Homemade White Bread

This is my recipe for white bread...altered a little from a friend of mine's:

2 cups lukewarm water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 egg
4 1/2 cups king arthur bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast (I use red star)

I use a breadmaker so I put it all in to the machine, in order, then set it for dough.
You can kneed it yourself as well...just make sure when pouring ingredients the yeast does not touch the liquid until you start mixing/kneading.
Kneed until soft dough is formed and let rise in bowl. Punch down and kneed again and let rise in bowl.
(If using bread maker just watch it on the last rise because it overflows in my machine and I have to stop the last rise 30 mins early to avoid a mess.)
After the last rise, punch down and divide dough in half and put each half in a bread pan. Let rise for 30 mins in bread pans then bake for 30 mins at 350.
I usually let it cool overnight on the stove covered with a towel and then slice it all in the am and store in ziplocks.
Make sure you have alot of butter and enjoy!

Sew Happy

At 32, there is so much that I don't know about myself yet. I'm really liking the woman I'm getting to know though.  It turns out she likes to do crafts, plan a garden, eat clean, work out, attempt to raise egg chickens, and now sew! Yes you read that right, I actually LIKE to sew.

I aggravated my neck/shoulder injuries last week and I was really in need of a decent heat pack.  I drove around trying to find one to buy. I won't even go into the rigamarole that ensued that day. Eventually I got one, handmade, that day. But she didnt even ask me what kind of fabric I wanted, what shape, scent or anything.  I just figured it would be nice. Well I was wrong.  I got it home. I strongly disliked the odd squarish shape and size, the channels that she put in it so there were 3 sections, the so strong tea tree oil scent that after using it I smelled like a hippie who hadn't showered in two weeks, and the ugly hospital white look of it.

So the next day I said to myself "if I know exactly what I want, why don't I just make it myself."  So I did. Here is my first hot/cold therapy rice bag:

Then since I had the machine out and more fabric and more rice I decided to make a couple more for my family:

The little ones are great for little people or foot, knee, elbow, or leg injuries. The large one is great for any injury of the back. The middle size is the one I use for my neck. Although I think I'll make the neck one just a little smaller next time. I like it without channels because you can adjust the rice to curve to your body shape. If you like channels to keep the rice in place you can do that too. 

Bit Bad by the Craft/DIY Bug

I'm not really sure what is going on.  Are pigs flying? Is the Earth off it's axis? Is it some strange phase of the moon?

In that last week, I've made more actual decent looking crafts than I can remember. It all started when the boys and I had an idea to make some birthday gifts for people. Here's what we came up with:

Family Cupcake Liner Bouquet in Fingerprint Vase

Kid Bouquet in Fingerprint Vase with handpainted flowers by kids

Kid Bouquet in Fingerprint Vase with pre-painted flowers

So that was super fun.  It was a day project to shop for the vases at Salvation Army, the flowers and paint at Walmart, get home, prep the vases, cover work surface, help kids make fingerprint flowers, bake the vases (because its enamel paint and has to cure - this is best for glass surfaces so the paint doesn't chip or wash off). Then I printed the pics and cut them out. They painted the natural wooden flowers and craft stick stems, I hot glued everything together and when the vases were cool we put it all together with a little tissue paper. I used cupcake liners as paint cups and when we were finished I put what paint I could back into the bottles then spread the rest over the cupcake liner. I let them dry then glued the faces on and cut the liners with fancy scissors and glued to craft stick stems.  This was really a fun little project for all of us!

Check out my next post for my other craft project of the week :)

Humble Parenting

Many of us complain about the hurt and damage we received from our parents in our childhood. I understand we all want to do things differently and protect our children from those kinds of hurts. But has it occurred to us that there are other hurts and damage that will be done regardless? What makes us all think we are so great at parenting that we will not screw up our kids just as much as our parents did us? We are SINNERS. We WILL screw up. We all need an extra dose of humility. None of us will be perfect parents. None of us will do EVERYTHING right. And ALL of us will look back on some of our decisions and say “man, I wish I did that differently.” My prayer for my kids is that my children will seek God’s healing for the ways that I fail. Because I WILL fail.

Another thought is that many of us judge and say well if I did what THEY do my kids would respond this way, so therefore its wrong. For example I might say if I let my 5 and 3 year old boys eat what they want, whenever they were hungry they would eat every two hours and chose junk food. Well that is because I have trained them to eat what I tell them. They dont have many chances to choose and when they do choose they want something special that they dont get all the time. For someone who has trained their child from the start to chose good healthy foods all the time, who never gave them candy or chips, their child at 5 may be able to be trusted to choose his menu. You get the idea. Its all about the training.

