Bread and Birthday

I keep saying I am going to put my favorite bread recipe on this blog, and then I either don't get to write that day, or I end up writing about other stuff.  Well, I am going to post it today before I think of something else to do!  I found this recipe in a book called "A Pioneer Thanksgiving" by Barbara Greenwood.  I had borrowed the book from the library to use for school around Thanksgiving time.  It was about a pioneer family celebrating Thanksgiving, and each chapter had a craft, game, or recipe to go along with it.  This is called "Festival Bread", but we eat it all year round!  It is my husband's favorite recipe so far.

FESTIVAL BREAD

2 c. very warm water

1 tbsp. each of sugar, yeast, vegetable oil, and salt

5 c. white flour (I have used half whole wheat flour, and it works very well.)

Pour the warm water into a bowl.  Stir in the sugar, then sprinkle the yeast on top.  Put the bowl in a warm place for ten minutes.  The yeast should bubble.

Stir in the oil and salt and slowly add in the flour.

On a floured counter, punch and fold the dough for ten minutes - until it's smooth.  Add more flour if the dough is too sticky.

Put the dough into a clean, oiled bowl.  Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and place somewhere warm until the dough has doubled in size - about two hours.

Shape into a circle or oval (I've also shaped it into a long loaf, like Italian Bread).

Put the bread on a baking sheet and put it in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

Today, I am not making bread.  It is Hubby's birthday, and he picked out sloppy joes, and mac & cheese in a box for supper.  Works for me!  I did make him peanut butter cookies, as he doesn't care much for cake.  He and Rory are now watching an Incredible Hulk cartoon movie.  Rory gets to watch TV today even though it is a school day, just because it's Dad's birthday.  He originally thought he should have the day off to celebrate.  I must be a mean mom!  He did have a half day yesterday, because he had a playdate yesterday afternoon. 

Note to Stephanie - I think the Maritime Aquarium was a great day trip - we were there for three hours, and didn't see everything.  We did see the 40 minute movie, and we ate lunch there, which took up some time, but I think you could spend all day there easily.  I don't know what it's like on the weekends, but it was not crowded at all when we were there.  It took us 1 1/2 hours to get there.  I believe it is open from 10 to 5.  They have a good website, and you can check out the movies they are showing also. 

I've just realized that this has been a very strange school week, but it's been fun, and we've had a lot of different experiences.  Maybe next week will be back to "normal".  Whatever that is!

Up, Down, Up!

When I was learning to write, I remember having a terrible time learning to write the capital letter "N".  I finally memorized "up-down-up" and actually still chant this to myself when writing this letter!  Well, the letter "N" describes the last few days, also.  I wrote in an earlier post that Lily was stopped by a talent agent at the mall. As a result of this, we all went to Connecticut yesterday for an appointment at their office.

We found out that the office was located across from the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium, so we went there, first. It was very neat!  They had an IMAX theater, and we saw a film about the Great Lakes.  Boy, IMAX is cool!  The screen was six stories high, and the sound was everywhere!  At one point, we felt like we were falling over Niagara Falls!  Okay, Mike didn't think that was too good, but it was cool!  The best thing is, that Rory has been studying the Great Lakes in school - we are reading "Paddle to the Sea" by Holling C. Holling, and "Paddle" just got all the way from Lake Superior to Lake Ontario.  We also saw seals, jellyfish, stingrays, and giant sea turtles among other things.

Then, on to the appointment.  When we met with the director, we were told that we had to pay a large amount of money for the kids to get pictures taken.  The pictures would be sent to prospective employers.  We were not quite sure what to do, having never had any experience with such things.  We talked it over and put it on a credit card, with the stipulation that we could cancel within three days if we changed our mind.  Well, today we found out that there are a lot of complaints against this company with the Better Business Bureau, so we cancelled the charge on the credit card, and sent the required certified letter to the company to cancel the picture appointment, and any other services.  So, it was a little bit of a letdown, but also a relief.  The headache I have had since yesterday is finally gone.

