I am experimenting with a new blog. I think the other format will be easier to update, based on some mobile apps that make it easy to do on the run. I decided to do this a long time ago, and then in true indecisive-Sarah fashion, hovered in the realm of indecision and have not updated either in months!!
Check it out at macgrovemama.tumblr.com
Until further notice, all posts will be there!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Home full of love
So, I was cleaning my house the other day, or doing some domestic project at home, and I started thinking about how our home "feels" when people walk into it. This is a very soft thing, and I struggle to articulate it. We have a lovely home, full of very nice furniture and really everything we could ever want. But when people walk into it, does it feel welcoming and full of love, or does it just feel like a nicely staged house? Does that make sense to anyone? As E grows up, I want our home to be a place he feels welcome and wants to be in and bring his friends to. That is really important to me. It needs to be full of love (and I'm sure a really big gaming system won't hurt). So when I try to think about what is missing, I quite can't put my finger on anything, except food. In spite of Mike's best efforts to convince me that food does not equal love, I still associate the two. All special occasions growing up didn't just involve food, but pretty much revolved around it. Hamburgers at the lake on the 4th of July, Turkey at Thanksgiving, Grandma's kitchen at Easter, random smorgasbord of creativity for Christmas, and waffles with ice cream on your birthday. So I haven't come up with any conclusions on either question (i.e., does our home feel full of love and how do we make it that way), but my parents came to visit me 2 weekends ago with my brother and his fiance. Activities ranged from mushroom hunting (we were skunked) to rock climbing to shopping at the Mall of America. We had a great time, and I do know that for that weekend our home was full of love. Maybe it was the box of home canned goodies they brought with them? I think this will be as unrewarding to read as it was to write based on its lack of conclusion, and I would love to hear how others fill their homes with love.
Thanks to my family for visiting and filling my home with love! Here are some pictures from our weekend.
The adorable engaged couple!
Sharing samples at the farmer's market
Discovering new things
Sharing birthdays (and chocolate lava cake)
Some Grandma and Grandpa love.
My dear husband (and our first date in a very long time thanks to Grandma and Grandpa babysitting), who is such an excellent host and fills my heart with love every day.
Thanks to my family for visiting and filling my home with love! Here are some pictures from our weekend.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Mother's Day
Ahh, Mother's Day. It's kind of like a birthday where I feel a little uncomfortable with attention on me, and people being obligated to call, give gifts, etc. At the same time I do appreciate having a day to remember and appreciate my own Mother and Grandmothers, and know that I don't tell them that enough at other times of the year (or often on Mother's day, for that matter)
So, this year we decided to go up to Duluth the day before. We stayed in our favorite Sheraton. We had planned to order pizza and watch a movie after the kiddo went to sleep (we put his crib in the bathroom), but there was pizza in the lounge that evening, and I think the kiddo didn't go to sleep until we were too tired to watch a movie, so we went to bed.
On Sunday, E decided that he wanted to spend every moment of Mother's day with me, and decided to get up at 3:30. After he woke up from his first nap of the day at 7:30, Mike took him so I could get some sleep before our whirlwind tour of MN State Parks. We hit 3 of them. We started at Split Rock, where we hardly got out of the car because E was asleep. Then we drove down to Jay Cooke, famous for their swinging bridge. Here are a few photos.
Crossing the swinging bridge - it was kind of scary over the raging river! This is just the end - you don't get a full perspective of how long it is.
Family photo.
We let E play in the dirt for quite a while. He was a bit tentative at first, but definitely warmed up to it.
Our two wildlife encounters. E got some smooches from a passing dog, and I saw a snake when I went off trail for a bit. We only got a photo of one!
After that, we had mother's day brunch at the Lazy Moose Cafe.
Finally we stopped at Moose Lake State Park. It is really only a lake - nowhere to hike, just a beach and a boat launch. We let E dip his fingers in the water, and went on our way.
So, this year we decided to go up to Duluth the day before. We stayed in our favorite Sheraton. We had planned to order pizza and watch a movie after the kiddo went to sleep (we put his crib in the bathroom), but there was pizza in the lounge that evening, and I think the kiddo didn't go to sleep until we were too tired to watch a movie, so we went to bed.
On Sunday, E decided that he wanted to spend every moment of Mother's day with me, and decided to get up at 3:30. After he woke up from his first nap of the day at 7:30, Mike took him so I could get some sleep before our whirlwind tour of MN State Parks. We hit 3 of them. We started at Split Rock, where we hardly got out of the car because E was asleep. Then we drove down to Jay Cooke, famous for their swinging bridge. Here are a few photos.
After that, we had mother's day brunch at the Lazy Moose Cafe.
Finally we stopped at Moose Lake State Park. It is really only a lake - nowhere to hike, just a beach and a boat launch. We let E dip his fingers in the water, and went on our way.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
E's first ice fishing
In May, you ask?
Thanks to the Minnesota Children's museum, yes!
The Children's museum opened for our ECFE district for one evening. They have this great toddler room where the babies can just crawl around. It's divided into different habitats. I don't know if this was the frozen tundra or what. I thought it was winter, but then realized that was not a habitat. Anyway, It was by far the coolest section of the whole room - a bit of early brainwashing for Minnesotans? Regardless, E loved yanking on this fishing pole, and I'm sure his dad can't wait to take him ice fishing!
Thanks to the Minnesota Children's museum, yes!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Fun with a tissue box
You can't actually see that we are playing with a tissue box here, but it was pretty much the most amusing thing ever for E.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Mozarella cheese
The Andersons are back at the cheese making again! A few years ago we made cheese for Christmas for our families. We were confined to hard cheeses then, because we needed something that would keep for a while so we didn't have to make 10 batches of cheese the week before Christmas! I would say we met with moderate success - it probably wasn't the best Christmas gift ever, but cheese is hard to get right!
This week we decided to break out our old cheese making supplies and try again :) No longer confined to hard cheeses, we decided to start with a simple recipe for 30 minute mozarella. I'd say it was closer to 2 hour mozarella, but we would probably be faster next time. It was nothing like the time involved in making hard cheeses! Here is Mike separating out the curds from the whey.
After reheating the curds, they magically turned stretchy, and here is out beautiful mozarella braid.
We are going to make pizza with it. And here is our token picture of E :)
This week we decided to break out our old cheese making supplies and try again :) No longer confined to hard cheeses, we decided to start with a simple recipe for 30 minute mozarella. I'd say it was closer to 2 hour mozarella, but we would probably be faster next time. It was nothing like the time involved in making hard cheeses! Here is Mike separating out the curds from the whey.
We are going to make pizza with it. And here is our token picture of E :)
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