SPRING!!!

I love spring!  I love the flowers, the colors, the baby animals, the new life, the beautiful weather, the rain...I love SPRING!!  And spring is in full force here.  Here are some pictures showing the growth in just the last 3 weeks.  The pink tree at the bottom is my favorite!!

Avery Goose

I love my Avery Goose.  I don't know where we'd be without this beautiful angel in our family.  She has had quite a difficult week and I'm not sure why.  Maybe it's teething...well, I know that's part of it, but I'm not sure that's all of it.  I know it's not my diet, but I've worried about it maybe being the increased breads that we've given her. 

She's had a runny nose, raspy voice, irritability (crying, which she rarely does), and constipation.  For four nights, she was waking up throughout the night.  Now she's sleeping again, but she's just uncomfortable and really irritable.  I don't know how to help the poor thing!

But other than that, she is the greatest delight!!  Her sisters ADORE her and beg to hold her all the time.  But now they absolutely love that she can play and they think she's hilarious.  Frankly, sometimes she is.

Backyard Happenings

Can I just say I LOVE my backyard?!  I love the swingset.  I love the deck.  I love the tree that gives shade and wildlife.  I love the birds. I love the flowers.  I love that the girls love to play back there.

We just put in a garden with carrots, peas, lettuce, onions, parsley, and soon tomatoes, beans, basil, and peppers.  We also planted some raspberries that I am praying will grow!  We know they grow amazingly here, but I always worry about transplanting crops. 

Braden has enjoyed cleaning up the yard and taking care of things.  Since the home was vacant over the autumn, no one had raked, so there were tons of leaves that needed to be taken care of, as well as so many twigs and branches.  One day while he was raking, he uncovered a rabbit's nest with three tiny bunnies inside.  We enjoyed looking at them with the girls, but unfortunately, they all jumped out of the nest and ran away...surely to become dinner for the birds.

You can hardly see the little guy, so well camouflauged in the nest.

Then making a run for it.

The girls also have enjoyed "helping" me water the garden...which results in mud puddles all over the yard.  The other day, this resulted in mopping the floor twice and giving the girls three baths.  At least they had a good time.

That's Going to Leave a Mark

The other night, after we put the girls to bed, Keara got up and was running in her room.  She fell into the bed post of her bed and hit her head.  So sad!  The moral of the story: don't get out of bed after mom and dad tuck you in.  But if that doesn't work, then watch where you're going.

Strange Sleeping

These girls are the greatest.  Every night, I check on them before I go to bed to make sure they have their blankets on and, recently, that Taryn has pajamas and a diaper on.  I love seeing them sleeping.  But sometimes, I just have to grab my camera because of the way they are sleeping.  It just cracks me up...or makes my heart happy.

Easter Adventures and Keara's Birthday

(Somehow this post didn't post when I scheduled it to.  In fact, in never posted at all.  It's status went from 'scheduled' to 'draft' so it didn't post.  Anyone else have problems with that?  Anyway, that's why this post is so old.  Sorry!)

This year's Easter was SO fun!  Although we were sad to miss Uncle Bob's Easter Party, we sure enjoyed spending Easter and General Conference weekend with Shaun and Susan's family.  We started things out Friday evening with their annual egg rolling.  More like egg THROWING.  They go to the biggest hill they can find and "roll" their eggs down the hill.  Whosever goes the furthest wins.  Well, no one really rolls theirs.  You just chuck it as absolutely hard as you can.  If it doesn't break or crack, it's still in the game.  I am amazed at how much abuse a hard boiled egg can withstand!  We had to throw some of those little devils a dozen times before they got a scratch on them.

Sweet Jonathan knew about Taryn's egg allergy and that she can't even touch them, so he made her a special egg...entirely wrapped in electrical tape.  She felt REALLY special and loved throwing her little cat down the hill. 

After that, we went to S&S's house for a little party they threw for new members of the ward.  Talk about fun times!  They have the greatest house and it was really fun to meet other people in the ward. 

