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Cranberry Scones/a few funny quotes

On this beautiful almost spring Tuesday I would like to share a recipe for scones. My amazing sister, Anna Kvamme, is the source of this delicious recipe; she is an amazing cook, and has been making these scones since she was maybe 9 or 10. They are super easy to make, they're probably a cheating recipe, because there's no yeast and rising time for them, just mix it up and make a circle, cut them in wedges or circles and bake them! My kids were able to help me easily, too! Noah helped me stir the dough, and Raegan provided the entertainment. ;) Once they were baked, we ate them pretty quickly, especially when we made the yummy clotted cream to go with them!

Cranberry Scones and Clotted Cream

3 cups white flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 Cop butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup cranberries, cut in half (or craisins!)

1 cup buttermilk

Mix flour, baking powder, and baking soda together. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add butter and sugar to flour mixture and mix well. Add cranberries and buttermilk. (note: if you don't have buttermilk or sour milk, take a little less than 1 cup of regular milk and add a little lemon juice to it to make it curdle). Turn dough onto a floured surface and pat into a 3/4 inch thick circle. Cut into circles or wedges. Bake at 400 degrees F for 14-16 minutes.

Clotted Cream

4-oz. cream cheese

2 Tablespoons honey

1 tsp. vanilla

Blend cream cheese, honey and vanilla. Whip. Serve with scones. Enjoy!!!

I have a notebook called "Famous Raegan-isms," dedicated solely to the purpose of recording things that my daughter, Raegan, says. I thought today I would share a few, just in case you need a good laugh. :)

Age 2.5 ~ "um, don't really say that" (in response to something she didn't approve of)

~ While she was supposed to be taking a nap, she came downstairs and said: "Well, I was just kinda wanderin' around this place"

~ While riding in the stroller with 3 month old Noah: "Mama, I'm just givin' Noah some little kisses. Oh, he's so cute!!"

~ "Mama, am I married?"

~ "Mom, I'm in love. I'm in love with Daddy. And I'm in love with you too."

Rae: "Can we go for a rainwalk, Mom?"

Mom: "Sure we can, you can wear your sandals b/c they won't get soggy like shoes would..."

Rae: "Mom, we won't get soggy 'cuz we're not eating cereal!!"
(above is the picture of the rainwalk that spring, when she was 2.5) :) Oh memories!

Live in the Moment

Ok, so I'm reading a book that my mom gave me. She always gives me just the book I need, just at the right time. She has a very keen motherly intuition. The book is entitled A Mother's Book of Secrets, by Linda Eyre and her daughter, Shawni Eyre Pothier. This book is so inspiring, encouraging, and motivating. In addition to the great advice and awesome ideas, I'm not gonna lie, I LOVE the photography featured in this book. One chapter in this book is entitled "Moments," which happens to be the inspiration for my blog. So here is a paragraph from this chapter, I hope it will be encouraging to all of you!

"...A few years from now, I'll be roaming the mall, and all my kids will be in school. Yes, it will be nice. It'll seem so free and strange in a good way...there's no doubt, as I'm wandering the mall all fancy-free, that I'll run into my double self...she'll be wrestling with her toddlers with a frustrated look on her face, assuring them that they're almost done with the errands of the day. And oh, will I ever wish I could go back, at least for a little while, and slow life down while I snuggle those kids up and kiss their chubby cheeks. I'll try to envision them as their little selves, climbing on me, all whiney and needy, and I'll probably tear up a little just like I am right now because I'll miss those little people. I know the bigger form of my little people will be wonderful. I can't wait to "meet" them and grow with them. But for now, how grateful I am that I can recognize how much I need to cherish each moment- snotty noses, messy faces, dramatics, and all that craziness in one great big package with a bow. Because when I blink they'll be all grown up. But those moments that I cherished will still be there..."

Blessings to all of you!

Sweet Moments, and a little mayhem from me...

So yesterday was one of those days that I realized we would be home all day, again, for the sixth day in a row, and we will still be home all day for the next few days, and we were going to do something fun if it killed us. So I had the great idea that we should have an art gallery. I crafted an "easel" by putting a table leaf across two chairs, covered them with towels to avoid paint spills, and walla! A perfect spot for my little artist to do her thing. My lovely 4 year old created about 6 paintings, and a few colored works of art, and my almost 2 year old adorable son did one page with two crayon colors on it, and then he decided what he really wanted to do was try to drink the cup of paint rinse water that Raegan was using... so it was snack time for him instead of art time. ;) After the paint dried, we hung up the works of art on the livingroom wall to form an "art gallery" so Raegan could give Dad an official tour of the gallery when he got home from work. So fun. Of course we took a ton of pictures, to remember this sweet moment.

Now while Raegan was working so hard on her pictures, I put on some fun music for Noah and I to dance to, and we had a blast. He let me hold him like a baby and dance around the kitchen and sing Ella Fitzgerald to him, and he hung on every note. One of those moments that you want to tuck away in your memory and never forget. :) Then "Butterfly Kisses" came on, and Raegan wanted to dance with me to the song. Now this song always gets me choked up, but this time, by the end of the song, after Noah had insisted he wanted to dance with us and Raegan stomped off because she only wanted to dance with me, I was on the brink of SOBS. All out SOBS because I cannot bring myself to even think about sending Raegan to kindergarten, much less realize the fact that someday she is going to get married to some cutie guy and never come home again.

I think that the more I stash away all these sweet memories, the more I become attached to my sweet kids. And then I'll have to let them go. But that's what I signed up for. That's what we all sign up for when we become moms. ok I'm almost crying again. It's probably the pregger hormones. My sweet husband and I decided it would be a good idea to add to the mayhem (AND sweet moments, of course!) and have another one. :) We are so excited!!!! But of course, life is just going to get crazier, and we have a lot of unknowns in our life right now, and let's be honest that's a little scary for me, since I like to have things all planned out. But God is in control. At least someone has a plan here!

So it's Friday now, I hope everyone enjoys this beautiful first day of the weekend!!!

Welcome to my blog! :)

Hello!
I am so excited to start this blog! My lovely friend Steph, who is my first follower, helped me start out, and I am so thankful!! I'm excited to get to know many more bloggers out there, and to hear about your lives and see cute pictures, and probably learn a lot from each one of you. I'm also excited to share the sweet moments of our family's life (which sometimes includes moments of mayhem!) through writing! Thanks for checking out my new blog and I hope you enjoy following it!
Sonja