Homemade bread

So, I'm 36 years old and have never made bread before. It's just so cheap at the store and so much work to make, it didn't appeal to me at all. Then, Jon's sister put a very simple recipe on her blog that I don't even have to knead by hand so I decided to try it. Hardly anything smells better than bread baking in the oven! I took it out a tiny bit too early so we toasted it and made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. It was so yummy. My kids kept saying, "Thank you mom for making this!" which doesn't happen enough around my house so that encouraged me to make it again. I made four loaves and we ate it in one weekend which is kind of a lot of bread to go through. The funny thing was I think I threw out my bread hook that came with my Bosch because I wasn't sure what it was and didn't think I'd ever use it. My mom bought me one which was so nice but then I realized I didn't have yeast or bread pans so I raided my mom's house and found some. Also, something I learned, bread has A LOT of flour in it, like 8 cups, WOW! I don't know if I'd call myself a homemade bread baker yet but we all did really enjoy it! Here's Becca's recipe.

2/3 cup honey or sugar

1/4 cup oil (rounded)

3 T. yeast

5 cups hot water

4 cups Flour

2 T. salt

Additional Flour (4-6 more Cups)

Put sugar, oil, and yeast in mixer (Bosch mixer you can do whole recipe, kitchen aide you can only fit 1/2 recipe). Add water and mix. Let sit 3 minutes to activate yeast. Add 4 cups flour and the salt (add salt last-it will kill yeast if you put it n first). Mix well to form a paste. Let raise 7 minutes. Add additional flour until dough pulls from sides of mixer pan (about 4-6 more cups). Mix it for about 4 minutes on high. Place bread in 4 greased loaf pans and set in warm oven (about 175-200 degrees) Let raise until dough is 1 inch over top of pan. This takes about 15-20 minutes. Without taking bread out, change temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes.

A fun tip that I love is to spray your counter with Pam when you take dough out of mixer to divide. It makes the dough less sticky and easier to make it into really pretty bread shapes.

The Focacia bread is one of your dough loaves spread into a bottom of 9X13 pan. Dimple the dough, spread liberally with olive oil, sprinkle with dry Italian dressing (about 2/3 package), garlic salt, dill, Parmesan cheese, or whatever else you want or have on hand. Raise for about 10 minutes in warm oven and then bake for the 20 minutes.

Spring break is hoppin'

Last week we had Spring Break, YAY! We were ready for it, I guess everyone is ready to take a break from the norm and have fun! It started a little rocky. They all wanted the computer at the same time so some fights broke out so I thought of some chores to do and then they got along a little better. It reminded me of how summer goes. They need some structure...work hard and play hard.

By Wednesday I decided to take them to an Activity Center. It was bounce houses, skating, laser tag and rocket wars all for a good price. They hit the bounce houses first. Tanner brought two of his friends. I asked them to pose for a picture and they took it literally. As you can kind of see by the picture Tanner isn't feeling too well. Soon after this picture he threw up in the bathroom. He went out to the car and went to sleep, poor guy. He had gone swimming with these same boys earlier and maybe he drank too much water or something because none of us ever got sick, shew.

Seth spilled red Icee all down his neck and shirt. I washed it and it actually came out, yay! He had a great time on his scooter, he was doing all sorts of jumps and stunts.

The next day we went to "Jump On It" (Tanner stayed home) with our friends the Walton's who we haven't seen forever. My 3 youngest kids are the same ages as her 3 youngest kids so everyone gets along great. This is just a huge room with trampolines lined up together and even on the walls. It was a lot of fun. My camera is not on the right setting yet again but it still looks cool. After that we went to Sub Zero Ice Cream where they put Nitrous Oxide (or something) into the ice cream liquid to make is solid, it looks like dry ice. It was fun and I felt like we did something for Spring Break. The next day I was off to Denver to Scrapbook with my sister for the weekend. The kids got to eat out a lot with their dad and went to a movie. Fun times had by all.

Easter party

We did a fast weekend in Idaho for Easter. We had to get back because even though the kids have Spring Break this week, Jon doesn't. He only has a couple more weeks of BYU though so he's lucky. Before we left, Seth had an Easter (Spring) party at school I helped with.
We told the kids they couldn't lick the icing off their knife or fingers, this was torture for them.

This is Isaac on Easter morning. He kept disappearing then he'd look like this, sometimes with a pink face or a yellow face. He kept finding all the other kids Easter baskets, it was a really good morning for him.
Maddie, Calli, and Mac decorating sugar cookies. Beautiful!
Jon's mom always makes an Easter bunny cake. Isaac turned two so it was also his birthday cake.

Maddie's 12th birthday party

Maddie's got the greatest friends, they're all really nice girls. She decided she wanted to have a "Spa Party." I took them to a Nail Salon and they had a basic painting of their nails. There were some pretty crazy nail colors.

