Happy Birthday Allen!!
My baby turns 13 today! Wow how time flies. I remember when he was that chubby little baby. Wasn't he adorable? Allen is such a pleasure. I am so blessed to have these 3 wonderful children.

Today we will celebrate Allen's birthday with his favorite dinner. Sauce & meatballs. I just put the post of sauce/meatballs on to simmer while we are in church. We'll have angelfood cake with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert.

Whew...what a crazy day!

It has been one full day here today! I woke up at 5:30 and wished I could go back to sleep. I even tried to go back to sleep. I ended up getting out of bed at 6. Decided it would be a good idea to bake the cake early since it was going to be near 90* today!

So what did I do today?

~Put cake in oven
~Started laundry (and did 3 loads total, hung one on the line, all are folded. Kids will put away tomorrow)
~Made a smoothie
~Cleaned kitchen
~While cake cooled Doug, Allen and I cleaned & decluttered the school room, turning it into a little tv room for video games. We moved out a broken computer stand and took a bookcase to the basement, sorted books for sale (I need to post those I guess).
~Switched loads
~Made marinade and got chicken soaking
~Decorated cake
~Cleaned kitchen
~Dusted the living room and dining room. Allen vacuumed
~Swept the dining room
~Cut pineapple for lunch
~Tried to nap, read a little
~More laundry and hung it on the line
~Tossed salad for dinner
~Talked to Doug on the swing while he grilled chicken
~Ate dinner with the family. I love that!
~Cleaned kitchen
~Made no-bake cookies for the fun of it? Actually, my friend De'Etta posted on her blog a version of these cookies and I had to have some.
~Ran dishwasher and washed more dishes that didn't fit
~Took laundry off the line and folded it
~Spent too much time on the computer!

Whew....no wonder I am tired! It is a good tired though. It is nice to have a productive day after being lazy for the past few days.

Jordan and Isaac spent 5 hours working for a friend from church. They are moving slag and patio pavers. They will go back next week.

Jordan is at band practice right now. He is playing in the youth band, during main service, all weekend. He is thrilled! Doug and the other two went to watch. Doug is taking J & I to the movies to meet a friend. They will watch Pirates.

I am enjoying the peace and quiet in the clean house :) And the sunshine. I may read a little. I may blog hop. I should walk. I ate too many of those cookies UGH. I have the best of intentions regarding my diet when I wake up in the morning....wish I could hold those intentions past 2! I've been eating terribly and I feel terrible, too.

Allen's Cake

Sunday my baby is going to be 13. We are having family over tomorrow for cake and ice cream. I am a cake decorator and have cool things to do cakes with. Allen wanted to decorate his own cake.

So we got out the handy-dandy cake projector. This is SO cool. It projects the picture down onto the cake. You trace it with icing and then color it in. Allen started tracing, but soon tired of that. So Dad took over!

Doug tracing the picture onto the cake.

Picture waiting to be colored in.
Allen decorating his cake.
The finished project.

I did not take much time with the initial icing of the cake, so there are chocolate crumbs all through it. Usually, I take lots of time to ice and smooth the cake. But today I am tired and Allen didn't seem to mind. He said he'd cover most of it with the picture anyway :)

I did the writing for him, but he told me what to write.

I cannot believe my baby is going to be 13!!!

Orange/Pineapple/Banana Smoothie

This is really yummy and refreshing with frozen bananas.

juice of 4 oranges
2 handful (a cup maybe?) cubed pineapple
2 bananas (I use frozen)

Blend together in the blender. Enjoy!

Yield: 4 c.

Our New Addition

Isn't she simply adorable? Her name is Lilly and she is 5 1/2 weeks old. I weighed her on my food scale and she is a whomping 1 lb. 5 ozs. So sweet she is!

Tucker doesn't know what to make of her. Buddy is hissing at her. So far she's done nothing but sleep and cry. She is a tired baby missing her mama. But she'll be greatly loved!

Catie's Whole Wheat Bread

I found this recipe on the Sonlight forums today. I was skeptical with the small amount of flour in the loaf, but it looked so easy (and it is) that I had to try it. I just pulled the loaves from the oven a little bit ago. It smells wonderful in here! And the bread is very good, too. I loved that I didn't have to proof or sponge. Just dump the ingredients in the bowl, turn on the Kitchen Aid for 10 min. to knead, and voila! I did transfer mine into a greased bowl to rise. I do not like crusty dough.

