Life as Mrs. Emerson

Eli all ready to go as we enter the State Fair.  We are so thankful for our stroller!   This past week we were able to mark off something fun on our Emerson Family Bucket List for the summer.  We went to the Ohio State Fair.  Hooray!  It has to be one of the best state fairs around. This was the face Evangeline wore for almost the entire day.  She was so happy!   I am so thankful we were finally able to visit the Ohio State Fair.  It has been 6 years since we have been.  We weren't even married back then.  :)  We were engaged at the time and I think I floated all around the fair that year. We really enjoyed seeing the Budweiser Clydesdale horses and watching them in the parade.   All of the animal exhibits were superb but the horses were Elijah's favorite. Elijah got to drive a train!   Our day really was filled with giggles, laughter, and lots of smiles! I love my boys!   One of my favorite aspects of the fair was the natural resources section. No t

You will need 4 cups of fresh peaches, peeled and sliced.   My family loves cobblers of any kind but this one might just be my favorite.  It is incredibly easy and doesn't include any battle wounds in order to gather the fruit (like blackberry cobbler).  We often serve it when we have guests over for dinner or dessert over. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray casserole dish with non-stick spray.  (There is probably plenty of butter in this dessert but I don't like to take any chances.)  Peel and slice 4 cups of fresh peaches OR you can use a large can of peaches (drained). The batter  Melt one stick of butter.  Drizzle over the peaches.  If you are as forgetful as I am and accidentally mix the butter in with all of the other ingredients it will turn out great!  You can also reduce the amount of butter if you would like to cut costs or calories. Mix together: 1 c. all purpose flour, 1 c. sugar, 1 t. baking powder, and 1 c. milk. Ready for the oven!  Pour batt

Hooray for fresh, nearly organic produce from our garden!   Last week I picked squash from our garden!  Yeah!  So far we have harvested 1 yellow squash and 3 zucchini.  If I had bought those 4 squash at the Farmer's Market they would have cost 3.00.  I am thinking about keeping track of what we harvest from our garden this year and how it benefits us financially.  In many ways it is hard to really put a price tag on fresh picked, hand grown produce.  The excitement on Elijah's face was priceless! We had some good friends over for dinner this week.  I made homemade BBQ, Baked Beans, and Strawberry Poppyseed Salad .  Our friends brought a wonderful peanut butter pie.  It was so great hanging out with them. We also had my sister and her boyfriend over for dessert after church.  I served peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream. Elijah and Evangeline enjoyed making forts and all sorts of hide outs in our den.   Our family headed to our local city park where we had a grea

I love sunflowers so much that I have them growing outside both of our porch steps. Don't they make you just want to smile? Summer is passing by way so fast!  Besides having lots of fun here are a few of the goals that I hope to accomplish this week: Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals: 1.  Spend extra time with Elijah one afternoon this week doing something he really enjoys. 2.  Head to the drive in for a movie with the happy hubby. 3.  Plan a Family Fun day for this week or next. Homemaking Goals: 4.  Sew a dress for my cousin Anna.  Sadly this has been on my to-do list since Easter! 5.  Garden: Pick at least one row of green beans.  Pick squash every two days. Personal Goals: 6.  Write in my journal about goals, plans, and dreams for the fall-especially as this applies my family. 7.  Finish Chapter 2 (Job) of my new Bible Study Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament The Wisdom of God .   My sweet husband was kind enough to pick this up for me when he attended a conferen

Elijah & Evangeline after Sunday School today.  (Today was the first day Eva rocked a whale spout.)  I don't know about you but I love the fact that my children are able to attend Sunday School every week.  Brandon and I are well aware of the fact that the responsibility for teaching our children God's Word is our responsibility.  However we are so  thankful that our children are part of a wonderful children's ministry where they are taught The Gospel.   Today I wanted to share a few things that we do in our family to help reinforce the learning that is taking place in Sunday School. If your church does not have Sunday School these ideas could also be applied to Wednesday Night Children's Bible Studies.       Don't throw away those handouts when you get home from church!  1.)   Handouts, Papers, and Mystery Art Projects:  Whatever you do don't throw away those Sunday School handouts as soon as your child walks through the door.  A Sunday School han

We loved dressing up for free food!   Isn't she the cutest cow you have ever seen?   Our entire family dressed up like cows for Chick-Fil-A day.  This was the first time we have dressed up and it was SO MUCH FUN!  Such a fun memory to make with our family.  Each family member (including the baby) received a free meal and a drink.  Evangeline absolutely loved the cow that walked around.  Every time the cow walked away she would get sad.  How funny! My sister did a great job showing her miniature horse.   I carpooled with my family to attend two horse shows this week.  My brother and sister showed on different days which meant 2 day trips last week!  I packed a cooler filled with lunch, drinks, and snacks.  Random fact: Whenever we take a cooler along in the car I add a teether or two for Evangeline.   We had friends over for dinner last week.  Since Eva is still a baby I made a simple meal- just a simple casserole of Chicken Almondine and Peach Cobbler.  Our frien

