On motion-sensitive soap dispensers ~ Virginia trip Part 1

So, on the 7th, we left for Virginia a little after one. We made it just a short way down the road before we stopped- Bethi needed shoes! We didn't realize until we were packing that Bethi still didn't have tennis shoes that fit, and VA in November didn't sound like a place you wear sandals ;). We bought a few other things, and then headed down the road just a little ways to stop again ;). We headed into Chick-fil-a for a quick lunch, which was greatly enjoyed :), and then we went to take all the little ones to the restroom.
As Tori and Bethi were starting to wash their hands, everything was going normally but by the time I got to the sink, we had quite a little mess going on ;)...
Bethi finished, and reached for a paper towel to dry her hands. Well, the paper towels happen to be on the wall behind the sink, while the soap is on the wall beside the sink. You have to reach right past the soap to get a towel... Do you get where this is going?
Bethi ended up with soap on her arm. Bethi jumped back, but in doing so, she only throws the soap farther. "I have soap on my arm! I have soap on my shirt! Now it is on my skirt- and my hair!!!" Haha :). But, Tori and I laughed too soon, because quickly the joke involved us ;). Mommy joined us, as I was trying to pull off paper towels for everyone's use. Their motion-sensitive paper towel dispenser, though, was tricky. If you didn't pull hard enough, more came out instead of ripping off. More soap was flying due to the paper towels movement, and we were still having trouble tearing the towels. The faucet, which was also motion activated, was stopping in the middle of hand washings, or turning back on just in time to get somebody who was done and trying to help somebody else!
We made it out alive, washed and dried, with no more mishaps, I promise. Well, after Tori forgot that the faucet turned on itself. She turned it to turn it on, like we do our faucet... turned it right around onto the counter. Which, of course, caused it to turn on, spilling all over the counter. Does it surprise anyone that when we walked into the restroom at another Chick-fil-a with the same set up, we all collectively said "Oh dear!!!", and Mommy ordered hand washing to happen one at a time ;)?
We finally got back on the road for real, on our way to Virginia, making memories all the way :)!

We're on our way!

We got a picture of him smiling in his car seat!!!

I added this one because you could see Andrew better... poor Tori...

A s

Crafty thoughts

Heehee :). Are you ready?
Perhaps this should have been titled "A crafter's thoughts" or "Thoughts on crafting" or just "Crafts"... or maybe I should have went with "Promised knitting post" (Tori made fun of all my "Promised" posts when she was reading over my shoulder yesterday!)... but I like titles where you don't know where they are going to lead, haha ;).
First off, I was actually thinking of writing about making Emmi's birthday present when I first promised this post, but I think I'll be adding some bits of other crafter's items of interest now that I actually writing... especially since I found this really cute pattern yesterday, am about to try to convert this dog into a dalmatian fire dog for one of our "family of friends" baby that is due soon  (fire hat included, if possible... I think it would be adorable, I just have to see if it's do-able...), and the fact that, thanks to an interesting wee incident that happened the other day, I needed to clean up and reorganize my crafting supplies (which I accomplished this morning, yeah!!! Not that the reorganizing didn't need done before that "incident" (read: run-in with Abbi), just it actually needed cleaned up, too, afterwards, haha! I have this trick of keeping my craft stuff *clean*- but *unorganized*, so I have to reorganize before I start another project so that I know where everything is! I'm trying to work at it... but we'll see if I ever get over it.).
Well, as for Emmi's present... I finely decided on the kangaroo. But then I was faced with a small problem: by then, I had about two weeks left in which to work, and had to learn four new techniques!!!
I was able to complete the baby kanga just in time. As in, it was the last present she opened, and I finished sewing it together and wrapped it while she was opening the rest. I felt kind of bad for cutting it that close, but I am sooo glad that she got it on her birthday ;), and I was glad it was accomplished without staying home from the zoo. I would have felt worst if I had missed her birthday celebration outing! The Mamma will follow at the earliest time possible. Lesson in all this: I under-estimate how long something is going to take, or over-estimate the time I will have to work on it. Either way, I need to start remembering that when planning a dead line for projects!!!
Yesterday while I was going through my yarn, I realized that I have way too much, lol. It's like the crafter's biggest problem; you always have way more yarn then you know what to do with! Most of my yarn was given to me by the lady who taught me how to knit. Some was given to me by my Grandparents, and some I've bought. All of that yarn won't be hard to use up. I can make small stuffed animals with the larger ones, hats with the largest, and then with what is left I can make some multicolored afghan squares or something. The main problem is all the baby yarn that was left from the multicolored baby blanket I made last March!!! I used about one and a sixth balls of each color. Now I have about five sixths of at least four colors left! I think it is time to start doing something I have wanted to do for a long time- I would love to make some baby blankets to donate to a Crisis Pregnancy Center.
And then there are all the projects that I have started and not completed, or the things that need repairs- that equals another drawer full of space. I would have so much more space to use for things that need more room if I could empty that drawer! I don't think it would take too long to make the repairs, it is just that sewing legs on rabbits is my least favorite part of crafting ;).
 So, I have a couple goals that I hope to meet in a year's time: to use up all the yarn that I've been keeping "just in case" (and then start collecting more like any other crafter, of course ;)), and to empty my "to work on" drawer. And to start making sure I have presents done at least the day before they are needed!