Catie’s Whole Wheat Bread

1 ¼ cups hot water
2 ½ TBL olive oil2
½ TBL honey
1 egg
1 tsp salt
3 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 ¼ TBL yeast
½ TBL lecithin (I don't have this so didn't use)
½ TBL gluten (optional, I used 1T)

Dump all ingredients into mixer in no particular order. Mix on low speed until moistened. Then knead on medium speed for 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Don't even think about adding any extra flour until it has kneaded for 10 minutes, and even then, only add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more if absolutely necessary.Let dough rise in bowl 1/2 hour.

Punch down and shape into two loaves. Let rise in greased loaf pans for 30 minutes or until doubled.

For the fluffiest loaves, be sure to let it rise enough in the pans before baking. Do the Touch Test: 1. Press the dough on the side with the tips of two fingers lightly and quickly about 1/2 inch into the dough, and;

2. If the impression you made stays, the dough has doubled. If the indent quickly disappears, it needs a little more time; cover and let rise longer.Don't over rise; or it will flatten out in the oven. You want just the right point where it has risen all it can or should, but not too much.

Bake in preheated 350 oven for 30 minutes.Remove from pans and cool loaves on their sides on a wire rack.

Recipe is easily doubled or tripled.

I made the most wonderful new bread recipe today! It actually uses only 3 1/2 c. whole wheat flour and makes 2 loaves of bread. I'd like a taller loaf, but this is light, fluffy and my kids didn't say it felt like a brick! It was really easy, too.

Here it is in step-by-step photos. I didn't include the mixing in the Kitchen Aid. I was rather skeptical when I put the dough in the bowl to rise. It was SO tiny. But it did rise up nice and high.

Punched down and put on the board to rest for 10 min.

I then formed it into loaves and placed them in greased stones.

It doubled (see the finger marks?).

It browned nicely and is now cooling on the racks. I did cut 1 slice and let butter melt on it. Very tasty and not heavy at all.

Naps!

Who doesn't love a cozy nap on a cool, rainy day? Naps have become a regular part of my routine the past couple years, since being daignosed with fibromyalgia. It is the first I've had regular naps since the boys were babies/toddlers and preschoolers (all at the same time even!).

I often feel guilty about naps. I'm not talking a 20 min. power nap. No siree Bob, I am talking at least an hour, 2-3 hours on bad days (such as today). So I feel guilty. I could be doing so much more during the afternoon. Grading schoolwork, reading to my kids, playing games, or taking them somewhere. In the summer, we do go places, and I nap where we are at. The park or beach or whatever. Thankfully they are old enough to not need constant supervision and they wake me all the time.

But today I discovered a wonderful reason to take a nap! I am preserving my heart! That's right. According to a blurb in The Reader's Digest, "Folks who take regular naps lower their risk of dying from heart diseas by 37%"!

What better reason to lie down with a book and take a snooze? I am reducing my risk of heart disease! Plus it is cozy and fun, too!

Crusty French Bread. My family loves this recipe! I made it with white flour today. It is good mixed 1/2 white and 1/2 ww. I cannot get it to turn out for the family (I like it) with 100% whole wheat. They were happy for "regular" bread lol.

Crusty French Bread

1 package (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
1 1/2 c. warm water (110-115*) divided
1 T sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 T shortening, melted
4 c. flour
Cornmeal

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup water. Add sugar, salt, shortening and remaining water; stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until smooth (do not knead). Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled.

Turn onto a floured surface. Divide in half; let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half into a 10"x8" rectangle. Roll up from long side; pinch to seal.

Place seam side down on greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. Sprinkle the tops with cornmeal.

Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 min.

With a very sharp knive, make five diagonal cuts across the top of each loaf.

Bake at 400* for 20-30 minutes until lightly browned.

This is my favorite quick yeast bread. I love that there is no kneading and I can have it finished by lunch. I hope you enjoy it too.

Peppy Pizza Pasta

1 lb. whole wheat pasta shapes (I used shells), cooked
15 oz. Ricotta cheese
8 oz. (I used way more) part-skim mozzarella cheese
couple handfuls Romano or Parmesan cheese
6 oz. turkey pepperoni
large jar spaghetti sauce (and/or pizza sauce, I use both)
2 eggs
seasonings of choice (I used 2 garlic cloves, minced onion, basil, oregano, parsley and pepper)

Mix eggs, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese (save some for top) and Romano cheese in a bowl. Dice most of the pepperoni into quarters, stir into cheese mixture with seasonings. Mix in cooked pasta.

