Adventures in Bread Making

For Christmas, I got a fan-freakin'-tastic bread machine from  J and the girlies.  Can I just shout "Thank You 1 million times over"? I love it. LOVE IT!

I use it tons - about 4 times a week, and make everything from bread to buns, to pizza dough. We've had hilarious homestyle bread (see below), to pizza on Fridays (yum!!), to cinnamon buns, to the onion buns I made for our chicken sandwiches last night.

I love scouring the recipe sites looking for something good to make. Craig has been asking why I haven't made Ciabattas yet. They are our personal favorite. I must admit that my bun making ability is a bit poor right now. My buns look a little like what a 3 year old would make out of play-doh. No one complains though. I can say with all certainty though that I make the best damn french bread north of the 401 (lol). The secret is brown sugar. Just so you know.

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures of some of my bread making forays - a fail and a pass.

The bread was great but you had to cut each slice into 3 to fit it in the toaster! lol

Totally delish! A Friday night staple. We are a pizza family so this hits the spot on Fridays.

It's 5:03am and chicken is already cooking for tonight's supper. 

Chicken Tetrazzini, Craig's current favorite meal. Hopefully this one will be as good as the last. 

Now if only I could find some good bread to go with it ..... 

Photobomb

There have been some questions as to what kind of back splash we were going to use on 'the wing', and to be honest - we couldn't decide. There are tons of options, but we're still talking about paint, and redoing the rest of the kitchen, so for now we decided to do what I like best. A photobomb of my best guys. These are some of my favorite pictures throughout the years and I love each one. They are each 8x8 with a white border, and I had them printed at Cost.co. I've only put them up with a little photo tape to decide if I like the placement (which I do), and will add a new adhesive to them to guarantee they stay up for as long as we want them there. There is still room to add smaller ones as they come about . I have to say I'm loving it, and it truly is 'me'. So glad to have a husband who just smiles and nods. lol. As to the questions about damage - we con't cook on this space, or do any prep work, so this is just a bonus wall that gets some pretty cute decoration. Like the doorknobs? Fun and functional - also, truly me. Yes, that is a milkshake machine next to my bread maker - fun and functional and $5. The kids love it. French Vanilla milkshakes seem to be the fave.

Have a great day!

A Boy and his Dog

This is one of my all time favorite pictures. This Dog. This Boy. Best Friends. They are part of a Mutual Admiration Society that only has two members. There is no one Grover would rather be with than Kaedo and vice versa.

When Ketchup died, Kaedo went into a deep depression. It was the saddest thing. No smiles, lots of tears, sleeping with Ketchup's blanket. Heartbreaking.

Then on December 1, we brought this bundle of fur home and Kaedo smiled again. A real smile. A true smile. His smile. I cried. He was in love with this dog instantly. That's what he says - "first second I saw him, I loved him". They spend more quality time together than anyone else. Kaedo bathes him, clips the hair around his eyes and half the time, puts him to bed at night. If he were a baby he'd never learn to walk, as Kaedo carries him ALL THE TIME!

I love to see them playing together and having fun. It makes my heart sing.

Who would have thought that bringing Grover into the house would have such a profound effect on one of the people I admire and love most in the world.

In those moments when I doubt if we were right in getting Grover, I only have to look at Kaedo teaching him how to play fetch, or wrestle with him and brush him or laugh at the silly things 'that damn dog' does, and I know we have never made a better decision.

Week 17

Soooo cute! Kids aren't bad either!

The Wing

At Christmas, dad and Jessica were kind enough to build us a beautiful 'wing' in our kitchen. It is so AWESOME! We love it! They had built Jessica's kitchen and were happy to tackle this one. To be honest, I had never thought to do this. We had our lockers and cabinet in the space and while we knew it looked terrible, we had never considered our options. On December 22(?) dad mentioned it and by mid-day on the 26th it was done. My only wish was to keep my lockers, and so now they are storage in the garage.

So without further ado - here it is... kitchen wing 2.0!

The Hot Tamale

We are so thrilled to share with you another exciting piece of news from this week (I did mention it has been a big week here for us, right?)!

Yesterday we bought a new car!

It's a 2014 Chevy.Sonic and it's cute as a button, drives great and Craig and I will be fighting over it for the next little while I'm sure.

It's just a little car that is perfect for the 100kms Craig drives every day.

We always name our cars (weird I know), but haven't come up with anything yet. I am thinking Hot Tamale but we'll see what the vote comes down to.

More news as the days go by, but for today this is it.

Have a great one, everybody! Happy Friday!

The Iron Giant

This week has been big. So many things going on. The most important thing today is this cutie got his braces on. The uppers at least. He will get the lowers on later next month. He got orange and blue elastics, and looks absolutely adorable. At school his friends want to give him a nickname. They seemed to have decided on "Iron Giant" as he towers over the rest of his buddies. 

Anyway, he's a cutie patootie brace-face.  His mouth is sore and cheeks and lips are tender but he's the Iron Giant after all, so he can make it through.

Week 16

We're trying out a few different venues. Must admit this is not always at the top of our priority list so taking the pics inside has been helping. So cute! Thanks guys for getting this done!

