NEW TICKER
{Yes, we are home - Part 2 of our vacation will be posted in the next few days - maybe. I'm feeling over-whelmed with jumping back into the routine!}
For those who noticed the new ticker....Mike has made a deal with me. When I have logged 500 miles on my bike he'll buy me the eliptical machine I've been dreaming of. I used to go to the gym 5 - 6 days a week (in San Antonio and Anchorage). Now that the girls are gone I simply can't take that much time out of the morning routine to go to the gym. I've thought a machine at home would be the answer. Mike is concerned about weight for moving....he also thinks I need to simply get outside.
SO....I took the challenge.
I can see good coming of this....1. I'll establish a work out routine before I buy the machine which would make it more likely that I'll use the machine when I have it, 2. this gives me a fitness goal I CAN make progress towards whereas the weight will be released when it will be released! In other words I want to see results somewhere! {G} and (I suppose) 3. Mike thinks I'll decide that I don't need the machine by the time I log 500 miles......we'll see. *IF* I still want it at the end of 500 miles he promises to purchase it.
I'm also trying to work up to one sit up a day! :::snort:::
Sunday, April 30, 2006
CAT FIGHT!
While out on the bike this a.m. I saw a full-fledged cat fight! Wow. I am not sure I'd really ever seen one like this before. Two big furry cats...going at it "tooth and nail". They were making an ungodly amount of noise and mess. Fur was flying. They were expending a tremendous amount of energy and were rolling and jumping all over the yard....but they weren't going anywhere "purposeful". Everyone was giving them a wide berth.
As I rode on, I chuckled to myself. Mike has often teased me about my passion for mentoring, and leading women's ministry. He says I like to "herd cats". His cryptic comment began to make more sense to me....
Then I got very sad as I realized that far to often we ladies do tend to allow our relationships to shrink to nothing more than cat fights. We make a lot of noise, we refuse to co-operate, we make a giant mess, we exert a ton of energy but we accomplish nothing meaningful for the kingdom, we begin to repel instead of attract others...all because we do not let God be GOD in our relationships.
I made a new resolve to avoid cat fights this a.m. - of all kinds. Care to join me in avoiding cat fights? {G}
While out on the bike this a.m. I saw a full-fledged cat fight! Wow. I am not sure I'd really ever seen one like this before. Two big furry cats...going at it "tooth and nail". They were making an ungodly amount of noise and mess. Fur was flying. They were expending a tremendous amount of energy and were rolling and jumping all over the yard....but they weren't going anywhere "purposeful". Everyone was giving them a wide berth.
As I rode on, I chuckled to myself. Mike has often teased me about my passion for mentoring, and leading women's ministry. He says I like to "herd cats". His cryptic comment began to make more sense to me....
Then I got very sad as I realized that far to often we ladies do tend to allow our relationships to shrink to nothing more than cat fights. We make a lot of noise, we refuse to co-operate, we make a giant mess, we exert a ton of energy but we accomplish nothing meaningful for the kingdom, we begin to repel instead of attract others...all because we do not let God be GOD in our relationships.
I made a new resolve to avoid cat fights this a.m. - of all kinds. Care to join me in avoiding cat fights? {G}
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
We are OUT of here....as soon as I click publish and run everyone through the rest room.
Quick comments I forgot....several have emailed to see if Zander's comment about his "belly buddy" was an annoucnment that we were expecting....no...it is not! A Belly Buddy is a belly button in Zander speak.
Prayers for this week: connections with old friends....weather - thunderstorms are predicted....peace...I'm anal about coming home to a clean home and it isn't up to par this time....I will relax.
Quick comments I forgot....several have emailed to see if Zander's comment about his "belly buddy" was an annoucnment that we were expecting....no...it is not! A Belly Buddy is a belly button in Zander speak.
Prayers for this week: connections with old friends....weather - thunderstorms are predicted....peace...I'm anal about coming home to a clean home and it isn't up to par this time....I will relax.
Monday, April 24, 2006
One last thought as we bring this day to a close:
I dreadfully miss BreAnne and Krista!
My friend, Julie, in Anchorage is getting ready to move back to the lower 48. I called her to let her know we're praying for her, her dear husband, their big dog Jake and their twin boys as they transition to CA. She talked to BreAnne last week. They plan to "swing by" WA and take the girls to lunch. Julie promises me a first-hand, mother's-heart evaluation of how they are doing.
I dreadfully miss BreAnne and Krista!
My friend, Julie, in Anchorage is getting ready to move back to the lower 48. I called her to let her know we're praying for her, her dear husband, their big dog Jake and their twin boys as they transition to CA. She talked to BreAnne last week. They plan to "swing by" WA and take the girls to lunch. Julie promises me a first-hand, mother's-heart evaluation of how they are doing.
*Drummer in the Dark* by T. Davis Bunn
I gave up the Christian Suspense/Mystery Genre some years ago. The plots seemed predictable and the canned preaching less than inspiring. The characters were doing fantastic things. I switched to mystery cozies (which also has fantastic characters but minus the predictability and preaching). However, this book caught my eye at the library.
I enjoyed this book. It was moral. I didn’t have to skip pages of activities that offend my faith. The suspense was “realistic” and well done. The characters intrigued me. Without giving the plot away this book centers on politics and global finances and was very interesting. The characters exhibit a real faith in Jesus but their discussions seemed to be more natural and what you would expect from Christians in suspense…instead of “preaching”. I think that maybe the genre has realized that most buying Christian fiction to relax are already Christians and the long pages detailing salvation is preaching to the choir? That sounds rude and I don’t mean it to….I’d recommend this book to any (Christian or not) who loves a good mystery suspense…but doesn’t want to wade through lots of violence.
I do plan to check this genre out more in the days to come. I’d love to hear of other books by this author that you have read and enjoyed. I’d also love to hear of other Christian authors you know of who have written suspense/mystery. Point me to the shelves. {G}
*What the Bible Says About Healthy Living* by Rex Russell, M.D.
I shared previously that I’ve heard about this book for years but was turned off of it by the “legalism” exhibited from those who read it. I am so allergic to legalism.
When I met a group here who do not seem to be overly legalistic and they recommended the book I was willing to read it. {What a turkey I can be – can you believe I’d be so swayed by impressions of personalities instead of message???}
My new friends were right. The principles in this book are the very ones that God has led our family to step by step over the past few months. They are: Eat What God Created for Food, As Much As Possible Don’t Alter God’s Design, Make No Food an Idol. He also details a way of fasting that mirrors where God has led me over the past 9 months. This book was a huge confirmation of where we are heading.
