Chapter 38

bread

Yesterday we had a landslide of cranky-pants attitudes around here.  By 10:30 am Momma was back in her room trying to regroup in a Mommy time-out.  

I was laying on my bed having my own come-to-Jesus meeting trying to figure out how to patiently deal with the mood swings of teens and tweens.  I can't remember much of the passage I was reading in my bible but a light bulb came on in my swirling head that said, "Make bread."

I went down to the kitchen and started rattling dishes and pulling out supplies.  And what happened?  Low and behold many of the cranky people came out of the woodwork to see what was going on.  The kitchen is like a magnet.  

So we made bread and all the bad attitudes seemed to dissipate and the joy in the room began to grow as fast as the yeast. 

It also dawned upon me that Alex has mastered white bread, is a natural working with yeast, and she was ready to switch over to freshly milled flour.  The others were just excited to play along.

We started with the mill.  I've had this trusty sidekick for over 6 years. 

It is so hard to use.  We pour wheat berries in the top and turn it on. :)

But we have to be careful because if the mill isn't properly put together when you turn it on flour can spew out the side and add a nice white layer of flour dust to your kitchen.  This can be fun for the kids but after the bread's all baked and you're tired the clean up is another story. 

At this point Alex said to me, "How did people make flour before this machine was invented?" That girl loves history and I'm pretty sure she was born in the wrong century.  :) 

I jogged her memory a bit and we went back in time to Wild Cat Den in Muscatine and the Flour Mill we toured there.  We also spent time outside crushing the wheat berries by hand.  Those were the days. 

Back to the flour which will be bread soon.  

We add a few basic ingredients and soon we have a lovely whole wheat dough.  I love milling flour for bread because it is so natural and you can add gluten or NOT depending on your consumers. 

This recipe has 18 - 20 cups of flour in it (depending on humidity, altitude etc) so it is overflowing the mixer!

Then you have to dump the dough onto a greased surface and knead it and slam it for a while.  We thoroughly enjoy this part.  It gets out the aggression.  Which may have been a contributing factor in the change of moods.

See how quick my movements are? HI-YA!

We took turns beating the dough but I didn't get more pictures. :)

For supper we were planning french dip so we molded some of the bread into loaves to accomodate our supper needs.  The rest I let the girls make however they wished.  Alex made a couple of loaves and a braided bread and Lucy made a mini loaf.  I made buns for the freezer (which are almost gone and never made it to the freezer).

We let them rise until doubled and baked them until they were a pretty bronze color.

Tada!

Alex took the braided bread to co-op today. She made a quart of whipping cream into honey butter to go with it.

The rest is disappearing quickly.  Their excuse, after all, is that it has no preservatives in it and will dry out and mold in a day or two. 

Well, the moral of the story is...when stinky attitudes abound whip up some bread.  You can have Science, Home Economics and History all wrapped into one experiment, too!

Exciting Events

• We traveled back to my hometown over the weekend and saw a ton of people I've known all my life.  It was so much fun!  It was for my sister's wedding reception and she and Drew were enveloped in love and support by so many who came.  My Uncle Sam drove in from Minnesota and I loved seeing him.  Meg even crashed the party to give me a hug since we were only in town for 8 hours!
• The vitamins are POURING in!!  Wowza! Yesterday alone Jody had seventy some bottles show up at her door.  THANK YOU!
• I was working yesterday to de-junk our house.  Jake took a school break for lunch and asked me what he could make...groceries running low.  I told him he could grill burgers for everyone and he did!  He thawed the meat, made the patties himself, used Eric's massive grill and catered to all his sisters for lunch.  I was so proud of him!
• We've done some switch-a-roo around here.  Lucy and Beth have shared a room since we moved here a year ago.  Yesterday we made a big change and moved Alex and Beth together and gave Lucy her own room.  They were all super excited and persevered to move all their stuff.  They sorted and tossed and made piles for a garage sale. But why does my house look messier? 
• Ok.  I think that's enough excitement for one day...

 

My Kids' Fav

No captions necessary.  :) 

 

New generation of workers

I don't have to cook, bake, clean...and now I don't even have to put gas in anymore.

