The rains came down and the flowers came up...

Today while driving Ally to school, Olivia was in the back seat singing to her self. As I listened more closely, I could tell she was trying to sing one of her primary songs, 'the wise man and the foolish man'. The real words are, "the rains came down and the floods came up...the rains came down and the floods came up...the rains came down and the floods came up and the house on the rock stood still." Olivia thinks the words are "the rains came down and the flowers came up, the rains came down and the flowers came up, the rains came down and the flowers came up, and the house on the rock stood still."

She must be very confused by this song :) What do flowers have to do with the wise man and the foolish man and where they chose to build their house?

Marci's Peanut Butter Bars

Just so I don't loose this, I am posting it. They are delicious!

1 C. Butter

1 C. Sugar

1 C. Brown Sugar

3 Eggs

3/4 C. Peanut Butter

Mix until creamy.

1 tsp. Soda

1/2 tsp. Salt

2/3 T. Vanilla

2 c. Flour

2 c. Oats

Press into cookie sheet. Bake at 350 (365) for 15-17 minutes

You can whip peanut butter and pour on top when it comes out of the oven, so it melts in, then top with chocolate frosting.

undercover boss...

Sometimes I feel like being a mom is kind of like being an undercover boss.

You're in charge, but no body believes you.

Homemade Yogurt

I have been looking for a good homemade yogurt recipe for YEARS! I finally found one that I wanted to try, and after several attempts, I think I finally figured it out! I used this recipe, as a basis and then tweaked it a bit...

I never liked to buy yogurt at the store because we could go through an entire 24 oz. tub in 1 sitting, and we won't even talk about the little cups... we would need 6 of those a day at least! It was just too expensive! You will be happy to know, the total cost, for 5 qts. of homemade, sweetened vanilla yogurt was approximately $2.50! That's a HUGE savings in my book. AND, it is delicious! My kids would never eat the yogurt that I tried to make before, but they literally gobble this up! I even eat it, and I am not a real huge fan of yogurt most days.

I won't go through the step by step of it all, with pictures and such, but here are the basics-

Ingredients:

1 gal. whole milk

1 c. half and half (because I had it and it needed to be used)

1 1/2 c. plain yogurt

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 tsp. powdered vanilla

In a heavy stockpot, heat 1 gallon whole milk and half and half to 185-195 degrees. (I think it matters what kind of milk you use- the full milk fat helps it to set up well. You could use milk with less fat-content, but I am not sure if you will get as nice of a texture. Plus, I think we should eat things as close to the way God made them as possible... He knows what He's doing - There is more to be said on this matter, but I will save that for another day, though this lady says it pretty well in this post:)

After your milk reaches 185 degrees, cool to 120 degrees- then add plain yogurt, sugar and vanilla powder and mix thoroughly. Pour into your jars, or plastic containers, and I put them in my dehydrator- I have and excaliber dehydrator and I love it, I just take out the shelves, set it to 115 degrees and leave the yogurt overnight. In this post, she gives other ways to do it, but this is the best way I have found. In the morning I put it in the fridge, well that is whatever the kids don't eat first, and let it cool and literally in just a few days I need to make more!

Now- I know that there are some of you out there who surely are saying- YIKES Megan! that's a lot of sugar! and a lot of fat! And yes, you are right, this isn't fat-free yogurt and my kids won't eat it if it doesn't taste good...so, for me, for delicious, cheap homemade yogurt it is worth it...however, I am thinking of trying some stevia to sweeten it next time, it has 0 calories, and comes in flavored liquids, so you could make lots of different flavors....I will let you know how it goes.

10 years of wedded bliss...

August 23rd, Craig and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. He surprised me with a wonderful date- dinner at a fancy restaurant, then a concert with Norah Jones at the Red Rock outdoor amphitheater, then a child free evening at a luxury motel! It was wonderful and I am very lucky to be married to such a wonderful man. He is still the love of my life, and I look forward to many many more years of bliss :)

Clap your hands!

Nathan learns to clap his hands :)

Thanksgiving in August

We were lucky enough to have my dear sweet sister-in-law and my 2 great nephews here with us for 2 weeks in August. We love them dearly, and we so thrilled with the time we got to spend together. One night, we decided to make a turkey, and as long as we were going to make a turkey, we might as well go all out! So, we made a whole Thanksgiving dinner- the only thing it was missing, was sweet potatoes, which I regretted after, but it didn't even occur to me, until it was too late :)

Ever since Valentines day, last year, the kids always ask if we can eat by candlelight, so we accommodated, and had Thanksgiving dinner, by candlelight in August. It was fun!

Pool days are over!

Well, it is with sadness that we say goodbye to our pool for the season. Labor day was the last day that the pool was open, and boy are we going to miss it!

I wish I had taken video of the girls swimming, but alas, I never did. Olivia however learned how to swim well enough that she crossed the entire width of the pool, ON HER TUMMY (not her back which she tells me is lots easier) without any help! She is quite the fish and I have decided she needs regular swimming lessons, so we are planning to enroll her at the rec center soon!

This picture is of Nathan after a swim at the pool. He was shivering from cold when we left, so we came home and quickly got him in his jammies and wrapped him up in his blanket- where upon he immediately fell asleep...I couldn't resist the chance to just snuggle him, so here I sat, on the couch, in my WET swimming suit and cuddled him for 20 minutes. It was a little piece of heaven. He's too busy most times these days for snuggling :)

And this shot is of Logan after a trip to the pool. When we were leaving, he was all wrapped up in his towel and biffed it on the pavement. With his hands stuck inside his towel, he caught himself with his face! This is the damage...

He was one worn out little boy!

Ally's First Day of School

Here is our sweet Ally- on her first day of 2nd grade, and her first day at Murphy Creek Elementarty school. Her teacher is Miss Jeschke, and as you can imagine, she was SUPER excited for school to start!

Walking? Already?

Does anyone else find it unusual that my 8 month old baby is about to WALK? He can walk anywhere he want to go as long as he can hold onto something, and can stand by himself for 5-10 seconds at a time. He has NO interest in crawling, and is never happier than when you walk with him...