I want to be clear that this author clearly states that eating in this way is not a moral issue and not a salvation issue. You are justified by FAITH and GRACE….but his premise is that God designed our bodies and food, therefore, we should eat the way He instructed the Israelites to eat. Again and again the author points out where science eventually confirms that God’s design works best for our bodies. He gives examples where the Bible “seemed” to go against science and science has now caught up. This book is well-documented. I was impressed by how Dr. Russell continually points out the design in nature and how this leads to a DESIGNER. In fact this impressed me so much that it is one reason I would highly recommend this book to others. Those of you who know me well know THIS would appeal to me greatly…he constantly draws us back to the Scripture for our answers, rather than science or common “knowledge”.
A few random thoughts: Many who say they are eating the way the Bible says to, have added their own rules and laws…they are NOT in this book {g}. For instance no where in this book does it say that I MUST juice cabbage and cauliflower (though I COULD – I could also eat it raw, cooked or choose something else to eat).
God has given us way more to eat than he has asked us not to eat! After reading why – it’s fairly easy to say no to the few things that we need to avoid.
Even though God clearly says we can eat locusts – it will be a long time before my family tries that.
I will now begin looking for a rancher who will sell me grain fed, chemical free, hormone free beef – in other words an organic rancher?
I am also going to look for a place to buy certified raw milk.
I would love to eat more organic produce but am not sure where to find it or that I could afford the massive quantities that we eat of produce…so we will be sure to wash things well at this point.
*Healthy Living* and Thin Within – I know that many weight loss programs say “use this only” but Thin Within dovetails beautifully with the concepts in this book. Thin Within teaches WHY we over eat. It also teaches heavily that we are to “eat to live not live to eat” (a comment made many times in this book as well). Thin Within’s main emphasis is on Principle 3 – don’t be controlled by ANY food or make no food an idol! In TW they do say you are free to eat whatever you would like but after a bit of time you should begin to make healthy choices that will bless your body. They say you CAN loose weight and eat only chocolate cheesecake but you may be like the spoiled child if that is what you are doing. Healthy Living gives me info to make good choices for my body as I choose to listen to the God-given signals of my body.
I have noted that a person could eat according to this book and be vastly over-weight. I’ve been there – done that years ago….so the key will be NOT to over-eat even whole foods.
*Healthy Living* and the Feingold program – Early in the book Dr. Russell makes statements that Dr. Ben Feingold believed that eating certain foods affected behavior and that his theories had been disproved. Obviously, this caught my attention. As I read on, the author continually gave illustrations of food affecting behavior and “Feingold results”. He also recommends eliminating the very same things that Feingold does (synthetic colors, flavors and petro chemicals – yep – uses the same terms). The only difference is the Stage 1 elimination of natural salcyilates. I viewed Stage 1 of Feingold as a fast from those foods for 7 weeks. Dr. Russell recommends fasting in this way for various health reasons. We were not led to give up all of the Stage 1 foods only the apple juice which Zander drank a LOT of. We have now added it back in. If a person followed the information in this book they WOULD be on Stage 2 of Feingold….and beyond…..I marked many spots in this book where his comments mirror Dr. Feingold. I don’t see a contradiction between Healthy Living and the Feingold Program.
I’d recommend this book to many. No, I didn't agree with everything in the book - but I rarely do. {G} I plan to add it to our “health” curriculum. I’d recommend it to those who are interested in a solid book that answers the question “If God created the world why do we feel so terrible?”. I’d recommend it to those who think that to be a Christian means you have to give up a whole foods/organic lifestyle. I’d recommend it to a non-believer who is into either wholesome diet or science….as it is solid and always points back to a Designer behind the design. This book has caused me further awe at our Amazing Creator. It’s given me even more reason to never touch a hot dog. {vbg}
I shared previously that I’ve heard about this book for years but was turned off of it by the “legalism” exhibited from those who read it. I am so allergic to legalism.
When I met a group here who do not seem to be overly legalistic and they recommended the book I was willing to read it. {What a turkey I can be – can you believe I’d be so swayed by impressions of personalities instead of message???}
My new friends were right. The principles in this book are the very ones that God has led our family to step by step over the past few months. They are: Eat What God Created for Food, As Much As Possible Don’t Alter God’s Design, Make No Food an Idol. He also details a way of fasting that mirrors where God has led me over the past 9 months. This book was a huge confirmation of where we are heading.
I want to be clear that this author clearly states that eating in this way is not a moral issue and not a salvation issue. You are justified by FAITH and GRACE….but his premise is that God designed our bodies and food, therefore, we should eat the way He instructed the Israelites to eat. Again and again the author points out where science eventually confirms that God’s design works best for our bodies. He gives examples where the Bible “seemed” to go against science and science has now caught up. This book is well-documented. I was impressed by how Dr. Russell continually points out the design in nature and how this leads to a DESIGNER. In fact this impressed me so much that it is one reason I would highly recommend this book to others. Those of you who know me well know THIS would appeal to me greatly…he constantly draws us back to the Scripture for our answers, rather than science or common “knowledge”.
A few random thoughts: Many who say they are eating the way the Bible says to, have added their own rules and laws…they are NOT in this book {g}. For instance no where in this book does it say that I MUST juice cabbage and cauliflower (though I COULD – I could also eat it raw, cooked or choose something else to eat).
God has given us way more to eat than he has asked us not to eat! After reading why – it’s fairly easy to say no to the few things that we need to avoid.
Even though God clearly says we can eat locusts – it will be a long time before my family tries that.
I will now begin looking for a rancher who will sell me grain fed, chemical free, hormone free beef – in other words an organic rancher?
I am also going to look for a place to buy certified raw milk.
I would love to eat more organic produce but am not sure where to find it or that I could afford the massive quantities that we eat of produce…so we will be sure to wash things well at this point.
*Healthy Living* and Thin Within – I know that many weight loss programs say “use this only” but Thin Within dovetails beautifully with the concepts in this book. Thin Within teaches WHY we over eat. It also teaches heavily that we are to “eat to live not live to eat” (a comment made many times in this book as well). Thin Within’s main emphasis is on Principle 3 – don’t be controlled by ANY food or make no food an idol! In TW they do say you are free to eat whatever you would like but after a bit of time you should begin to make healthy choices that will bless your body. They say you CAN loose weight and eat only chocolate cheesecake but you may be like the spoiled child if that is what you are doing. Healthy Living gives me info to make good choices for my body as I choose to listen to the God-given signals of my body.
I have noted that a person could eat according to this book and be vastly over-weight. I’ve been there – done that years ago….so the key will be NOT to over-eat even whole foods.
