May. 11, 2008 - Celebrating Motherhood

Happy Mother's Day everyone. We're not big on celebrating holiday's around here but it always nice to give honor to others when fitting and there is simply nothing offensive about Mother's day. It is a wonderful day to look back at motherhood. I suppose it's even more on my mind because today is my 39th week of pregnancy. This baby is making her presence ever so known with her foot placed in one particular place on my ribs. :)

Anyway, we sent off a package to Les's mother this week. She is a wonderful mother-in-law to have. She has always been very accepting of me. She's not critical or cruel. She has never criticized us as parents or our children for anything they have done. She has simply loved us. She has never raised her voice to us but when we visit she makes sure that she has time for us, there is no competition for the t.v. as there isn't one to compete with.  I am thankful to have her as a mother-in-law. Our children adore her. She will sit and read to them and has an enormous amount of patience. She should as she's had 13 children of her own and 50 something grandchildren. She does not scoff or shake her head when we announce to them that we're expecting yet again. There is also no false excitement either. It is a way of life for her. I am grateful for her honesty and for her love in life. Something that she told Les and I a few years ago was that when she was younger her parents had to take her everywhere with them. She was a difficult and I think a hyperactive child. No one would/could babysit her. Well she grew up to be a wonderful person, even gifted in my opinion, she's very bright and seems to know the common as well as Latin name for every plant species known to man ;). Les and I have been encouraged to know that even though we can have issues with our children (who doesn't) but particularly in the area of hyperactivity that it can actually be a sign of great intelligence and that it doesn't mean the child will grow up with any great hindrance to their developing character.

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May. 8, 2008 - Vacation day

Today was a vacation day. Why? Because mom is hormonal. No other reason. Do I feel bad? No, why? Because we don't take a lot of days off, we don't follow the public school's schedule. We have the freedom to do it occasionally and my children's well being is worth it. I woke up feeling like a bear. Maybe that's a good thing and maybe baby will be here soon. I don't know. I am not anxious for baby to be here but I am hormonal. Not much you can do about that but pray and hope to be nice when you don't feel like it.

I have a dear husband who loves me and who was blessed to have been around a lot of hormonal women. I have seen these women towards the end, they are sometimes very crabby. Yes, I think it is normal but not fun. I remember seeing a woman yell very loudly at a friend for trying to get her food at a picnic. I had only one child at the time I think she had many. I can't see myself doing that but I can relate to the hormonal ups and downs.

We met with a sweet Christian sister a week ago at a local park who has 3 children of her own. She told me about these great free kid's dinner coupons for Bob Evans. What better day to go than today? Yes, it was raining cats & dogs out and we got wet but we enjoyed each other's company and even though our 2 year old accidentally dumped his cup of water on the floor...which came open at the bottom and spilled everywhere we still had a great time. We played tic, tac, toe, exchanged bites and laughs and enjoyed ourselves. People do stare after a while when you start having more kids. It's sometimes humorous. I especially enjoy these last few weeks in that people really are shocked that I'm out being as huge as I am. When they ask, "how much longer" they usually get this scared look in their eye and back up. No I promise I've never dropped a baby on the spot...close but not quite! That is fun to see people's reactions. Maybe they think I'm not safe to be out in public? I don't like being alone a lot with the kids and going out helps me some days plus it helps to get out a bit and take your mind off of those last minute things that you want to get done especially when they're already done. Pack n' Play is up, sheets washed, the few outfits that we are using are washed and I even have an emergency birthing kit, also I decided to go ahead and pack a bag this time for the hospital. Why not.

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May. 6, 2008 - Using your time wisely

I like this article. Brother Joseph at church has shared this before and just sent it out in an e-mail. I thought I would share it. Not to be seen as legalism, but as a help and encouragement. I hope to revisit this and learn from it.

