Bread

Genesis 3:19 "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread"

Are you scared of making bread? Be honest. I'm here to tell you that you can do it. Yes, you! It's really not that hard. People sometimes have this idea that bread is this really hard thing to make and you have to be a great cook to even attempt it. But that's a lie. (because even I make it)

My mom made bread all the time growing up. Not only is it cheaper, but I think it's healthier too :). We all love my mom's bread. Sometimes you will find children standing around the kitchen waiting for it to come out of the oven because it tastes especially yummy when it's hot, with butter and honey oozing all over it. It was just something my mom (and most of my aunt's) did. I guess that's something I felt like I was supposed to do once I got married. Here's proof--this is me 2 weeks after we got married, attempting my FIRST batch of homemade bread.


Kenny and I had a good laugh at how very large and deformed they were. I was somewhat paranoid that it wouldn't turn out, so I added extra yeast and let it rise extra long. I soon discovered that it was very unnecessary, and plus they didn't fit it any bags. I didn't do it very often while going to school because I was very busy and somewhat lazy, but since graduation I do it all the time and we love it. We grind our own wheat and it makes yummy wheat flour. I don't do all wheat bread because Kenny doesn't like it as much. So ratio of wheat to white is probably 3:1. That works for us.

Point is, I think you should all try it. It might take a few tries before you get it just the way you like it, but isn't that how most recipes go?
I only make 3 loaves at a time, then I freeze one or two and pull them out when I need them. They're a little more crumbly once they've been frozen, but it's still good :). There's probably hundreds of different bread recipes out there to choose from. If you'd like our family's secret bread recipe (just kidding on the secret part), just ask me. I'd be happy to tell you. So go! It will make your house smell so good and you will feel oh so domestic. Happy bread making!

Love The Lady In You

I don't know if any of you watch the show, "Dancing With The Stars", but I sometimes like to watch them online a couple days after they air. I actually know some of the people this time; Donny Osmond, Melissa Joan-Hart (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), Macy Gray (until she got eliminated), to name a few. Anyway, since I watched it earlier today I can't stop thinking about Kelly Osbourne's Viennese Waltz. Not only was it a neat dance to watch, but I was shocked by the reaction more than anything. She and her partner, and her mom were all crying. Her dad, Ozzy Osbourne, was shocked too! I don't know a whole lot about her life, other than the fact that she has had drug problems, and has basically just been a mess for many years. (With a dad like that how can you blame her?) But I thought it was so wonderful to see her find that beautiful lady inside of her. I have never seen anyone cry like that after dancing, especially the first week.

I have just been thinking about it, and it is proof to me of the divine nature inside each woman. Our spirits love beauty and grace, and that was obviously not something with which she was very familiar. When they got backstage after they danced, she said through her tears, "I have never had so much fun in my whole life and I can't believe I am crying". It's like her spirit was celebrating this natural side to her that she hadn't allowed before. I think everyone was so happily surprised because it is such a stark contrast to her normal self. She was dancing a clean, uplifting, and beautiful dance to wholesome music, and those things refine a person, and it overwhelmed her.

I was always amused by those girls that, while growing up, would have to remind everyone that they were a "tom boy". They "couldn't stand dresses or make up", and just wanted to play with, and act like, boys. I just wondered, what are you afraid of--looking pretty and feeling good about yourself? I'm certainly not saying that we have to always wear dresses and only do "lady-like" things. But it is important to recognize and love our femininity.

My absolute favorite sport is basketball. I played it through junior high, and all but my senior year of high school. I love it. One thing I really appreciated about my dad was that he would always tell me to keep being a lady. Just because I was playing a physical and competitive sport did not mean that I was not still a girl. I could be a lady on and off the court. That really stuck with me. You think about college and pro female b-ball players...not the most feminine gals you'll meet, and he didn't want me to lose that part of me.

Anyway, this may all be taking it a little far. It was just a dance. But it was a transforming moment for Kelly Osbourne, and I have just been reflecting on why it was so significant to her, and apparent to all watching as well. I just think it's important to love the lady in you.

this is what's going on

A lot of yuckies is what's going on at our house. Tyler and Brynlee both have yucky colds and so there's a lot of nose-blowing and sucking, coughing, sneezing, etc. Also lots of drinking and diaper changing (because of the excess fluids), eating cough drops (which Ty thinks are better than candy) and lounging around. I vote that there should be more sleeping!
I made Ty a nice bowl of hot oatmeal with extra honey (which he ate) for breakfast. Then for lunch I made him some hot chicken noodle soup (which he didn't eat). So far I haven't caught anything, knock on wood.