My favorite summer salad. It's been a while since I have shared any recipes but I thought I would share one for my favorites. This salad is extremely versatile and I often take it along when we make a meal for someone.  It can also curb my desire to drive to the nearest Panera to drop $8 on Panera's Strawberry Poppyseed & Chicken Salad.  :)   In a bowl combine romaine lettuce, shredded mozzarella cheese, sliced almonds, sliced celery, and sliced strawberries.  During the winter I often make the same salad and use canned mandarin oranges.  It also tastes great with dried cranberries, sesame sticks, cashews, cubed apples, etc.  You can also add chicken if you want to add protein or make this salad taste more like Panera's. Dressing Recipe: In a blender combine: 1/2 c. white sugar (or you can substitute your favorite sugar substitute) 1/2 c. lemon juice 2 t. finely diced onion 1 t. prepared Dijon mustard 1/2 t. salt While the blender is still running add in

Summer is flying by way too fast!  Can it really be the middle of July already?  We have been having a wonderful summer as we try to enjoy each day.  Here are a few of the frugal things we did last week:   Last week Elijah and I made homemade pretzels.  I'm still working on perfecting my form but they tasted great.  Our counter is too small to roll out the pretzels so I use our kitchen table.  Eva sat in our highchair that attaches to the table and enjoyed watching Eli and I shape the pretzels. The happy hubby and I went on a breakfast date while the grandparents watched the children.  We had a wonderful time walking downtown and window shopping for bicycles.  I would love to buy the happy hubby a cycling bike. Brandon and I also went on a wonderful long walk (I would guess 5 or 6 miles) while pushing Eva (she slept almost the entire time).  Eli stayed with my parents.  It was just wonderful.  The weather was gorgeous and we had a great time chatting and dreaming. A

Eli having a blast at the splash park. We had a great week with a nice balance of work and play.  Here are some of the things we did to save money:  My sister Bekah spent 2 nights with us last week.  We made cookies, watched movies, and went to the splash park at Woodland Mound.  We packed a picnic and had so much fun! Our sweet girl loves the water.  We don't make it to the Splash Park every week but when we do it is always so much fun.  I have never purchased items at the snack bar so Elijah doesn't even realize it exists yet.  :)  Evangeline also uses a reusable swim diaper so I don't have to buy Little Swimmers. Aunt Bekah went with us. Elijah, Evangeline, & I enjoyed a fun afternoon outing to the library for Storytime followed by our first trip to the local farmer's market.  The farmer's market was fun but wow was it expensive!  We were regular attenders of the farmer's market when we lived in Versailles (we could walk to it) but it wasn

Hooray for more time to read this month!  :)  Here is what I have been reading: The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott: This is actually Alcott's first novel written when she was only 17.  It tells the story of Edith Adelon, an impoverished orphan whose beauty and loyalty win her the patronage of wealthy friends.   I found it charming and enjoyed it very much. Balancing It All: My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose  by Candace Cameron Bure: In this book Candace Cameron Bure (who played DJ on Full House) shares how she strives to find balance in her life.  I really enjoyed reading about what it was like growing up as a child actor and about her marriage to a Russian hockey player.  Personally I didn't find the aspect of her book about balancing life that helpful.  (I find books that ask the reader more questions a bit more helpful.)  Overall I did enjoy reading this book.  It was the first one that I have checked out from my library as a digital copy and read on my

Is it just me or do you see a twinge of red? Evangeline is growing fast.  She is now over 21 pounds and long.  (We just went for a check-up but I never remember lengths.)  Since the happy hubby and I are both fairly tall I expect Eva will be as well.  At her check-up last week I was reminded of how much we have to be thankful for Eva's good health.  She is growing well and our pediatrician has no concerns about her.   Exploring a nectarine. Eva is still not very interested in eating.  So far she does not enjoy any baby food or cereal.  She continues to be quite dramatic whenever we give her something!  Last week I ate the skin off of a nectarine and she did enjoy licking it.  I wouldn't really say she ate any of it.  Maybe next month?  :)  We have introduced a sippy cup which she likes to chew on.   Friends forever.   One of the sweetest aspects of having our second child has been watching Eva and Eli turn into best friends.  Their love for one another runs de

Earlier this month I FINALLY got the happy hubby to agree to go camping.  Truth be told it was actually my mother's day present.  We had a blast!   Enjoying the playground Since this was our first camping trip we decided to head somewhere close.  We camped for two nights at Kincaid Lake State Park in Falmouth, KY.  It was so much fun!   We slept a lot!  It was lovely to sleep outside and go to sleep to the sound of nature.  We also enjoyed some wonderful naps.  Such a blessing to get away and enjoy some family time. Selfie!  Eli had a blast camping.    Elijah said his favorite thing was the fact that we slept in a camper (pop-up) instead of a house.  He also really enjoyed going on walks, playing at all 3 playgrounds, and building fires with Daddy. We borrowed our parent's pop-up.  My mom was kind enough to set it up for us since our skills at trailering are a bit lacking.    I love real camping in a tent but sleeping in the pop-up was a grea