We've Passed 5000

Hit's on the blog since I put the counter on the blog :) YAY!!  I have no idea when I put the counter on but it was at least a year ago?? My stats page on Blogger says that I'm OVER 8000 hits since I started in 2008!! In the last month, Blogger informs me, I've had 396 hits.. NOT counting mine :) Thanks for reading :)

Cinnamon rolls for Havi

The kids and I recently made cinnamon rolls and posted a finished picture on FB. An friend of ours from Wa. State asked for the recipe :) Here you go Havi!!

I just use bun or bread dough with a few additions for the dough. I make my dough in the bread machine on the dough cycle.

2 Cups warm water
2 tsp yeast
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil or butter

Let this set until the yeast has come up from the bottom to float on top.

Add 6 cups of flour. I did 2 whole wheat and 4 white.

That is my bread recipe :) To make cinnamon rolls I put in twice as much sugar, a egg and another tsp of yeast.

You can either make it on the dough cycle on the bread maker or by hand until it's well mixed and dough :) Then let it rise for about an hour or until it at least doubles.
This part is fun and the kids love to watch and help. Sprinkle flour on the table or where ever you have a nice big surface and roll out your dough. I did half at a time because it makes it easier to deal with. When it's about a 1/4 of an inch thick get some soft butter and butter the surface of the dough. Lots or little will depend on the person. I do about half of the surface with a very lite cover of butter. Then take cinnamon and sprinkle some on :) This too depends on the person. I have a great big cinnamon container and just do a light dusting. Brown sugar is next and I try and cover as much of the surface as possible with a thin layer. Raisins, if you like them, go on next. About a cup in total for all the bread. Too many and it makes it hard to roll up!
 Rolling it up is fun! start at the long side of your dough and roll it up until all the dough is rolled. Pinch the ends into the side of the roll and your ready to cut! We always eat the ends of the roll :) I cut mine about 2 inches deep all the way down the roll. Put them in the pan as you go to save mess. Put them cut side up into the pan. I let mine rise for about 20 minutes.. until the sides are touching. If you let them rise too long you'll have all dough :) Btdt. I baked mine for about 30 minutes at 350 but my oven is a bit cool.. so 25 might do just as well on yours.

I don't make these very often and I'm still playing with the recipe. I like to use my bread recipe because I have it memorized. Cinnamon rolls that I've had that others have made seem to have richer dough which is why I added the egg. Next time I may add two just to see what that does. But these were defiantly better then the last batch I did with no egg and no extra sugar or yeast. Hope you like them :) Oh and I just put store bought icing, and only a tiny bit, on them when we eat them. You could also mix a bit of icing sugar and milk and drizzle it all over them while they are warm. The kids like them plain with no icing or anything. These do tend to stick to the pan.. so loosen them up as soon as the cool off a little and then cover them with plastic wrap before they are completely cool... YUM!!!

Aprons. Momma's Little Kitchen Helpers.

A friend of mine made these made these aprons for the girls :)

 We LOVE them and they wear them often.. 

whether we are baking or playing :) 

Just so you know.... I've changed my list settings and recently found a bunch of half finished posts

SO I'm finishing them :) 

Proof, Fun And Games!

More proof that I share :) 

Papa and the kids playing Battleship on my Ipad2!! 

J3 loves to push the red button!! 

Yes they are all in their PJ's :) 

We often have very lazy mornings on farm when Papa is off :) 

Baby G was happy until 2 seconds before I took the picture! 

12 Years!!

Better Late Then Never :) 

Beautiful aren't they??  Papa surprised me with them on our 12th Wedding Anniversary!!
My mom took the kids for the night and Papa and I went out to our favorite local place for a special supper out. Papa had shrimp for his appy and another one for his dessert!! I had cheese cake for dessert and stuffed mushrooms for my appy!! YUM!!!
We had a great time together and talked over memories, parenting ideas, hopes and dreams and enjoyed our time out together :) 

Ahhh.. The Life of a Home Schooled Kid!!

Well now that the holidays and birthdays of the last month are done we've started school again. Full time.. which means every day except the ones Papa has off, unless he does science with them on his off days, and only a part day on Wednesday as that is AWANA. Doing a full day of school and AWANA is a bit much together. Which means we do a half day of school on Wednesdays and a full day Thursdays, Friday and Saturday :) A full day runs between 2 and 3 hours of actual school work plus some reading time. Actually they all read every day, whether Papa is working or home, some days they do Raz Kids online and other days they just read books on the couch :)  Actual school work these days is me circling page numbers and the kids working independently at the table, coming to ask me if they need help, while I mark finished PACES or blog :) or feed the baby or whatever.

