Fall = pumpkin bars

I really enjoy this fall season.  I love scarves and sweaters, pumpkin and spice, hot apple cider and  warm blankets.  I haven't finished fall decorating, but I did get a couple of small pumpkins to display on our table and bring some immediate fall cheer into the house. 

Then Matthew climbed on the chair, stood up, said "Ball!", and the pumpkins went flying.  Thankfully, one survived.  The other did not! There was a perfect crack right down the middle.

*Sigh* What to do, but turn the cracked pumpkin into something delicious?   So, I baked the pumpkin, cooled it and then made pumpkin bars.  This recipe is from my sister, Kathie, and they are SO very good :)

                                        Pumpkin Bars

4 eggs

1 1/3 c. sugar

1 c. oil

16 oz. pumpkin  (2 cups mashed, baked or 1 can)

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

      In mixer bowl, beat together eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy.  Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.  Add to pumpkin mixture and mix thoroughly.  Spread batter into ungreased 15x10x1 baking pan.  Bake at 350 ^degrees  for 25-30 min.  Cool.  Frost with Cream Cheese Icing.

Cream Cheese Icing

1 (3 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened

½ c. butter or margarine

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. powdered sugar, sifted

Happy Fall!!

kid activities

Life is in full swing!  Our two boys in school, doing great and loving it. 
Here's a snapshot of them yesterday.  They had a "Dress for Success" day at school.

We have also enrolled the three older kids in a Parks and Rec class of their choice.
The boys picked "Tumbling", and they really enjoy it! I don't have a picture of it yet... I'll bring the camera next time :) 


Kathryn picked ballet. She loves dressing up, follows the teacher's instructions, plays with the other little girls. And it is a HUGE deal for her to have a class of her own. Her brothers and cousins are in school, and now she has Ballet!

You think she likes it? I'm not sure.. :)

Matthew comes and hangs out with me during the class.  I think he wants to join in, but he's not quite old enough.  For now... we arrive early and Matthew will roll around on the mats before tumbling.. Or run around after all the little girls before ballet class.  Then we go outside where we can watch through the glass walls.  He goes from peeking through the class calling "Kathryn, Kathryn!", (sounds more like "yeah yen" but I get it!)  Or pointing and cheering when the boys do a "spider walk" across the mat.  Then he tries to run away from me giggling so I have to chase him or we play and stomp on the leaves that have fallen to the ground.  Doesn't my life sound fun? ;)

Matthew watching the class

Happy Birthday, William!

Sweet boy.. 7 years old. Full of life. Polite and kind.  Loves his siblings. Works hard and is good at lots of things.  Willing to learn! Oh William, How I love you!!

We have had a fun few days.  First, we celebrated his birthday with family that lives right here in Rosemead on Sunday.  We had pizza, salad, fresh veggies, jello, cake (decorated like a Pokemon poster he has), and other fun stuff like blue licorice and other treats.  He had such a great time and was grinning from ear to ear!

Then on his real birthday... October 12, I brought cupcakes and juice to his class for a party there.  It was a lot of fun to spend a little time in his classroom!

And then we took William to Red Robin for his "Free kids meal" And we enjoyed our time there! They even brought him a HUGE sundae that he ended up sharing with Josh and Kathryn. 

Happy Birthday, William, we love you! :)

Our Life Lately!

I haven't blogged in a little while, so I thought it would be a good time to update.  We have been oh so busy, but that is nothing new! :) 

1) Matthew's burn is healing beautifully, praise God. And Matthew is trying to hurt himself again... daily!  Something about this wonderful age-- he is incredibly active and ALWAYS climbing and getting into everything.  He keeps me on my toes, and RUNNING after him :)

2) Kathryn had her very first 'Girl sleepover' with her younger cousin Makayla!  It was so sweet, Kathryn has been talking about it for about a month, and she and Makayla went to Grandpa and Grandma Lennertz' house for a overnight visit.  She came back and told me everything, and came home with a new Rapunzel shirt and other things.  She LOVED it :) And the sweetest thing for me was how her brothers missed her.  They kept telling me "Mom, I miss Kathryn so much!  She is such a nice girl" Or, "Mom, I can't stop thinking about Kathryn!"  Melted my heart to see their love of each other.  It is precious.  (I hope it's the same way when they are teenagers!!)

3) My sister Julie came to visit! She flew in with another friend of our family too, Jo.  It was so special to see them both. It's hard to live so far away from family..  We had lots of fun going to the beach again and canoeing, and talking, and just spending time together.
 Here's a couple of my favorite pictures from the beach. 

Auntie Sarah, William and Jo.  Nathan is on the boogie board

Uncle Johnny playing with the boys

Loved this.. Ellen was drawing in the sand

Matthew was so interested in the seaweed.. shells.. everything. 

Ellen bringing in her board

The giant sand hill.  The kids LOVE this thing!

Uncle Johnny, Joshua and Auntie Julie

Some of God's amazing creations... William, the water, sand, the setting sun

4) Joshua has a best friend in school and it's the cutest thing.  Her name is Neftaly and her older sister was in William's class too. He comes home and tells me that she was "wearing a crown today", and that she was so "lovely and kind" to him. And they like bringing letters and pictures to each other, or little treats to share.  Joshua brought this letter home the other day:

Yes... that says "I LOVE JOSHUA".  So sweet and innocent at 5 years old.  :)


5) Our hearts are also very heavy, as we pray all the time for Wesley's Aunt Kim.  She has been diagnosed with breast cancer, and starts treatment on Monday. We pray for comfort, for peace, for strength to get through this,  for healing. We serve a God who Loves us deeply.  " who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, Psalm 103:3"  She is such a beautiful person, so kind and loving.  She serves others as they live and work in Alaska. She is a blessing and an inspiration.  Here's her caring bridge if you would like to see her story, etc.

6) William had to get new glasses yesterday, so I took Joshua in for a vision screening too.  We found out that he is going to have to get glasses too. However, it is for slight far-sightedness, but mainly because one of his eyes is  a "lazy eye", and he will have to wear a patch over the good eye for a couple of hours every day.  This should help exercise and train the other eye to be used again, in hope that the vision will be corrected.  It is amazing because his cousin Nathan has had the same experience, and the eye doctor told me that it was such a good thing that we caught it now.

7) Just a funny story to finish up.  The other night we were reading the story of David and Goliath for devotions after a meal together.  They were asking all of the kids about what they would use to fight the giant.  The boys were saying they would use "a sling just like David" or "A sword".  Kathryn says "I would use a WAND!" ( Leave it to our girl to bring in some girly fairy tale twist .) We all giggled, especially all of the kids as William says "HA HA, Kathryn would turn him into a frog!"


How I love my kids!  And if I feel this way about them.. Can you imagine how God feels about us?? It amazes me, overwhelms me. So precious.