A big "Thank you" to Daddy, who installed a card reader on the computer!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
"Joyfully at home", by Jasmine Baucham
"Joyfully at Home" is a book for who want to know what stay-at-home daughter hood is about, by a stay-at-home daughter. Miss Baucham does realize that sometimes it is not God's plan that a daughter stay at home, but she does not believe that this should be normal.
The book is written in an easy to read style, giving good advice mixed with plenty of humor! Miss Jasmine writes from experience, but still gives the impression that she's right there, learning all the way right along side you. I really enjoyed this book, but if you do not want to be tempted to embrace stay-at-home daughter hood, you might not want to read this book... your life may become "ruined for the better"... just like Jasmine Baucham's was after reading "So Much More" by Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin!
Miss Baucham believes that fixing the state of the heart is the key to fixing all problems that girls struggle with. In the book she encourages all girls to:
Love the Lord with all your Heart.
Be a helpmeet to your Father as a daughter (she also explains that sometimes you could be more of a help to your Father by helping your Mother instead -so she can give more to your Father).
Build relationships with your entire family.
Wait patiently for the man that God would have for you to marry, and realize that the Lord may not even have marriage in his perfect plan for your life.
Keep your heart and thoughts pure.
And more!
To get a clear idea of exactly what Miss Jasmine believes, you can go to her current blog, "All She has to say".
The book is written in an easy to read style, giving good advice mixed with plenty of humor! Miss Jasmine writes from experience, but still gives the impression that she's right there, learning all the way right along side you. I really enjoyed this book, but if you do not want to be tempted to embrace stay-at-home daughter hood, you might not want to read this book... your life may become "ruined for the better"... just like Jasmine Baucham's was after reading "So Much More" by Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin!
Miss Baucham believes that fixing the state of the heart is the key to fixing all problems that girls struggle with. In the book she encourages all girls to:
Love the Lord with all your Heart.
Be a helpmeet to your Father as a daughter (she also explains that sometimes you could be more of a help to your Father by helping your Mother instead -so she can give more to your Father).
Build relationships with your entire family.
Wait patiently for the man that God would have for you to marry, and realize that the Lord may not even have marriage in his perfect plan for your life.
Keep your heart and thoughts pure.
And more!
To get a clear idea of exactly what Miss Jasmine believes, you can go to her current blog, "All She has to say".
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
We own a violin!
On Sunday we went to visit my Grandparents, and my Aunts. We had a wonderful time visiting with them (Mommy, Aunt Amber, Aunt Tessa, Tori and I spent a bit of the time we were there playing ONE game of "Uno" that lasted over TWO hours!!! )
While we were there, my Aunt surprised us by giving us her violin! She got it a while back, and we had so much fun laughing at how none of us could play it at first! But since the last time we were over there, Aunt Tessa had had it tuned. That makes a big difference in the sound of a violin, let me tell you!!!
While we were there, my Aunt surprised us by giving us her violin! She got it a while back, and we had so much fun laughing at how none of us could play it at first! But since the last time we were over there, Aunt Tessa had had it tuned. That makes a big difference in the sound of a violin, let me tell you!!!
I've wanted to learn how to play the violin/ fiddle for quite a while (the only difference between the two is their interchangeable bridges). I was really excited when she told us it was she was giving it to us! We need a new "E" string (heehee... someone popped that string while we were still at my Grandparents!) and then it will need re-tuned (due to the missing string) and then we'll be able to start learning how to play it!
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
The cookies that were (not) made...
I've got a sweet tooth (or maybe several, haha!). That sweet tooth has given me the job of head sweet-maker! And one day I got the bright idea of making No-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies. And it made an interesting story...
Okay, so on the day that I decided to make cookies, we were running low on milk, Abbi was still taking a bottle, and Daddy wasn't going to be able to bring home milk until nine o'clock that night. So, we needed at least two bottles worth of milk left. But, I forgot that.
After checking with Mommy to make sure cookies were all right with her, I made my first mistake. I forgot to make sure we had all the ingredients before I started. So, I dumped in the cocoa, sugar, butter, and... Oh, no! I forgot that they need milk!!! After consulting Mommy about it, I half the milk with water so we're not using quite so much. Then I get to the peanut butter. No. We can't be out of peanut butter! Or, maybe we can. We are. You mean we just wasted a half a cup of milk? That could have been half a bottle!!!
