-spring mattress from our local Mattress Depot and topping it with a 7 zone memory foam topper from JCP! 

The Best of OCTOBER...

Family outing to pick out pumpkins from the local Pumpkin Patch following by coffee from Lava Java! We sorta just "moved in" at each location lol!

The Best of SEPTEMBER...

The much-anticipated arrival of Anthony & Katelyn's Noah Royce on September 9! We just love that little baby boy from his super long eyelashes to the tip of his toes or "diddies" aka "piggies" as Danielle would say!

The Best of AUGUST...

The Great American Eclipse of 2017! Even though our area was far from totality, it was an exciting event!

The Best of JULY...

Summer Vacation July 17 - August 1! Seeing so many of our friends and family was just truly the BEST!

The Best of JUNE...

The long-awaited arrival of darling Isla Francine to Pierre & Alisha on June 19! Our little dark-haired Northern niece is without a doubt the most beautiful baby princess ever born! 

The Best of MAY...

Hosting an enjoyable al fresco steak supper with a couple friends for Daniel's birthday! Life doesn't get much better than good times with good friends while eating good food!

The Best of APRIL...

A gun-related Saturday road trip to Americus, GA and back! Monroe Hotdogs and Krispy Kreme donuts! Yay, what a perfect day!

The Best of MARCH...

Danielle Nicole's first birthday puppy party! A "paw-some" time was had by all!

The Best of FEBRUARY...

Leaving Danielle at Nana & Pops while we had sushi from Sake for our 12th anniversary! I think the entire evening was a treat for everybody!

The Best of JANUARY...

Watching Donald Trump become the President of the United States! I never realized all the pomp and circumstance of an American inauguration! 

And that my friends, is the end!