The First Half of January and a Huge Snow Storm

by Steph // Monday, January 15, 2024 // Comments off

We FINALLY have snow!!!

And we are SO excited about that!!!

I honestly have tears in my eyes – this beautiful snow means so much to me – I just love looking out the windows and seeing it there.

It just makes our winters here up north so amazingly beautiful!

It also brings the red cardinals to our bird restaurant!

We were already up to six at one time over the weekend!

We had two very large snowstorms last week and now have over two feet of snow on the ground.

Both storms had very high winds, so our snow is blown into drifts all over the place!

We got to spend the Saturday morning a week ago with THE GROOM TO BE doing some wedding stuff!

The guys all got fitted for their suits for the wedding, and then we all had lunch together!

It was so very fun!!

We were just missing Chad who was out of town that day – but had been fitted for his suit the day before!

The first weekend of January we had a little birthday celebration during our normal Sunday family lunch that we have every week after church.

It was super fun to celebrate Blake, Kamryn (who shares a birthday with Blake!) and Aspen!

Aspen turned three years old on Tuesday!

The food was delicious!!

David smoked some beef roasts and I made some roasted yams and carrots, a huge salad, and some freshly baked English muffins.

We had an ice cream bar for dessert that Addie made, with some chocolate brownies and roasted bananas!

There were gifts too!!

It was such a FUN day!!!

I spied in one of those photos above two little thumbs that made their way into the photo I was taking!

Do you see them there behind the couch??

Ha, ha, Clydey – you are SO cute!!!

Can you believe how big Saige looks in that last photo?

She is growing and changing so much!

Do you want to know how you have THE BEST SUNDAYS EVER??

Just look at this next photo – couldn’t be anything better than every dish in your kitchen needing washed because your HOUSE WAS FULL.

Be still my heart, dreams do come true!!

Starting at the beginning of the year, I decided to take a break from Instagram.

Instagram has many, many good things – but let’s be honest – it has just as many bad things.

It is time consuming, can make you miss out on life right in front of you, can make you compare yourself to others easily…the list goes on.

I will say, as of right now, I do NOT miss it.

My brain feels so much lighter, for one thing!

I have been enjoying the beginning of our long months of winter SO much, and not being on social media is just making it all the sweeter!

I look forward to the slow months after the holidays when we are snowed in and freezing cold here in Wisconsin!

It gives us time to slow down, enjoy the cozy things of home life, and pour into each other and others around us.

It also allows plenty of time to pursue our favorite things!

For me that has been cooking and baking!

Just look at all the fun I have had in the kitchen the last two weeks!!

The sauerkraut I fermented turned out so good!

I started some new ferments last week during one of the snow storms – some crisp garlic pickles, and some carrots.

We cannot wait to try them!

Thank you for taking this photo, Eliza Claire!

Kay’s headed out on a trip to Kentucky over this past weekend and Addie Mae went with them to help them!

Since it was so snowy and all, my plans of going over to help Kay clean and pack were ruined.

So I decided to make them some food instead!

I have really been enjoying making English muffins, so I made them some and also made them some sourdough blueberry waffles.

Then I tried some cinnamon raisin English muffins for my crew here and they loved them!

David, Kay and their crew got home last night.

I was in a cooking mood yesterday too, so I made them some chicken pot pie to take home when they dropped Addie off so they would have something to eat as they arrived home.

It was SUPER FUN to cook and bake for them!!!!

We watched Kay’s dog Juni for them while they were away.

She is a SWEETIE.

All three dogs got along great!

We even had friends in Saturday evening who Juni became fast friends with!

We miss Juniper this morning!!

What else have we been up to while it has been so snowy and below zero temperatures outside?

We like to read, the youngest two like to do crafts, and I specifically do a lot of deep cleaning and purging while we are stuck inside!

Of course there are still our normal chores and school work to do as well!

The sun is shining today, and we will take it, even though it is dangerously cold out there!

Nineteen below zero currently, crazy Wisconsin!

I have a really neat photo to share – one that Addie stopped and took on her way to work this morning.

We had a sundog!!

It was AMAZING!!

I could see it from our windows, but could not get a good photo because of where it was.

Isn’t God so creative and kind to give us things like this???

It is just such a beautiful day here today!

The snow mixed with the sunshine gives us a sparkly bright blessing!

