New England's Spring Bounty

New England's spring bounty...maple syrup.
And boy did we enjoy the bounty.


But then we found the maple creek.

And we enjoyed that too.

Interesting Maple Facts:

It takes 30 gallons of sap to distill down to one gallon of syrup

Sugar maples are only found within 500 miles of the Great Lakes

Sap is harvested in the spring when the days are warm and nights are below freezing. The sap flows up the tree during the day and down at night as to not freeze in the cells of the tree and burst them.

The higher the sugar content of the tree the lighter the grade. Most sap comes out at 2% sugar and is then distilled to syrup which is 67% sugar. I like grade "C".

Update

The water in our basement is gone. The kids had fun splashing in the puddles while we squiggied. I mostly just cursed the basement while I was working, but they were enjoying it (sorry about the blurry picture, I have got to get the flash working).

We started our garden. What yummy dirt, mmmmm.....

And thanks to M & D C. for the hats and gloves.
We love them.

Cheese Grater History Lesson

When we first got married, we had a cheap cheese grater from Walmart that looked like this:

This was the type of grater I was accustomed to from my growing up years. It worked all fine and dandy until the handle broke off. So we replaced it with the kind of grater Christian was accustomed to from his growing up years. Our second grater looked something like this:

Christian swore this grater would be the last grater we purchased because his parents still use the one they bought 7863489720923 yrs ago. So I splurged a little on this grater and bought it from Target.

Well, it didn't last long at all. Plus, I really don't like this type of grater because I find if much more difficult to clean (no offense...especially to my inlaws who could carbon date their grater).

So we really splurged on our current grater. Check out this bad boy from Williams & Sonoma

I'm pretty sure it is the only thing I own from that store, but I love it. It is sharp and strong. I think it will last through the ages. Plus, it has grated of more of my own skin than all the other graters I've ever used combined.

I'm afraid to buy a really good knife set.

My Limited Wardrobe

I broke down and pulled out my maternity clothes from the attic today. I'm only 17 weeks. Sad. But this is my third pregnancy and comfort trumps pride. Besides, I have big babies...like 10lbs-ers.

3.14.10

Today is pi day...and pie day. Are you digging back in your brain to your high school geometry class?

These are the things I enjoyed about pi day:

1. Eating warm apple pie on a cold rainy day
2. Listening to James say "shirt" and "fork". He is not so good at pronouncing the letter "r"
3. Being together all day

These are the things I did not enjoy about pi day:

1. Waking up one hour earlier (Why do we do this?)
2. Having our basement flood
3. Having our roof leak

Overall it was a pretty good day.

Boston Outing In Pictures

Spring is finally upon us. On Saturday we took the kids into Boston along with some friends. Christian took 1,320 pictures along the way and put them together in a movie.

One of My Current Projects

I found these two beauties when I was out for a run. They were on the side of the road patiently waiting for the garbage truck to haul them away. Methought I would reupholster the chairs and end up with two relatively nice chairs for cheap (with some added effort that is).

Well, this is a PROJECT. I have never done this before, but just getting the current upholstery off has been agonizing. I finally resorted to ripping. Now I don't know if I'll ever be able to reconstruct this. Maybe some words of encouragement? Maybe some tips from others who have mastered this form of handy work before? Or maybe someone should just tell me to put the chairs back out on the curb? I found some fun, funky material today, but I didn't buy it. I just don't know.

Yours Truly

It's Been Gorgeous

These past couple of days have given me a taste of spring and left me wanting more. Maybe I'm vitamin D deficient because I am craving sunlight. The desire for fresh air and sunlight is insatiable even after 5 days of outdoor living. So, here's what we've been up to:

Park hoping

Picnics

Exploring

Bike rides

Yum to all those things...especially the strawberries 'n cream.

GQ: Here He Comes

I still can't stop from laughing when I see these pictures. I love the whole package...pastey white skin, rosey cheeks, snot dripping from nose to mouth, and goggles that give me retarded tingles. He wouldn't take them off. There were no cute girls at the pool today and checking things out under the water is way more important anyways.

More Mushrooms Please

Daniel thinks marshmallows are called mushrooms. He sounds so healthy when he says

"Mom! I want more mushrooms."