A Week Late - Happy Easter!

I know this is a week late, but Happy Easter from the Schulze's!

Outdoor Fun

The kids in the neighborhood have been over a lot lately playing on the trampoline, riding bikes up and down the street and having a blast being together. 

It is so rewarding to see my kids make friends with the neighborhood kids and have such a fun time together.  Since I grew up on a farm, this type of neighborhood activity was not commonplace for my childhood - but I am sure enjoying seeing my children thrive in a small neighborhood community!

Spring Outdoors Cleanup

We were able to go over to my Mom's last week and help her clean up a little bit around the yard and on her huge deck.  Lots of raking and getting rid of items that were old and rotted.  Always a good time to hang out with the family.

And the kids especially enjoyed that Uncle Bryce was there to help by giving them rides on the trailer and play with them!

Summation of Life These Days

These two pictures sum up life these days.

Sweetness

Sass

Sweetness and Sass...  Man I love these two kids!  Being their Mom is the absolute best job in the whole entire world!  Too bad hugs and kisses do not pay the bills, because I'd be monetarily rich, not just rich in love!

It is going to be so hard to go back to a full time job and have these kids back in childcare!  I am having the time of my life hanging out with them more often!

Little Sister's Birthday

We celebrated the 1st anniversary of my little sister's 35th birthday this past weekend...  She decided she is going to stay 35 for a while, so we are going to go with it!!!

The four friends headed to a Paint and Sip party and had a great time!  Our paintings all ended up looking so different, but all beautifully unique.  I loved the time being creative and the best part is that now my children are fighting over where to hang the painting in our home!  Pretty sure it is going to end up in Elizabeth's room though... it is a vase of flowers after all!

(L to R) Jen, Leah, Stacy (the birthday girl!) & Amanda - April 6, 2019

Headed to dinner after the paintings were done and Stacy actually teared up a little as this was the first time in quite a while that she had actually celebrated her birthday with a special event.  I was so grateful to be a part of it and really thank Jen for finding the event and coordinating it!

Speaking of gratitude, this is my group of women.  The ones I do life with on a regular basis.  I love them and thank God for them daily!  I don't know what I would do without them in my life.  They are the very best.  I hope everyone out there has a group of friends like this.  And if you don't, put yourself out there and find some!

Four Generations

Connie, Donna, Amanda & Elizabeth

Update

Life has changed a bit since the last post.  I have a little more time on my hands right now as I am currently not working, so I figured I would pick this little blog back up on occasion!

Eddie finally lost both front teeth!  Libby was pretty excited about it!

I lost my job at the beginning of February and am now working on finding a different job that will allow me to spend as much time as I can with these two little kids!

William is working a little further away from home than previously, so I hope that I can find something close to home and that works with their school schedule.

I know the right job is out there for me!

September 10, 2015

Schulze Family - Labor Day 2015

September 8, 2015

The Big Sandy Crew - Labor Day 2015

A New Skill - Lefse Making Lesson

On Saturday, a group of young ladies and I headed to my Grandmother's house to learn the lost art of lefse making.  It is only a lost art in my family because my Grandmother is the one who always makes it, so none of us have ever had the need to!


Most of us love it (or have family that does) so it was time we learned how to make it before my lovely Grandmother is no longer able to teach us - she is 85 years old and while she still lives at home by herself, she isn't getting any younger.  Although, she did seem busier than all of us the entire day.  Running around, doing the dishes - we had to tell her to stop so we could take over and help!

Half of our potatoes getting ready to boil.

We all thought it was going to be a much harder task than it was!  We made quick work of 10 pounds of russet potatoes (peeling and slicing to get ready to boil).  Then it was into the living room to sit and chat while they boiled. 

Ricing the hot potatoes.

Once we riced the hot potatoes, we added the shortening and then let them cool.  Now, Grandma has never used a recipe, so the last time she made them, she wrote down some instructions on about how much shortening and flour she adds.  Thankfully, we were able to follow pretty well.

Making sure the mixture "feels" right!  Love this woman!

After the potatoes cooled (and we ate a wonderful lunch of homemade meatballs, mashed potatoes, gravy and peas) we were ready to begin the last steps.  We added the flour and rolled the dough into small balls. 

The special rolling pin.

We rolled out the dough as thin as we could.  This is the stage where not having the right consistency of dough really makes or breaks the process!  Our first batch was excellent - the second two were okay. 

Cooking the lefse.

Once you cook the lefse on both sides, they get placed under a towel to begin the cooling process.  After we made a fairly substantial pile, we transferred them to the porch (not heated) and placed them on a sheet in a single layer (or double layer is okay too) and covered them with another sheet to let them dry and cool.

The fruits of our labor!  Yummy!

Our batch of lefse was pretty large, so we all went home with a large Ziploc bag full.  Mine went right to the freezer (lefse freezes very well) so I can enjoy them at a later date.  I still have some of the leftovers from Christmas that Grandma made for me in my freezer and refrigerator to enjoy.

Amanda and Grandma Donna.  Our expert teacher!

Grandma was such an excellent teacher.  She showed by example and then let us take turns at all the jobs.  She thought we did a great job!

Leah and myself (My sister-in-law)

Leah has lots of family that loves lefse.  She is of Norwegian heritage and knew many more traditional dishes than we did!  I would be excited to try some that her family makes!
 