After looking through all our cookbooks for a recipe that had somewhat the same ingredients as No-bake cookies, the closest we can find is Chocolate fudge pie. And we'll still need to make several changes (and make four pies to get the proportions right!!!). Not enough eggs for four pies? Use flax seed. There are four sticks of butter in four pies. Since we have a cup of "milk" that shouldn't go in the pie, we use that as two of the sticks of butter. Have we ever tried whole wheat flour in this recipe? No idea, but we don't have any white flour, so we'll have to try it anyway. Mommy comes into the kitchen and says "You've had to change so many things in this recipe, I have no idea how it will turn out. Why don't you add some chocolate chips to kind of help it along?"
So, we add chocolate chips, and pour the four recipes of pie batter into two pie pans (that was all we had at the time!). The pies take three times as long to bake as they should when made right, and we still have no idea how they will turn out! I serve the pie for dessert at lunch, and Mommy takes a bite...
"Wow! This is actually really good! In fact... I think this is your best pie yet!!!"
Daddy was working late that night, and got home at ten o'clock. He tucks us in bed, and goes downstairs. Two minutes later I hear "Bri!". I go down stairs and find Daddy eating a piece of pie. He's words: "Did you write down the changes you made to this? Because if you didn't- you need to!!! This is definitely your best pie yet!"
So, there you have it. All that worry... and it turned out better than ever before!!! And as that is the case, here's the recipe:
Surprise success pie
Okay, so on the day that I decided to make cookies, we were running low on milk, Abbi was still taking a bottle, and Daddy wasn't going to be able to bring home milk until nine o'clock that night. So, we needed at least two bottles worth of milk left. But, I forgot that.
After checking with Mommy to make sure cookies were all right with her, I made my first mistake. I forgot to make sure we had all the ingredients before I started. So, I dumped in the cocoa, sugar, butter, and... Oh, no! I forgot that they need milk!!! After consulting Mommy about it, I half the milk with water so we're not using quite so much. Then I get to the peanut butter. No. We can't be out of peanut butter! Or, maybe we can. We are. You mean we just wasted a half a cup of milk? That could have been half a bottle!!!
After looking through all our cookbooks for a recipe that had somewhat the same ingredients as No-bake cookies, the closest we can find is Chocolate fudge pie. And we'll still need to make several changes (and make four pies to get the proportions right!!!). Not enough eggs for four pies? Use flax seed. There are four sticks of butter in four pies. Since we have a cup of "milk" that shouldn't go in the pie, we use that as two of the sticks of butter. Have we ever tried whole wheat flour in this recipe? No idea, but we don't have any white flour, so we'll have to try it anyway. Mommy comes into the kitchen and says "You've had to change so many things in this recipe, I have no idea how it will turn out. Why don't you add some chocolate chips to kind of help it along?"
So, we add chocolate chips, and pour the four recipes of pie batter into two pie pans (that was all we had at the time!). The pies take three times as long to bake as they should when made right, and we still have no idea how they will turn out! I serve the pie for dessert at lunch, and Mommy takes a bite...
"Wow! This is actually really good! In fact... I think this is your best pie yet!!!"
Daddy was working late that night, and got home at ten o'clock. He tucks us in bed, and goes downstairs. Two minutes later I hear "Bri!". I go down stairs and find Daddy eating a piece of pie. He's words: "Did you write down the changes you made to this? Because if you didn't- you need to!!! This is definitely your best pie yet!"
So, there you have it. All that worry... and it turned out better than ever before!!! And as that is the case, here's the recipe:
Surprise success pie
2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 chocolate chips
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 chocolate chips
Mix, pour into an un-greased pie pan, and bake at 350°F for 50 minutes to an hour.
This recipe is cut in half from what I made on our "cookie making" day :).
This recipe is cut in half from what I made on our "cookie making" day :).
Homemade croutons...
Four gallon sized freezer bags full of bread, five sticks of butter, five children in the kitchen equals...
One and a half hours in the kitchen and nine dehydrator racks and one baking sheet FULL of croutons (and a big mess, haha!).
This is the first time that the younger ones have helped Tori and I, and they thought it was great fun! And it made the work go much quicker! Tori and I alone take one and a half hours to make croutons with two bags of leftover bread.
