It's a Favorite!

Feeling restored, I decided it was time to do some baking with my children.
This is a tried and true pumpkin bread recipe made into a cake.
I found it on allrecipes and have been baking it for over five years.
People ask me for the recipe all.the.time!
We don't add the nuts.

It's great for breakfast:)

My kids licked the bowl when we were through!

Edited to add: I use a whole 15 oz. can of pumpkin instead of measuring it out.
I also just plop the whole thing in my 10.5x15 glass pyrex baking dish.
Bake 55-60 minutes and check with a cake tester.

What's a Girl To Do?

What's a girl to do when she's hit the wall?

When her tank is just empty, empty, empty?

She retreats to her very own garden with her Bible and a stack of yummy books.

She spends time reading Isaiah 40 and breathes a sigh.

She grabs her camera and tries to capture the gorgeous light.

She leans her head back and breathes in the blue sky, the golden light, and the crisp air.

Love That Autumn Light!

Love the autumn light as it streams through the window in my kitchen.

A Post About My House

We had visitors recently which you can read about here.

They blogged about our visit here.

A Trip to the Big City-Part III

Part I

Part II

Our final destination of the day was

the Palace Theatre to see Blue Man Group!

From Wikipedia: "The $2 million theater opened in the Keith Building on November 6, 1922, seating 3,100. The interior was clad with Carrara marble and 154 crystal chandeliers, and the main lobby, dubbed the “Great Hall,” was decorated with over 30 paintings."

The theatre is absolutely spectacular! A feast for the eyes!

I cropped him out, but my son was able to get

photos taken with some of the cast!

It is an experience he won't soon forget!

A wonderful day of memories for all!

A Trip to the Big City-Part II

Part I

Part III

After we looked at all of the houses, we went to a park on the edge of Lake Erie.

It was a gorgeous day.

We walked along the shore a little.

I think it was the first time my children had been that close to Lake Erie.

Supper was on the agenda next.

My step-father took us to a German restaurant that

he had been visiting since he was two years old!

Although it has changed hands several times since, they still had some of the original "china."

This is a sugar bowl that contains the initial of the original owner.

The food was amazing!

I had weiner schnitzel, spaetzle, and red cabbage.

Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a photo.

Cuckoo Clock

A Trip to the Big City

First of a three part series.

Part II

Part III

When I was a little girl, my mother always told me stories about when she was a little girl growing up in the country. Before Christmas, she and her mother would go into the big city to Christmas shop in the big stores downtown. This was before they had shopping malls and big box stores. The big department stores would spend lots of money to decorate their store windows for the shopper who would travel to shop in their stores.

Yesterday, my step-father took my mother, my two youngest children,

and me to the big city. He had a few surprises up his sleeve.

The first part of the day was spent looking at various homes from his history.

This is the duplex he lived in until he was seven.

He explained to my children how he thought the front yard was so big.

There were large oak trees in the front when he was small.

All of the neighborhood kids would run through the sprinkle in the front yard.

During the school year, he would walk home from school

and have lunch on the little porch above the front doors.

This is the gas station his dad used to manage. It used to be a Sunoco.

The Women's Club Pavilion at the park where he used to play.

The sign said it was built in 1920.

Architectural detail from one of the buildings we saw.

His aunt's house. A few blocks away. This is also the house that my step-father's

grandfather had built. So, his father and aunt grew up in

this house. His aunt lived her all her life.

One of the entrances to the high school his aunt went to when she was growing up.