{Recap} March 2016

You would think March would have been calm for us with a newborn. 

But nope. It wasn't! 

Once the new range was in, we had to decide what to do with the cabinets.

Under the old counter top stove, we had our pot and pan cabinet and I did not want to lose that.

And above and below the old oven were cabinets that I didn't want to lose both. 

So it took some brainstorming.... more on that later!

And when ou have a newborn, and need to cook dinner. 

You put them on the amazing island your hubby built. 

The top is about 4 x 6 feet, so there is plenty of room!

For the past couple years these little birds have visited us in the wreath on the front door!

It's amazing how loud their call is, for being so little. 

And that I can lift the kids up to get a good look!

Ah, wishful thinking.

In March I began to try to figure out the garden. 

Like every year, on paper things look great.

But then I get outside, and decide to change things up.

To be honest, this year I threw plans out the window and just wing it. 

Ah, Easter Egg dying. Quite the feat with three sets of hands!

Poor Wyatt looked like the hulk by the end. So much dye on his fingers!

Ugh. The worst part of the month if not year.

Our beloved Golden Retriever, Cooper passed the day before Easter.

He passed in his sleep, and that's how I found him.

We didn't see it coming either. He went out the night before like any other night.

We got Cooper two months after we got our house, he was 9.

Some were surprised he was only 9, but we weren't.

We were told when we first go him, he had a heart condition and should be returned to the breeder.

We felt if we returned him the breeder most likely would put him down.

So we just said if we get 6 months or 6 years we would give him the best, and we did.

Losing a pet is hard, losing a pet with three kids that sort of understand is harder.

Even to today, they will randomly ask questions and it still breaks my husbands and my hearts.

Wait? What is this? A Craft? You say?

Yes. The morning of Easter I realized the toes of Ellie's "Cinderella" shoes needed some love. 

So, I went ahead and painted the toes with black shoe polish! 

Mom Win! If you ask me! The shoes still fit, and they look almost new again!

*And yes, I did do both! ha!*

{Recap} February 2016

February is here!

That means Carter's Birthday and Baby Boy's Birth...and you'll never believe it! 

Read to the end to see what else happened!

My sister did it again! Blew me away with another amazing cake. We've been telling her for years to go into business! But she won't! And you know what...  I'm okay with that! More time for my kids' awesome cakes!!  This is 144 mini cupcakes! Talk about a labor of love for a nephew!

Whipped up these shirts the day before my pre op appointment.

When we had Ellie both boys wore Big Brother shirts, but I thought this lineup fit us perfect!

Baby Brother, Big Sister, Bigger Brother and Biggest Brother!

When I went to my pre op appoint I found out the kids could not come to the hospital to meet baby!

I was devastated! Anyone else ever have this happen?

NYS put an age limit on visitors because the flu was high in the region.

With all my babies that has never happened!

Here he is! Practically perfect in every way! 

Baby boy was nameless until after he was born!

Mommy and Daddy could not agree! 

Mommy and some of the kids wanted Nolan. While Daddy didn't

Once baby was born Daddy came out with Everett. 

I had mentioned once after we found out he was a boy, and Daddy wasn't in love with it.

But clearly he let it sink in, and that was that. Once he saw him, he said He looks like an Everett.

So Everett it is!

Now onto the "fun" of the month.

This is my kitchen. This is my kitchen just days after having baby Everett.

That hole in my cabinets? Used to hold an ancient oven. It finally died.

We guessed it was from 70's but upon taking it out there was a date of 1954 behind the cabinet.

So your guess is as good as mine.  

Either way, because of the age of the oven. New wall ovens are not the same size. 

Our opening for the oven was 28" wide. We were able to find one oven that size, on clearance because it was discontinued. I knew it wasn't going to work. But was hopeful since the price was right, so I came home. Picked out my largest pans (turkey roasting pan and biggest cookie sheet) and went back and sure enough neither fit.  

Back to the drawing board.

With that said, we had to take out the cabinet the oven was in, plus the cabinet under the stove because we now had to look for a one unit stove/oven.  

A little irony for you.When we bout the house in 2007 I though "oh no! This setup is so dated." 

And over time fell in love with it. No bending over to pull turkeys, cookies and casseroles out of the oven. So when we had to get a one unit, my husband and I were a little bummed!  

Now, about that one unit...

Ah. A five burner gas unit.

I am in cooking heaven. 

My husband knows I love to cook, and can.

We went back and forth over electric vs gas quite a bit. But in the end gas won.  

A huge factor was my All American Canner. It is very heavy and it is recommended to not use on an electric glass top stove. Most electric stoves are glass topped now. And if they aren' they are super cheap in price and look/feel.

Now that I have been coking on gas for a couple months, I can say I'm not sure I would go back to electric.  If we bought a house with electric, fine. But eventually I would switch it over to gas. It definitely has its perks!  

So there it is... what a month! 

Don't worry, my kitchen does not look like that anymore! 

Even with a newborn we made progress!  

{Tip} Sifting Flour without a Sifter!

Do you sift your flour when baking? I do.

Some recipes call for you to do so, and others don't.

But I have made it a habit to sift all my flour, because I find it does help.

 I know for a fact, I make a molasses cookie that if you don't sift you can tell. The color, texture and taste is completely different While other recipes you may not be able to tell, but I started to sift all the time so that I wouldn't forget in recipe that called for it.

So your probably thinking, how does she sift all her recipes without a sifter? Well, I don't.

I have a small hand held sifter, but the other day when I went to sift flour it was dirty.

And I knew if I washed it, it would make more of a mess if I didn't get it dry.

So I went digging through  my cabinets and had an aha! moment.

My cheese grater. Yup. Sounds weird, but in a bind it worked! 

I put my sifter in a large bowl, scooped some flour inside.

Then using a spoon, I tapped the sides and pushed the flour around!  

Yes, it probably took a little longer than my sifter. But it got the job done!

Look at that! Light fluffy flour! Without a sifter!

What tools do you use not for their original purpose?

Plus! Stop by on Friday to see what I needed sifted flour for!