Lol and Deish

These two spend quite a bit of time in the house while the other kids run the neighborhood. Because I do not entertain, they are forced to find ways to entertain themselves. Leila's favorite thing to do, besides drinking Kool-Aid, is walking the dogs. She loves to put Scooder on the leash and drag him around the house or the neighborhood if she can sneak him out. On this particular day, Scooder was tired of being dragged, so she disconnected his leash and hooked this one up to Deisha.

Initially she was a good sport, but come on. Have you met Deisha? She's fiercely independent and fought tooth and nail to break free. Scooder looked on with envy. He just doesn't have the fight in him.

Everybody Was Kenpo Fighting

Due to an unexpected turn of events, Micah opted out of football, so we took the plunge into Karate.

For almost two weeks, these boys fought and worked out and grappled in their gym shorts only dreaming of the day when they would have their own Gi to fight in.

If you've met my sons you know that they don't like to exercise the full range of their wardrobe at any time. They would be content to own two pair of shorts and two shirts and rotate between the two outfits every few days. You can imagine my surprise when they asked if they could sleep in, play in, and run around in their new get-ups.

I sternly impressed into their minds that these clothes are sacred, like most other things involved in karate. They could only wear them for karate-related events. They wear them with pride and fight hard and fight well.

The first time I watched them during a class, I got goosebumps. This is something I cannot explain and do not fully understand about myself. I love fighting. I don't like no-holds-barred brawling, but in a controlled environment, there's just something about it that revs my engine. It's good that I can't be there every night to watch because after each class I try to reason a way to get myself into a class... Maybe I should join a book club.

More on Bread Baking

I just want to throw in a few more little tidbits that might help your first attempt a little bit.

The temperature of the water needs to be just slightly warmer than you would make a baby's bottle.

After you stir the sugar and salt into the water, sprinkle the yeast in a single layer on the surface of the water, set the timer for 10 minutes, and walk away. Don't stir it or shake it or blow on it. Just walk away. The yeast will double. This how you *proof* the yeast. AFTER THAT add the oil.

This method takes a lot of flour. If you have less than a full bag a of flour, don't attempt it. You will end up using that bag of whole wheat flour that is sitting in the back of you cupboard and it is much more simple to do your first attempt with white flour. I'm not saying you can't, but you'll be happier during the kneading process if you stick with white.

During the first rise, cover it with a kitchen towel and walk away. My first batch took a long, long time to rise. It is all contingent on the weather, the yeast, the temperature of the water, the mood of the dough... You will know it has risen enough when you press two fingers into the top of the dough and it doesn't even attempt to mend itself.

If you have a lot of activity in your kitchen, you may want to tuck it inside the oven, away from movement and curious fingers. If it is cold in your house, you can turn the oven on to the lowest setting while you are preparing the dough, and then shut it off to allow for a warm place to rise.

When it is big enough, punch it down, divide the dough and put it in the pan. You can refrigerate or freeze the dough at the point, or cover it and let it rise again.

I bake mine at 350 degrees. 15 minutes for rolls, about 20-25 minutes for bread, I think. If you bake it too long, it will dry out very quickly the next day. I just watch it and when it starts to brown, I start knocking on it to see if it's hollow.

Happy baking!!!

Ballerina Mania

This kid... she's a wonder. I never took ballet. I also ruled it out for my own children because, well frankly, I have four girls and it's expensive. But I have taught them to pray for the desires of their hearts knowing that God cares about the small stuff. Kennedy has asked to take ballet a few times, but I always poopooed the idea in light of the cost. She started to pray that the Lord would give her jobs in the neighborhood so that she would be able to pay for the classes. She even delivered flyers to everyone we know offering dog-walking and babysitting services. Then heaven sent her an answer by way of her fairy grandmother; her dream has come true.
Jasmine is taking classes too. They get so excited every week to get suited up in their tights and leotards. This month we started attending at a new studio that we all love. I wish we would've started there in the beginning. This is another answer to prayer, as I wasn't convinced that we were under the best guidance before. God hears.

Kennedy is also teaching herself to play the violin. I love to walk by their room and hear classical strings or piano music playing in the background. Who knew my kids would have a taste for the finer things... along with their affinity for Spongebob.