The next day, we got together in between sessions for Keara's birthday party.  We did homemade pizzas, root beer, and strawberry cupcakes.  I tried a new homemade cake recipe and LOVED it!  It turned out SO yummy!  I added crushed strawberries and a little red dye to make them pink and strawberry flavored. Honestly, delicious.  I can't wait to make another cake in another variation.

BASIC CAKE MIX

2 cups all purpose flour + 1/3 cup cornstarch (or 2 1/3 cups cake flour)

1 Tbs baking powder

¾ tsp salt

2 cups sugar

½ cup oil

2 eggs

1 ½ cups milk

1 tsp vanilla

Combine ingredients according to variations below. Pour batter into greased and floured pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes (less for cupcakes, more for deeper pans) until cake is set in the center.

*YELLOW CAKE: Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a mixing bowl, combine oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Slowly add in dry ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes, scraping the sides frequently.

*WHITE CAKE: Use 3 egg whites instead of 2 whole eggs. In a separate bowl, beat egg WHITES ONLY until stiff. Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a mixing bowl, combine oil, milk, and vanilla. Slowly add in dry ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes, scraping the sides frequently. Fold egg whites into batter.

*CHOCOLATE CAKE: Sift together flour, cornstarch, ¼ cup cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a mixing bowl, combine oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Slowly add in dry ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes, scraping the sides frequently.

*SPICE CAKE: Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp ground cloves, and ¼ tsp ground allspice. In a mixing bowl, combine oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Slowly add in dry ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes, scraping the sides frequently.

*STRAWBERRY CAKE: Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Mash 1 cup whole strawberries. In a mixing bowl, combine oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Add berries and a few drops red food coloring. Slowly add in dry ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes, scraping the sides frequently.

*LEMON CAKE: Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a mixing bowl, combine oil, eggs, 1 cup milk, ½ cup lemon juice and vanilla. Slowly add in dry ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes, scraping the sides frequently.

*VANILLA CAKE: Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a mixing bowl, combine oil, three eggs, milk, and vanilla. Slowly add in dry ingredients. Add one packet vanilla pudding and 1/3 cup sour cream. Beat for 2 minutes, scraping the sides frequently.

*OTHER VARIATIONS: Instead of milk, use flavored coffee creamer for any flavor you like.

After cake, Keara opened her presents from S&S's family.  She was totally spoiled with girly things like froo-froo skirts and dresses.  She had asked for a pink dress, and that's just what she got!

 

There was this totally funny moment while opening presents when she was opening a roll of paper for her new painting easel.  It took her a really long time to open it (it was wrapped well) and I could tell that she had NO clue what in the world it was.  So I asked her, "Do you know what that is?"  She replied, "Yes, toilet paper."  Okay!  Obviously, she wasn't deterred by receiving toilet paper as a gift and figured it was still exciting.

We then watched the second session of conference, then hurried out the door to the underwater adventure place at Mall of America.  Fun!  You walk thru an underground tunnel with glass ceilings so you can watch the fish and sharks and rays swimming above and around you.  They also had a jelly fish room filled with hundreds of different types of jellyfish as well as a sea horse room.  Cool!

The next day, we went over for Easter dinner then watched the last session of conference and played games.  It was a great weekend.

Watch What You Say

I guess I need an attitude adjustment.  My four year old is starting to sound like a bona fide teenager.  This week, Keara has added a few new words to her daily (hourly) vocabulary:

Whatever...
Duh!
Seriously!?!
That is NOT acceptable.

And the Winner Is...

Quite a few months ago, I signed up for a little thing on Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards program.  I thought I would get a few $3 off coupons for diapers.  Since we got thru buckets full of diapers a week, I figured saving a few bucks would be worth giving away my personal information.  And hey, by signing up, you entered for a chance to win a years' supply of diapers, so I thought, "Why not?"  Unfortunately, I never got online to print coupons but instead just got emails sent to my inbox every few days that I wouldn't even open...just delete.

