FIVE FAVES

Joining Hallie again at Moxiewife.com this week for five favorites!

1.) Babies in diapers.  

Addie and Zeke doing the no pants dance on our porch. 

No pants?

UH OH!

2.) Kids' Sperry Top Siders!  

Quintessential New England Prep! 

Adult shoes in kids' sizes have to be one of my faves, especially when they cost $50 new and I find them used!  

These Sperry Top Siders were soooo cute, that even Bill made me my mom go back to Once Upon a Child and get them.  Yep, that means that Addie Jo is way cooler than either of us (but we already knew that).

3.) Tequila on sale.  

Yes, yes, I know that anything on sale I'm a fan of (hence #2), but having Tequila ready to make margaritas in a few weeks after this bug is born has to be one of the best summer splurges!

(Not sure when I'll switch to Skinny Girl Margaritas like Maz, who now also swears by Skinny Girl Cosmos, but for now, I'll have to stick with the cheap caloric ones.)  

4.) Porch time.  

Three seasons out of the year, our house actually feels a tad spacious and it's because we use the porch and back deck as living spaces as much as we can.  

A porch swing and iced tea?  Can't think of much better. 

We LOVE our front porch!

5.) Having family close by.  

My brother Andy and sister-in-law Jessie are remodeling demo-ing a historic house 9 blocks from us in the neighborhood.  We are so excited about it that sometimes we just show up to see how progress is going, but know we are really more of a distraction and just try to stay outside, which is still a distraction: More pics to follow, I'm sure.

Teagan pulling Addie and Zeke at the new house

What Women Want - VERILY MAGAZINE!

Look what appeared in the New York Post this morning: Verily Magazine!  

Naomi Riley has written a great piece on Verily in the NY Post - the seventh-most-widely circulated newspaper in the US - under the title "What Women Want".  You can read it here:http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/what_women_want_Ks4roneC1bxV66mpFcKCHP. 

If you haven't already signed up to this amazing women's magazine, do it asap as they've just released their *first* issue (pictured below).  Head to their shopping page for more info: http://shop.verilymag.com/product/june-july-2013-issue-1-1.  

Congratulations to my sister Janet Sahm, and all the girls at Verily!  Now go subscribe! 

Tasteful Tuesdays

D e s s e r t !

I probably shouldn't be eating SOOOO many sweets this late into pregnancy BUT when you have your grandmother over for dinner, it would be rude not to have dessert, right?  Yep.  And sometimes Jelly Belly's should be in my belly... anyways.

So the easiest thing I always have on hand and think to do is... make a pie.

This is to help make the piece of pie (or 2nd piece) look smaller

I always keep pre-made pie crusts (they come in a pack of two) in the freezer to just pull out and use whenever necessary.

Then I just use whatever frozen fruit I have  - but I tend to buy a bag most weeks at the grocery so it's almost always on hand!  Tonight it was - 

Then just throw in a little lemon juice, if available; some sugar (0c-1c, depending on how sweet you like it, or not sweet at all), and maybe some flour, if you feel like it.  Oh yea, and some slices of butter on top of the fruit once the fruit is poured into crust... if you feel like it.  I don't think you can go wrong by just dumping fruit in! 

Now here is the oh so tricky part - hope you are sensing the sarcasm - the crumble topping.  I like to throw this concoction on top rather than a second pie crust because it's not as "heavy" "fattening".  Well I'm not sure the word to use because neither is true - but it tastes "lighter"? for summer months.

You can really make it however you want to or look up a recipe, but I use the following ingredients without measuring anything, just until it looks like it's a crumb topping.  Maybe start with 1/4c of everything.  But always add more butter ;)

Melted Salted Butter

Brown Sugar

White Sugar

Flour

Oats

sometimes nuts if available.

Just keep mixing with a fork and then adding what you think it needs - more butter never hurts! 

Bake at 350 for an hour or so.  Easy and always a success!  

2nd piece during Pacer game.  I wasn't supposed to tell anyone that.

And just in case you wanted to know - the baby bug is pushing this laptop off my stomach probably because she's on a sugar high! 

Cheers and happy pie "making."

7 Quick Takes

Joining Jen (a little late) this round for 7 Quick Takes at conversiondiary.com

1.) Some of you may know that I pride myself on all the ways I SAVE money, but last week, I scored a deal - A FREE SLIDE that I saw on the side of the road.  

Of course I was on my way to my sister's for bible study, when I saw a dirty plastic Fisher Price toddler slide waiting screaming for me to pick it up and give it a new home.  

The only thing was - I couldn't lift it up by myself and it was too tall to fit in the car.  So what was the solution?  Have the girls walk 6 blocks to pick it up and walk it back to Katie's.  Oh goodness, I think I owe them all one!  Now hoping that Addie uses it a little this summer.  

It was THEIR idea! 