For her cake she chose an ice cream cake from Maggie Moos. The flavor is cotton candy (bright blue ice cream) with M&M mix-in. That did not sound good to me at ALL but the girls were excited to eat it, must be a kid thing.
She got a lot of great presents. This is a few of them, bandana, sunglasses, outfit, and beach towel. Lookin' good!
They also made flip flops. Well, they didn't make the flip flops, they just made them better. We went to Old Navy and got the "Two flip flops for $5" deal. Then my mom cut lots of fabric in 1 inch X 5 inch strips and they double knotted it on. I think they're really cute. Maddie had a really fun and memorable birthday.

Maddie made her own invitations.

cup stacking

Seth's friend brought over his cups also so they made a huge pyramid and of course knocked it down.

In school the kids did "cup stacking" for P.E. They loved it and kept talking about how fun it was. I looked at Target and couldn't find any so we ended up ordering some off the internet. The shipping was the most expensive part which drives me crazy, I know I could've found them somewhere if I'd looked harder but I'm not a shopper. The kids have had a great time with them and it's good for their coordination also.

Piano recital

The kids all start piano when they turn 8 and they are SO excited to start. After about a year, (or a few months,) that excitement lessens. Tanner quit right when he started playing the drums in 7th grade but I thought Maddie might stick with it. She hasn't complained too much. She's decided to play the Clarinet next year so I said she had the option to quit piano and she said, "okay!" a little too quickly. It kind of makes me sad, they are getting so good after 4 years of practicing. I guess they're sticking with it longer than I did.

Maddie and Max with their paino teacher after the recital.

Posing with the piano. They did a great job!

Whoo Hoo!!

That picture isn't very big at all. I've done 100 posts and still can't figure things out. Seth just walked in and looked at my computer and then asked if he could have a snack. Wonder where he got that idea? I wanted to do something very special for my "100th post" but it just put too much pressure on me and I have other things I want to post so I'm just going to type it out so I can get on to my next posts. I've really enjoyed blogging, it helps me realize what I'm thinking...if that makes sense. It's also nice to document my family and life events, it all goes by so fast.

Speaking of cupcakes, I just ate the last of the Costco white cake with raspberry (that's how you spell raspberry?? weird. I thought it was rasberry) filling. We had an Activity Days with the girls and their moms so I brought the cake. It was really good in its day but today it wasn't all that great because it's been in the fridge. I still ate it. Tomorrow I'm going to exercise really hard. My Curves closed down last week so I've been thinking of how I'm going to start exercising without it. Luckily it's getting warm outside so I can take lots of walks. I think I'm going to do Dance, Dance, Revolution or Wii Fit tomorrow. My neighbor said she has a DVD called "Insanity" I could borrow. That doesn't sound like a good idea to me...

Well, here's to 100 more blogs!!!

What's Product and why is it singular?

I've never really known how to do my hair. Some people are "hair smart" I think and I am not one of those people. Now that I'm in my 30's I'm learning the importance of "product." I don't like to put anything in my hair and I guess that's part of the problem. The other day my old college roommate and I got together and went to the hair school for a scalp massage for $6. It was great. After, I asked the girl doing my hair if she would teach me how to do it curly. I have had natural curl since puberty but always have burned it our with my straightener. She took the time to show me how to use product, I need mousse and gel mixed together and hairspray at the very end. She scrunched it in her hand as she blew it dry. I loved how it looked for once! So now, when I'm in the mood I can do my hair curly. I've actually done it a few times and it turned out. Finally, I can do my own hair.:)

More snow

There were a few days this week that I could feel spring in the air. It was warm and sunny and brighter when we got up in the morning and I started remembering what Spring felt like a long time ago. I actually said out loud, "I think Spring is here." Then thought, I shouldn't say that out loud. This is what we woke up to this morning. It is really beautiful I have to admit. The kids don't have school today so we can just stay home and play in the snow.

Mimzy hopping through the plows

Max and Seth have their work cut out for them.

Happy 14th Tanner

I was thinking the other day how amazing it is that Tanner is turning 14! I'm the mom of a 14-year-old! Crazy. Time really does seem to go faster the older I get. There were times in Tanner's life that seemed very slow to me. He was a very hard baby, which means an easy teenager, right?? Maybe because he was my first and I didn't know what I was doing but I had a lot of anxiety when he was little. It seemed like if he made any crying noises I would hurry and nurse him which may be why he was such a fat baby. He's changed a lot this last year. He's getting so tall and seems more man than boy. I'm thankful that I get to see him grow up and change. It's a fun process to see his personality change with each year. Right now he's really close to his dad and not so much with me but that's okay. I'm glad he thinks his dad is cool right now.

Tanner and Grandpa Buddy. Probably about 8 months old.
10 years old
Most pictures that I found of Tanner lately, he's eating something. Something else that is so cool about Tanner is he was born on my dad's birthday and Jon's mom's birthday and he was the first grandchild on both sides so it was a great birthday present for them. :)Happy Birthday, Tanner, Grandpa, and Grandma!

President's Day Weekend

My sister and her family came to Utah to visit over the weekend. I kept forgetting to take pictures but I got a few. We went to Gram's cabin and had a relaxing time.