*Healthy Living* and the Feingold program – Early in the book Dr. Russell makes statements that Dr. Ben Feingold believed that eating certain foods affected behavior and that his theories had been disproved. Obviously, this caught my attention. As I read on, the author continually gave illustrations of food affecting behavior and “Feingold results”. He also recommends eliminating the very same things that Feingold does (synthetic colors, flavors and petro chemicals – yep – uses the same terms). The only difference is the Stage 1 elimination of natural salcyilates. I viewed Stage 1 of Feingold as a fast from those foods for 7 weeks. Dr. Russell recommends fasting in this way for various health reasons. We were not led to give up all of the Stage 1 foods only the apple juice which Zander drank a LOT of. We have now added it back in. If a person followed the information in this book they WOULD be on Stage 2 of Feingold….and beyond…..I marked many spots in this book where his comments mirror Dr. Feingold. I don’t see a contradiction between Healthy Living and the Feingold Program.
I’d recommend this book to many. No, I didn't agree with everything in the book - but I rarely do. {G} I plan to add it to our “health” curriculum. I’d recommend it to those who are interested in a solid book that answers the question “If God created the world why do we feel so terrible?”. I’d recommend it to those who think that to be a Christian means you have to give up a whole foods/organic lifestyle. I’d recommend it to a non-believer who is into either wholesome diet or science….as it is solid and always points back to a Designer behind the design. This book has caused me further awe at our Amazing Creator. It’s given me even more reason to never touch a hot dog. {vbg}
*Captivating* by John & Stasi Eldredge
Yes, I finally finished this book!
It will come as no surprise to any that I have some thoughts on this book. I’ve been asked often over the past 8 months what I think of this book. I’m going to hold off on sharing my thoughts until I have time to really process them. I need time to write another book review and after *Healthy Living* I have no time to do this one justice. I’ll let my thoughts germinate during Part 2 of our vacation and post some thoughts when I return IF anyone cares to read them.
SHEW…
It seemed like a good idea to come home in the middle of vacation. I think it may have been a good idea but it’s been a busy day.
Laundry is done. Shopping is done. Co-op is over. We still need to reload everything.
Rascal, our pet quail ::::snort::: is still alive. We bought him a cage today and will pick him up in the a.m. so that he can spend the next week with a new friend. Heather will watch him. We hear he’s been getting out of his box….The manager at the pet store printed off a lot of info for us on raising a quail. He said they used to sell them but no one around here would buy them because they are everywhere and can go out and shoot them etc. He recommended we buy an 8 ft cage…YIKES. We may have to add on to our home.
Co-op went well. I need to go pack things away. One funny: I bought these little bags of Sundrops last month. They came in 12 and we had 8 left…so they are a TREAT. WELL….when I was inputting Melody’s order she had Sundrops on there and I thought “I should order some more”. I copied the number, changed the quantity to 12 and clicked order.
Hmmm…next time I’ll have to bit more careful about my order. {G} We have lots and lots of treats. 12 big bags…
We also got a case of organic graham crackers – I know – I KNOW – I have the recipe to make them but honestly…I have to get out of the kitchen and mentor my children sometime….so I bought them. They are all things that Zander can have….and best yet there is a recipe to make crusts with honey so I’ll give that a try for fresh strawberry pie….
Really need to get going with a few last chores…..tomorrow will come early. Just found out its Fiesta week in San Antonio…argh. We function so much easier in smaller crowds…We also found out that it is supposed to storm all week at Canyon Lake…BUT that it is supposed to be in the 70’s and 80’s and that will be nice. We’re excited that we’ve heard from three families so far….we’ll do the zoo with Tingles on Thursday, Sea World with Lowes on Friday, spend the night at Raths on Saturday and see how many other folks we can fit in. {G}
It seemed like a good idea to come home in the middle of vacation. I think it may have been a good idea but it’s been a busy day.
Laundry is done. Shopping is done. Co-op is over. We still need to reload everything.
Rascal, our pet quail ::::snort::: is still alive. We bought him a cage today and will pick him up in the a.m. so that he can spend the next week with a new friend. Heather will watch him. We hear he’s been getting out of his box….The manager at the pet store printed off a lot of info for us on raising a quail. He said they used to sell them but no one around here would buy them because they are everywhere and can go out and shoot them etc. He recommended we buy an 8 ft cage…YIKES. We may have to add on to our home.
Co-op went well. I need to go pack things away. One funny: I bought these little bags of Sundrops last month. They came in 12 and we had 8 left…so they are a TREAT. WELL….when I was inputting Melody’s order she had Sundrops on there and I thought “I should order some more”. I copied the number, changed the quantity to 12 and clicked order.
Hmmm…next time I’ll have to bit more careful about my order. {G} We have lots and lots of treats. 12 big bags…We also got a case of organic graham crackers – I know – I KNOW – I have the recipe to make them but honestly…I have to get out of the kitchen and mentor my children sometime….so I bought them. They are all things that Zander can have….and best yet there is a recipe to make crusts with honey so I’ll give that a try for fresh strawberry pie….
Really need to get going with a few last chores…..tomorrow will come early. Just found out its Fiesta week in San Antonio…argh. We function so much easier in smaller crowds…We also found out that it is supposed to storm all week at Canyon Lake…BUT that it is supposed to be in the 70’s and 80’s and that will be nice. We’re excited that we’ve heard from three families so far….we’ll do the zoo with Tingles on Thursday, Sea World with Lowes on Friday, spend the night at Raths on Saturday and see how many other folks we can fit in. {G}
A Tale of Two Campsites….
Why does your family go camping? What does your family do while camping? We view camping as a chance to get away “from it all”- as a family. We leave the phones, TV’s, music etc at home. We spend lots of time hiking, fishing, exploring the area, reading around the campfire….but that is not the way ALL view camping.
We loved the Abilene State Park. The center of the park is an awesome brick swimming pool built by the CCC’s in the 1930’s. The pool is not open until Memorial Day but the park was wonderful. For most of the week we were the ONLY ones in our circle…and there were only 3 or 4 of us in the whole park. The bathrooms were a bit of a walk. We were surprised that there were no bathrooms or outhouses IN the camping circles. Mike commented that the parks must plan now that most are “self-contained”. The only circle with bathrooms was the tenting circle (we have a pop up). The bathroom situation insured that I walked at least a mile each night for mid-night runs to the potty and several miles a day….which was “good”. The park had lots of fields for playing. There was a very pretty pond for fishing….though there were also lots of water moccasins around. There was a volleyball pit. We had this paradise to ourselves.
The first day was very hot.
The second day was hotter still. (It was 98* where we were and I hear went over 100* here!) To avoid the heat we ventured to Dyess AFB and checked out the Grand Opening of their BX. We ate at Charley’s in honor of BreAnne.