* Bethi's birthday post is up on our family blog!!! Emmi's will follow shortly, Lord willing. Bethi would love for you to read her's... she is so excited that she got to "publish" something on the blog ;)!
* Tori also has a couple posts up on her blog, "Tori's Stories" after taking a blogging break, I'm sure she would also love that you check it out. I think she plans on sticking around for awhile now ;)...
* I think I have caught up on comments on my blog. If you've asked a question and it never got answered, I'm not ignoring you on purpose! Feel free to ask again! Thanks!
*Oh, and the caterpillar shown in this post? He was found in our kitchen for the fourth time since Monday night this morning. I think he thinks he is a pet!

Dinner is served...

Daddy and Mommy celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary on the 3d (Miss Brenda, one of Daddy's employees, one of our "adopted Grandmas", came to babysit so they could have an afternoon together. She totally made Abbi's day by ordering pizza, heehee :)!). While Daddy and Mommy were out, they stopped at Hobby Lobby. They came back with several plaques for our walls, and, it seems, one other one that they don't plan on hanging up. It was this one...




They bought it for me. Yes, I have a habit of setting the smoke alarms off when making french fries. Especially when I'm making grilled cheese sandwiches to go with them. For one thing, our smoke alarms hate the smell of potatoes (no, really! We can open the oven after the potatoes have cooked for fifteen minutes. Now, all we're doing is stirring the fries... they still have a good 45 minutes to go! They are still next door to raw... and those alarms go off! It is so strange!). For another thing... I do have a habit of burning the grilled cheese sandwiches (you want a tip on how to "repair" burnt-black grilled cheese sandwiches? Often the outer part is the only part that is totally intolerable. I've found it works great to use a cheese grater to get the top layer grated off if you are out of time, LOL...).
They planned on giving it to me for my hope chest on my birthday. But after I made muffins the next morning and forgot ALL FOUR EGGS... And then was having problems with our wheat grinder... and forgot the timer... and had to wait for more pumpkin to defrost... and so many other little things that caused our breakfast to be eaten at about 11:45... (Three hours after I started...)... They thought it was too good a joke to keep any longer.
Haha! All in good fun... Although there is a bit of truth in it for some meals. I don't think anybody wants to come over for grilled cheese sandwiches and fries ;)!... or pumpkin muffins ;)...