Phantom Napper

It's a fight almost every day to get Leila to take a nap. She's at that age where she knows she could get away with not taking a nap, but her little body really needs it. She seems big enough to pass on it sometimes, but usually she's crashed out on the couch by five o'clock and I remind myself that she's only three. Three-year-old kids still need naps; it's just the way it is. It's hard to believe she'll be four next week. Tre was only four when we moved here. The days go so fast somehow!

So the other day I sent her to bed at nap time. She was in there for about five minutes when I went back in to make sure she wasn't digging through my drawers, and this is how I found her. As a matter of fact, I looked under the beds and walked out of the room calling her before I realized that that tiny shape under the blanket was her little body! She's so funny...

Sorry, boys...

SHE'S ENGAGED!!!

I wish we had some better pictures of this ring, I haven't even caught a glimpse of it's sparkle and shine, just a tiny peek from a cell phone picture.

My sweet Sista has found the love of her life and they are getting married. For reals.

DEY ARRE IN LOOOOVVVVEEE!!!!

And we are so happy for you!!!

Nick's Birthday

Maybe you didn't notice that Nick looks like one of mine. He's basically part of our family. Every morning he's the first one to ring the doorbell, and the last one I kick out of the house at the end of the play day. On his birthday he invited Micah to Los Angeles with his family. They went to Universal Studios, an Angels game, and stayed in a hotel.

So for his birthday I thought we needed to do something special for him. If you have never been my neighbor, you may not know that I show love this way. Since I didn't have candy or toys stashed away for birthday surprises, I whipped this lovely little delight and yelled for the kids to come in.

One for the girls...

...and one for the boys. They gobbled them up. We used to get this at Cheddars when we lived in Springfield. It's called a Cookie Monster. My mother-in-law bought me these awesome little skillets so that we could make the real thing. It's a chocolate chip cookie baked in an iron skillet, topped with ice cream and chocolate sauce. It should also have whipped cream and a cherry on top, but I didn't have either of those.

*BLOG BONUS*I didn't have chocolate sauce either, but I have a recipe for it.

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

Mix these ingredients, bring them to a boil, and simmer 10 minutes.

Now you have a recipe for it when you get in a pinch.

Deisha

This baby makes me laugh. On this particular day Tre was in the bathtub. She kept running back and forth from the bathroom to the living room. He would load her up with bubbles and we would load her up with laughs.

We had a little trouble timing the flash with her smiling.

She loves to torment Scooder. Here she is smacking him in the face with the bone he loves and can't resist.

We were having a really good time.

The kid is a proficient climber. I find her sitting on my dining room table a couple of times a week. Usually she is after a drink with a straw that someone put there hoping to keep it away from her. Unfortunately for us I don't have eyes on her all the time. I know. It's a small place. How could I lose sight of her? But I do.

The other day while I was working in the kitchen, she was toddling around the living room and found something to entertain herself with. She spent a good thirty minutes pilfering through these movies looking for Elmo.

Then after she had looked at enough of them, she climbed in and just sat. It's tough to get a good picture of her because she is constantly moving. She's a hoot.

The Simple Things

Most Sunday nights Dale is at work so I make a simple meal for the kids like homemade macaroni, bean burritos, waffles, something I wouldn't typically make if Dale was at home. The kids usually spend Sundays outside because all the school kids are around. Those two components together usually mean we have extra little faces at our dinner table.

Tonight Nick was only one around when I sent word to the troops that dinner was on the table. Since he's here more often than most of the neighborhood kids, he decided to help Micah clear the table. No, wait. I take that back. He helped Micah so they would be able to play faster. Yes. That makes more sense.

I could hear them chattering in the kitchen but didn't pay much attention when Nick said, "My mom makes the best spaghetti." Micah said, "Yeah. Your mom does make good spaghetti."

My heart sunk a little bit. I want to be that mom that makes the best everything. What can I say. I'm an overachiever.

Then he continued, "But my mom's spaghetti makes you feel warm inside. You know what I mean? It just makes you feel all warm inside."

Nick heartily agreed with, "Yeah, I know! I've had it before!" He's had most of the meals in my routine.

It's a simple thing, but those are the things that make it all worth it.

Trampoline Trauma

A few years ago I ventured out by myself before daybreak to the Black Friday sale at WalMart. I've never gone before because I was always too exhausted from the day before. When I saw the ad for trampolines with full enclosures, I talked to Dale about it and we decided we'd buy one. I knew he would rather pay full price than get up that early, so I went. I was a few months pregnant with Deisha and in my rush to get out the door, I didn't eat anything. That was my first mistake.