The third day we survived a very wild thunder storm – in fact the park ranger came to tell us that it may move to “tornado warning” and if so we were to go hunker down in the bathrooms. Does that seem symbolic? {g} I sort of think if I’m going to meet my maker I’d rather do it from the pop-up than a bathroom. We went geocaching this day.
The fourth day it was cool and stormy off and on. We attempted some more geocaching. We discovered that Mike can go 4 wheeling in the mud in a 15 passenger van. It was wild or awesome depending on your age. {G}We found a couple of caches but the ones we really wanted to find were on a road that was barricaded.
The Fifth day was Friday….it was the best of times and it was the worst of times. Two huge ROAD WHALES arrived to share the turn around at the end of *our* circle. Haven’t you always heard that these road whales are great because they take no time to set up???? WELL….out of the huge 5th wheels and busses stepped two older couples. Ah – it’d be quiet after all. Then all manner of things began to come out of the recesses of the Road Whale next to us. Tables, strings of lights (red, white and blue), dogs without leashes, new TV’s, DVDs, PINK FLAMINGOS, neon Pink Flamingo lights in the windows…all in all it took them as long as it takes us to set up. THEN kids and grandkids began to arrive. They were a friendly bunch….but oy vey. They seriously broke the “2 cars per spot and 8 people per space” rules. However, today I was able to observe the PINK FLAMINGO DANCE…I kid you not. Zander had a blast with all the kids…and we were constantly hauling him out of the road whale next door. {vbg}
To gain some perspective and relief from the urban camping next door we headed to town and discovered Fort Phantom Hill. This is COOL. We love to explore old forts.
The Sixth day - Saturday we visited Buffalo Gap.
Today we packed up and came home. Disclaimer: despite the Road Whale comments I’d love a nice trailer….and a wi fi notebook....and we love all of you who own Road Whales (just keep your flamingos at home!) LOL
Photos follow this post.....book reviews to follow....
Why does your family go camping? What does your family do while camping? We view camping as a chance to get away “from it all”- as a family. We leave the phones, TV’s, music etc at home. We spend lots of time hiking, fishing, exploring the area, reading around the campfire….but that is not the way ALL view camping.
We loved the Abilene State Park. The center of the park is an awesome brick swimming pool built by the CCC’s in the 1930’s. The pool is not open until Memorial Day but the park was wonderful. For most of the week we were the ONLY ones in our circle…and there were only 3 or 4 of us in the whole park. The bathrooms were a bit of a walk. We were surprised that there were no bathrooms or outhouses IN the camping circles. Mike commented that the parks must plan now that most are “self-contained”. The only circle with bathrooms was the tenting circle (we have a pop up). The bathroom situation insured that I walked at least a mile each night for mid-night runs to the potty and several miles a day….which was “good”. The park had lots of fields for playing. There was a very pretty pond for fishing….though there were also lots of water moccasins around. There was a volleyball pit. We had this paradise to ourselves.
The first day was very hot.
The second day was hotter still. (It was 98* where we were and I hear went over 100* here!) To avoid the heat we ventured to Dyess AFB and checked out the Grand Opening of their BX. We ate at Charley’s in honor of BreAnne.
The third day we survived a very wild thunder storm – in fact the park ranger came to tell us that it may move to “tornado warning” and if so we were to go hunker down in the bathrooms. Does that seem symbolic? {g} I sort of think if I’m going to meet my maker I’d rather do it from the pop-up than a bathroom. We went geocaching this day.
The fourth day it was cool and stormy off and on. We attempted some more geocaching. We discovered that Mike can go 4 wheeling in the mud in a 15 passenger van. It was wild or awesome depending on your age. {G}We found a couple of caches but the ones we really wanted to find were on a road that was barricaded.
The Fifth day was Friday….it was the best of times and it was the worst of times. Two huge ROAD WHALES arrived to share the turn around at the end of *our* circle. Haven’t you always heard that these road whales are great because they take no time to set up???? WELL….out of the huge 5th wheels and busses stepped two older couples. Ah – it’d be quiet after all. Then all manner of things began to come out of the recesses of the Road Whale next to us. Tables, strings of lights (red, white and blue), dogs without leashes, new TV’s, DVDs, PINK FLAMINGOS, neon Pink Flamingo lights in the windows…all in all it took them as long as it takes us to set up. THEN kids and grandkids began to arrive. They were a friendly bunch….but oy vey. They seriously broke the “2 cars per spot and 8 people per space” rules. However, today I was able to observe the PINK FLAMINGO DANCE…I kid you not. Zander had a blast with all the kids…and we were constantly hauling him out of the road whale next door. {vbg}
To gain some perspective and relief from the urban camping next door we headed to town and discovered Fort Phantom Hill. This is COOL. We love to explore old forts.
The Sixth day - Saturday we visited Buffalo Gap.
Today we packed up and came home. Disclaimer: despite the Road Whale comments I’d love a nice trailer….and a wi fi notebook....and we love all of you who own Road Whales (just keep your flamingos at home!) LOL
Photos follow this post.....book reviews to follow....
A Photo Journal:
CCC watch tower
"When the whole world is your kitchen"...remember that laundry commericial with little unschooling girl that said "when the whole world's your classroom you need tide" or whatever it was? I kept thinking of that as we cooked this week. It seemed that I still spent a lot of time in the kitchen but at least it was a kitchen with a great view...and green bugs dropping from the trees above to chat...
Stratego....
The older kids bought this for ME one time in San Antonio when I took them out for a week of camping all by myself. The idea was that I was going to lounge around all week. {G} I had to fight for a few moments in the hammock this week...and then I had to share them with my favorite 4 yo. We handled the food thing fairly well until we got HOME and then he keeps finding food I thought was out of the cupboards. Tonight he's a handful...but soon we'll be away from home and there will be no hidden snacks to find. 
"one campsite" - picture doesn't do the lights justice and you can only see one flamingo...
Our campsite - we love reading around the fire. There was a burn ban when we first arrived but after the good storms they lifted it. Mike read Patrick McManus to us (he's a pro at editing on the fly) and *The Magician's Nephew*. 
Deer, armadillows, birds of all sorts, millions of bugs, snakes - but we were thrilled not to see one BEAR. {G}
My two peas in a pod...Jamin can at times be the most understanidng and gentle with Zander (he relates) or the hardest on him. I love to see Zander begin to reach out to Jamin and Jamin taking that "big brother" mantle on so readily. We absolutely love this age of opportunity...all ages are fun but we love the youth transition. Here our serious, 15 yo PLAYS with his youngest brother. 
While everyone played kick ball or climbed various objects - Stacia and I read. She enjoyed the bookmark....I finished 31/2 read books and hope to finish a couple more next week at the lake. I'm determined to do my part to reduce clutter in our bedroom by reading down the "1/2 read" pile.