Nicky and me (Nicky is an old family friend from way back - plus she family too - Stacy's sister-in-law)

Nicky was also excited to learn the process.  Now there are four of us ladies that can all get together and make lefse every year!  While you could do it by yourself, it would be so much more fun doing it as a group!

Me and my silly sister, Stacy.  Usually one of us is making a silly face in our photos together. She wins this time!

It was such a blessing to finally take the time to have Grandma teach us how to make the lefse.  I am so very glad we had this wonderful day with her!  It will be a memory I cherish long after she is gone!

Christmas Ornaments

A glimpse into our Christmas tree this year.  Nothing too fancy, but beautiful anyway.

The real tree - in our upstairs living room.

An ornament capturing the moment William asked me to marry him.

Homage to A Christmas Story

Elizabeth's high heeled shoe ornament. 

Elizabeth's Cinderella shoe ornament - it plays music...  And she likes to hear it often.

Ornament from William's Step Mother back in 2001 when we had our first home together.

Eddie's first ornament

Miss Elizabeth at 1 year old.

Mr. Edward - less than one year old.

One of William's ornaments from his childhood

Elizabeth's first ornament - made by me when she was less than a month old.

Me as a kooky child - so far the only ornament I have from my childhood.  I need to raid my Mom's tree for more!

Elizabeth's 5th Birthday Party

What a wonderful celebration we had this past weekend in honor of Elizabeth's 5th birthday. 


It was so good to gather with family and know that everyone there truly loves and cares for our beautiful little girl!  She is such a joy to have in our lives and I am so blessed to be her Mom!

Singing Happy Birthday

Our homemade carrot cake - with carrots from Auntie Stacy's garden this year.

We smoked a couple chickens and some ribs and had scalloped potatoes, roasted mixed vegetables, baked beans.  Simple yet delicious.  The best way to have meals.

Auntie Leann with the kids

Presents were thoughtful and she loved every single one of them!  Especially everything Frozen themed!  She is a huge fan and has seen the movie many times.  She is such a fan of Elsa that when I was listening to Idina Menzel's Christmas album in the car the other day, she heard it and said Queen Elsa was singing Christmas songs to us!  Now that is a devoted Queen Elsa fan to know her voice!
  



Opening one of her Frozen themed gifts!

Grandpa, Libby and Auntie Leann waiting to open gifts

Libby and Eddie relaxing after the party.

Lighting Festival - 2014

Headed out to a local town festival on Friday night for their lighting ceremony and parade.


I have never been to a parade in the winter, but it was very fun!  A little cold - but fun none the less!

Libby patiently waiting for the parade to start!

Libby and Eddie - November 28, 2014

Playing on the sidewalk in the cold!

Going to the lighting festival was something I have wanted to do for quite some time, so it was great to be able to attend this year!  I had so much fun and really enjoyed being able to have the kids along - they are now at ages where this type of event is possible, even in the cold!


Headed for pizza after the parade and Libby even got a balloon animal (a flower) there.  She loves the flower!

Weekend Photos: November 15 - 16, 2014

We headed into the city on Saturday morning to cheer William on at his Cross Fit gym workout.  It is good to see him having such fun with something like this. 


Needed to do a little shopping for some mittens and snow pants for the kids, but they were hungry, so we headed to lunch first.  Eddie and Dad enjoyed watching some remote control tractors on the phone while we waited for our meal to arrive.  Eddie was enthralled with the tractors!  We didn't find any snow pants and the kids were tired and cranky, so headed back home and will have to look for the rest of the winter gear they need on-line or have William do it after work.


Eddie also helped Dad put the snowmobile hood back together.  He had his little impact wrench up against the plastic and William was happy as can be to have Eddie there "helping" him!

November 15, 2014



Helping Dad with the snowmobile.



Never too early to learn how to put things back together!



Libby wanted to get in on it too, but it was done by the time she made it to the floor!

Baby Shower

Libby and I were able to attend a beautiful baby shower this past weekend for a relative of ours.  It was so wonderful to see all the family and know that very soon another beautiful baby will join our family! 


Edward and William hung out downstairs at the event and towards the end, Edward decided to make an appearance and show all the ladies how he flirts and likes to have his picture taken.  When they were having the mom-to-be, sister and future Grandma pose for a picture, Edward noticed and ran over and leaned in against the chair they were sitting on so he could be in the photo too....  Then he did it again, only this time he placed himself strategically between the two sisters.  My little goof-ball!

Fall Fishing

We headed out yesterday afternoon for a short fishing trip on the river.  It was short because it was so very windy, we all got cold. 

Elizabeth practiced her casting skills and William did some fishing too, but none were caught in the short time we were out.  It was so nice to be out on the river, but with the wind whipping up the white caps, it was less than ideal circumstances. 

Eventually, we headed down river to the dam and fished in the calmer area.  Eddie and Libby had a little picnic in the boat with peanut butter sandwiches, but William and I waited to eat until we got home.  We both needed something warm and a bowl of hot soup was the answer!



Elizabeth practicing casting with her fishing pole.



A very happy William out in the boat.

Edward and Mommy in the boat.

They do like each other!

Fall Fun - Playing in the leaves with no reservations.

Excitement over his sister throwing the leaves into the air.

So happy to have an afternoon at the park and river!