Walmart was buzzing with people and smelled like fresh coffee and sausage biscuits from the in-store McDonalds. I hurried to find the trampolines with no idea how I would get it from the display to the car. Once I found them, I waited for a nice man in the crowd to load it into my cart for me, and then I hurried to the check out line. I paid for it, loaded in the truck, and I went back in for more. That was my second mistake.

I was lured in by the piles and piles of merchandise in every isle marked at nice rounded off prices like $20, $10, and $5. Starving by the time I arrived at the check-out relieved to have an end in sight. My line was moving incredibly slow, I'm sure they all were, but it seemed to move slower and slower the closer to the front I got. There were two people ahead of me when I started to feel dizzy. I had had this feeling many times before and knew I didn't have much time... but I was going to save soooo much money, I thought I could tough it out. While the person ahead of me waited for her items to ring up, I squatted on the floor trying to get my head as low as possible. I must have looked ridiculous, but it seemed to help. Only, every time I stood up, the swelling dizziness threatened to overtake me. I felt like I might throw up willing myself not to as I scanned the area around me for a small trash can just in case.

Somehow I managed to get to the front of the line without keeling over using the squatting and standing routine. The woman at the register in the sweetest British accent said, "Doing you exercises, Dear?" As I handed her my credit card, I mentioned that I felt a little sick. That was when the whole world went black.

I woke up to a circle of faces around me and someone saying, "Call an ambulance." It was just like it is in the movies. Out of sheer embarrassment, I got up as quickly as I could, grabbed my bags and ran out the door. A woman tried to stop me asking if I was okay, but I waved her off saying I needed some air and ran to my car. When the bags were loaded, I sat down in the drivers seat and cried. It was the most surreal moment in my life.

Looking back on that whole experience, I can honestly tell you it was worth it. I'd do it all over again for the sheer joy that filled my house when the kids opened that box on Christmas morning.

That was two Christmases ago, which is why I didn't lose it when I got the report that this had happened. A few weeks ago one of my neighbors dropped by and while we chatted in the living room, her kids and my kids piled up on the trampoline. A few more kids trickled in the back gate and the whole army of kids was jumping on the trampoline. At the bidding of the oldest kid, they all jumped at the same time which meant they all landed at the same time and rrrrntttt, there went our trampoline.

That kid already believed I didn't like him, so he took off out the back gate faster than he came in. I didn't seem him for a few days after that. I wasn't mad at all. Actually, it thrills my heart that my kids have enough friends to make this happen. It's a testimony of the goodness of God. I can't guarantee that they'll ever be in our backyard again; the only thing back there is sand, some patches of grass, and dog poop. But they still show up at the front door when they smell bread baking. That's good enough for me.

Bread Baking 101

I would consider myself a competent cook. If I walking into your kitchen right now, I could come up with something using only the ingredients in your cabinet without using a recipe. I think that is a good standard to measure myself against. I wouldn't say I'm the most creative cook, or the best cook, and I don't have a very wide variety of things that I make. I can make a few things very well I try to use a lot of fresh ingredients. There is one thing that I have struggled with for years and that's bread. I have gone through seasons when I tried different recipes, tried various methods and such, but I didn't master it.... until now.

Jonjenek's mother is a down-home country gal from the sticks. One of the first things I learned about her was that she made her own bread, so I put it on my list to get her best recipe and take it home with me for my portfolio of things I've mastered.

After I had the opportunity to try some of her rolls, I was even more anxious to get the secret family recipe and made a point to ask about that very thing. We went over one Sunday morning and she had worship music playing throughout the house, was in a pretty yellow Sunday dress and an apron, and had a giant bowl of bread rising on the counter. It was like a vision of my future. That day I asked about the bread.

She laughed when I hesitantly requested the recipe, and this is what she told me. "I use five ingredients; flour, salt, sugar, oil, and yeast. I start with a quart of water and a whisk. I have this big spoon that I use to measure. For two packets of yeast, I use 2 spoons of salt and two spoons of sugar and stir that up." I think she adds her oil at that point too, but I'm not sure. I wait until the yeast proofs before I add four spoons of oil. "Then I start adding flour. When it's too hard to stir I use a spoon and add more flour. When that's too hard to stir, I dump it on the counter and knead it for ten minutes. That's it."

So I went home, chose a big spoon and tried it, and voila. Bread. Came up like magic.