Geocaching!
We haven't been able to get out and do any geocaching this month. Mike downloaded a bunch of coordinates before we left town and surprised us with some. This was one of our favorite caches. It led us onto a private ranch. There were cows, oil pumps and oil derricks. Jamin found me a rusty horse shoe (you have to know how I decorate to know how special that is to me!) We had to climb over a fence to get onto the prorperty...but had permission to do that.
After everyone else had suceeded I began over with Stacia in the sling...the boys and Mike quickly changed that plan. {G}
Turns out the cach was in THERE....and doesn't this seem like a nice snake hiding place?? Can YOU see the cache?
We finally admitted the clouds looked ominous and headed for home. I love a good thunder storm and nothing beats camping in a thunder storm. {G}
Shots from Fort Phantom Hill! This is a great spot to have found…it’s on private property but they leave it open for people to visit. The Fort was used to protect settlers during the Westward Expansion. This stop wet our appetites to travel the OR Trail.
This photo is classic. {G} What is it about my boys and cannons?
We thought it was cool to check out this wagon...we saw the keg for dishes, knew where they would hang the jar of milk to make butter during the day's drive....and the little ones and I may really do the OR trail alone this summer....if only Mike and the big boys could do it with us....
Mike took this self-portrait to prove that he was WITH us. {G}
This photo is classic. {G} What is it about my boys and cannons? 
We thought it was cool to check out this wagon...we saw the keg for dishes, knew where they would hang the jar of milk to make butter during the day's drive....and the little ones and I may really do the OR trail alone this summer....if only Mike and the big boys could do it with us....
Mike took this self-portrait to prove that he was WITH us. {G}
Buffalo Gap
(I decided to upload the first half of our vacation in chunks - this is the first chunk which will be the last chunk when all is uploaded - clear as mud?)
Buffalo Gap is a quaint historic town in West Texas. Here are some pictures from the historical museum, which spans 1880 – 1925. We’d like to go back here on a day when they have volunteers doing “living history”.
Cabin where 6 children were raised! Arielle is still talking about the lack of space - hey Adrienne - I think she has her mother's "privacy issues". {bg}
BG County Courthouse known for many jail-breaks and lynchings in the 1800's.
Our Preachers (Jared & Arielle) at BG Chapel
Zander continues his fasciantion with cannons
Just for the girls - reminded us of your room in Alaska
Couldn't resist a picture of Mike in front of this advertisement for his favorite drink!
We looked all over for Feingold approved Chocolate – found hollow Nascar cars {g}. We couldn’t find marshmallows without blue dye but realized
Zander doesn’t eat them anyway. When we arrived
at the camp there was a burn ban, when it was
lifted we had to do S’mores! Organic graham crackers
coming tonight. {G} 
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Home Again - I had hoped to have the whole week up in pictures. Not going to happen tonight...but here are two shots of home...
Stacia loves being home again where she can CRAWL and the first thing she went for were the Calvin and Hobbes books. {G}
I am SO glad we have a day at home to do this laundry and throw it back into bags...we are at 7 loads and counting....There were 7 garbage sacks full of laundry
I am SO glad we have a day at home to do this laundry and throw it back into bags...we are at 7 loads and counting....There were 7 garbage sacks full of laundry
We got home late this afternoon. I'm very impressed with how hard everyone pitched in to get the work done. We unloaded the pop up. We began repacking for leaving again on Tuesday. I began laundry...tomorrow we'll be sure we are repacked, buy a few things to restock and meet the co-op truck.
In between laundry I'm trying to upload pictures of the past week.
That's my goal for the today and tomorrow.
In between laundry I'm trying to upload pictures of the past week.
That's my goal for the today and tomorrow.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Our Girls (-2)
Our Boys
to make them smile I told them to look strong and macho - this is Zander's idea of macho! {G}Our Children (-2)
Sunrise service was beautiful. Mike preached....the few minutes I heard were great! Breakfast with Christian family is always fun. The kids and I came home and finished a few preparations for camping and company. Mike is finishing up a few jobs at work and will be home by 1:00 p.m. Kids are now relaxing and I plan to go grab a quick nap...if Stacia will cooperate.
Happy Resurrection Day!
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest of others.
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father.”
Phil 2:3 -11
What an awesome day! A day to focus and celebrate the inconceivable gift of relationship with God. An incredible price was paid for our access to the Father! May we never take this relationship and access to His very throne room lightly. May we have the same mind (attitude) that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, exhibited. I want to be a humble, empty, non-grasping servant of God.
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest of others.
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father.”
Phil 2:3 -11
What an awesome day! A day to focus and celebrate the inconceivable gift of relationship with God. An incredible price was paid for our access to the Father! May we never take this relationship and access to His very throne room lightly. May we have the same mind (attitude) that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, exhibited. I want to be a humble, empty, non-grasping servant of God.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
SHOW ME THE FACTS!
I think I've been driving my local friends and even my SHS friends, crazy with all my questions. I am a "show me the facts" type of person. I used to think I was overy skeptical but after all my recent studies on spiritual gifts I see that this is a classic trait of a person with the gift of teaching. I nearly pegged the test so it would stand to reason that I'd be a fairly "show me" type of person. I love to research. I am slow to jump on band wagons and want to see the facts before making decisions. I'm very concerend with accuracy and truth. Poor Adrienne has probably taken the brunt of my questions because I know she knows me well enough not to get offended when I say "WHY - that makes no sense". {bg}
Today I was happy to see a few links that Melody (local friend) sent me on various health related issues. For your reading pleasure (in case you are a facts gatherer too):
I've been explaining to a few that I don't have a thing against organic but I have a big "beef" with companies that add a lot of synthetic preservatives to foods and call themselves "organic". I do look for the green organic label but these days I also read the ingredients list and worry more about that than the organic label. It was timely that Melody would send this link on organic standards.
Here's on the decades old debate on margarine and butter. Ever wondered what "corn syrup" was and if it was good or bad for you?
I think I've been driving my local friends and even my SHS friends, crazy with all my questions. I am a "show me the facts" type of person. I used to think I was overy skeptical but after all my recent studies on spiritual gifts I see that this is a classic trait of a person with the gift of teaching. I nearly pegged the test so it would stand to reason that I'd be a fairly "show me" type of person. I love to research. I am slow to jump on band wagons and want to see the facts before making decisions. I'm very concerend with accuracy and truth. Poor Adrienne has probably taken the brunt of my questions because I know she knows me well enough not to get offended when I say "WHY - that makes no sense". {bg}
Today I was happy to see a few links that Melody (local friend) sent me on various health related issues. For your reading pleasure (in case you are a facts gatherer too):
I've been explaining to a few that I don't have a thing against organic but I have a big "beef" with companies that add a lot of synthetic preservatives to foods and call themselves "organic". I do look for the green organic label but these days I also read the ingredients list and worry more about that than the organic label. It was timely that Melody would send this link on organic standards.