Flea Market Finds and Hurray for Tulips

My mom is groaning right now with the thought of us bringing anything else into this house, but this cash register was calling our name and we just had to have it. This is Kaedo's first vintage purchase with his own money. We split the cost and agreed that should he want to, he can take it with him when he eventually moves from home. He spent time last night cleaning it up and getting the drawer to work and was thrilled to learn it was made it in mid-1940s. I guess I'm living up to my 40s girl reputation as I didn't hesitate to say yes when he asked if we could get it. He got the drawer popped out and we got it situated where we want it and it looks mighty cool. Will have to take a shot of the room so you get a better idea. Did I mention how much I love this area of my house? LOVE!

As for the tulips... We had gone to Costco, and I warned everyone that tulip season was upon us, so to be aware. And afraid. In our house that means that for the next three months there will be an abundance of flowers, and then of course none for the rest of the year. lol. I was like a kid in a candy store when I walked up to the flowers and there were so many colors to choose from.  I almost fainted from pure giddyness. How I only chose one bouquet (at only $10 no less) I will never know.

Maybe I'll use the cash register to store my $10s to pay for my tulip addiction? That makes it a worthwhile purchase, right?

Sterling 2.0

I think it is very hard to be 16. And to finally decide you might like someone more than a friend. And to realize that you are much more mature than your counterparts. And to decide your parents really don't suck.

Sterling has suffered from a small identity crisis over the last few months. No matter how amazing we think he is, he didn't feel the same way. I've been told if you work on the inside, you'll be happier with the outside. When you're 16, 26, 36... that is not always the case. So, Craig and I sat down with our boy and hashed it out. What could WE do to help. What it came down to was he needed to work on the outside to feel better about the inside. He was scared to give up all those t-shirts that were stained and frayed, those jeans that simply were awful, and he was most afraid to start showing his beautiful face.

A deal was struck - a new haircut (at his favorite salon) (note hairCUT, not trim) chosen by me, ok'd by him, cut by a very cute girl who listened and talked and treated him the way he deserves to be treated - not rushed out the door without a how-do-you-do.

Next up was a partial new wardrobe (after all we can only do so much)

To the mall we went. He ended up with a wonderful cut, 3 new pairs of jeans, two shirts, a belt and a new jacket. Add to that the two new shirts from Christmas and he's almost good to go. We bought jeans that fit, shirts that looked great and a jacket he just loved.

yesterday morning

this morning

This picture does not do justice to how fantastic he looks. Add to that, I got a text today telling me the big reveal at school 'went GREAT'!

I'm sure three girls fainted as soon as they saw him.

Kid - you're outside is looking great and your inside is as amazing as ever!

week 15

Holy Hell - Wednesday and there is no excuse for our tardiness. I will admit, it was just too damn cold to convince them to go out this morning to do this - hence the change in venue. Yes, those are records on the wall.

I want to thank those of you who commented and gave me your perspective. I sat down with the boys and Craig and they had lots of ideas for posts. When I suggested a rotating schedule of who posts, a hearty laugh was heard around the world. So for now, I have a lot of content and just need to sit down and type.

We're going to add some new weekly items, on top of the always on time gnome picture, so keep tuned in.

Kelly - an apology - I always read your blog and don't always comment. I need to make a concerted effort to do so, as I know how it feels like no one is reading. Your posts are not as frequent but provide much more detail and photos. They are always entertaining and I enjoy them - so thank you for taking the time.

Tulips

Small things make me happy. 

Like THE FIRST TULIPS OF THE YEAR! 

I am so thrilled. 

They were selling them by the stem, not the bunch, as these were the first to come in. I got two yellow and an orange and this pretty purple and cream delight as well. In this freezing cold and windy weather, this was the best $9.05 spent. Oh how I love them and the vase my baby made me so many years ago!

 (2005 to be exact)

I hope these brighten your day as they have mine. Cheers!

At a Loss

After 6 years I am unsure what to write here any more. Funny how that works. The boys are still interested in doing the gnome picture, so that can be posted. I have a few ideas and have started taking notes on post ideas. Should it be this difficult? Is it worth it to continue? I don't do this for the comments or to say "i have a blog", but sometimes it feels like I'm doing this by rote - no real reason. We talk to our families - they know what is happening in our lives. Do they need the information here or is this a redundancy that can end?

I just don't know. I don't know if this matters any more. To me, to any one. So, I'm going to think, and I'm going to try a few things over the next month and then we'll go from there. For those who read - is there something you'd like to see? Hear about? Am I missing something? I know more pictures would be good and we know how photogenic all the men in my life are! Let me know.

For now my babies are sleeping away a snow day, not realizing that I haven't woken them and that they can stay snuggled in their beds until noon, should they wish. It is so awesome that these things happen sometimes. What a special surprise for them when they finally wake.

I, my friends, will be braving the weather to take my car for service (although I must admit Craig can't understand why there is a snow day as the roads are fine), and hoping to see my sweet friend (and aunt to boot) later today.

So for now we will see where this takes us. PLEASE take a moment and weigh in on this. I'd love to hear from you.

Happy New Year!

From Craig and I, to all our friends and family, we wish you a Happy New Year and a wonderful 2014!

p.s. - Shirley - your picture is in the mail!