We need to stop comparing. "Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else." Gal 6:4

And stop judging how God made each one of us different. "But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me [OR THEM] like this?' Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?" Rom 9:20-21

Luke 18:9-14 "To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Child Training Bible

I received my Child Training Bible materials last week.  If you haven't heard of the Child Training Bible is a wonderful tool to help children and parents walk in the ways of the Lord.  Please check out Mindy's site for more details about this tool.

I finished putting my CTB together today while on vacation.  I chose the Zondervan NIV large print pew Bible.  The words are nice and big, so the kids can easily read it.  It was so wonderful just reading through the scriptures for each topic as I tabbed and highlighted the verses.  I then found some of my favorites that weren't on the list and tabbed and highlighted them accordingly.

After I finished I was able to use the CTB for my own Bible study time.  It was fantastic!  It was refreshing to only have the Word in front of me and not a bunch of notes and comments.  Those things are certainly useful but at this time in my walk, the pure Word is speaking to me in amazing ways and I am loving it! I am so looking forward to continuing to use this tool for our whole family's growth.

My biggest concern now is that every 5 mins I will be having a "Bible moment" with my kids because there is just so much there that we need to work on!  I think I need to pray for wisdom on that front ;) Perhaps focus on an issue a week for a while.  We'll see how God leads that.

If you don't have your CTB yet, seriously consider this amazing tool.  Not saying this because I have too, only because I am just so in love with it!  Thanks to Mindy for sharing her family's tool with the world.  We so greatly appreciate it!

Fruit of the Spirit lesson

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Yesterday I was feeling the hankering to do a little school with the boys. When I say this I mean like creative lesson planning and activities around a specific theme. I don't often have this kind of hankering because it requires effort and some planning LOL. But it really is so much fun. So while they watched their spanish lesson on DVD (La Clase Divertida), I got online and googled "fruit of the Spirit preschool" and found a ton of great resources.  Here is where I got a lot of stuff. I had planned in September that our Bible focus this year would be the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). I would teach them each fruit and use different bible stories to illustrate each fruit in action. Great ideas, but it never really happened. So yesterday we made this cute little fruit basket craft which was very simple but involved scissors and glue which my boys love. And Luke actually really enjoyed coloring his fruit and basket. He colored everything himself except the bottom part of the basket. He's really improved at coloring in the last month!

Josh loves "scissoring" he had fun cutting up the watermelon and his basket page LOL. I glued it back together for him :) I also helped him color.

What was nice was that while we were coloring we talked about each fruit. I tried to define them in a way that a 2 and 4 year old can grasp (not easy BTW!). It was a bit easier talking about examples of how to show the fruit. We talked about a few of the bible stories I had wanted to use for love. I just told them the stories as we colored and cut and glued. For the idea of "Love your Neighbor" I told them the Good Samaritan (based on Luke 10:25-37). For "Love your enemy" we did David and Saul (based on 1 Samuel Chapters 18 - 24). Then we learned a new song - the fruit of the Spirit song:

We watched the video and then I quick looked up the chords and we sang and played it together. We've been singing the song a lot since yesterday and Luke has almost all the fruit memorized already! Looking forward to our next fruit lesson!

10 Things You Should Know Before Getting a Puppy

awww...look at the cute little puppy

1. PUPPIES AND LITTLE KIDS DON’T MIX. If you already have children, do not get a dog until your children are potty trained (school aged would be even better). At first the little puppy will be cute but soon he may be bigger and stronger than your children and he won’t know any better than to knock them down, nip at them and scratch them. They think your kids are their brothers and sisters and they play with them like they are dogs. If your kids are little, they do not have the capacity to assert themselves as the alpha dog and your puppy will walk (or jump) all over them. If you don’t have kids yet and are thinking about it, get a puppy first, its good preparation. Just make sure you read all this and everything else you can about them before you buy one. If you have children who are 4 or older, they can be a big help with the dog. They still may not be able to assert dominance over him but they can help with letting him out, feeding him, watering him, and training him. 

about 5 mos later

2. PUPPIES ARE DIRTY. If you think it will be great to have a “vacuum cleaner” to pick up all those crumbs your kids leave under the table, keep in mind your vacuum will make ten times the mess of your kids between his toys getting chewed into pieces, stuffing all over the house, muddy paw prints adorning your floors (and pee and poop and puke) and did I mention dog hair that requires vacuuming or sweeping everyday (or a very conscious effort to ignore).

ahhh...the mud...