Here's on the decades old debate on margarine and butter. Ever wondered what "corn syrup" was and if it was good or bad for you?
Another day in the kitchen!
Trying to eliminate synthetic preservatives almost ensures you will be spending much time at HOME in your KITCHEN! {G} someone asked me what I’ve been making…..
Tuesday – 5 loaves of bread; 5 dozen banana muffins
Wednesday – 2 meals of Chicken Divan (freezer) – takes longer when doing from scratch with no condensed soups. {G}.
Thursday – 5 more dozen of muffins (we eat 5 doz a week – making extra for camping); 4 meals of Hawaiian Chicken (freezer)
Friday – 2 batches of home made ice cream (vanilla and mint/chocolate); 5 doz Choc chip cookies; 5 doz hamburger buns (were flat so we put two together and called them pre-split buns)
Today – granola; pancake mix; brownies (whole wheat + nuts = complete protein {bg}; 5 doz of hamburger buns (we use these for sandwiches instead of loaves).
I’ve had many thoughts in the kitchen this week…but I’m to busy to stop and share them. Add to the above cooking menu the Passover dinner, Last Supper Service, Good Friday services and shopping for Easter…school and speech therapy and produce co-op – and going to court to take care of a little matter that developed on Wednesday….Shew….
It’s been a joy to have Zander in the kitchen COOKING with me….and that has led me to think that all the time in the kitchen is paying off in big dividends. Other thoughts will have to wait. Here’s a picture of Zander making buns (by the way this time he’s shirtless because it is about 100* in my kitchen not because he hates to wear clothes {g}).
This picture is for those who have heard me talk about sponging bread and the accompanying warning about “watch out for the Lucy moment”. This is a Lucy moment….this sponged 10 minutes – yeast is obviously o.k. Blew the top right off the Bosch! I really think Becky is right and that the hard white I got had moisture in it - or something. When I get back I'm going to try all my recipes with Hard Red Wheat and see what happens. I miss Prairie Gold....
Trying to eliminate synthetic preservatives almost ensures you will be spending much time at HOME in your KITCHEN! {G} someone asked me what I’ve been making…..
Tuesday – 5 loaves of bread; 5 dozen banana muffins
Wednesday – 2 meals of Chicken Divan (freezer) – takes longer when doing from scratch with no condensed soups. {G}.
Thursday – 5 more dozen of muffins (we eat 5 doz a week – making extra for camping); 4 meals of Hawaiian Chicken (freezer)
Friday – 2 batches of home made ice cream (vanilla and mint/chocolate); 5 doz Choc chip cookies; 5 doz hamburger buns (were flat so we put two together and called them pre-split buns)
Today – granola; pancake mix; brownies (whole wheat + nuts = complete protein {bg}; 5 doz of hamburger buns (we use these for sandwiches instead of loaves).
I’ve had many thoughts in the kitchen this week…but I’m to busy to stop and share them. Add to the above cooking menu the Passover dinner, Last Supper Service, Good Friday services and shopping for Easter…school and speech therapy and produce co-op – and going to court to take care of a little matter that developed on Wednesday….Shew….
It’s been a joy to have Zander in the kitchen COOKING with me….and that has led me to think that all the time in the kitchen is paying off in big dividends. Other thoughts will have to wait. Here’s a picture of Zander making buns (by the way this time he’s shirtless because it is about 100* in my kitchen not because he hates to wear clothes {g}).
This picture is for those who have heard me talk about sponging bread and the accompanying warning about “watch out for the Lucy moment”. This is a Lucy moment….this sponged 10 minutes – yeast is obviously o.k. Blew the top right off the Bosch! I really think Becky is right and that the hard white I got had moisture in it - or something. When I get back I'm going to try all my recipes with Hard Red Wheat and see what happens. I miss Prairie Gold....
Friday, April 14, 2006
Quick Misc Thoughts and Sounds….
I have a “belly buddy”. Guess what Zander meant. {g}
(Pounding on the door while Jared (12) takes a shower) “Jared, turn the water OFF – you’re wasting water!”
We’ve progressed to the point with Zander that he can now reason. Formerly, if you’d tell him not to do something or to do something you’d have a huge meltdown. We skipped the whole “why” stage. Yesterday I asked him to leave something alone. He said in a very respectful, inquisitive voice, “why”. I explained that “Grandpa gave that to Mommy and it is very special to her” and he said “Oh, ok ” and left it alone. Progress.
We’ve been busy getting ready to leave town.
We’ve also been busy with the seasonal aspects of the church calendar. Wed we had a Passover dinner. Thursday Mike was in “The Living Last Supper” and we all attended. Today there is a 3:00 service at the base as well as a showing of *The Passion of Christ* at the chapel.
I’ll update more later today.
I have a “belly buddy”. Guess what Zander meant. {g}
(Pounding on the door while Jared (12) takes a shower) “Jared, turn the water OFF – you’re wasting water!”
We’ve progressed to the point with Zander that he can now reason. Formerly, if you’d tell him not to do something or to do something you’d have a huge meltdown. We skipped the whole “why” stage. Yesterday I asked him to leave something alone. He said in a very respectful, inquisitive voice, “why”. I explained that “Grandpa gave that to Mommy and it is very special to her” and he said “Oh, ok ” and left it alone. Progress.
We’ve been busy getting ready to leave town.
We’ve also been busy with the seasonal aspects of the church calendar. Wed we had a Passover dinner. Thursday Mike was in “The Living Last Supper” and we all attended. Today there is a 3:00 service at the base as well as a showing of *The Passion of Christ* at the chapel.
I’ll update more later today.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Quick updates:
The quail is still living. He didn’t like the starter mash. A retiree at the chapel who is a farmer/rancher said that they always started chicks on boiled eggs. We boiled an egg and he at like he was starving….quite perky little fellow. Cute too – I’ll take picture later.
Vacation – spent 5 hours yesterday getting us booked into CAMP SITES! Can you believe that???? Where are the days where you got in your car, drove out to the woods and found an isolated spot to camp? Of course most places do have at least an outhouse and some even have showers now…so progress has it’s advantages. {g} We thought this time of year that we’d have the campgrounds to ourselves…but it seems that everyone goes camping in April in this part of the country…at least the retirees and the homeschoolers, I guess.