This is Katie doing her homework and Maddie drawing.
This is Peter showing how much snow the cabin got.
Thomas and Seth are trying to build a snow cave but it's pretty hard. This was the first trip that Thomas and Seth got along really well. They're both our babies and have always had a problem playing together. This trip was very easy for us adults, we got lots of talking time in while the cousins got lots of playing time in. I'm so glad my kids have cousins!!

Maddie's 6th grade dance

All of the 6th grade classes learn about 7 or 8 different styles of dance. They teach them the jitterbug, the cha cha, the waltz, hip hop, and the macarena (if you can consider that a dance) and a couple of others I can't remember. Then all the parents are invited to the dance to watch. Some dances are boy/girl dances or daddy/daughter dances. It's a lot of fun. Maddie did protest about dancing with a boy a little too loudly I thought. It was cute to watch.Maddie's cousin Katie is visiting so she did the macarena with her. They're really excited to do it.:)

Here's the waltz, Jon needed a few pointers.

Her friends Jenny, Marissa and Camilla.
She was not happy that I took this picture of them doing the jitterbug but she'll probably forgive me someday. We'll see how she feels about me putting it on my blog also...

Sledding

This last weekend the kids got Friday off of school so we decided to go up to Idaho for a visit. We took the kids sledding on a great hill. It was actually not too cold that day, which is a relative term in Idaho. It was nice to be surrounded by family.Maddie and Jakey
Go, Seth!
Go, Max!
This game of monopoly lasted 3 hours, way too long for me!
Here's the pile of snow clothes and boots after sledding, not a pretty sight.

Girls ?

I haven't blogged for a while now...that's a relative term, but it's been a while for me. Not a lot going on around here...that's relative too, a lot has been going on, just not anything blog worthy. Anyway, I decided to blog about our night tonight. Tanner is at his Klondike camp out (hope he's staying warm and not suffering at all!), Max is having a "late night" with a friend, Seth is having a sleep over with a friend which is crazy considering he doesn't even like playing for more than an hour at friends houses, but he is determined to do this and he's just down the road so he knows he can call me anytime in the night and I'll be there (or Jon will be there depending on what time of the night it is), and Maddie is home. Maddie asked if she could have a late night at our house with her friends. She invited 4 girls. I thought, that's going to be so weird having no boys in the house and lots of girls. I thought it might be kind of a quiet night but it has been super loud. They all have to talk over each other to be heard.

Snow shoes

For Scouts, Tanner's troop is making snow shoes for their Klondike camp out. The boys are really excited about this project. Tanner asked if he could have a sleep over and watch a movie and work on their snow shoes. Tanner hardly ever has sleep overs so I said sure. They put in Cloudy with a chance of meatballs and were laughing like crazy at it. It made my heart happy to think these teenage boys were enjoying a cartoon movie working on a Scout project. I know in a few years he won't want to do sleepovers anymore. I'll just enjoy this time for as long as it lasts!

Off with her hair!

Maddie's been asking me to take her to get her hair cut for a while. We finally went on Tuesday and she got a lot cut off. I kept asking her if she was sure she wanted that much and she knew what she wanted. It looks cute on her and it's easier.

Interview

Today was kind of exciting for me. Probably because it was not my usual day. Jon has been going through the hiring process at B.Y.U. and it is quite the process, I had no idea. It makes me feel bad for Jon because every day brings on a whole new reason to stress out, his poor nerves. If he gets hired, it will be all worth it. He had to be interviewed by the Dean and the Vice President and the Department people and someone else, I'm starting to lose track. Today we went up to Salt Lake to be interviewed by a General Authority. We got there early so we could eat lunch first,which is one of my favorite things to do. Then, we walked into the Office Administration Building. There was a man behind a desk to greet us and ask us who we had an appointment with. We sat down to wait a few minutes and Elder Uchtdorf came strolling by. He nodded and said hi. A few minutes later he passed again with a tray full of food and asked us if we were hungry? He was just joking because he didn't slow down his pace but it was fun to see him. We then took an elevator up and met with Elder Ringwood of the Seventy. He was really nice and the interview went well, I think. He asked me if I would be willing to support Jon in this new job and I said yes, not too hard of a question, shew! He acted like he had all the time in the world for us. Now Jon has to teach on Wednesday in front of some Professors in his department and the process is over. Then I think we'll have to wait until March to see if he actually gets hired. Go Cougars!

Leopard gecko X2

For Christmas, Jon and I got Max and Seth a certificate to get a small pet at the pet store, preferably a goldfish. They were so excited! They really wanted a turtle. The woman at the pet store steered them towards a leopard gecko and once they saw it they decided that was the pet for them. They don't move very fast so they're easy to catch. They're pretty cute and sweet, if you can use those adjectives to describe a reptile. The boys just gently hold them and stroke their heads and I'm pretty sure the geckos are happy. The boys also get to feed them 4 crickets a day. That means we get to buy crickets every week and also buy food to feed the crickets. I didn't think I would like them, but so far they're not too bad. I think they live for 15 years which is quite the commitment. Guess they'll be taking them to college with them.

We had to buy them separate tanks because apparently they are territorial. We've got a BYU tank and a U of U tank.

Hunter

Dash