You may need to know a little bit about yeast and rise time, but if you are interested in more details, I can answer those questions in the comments. I have tried this over and over, adjusting the salt to sugar ratio and tried butter, variants of the oil measurement, etc. It just keeps working. I believe I've mastered it; it's just not the best I once believed it to be.

So thank you, Eileen, for the gift that keeps on giving! xoxoxo

I added pictures to my New Mexico trip post. I can't figure out how to make them bigger, but you get the jist of the dance party anyway.

The Prize

He rang the doorbell about fifteen minutes after we got home. The little ones opened the door and stood in shocked silence when this hairy dude said, "Surprise!" I came around the corner and joined the shocked silence. It was his voice and his blue eyes, but I've never seen my man like this. I loved it the shock. Loved it, loved it, LOVED IT! The hair lasted... oh, maybe three weeks. I don't think he was up for the maintenance so I didn't react when he said, "That's it. I'm shaving it." I love that shiny bald head just as much as those ruddy red locks.

He just looks a little rougher, more like a biker this way. I think he looks like The Dean of Mean Keith Jardin with glasses. And I really like those glasses!

The prospect of being away from Dale for four weeks was a little daunting and exciting at the same time. I like it when we are apart for a few days or a week here and there when he has business trips. However, the last time he was gone for a month I about lost my mind. I found out I was pregnant a few days before he left, an inmate escaped a few days after he left, and we started K12 for the first time. Each of these things on it's own was enough to scramble my brain. The combination of the three about put me over the edge. Have I mentioned that I get a little crazy, a little irrational even, when I'm pregnant? Well I do. It's not pleasant. This time I had the benefit of being surrounded by the people I love the entire time. It wasn't me and the kids against the world on our own, so I was starting out ahead.

Needless to say after four weeks apart, even with the cushion of love around me, I felt wildly relieved to see his face in real life when he walked through the door. This trip proved to me that I can be away from him. The fact is, I just really don't want to. A few days here, a week there, I can handle and even enjoy. A month is too dang long. Thank goodness we didn't join the Air Force! God knew we could never do it.

Lompoc: Flowerseed Capital of the World

Lompoc isn't an impressive city in a lot of ways. We have Wal-Mart and Little Caesars, but other than that there's not a lot to hoot about until you turn down the road toward our housing addition. It was like a homecoming gift. Hey, check out those mountains in the background. So majestic.

These acres and acres of sprawling beauty. The colors are spectacular!

It's like God painted stripes in brilliant shades of all the colors of the rainbow. This is literally just a few minutes for our driveway. It's not truly home to us, but there are definitely perks. Gotta love it!

BAAAAACK IT UP!

I left out a critical element of our trip. Due to severe emotional trauma from staring at that long stretch of road for too many hours in a row, I didn't get my camera out for a single minute to chronicle our visit in New Mexico at Jon and Cara's house!

Let me start by saying I love going to their house. Like us Jon and Cara are out in Timbuktu with no family less than a day's drive to speak of. Unlike us, they have a real house where they are able to keep lots of people, if need be. So when someone comes to town, they pull out all the stops. Cara plans the food from breakfast to the late night snacks she'll be whipping up. I'm pretty sure sleeping arrangements are a cooperative effort between the two of them. The first time we stayed, Jon set up a tent with cots in the backyard for all the kids to sleep in. It was a thrill for my whole crew.

On the last morning at my moms, I got up early and started the laborious task of packing. My mom and dad live in a three story, six bedroom house. The third story used to be a creepy old attic, but in the last couple of years my dad has been working on renovations up there, adding a bedroom suite and a bathroom. All that to say that when I started gathering up our belongings, I started in the attic because some of the kids slept and stored their bags up there. As I worked my way through each bedroom, peeked into every closet, every drawer, through the main floor, behind and under furniture and finally made it to the basement, I was exhausted. I told my sister I'd be ready and loaded up by one, but I didn't make it. In the meantime, the sick kids were all feeling better, and Tre, the only one that didn't get it, started throwing up. Of course he did. As long as it was him and not me, we were good. I had to drive.

At no point during the morning did it occur to me that I'd need to mapquest a route for our trip. I'm not sure who sent me a message, Dale or Sarah, reminding me to do that very thing. It wasn't until Sarah was on her way home that I actually sat down to do it. My mom, being seasoned in her position, had the foresight to send along their Tommy GPS with us. While I was racing from the truck to the van, she and Jonjenek were entering our destinations. All we had to do was obey the voice. If she said take the next right, we had to take it. It was a LIFESAVER!! Once again, thank you, Mom!

