St. Euphrosynos

Trader Joe's caramel is SO good. He licked the caramel sauce off, only ate a few apples slices.  Yesterday was St. Euphrosynos day.  You can read his life here.

The homecoming parade...Olivia held the banner.  Hannah did it last year!

Angelica was baptised! 

My sister and her husband had a cookout at their house after.  I had cider in these cute cups they found.

My 13 year old niece made this beautiful raspberry & chocolate cake for after the baptism.

I made small cookies.  I used dried powered beets to make the icing pink.

Later that day, my girls went to the homecoming dance.

I love all their smiles!

Festivities

New kitty puzzle for his 3rd birthday!

Pretty purple, below! Friends for 25 years!! Today is her 72nd birthday...her daughter is in town to celebrate.

My niece is past 40 days old and will be baptized this coming weekend.

The Russian fest was last Saturday. 

So hot!  It was fun for these little boys, because of this inflatable house!  They got sweaty.

I made a bunch of cookies to sell.  $2 each.

I baked this gluten-free cake for Paul's birthday.  We put a mini scoop truck & chocolate rocks on top!

On his actual birthday, we went to the Red Balloon cafe to play!

And gave him this Bruder crane toy truck!  Then, cupcakes with more chocolate rocks after dinner.

One of his favorite books right now is Green Eggs & Ham.

Spinach triangles

My dad's 68th birthday would have been this past Sunday September 9th.  It's been 3 years plus a few months since his repose.  We made "spanikopita," or spinach triangles, which he loved, to share at the meal after Liturgy:
https://www.thespruceeats.com/spinach-pie-with-feta-spanakopita-1706022
Although this recipe isn't exactly what I did, it is similar...I simplified it.

I bought a package of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry and cut the 2 "sheets" into a total of 18 squares.

I put a dallop of the spinach, onion, egg, feta in the center and folded it over pinching the seams.  I brushed egg on top.

 Baked and looking beautifully browned:

We'll make them again soon.

Back to the books...

While our girls headed back to school this past Tuesday, I have been back to the books, too. The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse by Alexander McCall Smith, Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith (because I enjoyed her book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn so much),and Educated by Tara Westover.  I recommend all of them!

My newest niece, Angelica, is now a month old.  Her big sister, Juliana, is holding her, she can now change earrings, after getting them pierced last month.

I found a Monarch caterpillar in our yard it has been there for 2 days and I'm hoping to see it grow and develop into a butterfly!

What books do you recommend?