On a bigger "up" note, my schedule actually seems to be working!  We didn't follow it, yesterday, because of our trip, but we started in today.  Rory actually finished some of his work ahead of time, and got extra play time!  I missed a section of time while dealing with the whole modelling deal, so Rory got to play when he should have been having school, but he was very good when I explained that it was my fault, but he was going to have to finish some school after lunch.  He also said that he had a good day!  I think he was proud of himself for getting his work done well.

Mike was off work today, so we all started trying to organize the basement.  If you have been in our basement, you will realize what a big deal this is.  If not, just imagine a non-smelly garbage dump, and you have some idea.  We had bought some shelving last week, so Mike got all of the paint arranged on that, I got some of the other stuff organized, and the kids "worked" on the toys.  Everyone got filthy, but at least something got done!  So, all in all, it was definitely an "N", thankfully not an "M"!  I also finally got the last wall in the kitchen painted on Sunday, and if the kids go to bed on time, I may be able to paint the trim tonight.  Progress!

Getting It Together

I'm trying to get organized.  Again.  This is a never-ending struggle in my life.  Just when I think I have a system that will work, well......it doesn't.  Part of it is a notion that I don't want to be controlled by a schedule, but I am realizing that that is exactly what my family and I need.  Living without a plan actually exhausts me, because I have to constantly make decisions, from what to have for breakfast to what subject to teach next.  I'm not helping my children to learn how to organize themselves by being so unorganized, myself.  So, yesterday I made up a schedule for Rory which includes his school, chores, meals, outings, and free time throughout the week.  I am going back to making a weekly menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I have set wake-up times for myself and Rory.  I have also eliminated Lily's naps for the most part - last time she had a nap during the day, she was up and running until midnight.  AAAAAAHHGH!  So, "no naps for you!"  She's had a few rough spots during the day, but it seems that if she just has a little snuggle time, she revives pretty well.  


Lily is probably the most scheduled of all of us.  If she doesn't have a nap, she goes to sleep right around 8:30 every night.  Lily's big job is unloading the dishwasher, which she usually does in the morning while Rory is working on his schoolwork.  The funny thing is that she gets rather perturbed if there are no dishes in it!  Sometimes I wash them by hand, or run the dishwasher at different times of the day depending on how full it is.  Lily will still go to the dishwasher in the morning and inform me that it is time to do dishes!  I have to show her that it is empty, or dirty, or whatever, before she will get over the idea, and then she looks at me as if to say "You messed up my system!"  It's pretty bad when a toddler is more organized than her mom!


Lucy is trying to earn her keep.  Last night, I woke up to hear squeak, squeak, squeak!  I thought it was a mouse, but when I got up this morning, I saw no sign of one.  One of the bathtub toys was on the floor in the bathroom, so I figured she had been playing with that.  Well, the next thing I know, she is batting around a tailless(?!) mouse.  She seems to think it is a playmate, as the mouse startled Mike tonight while we were watching a movie.  Lucy picked up the mouse and took it in the other room to play with it, until it came back and ran under the piano.  This could be interesting.  


Okay - this is the end of this post.  I think I am going to have to make myself a schedule, including when I am allowed to spend time on the computer!  Maybe tomorrow.

Homekeeper’s Journal ~ 2/16/10

Homekeeper’s Journal ~ 2/16/10
Here’s What’s happening …..

In My Kitchen …. leftovers - hubby is working late.

With The Children ….. homeschool, supposedly. Having a hard day.

What I’m Reading … Charlotte Mason's "Home Education" -am trying to follow her methods, and received the entire series for Christmas!

What I Have Been Learning … I need to be more structured in my life, especially with the kids. Now, I need to learn how to do it!

What I’ve Been Noticing …. when it snows, it is very hard to get motivated - I feel like sitting on the couch with an afghan and hot chocolate!

On The Back Burner of My Mind …. I need to clean the house...maybe tomorrow.

In The Deepest Darkest Recesses …. how can I inspire my children to finish what they started if I keep running from one thing to another?