Now we just need it to warm up enough so we can play in all of that beautiful snow!

I hope the beginning of 2024 has been good and beautiful for you all too!!

Happy winter, friends!!

An Incredible Evening Celebrating My Guy

by Steph // Wednesday, January 10, 2024 // Comments off

My hubby had a birthday!!!

We love a reason to celebrate around here, and getting older is a good one!

Friday night it was our turn for a date night where David and Kay had Tate and Eliza for our date night swap.

Kay invited them to spend the night and they were THRILLED!

Friday afternoon Blake and I were still trying to figure out what to do.

I offered that we should make a fancy meal at home for Blake’s birthday, since the house would be empty and all!

An empty house doesn’t sound divine to you guys??

Well.

Just saying!

Blake texted me back and said, “Or we could go out to eat at the Charmant!”

I squealed and wrote him right back asking, “Do you really think I can eat there???”

He did.

We got a reservation for 7 p.m.

We went.

IT WAS FANTASTIC.

When I told the waitress I needed a gluten, dairy and grain free meal, she said “I will be right back to tell you which options from the menu they can make for you that way.”

WOW!!

We had a roasted squash appetizer, and then I had roasted root veggies with an incredible roasted chicken.

Blake had steak, fingerling potatoes and broccolini.

We elevated our water order to sparkling water with a lime wedge – since we were being so fancy and all!

It all was delicious!

Like so incredibly flavorful and yummy.

I refrained from licking my plate, but I was close by how hard I scraped it with my fork, ha, ha!

Then all of the sudden the chef shows up at our table to introduce himself!

I was a little star struck, as I couldn’t WAIT to tell Tate I met the chef!!

Well, he was working on creating gluten and dairy free dessert options for their menu, because they didn’t have any.

He had made one that day, and wondered if we would like to be his taste testers, on the house!

It was grain free too!

Of course we said yes!!

He brought us the most delicious, decadent, rich chocolate dessert with a orange glaze on it.

It was out of this world!

By the way, I asked that chef what made him want to be a chef?

Do you know what he said???

“Because I was always in the kitchen with my Mom.”

Cue all the tears.

We ordered a French press coffee to go with our dessert and sat for a long time enjoying each other’s company.

Blake and I like our busy life full of family and all the things!!!

But on Friday night we both said there could be just a little bit more of that.

Time together, not rushed, or just running errands.

It was SO relaxing. So rejuvenating.

It filled my love language cup of quality time with my hubby to overflowing.

Do I need to mention the food again??

Happy Birthday to my incredible husband!

You truly are one in a million, sweetheart, and I cannot believe you are mine!

I am so glad we got to celebrate you again with the whole fun, loud, fam bam a few days after this meal out together!!

Happy, happy birthday, Mr. Blake Moschel!!

I LOVE YOU MOST!!!

A Chef in the Making

by Steph // Tuesday, January 9, 2024 // Comments off

Many of you may already know how much our Tate Owen loves to be in the kitchen!

As I think back on where this love of his comes from, I honestly think it started because he was just always at my side after coming home from China – he did not like me out of his sight!

I, of course, am always in the kitchen working on something – out of necessity, yes – but also because I love it too!!

Blake and I gave Tate a “gift-certificate” for Christmas that allows Tate to pick, plan, and execute an entire meal all on his own once a week.

I KNOW!! Smart lady right here who thought of that idea, ha, ha!!

The only thing I do for Tate’s meal is purchase the ingredients he needs and guide him so he can continue to learn and grow in his skill in the kitchen!

For Tate’s first meal for us he planned Balsamic Fig Rosemary Chicken, Garlic Butter Rice, Bacon and Balsamic Glazed Brussels Sprouts, and Crepes with Sweet Cream and Strawberries for dessert.

Seriously.

This is SO MUCH FUN!!!

I wish I would have taken a photo of Tate’s new apron he is wearing in the photos below.

Eliza got it for him for Christmas and it says “Chef Tate” on it!

Here is my little chef in the making doing this favorite thing-

You all, that meal was FANTASTIC.

You can find that chicken recipe here.

I cannot wait for his next meal!!

Pork tenderloin is on the menu!!

I did tell Blake we need to raise the grocery budget a bit for this gift we gave Tate, to which he said, “Babe, it’s cheaper than college!”