                                                              Guidelines for Using Our Time Wisely

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May. 3, 2008 - Art

The children have had a blast this week working with clay. I found a large fairly inexpensive box of air dry clay at Michaels and just couldn't resist. We turned up the classical music and created some beauties. We still need to paint them. We also found some Polymer clay on sale for .99 cents a piece so I bought a mold and decided to try our hand at it. It's not as "nice" looking as I thought it would be but the kids love it just the same. Alexis was so funny, she commented about the mom saying, "well that skirt isn't quite modest but at least it's a skirt mommy" ;)

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Apr. 29, 2008 - Thankful for carseats

I thought this video was very convincing and wow, scary! Granted our grandmothers didn't have car seats (most of us anyway) but they also stayed home more often. I just seen this posted on MOMYS and thought it was worth watching:
www.youtube.com/watch

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Apr. 29, 2008 - Math and 37 week picture

The children have been planting seeds. We put in some Marigolds and will be planting Cantalope, Cucumbers, Pumpkins, and Squash (to do birdhouses later).

Both Alexis & Liam have earned their certificates for their Second book of Math U See and we're now moving on to a Math Skills workbook for Alexis for over the summer and Liam will be moving on to Saxon Math as it's a real interest to him otherwise I would be doing the same for him! We've been doing Pizza Hut's Book It! Program, the kids got their pizza's yesterday and look forward to them each month. Hey it's free and gives them incentive to read everyday and write down what they're doing.

I wanted to post a belly shot. Baby has definitely dropped! I felt her kick off of my ribs a few days ago and that was the last time (thankfully). Now I am waddling like a duck but that's not a bad thing as it makes you slow down.
I have an appointment with a Nutritional Dr/Internist this Friday to go over some blood tests and hair analysis that we did last month. I am interested in what he says. No white flour and sugar I know for sure as Les went to him and I am aware of the general things! At my initial visit he said to drink 1 Qt of water for every 50 lbs of body weight everyday. Are you getting enough?!

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Apr. 22, 2008 - Spring has sprung

It's absolutely beautiful outside. The trees are blooming the Forsythia is in full bloom, we will be pressing their flowers today along with some of the many violets that are growing wild on our hillside. The Redbud are almost in full-bloom. We did get about 1/3 of our garden planted. We put in lettuce and peas in hopes that the cooler weather would encourage them to sprout. The children are watering them to encourage the process along.

I have my appointment this week with our natural Birthing Center at the hospital. Basically you go over paperwork at 36 wks so that if you go anytime afterwards you are registered and in their system. It's not exactly a registration process although they do a little of that. I've already sent in most of the paperwork many months ago so the insurance was taken care. It's more of an interview. They want to make sure that you're ready to go there. They look over your birth plan along with the pediatrician agreement and the like to make sure that your ped has rights to come into the Birthing Center.

I have been able to get a bit of work done around the house to prepare for the baby. I cleaned out about 75% of our garage although some things just need to be dropped off at Goodwill or rearranged. I've been rearranging our closets too. We don't have a chest-of drawers for the baby so I hang everything up and have a wire organizer in my closet for diapers, wipes and a few blankets. I've been getting out less and less with each baby. I think I have one receiving blanket washed and told Les that we could probably get by with only one. He said I should at least have another one for messes. Okay that's true. I will get down a few more. But I do hate clutter which is why I like the closet method. It leaves much less room for extra clothing that one doesn't need and sort of forces you to get rid of what you don't wear. I'm also doing another toss and give away today with toys that aren't getting played with. Most of the toys are in bins or in the closets as well and this keeps our floors clean for the most part...and it keeps me happy :) Now to tackle the storage room as most of what is taking up space out there (under our deck) are deck chairs, an umbrella for our table, and a few tents and bikes. The kids will love getting their bikes out!

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Apr. 15, 2008 - Creation museum outing

This past week we were blessed with some guest passes to the Creation Museum from some lovely Christian friends. The kids loved it especially the mechanical dinosaurs and the "Men In White" show with special effects. A great school outing! The museum started with Genesis and touched on the fall/sin and the cosmos-time and space. They even had a section on how we get different types of dogs from one set of parents. People are the same way (in variety only) so we get a lot of variety from one set of parents. Neat! I will add that the majority of the museum is more geared towards people who have been raised or had a secular world view and who can understand heavier spiritual matters so I would say ages 12 and up depending on the level of understanding one has. It was still a lovely time.