The Birthday, and Such

So....We've had a bit of a whirlwind, the last few days...it's called Rory's seventh birthday!  He was our Valentine seven years ago, showing up just the day before Valentine's day!  So, I asked Rory what he wanted to do for his birthday.  First of all, he wanted to have a party, a sleepover, and a playdate at Chuck E. Cheese.  Well.  I am very far from being a Supermom, so I said he could do ONE of those things.  He chose Chuck E. Cheese.  That was probably a good thing, as I didn't have to clean the house!  The bad thing is, I didn't clean the house.  Oh, well.  So, Saturday, we started out the morning by getting his picture taken at the studio.  This is our first full year of homeschooling, and I realized that because he was not in school, he was not getting a school picture.  This was more fun, anyway, and we got to choose from a bunch of poses!  The funny thing was, that he chose to wear a black dress shirt and tie, untucked, blue jeans, and penny loafers (actually, Mom and Dad chose the penny loafers.  Rory wanted to wear brown tie-up dress shoes, but we didn't think they'd go as well).  Now, I think it had to do with the "GQ" look, but the photographer posed him in all these model poses, hands on hips, etc.  He looked like such a little man!  His favorite pose was the one where he was throwing a baseball, though.

After the pictures, we went to Rory's favorite restaurant, Bugaboo Creek, and then on to Chuck E. Cheese, for a fun afternoon with some friends.  After this, we had to go to Barnes and Noble, and Toys R Us, so he could spend his birthday money!  By the time we got home, EVERYONE was tired.  But, hey, you're only seven once!

The other thing that happened Saturday was that Lily got scouted by a talent scout. Mike had taken Rory to the restroom so that he could change into his Spiderman sweatsuit while we waited for his pictures to be printed, and Lily and I were walking around the mall, waiting to meet them back at the picture studio.  All of a sudden, this guy came over from a booth and said that Lily was very cute, and had we ever thought of having her model?  Well,  NO!  But I filled out the card with our names and phone number, anyway.  The agency called us Sunday, and set up an appointment to bring both kids to be seen by a director next week.  I don't really know where this is going to go, but if they can make a little money for college, I guess that's a good thing.  I pray that we will be wise, and understand what we're getting into here.  I beg all of you who are reading this to please pray with us!  Thanks!

Okay, back to The Birthday.  You thought it was over, right?  Not Quite!  Because some of the friends Rory invited to Chuck E. Cheese are unable to eat foods with gluten, we decided to have his cake when we got home.  Rory also decided to bring cupcakes to the pot-luck at our church the next day.  We had one cupcake with three candles on it.  Why three candles?  You would have to ask Rory.  Rory sometimes talks to God, and hears back.  I think this was one of those times.  As we finished the church service, we found out that there was another little boy there with a birthday actually ON Valentine's Day.  Then, we find out that his little brother's birthday is next week.  Go figure - three boys with birthdays, three candles.  So we distributed two of the candles to two other cupcakes, and they all blew them out at once.  God is good!

So now, I think that the birthday is finally over.  I'm trying to catch up on the laundry and the housecleaning and the homeschool and the organizing and the cooking and the grocery shopping and the...and the...and the...

Oh - one more "God is good!"  Money is a bit tight right now, partly because of the frequent oil deliveries we have to have to keep our house warm in the winter, so we were a little concerned about how we were going to pay for all of the birthday fun.  (Oil was delivered after we made plans).  Meanwhile, we have had a car sitting here for months that we have been trying to sell.  Believe it or not, our neighbors expressed interest in the car, and actually came and bought it with cash on Friday night!  We were not expecting them to come at that time, but it was perfect timing, because we had plenty of money to pay for everything we had planned for Rory's birthday, with some left over!  Thank You, God!

The Snow That Wasn't

Today was a snow day.  Rory somehow convinced me that he should have a snow day, too, even though technically he was already at school!  Actually, it didn't take too much to convince me.  I didn't really feel like having school, either.  It must be some held-over snow day mentality from my own school days or something.  Of course, teachers are usually just as happy to stay home on those days as the kids!  The funny thing was, it hardly snowed all day.  In fact, the inch or so that we had this morning was melted by noon.  It started snowing again around 3:00, and it is finally starting to build up a little bit, but we sort of missed the big storm, it appears. 
The thing I can't quite understand is this:  Why is it that on days we have school, I get all sorts of things done, and when we don't have school, nothing gets accomplished?  It would seem that since I don't have to spend the time teaching, I would have lots of time to get my other work done.  But, no.  The house is a basic wreck, the kids watched far too much TV, and I am no further ahead on anything than I was yesterday.  All this, and we've been up since 7:00 this morning!  Go figure. 