Spread pasta mixture into a sprayed 9x13 stone (pan oopps, guess everybody doesn't cook with PC, eh?) Top with spaghetti and/or pizza sauce. We like ours saucy so I use a 28 oz. jar spaghetti sauce and 1 or so jars of pizza sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and pepperoni.

Cover and bake 20 min. @ 425*. Uncover and bake 5-10 more minutes, until lightly browned.

I served this with Crusty French Bread. Yummy!

Doug took the boys fishing on Monday. First they went to the boat launch and Allen caught this little sunfish. Then he took them to the spillway. There is a fish hatchery there and the waters are protected. There are TONS of carp there. They are huge and people go there to feed them. They actually are quite gross. The guys fish right outside of the restricted waters.

Jordan is 16 now and didn't want to buy a PA license (quite expensive for an out of state license), so he lured them with bread. These carp eat tons of bread, so the fishing bait is cheap! Allen loves to fish, but hates to touch them. So Isaac held his fish for him. All these are different fish. They just catch and release.

Now is that a proud bunch of fishermen or what?

Tuesday it was quite breezy! It was in the 80s and sunny, so the breeze felt wonderful. Allen decided to fly his kite. It was the perfect day and he had so much fun!

The boys have always, always wanted to catch a muskee. We were getting ready to leave on Tuesday evening. I sent Jordan and Isaac down to the dock to get the kayak. When they got to the lake, they found this muskee washing up on shore. It is about dead, but that didn't stop them from posing for pictures. I think they are going to pass this off as a catch!

Tucker loves the lake, too!

Home from the lake!

We had a fabulous time. Sunday and Monday it was cloudy and cool. Doug built a fire in the fireplace to make us all cozy. The boys fished, and fished, and fished! We watched the Survivor finale. I read 1 1/2 books, drank coffee, cooked meals, and cooked and cooked! These boys want to eat all the time it seems. We relaxed and generally had a fabulous time.

We came home at a good time. We got home about 9pm Tuesday and the rains started about 10:30. Today the guys are cleaning the basement and I am taking it easy. It's been almost 2 weeks since we had rain and my body is not accustomed to it now lol. So it isn't a good pain day. But it is nice to get things done at home. Next week, we must finish school!

I'll add pictures in a separate post. I am still learning my way around blogger. I need to figure out how to put the pictures in the middle of a post. Anybody know how to do that?

We're having a beautiful weekend!

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous! Yesterday it was 80*! Today it only made it to 69, but still the sun was shining and it was gorgeous!

Friday Doug and I did a few errands to Sam's Club, the local coffee shop (must have organic decaf, swiss water process coffee beans at the lake lol), and the local produce store. I picked up a case of oranges (75 large navels) for about $22 and ordered a case of Boston lettuce for next week. I love LOVE that they sell us cases wholesale. I'm aiming (see I said aiming!) to eat 100%, so we go through things like bananas, oranges, grapefruit and greens like crazy.

Anyway, we came home from our errands, packed up and headed to the lake. We got there about 11:30. The boys did the lawn and then Jordan and Isaac went fishing. Allen like to fish, but is not consumed with fishing, so he played video games. I know, it was gorgeous and he should be outside, but what is a Mama to do? I wanted a peaceful day LOL. He did eventually go fishing with Doug.

We met the new neighbors. He was there contracting out some work. Doug asked him about his lawn (He is 3 hours away and not interested in mowing himself) and he hired Jordan and Isaac on the spot, so they did his lawn too. We're up there every week mowing the cottage grass, so why not make a little money. This week they are going to go around and drum up more business.

We grilled pizza and had chips/salsa. I also picked up chocolate chip cookies at Sam's Club, a gallon of Breyer's vanilla ice cream and had ice cream sandwiches.

I sat on the deck, in the gorgeous sun, reading Safe Harbor by Luanne Rice. It was a sweet book. I like this new author I've found. I also took a nap, did dishes numerous times, and crocheted a bit.

My Dad and Cay came as we were packing up to come home. It was nice to see them and visit for a few minutes.

The boys wanted to go to The Relay for Life with their friends, so we dropped them there and made sure they had a ride home. Doug and I went dancing. It was fun. I was sore. We left early.