3. PUPPIES ARE EXPENSIVE. Be aware of the cost of a dog. First you have to buy the puppy. This can be anywhere from free to thousands of dollars. We paid a lot for our dog because we wanted a reputable breeder and a health guarantee. If you care about the future of this dog and you are looking to have a dog in his forever home this is the best way to go. You know what you are getting into and its guaranteed. However you will pay for it. Now this cost of the dog covers his first shots, maybe a little food, treats, collar and leash. You will then need to purchase a crate. If you want him to be comfortable you will get him a bed. Some advice – do not buy the cheap beds with stuffing in them. Find an old blanket that has no stuffing and that cannot easily be torn to pieces. I went through 3 beds, I think, and 3 blankets before I found one that he didn’t shred within a week. You will need toys unless you don’t mind all your shoes, carpets, children’s toys, furniture and anything else he can reach becoming his toy. Advice – don’t buy any toys with stuffing. Chew toys are great, especially nylabone and kong. And the skinzeez are great but even those he eventually gets the squeakers out and shreds the skins to bits. (Hence number 2 above). If you want the dog to obey and housetrain, you will need treats. A grooming kit will come in handy. At the least, you will need nail clippers and dog wash. You will need to buy anther collar because most likely your dog will grow out of his puppy collar. Then it’s likely you will need a prong or slip collar (I suggest prong), then you will need a bigger prong or slip. You might need to buy a few different leashes. Also some type of fencing is often needed. Maybe a doghouse and a run. We also bought a static training collar. And obedience class. Then there’s the vet. The first six month of vet bills are hefty. Also you have to consider flea and parasite control. These are imperative. Right now we are not treating fleas in the winter but we will again in the spring. Ongoing costs will be toys, treats, food, vet, flea and parasite control, grooming. And lets not forget replacement costs of the things your dog will wreck. You can see a list below of just some of the things I’ve had to replace. Perhaps, if you do as suggested in number 1 you will be able to monitor your dog better than me and this will not be as much of a problem for you. Understand that the bigger the dog the more expensive he will be. Everything goes by weight. Bigger dogs eat more, poop more, and require more medication. Here's an estimate of costs based on my actual expenses:

INITIAL COSTS	MIN	MAX
dog	0	2000
crate	25	200
dog beds	25	200
baby/puppy gates	20	100
toys	50	150
grooming kit	20	50
treats	15	50
dog dishes	10	30
chews	10	50
dog wash	3	5
Vet -first exam	60	90
Vet second shots	50	100
lyme	25	50
vet third shot	71	150
rabies	16	30
second lyme	25	50
parasite control	20	40
nueter	250	500
collars/leashes	25	50
fencing	25	500
training collar	150	300
grooming	35	70
poop scoop	20	20
puppy class	100	300
	1050	5085

REPLACEMENT	EST
shoes	150
laptop cord	75
childrens toys	60
throw rugs	70
phone cables	40
blankets	50
clothes	50
books	20
	515
YEARLY COSTS	MIN	MAX
parasite control	45	68
flea control	40	142
food	210	468
toys	20	100
treats	40	80
vet	60	120
grooming	10	300
	425	1278

We had better gates for the dog than for the kids!

4. PUPPIES TIE YOU DOWN. Forget your social life for about 6 mos. Yes, you may be able to leave him in the crate for little bits at a time, like to get groceries. But you will not just be able to go anywhere for hours at a time, unless everywhere you go is dog friendly. It is nice to take your puppy lots of places but again if your kids are little, just think of it like bringing another baby with you. You really need a doggie diaper bag. You need to bring a leash, treats, bowls, food, water, toys, bags to clean up after him. It’s just another thing to add to your list that makes getting out the door even harder. And people get sick of hearing “um…is it okif I bring my puppy?" No its not, if they wanted a puppy there they would have one of their own!

