* remember this *

"Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world simply by being there for each other."

-- Carol Saline

* remember this *

"Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world simply by being there for each other."

-- Carol Saline

Don't worry Charlotte is laughing her head off here, she loves when Zoie tackles her. :)

Pear Rhubarb Sauce

Do your kids love applesauce? Pearsauce? Well, then they are sure to love this new Pear Rhubarb Sauce, my almost three year old and I came up with. 

Zoie and I experimented with some food today. A year ago, I canned a bunch of pears. My girls love to eat pears, but for some reason they wouldn't eat the canned pears, just fresh. Weird! 

To use up the canned pears, I pull out 2 quart size jars and dump them on the stove and make pear sauce. Now, my girls love pear sauce. Today, I remembered we had some extra rhubarb in the fridge, that needed to be used up and I thought I would try my hand at creating something new and different. 

So Zoie and I went to work. We cut up the rhubarb stuck it in the pot and let it boil with the pears until they were both soft enough to mash up. Once mashed up we added cinnamon and sugar, then put it back in the jar, let it cool, and stuck it in the fridge. 

It is delicious and the girls go to town. 

Pear Rhubarb Sauce

* 2 quarts canned pears ( however many fresh pears can fill up two quarts)

* 4-7 sticks of rhubarb

* 1 cup of sugar (can add more or less depending on your taste, I like mine to taste sweet)

* 1/2-1 tbsp of cinnamon

1. empty jars into a large pot. If using fresh pears, peal, core, and cut and place in pot and then put some water in to just barely cover all the pears. 

2. Let the pears boil for a while about 10 minutes, then once they are just about ready to be mashed, put your rhubarb in and let it sit for another 5-8 minutes to soften up. (timing varies, depending on the ripeness of your pears and rhubarb)

3. Once soft enough to mash, use a ladle with wholes in it to transfer pears and rhubarb to a large bowl and begin mashing.

4. Once you've reached your preferred mashed consistency add in cinnamon and sugar to your taste. 

5. You can put the sauce back in the jar or a container, let cool and then put in fridge. 

** You can also can this recipe, just by adding the sterilizing of jars and lids and then making the sauce, pouring it in the jar, placing the lids back on and sealing it in boiling water for 15-20 minutes. After the time, take out place on a towel and let cool overnight.

** Make sure your lids are sealed by either hearing a popping sound, or pressing your finger on the lid to make sure it doesn't move. If it moves just stick in the fridge and use.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. It was fun to create something new Zoie and have a wonderful learning experience. 

Little Helper

I let Charlotte help me cook dinner a few weeks ago. It was simple and easy for her. We had a hamburger helper box. She loved opening it up and pouring things in and mostly sitting on the counter and watching.

It was fun to spend some one on one time with Charlotte. She was a great help and is very funny.

"What you want to eat mom?"

Zoie has played with her kitchen food and utensils downstairs lately and it has been pretty entertaining. She lays out all the food and utensils on our little window sill and puts a box at one end and turns to me and says "What you want to eat mom?"

I'll tell her what I want and she ends up bringing me something I didn't say and responds, "you like this better mom, it's good for you." Hahahaha..... She is such a funny little girl. We love her!

Charlotte's Necklaces

Charlotte loves to wear necklaces. Whenever she gets a chance and can find where we put the box, she empties the box out and puts them all on her neck. If we let her she would wear them all day and all night. This girls loves necklaces. It's so cute.

* remember this *

"Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world simply by being there for each other."

-- Carol Saline

Zoie reading to Charlotte before bedtime

Charlotte has Something to Say!

We are very excited for our next little one to join our family. It wasn't planned, but definitely a wonderful surprise and blessing in our life!

We are due February 7th, so I'm coming up on 15 weeks, just a few weeks into the second trimester. I thought about taking a picture of my "belly" for you all, but there really isn't one, so you'll just have to wait, probably another 5, possibly 10 weeks.

 Zoie is super excited and is very protective of my belly and will not let Daddy give the baby raspberries, because "babies don't like raspberries, Daddy!" :) Charlotte has no idea what is exactly going on right now, but she will get there by the time this one arrives. We will find out what we are having in about 4-5 weeks and we can't wait! Well, we can because we are busy with the girls and other things, that we both forget we are having another baby. Hahaha.....

We are thrilled and are very very happy to be able to continue expanding our family and keeping them so close in age. We will do our best to keep you up-to-date with this one.

Bring on the family of 5!