Today I was up by 6:30 and couldn't get back to sleep. I hate that! It's Saturday and only one child was home and we had no plans, but could I sleep in??? Nooo. So I got up and started the laundry (which I forgot to do Thursday since I visited mom, and didn't do yesterday since gone all day). A few hours later Doug woke up. I made some smoothies and we sat on the swing and watched Allen mow the lawn. I went to pick up the boys from their friends house. Doug and I went to walk the mall and grab a quick lunch (see why I said aiming for raw? I had a grilled chicken sandich with carmelized onions and provolon, on rye, toasted. So good!).

We ran home, picked up the boys and took J & I to the bowling alley to lane monitor a ladies' bowling tournament. We took Allen to our friend's house to see her baby kitties. We are getting the little girl. She is ADORABLE! We can't wait to get her next week.

Doug dropped me at home and I took a long nap! He took Allen shopping and they finished the lawn. Now Doug is picking the boys up from the bowling alley, collecting their friends and driving them all to a birthday party in the next county over. Somebody else is bringing them all home! Don't you just love carpooling?

We are hoping to have a fire tonight and sit around drinking coffee and relaxing.

Tomorrow J & I work at the bowling alley all day. Doug, Allen and I will head to church. Then Doug is taking Allen to see Spiderman 3. I'll rest and get ready to go to the lake for a few days.

Gosh, I am so gabby in my posts lately. If ya made it to the end, you are a good woman!

Chores

Kathy asked how we do chores in our house. I assign daily and weekly chores to the boys and they are expected to help out with anything else I ask them to do. I do not rotate chores very often. I want them to know what is expected and to be able to do it well. Every 6 or 8 months, we discuss chores and sometimes the boys like to switch, but it has to be agreed upon by them AND me. I also have the privledge of switching them back.

The rules for chores are: Within 30 minutes of being awake, you must have your daily chores finished. No chores, no breakfast! Believe me, teen boys like to EAT! Food is a great motivator.

Also, I only prepare 1 meal a day (sometimes I'll prepare breakfast). So when they fix their own meals, they are expected to clean up all mess. After each meal, they are expected to scrape, rinse and load their dishes.

Oh, they all are responsible for picking up after themselves. Everybody has their own room, and I expect them to put their things away and not leave them laying around the house when they are finished. For example, Jordan has many CDs that he has made. He likes to listen to CDs while doing school. He does school at the dining room table. Last week I told him, many times, every day, to put his CDs away. Well, Friday, yet again there were 2 CDs sitting on the dining room table. I told him 3 times throughout the day to put those CDs away. They were still there when he went to bed. Those CDs went into the trash. They know that is the consequence! He's not even asked about them!

Daily chores include:

Me~prepare meals, wash/load dishes

Jordan~put away dishes (every morning, and throughout the day as needed), make bed and tidy room, scoop kitty litter

Isaac~sweep hard floors in the kitchen, dining room, and back entryway, feed his kitty wet food, empty trash (every morning and throughout the day, also weekly in the basement), wipe down bathroom fixtures, sweep floor and empty trash, make bed and tidy room, set the table for dinner

Allen~Vacuum living room and dining room rug, sweep basement steps, feed/water animals, put dog out (all throughout the day), make bed and tidy room, pick up doggie doo doo

Then we have weekly chores. If you don't do your weekly chores without being reminded, and with excellence, you do not get to have a social life on the weekend. We do weekly chores on Thursday. It is awesome to have the entire house cleaned in 1-2 hours with us all working together.

Weekly chores:

Me~Dust living room and dining room

Jordan~Dust/sweep bedroom, mop kitchen floor

Isaac~Dust/sweep bedroom, deep clean the bathroom

Allen~Dust/sweep bedroom, vacuum living room (includes moving all the furniture and vacuuming behind it), vacuum up the steps and both hallways

I do all laundry. I wash, dry and fold into individual baskets as it comes out of the dryer. I do laundry on Monday and Thursday (plan accordingly lol). Every Tuesday and Friday morning, they are expected to put their laundry away during morning chores.

They take turns doing the lawn. Last year each person had a "lawn job". That didn't work well. So this year we are rotating turns. Every 3rd turn, you have to do the entire lawn, weed eat, sweep grass off of our driveway, walkways and the neighbors driveway (we are CLOSE to our neighbors). In the winter they argue over who "gets" to shovel and snow blow.

Now, in a perfect world they would do their chores without reminding and to the best of their ability. But it is a work in progress, eh? But generally they do a great job. The house looks presentable most of the time.