My matching beauties:
A 1 % scale model of Noah's Ark
Just a model don't ask me the scale on this one!
Noah's family giving a sacrifice and thanksgiving to the Lord for preserving them.

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Apr. 8, 2008 - Spelling Bee

Our son Liam had his spelling bee last night. It was a great time for him and most of the children from the looks of it. Everyone got a  ribbon for participating with our local homeschool group's name on it. Liam and another little boy the one on the far right were in a marathon round for about 20 minutes. In the end the other little boy won and Liam placed second. He loved the competition. He asked to do it again next year...and the next, and the next....all the way up to fourth grade since he seen fourth graders up there competing as well. We enjoyed the fun outing as a family.

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Apr. 5, 2008 - Doula news & first babies

I'm officially 34 wks along and we've chosen our Doula. She's a wonderful Christian mom of many herself and is still in training. This will work out for both of us as I am her last needed birth to become certified and she's a wonderful encouragement to me-very calm, relaxed and cheerful to be around. Our main desire was to have a doula who was very well grounded in the Lord. She even suggested reciting Bible verses during my labor. I told her about my issues of getting sick often during labor and my tendency to get dehydrated very quickly. She is going to help me to drink often and even suggested using honey sticks for energy. I am very excited and am no longer dreading it because I know I will have the support I need. Les is a great support as well and I know that I am in good hands.

Strangely enough I was told some years ago that at the natural birthing center where we go which is in and of itself very wonderful that the nurses there act as doula's. But when I started going from my second child on I had found that the nurses weren't really sure how to help me through my labors as great as they were about getting ready for the baby to come I still needed more emotional support. They did suggest a birthing ball with my son...I had 4 hrs of transition with him and wasn't too impressed with the birthing ball. He was stuck.  After the midwife decided to check me and found the problem he got unstuck and  all was well. Not my idea of ideal labor but what can you do? Plus he was likely 10 lbs....he had a bm right after he was born and was 9lbs 12 oz!!!

I can at least be prepared for the support that I need and I hope and pray that things go at least as well as my last two labors have gone...very quick! If I'm remembering correctly, my sister had one baby in 40 minutes before and my record thus far is an hour with our last son but his bag of waters was broken by the midwife so that might have a lot to do with it! I am hoping and praying that things go well.

I've been wanting to add some picture of my first babies! I no longer own any horses as I didn't feel that it was a responsible thing for me to keep doing once I became a mother and wife because we were boarding. This first one was my horse of many years who was very close to my heart. He is in good hands now. My dear auntie took this picture of me with my grey gelding for my graduation. He was an excellent part of my life-showed me responsibility and won a great 25 mile race at Mohican State park a few years after this. He was my hero and kept me out of trouble.
Here's my second and third baby. My uncle helped me to find this beautiful mare who was bred when I got her and here is her precious baby-pure bred Arabian and full of spunk. I was able to witness the birth just a day prior to this photo being taken.

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Mar. 31, 2008 - Daily work and Firehouse tour

Here's a paper that our 6 year old Liam wrote this a.m. for school. We do this everyday. Basically they read a book and then write a short narrative of WHO and WHAT in the paragraph. I'm so proud of him because just a few months ago he didn't want to do any writing but we stuck it out and I knew that he could do it and even come to like it....he didn't have to write this much only a few lines. It was his choice to fill the paper.

Now here are some photo's from our Firehouse tour. It was a great tour! We're doing First Aid and Fire Safety for Keepers and Contenders. The children had a great time. The fire chief had a large family who Home-schools. His wife gave us a tour while they were off on a run to the local High School which I thought was very nice of her especially considering that she just had a baby herself!

Here is the awesome kitchen that the firefighters get to use. The poor guys had some delicious food sitting on the table-not even touched! They got the call in the middle of dinner but had to leave it. I think that being a fireman is probably the closest that a man will be to knowing how a mother feels! You have to wake up in a minute in the middle of the night to loud irritating noises-ready in an instant (out of bed), drop your food in the middle of a meal and eat cold food and not mind it ;). Always ready for change and emergencies that come up...granted ours as mothers are thankfully not as serious but to be willing to go into the profession knowing that you will be challenged in these ways is very similar to motherhood...so I say that they deserve a very NICE kitchen!

