rhubarb

This past weekend I picked up some beautiful rhubarb at the farmer’s market and couldn’t wait to make this recipe from our family cookbook. I have made 'Rhubarb Crumble' a few times over the years and each Spring I can’t wait for the rhubarb to come in season so I can pull out this recipe.

I love rhubarb. I really do. :) Maybe it is because it is one of the first crops to show up in the garden and markets and it means summer is here. Maybe it is because of the fond memories I have from when I was a little girl sitting in my backyard munching on big stalks of rhubarb freshly stolen picked from the garden. Or maybe it is because it is in season for such a short time and then I have to wait another year for this sour, crunchy treat.

The recipe is from my Grandma’s sister and the original copy of the recipe reads, “To Sis Ginny, Love, Sister Ruth.”

(I doubled this recipe because I had quite a bit of rhubarb and I also threw in some strawberries and a little bit of cinnamon. Delicious!)

Rhubarb Crumble
Fruit mixture:
4 cups rhubarb, cut in 1 inch pieces
Grated rind of 1 orange
½ cup sugar
1 Tablespoon flour

Topping mixture:
1 ½ cups rolled oats
¼ cup brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon melted butter
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon vanilla

Combine rhubarb, orange rind, sugar, and flour. Spoon mixture into a greased 8 inch square baking dish. In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over fruit mixture.
Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and fruit is bubbly. Serve warm or cold, plain or with vanilla ice cream.

last few weeks in review

Life has been going full-speed ahead lately... and I would be very happy if it slowed down just a tad!

It seems like the end of the school year is always so busy with all the extra 'end of the year' activities but then you add in all the "senior stuff' and  it just gets plain crazy.... But good crazy and I wouldn't trade a second of it for anything. :)

I have had so much that I wanted to blog about these past few weeks- but just not the time to do it. But because this is our family's online scrapbook, I am going to do a quick recap of some of what has been going on these past few weeks.

• Mother’s Day was a beautiful, special day and I am always so thankful to have time to spend with my boys which always means the world to me. One special gift was when Drew surprised me on Farmville (on Facebook) with a Mother’s Day present. He logged onto my account (sneaky little guy :) and put this cute little yellow Victorian House and a whole bunch of Mother’s Day stuff on my farm. So when I logged on to my account I was very surprised. Such a sweetie he is.

• I was so lucky to finally got Photoshop and I have been having such fun playing with it!

 But… there is soooo much to learn.

• Jake got his driver’s permit and has started driving. (yikes!)

• Drew has been playing a lot of baseball- one tournament so far and many league games.

• We have been busy getting ready for Tyler’s graduation and open house.

• This past weekend we went to one of my very favorite places for the first time this spring- the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market. I found a bunch of flowers and some rhubarb and can’t wait to go back next weekend to find some more goodies!!

• Our puppy-dog went to the pet salon this week for a little make over. She was looking a little scruufy and came home with an all new look. :)

~before~

~after~ :)

• Jake spent his birthday money on a new TV.

• A few more pictures from Tyler’s senior prom.

(These photos were taken by his girlfriend's parents.)

• And I just found out yesterday that my sister is expecting baby number 4!!!

Squeal- I am so excited!!! Another baby in the family! :)

Twin's baseball game

Friday evening we had the chance to go to a Minnesota Twins baseball game at the new Target Field with Drew's baseball team and families. After a rainy and cold day, the weather cleared just in time for the evening game and it turned out to be just a beautiful night for an outside baseball game.

Drew's baseball team.

They even made it on the big screen!

Drew is on the far left- but the bummer was that from our view we could only see half his face... oh well, still pretty cool! :)

We all had so much fun and I cannot wait to go to another game soon!! Outside is definately the way to see a baseball game!

senior prom

I am way behind on my pictures, blogging, and just about everything right now!! But I really wanted to get these pictures up from this past weekend from Tyler's Senior Prom.

These first pictures are from the Grand March at the high school.

Tyler and his best bud (since 1st grade) and their girlfriends.

After the Grand March we headed to a friend's home for some pictures outside. It was a beautiful, sunny day- (unfortunately the pics are a little washed out)... but still very sweet! 

There was a group of 22 couples that went to pictures, dinner, prom, and an after party together.

The kids started getting a little silly after most of the pictures were taken.

Tyler's girlfriend is a gymnast-- and had no problem picking Ty up! I was very impressed- in heels and everything!! :) 

Then-- Ty's friend (a freind since 2nd grade and from our neighborhood) decided he would not be outdone...

They were getting hilarious now!

Then the friend thought he would try to pick up both Ty and another friend...

But that didn't work so well!

Plan B

Getting on the coach bus that the parents rented. ($15 a couple- was so worth it!!!)

mommy guilt

Yesterday I got a call from the middle school… from the 6th grade dean. Yikes- this can never be good I am thinking. And I was right!

He tells me that someone reported an incident that happened at our bus stop after school on Monday.

Ok- I take a deep breath, thinking that is most likely involves some of the neighbor boys.
We have been in our neighborhood for over ten years, as most of the families have, and there is a big group of boys that have known each other almost their entire lives. They are like brothers- they get along great most of the time and have fun playing in the neighborhood; etc. So I thought that it was probably someone getting pushed or maybe a name called- but then I thought for a second that it was weird that the school would be involved and not just handled with in the neighborhood.

Let’s just say my assumption was wrong.

The dean goes on to say that this incident involves another student (not a kid from our neighborhood) and Drew. This other boy (who Drew doesn’t really know other than they ride the same bus), usually gets off one of the first bus stops but for some reason decided to stay on the bus Monday and get off at Drew’s stop, which is one of the last stops.

The dean goes on to tell me that the boy, a seventh grader, pulls out a pocket knife and then pushes Drew in the head. An 8th grade neighbor boy pushed the other boy away from Drew. No one was hurt but--Oh My Gosh!!!!!

I am in complete disbelief! How could this have happened at our bus stop? In our own neighborhood? A 7th grader pulling out a pocket knife? And Drew never said a word to me about this??!! Oh My Gosh!!!

Here is where the mommy guilt comes in.

I am always here when the boys get home from school. Always.

It has always been so important to me to be here when the boys get home from school. I have been so fortunate to be able to be able to be home with them for all of these years. And I am so thankful for that.
When they were little guys I wanted to be here so they wouldn’t have to go to after school care. But as they have grown, and are now in middle school and high school, I think it is equally important (maybe even more so) to be here as much as possible for them after school. This always seems to be the time they are most likely to talk and to share about their day. And so I am always here because I don’t want to miss that opportunity.

But Monday was a busy day- I was running a little late from an appointment so I was not here when Drew got home. And when I did get home I said a quick ‘hi and how was your day’ to him and grabbed some paperwork and ran out the door again. I was picking Jake up from school to take him to go get his driver’s permit. After Jake passed his permit test he wanted to stop at a couple of stores to do a little shopping, so we did. Then I went out to dinner with some friends that evening and got home after Drew was in bed.

Mommy guilt! I am always home- except for Monday- when my boy needed me.

pictures from the week

Drew had his first league baseball game of the season. It was very cold- but I took a few picture inside before we left.

I have been busy painting the living room and dining room...finally!!

And I love the color. (Thank goodness!!! :)

I still need to finish the dining room and then put things back- but I love how it is turning out!

We also have been busy picking out new carpet for our family/great room.

And 2 of the 3 boys started their soccer refereeing jobs.

And today Jake finished drivers ed. (Yikes! I mean... yeah! )

It has been a good week!