Taking care of a sick dog is no fun

5. PUPPIES CHANGEYOUR LIFE. You and your kids will not be able to do all the things you are used to doing for a while. If you are pre-children, forget long video game sessions, nights out on the town, or leaving your stuff anywhere you please in the house, for just a few examples. That puppy will require your attention and really doesn’t care how far your getting in Call of Duty, who will be at the wine bar, or how much your iPad costs. If you don’t give him what he needs, he will destroy your stuff if its in reach and looks chewable. And if you leave him unattended too much in or out of the crate you are coming back to a mess. For those of us with kids, beware, some of their favorite activities may be put on hold for a while. For example, my boys like to play with a hotwheels racetrack. If they play with it when the dog is around it doesn’t last long because the dog thinks the cars are fun to chase and play keep away with. Often I hear from my kids, “MOOOOOOM!!! CAN YOU PUT THE DOG OUTSIDE, HE’S BEING ANNOYING!?” Don’t get me wrong, playing with our dog is lots of fun but sometimes my kids just want to play kid things, without a puppy thinking he’s IT and his way of tagging is knocking them to the ground. By 6 mos he outweighed both my boys. There are ways around this that we have learned. But again it requires serious effort on the part of the dog owner. We’ll get into that next.

Not the best pic, but you get the idea ;)

6. PUPPIES NEED EXERCISE. The only way to keep a dog out of trouble is good obedience training and proper exercise. We’ve found that if we spend lots of time training and playing, he will tire out and then just sleep. This allows my kids to play and run and do what they like without his interference. If you aren’t able to do daily walks (or runs) you need to spend a good 30 mins or more playing with your puppy every day. I suggest more as they grow. Great ways to exercise your dog include, fetch, training commands sit, stay, come; hide and seek (throw the ball and have the kid run with the dog for a few games of fetch, then when you throw the ball again have the kid hide and when puppy comes back with ball tell him to find kid), keep away (once they have learned who’s boss and will drop it when told), tug of war (again after they will drop it for you), walking, rollerblading, biking, running laps around the house with your 4 year old (once they are out of the nipping stage), Frisbee, trampoline (kids jump on it, dog jumps under it), there are lots of other games and training activities you can do with your dog, google it J

He was still running after a steep one mile hike at 5 mos old

7. PUPPIES NEED TRAINING. You will have to put significant time into training your dog. Even the smartest dogs take time to train. Early on you will need to spend at least 30 mins a day training your dog if you want him to obey. You need to be committed to this and find time in your schedule to make this work or else you will soon be calling the breeder or a shelter to give away or back an unruly dog. (And just think of all the money you wasted.) Every breed and every dog is different. There are tons of different training techniques out there. Before you even get a dog, spend some time researching training techniques and decide what you like but be willing to try a few different things. Certain things work better for certain dogs. Breed also comes into play. Some dogs need more correction, some only need praise and pets, while others are very food motivated. You have to be willing to try different things and figure out what works for your dog. 

Dogs (and little boys) love to dig!

8. YOU WILL WANT TO GIVE UP YOUR PUPPY. Know that somewhere between 5-12 mos your dog will go nuts and you will want to get rid of him. He will be going through the naughty adolescent phase. Sort of like a 2 year old and a 13 year old all rolled up into one naughty little four legged sneak. He WILL NOT listen and you WILL NOT catch him. This is why we invested in a static training collar. Its not for everyone, but it works for us.

Taking a napkin right off the table (not the only thing he's taken off the table)

9. PUPPIES ARE STRESSFUL. You are adding stress to your life by getting a dog. Yes, you are getting a wonderful pet and a great experience for your kids and your family and you will have sweet and lasting memories. But right now you will have significant stress and this puppy (aka baby) will run your life for a while. If your kids are already a handful adding a dog is not the solution. It may distract them from killing each other for a few weeks but soon enough the newness wears off and you have 3 little tornados tearing up everything in their paths, including each other.

Does this look easy? Its not.

10. DOGS ARE THE BEST PET YOU COULD OWN. Last but not least, and probably most important, dogs are amazing and wonderful pets. They are loyal, they love their family and they really will do anything to please you (as soon as they figure out what you want, and how to communicate with you.) You just really have to put the time and effort in to making a cute puppy a great pet. Apuppy is not just something you get to show off and pet and play with. There is a TON of work involved in raising a great dog. Just as there is in raising great children. But once you are ready for the responsibility of a puppy and you really put in the effort, you will have a wonderful companion, great stress relief, a best friend for your kids who will never forsake them, and someone who will ALWAYS be happy to see you. Just don’t make the mistake of taking on a puppy lightly or else you won’t have one for very long.

All in all...he's worth it. And we love him. Even if he is annoying ;)