Three of ours on the right just amazed at the man in the suit. My younger sister was able to come too which was really nice. This fireman was showing the children how a fireman would look if you were in a house trapped and how scary it *might* be but not to be scared because the equipment he is wearing is just to protect him and help him to breathe. And that a child should never hide from a firefighter.
My husband thought this would be a fun shot. This is the ladder coming out prior to going up. Ladder all of the way up. A few of the kids remembered that it was 110' to the top!

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Mar. 25, 2008 - Saxon Math and baby update

We just received our order through CBD last week. I bought our 6 year old a new math program. He seemed to be doing well with the MUS but it also seems to be an area that he's pretty good at so we've decided to run with it. Instead of buying the next level of MUS I prayed, did some research and then decided to go with Saxon we also bought the manipulatives kit with it. The kids love this kit! We're still using MUS for our oldest at this point and will be using a nice workbook over the summer for her for retention. Les and I discussed what to do over the summer and we both agreed to do a modified schooling of writing and math for retention.

This past week I was struck by a pain in my foot. I couldn't walk. First time ever I have dealt with something of this nature. With a borrowed crutch I hobbled into my OB's office and he sent me for an x-ray. We covered the baby well. No answers as of yet other than speculation but I'm treating it with cherry juice and a load of water. Basically I need a good 1 gallon of water a day and I'm trying to get that. Try doing that for one day! It's A LOT of water! I do feel better, more alert and energetic. I'm also not suffering from thirst as much-of course! My foot feels a lot better. It's not 100% but at least I can walk on it.  I have a Dr's appointment today to check a few things.

The baby is either breech or transverse and needs to turn very soon. I am trying some stretches and will be talking with the chiropractor this week about it. I'm also looking at Spinningbabies.com which has a lot of good recommendations. It would be a terrible shame to have to have a c-section just for the sakes of delivering a breech/transverse baby! I believe the baby can move into the proper positioning but I still know that the further along I get the less likely that could be even if some babies still turn later some are still yet born breech and some still can't be born naturally as much as I hate to think of that. I'm being pro-active and doing what I can. Prayers are appreciated! :) Baby is also measuring very small. Despite the fact that several of my babies have been huge I still do measure small towards the end but usually I measure smaller at the very end when baby is head-down and hidden. She isn't very hidden right now so I suspect that she may be very small which is very unusual for me! I'm measuring 6 weeks behind. It could be because of her position but I am going to ask for an U/S to check on her next time I go in because of my various health issues for peace of mind even though I don't like to get that sort of testing. I wouldn't want it otherwise but feel it can be helpful to evaluate fluid levels of the baby and make sure she's okay.

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Mar. 17, 2008 - Loss, Spring and Keepers at Home meetings

This past week we lost a precious sister in Christ. Our pastor's wife passed away from Ovarian Cancer. She fought the good fight. She passed away very peacefully we are told and never once complained. She will be dearly missed even though we know that she is in a better place it's not realistic to say we won't miss her. I feel the most for the family and are praying for their comfort during this time of grief. One thing I think of when I think of this sister is how she set such a good example to us younger sisters to love our husbands, children and to never talk bad about anyone. She was truly a blessing to know. She was not prideful or boastful but full of love and care for others. I can learn a lot from her example.
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Spring is coming on nicely. Old man winter got the hint I think? There are a lot of bulbs that are starting to come up and it's getting warmer. The children are able to play outside a bit more which is very nice. I am hoping to have some peas planted soon as St. Patrick's day (we really don't celebrate) but that is the day that I've read that you're supposed to put peas in and it worked well last year so I'm sticking to it...now I just need to get out and buy those seeds. Oh and Happy 8th Anniversary Jeff & Nikki! I hope you had a great one!!!

We finished up our quilting pillow. They turned out nicely. The girls worked hard on them and did a great job. It's a nine patch I do believe.

We're moving on now to First Aid and Fire Safety. I'm combining them because they go so well together. This week we're taking a tour of the brand new fire house down the street. I'm told that they have a brand new big ladder truck and that it would be worth seeing. The kids have been asking me about the field trip. Fire houses are always fun.

