Two Winning Recipes

 My mom and sister tried this bread recipe and then emailed it to me.  It is so easy and so delicious! 

Artisan Bread

3 c flour

1/4 tsp yeast

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 c  water plus enough to clean dough off the sides of the bowl and form shaggy ball (be careful, you don't want too much water!)

3+ Tbs vinegar

Whisk dry ingredients in bowl, add wet and stir until a shaggy ball forms. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 8-18 hours.

Transfer to counter, knead 10 times and form into a ball. Place on parchment paper or small pie plate and let rise until double about 2 hours. 

About 30 min before baking preheat oven to 500 and place a Dutch oven or heavy stock pot inside (a big pan with a lid). Make one slash across top of loaf. Pick up by the paper / pie plate and transfer into the hot pot. Put the lid back on and place in the oven. Reduce the temp. to 425 and bake for 30 min. Uncover the loaf and if needed bake for up to 20 more min. Until golden brown, or 200 degree internal temp.

Amish Oatmeal

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

1 cup brown sugar (I used less)

3 cups oats

2 tsp. baking power

1 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

2 apples, peeled and diced

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup craisins

Combine all ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes in a 9-inch square pan.  Spoon into bowls and serve with half and half or milk on top.   

I doubled the recipe.

All of my kids thought it was so yummy.  My four year old keeps asking me to make it again!  

Summer School Work Plans, So Far. . .

I posted my plans for summer in this post.

I didn't want to make the summer stressful with a lot of school work, but I wanted to do enough to keep up their skills for when school starts in the fall.

So far we have been consistently going to the library.

The oldest kids have been turning in awesome book reports on Monday.

We have had "Time Test Tuesdays."

Wednesdays they have spelling tests.

Thursdays are MOM ADVENTURES.

Fridays are home days (I have been cleaning on Friday because we don't have any activities) The kids also work on projects on Fridays.

Balance

Note to self:
(I wrote this about the first week in June, it was extra busy and unusually cool!)

It is good to be busy and active, but there is such a thing as too much!  When my oldest daughter said on Wednesday, "Mom, I think you over scheduled us this week."  We all knew it was an understatement!

We take one kid to summer camp at 8:30 a.m. and head directly to swim team in the opposite direction.  While two kids swim on the swim team I sit on a freezing pool deck and I have two others read to me.  We run an errand and then pick the summer camp kid up.  We stop at home, eat a quick lunch, and take the boys to basketball camp. Tuesday afternoon one kid goes to a library class, Wednesdays are flute lessons, while waiting for them I walk on the track for my exercise, and then we are ready to pick the boys up when their basketball camp is over.  We drive home and get ready for dinner.   Two nights a week the boys have soccer and one night is a swim meet which we are usually gone to from 4:30 until 8:30.  Throw in a date for Justin and I on Friday, family home evening on Monday, some grocery shopping at some point  and what do you have?  A crazy week!

When we made it to Friday of last week.  I took a deep breath and cleaned the house because it had been very neglected!  Thankfully, that was our craziest week of the summer and it is over!  

The problem that I realized with over scheduling yourself is:
You miss the magical moments of life when you are in a rush.
You don't take time to serve when you have too much on your plate.
You become overwhelmed and emotional (especially when you are pregnant :)

Summer Camp.

A typical morning of swim team.

A stop at the park for a picnic lunch.

It seems tha we are constantly pulling in and out of the garage.

This sweetie doesn't want to take naps and miss any excitement, but by the time bedtime comes she is exhausted!

She enjoys going to the library and park with her friend.

First ever swim meet.

MOM ADVENTURE #4

Today I picked a special helper to be my assistant for our adventure.  

This cute guy has been to the big downtown slides a few times, but the older kids have been at school when we have gone.  He was thrilled that we could surprise them and take them to a place they hadn't been.  

Our official "MOM ADVENTURE" didn't start until after lunch because in the morning we had swim team, then we stayed at the pool and swam for 1 hour, and we met a friend at a fun park for lunch.

After lunch we headed downtown for our adventure.  It was a hit, everyone had a great time!  

 We finished off the adventure with frozen yogurt of their choice!  We had such a fun day!  

MOM ADVENTURE #3

Our MOM ADVENTURE #3 started out in a very exciting way (I am saying that in a sarcastic tone).  We found out earlier in the week that I had failed my standard one hour glucose test (to see if I have gestational diabetes)  so the doctor ordered a three hour glucose test.  I loaded the six kids in the car and went for the test which consisted of four blood draws in a three hour time period.  In between each blood draw we ran a quick errand to Hobby Lobby or Gap.  The good news is we found out that my blood sugar level was just fine!  No problems to be concerned about!  

After our morning in the Lab we picked up lunch and went to a new park we haven't visited before.

As a mother I have learned that boys love sticks.  This is the "King" of all sticks that they have found at the park!

We also went swimming and enjoyed the gorgeous warm day.

In the end, we all felt like the below picture!

Summer Stations and Sunday Stations

Summer Stations has really been working well for us on afternoons when I need a little quiet time.  Each kid goes to their own area and we rotate every 20 or 30 minutes.  (I didn't include the computer on the list for summer stations, because I usually need to use it to catch up on something.)

Occasionally, we do a similar activity on Sunday's.

MOM ADVENTURE #2

Last week our mom adventure was just a "mini adventure," because we had swim team, summer camp, and basketball camp that day.

I took the kids to a little lake about 5 minutes from our house.  They hadn't been to this spot before and it was so nice to be outside and enjoy the beauty around us.

They played in the trees, we read a story, and made cards for a friend that was in the hospital.  Then we went to the store and bought items for a gift bag and dropped it of at his house.

REALLY Live Life

(May 2013)

The screen saver on our computer is a slide show of random pictures over the past 10 years.  Today it caught my eye and I watched for a few minutes as moments from the past flashed before me.  Honestly, I was sad to see pictures of one of my tiny babies, when did they grow up?  When did summer days end?  When did chubby toddlers turn to grade schoolers?  The change has been so gradual that on a daily basis, I haven't even noticed and yet, day by day these tiny little children are slipping through my fingers.

Do I take the time to really enjoy all these fleeting moments?  Yesterday morning we were ready for school in plenty of time and the weather was nice, so when our kindergartener suggested we walk to school I thought it sounded like a great idea.

As we breathed in the crisp morning air, felt the dew from the green grass, and enjoyed the blue sky,  it felt like we were really living.  Really enjoying the moments that in just a few weeks will be memories. I savored every step of our walk and enjoyed the exertion of pushing the double stroller up the hill loaded with 2 kids, a flute, and 4 large books.  We need moments when we really live. Moments when we are not glued to a computer screen, an ipad, or a phone.  Moments when we focus on those we love and the beauty around us.

I want to cherish my children now, because they are slipping through my fingers and growing up too fast.  I want to make more moments when  I really live, when I am present to just take it all in.