A couple weeks ago, I got a notice in the mail saying I had to go to the post office to pick up a certified letter from Huggies.  Ugh.  If there's one thing I had to do, besides spend $18 on a pack of diapers, it is go to the post office.  For any reason.  But I went, just the same.  And after seeing the enormously long line and the one worker helping the hundred people in line, I decided not to wait.  So what if the letter went back to Huggies.

A couple days ago, I got another notice in the mail saying the letter would be returned on the 26th.  Fine.  As long as I didn't have to go to the post office.  But then I got to thinking.  Why would Huggies be sending me a certified letter.  It wouldn't be for an advertisement.  Maybe they're sending me a few special coupons!  Fine, I'll brace myself for a dangerously long time at the post office if it meant saving a few bucks on diapers.  It's why I signed up in the first place, afterall. 

Today, I had to go to the DMV to get a drivers' license and new registration, and our Relief Society president generously offered to watch my girls so I could do it unimpeded.  (I can't imagine doing it with them!  Thank you so much!!)  While I was childless, I thought I'd just swing by the post office and pick up the letter.  Phew, not so long a line.  Yet still just one worker.  I still had to wait 10 minutes in line, but at least I was there.

She handed me my manila envelope, but it felt basically empty.  Hmm...maybe it's a letter saying I've won but I need to sign and send something back.  Nope.  I opened the envelope and there was a smaller envelope inside.  Like Christmas.  I opened that envelope and to my amazement, I found about 50 silver coupons for free diapers.

50 free packs of diapers.  Any size.  What?!  Let's see, that's a pack of diapers a week for a whole year...that's a year supply!!!  Oh my goodness!  I won a year supply of free diapers!!  I could NOT believe it!  ME?  I never win anything! 

What a blessing.  Seriously, an answer to prayers, though silent they may have been.  I've been checking ads for diapers as we are running dangerously low for Avery and I've been using a brand I abhor since someone gave us a pack.  But I feel sick inside every time I look at the price for diapers.  It makes me want to use cloth.  But then, I think again, and realize I'll just have to cough up the cash eventually.  Maybe if I just don't change them as often...Nah.  Now, I don't have to worry about it.  We should be able to get enough diapers to last for quite some time for both girls.  And if I get Taryn potty trained, we should be in business.  What an unexpected, amazing blessing. 

Thank you Huggies!!

It's Almost Time

Okay, everyone!  Monday is the magic day where I will be taking my blog private.  If you haven't yet requested to be invited to view my blog, do so before Monday!  I don't want to leave anyone behind.

This Is The Day...

...that my daughter made her first life decision.  Actually, it was yesterday.  And it probably wasn't really the first.  Yesterday morning, while playing with Avery, Keara and I had the following conversation:

Me: Keara, when we have another baby, do you want it to be a boy or a girl?
Keara: A boy.  Can we have one right now?
M: NO!  Avery is not big enough.
K: When she is big enough, can we have one?
M: Sure.  And when that one is big enough, do you want another boy or a girl?
K: A girl.  And then, that's enough.
M: What!?  Only five?  I don't think that is enough.
K: Well, then, when I'm a mom, I'll have five kids.  No six.

She wants to be a doctor when she grows up too, but I'm hoping the mom part will win out.

Happy Spring!

Every year growing up, my mom made Easter bread, or Spring bread.  So, carrying on with tradition, I have made this bread every year.  It is more and more fun as the girls get older.  This year,  I used a new recipe that I have come to LOVE and we used gel food coloring, so the colors are much more vibrant instead of pastel.  It's really simple to make, though a little time consuming.  First make the bread.  Here's the recipe:

WHITE BREAD

2 cups very warm water

¼ cup sugar
4 ½ tsp yeast

½ cup oil

2 ½ tsp salt

5-6 cups bread flour

3 Tbs gluten

Food coloring (for spring bread)