I really need to take a new belly picture to post. I am huge at this point no use denying what you can see! Hehehe. Drinking lots of Red Raspberry Leaf tea and I'm going to be starting my Evening primrose oil tablets here soon. I'm also drinking Spirulina everyday. It gives me a great lift when I need it! I make a shake out of it. I hear so many good things about it and even Les says when I'm feeling down go drink some Spirulina. Well the Lord knows what he's doing when he gives us good things to help us. Now I just need to stick with it because I need all the help I can get while being pregnant. Those hormones aren't an easy thing to deal with! The benefits of Spirulina

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Mar. 9, 2008 - Old man winter

We threw a party for old man winter. We are then expecting his prompt exit.
As Les puts it: "In like a lion out like a lamb". I hope he's right. I have never heard this phrase when referring to March or Spring but it's very fitting. We were told that we had a blizzard. We got about a foot of snow. The picture above is an accurate view of what we did get. It snowed all day long.
Yesterday there were only 2 vehicles that attempted to go up our hill. One being the mail truck-he never made it after three runs he turned around and left. We never got our mail. The poor mailman! The other truck got a running start and was a police vehicle.

After a full afternoon of playing out in the snow.

Our poor four year old wasn't able to go out because she had a fever which thankfully only lasted a day.

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Mar. 4, 2008 - s...Cool supplies

We found a wonderful resource. We have a local resource library for special needs that isn't too very far. They offer many resources like Cuisenaire Science. The one we're borrowing is the yellow one below for Physical Science. If I had to buy this item it would be very expensive! It's only Grade 1 but still very useful to our two second graders. So far they've using the scale, done experiments with light they punch holes through three index cards, lining them up and holding up a flash light and talk about how light travels in a straight line, and such. Their dad is doing many of these projects with them, it's right up his alley. It's also got quite a bit of a Charolette Mason approach as the kit is intended on encouraging the child to explore for themselves without help. But since it's not ours I'm less likely to open up our "science fair" to them unsupervised.  
Also, we've been having some problems with our AD/HD child remembering some vowel sounds no matter what I've tried. I found this there too that I was hoping would give more of an awareness to the sounds as some children seem to need many different sensory approaches. It's a fun interactive game for Phonemic awareness. My kids love this. The pen makes noises-give praises or gives a buzzer sound if you get it wrong.  Great concept! It is also very expensive so I'm glad to have this as a free resource! I would like to see if they have this in a more advanced level next time we go.

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Feb. 27, 2008 - Feeling a bit quiet...laboring thoughts

There are a lot of different things going on around us right now. One big change is that our church has been going through a lot of changes. Our pastor's wife is needing prayer and her family has been suffering much. Our church has been going through a transformation as well with new needs and spiritual growth essential. I have been praying for the entire situation as there is really nothing else that I can do aside from praying at this point.

I am really feeling ready for spring of course our baby will be here in a few months and will be taking up a lot of our time and that is a good thing. Baby is measuring right on target. My blood sugar levels came back normal. I praise the Lord for that!

