Gigi's Blog » Tales of the Mortician's Wife

Everybody should believe in something.
I believe I’ll have another coffee.
~Author Unknown

Okay, so I hear all these friends of mine ranting and raving about the delicious coffee from Starbucks, the local coffee shop or Second Cup … pumpkin latte especially … sounding so tempting and amazingly delicious. A little bit of Heaven in your mug. Well, quite honestly, I’m not ready to pay $4 per cup of coffee just to satisfy my cravings. So why not make it at home?
Besides, I can’t always leave the house on a whim or if I  *am* out, I usually don’t have the right amount of change with me … therefore, a homemade delicious treat is a must.

Last year, I blogged about the scrumptious  Candy Cane and vanilla syrup …

This season, it’s the Perfectly Pumpkin Syrup. Oh yes it is.

This lovely syrup will help you make a scrumptious cup of your favorite coffee at home …
and you will feel guilt-free drinking this specialty treat at home because you will be saving lots of money!

Here’s how to make the syrup. It’s ridiculously easy. I mean, TOTALLY easy. You could almost do it blindfolded.

All you need is sugar, water and canned pumpkin. SIMPLE.

In a saucepan, bring one cup of water and one cup of sugar to a low simmer. Don’t boil it.  Add in 1.5 tablespoons of canned pumpkin.
Stir until most is dissolved (10 minutes or so).
Some recipes call for pumpkin spice – you can add a dash or two right now. The more spice, the more pumpkiney.
Once a bit cool, strain through a small strainer (or cheesecloth) and pour in a jar.
Store in the fridge and it will last as long as you can hold out!

{I promise you, though, you will be making yourself and all your friends a beautiful latte every time they come over for a visit so it won’t last long!}

To make a latte, if you can, steam half a cup of milk and add it to your 1/4 cup of coffee.
If you cannot steam milk at home, it doesn’t really matter. You can still make this into an amazing treat … just add the syrup to your coffee
(about two teaspoons or more – depending on how sweet you like it) and …. the best part ….. Mmmmmm ……top with whipped cream and caramel sauce.

Seriously. Oh so yummmmmmy!

And if you are really wanting to be creative, you can make your own caramel sauce like the one picture above. It is also really, REALLY simple. Here’s the recipe.

Now, go invite a friend over for this special treat and ENJOY!

Homeschooling. Is that a word that scares you? It sure did scare me when I thought of it – I was pregnant with #4 and my eldest daughter was just about to start Grade 1 when she turned to me one morning and said, “Well, can you homeschool me?”

And off we started on our ‘home education’ adventure …. and now we are now officially done our second week of our second year of homeschooling as a family. Still newbies, but it’s pretty cool to feel a bit more at ease with the schedule that we’ve laid out … and the curriculum and the whole lifestyle of a homeschooler.

No, we’re not crazy (and by we, I mean, me since I’m kinda the one running the ship here) … and yes, my kids are socialized  … my children are learning … and we are having a blast doing it …

This week, Abby set up the fish and ant Mega-Pavilion ….

where ants and fish live together … somehow …

… connected with tunnels and tubes and well, okay, honestly, I don’t know how it works, but Abby does. He set up it and explained it to the girls. He’s our Science Guy.

Now because the Mega Island could only have one fish, we thought it would be interesting and fun for the girls to have a fish in their two rooms …

.. they were excited, they named their fish, they wrote a journal entry about their fish and they loved the whole idea.

Little did I know that Lyla’s poor fish would be … well … mauled.

I think … actually … that, sadly, she pet him to death… I went in later that night to check on her and make sure she was asleep and I saw the worried look on her face … and I saw the fish … not swimming … just sinking to the bottom of his home … the top of her dresser was wet and the little gravel was spread about …

“Lyla, what’s wrong with your fish?” I asked.

“Mommy, I don’t even want to talk about it …” Lacey was saying, as she covered her eyes, ready to cry, looking at her little sister’s fish … such a tender heart!

But Lyla, well, she just sat there, a strange expression over her face of guilt and horror. I explained that fish CANNOT come out of water (but I really thought she knew that already? I think she was just being curious) and that she had probably hurt her fish and that he most likely wouldn’t live the night.

Sadly, the next morning, we did indeed have a toilet burial.

While Abby held the vase containing the deceased over the toilet, this, too, Lyla found incredibly fascinating. Lacey, however, nearly cried tears when daddy pulled the toilet handle …

Will there be more fish in our future? Only time will tell.