My hand is healing up very well. I am not wearing any bandages today, but I do need to release some fluid out from a couple of the blisters. They look like they'll pop if I don't. I don't know if that's good or bad to do myself, but I'd rather be the one to do it slowly then have it rip open spontaneously. Ouch. Really it's not nearly as bad as it should have or could have been. I had it in ice cold water for a good 20 minutes immediately after it happened, and I KNOW that made a difference. Either that, or I was miraculously healed because my thumb and pointer finger, and palm, should have been a lot worse. Really I'm doing great though.

I still haven't found my wedding ring. I'm losing hope. I had a dream that I found it in the dishwasher and that I was just crying a lot cuz I was so happy and praying "thank you thank you thank you" but then I woke up and it was still gone...and it wasn't in the dishwasher. It makes me so sad because even though I can get another ring, it will never be my wedding ring.

We are looking at apt./houses in edwardsville right now. It's not the we don't love this house-we do-but we are hoping to find something that's closer to everyone and everything. If we don't find anything, we'll stay. I guess we'll see.

It seems to be that whenever I write on here something my kids can't do, they start to do it like the next day. It's kind of funny. So now I'm going to write that Tyler is not even close to wanting to be potty-trained...now let's see if it can work some magic.
Brynlee crawls, and pulls herself up to things on her knees, and occassionally on her feet but falls over shortly after. She shakes her head "no" all the time and it is the cutest thing.

What is it about pizza that is so gosh darn good? I swear I could eat that 3-4 times a week and not tire of it. You can just have different toppings all the time and love eating every time. Tyler totally agrees with me, except he wouldn't switch toppings around. It'd be just cheese all the way. He is one of the pickiest eaters alive but he can down like 3 whole pieces of pizza. I sometimes wish that I had a brick oven to cook it in like they do in restaurants...OK that was random. But really, I love pizza.

Anyway. That is what's going on at our house.

Down by one

want to hear the jist of last night? read this.

Don't let this smile fool you too bad

I think I have been very good at recording the sweet and wonderful things about Bryn. But let's be honest here, she has NOT been a very easy baby. Maybe I didn't realize how good Ty was, but now I really appreciate him hah. I keep thinking, ok the worst is over. But then something else comes along, and I've got another excuse for why she is so hard. It's always something. Let's start from the very beginning; C-O-L-I-C. Not so fun. On top of that she hated her car seat and screamed bloody murder whenever we would go anywhere. Eventually though, both of those went away thankfully. Then she was teething for like a month or more, straight...and I wondered how long you could keep your child on tylenol and/or motrin before it started having side effects. But we made it through that also, at least until the next batch of teeth come. Now she has a SEVERE attachment disorder to me. It is amplified by 20 when she is hungry or tired. I really don't know what to do about it. Do I leave more often and make other people listen to her scream the entire time to help her get used to it? Do I just give in because it helps out the tone and stress level in the whole house when she's not crying? Should I wean her to give us both a little more separation or would that make it worse? I would feel bad doing that though, because she loves it so much. I never knew what moms meant by their baby loving to nurse, until I had Brynlee. I know this too will pass, eventually. I just grow tired of waiting. She still doesn't sleep through the night either and that's wearing on me obviously. Anyway. The point of this post is not too get your pity or sympathy. It is what it is, and that's just kind of what you get with babies sometimes. Luck of the draw, or something like that. Any suggestions on the attachment thing? Any of you have or had kids like that? Kenny always says "if we have one more child like Brynlee that's our last one"...but at the same time, we obviously can't help but love this little girl whole-heartedly. I mean just look at that smile! And her rolls...how many necks can a girl have? She really is a sweet girl, as long as I'm holding her! Oh motherhood. What a ride.

Fall table runner

I finished another little project this week. I LOVE it! I think I have enough scraps to do a runner/cover for the top of our piano. I really can't take credit for how stinkin cute it is (I wish you could see all the fabrics up close). My mom gave me all the fabric to do it. Actually she sent it to me last year, but I was trying to finish up my last semester of college so I didn't ever get around to it. But this year I finally pulled it all out and I love it. My mom already had all the strips cut out for me too! She made it SO easy all I had to do was sew it all together. Thanks mom, for helping my house look cute! :)

Welcome Jaycee

Kenny's sister, Shariane, welcomed little Jaycee into their family on Sep. 11, 2009. She weighed 8 pounds, 5 ounces and was 20 in. Last time I saw Shariane, on August 11th, she looked like this...

Now they've got a beautiful baby girl to show for that cute belly :).

Babies are such precious little miracles, and I never tire of seeing another one enter this world. Congratulations you guys!