The Morning After

Well, here we are, just me and the cat.  We had a great time yesterday.  We had friends over to watch the super bowl.  We hadn't seen them in a while, and it is amazing how fast kids can grow in what seems a relatively short time!  It was great to reconnect, though.  My kids are still asleep, which is a good thing for right now, as it gives me a little chance to catch up on things, including this blog.  It's nice to have a little quiet time once in a while.

It's amazing how out-of-touch I can let myself get.  I am pretty happy just plugging along in my own little house with my own little family.  I don't live near my hometown, so I don't get a chance to see the people I grew up with very often, and since I'm not working outside the house, I don't see other people daily like I used to.  Because of a crisis our family went through this summer, we lost touch with a lot of people we were friends with at our church.  We are at a new church, now, but sometimes it is slow going getting to know people that well.  I guess Facebook is helpful to keep up with people a little, but it's still not the same as having a close relationship.  I know it is not New Year's anymore, but I am going to resolve to work harder on keeping my friendships close.

Well, I hear the patter of little feet, so I guess it's time to get up and get going!  "School Days, School Days!"

Whew...Friday!

It's almost over!  Another busy day, today, but in more of a good way.  We finally had our homeschool co-op for the first time since before Christmas.  Sickness and other conflicts had kept our group from meeting for that long.  We are only three families, so if one family is absent, it is hard to continue lessons.  Poor Rory got momentarily upset because he was unable to learn "If You're Happy And You Know It" in Spanish the first time he sang it.  He really expects to be able to do everything right the first time.  I don't know how to help him understand that some things take practice.  I've told him this, but he doesn't seem to believe me.  I suppose he'll figure it out, eventually.  He did very well on his first recorder lesson, however.  Now, to get him to practice...

Rory has laughed more in the last few days than I've heard him in a while.  Lucy is certainly earning her keep as a form of entertainment!  The first thing everybody wants to know when they get up is "Where's Lucy?"  Many times, she is sitting on the windowsill in the living room, trying to figure out how to get to the birds outside.  We went yesterday and got her a few things from the store, including a stuffed mouse on an elastic string.  Rory has spent most of his free time playing with her!  Lily keeps trying to play with Lucy, but also spends time playing with Lucy's toys on her own.  Maybe she's part cat?

I'm trying my hand at keeping homeschool records on the computer.  I found a program called Homeschool Tracker that keeps records of everything, and will even print reports and schedules.  So far, so good.  I'm going to try to back-enter things for this grading period.  We'll see how that goes.  I think if I can get it working, it will be simpler than the pen-and-paper method I've been using up until now.  We'll see.

Well, tomorrow is officially Clean The House day.  It's in a bit of disrepair, as usual (see Chaos Theory!)  and is starting to drive me a bit crazy.  One day, I'll get this housekeeping thing under control.  Probably about the time they invent a self-cleaning house.  It took me forever to learn how to roll down a car window while driving, and then they started making cars with push buttons.  Go figure!

Okay, time to get the kiddies in bed, if I can get them away from the cat long enough.

