The Faces of Me

Christmas 2009

Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients:

5 cups water

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tbs salt

10ish cups freshly milled whole wheat flour

1 cup brown sugar (or honey)

2 tbs 1 tsp yeast

3 tbs gluten

a few cups more flour to add while kneading

Method:

Add all ingredients, in order, (except the extra flour) in a heavy-duty mixer with dough hooks. Turn on low and begin mixing. Once mixed, add the extra flour gradually, increasing the speed as needed. Add flour until the dough cleans the side of the bowl. Knead on high speed for 8 minutes.

Grease a bowl with cooking spray. Turn the kneaded dough into the bowl and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.

Punch down the dough. Divide into three loaves. Shape the loaves and place in oiled bread bans. You can score the tops with a knife for effect and to keep the bread from splitting.

Cover and let rise for 20-30 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 35 minutes. I turn mine around after about 20 minutes so they get evenly browned.

Let rest in pans for 5 minutes. Turn out and cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Enjoy!!!

Snail Watching on a Rainy Day

We've been enjoying some seasonal rainy weather for the last month or so. One fun rainy afternoon was spent hanging out in the garage watching the snails emerge. They covered our driveway. We watched them for a while, then fed them lettuce, and then made a habitat for them out of an old jar. We let them go a few days later.

A Saturday with Grandpa

Grandpa asked them to draw squiggles and then he turned their squiggles into drawings. The kids got to color them. They drew for hours!

His latest favorite book.

She's not a little girl any longer.

My oldest has passed the threshold from little girl to young lady. She's not grown up yet by any means, but she's no longer that innocent little child. We've talked about her body and how it's changing. I think I am going to have to take her shopping for bras. She takes her own medicine. She makes breakfast and lunch for the whole family. She's begun bathing daily with no prompting from me. She's got curves where a year ago she was a stick. We've had discussions about boys, dating, sex, responsibility, working, budgeting, jobs. It's going to go by so fast, isn't it? I am not too scared. I am even a little excited. But I have no idea what I am doing!

Labor Day - just another day around here

My week started great. We got a head start on Sunday night with reading and a math test. You should have seen my kids faces when I insisted they take that test on a Sunday night! They were not happy.

I wrote out lists for them Sunday night, and they woke up and started them first thing. They did math, reading, bible, piano, typing, and handwriting.

Then we did some Spanish and Science. They went on a scavenger hunt to find things that are alive. They had checklists with the 6 questions to ask if something is alive. Do you know those 6 questions?

Then daddy started playing a WW2 game and we were all sucked in. Our lesson in art was on landscapes, so I had them draw a Japanese island landscape as inspired by the video game. I gave them their spelling test while they watched too.

Then we went to the pool, and we never got around to any more school until this evening. I am happy to say that I read everything on my list. Our history reading happened to be about Japan. I did not plan that.

It was a good day.

Fun with Friends

Homemade Deodorant

Here's the Recipe for smell-free pits.

5-6 tablespoons coconut oil

1/4 cup baking soda

1/4 cup cornstarch

Mix and store in a plastic container. Apply by rubbing in with fingers.

This is not an anti-perspirant. BUT you really should sweat to release toxins from your body.

Washing the Car

Aren't kids great?

Working Windmills

The windmills the kids made actually lift up a paperclip. I don't think you can see it in the pictures. This experiment is from Sonlight Science 2.

Future All-Star?

Mayborn Children's Museum

Leonardo da Vinci at the Mayborn Children's Museum

Congrats to my successful husband!

Honey, congratulations on making it through the last 18 months.

The long and stressful application process. The physically demanding academy. The sometimes monotonous probabtion period.

It was a priveledge to see you grow and change into the man you are today. You have worked so hard to make your dream come true.

Today, you are an Austin firefighter.

Wow. You rock!

Blog Hop week 2: School Room

Here's a wide view of our room.

The cabinet and shelves on the left hold all of our liberal arts materials: history, geography, language arts, foreign language, art, and music. The cabinet and shelves on the right hold our math and science materials. The small bookshelf in the middle holds our cd player, readers, the waiting Sonlight Core 3, and Landmark history books.

This hallway wall leading to the kitchen displays artwork. The white bookshelf holds our children's readers, mostly chapter books.

Our lovely IKEA bookshelf has everything else. LOL. Let's see the top rows have mommy stuff, IGs, Bibles, and other reading materials. The next row has Core 2 books, puzzles, Bible and character materials, and diapers. The third row has 1 cubby for each child with the last cubby holding paper and art materials. The fourth row hold Sonlight Cores 1, K, PK 4/5, and PK 3/4 with paper in the last cubby. And the bottom row holds all the kids history, science, and math books that aren't part of any curriculum. Just stuff I've picked up here and there.

We do most of our work at this table. The cabinet in the corner holds mostly craft supplies. Our sewing stuff is on the top.