You might be wondering what else we do during the day?? Well we do chores; animal and household. Animal includes chicken chores which the kids are in charge of this winter.. meaning they do all the feeding, watering, egg collecting, and egg washing. Papa is doing the rest of the animal chores this winter which is wonderful!! No running the pig gauntlet for me!! Household chores include kitchen chores like the dishwasher loading and unloading, wiping things down, baking, large dish washing, and cooking. Household chores also includes bathrooms, floors, dusting, laundry, general cleanup and toys swaps. Chores during the day takes about 2 hours TOTAL. Not two hours in a row, though normally we do about an hour in the morning and then just little bits through the day. SO school and chores take up between 4 and 5 hours of our day... Kids get up at 9:30am and go to bed at 9pm. That means of the 11.5 hours left we spend max 5 on housework and school.

Which leaves us with 6.5 hours in which to do other things. Meals take up about an hour or an hour and a half. That leaves us with 5 hours!! What do we do?? Well it depends :) Play is high on the list. Inside or out. Often both. Watching movies (They really love Answers In Genesis movies on creation or dinosaurs so even that we can count as school :) is on that list. They watch quite a few movies with Papa working evenings as by about 7 I'm about done in for the day and need a reading/internet break and Baby G needs more of my attention then as cranky time has hit her. Though more and more I'm keeping larger amounts of energy and Baby G is getting more involved in 'Kid watching'. Puzzles and games (Computer games, battleship, chess. Etc, etc) Crafts and Reading. Visiting. Company.  More playing. Ahhh.. the life of a home schooled kid!!

Papa is such a Redneck!! Winter Fun!!

Papa told me he was going to take the kids for a 'sled ride' up and down the driveway :) I went out a bit later and found this!! Now he's taken the pitch fork and is using it to keep the rope higher then the car to make it easier to turn around!! Too bad it's too dark to take a good picture!! The kids LOVE it and I can hear their giggles inside from the front of the trailer :)

Christmas :)

The first thing we do every Christmas and the only thing that truly matters... 

Papa reading about the birth of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. We know Jesus probably wasn't born in December, we've even explained it to our children, but for us it is a time to celebrate His birth when the world celebrates themselves. A time to put some meaning into a otherwise meaningless holiday. It doesn't all make sense, it is tradition.. not just the worlds or the Churches (neither of which matter to us as a couple), but our families.

About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel. There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.” At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises: Glory to God in the heavenly heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please him. As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. “Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed. Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told! When the eighth day arrived, the day of circumcision, the child was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived. Then when the days stipulated by Moses for purification were complete, they took him up to Jerusalem to offer him to God as commanded in God’s Law: “Every male who opens the womb shall be a holy offering to God, ” and also to sacrifice the “pair of doves or two young pigeons” prescribed in God’s Law. In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God: God, you can now release your servant;release me in peace as you promised. With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation; it’s now out in the open for everyone to see: A God–revealing light to the non–Jewish nations, and of glory for your people Israel. Jesus’ father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words. Simeon went on to bless them, and said to Mary his mother, This child marks both the failure andthe recovery of many in Israel, A figure misunderstood and contradicted— the pain of a sword–thrust through you—But the rejection will force honesty, as God reveals who they really are. Anna the prophetess was also there, a daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was by now a very old woman. She had been married seven years and a widow for eighty–four. She never left the Temple area, worshiping night and day with her fastings and prayers. At the very time Simeon was praying, she showed up, broke into an anthem of praise to God, and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem. When they finished everything required by God in the Law, they returned to Galilee and their own town, Nazareth. There the child grew strong in body and wise in spirit. And the grace of God was on him.
-Luke 2:1-40 (MSG)

Winter fun :)

J3 just doesn't seem to see the need for mittens. Why would you put something on my hands JUST so I can take them off?? And then I can pick up snow or fall on my hands and get MAD because they get cold.. Yeah I think I have to agree... what is the point of that!! Papa has the solution though... DUCT TAPE. 

Skating and loving it :) 

On the ice rink.  Papa has looked just about everywhere, I would say everywhere but he still hasn't found them so there must be some place he hasn't looked, for his skates and they are still MIA. So shoes or boots work for him and J3. Since this picture was taken it has gotten MUCH colder and the kids have not been able to skate very much.. but Papa has been able to extend the ice rink and flood it several times!! So when the weather gets more towards 'mildly acceptable' instead of 'Blasted cold' they will have even more room to enjoy skating. 

J3 getting a ride from J. He loved it and the air was filled with the sound of children's giggles. 

We've actually gotten very little snow this year so far and Papa was only just able to make a 'castle' or a snow fort for the kids to mold. Here is R up on top of the new pile with Hunter and Midnight at the bottom. I can't wait to see what their imaginations cook up for that lump of snow and ice this year. Last year it was a pirate ship, a castle and many many more things. 

Baby G @ 6 weeks!