2.) Mom and Dad opened the pool for those of us who have been asking and asking and asking :).  This is how much AJ liked the water last year - hope it's the same this summer!

Hanging with uncle Andy

3.) Addie loves Mary Poppins, especially the music!  When she's not sprawled out on the couch soaking it up, she's dancing like the penguins.  It never gets old.  I still need to get a video of that. 

BIG TODDLER poses:

4.) This never gets old:

Except when we can't transition her to the crib! 

5.) One of my dear friends, Bridget, had her little babe.  And by little, I'm talking 6.9 lbs.!  We laugh because this baby Williams still growing inside me could probably eat her for breakfast! 

This little Nora is such a doll!  And Addie likes her from far away.  Kind of.

Nora Young - So sweet! 

AJ not sure what to do but she's glad I'm not holding her! 

And here is our baby at 16 months haha

6.) One of the best things in our yard (with no effort on our part), is the peony explosion that happens for about a week in the spring!  This year, we only were able to enjoy them for a few days because they were so tall and heavy that most just fell over and are now lying on the ground.  But still, pretty cool!

Warning - Bill was a little snap happy with the camera! 

This is a serious photo shoot! 

"How's my profile, Dad?"

Winning shot! Bill was happy to get ONE out of 50! 

White peonies in front, light pink in middle (behind Addie Jo's head), and dark pink in back - we are grateful to the previous owner's planting! ;)

She would not look at the camera! 

"Dad, do we have to keep doing this?"

7.) And lastly, AJ Hair Update - Long enough for a ponytail?  Well, maybe just in back!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend to you and yours! 

Tested by Fire Fest at St. John's Indy

“Beloved, do not be surprised that a trial by fire is occurring among you… But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly.” -1 Peter 4: 12-13

Last weekend, St. John's in downtown Indianapolis, the oldest parish in Indy, and where Bill and I got married two years ago ;), hosted a fundraiser to raise money for renovations from an arson fire set to the church back in February (so sad).  Much of the back of the church was affected and so having a festival with music, food, and drinks was a great way not only to raise money, but to also have fun and celebrate the spirit of the parish, rather than focus on the structural damage.  Dad, Katie, the Sahm boys, and Addie and I all went down to enjoy the festivities!  I got some great pics, too!

Grandpa with the grand babies

Watching Teagan and Ari in the Bounce House

Addie and Zeke's first sucker - Grandpa gave it to them so what can you do?! 

Addie Jo and Katie watching the wonderful Catholic band, L'Angelus, jam out on Georgia Street.  The four oldest siblings make up the band and they come from a family of ten kids!  They performed at World Youth Day in Barcelona and are just awesome:

Loving L'Angelus!

Taking in the music

Dance break to enjoy the sucker! 

AJ in heaven with fabulous music and sugar! 

A little bit of corn hole on the way out, too

7 Quick Takes

Joining Jen at conversiondiary.com this Mother's Day!

1.)  Bill and I finally got to meet our newest godchild, baby Gavin Mullvain, in Cincinnati; but instead of getting pics of that cutie, I only got these of Addie chasing after his big sister, Reese:

She loves playing with bigger kids! 

2.) Aunt Katie brought over a Minnie Mouse lawn chair this week and this is how Addie used it:

Watching Princess Sofia

3.)  Addie wishes she could stay outside all the time, and she thinks she rules the yard!  

Strolling past the tomatoes

Checking on the Irises

Helping with the trellace (sp?)

No need for help getting down these stones

Playing in the alley

4.)  Mother's Day weekend = Zoo visit!  

We always want to take advantage of our zoo pass as much as we can and are so grateful we can go for just an hour or two each time knowing we can keep using the pass throughout the year.  It was a great Saturday trip and I'm not sure if Addie or Bill had more fun! 

Ooooo

SCOWL!

Monkeys! 

5.) One of our FAVORITE authors, Dr. Peter Kreeft, gave a talk in Indy that Bill and I were able to go to - thanks to mom babysitting AJ!  It was the first time we've been out on a "date night" in months and it was great!  Although I think Bill enjoyed Kreeft's philosophy on Catholicism in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings a little more than I did haha.  We both left thinking we could go to lectures every night... or be a student in one of his classes.  

I didn't want to wait in line to talk to him, so I snuck around the side to get a snap.  

One of my favorite books of his is - How To Win the Culture War - An awesome read! 

http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics-more/how-to-win.htm 

6.) So, going into the 9th month of pregnancy, my size, as Bill AND almost every stranger I walk past reminds me of, is comical.  Yes, I literally get stares, whispers, and even giggles because of my state.  I'll let you all join in the fun, too ;)

7.) Last but not least, AJ prefers to use a fork when she can! SOOOO old! 

I'm not sure how long it will take to teach her how to hold it correctly, though!

Happy Mother's Day all you fabulous moms!