Honey – I finally met the honey couple. I bought 2 gal of honey this time. They had a ton of samples for me to try. I only found one or two varieties that I didn’t care for. I’m using honey as our main sweetener these days. I’m baking all cookies and snacks from scratch – so I’m using more honey than I ever thought possible.
Library – After the honey stop I headed for the library to pick up books for the next month. I used to HATE using the library for school but that was because I had a LIST and felt I needed the exact book on the list to use the curriculum. With Tapestry of Grace being subject specific I’m free from that tyranny. {bg} I have found it best to go online and search out some choices, head to the library and find those while scanning the areas nearby for other treasures and check out enough to last at LEAST 3 weeks. I try to do it by the unit. Then I can renew them three times so I can have all the books for each unit here at home until the unit is over. I can survive with one library trip per unit….and we drop books off as we are done with them. It’s working.
New Unit - We are starting a few weeks on Queen Victoria and the Victorian era this week. Our library didn’t have a lot of books on QV but I was able to find great stuff on the TOG website. We’ll rely on those websites. I also was able to use “All Through the Ages” and find some historical biographies to fit into the time period….that the library had. We’re good to go
Taxes - We got the taxes done Sunday night. I’m going to be working on the girls – soon. They would have done them but since the government sent their info HERE I’ll just do it this year.
SAGE Co-op – Yesterday was the deadline for online ordering. I sent out a reminder and need to work on my order today and download the groups’ orders and get that sent in. I’m doing it early as we are going to be gone when it’s due.
That’s it for Monday.
The quail is still living. He didn’t like the starter mash. A retiree at the chapel who is a farmer/rancher said that they always started chicks on boiled eggs. We boiled an egg and he at like he was starving….quite perky little fellow. Cute too – I’ll take picture later.
Vacation – spent 5 hours yesterday getting us booked into CAMP SITES! Can you believe that???? Where are the days where you got in your car, drove out to the woods and found an isolated spot to camp? Of course most places do have at least an outhouse and some even have showers now…so progress has it’s advantages. {g} We thought this time of year that we’d have the campgrounds to ourselves…but it seems that everyone goes camping in April in this part of the country…at least the retirees and the homeschoolers, I guess.
Honey – I finally met the honey couple. I bought 2 gal of honey this time. They had a ton of samples for me to try. I only found one or two varieties that I didn’t care for. I’m using honey as our main sweetener these days. I’m baking all cookies and snacks from scratch – so I’m using more honey than I ever thought possible.
Library – After the honey stop I headed for the library to pick up books for the next month. I used to HATE using the library for school but that was because I had a LIST and felt I needed the exact book on the list to use the curriculum. With Tapestry of Grace being subject specific I’m free from that tyranny. {bg} I have found it best to go online and search out some choices, head to the library and find those while scanning the areas nearby for other treasures and check out enough to last at LEAST 3 weeks. I try to do it by the unit. Then I can renew them three times so I can have all the books for each unit here at home until the unit is over. I can survive with one library trip per unit….and we drop books off as we are done with them. It’s working.
New Unit - We are starting a few weeks on Queen Victoria and the Victorian era this week. Our library didn’t have a lot of books on QV but I was able to find great stuff on the TOG website. We’ll rely on those websites. I also was able to use “All Through the Ages” and find some historical biographies to fit into the time period….that the library had. We’re good to go
Taxes - We got the taxes done Sunday night. I’m going to be working on the girls – soon. They would have done them but since the government sent their info HERE I’ll just do it this year.
SAGE Co-op – Yesterday was the deadline for online ordering. I sent out a reminder and need to work on my order today and download the groups’ orders and get that sent in. I’m doing it early as we are going to be gone when it’s due.
That’s it for Monday.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Rascal prepares to leave the mothership..er chick hatcher (4 hours old)
Hatching - this is a much better photo when blown up but then blogger won't upload it. LOL There's his little head popping out the top of the shell. The kids have named him rascal. It's very hard to leave him in the hatcher and not transfer him to a box...but we are trying to follow directions. He got his head stuck in his shell and a great amount of restraint not to help him out. He's resting now.
Everyone else is at a big Easter Egg hunt at chapel but I knew that it would be difficult for Zander so he, Stacia and I are about to head in for the service.
QUAIL UPDATE
First problem solved - chick will need to stay in incubator for some time after hatching so should be fine until we get home from chapel.....but we may miss the hatching! ARGH.
Second problem - chick needs "starter mash". I've found a list of what is IN it but no idea how to make it - I will use some of Stacia's rice cereal for today and buy some mash tomorrow.
Third problem - check needs to be in the brooder for SIX WEEKS and we are going camping....this is something I must ponder on.
First problem solved - chick will need to stay in incubator for some time after hatching so should be fine until we get home from chapel.....but we may miss the hatching! ARGH.
Second problem - chick needs "starter mash". I've found a list of what is IN it but no idea how to make it - I will use some of Stacia's rice cereal for today and buy some mash tomorrow.
Third problem - check needs to be in the brooder for SIX WEEKS and we are going camping....this is something I must ponder on.
QUAIL EGGS
Our eggs were to have hatched yesterday and haven't. This a.m. one of them is moving....I'm shocked that we may get a quail....and now I'm trying to figure out what will happen if it hatches while we are chapel....and what am I going to feed the thing. I didn't research it after we repeatedly caught Zander turning the eggs.
Our eggs were to have hatched yesterday and haven't. This a.m. one of them is moving....I'm shocked that we may get a quail....and now I'm trying to figure out what will happen if it hatches while we are chapel....and what am I going to feed the thing. I didn't research it after we repeatedly caught Zander turning the eggs.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Camping Meals?
In looking ahead to our vacation I'm wondering what I can do for food. We are staying away from many things.....and we are doing things from scratch so Denty More Stew isn't going to cut it this time...nor is bacon and eggs in the a.m. {g} I've been told by a "reliable" source that turkey bacon looks like dog treats! :::snort:::
I'm open for ideas. At this point I'm making and freezing muffins and buns for the trip. I'll have a loaf or two to take with us too. But we'll have to buy some along the way as traveling with a ton of produce and fresh baked bread stuffs doesn't work real well. I need to order some produce from co-op this time because we are nearly out of everything....but I need to be careful so we don't have a ton of stuff left when we leave.
Breakfasts:
Granola, oatmeal, eggs, biscuits (bake ahead? Dutch oven?) muffins, fruits, pancakes
Lunch:
Sanwiches, salad, fruit, pasta
Dinners:
Salads, fruits
Maybe some freezer meals I can thaw and heat (spaghetti, soups, grill some burgers, steaks, foil veggies)
What do you all do with a Dutch Oven? What do you all have when you go camping? How am I going to do S'mores? I guess I better get looking for some marshamallows without artifical flavors and such...Jodi sent some vegan links but I don't think I'd get them in time....I'll have to check the healthfood store here....