I have kids! :)

Oldest vs. Youngest

Jake has decided as the oldest he is jipped. 

His lunch was removed by the youngest from the microwave before it was fully warmed because it was her turn and he was distracted.

He was thoroughly frustrated.

There seems to be entitlement issues with the oldest vs. the youngest...and vice versa.

E and I were eating our lunch and listening to the conversation unfold...and then it unfolded onto us.

Jake brought up the fact that someone PAID Lucy a dollar to go to bed one night.  That was his case for saying the youngest is spoiled and the oldest is...well...never paid to go to bed.

As the youngest in MY family, I am sure this is all wrong and that he was just miffed that his lunch was cold.  

But I will admit that desperation parenting at bedtime sounds much worse the next morning when it is exposed. 

:)

My sleepy ADD post.

I have lots going through my mind tonight.

But my body says sleep.

The vitamins are pouring into Jody's mailbox from all over.  THANK YOU.  I have a bag FULL in my truck as I write.  God is so awesome.

I need to write a post about school.  My kids are a gift. God is working even though they have me for a mom.   

I need to write a post about Cinnamon Rolls.

I need to post the Blueberry dessert recipe someone requested.

I need to write a post about how we've been meeting the coolest people lately.  I have no idea what God is doing but I love what he is doing.

I need to write a post about all the tantalizing ethnic restaurants we've gone to in KC...and all the ones I wanna go to. 

I need to sleep. :)

A few photos from the weekend...

My dad brought a power tool for Eric to indulge in.  I went to get the camera and the tree was standing.  When I came back it was not where it was supposed to fall.  They were laughing AND I'm pretty sure I wasn't meant to watch that tree fall exactly where they WERE standing!

We met my mom and dad at the apple orchard on Friday.  The girls were there for the animals.  The apples were secondary.  :)  They loved all over this dog because he was a mini Moby.

My mom must've avoided the camera this weekend!  I don't have any pictures of her!

And a visit to E's office, complete with hard hats.  

OH! I almost forgot...

We had a visitor on Sunday and she wanted to worship at the Ethiopian Church.  It was so cool.  Africans are affectionately welcoming.  Church was 3 hours long.  The kids learned about Systematic Theology and Biblical Worldview in their kids' church. And the sermon was straight out truth.  It was so refreshing.

Our new friend stayed the afternoon and we played a game called Big Bootie.  

Yeah.  For real.  That is the name of the game.  

It goes like this: Big Bootie, Big Bootie, Big Bootie...someone is the Big Bootie and the rest are numbered.  So Big Bootie says, "Big Bootie, Number 2."  Then Number 2 says, "Number 2, Number 4." (or whatever person's number they want) If you don't keep the rhythm you're out.

The girls were all over the game.  The boys somehow disappeared.  

We tried to chase Jake down but it wasn't happening.

But we DID convince Big E to participate after much hesitation.  

And let me tell you it was hysterical.

Mr. Straight faced engineer was the WINNER of Big Bootie.  Seriously.  

Hysterical.

Sleep awaits.  Goodnight!

Follow your heart...

Do you hear the statistics and wonder what YOU can do?

Do you read an article, a blog and see the beautiful faces tugging at your heart and want to DO something?

That's me.  I'm a doer.  

So often I HEAR of the problems.  There are countless books, countless statistics, countless faces that overwhelm me and I feel like throwing my arms in the air thinking, "What can I do.  I'm just a busy stay at home mom."

The issues seem so big and my mind wraps around them with the thought that somehow I have to solve them all.  

But that's not how it's done.  Wars are won one soldier at a time.  Recipes are made one ingredient at a time.  Quilts are beautifully crafted one stitch at a time. 

Big issues are solved a little at a time.  

Here is an opportunity for each of us to do a little.

In March I embarked on a trip that is etched in my mind forever.  Eight women, moms, teachers, artists, flew across the ocean to learn from a people we fell in love with in Sierra Leone, West Africa and to support a strong group of friends and heroes with Word Made Flesh.

While there we met a neighborhood of kids in Kroo Bay who flocked to the church every Saturday for a Good News Bible Club. These kids prayed and worshiped Papa God like I've never experienced before.  I remember the feeling of being unable to stop the tears from just flowing down my face as my ears rang from the singing that filled the church.  The sweet, innocent sound of children praising God.  Worship at it's purest.

