Tasty Tuesday: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Yesterday a friend unexpectedly gave me a bunch of rhubarb in exchange for borrowing our GPS while she and her family are on vacation. Then, a few short hours later, our neighbor gave me a container of fresh picked strawberries that her husband and daughter had picked Sunday afternoon. It was a sign that I was supposed to make another strawberry rhubarb recipe. Which one? We have enjoyed several crisps, crustata, bread, and jam already this spring. Pie was calling my name. I played around with the recipe in my Better Homes and Garden's cookbook and came up with this crumble topped pie. Here is the recipe in case you unexpectedly come into some fresh goodness as well.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Crust:

1 1/4 c flour

1/3 c shortening

5 T water

dash cream of tartar

Blend flour, shortening, and cream of tartar until crumbly. Add water to form dough. Roll on floured surface. Line 9 inch pie shell.

Filling:

6-7 cups of fresh rhubarb and strawberries, diced

1 c sugar

1/4 c flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Stir filling ingredients together until moist. Fill pie shell.

Crumble Topping:

1/2 c flour

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c quick cooking oats

3 T butter

Blend together until uniform crumbiness. Sprinkle on pie.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45-55 minutes. Enjoy with a scoop of ice cream and/or whipped cream.

Evan turns Seven

Sunday Evan turned SEVEN! Wow! Where does the time go? I look at my boy and wonder how seven years could have passed so quickly. He's growing into such a wonderful boy. Evan is a curious and creative boy who loves the outdoors. There isn't a bug he won't try to catch or an animal that doesn't interest him. While he's quite often acting silly his mind is always moving, planning, scheming, and inventing. Asking, "What are you thinking?" is sure to get you an interesting answer.

Sunday we celebrated with brats and picnic lunch, gifts, some "spiderman" playground time, a t-ball game, and supper out at Perkins. Evan called it a perfect birthday.

Happy Birthday, Evan. We are so proud of you and happy to be your parents. We love you, buddy.

1. Evan and his magnifying glass with bugs cake.

2. Reading his cards.

3. "Whoa! Is this what I think it is!?!"

4. Silly brothers.

Thunder on the Lakeshore

On Saturday June 6th we headed east to Manitowoc for the annual airshow. Compared to Airventure in Oshkosh it's much smaller but in many ways that was very nice. We were close, as in reach-out-and-touch-the-airplanes-close during the airshow. It was also possible to see everything and it only cost $5/person. We had a great afternoon. Here is a peak at our day. (Watch for Teresa Stokes. Lydia has decided she's going to pursue her career "when she's a grown-up.")

Cousin Surprise

Last Friday evening my sister and nephews come for a visit. Our three kids had no idea they were coming until they walked in the house. Oh, what fun! Surprise! Five kids between the age of 4 and 8 means noise, laughter, movement, and joy. Here's a silly picture of the five at the splash pad at the park near our house. Makes you wish you were between 4 and 8 again doesn't it?

Thanks for coming Cora and boys! See you again soon.

Aunts

The last weekend in May Joanna came for a visit. For a number of reasons including a graduation and a wedding she stayed for nearly a week. These last few years she's been our most frequent house guest and a lot of fun to have around. She's always up for a spontaneous trip to a park, playground, or Sonic and just goes with the flow of our ever busy house.

Overlapping with Joanna's visit was a visit from Andrea. Andrea hasn't been a frequent visitor since she's been living in South America (first Paraguay and then Argentina) for the last three years. It was wonderful to get to spend some time with her. While Nathan and Andrea discussed world economies the kids loved getting to see the aunt who had been living on the bottom of the globe.

We're looking forward to a visit with both Joanna and Andrea and most (or all??) of the Smiths later in the month.

CELEBRATE!

Speaking of last days of school, Nathan finished school for the year on May 19th (Only one more part time year left!). More excitingly the following week after three written test, an oral test, and two and a half days of practical skills tests, Nathan is a certified Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic (A&P). Earlier in May he'd been offered a job working as one for a local company here in Oshkosh and he started June 1st. Two years of hard work as a full time student and full time employee putting in near 80 hour weeks had paid off. On the evening of the day he passed everything he and I went out to dinner to celebrate. Here's a shot of happy us before we left for our date. Thirteen years ago when I fell in love this man I had no idea this was where the road would bring us but I'm so glad we've gotten to take the road together. I'm so proud of my husband! He is amazing.

Last Day

While there was no graduation service for preschool or first grade Evan and Lydia finished school too. As mentioned earlier the last two weeks were full of field trip and also "special" days. Lydia's last day was a fun-in-the-sun day with activities outside. Here is a shot of the happy girl. Sometime the end of April she actually started to really like preschool. She recently asked when she gets to be in Mrs. Fred's class. When I told her she has to go to four year old preschool next year she informed me she knows all about preschool and wants to be in kindergarten instead. Have I mentioned lately that I love this girl? I do.

Desk Bells

One of the things Mrs.Fred enjoys doing with each K class is getting the kids into music. They sing but more than that she introduces instruments. Both this year with Hans' class and last year with Evan's the kids have loved boomwackers which are plastic tubes that make an awesome sound when thunked on the kids heads. Last year the kids also played mini hand bells. This year it was desk bells. Desk bells remind me of the standard librarians bell but with different tones. The kids love that together they can play real songs. Here Hans' class preforms Jesus Loves Me. Pretty cool!

Another One

Just because Hans is cute here is another shot from graduation day. A happy Hans in the backyard. We love you buddy!

Hans' Graduation

On Sunday, May 23, Hans graduated from kindergarten. His teacher, Mrs. Frederickson, pours her heart into her students turning preschoolers into first graders. It has been a joy to watch Hans grow in her class. For graduation she has the kids demonstrate several of the things they learned throughout the year. They sang several songs, read aloud to us, and played desk bells. Then they each received their diploma from Principal Hennig. Hans is eager and ready for first grade!

