a life with caramel.

A life with caramel is...well, just SO much better. This is especially true if it's fall, and you're breaking out the tall leather boots, soft scarves, cable knit sweaters, and watching the leaves turn from green to yellow and orange and bright burgundy reds. This autumn time of year has quickly become one of my all-time favorites. Apples are crisp for picking, football is on in the background, hot cider is bubbling away, and woodland animals are scrounging up food for their winter nests. The kids have loved watching all of the bunnies and squirrels run around in the backyard.

Caramel is the sweet buttery topping to what is already one great moment in the seasons. And, this year is the first time I've actually made my own! Much to my surprise, it was super simple, much less sticky than anticipated, and hopefully a new-found Finch family autumn baking tradition.

A friend sent me this recipe for THE most delicious Fleu de Sel caramels. They are lightly salted, and a true melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness. These are definitely on the softer-side of caramels that I've eaten, so a tip (if you plan on whipping these up) is to make sure to follow the recipe instructions very closely. I actually doubled the recipe and used a high-lipped baking sheet for molding instead of a smaller 8x8 pan. I would advise using a thicker coat of butter to line the wax sheet as well. This will make removing the caramel squares much easier!

I also attempted these two times, since the first batch was a little too soft for cutting. TIP: make sure you stir the mixed caramel until it reaches their advised 248 degree mark. I'm new to the whole candy-making area of baking, so this was a lesson for me. I also set them in the fridge for a few minutes to help them harden. Once cooled, I used a greased pizza roller to cut up 1" squares and individually wrapped each in wax paper. (This was the most time-consuming part.) I'm thinking these might also make great boxed up Christmas gifts for friends + neighbors.

Here are some step-by-step pics of my own caramel making adventures. Happy caramel-ing!

memories in color.

Each year I organize an online photo book for each child as a sort of year-in-review gallery of memories. I order 2 sets of each book - one for the kids baby box and one for me. My hope is that eventually each child will have a box set of 18 books that highlight each year of their own life. I have visions of finding the perfectly-sized leather bound box to house each of these finished volumes. I use MyPublisher, which has been super easy, and I just love the quality. Your account also saves all of your projects, so you can re-order books at any time (even years later) should pages rip or such.

While it has turned into a big undertaking, I hope that the finished collections will speak volumes about the kind of childhood they had.

Every once in a while, the kids love to take out their books and will spend a whole hour chatting to each other about fun holidays and exciting birthday parties and memorable vacations. I love listening to them reminisce in their baby voices, and in their child-like recollection of memories:

"Look! Christian. Here you are on your yellow pony. Remember his name was Starbucks?"

"Oh-- Avery. Look! Here you are when you were so nice to me and we were jumping into the pool so many times like until it was dark in the middle of the night. But, remember - I didn't get scared?"

Memories make up a life spent together - hopefully with as many good times as possible. I find myself overly concerned with capturing all of these in a very special place. They define our family and remind us all of our oh-so-many blessings.

touche.

I'm in Avery's room and see her nightstand drawer overflowing with crap:

"Avery, you need to clean this out and organize all of your jewelry and stickers and headbands and markers or you won't get to have any more nice things like these."

"But mom - that's my junk drawer just like yours in the kitchen."

the finch gentlemen.

The boys in our house sure know how to make the lady birds feel special.

Mom is 8 months pregnant, ridiculously uncomfortable, coming down with the flu, and successfully pulled off getting both kids to their separate schools today for the first time. Pick-ups at separate times.  Lunches made. Special first day of preschool happy meal. 4 loads of laundry. And, pre-vacation packing.

Avery is also coming down with the flu. When I picked her up from school, she ran to me and immediately started crying and said she didn't feel well. I felt horrible. She came home and has been lying on the couch ever since. 

Mr. Finch took Christian for a walk up to the grocery store and returned with these beautiful + sunny + joyful flowers. Christian said, "Here mama. These are for the girls. I love you." Oh jeez - my heart. 

They then ran errands and came home with medicine syrups and caplets, cough drops, Pedialyte, chicken noodle soup for kids, and hot tom yum thai soup for mom/dad. Now, it's time for hot baths and cozy blankets.

Finch gentlemen - to the rescue. I love them over the rainbow.

fandom.