(oh, and FYI, that IS me, the timid white girl in the back)

Before we left for Sierra Leone we gathered supplies to take with us.  

At the top of the list:  vitamins to hand out to the Kroo Bay Good News Club kids. Many of YOU helped us check off that list.

Then recently we received an email from our friends in Sierra Leone saying their supply of vitamins was running out and was there any way we could help?  

So here's an opportunity to follow your heart.  It's an opportunity to do the little things that eventually equivilate big things.

Until September 29 we are collecting vitamins to send back to Sierra Leone for these beautiful faces.

You can purchase GUMMY vitamins and get them to one of our friends in Newton, KS, Muscatine, IA, Kansas City, Colorado Springs, or San Diego. (email me or leave a comment to follow this route) 

Or you can order them online here and have them shipped to Jody (again, email me and I'll get you the address).

Or to make it even simpler and forget about shipping them, you can paypal to jodylanders @ gmail dot com.  We've nominated her to shop for vitamins if you wish to go that route.

It's the little things that make a big difference.  THANK YOU!!

I love Tuesdays

Tuesdays are a "down" day here.  Not much routinely on the calendar.

School today was somehow complete by 1 pm! Wahoo! (rarely happens)

I had a couple of afternoon meetings.  Both were the kind that revive passion and make my blood pressure raise with intense excitement at what God might do.  I left feeling a sense of "wow God."  

It was a good afternoon.

I spent 3 hours making a fancy-pants new dish for supper because my family isn't the type to eat the same ol' same ol'.  Variety is the name of the game with Big E.

I think E liked it.  The girls liked it.  And Jake...well...he was bellowing from the moment I started making supper.  

He has this food radar.  Anytime I'm in the kitchen he makes a bee line to me and hounds me about what I'm making.  He refused to even try the main dish.  

So here you have it.  Sauteed Pork Chops with an Apple-Plum Chutney, dill and butter drenched potatoes, Chipotle slaw salad and Eric's fav - Almost Sugar Free Blueberry Dessert.  Worth bellowing over.  :) 

Oh, and my kids are still cute.  At least to me they are. 

But apparently tweens and teens don't like to be on blogs.  It's no longer cool.

just to keep it r.e.a.l.

The girls made a swing all on their own and they were so proud! 

And Eric...well...he was just trying to get a video of their hard work. 

And Lucy...she was just trying to keep her skirt from meeting the ground.

oops. i forgot already.

Hmmm.  I already forgot to blog.  Crazy how a little break can make you out of routine. (Ok, no laughing...I haven't had a good blogging routine for a long, long while.) 

Yesterday was busy.

Kids do chores.  For several years now we have implemented a routine of Saturday chores.  It really helps me.  And I realize that my kids speak in spreadsheet love language much like E and I.  So it works.  No one gets allowance at the end of the month unless they did their chores.  If they do 3 weeks of chores and miss the 4th, they get 3/4 of their allowance.

Jake mows in addition to his chores.  His Saturday is full. 

Eric and I both have a chore list as well and then we try to get our honey-do-list knocked out.  

I usually have overly unachievable expectations.  Eric has much lower expectations.  :)  It does make for a weekend with a few sparks.  

Eric is almost finished with our dining room, which I will blog when it's all said and done.  Let's just say he is meticulous and every brush stroke was unsloppy and thorough.  

And let's ALSO say that I was not allowed to work alongside him.  :)

So I baked lunches for the week.  The kids were complaining about the processed crap I bought during the last few busy months.

We made Pepperoni and Cheese Calzones and Bierocks.

After letting the dough rise sufficiently we made it to the fun part.

You wrap them up into a pouch and turn them upside down on a cookie sheet.

Then we made a different dough for the Bierocks.

Lucy was my helper and we started out strong.  But by this point we were lucky to have THESE pictures because we were losing steam.  Besides, this isn't a professional blog.  THIS is real life.

After all the dough rising before and after loading up the bun I was in a hurry to get a workout in before the events of the evening.

So there you have it.  Saturday at the Bullers. Totally exciting.