Just a bit of my time in the kitchen on Saturday

I usually make the bread for our family right now. On Saturday, I got in the kitchen, ready to make light and fluffy, deep brown, hopefully perfect, bread. We were having company over the next day, and it had to at least be pleasantly edible.
Ha. That worked. Not. Anybody want a 6 pound brick of bread?
I forgot the yeast.
So, I had to make more. So, I mixed it up. Yeast? Check. Salt (which I almost forgot in the first batch)? Check. Milk (which I almost forgot in the second batch)? Check. That's all I usually forget, and it looked like I had everything else.
I set the timer, and left. Surely this time it was right.
I should have stayed and watched it knead a bit. After fifteen minutes, it looked like brown sugar.
I must have forgot the water. (That I thought I remembered putting in.) But that was the only thing that I didn't really remember pouring, so it had to be that.
So we put all three cups of water in. And more flour. Lots of it. Because it seems that I had put water in, just one instead of three cups.
At least this batch rose...
The last batch did taste fine, but Mommy and Daddy had sooooo much fun teasing me about the first batch (I'll admit, the jokes were kinda funny. Like the one about me "wanting to create an object lesson. After all, Jesus is both the "Bread of Life" and the "Rock of Refuge". That bread was certainly part rock...).
It is kind of funny... but it wasn't then!!!
And Tori had great fun laughing at me about something else in the kitchen that day, too.

"Yes, Tori, I want the steam cleaner insert to make millet for
breakfast tomorrow. Why do you look like this is unheard of?
We do it every week, remember? Yes, really, the STEAM...
Uh... ya... the pressure cooker insert. Sorry..."

Haha :)!...

I have a small problem...

It's... Me? My math? My brain? All of the above?
Haha...
Since I turned fourteen last month, Mommy has been more comfortable leaving me at home for a short amount of time, babysitting with Tori's help, while Mommy makes a quick run to the grocery store (I haven't done anything big yet, but it's a start!).
Mommy usually takes one or two of the children with her. And occasionally I will stop to do a head count. I remember that Mommy has two with her. I know that there should be four children at home still.
"One, two, three... Who is missing?!!!? Oh, ya, me... four..."
I can't remember that I'M one of the "four children" left at home!!!!
Haha... I'll figure it out sometime...
... Hopefully...

Pictures from the past few days...

Sweeties...

Poor Hummer got his nose stuck in the screen
when he came in the screened in porch for a visit...

Happy Abbi!

Emmi has had a little cold lately, and it's made her very sleepy,
she's fallen asleep in her chair several times, it's so cute...

We found a leaf bug outside today!

Somebody (or two somebodies) liked it :).

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

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

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 :).

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...

The day I shouldn't have cooked!

I'm not sure why, but Friday was not a great cooking day for me!
First I made bread, left it kneading in the mixer too long, and then let it raise too long. It burst after I put it in the oven, and it came out a hill-and-valley looking mess!
Then Mommy suggested that I make some brownies* for a treat during the time Tori and I were going to spend with her during the younger ones quiet time. We didn't have eggs, so I used mayonnaise instead. We checked those brownies when they were suppose to be done... and knew that we were not having brownies for our snack! Those brownies were BOILING in the oven!!!
When we finally gave up cooking them, they were burnt and STILL sliding all over the pan!
We settled on popcorn and coffee drinks** for a substitute treat. The fire alarms went off (for no reason whatsoever) while I was popping the popcorn. Then I bring the drinks into Mommy's room, hand Mommy her drink, and she asked "You put the sugar in it, right?". "Yes," I answered. "It would have been funny if you didn't," Mommy stated, referring to the fact that some thing had gone wrong with all the rest of my baking, cooking and mixing that day. Tori comes into the room to get her drink and asks- "Did you put sugar in it?" (Is anyone noticing that I must have forgotten the sugar a time or two?... Or three or four?...). Mommy giggles (she just asked the same question!) as I answer "Yes!". Tori then says "Wouldn't it have been funny if you forgot it TODAY!... What's funny?" She asks Mommy, who's rolling with laughter. I bet you can guess what was funny...
So, I learned two things. Mayonnaise does NOT do well in brownies for eggs... and it's REALLY time I start remembering the sugar in our coffee drinks.


*The recipe for the brownies can be found here (we leave off the cream cheese mixture), and the recipe for the chocolate sauce that we drizzle on top is:

1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 dash salt
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Stir together.
2. Boil 5 minutes, or more, until close to the consistency that you want, stirring rapidly. This will thicken slightly as it cools.
3. Store in the refrigerator.

Watch closely! This stuff boils over easy! Ask me how I know...

** Our coffee drinks:

1. In blender, shave two cups of ice,
2. Add one cup of milk, one cup of chilled prepared coffee, one cup of coffee ice cream, one-third cup of sugar, and mix in blender. Pour and serve.