Proof yeast in water and sugar. (If you don't know what it means to proof yeast, combine your water and sugar in a mixing bowl and sprinkle in yeast.  Mix together and let sit until yeast becomes very bubbly, foamy, or whatever you want to call it.  Once it is that way, continue with the recipe.  If it never gets to that foamy point after 10 minutes, then your yeast is bad.  Don't waste the rest of the ingredients on bad yeast.)  Add oil, salt, 4 cups flour, and gluten. Add more flour as needed until dough is soft but not too sticky.  Knead slowly for 2 minutes in between flour additions.  Spray bowl and place dough in it, turning to coat. Cover and let rise until double. Punch down, shape into loaves, and place in greased loaf pans. Bake at 325°F for 40 minutes or until golden brown on top and sides. Remove from pans and let cool on wire racks. 

Now, the debate.  Is bread flour necessary?  No.  You can do just fine with all-purpose flour.  However, if you want melt in your mouth deliciousness, use bread flour.  And for the secret ingredient, also use vital wheat gluten.  If you are using all-purpose flour, add one tablespoon gluten for every cup of flour you use.  Bread flour, on the other hand, already has gluten added to the flour, so you don't need as much.  However, I have found that adding a little more gluten to bread flour makes it extra special. 

I learned that when you are making bread, you want it to pull away from the sides but NOT the bottom after you've added your flour.  Slowly add the flour a half cup at a time and let it knead for 2 minutes in between each addition.  If there is not enough flour, after a little bit of kneading, it will start sticking to the sides again.  So you can add a little more.  But if you just keep dumping flour in, you will end up adding too much and the dough will either be tough or dry.  Almost all bread is delicious right out of the oven, but the goal is to have it delicious a couple days later...if it lasts that long.  The texture of this bread should be the most lucious thing you have ever felt, very elastic.

Now, to make it colored bread, you can either add the dye to the water/yeast mixture or you can knead it in after.  If you add it to the water, you will have enough dough to make 3 loaves of just that color.  So you'd have to make additional batches for the other colors, potentially ending up with enough dough to make 18 loaves of bread.  I don't know about you, but I didn't want to make that much bread.  So I made two batches, broke them into 6 separate balls and added my dye to each ball.  Kneading in the colors took a lot of elbow grease and time, but it was worth not having to make that many batches.  Do what you want.

Now, to make the bread.  I divided each color into four equal shaped balls.  Roll out one ball of each color into a long snake. 

 Next you press the tops of the snakes together.

Now, start braiding.  In the above example, take the red one, over the green, under the purple, over the yellow, under the pink, and over the blue. 

Continue doing this, making sure to scoot the color you are braiding in all the way against the one above it so the braid is tight.

When you are finished, tuck the ends together. 

Usually, the loaf ends up being longer than your pan.  So you have a few choices.  You can squish it into your pan.  It doesn't end up as pretty, but you'll have more bread per loaf.  Or you can fold it in half on top of itself.  I think it makes it too big, but maybe you want that.  What I did was cut off the part that was too long and put it in other pans, since I have 3 different sized pans.  That worked well for me.  But you can decide what you want to do and it WILL work!!

Now, bake it at 325 degrees for 40 minutes and take the loaves out of the pans immediately.  All bread is best right out of the oven, so go ahead and have some!

If you don't want to make colored bread, just use the above recipe for the best white bread you've ever had.

Now, you'll need the recipe for the best strawberry mango jam ever made.  Ahh...pure deliciousness.

Probably Too Heavy, But at Least Its Something

I understand the concept about being kind and gentle in your approach.  But I also don't feel the need to sugar coat things like this.  So, here's my email to Walmart.  I did call them too and talked to a lady about it and she was SHOCKED by my experience.  I think most of these well-meaning people feel similar to how we do about not wanting this junk to be all around us and they are grateful for someone opening their mouth.  Anyway, I decided to write an email too just to make sure that it was documented as I would like it put.  Yeah, it may be too harsh, but it's the truth, at least in my opinion.

