It's Monday…and things are moving verrrrry slowly at The Rice Ranch. I have one kid down with the yucky virus that has been sweeping through our household, and two kids on the mend. We have weekend laundry to catch up on... wait, who am I kidding- we never get our laundry all the way caught up. Okay, I have a lifetime of laundry to attend to…and five kids to homeschool (Tyler just left for work.)
So all of that to say - this will be a hodgepodge post. Meaning I'm throwing pictures up… well, not throwing them up, but throwing them up onto the blog …and adding some quick thoughts to go with them.
All of this is designed to bring a smile to your face, and alleviate any guilt I have about not blogging much lately. (Which is silly- I mean, nobody makes me feel guilty for that…but I still suffer from blogger-guilt if I leave this place unattended for awhile. Just ignore this little confession here, if you don't know what I'm talking about.)
Ahem. Where was I ?
Oh yes, a smile to your face …
…Lily was in a dance competition on Instagram. We submitted five 15 second videos of her dancing over the course of one week…and she won. The prizes have just started arriving - various items from the sweetest IG shops - and it's like Christmas every day here. The gorgeous mustard yellow cowl above was knit by @sunshinejlr on Instagram. Kenzie had a cowl that she bought from Target, and she decided to be Lily's twin for church yesterday - matching top-knots were the cherry on the proverbial ice cream, if you will. Or is that sugar on top ? Cherry on top…sugar on top of the cherry…. okay, clearly I have no idea how the saying goes. But they were DARN CUTE is what I'm trying to say.
More smile material….
… this is a family favorite. I got the recipe a few years ago from Heidi Darwish's blog, and we have had it approximately 547 times since then. My kids even prefer it over pepperoni, no joke. Since posting about this on Instagram, I have been informed that pizza stones take the level of pizza perfection up a few notches, but I have a secret phobia: scratchy feeling pizza stones. I cannot handle the feel of a pizza stone in my hands. It feels like nails on a chalkboard to me, and it give me the willies. This takes all the fun out of pizza making for me. Which is normally almost a spiritual experience- the stretching of the dough, and the smell of fresh basil, the sense of accomplishment as I layer fresh roma tomatoes and basil and mozzarella into a perfectly symmetrical pattern on my garlic and olive oil slathered dough. It's heavenly. So why would I want to ruin that experience with a scratchy feeling pizza stone ?
(Please don't tell my husband - I'm sure he paid good money for the aforementioned stone.)
Anyhooot… if you want to use a scratchy feeling pizza stone, I promise not to hold it against you next time I see you. But as for me and my house- we shall use a nonstick pizza pan.
World without end, amen.
See that beautiful vintage quilt right there ? The one with the delicious slobbery baby sleeping contentedly on it ? It was my great (I think) grandmother Kopp's.
She may be rolling over in her grave right now, knowing I am placing my slobbery babies to sleep on it.
But listen- vintage quilts were made to be enjoyed.
Trust me on this.
I was actually given this quilt by my aunt, with the instructions to never use it. I was supposed to keep this quilt carefully stored in my hope chest, so that it is preserved for future generations. Only…I just want to enjoy it myself. And if future generations keep storing it carefully in hope chests, only to be preserved for their future children and grandchildren - I mean, where does it end? Nobody will get to enjoy the loveliness of this heirloom quilt if we all just keep storing it, right ? And besides, my aunt has passed on into eternity, and so has my grandma, so what they don't know won't hurt them, right ?
(Does anyone else do this with their vintage heirloom quilts?? Obviously I have a little quilt-guilt mixed in with my blogger-guilt today. Oh dear, and my pizza-stone-guilt. Yikes.)
Two more items to bring a smile to your face today…
Seriously ?? I dare you not to smile after looking at that picture.
And last, but not least… Sunday morning giggles. Oh gosh.
Happy Monday !!
Now go take on the day.
So all of that to say - this will be a hodgepodge post. Meaning I'm throwing pictures up… well, not throwing them up, but throwing them up onto the blog …and adding some quick thoughts to go with them.
All of this is designed to bring a smile to your face, and alleviate any guilt I have about not blogging much lately. (Which is silly- I mean, nobody makes me feel guilty for that…but I still suffer from blogger-guilt if I leave this place unattended for awhile. Just ignore this little confession here, if you don't know what I'm talking about.)
Ahem. Where was I ?
Oh yes, a smile to your face …
…Lily was in a dance competition on Instagram. We submitted five 15 second videos of her dancing over the course of one week…and she won. The prizes have just started arriving - various items from the sweetest IG shops - and it's like Christmas every day here. The gorgeous mustard yellow cowl above was knit by @sunshinejlr on Instagram. Kenzie had a cowl that she bought from Target, and she decided to be Lily's twin for church yesterday - matching top-knots were the cherry on the proverbial ice cream, if you will. Or is that sugar on top ? Cherry on top…sugar on top of the cherry…. okay, clearly I have no idea how the saying goes. But they were DARN CUTE is what I'm trying to say.
More smile material….
(Please don't tell my husband - I'm sure he paid good money for the aforementioned stone.)
Anyhooot… if you want to use a scratchy feeling pizza stone, I promise not to hold it against you next time I see you. But as for me and my house- we shall use a nonstick pizza pan.
World without end, amen.
See that beautiful vintage quilt right there ? The one with the delicious slobbery baby sleeping contentedly on it ? It was my great (I think) grandmother Kopp's.
She may be rolling over in her grave right now, knowing I am placing my slobbery babies to sleep on it.
But listen- vintage quilts were made to be enjoyed.
Trust me on this.
I was actually given this quilt by my aunt, with the instructions to never use it. I was supposed to keep this quilt carefully stored in my hope chest, so that it is preserved for future generations. Only…I just want to enjoy it myself. And if future generations keep storing it carefully in hope chests, only to be preserved for their future children and grandchildren - I mean, where does it end? Nobody will get to enjoy the loveliness of this heirloom quilt if we all just keep storing it, right ? And besides, my aunt has passed on into eternity, and so has my grandma, so what they don't know won't hurt them, right ?
(Does anyone else do this with their vintage heirloom quilts?? Obviously I have a little quilt-guilt mixed in with my blogger-guilt today. Oh dear, and my pizza-stone-guilt. Yikes.)
Two more items to bring a smile to your face today…
Seriously ?? I dare you not to smile after looking at that picture.
And last, but not least… Sunday morning giggles. Oh gosh.
Happy Monday !!
Now go take on the day.