Except for Deisha falling out of an open door on the truck face-first, we managed to get through the day without any major catastrophes and with most of our belongings packed. We loaded the truck and hit the road by three o'clock. My plan was to drive as far as I could without stopping and hopefully get to New Mexico for the night. Surprisingly, I felt really good and didn't ever get sleepy. We got knocked on the door at around three o'clock and Cara showed us all to our beds. The kids all piled up in the living room and Sarah and I each had a bed to ourselves.

The whole day was kind of a blur for me. I was completely exhausted and ready to be home, but I wanted to make the most of the time we had with our last bit of family before heading back to Siberia. The kids were gales of giggles throughout the day. They raved about Cara's "fluffy" pancakes all morning. **When we got home I tried to make mine puff up and they were good hot off the pan, but once they cooled they were like a ton of bricks. We need to collaborate on that...* My brother got home around four that afternoon; that's when the dance party started. It was hilarious. I did get the video camera out for that, but you'll have to come over to see it. I don't know how to put videos from a DVD onto the computer. He has about a million music channels. The kids were cracking me up as he went through each genre of music, how they changed. When the rock/metal stations came on, they took turns jumping up on the table to play air guitar. There was a long line waiting anxiously at the edge of the stage for the next turn. Even the little bitty girls were dancing. So fun!!

In the morning after repacking the car we met Jon for burgers at Fuddruckers. There were tables right next to the video games, so the kids scarfed down their food and spent the rest of the time hunting and begging for quarters. It was the perfect ending to a perfect visit. Thank you Jon and Cara, you are lovely hosts!!!

Hello California

We were driving in California for a long time before we felt like we were in familiar territory. Some of yesterdays pictures were probably taken in California, but not our neck of the woods so they don't count. When we crossed the state line, I felt hopeful, I felt relieved, and I was beginning to believe that we would make it home. I told Sarah at one point, "I feel like a huge burden is off my shoulders just being in the state. If something happened now, I could call Dale and he could come and rescue us in a matter of hours." Speaking of that hunka-hunka-burnin-love, I could manage this thing on my own if I had to, but having him next to me makes me feel so much better.

You can't appreciate how beautiful Santa Barbara county is until you drive through and smell the ocean air and see the flowers in living color. Sarah snapped this from her window on the highway. These are flourishing on their own in the median! It's just spectacular.

Our little ray of sunshine took valuable vacation days to drive across the country with six children and a mommy prone to carsickness. I heard one of her co-workers say, "Oh yeah, you're going on vacation this weekend aren't you." Her hesitation was followed by, "I don't think I'd really call it a vacation, but I will be gone." She's a brave lass, she is! I couldn't be more grateful for her. Djou are de baesst!!!

AAAaaaaaahhhh. The ocean. Breathe it in, baby, breathe it in!

I love the part of the day when the fog rolls in. Unless of course we have basketball practice and I have to drive blindly in the dark. Then I don't like it at all.

Highway 1 follows the coastline all the way through California. It's a rough drive, real curvy and hilly, but it is breath-taking. If you have the chance to make the trip, take it. Put it on your "100 Things to Do Before I Die" list. Or do it this year and stop off on 101 to see us on the way!!!

Do you see what I'm saying? This marvel of creation is just growing wild out here everywhere you turn. It is so, so beautiful.

And of course the mountains... they are a wonder all their own. When we are driving I look out into the mountains and they look like giant sleeping dinosaurs. You can't tell in this picture, but if you pan out from here you could see what I'm talking about. You'll just have to use your imagination this time.

This cup saved us from serious disaster on more occasions than I care to recall. Thank you, Coca-Cola for honoring Nurses Week. Job well done. The carpet in the truck is still relatively in tact.

We saw a sign right before this one that said, "Airport", "UCSB", and then a picture of a plane. When I saw it I mentioned that that was the exit we needed to take. Sarah said, "Ok. UCSB. What do you think that stands for?" My brain was so fried I couldn't come up with anything witty so I said, "Plane." We laughed and laughed about that. Please understand. We had been in a vehicle with six children for three days. We drove over thirty hours. We answered over forty thousand questions. At one point we were on the side of the road where Sarah held the towel for the unlucky victim, and I assisted with clean-up, poop on one hand, vomit in the other. It seemed really, really funny.

But when this gal laughs, everybody laughs. You just can't help it.