Dear Walmart:

I was in the ****, **  SuperWalmart the other day talking to my cashier when I realized that the magazine right behind her head was the latest Sports Illustrated issue. On the cover was a girl without anything on, not even a swimsuit. It was as offensive as if it had been blatant pornography. I was suprised to see that Walmart was carrying this issue and putting it in the check out aisles. The effect images like these have on our children, husbands, wives, and society in general is detrimental. I would really appreciate not having to view such images while trying to do my grocery shopping and I certainly don't want my children to stumble upon it. If you insist on carrying pornography in your stores, please put it with the other magazines so it is not easily seen or accesible. I would hope that Walmart would take a stand against such smuck and even stop carrying magazines that are suggestive or of a pornographic nature. Let the filthy stores carry those awful things and keep your stores clean. Why would you want to promote that indulgence? I don't care if you are trying to make a profit or appeal to more people. It is still in your power to affect the neighborhoods your stores are in and choosing to carry smut makes Walmart part of the problem. I would encourage you, as a company, to take a stand against such things. But if you do not have that moral courage, then at least create an enforcable store policy that such magazines and materials will only be available in a separate area and NOT in the checkout aisles. Thank you for your courage and attention.

I Did It

And let me tell you, I was shaking!  What am I talking about?  Well, my sister posted on her blog and sent out an email asking all of us to take a stand against a MAJOR problem infiltrating our world.  Heidi, I hope you don't mind I'm copying this from your blog:

"I have been struck by how easy it is to DO THIS to help your community stay "clean", no matter where you live. All you've gotta do is open your mouth.


Sorry for such an ugly subject, but have you noticed the current Sports Illustrated issue? The cover is a half-naked woman, and I'm not talking the swimsuit edition. Nate and I have successfully been able to get them off the shelves at Malama, Foodland Wahiawa and Foodland Pupukea. I'm not sure if this publication is still running, but more "traditional" magazines are using porn on their covers.

Next time you're grocery shopping or in any store that has magazines, if you see an inappropriate magazine cover, ask to see the manager. What I have done is, while showing the manager the cover, I say, "I am surprised that a store like this would carry porn." Usually that's all you have to say. If they start giving excuses, you can say, "For the sake of the children, and all your other customers, will you please have this removed from your shelves?" Usually, that's it. Then I wait to see that the magazine is actually removed.

And you know what we've found? Usually the manager is apologetic and grateful that you've brought it up and they remove the magazines immediately.

When you have success stories, I'd love to hear about it! If you have friends or family that could help "clean up" the publicly displayed magazine racks, please ask them to do the same! Feel free to copy and paste this onto your blog, etc to help more people get involved!"

Well, the other day, we were at Walmart and I was in line and saw all these magazines and I thought, "Hmm, I would LOVE to stand up for morality, but I've never come across that SI issue (thank goodness) so I haven't had the opportunity."  Then, two minutes later, I'm staring at my cashier talking to her and suddenly become very aware that right behind her head are 2 sections with that SI issue, right there!  I couldn't even talk to her without seeing them.  And no, Heidi, it is not a HALF naked girl, she is truly bare!  I don't care what her arms may be covering.  Anyway, I was SHOCKED and knew I had to act.

So I asked for a manager.  Not there.  So I asked for the assistant manager.  He came over and I said exactly what Heidi suggested.  He went to find out what they could do and told me that they had to call their supplier to have them pull them from the shelves but then also told me to call 1-800-WALMART to complain.  I have to do that still.  But he did say, "You are probably bringing something up that a lot of other people are offended by too and haven't said anything about.  It is probably something the entire company would be concerned about, so please call."  Believe me, I will.

I was nervous to bring it up, but I am also mortified that people are becoming so calloused and accepting of smuck.  It is disgusting and I was very aware that my children could see that magazine, let alone my husband.  Let alone myself!  I don't want to see it, even just talking to my cashier. 

So, may I beg you too to take a stand, open your mouth, have courage, and do everything you can to root out the evil around you.  Be bold and you will be surprised how many people agree with you but just don't have the courage to stand up and be heard.