Sepia.

Sickies

I haven't been able to post because I have a house of sickies. I'm so thankful I'm NOT sick. Who would take care of ME??? Eli had a fever that turned into a nasty hack. Gabe just started in with a fever. Jesse's sick too. Sick of work. Nah, he's really sick. Really. So, I've been spending my days running. Running for the thermometer, running for the meds, running for the tissues, running for drinks, running for popsicles, you get the point. Plus doing everything around here that I normally do. And not getting much sleep. Someone is always up needing something! Ack! So, back to it tomorrow hopefully. I think, after taking two days off from work, Jesse will try to make it thru the day. Gabe's in bed right now and after Eli is in bed, I'm going to indulge in a cup of tea and a little light reading...the newest edition of Country Gardens. I can't wait.

What shall I cook today . . .

Bread!

I did make bread yesterday. It came out fantastic. I found a new recipe to try and this is the one I've been searching for. It's perfect. Moist, light and airy. Yum! I'm going to try to tweak it a little - add oatmeal and then probably make wheat bread as well. There's something about white bread that I really like. Not the healthiest I guess, but so good.

The yeast. Foamy and frothy.

Into the mixer with flour and water.

This is the first time I haven't kneaded by hand.

Bread dough.

Off to rise in front of the chimney.

And then I got distracted by this robin. Yes. I said robin! And I was so excited, I forgot to take pics of the risen dough, rolling it out and rising it in the bread tins. Hey, it happens!

The finished product. And seconds after taking this picture, I indulged in warm bread, fresh from the oven. With butter of course. Baking bread reminds me of my mom. She would always make homemade bread on Sunday. The smell was intoxicating.

Spring Tease

Listening to the rain fall on the roof in mid-February. Doesn't get much better than that. It was warm yesterday. 49F. Warm enough to roll the windows down in the truck. Eli had his 100th day of school celebration yesterday. He picked me to be his VIP for the day. Out of everyone he could have chosen, he chose me. How honored I was. We did activities such as string 100 cheerios for a delectable necklace, make a 100 day crown filled with glitter, a 100 day sash filled with items of 10...10 stickers, 10 finger prints, 10 doodles...and so on and so on. We had a great day together. And for a bonus, when I went to pick up Gabe at Great-grandma's house, she offered to keep both the kids for another hour so I could get wood in and just sit ouside and enjoy the weather for a bit. Quietly. It was heaven.

The agenda for today. Bread-making is a must. A couple loads of glorious laundry. I promised Gabe we would make 'paper plate' masks today. Not sure what else the day holds.

Honestly

I'm just gonna come right out with it and I know people are gonna eat this up...because we all just love imperfection. My room is a disaster. It's one of the many unfinished rooms in this house. No trim. Exposed wires. No organizational areas ie: shelving. The beast of all beasts. It's not a sweet little nook of a space I'd like it to be. It's more of an ongoing organizational project -- boxes of maternity clothes, boxes of outgrown kids clothes and bitty baby clothes I want to keep for reminiscing, a laundry basket full of where-the-heck-do-I-put-this random shit, craft paraphernalia galore. Anyway, I started cleaning it today. And it's not finished - by any means. But it's a start. I am thirty-something and most certainly, thirty-something-year-olds can have very clean bedrooms - and cook - and be really, really great moms - and wives - and take pictures - and write - and document their children's lives - and have friends - and read - and love. Love a lot.

I have that wonderful feeling...like I felt in college when I procrastinated for weeks on a twenty-page paper, saved it to the night before, stayed up all night to finish it and finally, twenty minutes before my class started, triumphantly hit "print". I finally hit *print*.

Cake Anyone?

I've never made an upside-down cake. I have a ton of oranges and felt like doing something different than the regular ol' making juice or eating them 'raw'. So, here it is. An ooey, gooey creation. Haven't tried it yet but it looks delicious.

Butter and brown sugar.

Oranges on top of brown-sugary goodness. I also plumped up some dried cherries in orange juice and put them on top of the oranges.

The start of the batter.

Fluffy whipped egg whites.

Ta-Da!

And a pic of the boys. Took them snowshoeing/skiing yesterday and Eli was too tired to continue the trek home, so he hopped in the sled. I'm surprised I'm not sore today! It was brutal!