I've felt a real need for direction in this past month regarding how to deal with labor and delivery. I've taken Lamaze but it wasn't for me nor was the basic natural birthing classes offered by our local hospital. Neither helped me. So, I've been reading a few different books on the topic. There is a lot of chaff out there when you delve into the topic. I have one by Dick-Read that is so far 75% off but the 25% is good and I need to hear it. I say off because he goes into evolution, animal reaction and doesn't see things from a Godly perspective. Sort of like most Dr's. They have a lot of info from secular books that support these same theories. But they still have some good. I have received a nugget of good from this book basically he says that a woman won't relax or go into labor on her own...needing drugs/interaction to start labor if she doesn't have a mother figure present. (Or so that's what I think the book was saying) my interpretation. It made me stop and think. Yes, that has been true for me. I have always felt like I wanted to run away from my pain. Once, my best labor with our 3rd child I had a motherly and understanding midwife who came into the room at one point when I was suffering and looked me in the eyes and reminded me to relax and that everything was going to be okay. She had confidence in me that I didn't have. I hated the pain but I relaxed after that and had an EASY labor. Who would think that something so simple actually has an effect on you? But I think it just might. I know my body can labor and have a baby. But it's when I come to the point of labor (transition?) when it gets very difficult for me and when I need a labor partner. My dear husband is great support physically he holds me up during the delivery and is there for emotional support but he can't calm me. So I am thinking that I need to find an alternative to a mother in the delivery room. I am praying for wisdom in this area as I only have 12 +/- wks to go. I have only once went into labor on my own and even then I had my water broken...but I've had that with all 4. I hope that if I fill in this void in my labor that maybe I can go into labor on my own. It's hard when you've been raised to rely on yourself and not to ask anything from others and have learned not to ask...not to inconvenience anyone. So now I am going to look for a birthing doula who can hold my hand and be the mother figure during labor that I need. I am not going to expect a "pain-free" labor as I don't know how realistic it is as the Bible is clear on the topic of Birth equating to pain but I do hope to reduce the level of fear/anxiety and pain in the end.

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Feb. 16, 2008 - Quiver-full blog roll and Susanna Wesley

Some may have noticed that I have joined a blog-roll it's on the lower right hand side of my page. I'm mainly mentioning this in case you didn't see the new blog-roll. It's a compilation of blogs from other  Quiver-full families. I love to hear testimonies of how God has worked in the lives of Christians to bring about a new life.

Speaking on the topic Susanna Wesley is a great example to me of a woman who went through the fire and trials of life yet left such an impact on the Christian world by her trust in God through those difficult times and continuing to have children despite health and financial problems and even the death of many of her children. I just bought and read this book on Susanna Wesley:
 I was greatly encouraged by what this poor woman suffered. She was certainly a dedicated mother and wife despite the hardships and oppression that she underwent. She had 19 children losing 9 of them in infancy. Her first 3 pregnancies were hard on her so hard that she wasn't able to function and had to have a servant to help her at the time. She had rheumatism the book said yet she went on to have so many other children.

Her husband left her once because she didn't say "Amen" after a prayer for the king that her husband had said, which was at home with her by the way not in front of anyone. She likely never said, "amen' after he prayed for the king yet he chose to make a big point out of it (trying to buy favor of the king to advance his position) at one point in which he got so irate with her that he left her with several children (I think 6 at the time) with no care for 5 months. He only returned because their home burned down and he heard about it. He had plans to leave her and the children desperate and destitute by leaving on a ship to be a naval pastor possibly for the rest of his life. He must have been impossible to live with yet she loved him and stuck by his side and had several more children by him. The fire served to be a blessing in the long run because it brought her husband home and they were reunited although they were a bit distant from what the book says.  If she were to have not had more children we never would have had John Wesley nor Charles Wesley.

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Feb. 11, 2008 - Why do I ever cook basic American foods?

Honestly, the more I look into ethnic foods the more I wonder why I ever cook anything else? I wonder if anyone else feels this way? I love trying new foods. Our favorites are Mediterranean it would seem but often other types of food look very good to try as well. We all like Kalamata olives and fresh mozzarella with fresh veggies or hummus and pita so I guess it's no surprise. Here's our Moroccan Chicken dish that we all like: Recipe was here:  www.homeschoolblogger.com/stillearning/409707/
Do you like Pita bread? What do you think of this blog and the recipes? She has an easy Pita Bread recipe this week. http://arabicbites.blogspot.com/

Flavorful chicken and rice? Her Saudi Kabsa also looks good if you scroll down.