Snacks:
fruit, carrots, granola bars, cookies baked at home, I still have some Annie bunny crackers - in fact havent' opened any of them - they would work for snacks....
Ideas????
In looking ahead to our vacation I'm wondering what I can do for food. We are staying away from many things.....and we are doing things from scratch so Denty More Stew isn't going to cut it this time...nor is bacon and eggs in the a.m. {g} I've been told by a "reliable" source that turkey bacon looks like dog treats! :::snort:::
I'm open for ideas. At this point I'm making and freezing muffins and buns for the trip. I'll have a loaf or two to take with us too. But we'll have to buy some along the way as traveling with a ton of produce and fresh baked bread stuffs doesn't work real well. I need to order some produce from co-op this time because we are nearly out of everything....but I need to be careful so we don't have a ton of stuff left when we leave.
Breakfasts:
Granola, oatmeal, eggs, biscuits (bake ahead? Dutch oven?) muffins, fruits, pancakes
Lunch:
Sanwiches, salad, fruit, pasta
Dinners:
Salads, fruits
Maybe some freezer meals I can thaw and heat (spaghetti, soups, grill some burgers, steaks, foil veggies)
What do you all do with a Dutch Oven? What do you all have when you go camping? How am I going to do S'mores? I guess I better get looking for some marshamallows without artifical flavors and such...Jodi sent some vegan links but I don't think I'd get them in time....I'll have to check the healthfood store here....
Snacks:
fruit, carrots, granola bars, cookies baked at home, I still have some Annie bunny crackers - in fact havent' opened any of them - they would work for snacks....
Ideas????
Accomplishments of the day:
Mike had to go to work today…to catch up from his week in AL and to prepare for our leave time. I am wondering what will happen when the little car reaches the snake’s mouth on my ticker…hopefully we’ll be on vacation.
I made home-made ice cream all by myself. {G}
I made 2 dismal loaves of bread (see photo below), and lots of yummy buns and hoagie rolls.
I made an apple crisp. It was from “Whole Foods for the Whole Family”. The boys informed me that it was “ok” but the prefer the Pampered Chef yellow cake mix on top apple crisp that we used to bake. Do you think I can figure out a healthy version of this? What is IN a cake mix? Hmmm….
We made another batch of dehydrated apples. My family doesn’t really like them but I’ll give them to Porsha (sp???) she likes them.
Jamin raked the front.
I made dinner (steak/hamburger, yummy roasted red potatoes, zucchini, red peppers, carrots adapted from Heather’s recipe; fresh buns; huge salad and fresh fruit…apple crisp for dessert).
I’m noticing that this cooking from scratch stuff will force me to stay home more. It also takes up all my free time and some of my not so free time. {g}
Zander is on the second day of NO M/M’s….seems to be winding back down….and I have not a clue where Josiah has now hidden the M/M’s hopefully they are safe.
Mike had to go to work today…to catch up from his week in AL and to prepare for our leave time. I am wondering what will happen when the little car reaches the snake’s mouth on my ticker…hopefully we’ll be on vacation.
I made home-made ice cream all by myself. {G}
I made 2 dismal loaves of bread (see photo below), and lots of yummy buns and hoagie rolls.
I made an apple crisp. It was from “Whole Foods for the Whole Family”. The boys informed me that it was “ok” but the prefer the Pampered Chef yellow cake mix on top apple crisp that we used to bake. Do you think I can figure out a healthy version of this? What is IN a cake mix? Hmmm….
We made another batch of dehydrated apples. My family doesn’t really like them but I’ll give them to Porsha (sp???) she likes them.
Jamin raked the front.
I made dinner (steak/hamburger, yummy roasted red potatoes, zucchini, red peppers, carrots adapted from Heather’s recipe; fresh buns; huge salad and fresh fruit…apple crisp for dessert).
I’m noticing that this cooking from scratch stuff will force me to stay home more. It also takes up all my free time and some of my not so free time. {g}
Zander is on the second day of NO M/M’s….seems to be winding back down….and I have not a clue where Josiah has now hidden the M/M’s hopefully they are safe.
See the dismal bread???? They looked like classic loaves of bread when they began baking. This trench in the one on the left is new. Not progress but new. {g} I also made 15 buns and 7 hoagie rolls and they are fine.
If you have any clues let me know. I'm seriously thinking that I'll have to have Adrienne and Becky (both reputed to be bread bakers extraordinaires). I've adjusted yeast, salt, oven temps, rising times, rising methods, number of loaves baking....I'm stymied.
Here's the recipe:
5 1/2 C warm water (or milk & water)
2/3 C honey
2/3 C oil
2 T SAF yeast
5 C feshly milled Prairie Gold
Measure into Bosch and let set 2o minutes. Add:
1 T salt
2 T dough enhancer
7-10 C freshly milled Prairie Gold, Spel or Kamut. Divide & Shape dough. Let rise in warm oven for 20 minutes. Bake at 350* for 25- 28 minutes.
I've used this recipe in San Antonio and Anchorage - but HERE it simply won't behave. Here are the changes I've made.
Oven (obviously can't help that)
Prairie Gold is a hard white wheat - I can't get PG here but am using Hard White
SAF Yeast - am using Red Star (all friends use RS here and seem to be fine)
dough enhancer - since I don't need to worry about shelf life I've eliminated this...trying to avoide perservatives...why add them to my bread???? None of my friends are using this here either and they aren't having this problem.
Adrienne's bread is good and she bakes it HERE and really her recipe is about the same as the above....WHAT IS UP????
Mike is home. His plane was two+ hours late.
His bag is not home...last sighted in Memphis, TN. It will hopefully arrive today.
We did watch Narnia last night. Josiah made it home from work in time for the older ones to watch an episode of Hogan's Heroes and then we all called it a day.
At this point only the younger ones and I are up and around. Arielle has requested crepes for breakfast. Jamin is out running.
Life is back to "normal".....
His bag is not home...last sighted in Memphis, TN. It will hopefully arrive today.
We did watch Narnia last night. Josiah made it home from work in time for the older ones to watch an episode of Hogan's Heroes and then we all called it a day.
At this point only the younger ones and I are up and around. Arielle has requested crepes for breakfast. Jamin is out running.
Life is back to "normal".....
Friday, April 07, 2006
Stacia Joy at 7.5 months
I dressed Stacia and planned to go have her work her magic on the mechanics at the body shop. Here she wiggles with Cy. 
Finally, they let me down....Hmmm what should I do first? 
Showing off the eyelashes and teeth
SNAP! I missed the one where she snapped her eyes! But this one will do!
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