Rachael Eliker's Blog, page 23

Gettin' Ready

Guess I'll take a nap while she does the mowing.Spring has been really good to us (especially compared to last year's neverending snowfall, then immediate inferno and this year's end of winter). There have been some setbacks, lots of mud (but hey, that's Indiana for you), and a few cold nights but overall, we've had weeks and weeks of pretty awesome weather. That means we've been busy gettin' ready. The season's first toad!First, out come the maple taps and gone are the milk jugs used to...

40-Minute Hamburger Buns

With the nice weather comes the grilling season! While we enjoy a good burger, I rarely if ever have hamburger buns on hand. With this easy, yummy, quick recipe, problem solved!
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons yeast1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons warm water1/3 cup oil1/4 sugar1 large egg1 teaspoon salt4 to 5 cups flour
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and a pinch of sugar. When frothy, add oil and rest of sugar. Let stand five minutes. Add the egg, salt, and flour. Knead until smoo...

Different Kinds of Chores

Claire trying her hand at woodchopping.I think I write a lot about our family doing chores, mostly because that's honestly what we spend a good deal of our day doing: work. One thing I want my kids to learn is that work can be enjoyable, give them a sense of pride, satisfaction, and sense of accomplishment that sitting around never could. Plus, I love that my kids are hard workers. Yes, I am still privy to plenty of meltdowns, refusals, outright laziness, crying, and children who magical...

The Usual Routine

The first bass of the season!Though we don't usually get to escape to any exotic, warm, beachy destinations over spring break (no...we do stuff like rebuild stairs and totally renovate our kitchen), this year was a tad more low key and by that, I mean we didn't do any major home improvements. But, that doesn't mean for a second we didn't work our tails off in other ways. Between spring cleaning and nesting, I was ruthless with the clutter and dirt that needed to be tackled. As a start to the...

Makes the Outdoors Magical

Henry found a flower to pick for me. Aww...This winter hasn't been particularly difficult in our neck of the woods, but we are always excited to welcome spring, green grass, and warmer weather. Usually, it feels like winter long overstays its welcome and pushes well into spring but this year, it seems spring is arriving a few weeks early. Fine by us!
Today was one of those magical, sunny days at the end of winter that warranted popsicles, bare feet, and playing outside while I finished up maki...

Pizza Picnic, ER Visit

Toward the end of winter, we're all eager for the arrival of spring. After enduring a cold snap while Jack was gone, we've been blessed with more sun, warmer temperatures, and the first of the flowers pushing up through the ground.
We have flowers in Indiana!To celebrate, we've been spending every spare moment we can enjoying the outdoors, even if there is still a nip in the air. On Saturday, after a busy day cleaning, chores, and running errands, Jack suggested we have a pizza picnic. He pick...

C'mon, Spring!

After enduring the cold spell last week, we're being generously rewarded with a patch of beautiful springlike weather and sunshine. We aren't ones to be kept inside when it is cold but it's so much more pleasant when our fingers don't feel like their turning into icicles.
It's officially spring...we have flowers!With my list of things needing to be done outside growing, we took advantage of the sunshine and started with some landscaping while waiting for the girls to get home from school. I pu...

He's Back!

Jack testing out one of his really cool augmented reality toys from work.Admittedly, Jack has a really cool job. He gets to work with some of the most cutting-edge virtual and augmented reality technology. But, along with all that awe-factor comes the need to showcase what it can do to other people, which requires him to travel. Sometimes, a lot. Last autumn, it felt like he was barely home and the past few weeks, it's started to feel very similar. He had two back-to-back trips--one to Orland...

Keep Pushin' Up

Good advice!Though our year is truly off to a great start, we've already hit our fair share of bumps in the road. There are times when it seems like everything is going wrong and honestly, it's pretty easy to see the bad when I'm looking for it. Lately, there's been plenty of unexpected hiccups.  Like the morning Woody decided to squeeze his way out of the fence, sure the grass was greener on the other side. He was sadly mistaken, seeing as it's winter and none of the grass is green...

Produces in the Winter

Let the sap flow!It's no secret that winter isn't my favorite season and of all months, I hate February the most. It's all gray skies, cold mud, frozen water, and we're burning through everything from wood to hay to heating oil. One of the few redeeming things about February is that the weather turns and it usually signals the start of maple syrup season. Instead of consuming, it's one of the few things that actually produces in the winter. For the sap to start flowing in the trees, there...