wonderful waffles

Never

in my life 

have I enjoyed waffles

quite so much.

And I've always enjoyed waffles.

But

these waffles.

These waffles are amazing.

They are almost as good leftover - warmed in the toaster.

I got the recipe from a book

that was more of a memoir than a cookbook

but it did have a recipe included with each chapter.

I'm not linking to it, 'cause I don't really recommend the book.

Just the waffle recipe.

Have I mentioned that the waffles are incredible?

Oh.my.goodness.

What?

You want me to share??

Oh, okay.

Needless to say, I tweaked it just a tad.

I should also mention

there is one tiny flaw to these waffles

which I have chosen to overlook

since I haven't manged to correct it.

We normally eat leftover waffles

straight

as in 

straight out of the fridge

or even freezer,

but these waffles taste absolutely nasty plain.

But with maple syrup?

They are divine.

Add whipped cream;

you'll think you've died and gone to heaven.

Amazingly Wonderful Waffles

½ c. warm water

1 pkg. active dry yeast (2  1/3 tsp)

2 c milk, warmed

½ c. butter, melted (I use ½ coconut oil, ½ butter)

1 TBS honey

1 tsp salt

2 c. whole wheat flour (I use soft white)

2 eggs, beaten

½ tsp baking soda

Use a large mixing bowl; the batter will rise to double. 

Put the water in mixing bowl and sprinkle in yeast.
Let stand 5 minutes or so.

Add milk, butter, honey, salt, and flour to the yeast and beat until smooth.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap or towel and let stand overnight at room temp.

Just before cooking waffles, add the eggs and baking soda and stir till well mixed. 

Batter will be quite thin.

Cook on hot waffle iron using a scant 1/3 c. per grid.

(Do not use Belgian waffle maker - use the type that makes 4 waffles)
Bake until crisp and golden (for my waffle iron it takes 4:44)    

I usually make a double batch and have plenty of leftovers;

last time I made them, I just did 1 1/2 batches

and we ate every single one.

~

I think I know what we're having for breakfast tomorrow...

picnic lunch - great weather for it!

Inspired by a text I received from Lana

with a picture of my favorite grandbaby

and the above words

just as I was pulling bread out of the oven,

I decided to take our lunch outside.

spoons make great spreaders for kids!

The cats were hoping for an invitation, too.

A baby (toddler? - adolescent?) walking stick joined us,

without bothering to wait for an invitation.

what the hey - I will let the cat join us

Eureka

I think I've found it.

Our spot.

A place we can return to often.

and know.

Silly thing is - it was there all along.

I'd e-mailed a friend in the summer

asking if there were any water-holes near here.

I wanted a place we could explore weekly.

I pictured us wading when it was hot;

skipping rocks when it was cold.

Collecting bugs and flowers and rocks and sticks.

Her husband wrote me back.

Most places he mentioned were 1/2 hour away or so;

I wanted less of a drive,

The one place closer, 

he cautioned me against going without a full-grown male.

My sister in law sent me a note today

and in it, told me to enjoy the sunshine for her, if we had any.

She lives in Latvia and it's positively dreary right now.

I was washing dishes this morning

and it looked so beautiful outside;

the sun was shining brightly

and I knew it wasn't too chilly.

I thought of Kaylana.

"What if we just go?" I wondered.

I'd thought about this little water hole several times before

but dismissed it

thinking it was just to far to head to regularly.

I called Tyler and asked him how to get there

(boy - that's a switch!)

threw some apples, crackers and cheese in  a box

added some towels - in case somebody fell in

and we were off.

The minute we stepped out of the car

I knew it was the right decision.

Actually,

I'd known it the minute we hit the highway

but it was confirmed when we arrived.

"Just listen to that water, Mom!" said Jeremiah,

"It's not all that deep but it sounds like a waterfall."

perfect

I feel better today than I've felt in a long time.

If I've thought it once,

I've thought it fifty times

and said it quite a few,

"If I could just get to the ocean, I'll be okay."

Maybe I don't need the ocean

maybe just a little water-hole will do.

And to think

it was there all the time.

lately

1.

Lexi didn't ask to nurse today.

Which is odd

considering yesterday

she asked more than usual

and at one point was pulling on my shirt

begging, "Please! Please! Please!!" 

2.

It's been a really long week.

I'm not entirely sure why, even.

3.

The boys are still loving TKD!

They've all earned at least two stripes for their belts.

4.

I really want to learn to knit.

Or maybe

I just want to be able to knit.

5.

I don't know when I would knit, if I could.

I haven't managed to squeeze in any sewing in quite some time.

My pathetic attempts at crochet have fallen by the wayside.

Fortunately

Roselle taught Lana to crochet.  :-)

6.

We bought a bed for the girls from Overstock;

Eventually

the playroom will be their bedroom.

Have you ever ordered a queen-size bed on-line before??

They had that thing shrink-wrapped, folded and rolled up.

I was just sure they'd sent us the wrong size!

7.

