Bread making day

I made bread today (and organized my pantry).  It’s called English Muffin Bread and each slice tastes like an English muffin…go figure 🙂  I got the recipe from a book that I got from the library called Kneadlessly Simple.  I will try to get the recipe up here soon, but it’ll take some time to type it all up.  All the recipes in the book are fantastic for a mom or someone who gets interrupted constantly and doesn’t have more than 10-15 minutes to devote to something, or forgets how long something has been going on.  The recipes include words like, “if convenient” and rise for “3-10 hours” and “leave on counter for 12-18 hours.”  The breads are made in stages and can be done quickly if needed/wanted or can be drug out for 3-4 days.  I whipped up this bread dough yesterday afternoon, left it in the bowl in the fridge until 10pm, set it on the counter overnight, set the bowl in the unheated oven much of the day, stirred it, put it into the pans then turned the oven light on and let it rise:

After it rose for a while, I cooked it. Then I ate it…

with NUTELLA aka my new crack!!!  (and one slice with lemon curd since that’s what I usually like on my English muffins if I don’t have butter)

If You’ve Got Boys in Your Life

If you’ve got boys in your life, then I highly recommend you read the book, Wild Things: the art of nurturing boys by Stephen James and David Thomas.  I picked it up from the library today and haven’t been able to put it down (well, okay, I have had to put it down, but every word read so far I’ve loved and I’ve been given hope and some insight on being a better mom.)   I’ve skimmed through much of the parts that pertain to the boys’ ages and really feel that these guys have nailed my boys.   The style of writing makes for a quick and easy read, but there’s so much information and did I mention HOPE!  So, if you’ve got boys, read this book. 🙂

Letter Writing and Lessons

Alexander has decided to take things into his own hands as well as go right to the source:

On the back he included his name, address, thank you, as well as a note saying he’d be able to send them $4.  He got the idea to write the company from a book, Stink, that he read.  In the book, Stink (the boy) wrote to the candy company about wanting something and in return he got a huge box of candy.  We told him that Stink is just a story.  He’s 6 and thinks his actions will get results.

After he’d gone to bed tonight, I went in his room to set out his uniform (yes, back to school tomorrow) for the morning and he rolled over and very groggily asked me if I got an envelope yet for him.   Not quite sure what I’m going to do.  I know somewhere here there are some lessons about greed and being thankful and happy with what one has as well as the commandment regarding not coveting others’ goods, but I’m not sure right now how to get those across to him.

***Edited to add:  the letter says that he doesn’t have a DS because we don’t have money for one…if it was something we thought he really needed, we could get it, however, like we’ve told him, we choose to spend our money on other things.  We’ve also told him that he ought to count his blessings because there are incredible numbers of children and adults who truly have nothing.  Just thought I’d clarify.

Snow

We’ve got lots of snow and plenty of freezing temps to keep it around awhile.  On Dec. 30 the day was right around freezing, so plenty warm enough to go out and play.  Jaime and the boys had some great snowball fights and made a snowman…I don’t think we’ve ever had a snowman last so long!  According to the weather man we should have a heat wave come Sunday with a high in the low 20s, but before that we may break some decades old records for our cold weather in the below zero area…oh somewhere around -13!

Stay Warm 🙂

Pretty Dress

Mom made Penelope a dress like one that she made for me and my sisters when we were little.  Today she finally got to wear it.

I had such a difficult time trying to get a decent picture of her so I just kept snapping them.  I think she finally had had ENOUGH:

Popcorn

We’ve all been loving popcorn here lately.  I think it’s been my favorite holiday snack salted and with some cinnamon red hots thrown in.  It’s the perfect combination of salty, crunchy, and sweet with a kick 🙂

Happy New Year!

Praying you have a very blessed year 🙂

New blog change

for 2 months i’ve been hiding here.  i’ve amassed quite a few of blogs that i love to read. so, i’ve been collecting and reading and crafting, and not blogging. oh yeah, i’ve been a mama too.  so, come and check things out over here and leave me a comment or 2  🙂   i will keep up with this blog too, and i hope to do a better job!

Pictures :)

Wow! 2 months without a single post…

shame on me!  of course lots has happened, Alexander’s Thanksgiving program, Thanksgiving, Christmas concert and programs, Penelope’s first birthday! Christmas, and so much more!

She really is a happy girl, this one was just too cute not to share though. 🙂