Do you like to try new desserts? Like light and fluffy pancakes with a sweet filling? How about this one? arabicbites.blogspot.com/2007/06/ataif-bil-ashta.html

A really good looking Flax seed bread recipe the quality of Panera bread? I'm planning on trying this one as soon as the bread in our freezer is eaten up: www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/flaxseedwheatbread

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Feb. 7, 2008 - Flax seed bread and using the freezer

It's the perfect time of year to bake with the cooler weather. The warmth of fresh baked bread right out of the oven is always welcome with a meal. The thing is that I was having a problem with the high yeast content in homemade bread, it was giving me severe indigestion. I did find a wonderful Flax seed bread recipe in an old copy of my "Keepers at Home" magazine from Fall 2004 that takes much less yeast and is very moist. Actually more moist than any store bought bread and will freeze nicely! I think this is exceptional bread. I sliced what we're not going to use and put it in the freezer for later use. This makes 4 loaves. The recipe is a little rough on instructions but it's not hard really and I can answer any questions if you decide to try it. (see how I added my notes)

Flax Seed Bread:

Soak
1 1/2 c warm water (I go with 120-130 degrees)
1 TBSP Sugar
1 1/2 tsp. rounded yeast (since I measure exactly I just added a little extra)

Mix in Mixer:
1 C. cold milk (re-hydrated powdered milk worked fine)
2 c warm water
2 c brown flour
1 c white flour
1 c flax seed (I used meal)

Add to mixer:
Yeast mixture
2 c white flour
1 TBSP dough enhancer (I used wheat gluten)
1/4 cup melter lard or butter
Mix well then knead by hand. (I used a mixer but there is a lot of flour and will likely need to be kneaded by hand unless you have a big mixer. it will be wet at this point. )

Then add
4 c. white flour (knead until flour is well incorporated)

Let rise till double. This may take a few hours. (I suggest covering with plastic wrap). Divide dough into four parts. (If dry add a little oil to the top to make loaves easier to work with). Put into greased pans (I cover with plastic wrap but remove carefully after bread is risen). Let rise again till double. I left mine overnight! Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. (I baked ours for 40 min then I inverted the loaf into the pan to get rid of the moisture on the bottom of the loaf. This worked very well)

Prep-work
This past week I have also taken the time to prepare dry ingredients for bread, corn bread, waffles and pancakes to last several weeks. If the recipe takes milk I just add the amount of powdered milk to save us on our budget. Then I write on the bag how much liquid to add. This is what it looks like and has saved me much time in the kitchen as I just pull one out and the measuring is already done. I also put pre-measured bags into the freezer of things like brown rice and chicken breasts and meat balls. I just open dump into the crock pot and have a lunch or dinner ready in 4-8 hrs. Easy! This week I have put up 4 loaves of bread into the freezer. They should last us two to three weeks.

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Feb. 1, 2008 - how does training look?

I am so pleased at how our children have been doing for church training. It goes very well if I'm sitting behind them and watching to correct them immediately whenever they forget to sit still or fidget with their hands. I try to teach them to keep their hands in their lap but you can see here that our 2 yo was adjusting. The two youngest are allowed to sit a little different as I think their legs would get tired/fall asleep. I am open to suggestions though! In this picture you can see our "Mr. Speaker" (the radio) I even put hair on our radio for a while to get the kids to laugh. I say look at Mr speaker and they can pretend they're at church. Our children say they love church and I am grateful for that. We are still doing an hour and a half of our tapes daily. A few days we only did one side but that's still 45 minutes. We have borrowed 4 chairs from church for a few weeks to keep it real.

Here's a picture of our pantry after I went and stocked up at Walmart. I use the pantry for craft boxes (on the bottom), games, school supplies and various other paper goods. I like having this pantry as we don't really have room for non-perishable food elsewhere. This week I bought a few extra items like Corn flakes (generic) for a recipe in a cookbook that my mom bought me for my birthday called, "Rachel Ray's 366 no repeats" It's a baked chicken with a corn flake coating. I cook almost all if not all of our food from scratch (aside from the occasional English muffins or things that would take up a lot of time) the one thing that I've found with doing that is that (depending on your family's preferences and dietary needs) you need a lot of small bags of things like wheat bran, sunflower seeds, nuts and such. I'm also trying to bake with only powdered milk aside from sauces (they just don't taste the same). We normally go through 4 gallons of milk a week and that's really not that much if you consider that 1/2 a gallon lasts us a day so that's only 8 cups of milk for 6 people a day plus the extra was for cooking before I went to powdered milk.
I've taken to making about 4 loaves of bread a week. That seems to be just right with a little left over as we generally use the bread to accompany soup or an occasional sandwich.

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