OF HAMSTERS AND CATS

Yesterday was a very busy day.  It was not the kind of busy where you look back at the end and see all that you got accomplished.  It was more the type of busy that I imagine Teddy the hamster feels while running nowhere in his wheel.  In fact, my first misadventure actually involved poor Teddy.  Right after breakfast, I noticed that Teddy was awake in his cage.  This does not always happen during the day, as he is by nature a nocturnal animal, so I decided to take the opportunity to let him run around in his ball, and clean out his cage.  Well, I got it all cleaned out and spiffy, and filled with fresh shavings.  Then, I went to carry it back to its shelf.  OOPS!  I apparently hadn't gotten it put back together securely, because as soon as I picked it up, it fell apart...Shavings everywhere.  Sigh!  At least they were the clean shavings.  Thank you, Lord!  So, I cleaned up my mess, and now we are late starting school.  So, we start.  We got the reading done.  And the math.  Then the writing....oh, the writing.  This is Rory's least favorite thing to do.  He is supposed to be writing a book, called "The Little Red Hen Bakes Bread."  He dictated the story as I wrote it down months ago, and has since been working on copying it into a book and adding illustrations.  I think he got three or so words done, yesterday.  Then, Lily fell asleep, so I decided it was a good time to do the art lesson, as it is difficult to do this with Lily "helping."  So, we start art.  We are supposed to be noticing the shapes that make up pictures.  Then, we work with Tanagrams to make pictures, and then we are supposed to be drawing a still life.  Well, Rory was incredibly excited about the Tanagrams, so he started making a book with all the Tanagram pictures he had created.  Well, at least he's doing some writing.  I guess we'll have to do the still life another day.  This is the good thing about Homeschooling.  You can always catch up later.  Sometimes it works the other way, too.  Monday, he actually got farther on his Science lesson than I thought he would.  It will all even out, someday.  So...only about four more things to do for school.  But, wait!  Part of the difficulty with accomplishing our agenda today, has been that we are waiting to hear back about a cat.  We found out that some people from our homeschool group are moving to a different house, and they can't take their cat with them.  So, since our rather old animals (two cats and one dog) all passed away within the last few years, leaving us with only Teddy the hamster, I was excited to see that we could get another pet.  Dear Hubby has been reluctant to get another pet, as he had gotten so attached to the last ones that he had a hard time saying goodbye, but he finally agreed.  So, we spent the last part of the day looking at a video of the cat online, and then going to get the cat!  So, now our family includes a pretty kitty named Lucy.  Of course, no one wanted to go to sleep last night, because they wanted to know what the cat was doing.  I finally got to bed about 11:00, and Lily didn't wake up until 4:30 A.M., so I got a bit of sleep.  Mike informed me that he had spent most of the night playing with the cat to distract her from "staring at Teddy with bad intent," as he put it.  So, he's off to work, Rory's making cat toys out of everything in the house, and the cat is hiding under Lily's bed.  Time for School!

Cold Ice Cream and Hot Water!

We have the technology!  First for the water heater - we had the top element working, but not the bottom.  This was okay as long as you only wanted hot water for 5 minutes.  Not good for hubby, who enjoys l o o o o n g showers.  Also difficult when washing dishes or diapers.  So, enter the plumber.  Praise God - it was only a broken wire, which he was able to fix for only the cost of a service call!  Hubby officially tested the water this afternoon, and was pleased to see that he was able to shower long enough to produce steam on the mirror.  My man will do anything for his family, you see.
And now for the ice cream.  After the grave disappointment of last Thursday, Rory and I took a deep breath and started the process all over again.  I must say we were much more efficient this time, having done this before.  In fact, we were like a well-oiled ice cream machine!  In an effort to figure out what had gone wrong, I spoke to Mom. This is always a good idea whenever anything doesn't work, I've found. She suggested that since cheap sugar is not good for making frosting or candy, it may not be good for ice cream, either.  Aha!  In an effort to be more frugal, I had purchased the dreaded store brand sugar.  No more!  This time, with Domino sugar, the ice cream actually froze!  JOY!  We added the candy canes, and it is in the freezer hardening.  Of course, we couldn't put it all in the freezer.  The kids and I each tried a bit of soft ice cream.  Rory pronounced it good, and named it "Candy Cane Surprise...Candy Cane in Every Bite!"  We now look forward to eating the rest of it!
My other news is that, after refusing for months, I have finally joined Facebook.  My worst fears were realized on Saturday, when I spent a major portion of the day trying to put a picture on my profile.  AAAAAHHH!  I don't have time for this!  But it has been nice to be able to connect with old friends that I haven't spoken to in a while.  I absolutely will not get on Farmtown, though.  A girl has to draw the line, somewhere.