1. Hans ready to graduate.

2. Receiving the official diploma.

3. Hans and Mrs. Fred.

4. Hans and his fellow graduates.

May

May was a whirlwind. A whirlwind that caught us without our camera or too busy enjoying life to remember to use it. Here are a few photo-less highlights:

Joanna came for a quick visit.

The kids sang for the joint Ascension service at Grace here in Oshkosh. It was a neat service with all the WELS K-8 students singing together.

Hans and Lydia participated in the PreK/K mini track meet.

My parents visited for a weekend of Grandparent fun.

We had the Sunday school picnic to make the end of Sunday School for this year.

Our dear friend Denise visited and while she was here we took the kids to the Shrine Circus! What a hoot to watch the kids amazement at the acrobats, jugglers, animal stunts, and wonders of the circus.

The last two weeks of school found the three kids taking SIX field trips!

We got some extend Smith family time at cousin Becca's graduation party.

Throw in a few meetings, continuing t-ball, helping make three teacher appreciation gifts, and the usual stuff and it was one busy month. Now school is out and our pace has slowed a little. It's nice to breathe again. 

T-Ball 2010

Yesterday the boys began their t-ball season. From now until the end of July we'll be spending Sunday evenings watching the boys play. This year their ages work out that they can be on the same team which makes it a family night. It'll be fun to watch as they learn and improve throughout the season. Last night they were most excited to hit and run the bases. Evan did catch a pop fly which brought a big smile to his face.
1. The team.
2. Hans' first position to play was catcher.
3. Evan up at bat.
4. Hans in his ready position.

7 under 7

Friday evening two friends from college, Bekah and Kari, along with Bekah's four kids came up for supper and the evening. It was supposed to be a picnic with some time at a park/playground and roasting hot dogs over the fire pit but the weather didn't cooperate. Instead the kids entertained each other here, we grilled in the rain, it was a little noisy, and we all laughed a lot. Pickle! It's funny how you can throw a bunch of kids together and they instantly become friends. It makes it easier for the adults to relax and enjoy the their time together visiting. Thanks for coming up to see us. We can't wait to do it again.

Mosquito Hill Revisited

*Actual Date:May 2* Last Sunday we headed back up to Mosquito Hill. The day was just as sunny as our first visit but much warmer. We didn't play by the ponds and swamps this trip but headed up to the top of the "hill" in search of a geocache and a view. Evan was on the hunt for butterflies and bugs as well. We managed to find everything we were looking for and a few things we weren't. Evan found countless butterflies and bugs, we found our geocache, and the park lived up to it's name, we found mosquitoes, lots and lots of huge mosquitoes. I'm thinking our next visit might have to be after the fall frost.

1. Our three adventurous kids.

2. A spring woodland flower.

3. A perching bluebird.

Spring in the Backyard

Our crab apple trees were in full bloom last week making the whole yard seem brighter with their white blossoms. Also blooming are the "weed flowers" in the woods behind our yard. This means countless bouquets of flowers from blooming children who are really trying to make their mommy happy. That brightens my day even more.

Spring Program

*Actual Date:April 23* This year for the spring program the preschool classes opened with a performance of silly nursery rhymes. Lydia's class recited a mixed up version of Hickory dickory dock (picture #1).

For the main event the parents were challenged with Are You Smarter Than a Martin Luther Eagle. Five parents volunteers for each class and had to answer some tough questions. The kids let the parents know if the answers provided were correct or not. The first and second grade classes did so by cheering for correct answers (picture #2-note Evan on the far left of the photo). Nathan was one of the volunteer parents for Evan's class although he might not like to admit their score of 3 correct and 2 wrong (picture #3).

The kindergartners also performed by providing the commercials between classes. The commercials were taped earlier in the week on shown on the "big screen". The kids got a kick out of watching themselves. My favorite of the commercials was one where the kindergartners tried to teach the big kids how to dress for snowy weather with a song titled, "Gloves, mittens, snow pants, boots" set to the tune of "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes." Unfortunately the commercials didn't photograph well.

After the performance Kevin and Mary, who had come over to watch with us, treated us to some custard. They stayed until late afternoon the next day warming up our rainy Saturday.

Mosquito Hill

After viewing the sturgeon we headed to Mosquito Hill Nature Center to do some exploring. It wasn't the warmest spring day but it was sunny and we all had the need to spend some time outdoors. The nature center was closed but we hiked some of the trails around the ponds and swampy areas. The kids loved listening to Nathan identify birds that have returned with spring. We saw a cardinal, a warbler, chickadees, a kinglet, and a pair of mallard ducks. They also got their hands wet as they dipped pond water watching the water bugs and mosquito larvae squiggle around in it. We enjoyed our visit enough that we'll certainly visit again.

Sturgeon Spawning

*Actual Date: April 17th* On a sunny Saturday we headed up to the Wolf River about 45 minutes north of here to check out the sturgeon spawning. Until moving to WI I wasn't familiar with sturgeon. I'd heard of them and knew they were big fish but that's about all. Here sturgeon are a big deal. Really, this year a record breaking 212 pound sturgeon was caught! Lake Winnebago and it's waterways are one of the only places in the country where sturgeon spearing takes place each February. It's a crazy kind of ice fishing where large holes are cut in the ice, fish are speared with multiple spears, and then landed by several fishermen with large nets. Each spring the fish travel up stream to spawn in the shallows of several rivers. While spawning they are very easy to spot and it's popular for small crowds to watch. This year we joined in with the locals. It was interesting to watch and we even chatted with the Game Fish & Park warden that was present. (GF&P along with volunteers watch so that poachers don't take advantage of the spawning fish and illegally take a fish.)