Abbi helped me butter all that bread (when she wasn't eating bread... at least that made less to put on the baking sheets! Oh, or buttering our water filter, haha!). Then I cut the bread into bite size pieces. Andrew and Bethani were given the job of placing the buttered bread butter-side up on the baking sheets. Tori helped Bethi and Andrew, and did the job of fitting the bread in the dehydrator. Since we make our own bread, the bread slices are not always uniform in size, and so we have to make sure that the bread fits in the small spaces between the racks. After everybody was done with their part, I sprinkled on the spices and put them in the oven. At first we were worried the power would go off because of a storm we were having, but so far so good! Now we have lots of yummy croutons!
If you want the recipe for these, go to: http://tammysrecipes.com/homemade_croutons. We love to eat these like chips, or on a salad!
One and a half hours in the kitchen and nine dehydrator racks and one baking sheet FULL of croutons (and a big mess, haha!).
This is the first time that the younger ones have helped Tori and I, and they thought it was great fun! And it made the work go much quicker! Tori and I alone take one and a half hours to make croutons with two bags of leftover bread.
Abbi helped me butter all that bread (when she wasn't eating bread... at least that made less to put on the baking sheets! Oh, or buttering our water filter, haha!). Then I cut the bread into bite size pieces. Andrew and Bethani were given the job of placing the buttered bread butter-side up on the baking sheets. Tori helped Bethi and Andrew, and did the job of fitting the bread in the dehydrator. Since we make our own bread, the bread slices are not always uniform in size, and so we have to make sure that the bread fits in the small spaces between the racks. After everybody was done with their part, I sprinkled on the spices and put them in the oven. At first we were worried the power would go off because of a storm we were having, but so far so good! Now we have lots of yummy croutons!
If you want the recipe for these, go to: http://tammysrecipes.com/homemade_croutons. We love to eat these like chips, or on a salad!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Oh the joys of hand-crafting...
And this time I mean it!!!
Compared to the last two projects (headbands with stars and gathering a tiered dress, which we got several good laughs out of) the next two projects I worked on were very enjoyable!
First I worked on a little pincushion- in the shape of a teacup! The pattern, off of Lion Brand's website, is called "Amigurumi Tea Cup Pincushion". I thought the pincushion was cute, a friend who loves to sew had a birthday coming up, and the pattern didn't look too complicated! So, I decided to try it! Well, it wasn't complicated, even with the changes I made! I added a saucer to mine, and took some shortcuts (I crochet the tea into the cup so I didn't have to sew it in, my least favorite part when crocheting or knitting!), and loved how it turned out!
Then I tatted a little bookmark, only having to take out small parts of the work twice- a big thing for me in tatting! I'm almost as good at messing up in tatting as sewing, it just takes less time to fix most of the time. Much better than last weeks projects!!!
Now I have a tag blanket to make for Abbi's birthday (so that I can re-claim the one that I made for me a few years ago. She loves that thing!). Good news is, I've already made two, and those things are fool proof! At least, I think so... I hope so... watch this one prove me wrong, haha!
Compared to the last two projects (headbands with stars and gathering a tiered dress, which we got several good laughs out of) the next two projects I worked on were very enjoyable!
First I worked on a little pincushion- in the shape of a teacup! The pattern, off of Lion Brand's website, is called "Amigurumi Tea Cup Pincushion". I thought the pincushion was cute, a friend who loves to sew had a birthday coming up, and the pattern didn't look too complicated! So, I decided to try it! Well, it wasn't complicated, even with the changes I made! I added a saucer to mine, and took some shortcuts (I crochet the tea into the cup so I didn't have to sew it in, my least favorite part when crocheting or knitting!), and loved how it turned out!
Then I tatted a little bookmark, only having to take out small parts of the work twice- a big thing for me in tatting! I'm almost as good at messing up in tatting as sewing, it just takes less time to fix most of the time. Much better than last weeks projects!!!
Now I have a tag blanket to make for Abbi's birthday (so that I can re-claim the one that I made for me a few years ago. She loves that thing!). Good news is, I've already made two, and those things are fool proof! At least, I think so... I hope so... watch this one prove me wrong, haha!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Our Fourth of July
Our Fourth of July started on the 2nd, when we went to the fireworks at Lake Murry. They were beautiful, and Emmi loved them, but Abbi answered Mommy's question "Aren't they beautiful?" with "They NOT bootiful, and I HIDE from them!!!" While we were at the lake, one lady offered to take a family picture. That was a blessing!
On the Fourth we had friends over for grilled hamburgers and homemade ice cream, and we did sparklers and fireworks! At first we thought it would rain, but all we felt were a few drops! Daddy set the fireworks off, and he got some really pretty ones! He even got one that did like three things in one for the grand finale! I think that one was everybody's favorite.