Fandom. You either have it or you don’t. And, if you have it – it can be deadly; it can be magic. Tricky, tricky. It effects your entire weekend’s schedule of events. A “W” or “L” will determine your mood/state-of-mind/demeanor for the entire week. Fandom can predict your wardrobe colors, and your living room décor. It can turn your house into one that flies flags. It can make you new friends, or lose others.

There’s nothing like football season to bring back fandom to an extreme. And, our house definitely has the bug. While we live in the Emerald City – home to the Seahawk craze, our football hearts will forever beat in South Bend. It’s all about the blue and gold, the leprechaun, a Catholic-treasured tradition, the Golden Dome, and a home to Mr. Finch and me at a much younger time in our lives. In our house - it’s the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. All. The. Way.

Our poor kids – they never even had a choice. They were born and bred to cheer for the “good guys”. Here are a few of my favorite ND fandom moments from throughout the years. 

It’s Saturday. Go IRISH!

where's the love?

What's in a present? Well, whatever it is, you can bet it will be inside some beautiful wrapping. I like to tell Mr. Finch that the love in most things is in the effort it took to make it special...it's in the details. I think that with the hustle and bustle of everyday life, kids, school, commitments and all - it's very easy to run around in circles, sometimes so fast that we forget to remember what's important.

Is it the 'just throwing a present into a gift bag' that you need to do? Did you take the time to think about what the person would truly like to get, and spend a few extra minutes personalizing it just for them? Is the gift truly a gift made out of love?

Is it the 'physically putting you kid into bed' that you need to do? Did you take the time to ask them how their day was, sing them a song or read them a short book? Did they feel like you were in such a rush to just get them to bed, or did they feel the love that you have for them?

Is it the 'putting your kid in every extracurricular they can stand' just to say you did it? Are you/they involved in too many activities at once that you've lost the quality in all?

The details can be tricky, and I for one am the first to admit that it's not always easy to get it right. I just try to remember that quality will always satisfy me more than quantity. And, the phrase works for SO many situations. Give it a shot!

Love. It's in the details. 

house of Finch

House Stark. House Targaryen. House Lannister. Only true Game of Thrones fans have always secretly wanted their own Noble house family crest as much as I have. And, after some meticulous designing, I am excited to finally have one! Introducing House of Finch.

Lord Jonathan reigns from California, land of the bear, protector from the West. Lady Hannah reigns from Alaska, land of the moose, and the Last Frontier. Together, they rule over the Emerald empire in the land of Washington, home to a charm of Finches. Symbol of the feather flies high on their flag, and the Nest houses their warriors. They are coined by their blue eyes and wings of flight. This is house of Finch.

a christmas look for less

I'm always on the hunt for the look for less! And, while I've always thought that adding names or monograms to items helps to complete the 'special factor' to any holiday or celebration - purchasing said items usually runs a pretty price. Yes, I'm aware that Christmas isn't for 3 more months. It's just how I roll.

Here is my latest copy-cat find for MUCH less. On the left are Potterybarn Kids' absolutely adorable personalized Santa sacks ($79). To the right are very similar personalized Santa sacks I found on DaintyDivaBows.Etsy.Com ($15.99). Granted, these ones are smaller in size, use fabric glitter ironed-on letters (as opposed to silkscreen'd on), and have a thick yarn string instead of silky bow, but I have found that the quality is fantastic, and they are plllllenty big for lots of toys for little tots. Below are the ones the I ordered for Avery, Christian and Baby 3. Happy personalized holiday planning!

avery goes to kindergarten.

Cannot believe we're here already. I'm so proud of this little girl. I held it together this morning, for which I'm overly proud of considering the 8-month pregnancy hormones. It's funny how independent and brave this little girl is - annoyed that mom & dad want to take pictures and give hugs + kisses goodbye. The audacity.

The thing is, I know SHE is ready....probably has been for a good year. And, I'm proud of this. It means we've prepared her well. We've been so busy getting ready for baby 3 to arrive, gathering school supplies, buying new school clothes, organizing parent schedules, and grocery shopping for school lunches, that the actual first day crept up on us. 

Here's to the start of every school day for the next 13 years! Christian will surely miss his favorite partner in crime. 

Left without the gush of first-born-emotional-wreck-mama-heart today? Click here for a great article in the Huffington Post. I'm glad I read this about a week ago, had a really good cry, and saved Avery much public embarrassment. Ha!