Tony got a letter from UAFS today.

They want his Fall transcript before they'll accept him.

Funny thing is

the admissions guy we talked to said no one would be applying

for the prestigious scholarships till mid-December at the earliest

because they wouldn't have their 7th semester transcripts yet.

I'm really liking Seven Quick Takes lately; 

seems I don't have time for much else these days.

awww

I hope you don't mind, Honey....

Tyler got a sweet note from a very dear friend today.

It's things like this 

that help you make it

one

more

day

when the going is rough.

"Although I do miss getting to be around you,

 to paraphrase (adulterate?)scripture, 

"If you've seen the Son, you've seen the Father." 

Tony

 is

growing 

into a wonderful copy of you."

~

Awwww

works for me!

As Brandon was taking out the dreaded trash 

a few weeks ago

he said, "I think this is the best thing we've ever done!"

Now that's something you don't hear every day.

(from a twelve year old - especially!)

A year or two ago

- I forget exactly how long it was -

I moved our giant roll of Member's Mark trash bags

to the bottom of the trash can.

I was tired of having to remind boys to put in a new bag

e v e r y

time

they took out the trash.

They'd pull the full bag out

tie it and take it outside

and then disappear,

forgetting to come back

grab a fresh bag out of the cabinet

and re-line the can.

Now they take the full bag out

put a new one in

('cause it's just right there!)

tie the bag

and they're on their way.

Works for me!!

humph

So

 I'm ready to put the Beastie down for her nap.

She's still asking to nurse

so we start out with tears

and kicking.

I 

loudly

began a rousing rendition of 

Rockin' Years

- chorus only; it's all I know -

figuring Lex' will stop crying and join in;

that's what she usually does.

(You have to wonder how I come up with these routines.)

Instead of singing along with me, though,

she put her fingers on my lips.

"Quiet!"

Dolly Parton, I am not.

the very last last time

Well.

That's that.

We're done.

Finished.

Lexi had her last nurse Tuesday morning

at 8:00.

It followed her second-to-last nursing

which was Sunday night around 10.

She's still asking to nurse occasionally

but she doesn't treat me like a deaf imbecile anymore 

when I gently tell her, "No, Momma doesn't have much milk left."

She just gets angry.

Angry

I can handle.

If she got sad

well

that would just undo me.

I thought I was fine with it.

After I realized I could actually drink one now,

I even bought a fancy Java beverage at Sonic this morning

where I took Ton' for a treat 

after we dropped off his application package at UAFS

(before remembering
we are only supposed to be drinking H20 right now 

in order to raise money for a well.
Since we pretty much always only drink water

it's a non-issue. Except this one time....sigh)

anyways.

I was fine with it

until I started writing this post.

And it hit me.

Tuesday

was the very last time

I'll have a last time

of nursing.

And it passed without fanfare.

Like so many 'growing up's do.

It's really stupid that I'm crying right now

'cause I don't even like nursing all that much.

But I do like loving my babies

and now

I have one less way to love her.

Lex' did so love to nurse!

kids cook 1 2 3

What a fun book!

It caught my eye as I was leaving the library

so I had to run back and check it out, too.
It's filled with
- you guessed it -
recipes that use only three ingredients!

It's not really for little kids though;

they'll need some help.

It just so happens
that we have lots of help in this house.
Josiah and Brandon picked out a few recipes
to make for lunch.

Delicious!

seven quick takes - just life edition

1.

Well. 

I have determined that ice and cold water in the door

are a bit over-rated.

We’ve had wet carpet by the fridge since Sunday, noonish.

2.

Poor poor Papa!
He isn’t used to staying up late

and getting up during the night with The Beastie.

She is doing a lot better though

and he’s got her going to bed much earlier, around 11:30.

He’s looking forward to the time change.

3.

Lexi came into bed with me this morning.

I was so happy to snuggle up with my wild-haired sweetie!

4.

Boys are loving Taekwondo!

They got their uniforms Tuesday;

The look so cute!

‘Specially Josiah!

5.

Speaking of wild haired sweeties and happy…

Last night when I nursed her

(we’re down to 3 times a day now)

She smiled so big and clapped when I pulled out the boob.

When we switched sides

She smiled even bigger (if that were possible)

clapped again

and said, “Happy.”

6.

In an effort to create even the slightest bit of margin in the house,

we’ve been playing musical chairs with the furniture.

And cleaning everything top to bottom.

And I do mean everything.

We started with the boys' closet

which has been a black hole since we moved in.

Consequently

most of the house is a total wreck right now.

7.

It’s pretty stinkin’ hard to create margin

with 8 people living

in a 975 sq ft house.

Visit Jen for more quick takes. Thanks, Jennifer, for hosting!

test prep tools

This may seem an odd thing to post about,

but these ACT resources have served us well

three times now.

I want to be able to find the titles

in 4 or 5 years when we need them again.

It's a well known fact 

that my brain is no place to store important info,

so I figured the ole blog is the vault of choice.

the weapons of choice

happy birthday, