Melius' Most-Read: My Truck is Stuck!

This book has survived many years at our house.

The rhymes are fun, and a good "real" book for a beginning reader to practice.

See what happens to this group of dogs as they work together to get the truck un-stuck from a ground hog hole!

(Bonus: It even has a yellow bus in it!)

Cranberries

It's not too late to make your own cranberries for Thanksgiving dinner!
I first posted this recipe in November 2009, and it remains one of my favorites.  Not everyone likes cranberries (I'm definitely in the minority in my family), but I find them necessary for the perfect Thanksgiving feast.  Kids think it's fun to make this, too, as the cranberries pop as they start to boil.
Canned cranberries are great, but this really "specials" them up!

(If you are short on brown sugar, as I usually am, just add a teaspoon or so of molasses to make your own.)

Washed Cranberry Salad
1 bag fresh cranberries, rinsed and any stems removed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cups orange juice
3/4 cups water
(OR you may use all water for the liquid)

Combine all in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 10 minutes. Take any foam off the top and store the cranberry sauce in the refrigerator.

Melius' Most-Read: Freckleface Strawberry

Perhaps you have noticed this, but there's really not much planning behind my posts.  

Did you know some people schedule when to blog?  Or schedule what they will write about?  I actually find this very commendable, but it's not how I roll.  I just can't schedule creativity.  

I approach this little blog of mine the same way I approach my life.  I do things when they need to be done or when I want to do them, but (nearly) always in a timely manner.  

For example, I do not have a specific laundry day.  First, because I don't like big piles of laundry once a week.  And second, because being a rural wife and mom requires flexibility.  What happens when Laundry Day is taken up with Laura Needs to Run Errands Day?  Meal planning is the same way.  There is no way I can sit down and plan to have tacos next week Tuesday.  I just can't do it.  

If you live in this house, I can guarantee you will have clean clothes every morning and something to eat at every meal.  However, I cannot tell you what clothes they will be or what meat you may eat.

So. . . with all THAT being said, I have decided to incorporate just a bit of structure and include a regular feature.  Just one because I have to ease into stuff like this.  

The new feature will be . . . . Melius' Most-Read!

One of my very favorite things to do with my children is to sit down at night with a big stack of books on top of us and see how far we can get before bedtime.  Every week I will share one of our favorite books from the pile.  From the number of books we have, this feature should take us through the year 2034.

And, just like the load of dark clothes, it could occur on ANY day of the week.  Think of it as a happy little surprise from me.  :)

We will begin with Freckleface Strawberry by Julianne Moore.  This is a favorite of my own little freckleface strawberry girl, who often climbs up to the mirror and declares, "freckles!"

In this book, the title character learns to love her appearance and finds out that her friends love her no matter what.

As the saying goes, "A girl without freckles is like a night without stars."

There are more books in the series as well as a musical!  I have a feeling our Freckleface Strawberry experience has only begun.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mallow Bars

When it comes to potlucks, I am confident in the "salad and dessert" role.  It's the most versatile role for a rural wife and mom like myself, since I usually can find the ingredients in my pantry/freezer/fridge to make either or both.  It's also the most fun role for me, as there are so many things to choose from, and so many things I have yet to try!

We will be having a little get-together at my aunt's house tomorrow night, and with the meat and potatoes being taken care of, I offered to bring. . . a salad and dessert!  

The salad is a pantry staple--Jello, frozen strawberries and Cool Whip--no surprises there, but it's always a hit with the kids.

For the dessert, I scoured my recipe box for something new to try.  I found this recipe, clipped from somewhere sometime a long time ago.  As you can see by my notes, I had to make a few changes to fit my ingredients, but it all turned out just fine!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mallow Bars

1 pkg devil's food cake mix (I used chocolate.)

1 stick butter, melted

2/3 cup cold milk, DIVIDED

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 7oz. jar marshmallow creme

6 squares semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (I used chocolate chips.)

1/2 cup salted peanuts (I omitted.)

Heat oven to 350.  Mix dry cake mix, butter and 1/3 cup milk until blended; press 2/3 of mixture into bottom of 9x13 inch pan. Bake 12-14 minutes, or until center is almost set; cool 3 min.

Mix peanut butter and remaining milk; spread onto crust.  Top with spoonfuls of marshmallow creme and remaining cake mixture. Sprinkle with chocolate and nuts; press gently into cake mixture.  

Bake 18 minutes, or just until center is set.  Cool before cutting.

Throwback Thursday!

Let's have a little Throwback Thursday for today's post!

Really . . . how did Thanksgiving get to be only a week away?  It's even late this year and some how I felt quite unprepared when I realized this!  

I purchased my turkey yesterday and will begin thawing it in a day or so.  This year I'm hosting for my family, David's parents, and whoever else would like to join us.  (Just give me a heads up, please.) :)

My favorite part of any Thanksgiving dinner is the pumpkin pie.

First posted in 2010, but a favorite for much longer than that, here is my most-loved recipe:

FAMILY FAVORITE PUMPKIN PIE

My little "T" at 3 years old

Garth Weekend

Wow!  Do you realize how many things God has to put together just right for two couples to spend a weekend in the Cities in mid-November?  Well, it all came together and we had a fabulous weekend with David's sister Angela and Jason.  The ultimate reason for our visit was the Garth Brooks concert Saturday night.

David says, "It has come to this."  Unfortunately, the radio station did not allow me to take the cardboard Garth face home with me. :)

No, we weren't front row--far from it.  But, it was so awesome no matter where we were.  Just to be in the same venue with Garth is an amazing experience.  It was actually my third time seeing him, the two previous times being in 1997/98, and he hasn't lost a thing in his voice or entertaining.  Thanks to Angela for singing and dancing through the 2+ hours with me!  I am proud to say I can still sing every song word for word!  

Garth Brooks' music was a huge part of my life from Junior High to college.  As I've said before, once my boys discovered my cassette tape collection, they became fans, too.  

I just received his new CD in the mail last week and I'm loving that.  "Mom" is my favorite song on this new album.  Check it out--but grab a tissue first. 

This is 36.

My mom, dad and sister surprised me with a very special birthday cake when I was home this past weekend.  It was made by my friend Jeanne's mom, who was my "other mom" growing up.  Pam still makes the best cakes!

Here I am in front of our go-to photo backdrop, scene of our first day of school photos growing up. :)

36 has been good to me so far!  Rachel was upset that we are celebrating yet another birthday that isn't hers, but she's come around to the idea now.  

The big 3 gave me a wonderful present in that they all woke up and got dressed early this morning.  It was so that they could play on the snow hill before the bus came, but I'll take it as a birthday present. 

My mom called me this morning and my in-laws came over for coffee and angel food cake, which is a Melius family tradition.

I am so very blessed.

No gray hair yet, even though my children have tried their very best.

Maybe this year . . . .

Snow Day!

We received our first snowfall for the winter yesterday and today.  Thanks to some blustery winds, the kids received their first snow day off from school, too!  By the end of the afternoon, Dad pushed up a very fine sledding hill for them to slide (and sled-board) down.

Until this year, Rachel was not impressed with snow.  This year she has decided that "snow outside" equals fun!

from the 1980's

Rachel's favorite yellow dress wasn't in the closet on Sunday morning, so she told her dad that she wanted to wear this "beautiful" dress instead.  I was so surprised when I walked out and saw her wearing it because she had never noticed it before.  My mom had given me a couple of dresses she had made for me awhile ago.

My mom made this pink dress for me when I was about 5 years old.  I even remember wearing it.

Nathan didn't agree with his sister's choice of fashion.

He commented, "I'm sure it was pretty back in the 'olden days'."

Thanks, Nathan.

Happy 9th Birthday!

Today our second-born son turns 9 years old!

We had both sets of grandparents over for supper Sunday night.  Grandma Melius gave Nathan his favorite treat for a present--deviled eggs.  Nathan says they are so good they should be called "angel" eggs instead.  

We also served knepfla with our popcorn and had his requested angel food cake tonight.  We managed to fit in just about all of his favorite foods in the past two days!

Happy Birthday, Nathan!

That was fun!

It's a successful Halloween when we return home and the kids declare, "That was fun!"

This year we had Princess Anna, Red M&M, a Vikings player, and Olivia the Pig.

I am a room mother for Nathan's class again this year and I found this game on Pinterest.  We put three gummy worms on a plate, covered them in whipped cream, and the kids had to fish them out with their teeth and put them on the other plate.

After this game, Nathan told me, "That was the most fun I've had in years!"

Wohoo!  He and his friend Dawson really got into the game, as you can see.

It's been our tradition since having a Halloween birthday in the family to go to Grandma & Grandpa Melius' house after school.  Teresa always requests that Grandma wear her birthday cake costume. 

I surprised Teresa with a Barbie birthday cake.  Because I didn't realize Barbie was so tall, she received a two layer skirt!

We finished up our night with trick-or-treating.  We came home with bags of candy and Rachel only fell in one hole covered with leaves.  No worries--with a little help from her siblings, she was back up and ready to hit the next house.

Thanks to everyone who made Teresa's birthday and our Halloween extra special!