Oh, and those projects we were doing for 4th of July? We DID complete them in time! Mommy got her's finished on Friday last week, I got my headbands done on Saturday, and Tori even had time to make some braided bracelets with the left over yarn!
On the Fourth we had friends over for grilled hamburgers and homemade ice cream, and we did sparklers and fireworks! At first we thought it would rain, but all we felt were a few drops! Daddy set the fireworks off, and he got some really pretty ones! He even got one that did like three things in one for the grand finale! I think that one was everybody's favorite.
Oh, and those projects we were doing for 4th of July? We DID complete them in time! Mommy got her's finished on Friday last week, I got my headbands done on Saturday, and Tori even had time to make some braided bracelets with the left over yarn!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Oh, the joys of hand crafting...Haha
Why can't that joy be easier to get to???
For Fourth of July, Mommy and I both had some projects we wanted to get done. I wanted to get some hairbands with stars done, and Mommy wanted to make some matching tiered tee shirt dresses.
After experimenting for about an hour on making a star to go on the hairbands, I finally asked Mommy to look for a pattern online. I looked at the pattern she found, and it all made sense- finally!
And as to the hairbands... I've made them before (with the same pattern). I had no problems with them last time. This time... they look like earmuffs. The yarn was just too thick to make good summer hairbands (not to mention the one that should have fit Bethani fit me instead, and she was able to wear Emmi's!!!). So, I'll most likely be finding thinner yarn and starting over. Maybe these ones won't look quite so out of place in November.
And then there are the dresses... I offered to help Mommy with the gathers on the tiers, since she dislikes that part. Let's put it this way- I need some more practice!!!
First, I had finished gathering the skirt to the size of the shirt. Then I started evening out the gathers. I must have pulled the wrong thread or something, because the next thing I know, I don't have any gathers left!!! So, I needed to start over. Then I snapped the thread and... you guessed it. I had to start over. Finally I was ready to pin the shirt and the first tier together. I pinned it together.. backwards! So I had to take ALL the pins out, put ALL the pins back in, and then Mommy was able to sew it together. Then I took all those gathering stitches out, gathered the next tier, and pined it on the first tier... BACKWARDS!!! And had to take ALL the pins out, put ALL the pins back in, and let Mommy sew it. Luckily I didn't pull out the wrong threads when I was taking out the gathering threads!
So, the lesson from this experience? Tiered skirts are (much!) harder to make then they look... And when a pattern for hairbands says "use this yarn"... use that yarn!!! Now time for more knitting... don't be surprised if I have another "handcrafting mistakes" post up soon... haha...
For Fourth of July, Mommy and I both had some projects we wanted to get done. I wanted to get some hairbands with stars done, and Mommy wanted to make some matching tiered tee shirt dresses.
After experimenting for about an hour on making a star to go on the hairbands, I finally asked Mommy to look for a pattern online. I looked at the pattern she found, and it all made sense- finally!
And as to the hairbands... I've made them before (with the same pattern). I had no problems with them last time. This time... they look like earmuffs. The yarn was just too thick to make good summer hairbands (not to mention the one that should have fit Bethani fit me instead, and she was able to wear Emmi's!!!). So, I'll most likely be finding thinner yarn and starting over. Maybe these ones won't look quite so out of place in November.
And then there are the dresses... I offered to help Mommy with the gathers on the tiers, since she dislikes that part. Let's put it this way- I need some more practice!!!
First, I had finished gathering the skirt to the size of the shirt. Then I started evening out the gathers. I must have pulled the wrong thread or something, because the next thing I know, I don't have any gathers left!!! So, I needed to start over. Then I snapped the thread and... you guessed it. I had to start over. Finally I was ready to pin the shirt and the first tier together. I pinned it together.. backwards! So I had to take ALL the pins out, put ALL the pins back in, and then Mommy was able to sew it together. Then I took all those gathering stitches out, gathered the next tier, and pined it on the first tier... BACKWARDS!!! And had to take ALL the pins out, put ALL the pins back in, and let Mommy sew it. Luckily I didn't pull out the wrong threads when I was taking out the gathering threads!
So, the lesson from this experience? Tiered skirts are (much!) harder to make then they look... And when a pattern for hairbands says "use this yarn"... use that yarn!!! Now time for more knitting... don't be surprised if I have another "handcrafting mistakes" post up soon... haha...
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