So that is how it works in our house. Mom thinks it is HORRIBLE that my kids work this much (I think she forgot what I did, at age 11, when she was a drunk??) Anyway, my husband is a truck driver and only home 2 days a week. I do not have the luxury of alone time throughout the day, while kids would normally be in school, to clean my house. I have fibromyalgia which makes housework difficult at times when I am in so much pain it hurts to move! I have 3 able-bodied boys that are capable of working, and so they do. We are a team....I am not a slave lol.

Where have I been you say?

I've been OUTSIDE! We've been having a beautiful week of sunshine and temps in the 70s. A whole week! That is SO rare here. I've been enjoying every minute. Monday I hung all the laundry, and my sheets, on the line. I love freshly hung laundry. I did the boys' sheets yesterday and a couple comforters.

We've been trying to wrap up our school. We have this week and next week scheduled. The week following I've left open to finish up whatever we didn't get finished. We finished The Hiding Place Monday. I was bawling through the end. Isaac said, "Mom, are you crying?" I replied, "Yes, aren't you??" We've started God Smuggler and are really enjoying it. It is our last official read-aloud of the year!

Doug has been having job issues. Actually, yesterday was his last day of work. The job he was going to take didn't pan out. So he is job-hunting right now. God is working many things out and I will have exciting new to post soon, I pray!

Today I am going to visit my Mom for Mother's Day. Allen is coming with me. The other two have bowling tonight. So weird to not have all the boys with me when I do things. Nice and sad at the same time.

Tomorrow, if it doesn't rain, we plan to spend the day fishing at the lake. In the evening, Doug and I are going dancing. The band is playing and they've not played for a few weeks. We are looking forward to it.

My inlaws are going to Niagara this weekend, so we won't be squeezing in a MD visit to my MIL. We are going to have a quiet, relaxing weekend. What are your Mother's Day plans?

What would I do without teenage boys??


I am so blessed to have 3 young men living in my home! Doug is working so much lately that he doesn't have time to do things around the house. When the boys were little and Doug worked like this, it was so overwhelming to me. But not now. I have 3 very capable young men here. Today these things were done by my sweet sons:


~Mow and trim the lawn
~Wash the van
~Vacuum the floors
~Take out the trash
~Sweep the hard floors
~Wipe the bathroom
~Feed & water animals
~Prepare their own meals and clean up their mess
~Unload dishwasher
~Fix the broken TV
~Sit and talk to mom on the swing
~Give me many hugs and ask how I am doing
~Make me smile


I thank God for these young men every day! I feel so incapable of hsing and raising these boys. But God is so faithful. He is here holding me up and guiding me. What an awesome privledge we have!

White Cake & Buttercream Icing

I have the neatest cake book. The Cake Doctor is a book full of doctored up cake mix recipes. So yummy! This is the cake I made for the shower tomorrow. It is also really good if you just ice it and trim it with raspberries. Yummy!

White Cake

1 white cake mix (I use Duncan Hines)
1 c. whole milk
3 eggs
1 stick butter, melted
1 T vanilla extract

Mix ingredients together for 30 seconds on low. Scrape sides and mix on medium for 2 min. Pour into greased/floured pans (2 9" round pans or 9x13) and bake at 325* until cake tests done (I don't know how long. I doubled it and made 1/2 sheet and it took 45 min.)

Filling:
Raspberry cake filling OR raspberry jam

Spread icing on botton layer and then spread raspberry filling. Top with top layer. To keep the icing from oozing out, pipe icing around the edge of the cake.

Buttercream Icing

2 c. Crisco
2 sticks butter, melted
2 lbs. powdered sugar
1T vanilla extract

On low speed, mix crisco and butter until creamy and there are no crisco lumps. Gradually add powdered sugar. Mix on the lowest speed possibly until smooth and creamy. Icing will look like satin. I use a KitchenAid and mix on speed 2 for 5 minutes. The prevents you from beating air into the icing.

It is a nice, soft icing. Perfect for decorating, writing, making flowers or just smearing on a graham cracker!

Made a cake today!


One of the ladies on the prayer group is getting married next week. So the gals are throwing her a shower tomorrow. I offered to do the cake. It's been about a year since I've decorated a cake, but it is just like riding a bike, you never forget!


This is a white cake with raspberry filling and buttercream icing. The best buttercream icing you've ever had. It is now safely delivered to my girlfriend's house so tha Tucker doesn't eat it lol.