Yes, it certainly is, and more delicious too!

Tater Tot, you are a gem and I cannot wait to see if you continue to love being in the kitchen enough to pursue it as a career!

Until then, we will eat everything you make, sweet boy!!

Lots of Normal in December Too

by Steph // Thursday, January 4, 2024 // Comments off

Besides all of the holiday fun, there was lots of our very, very normal life in December too.

Honestly, the normal days with our rhythm and routines are needed!

They feel restful and like a reset after days full of activity, which is something that the younger children and I need.

First let me show you a couple of Christmas gifts that were received that I forgot to add to my last post!

Kayla had Eliza’s name for Christmas this year, and gave her this hand lettering set so that Eliza could learn how to do this.

What a PERFECT gift for our pencil and paper loving girl!!

She has taken off with it and even spent one afternoon last week while on Christmas break sitting in a camp chair inside the barn with the goats while she worked on her lettering book.

SO cute!!

Eliza had Tate’s name this year.

She gave him a diamond dot craft – but she had it made from a photo of the two of them together!!

How cute is that??

He is really enjoying working on this craft.

They usually work on crafts together in the afternoons while listening to Adventures in Odyssey.

One night before bed, Tate told me that he was going to get up at 3 a.m. to keep working on his diamond dot craft.

It was more like 7 a.m. when he came upstairs that morning, but he was still my earliest bird!

One more gift to share – Tate gifted me these new knives.

I did not know I needed new knives until I had them!!

They are amazing and have a self-sharpening system.

Great gift, Tator Bug!!

Before Christmas weekend and our week long break, we were marching along with school, chores, routines, piano lessons…all of our normal days I spoke of above.

They are the best days!!

Early in December I had a day of illness where I could not stand up out of bed.

Anyone else out there having weird illnesses with weird symptoms??

Ok, then – not sure what was going on there, but I did have slight lingering cold symptoms after that day and no one else was ill.

I did give Eliza (and Tate) a craft I had bought as a Christmas gift that day so they had something to do while I slept the day away.

They enjoyed it, and are still enjoying those fuse beads very much!!

The holidays, cold weather, and end of the year always bring out the deep cleaning desires in me.

I just don’t make time for it in the warmer months when we are outside!

I also know how very precious our newer appliances are, and cleaning behind them and under them is important to their longevity!

We knocked out some deep cleaning in December – but I still have a lot more I could do!

As always, we are ever so thankful when a day includes my adorable grands!!

We met Kay’s at “Lane’s library” (as they call it!) and that was super fun!!

I also watched the children so that David and Kayla (and Saige!) could have their turn at date night.

I LOVE OUR DATE NIGHT SWAPS SO MUCH!!

We had such a great afternoon and evening together!

David and Kay picked up the girlies at bed time that evening, but I stole the boys for a sleepover!

Before Christmas I still had lots to do to be ready for Christmas weekend!

I finally ordered the Chatbooks I send to all the grandparents.

I am sad to say that at the end of downloading all of the photos I wanted in the books, I hit the button “make every photo square” and then did not even think to check what that did to some of the photos!

Well, I found out once those Chatbooks arrived here as there were several pages with photos of people with their heads cut off.

Sigh.

It was the thought that counts, right??

I sent them on their way anyway!

While getting ready for Christmas, I also spent an entire afternoon wrapping gifts and stuffing stockings!

Based on that story about those Chatbooks, I think this is how I feel about all things techy.

Ha, ha!!

We considered the week of Christmas a “break” and REALLY enjoyed filling our days with other things!

You know we like to be purposeful with our time, whether during the normal routines of life, or during something we call “break!”

It was a wonderful week full of wonderful things – we even took the children out to eat with a gift certificate we received and had their help with the bi-weekly grocery haul!

We also finally updated the paint job on our very chipped up island.

Blake worked tirelessly on this – and it turned out beautiful!!

He is really a talented painter and I am always grateful for that!

You know we ate in December, right?

I don’t think I included food photos in my November posts!!

Well, I am feeding a dinner party of seven still most evenings!

We have continued on with our family breakfasts as well where Blake stays home long enough to eat with us.

I spent some time over Christmas break looking for new recipes and researching sourdough a bit more – which fuels my desire to be in the kitchen being creative!

Thankfully I have cute helpers!!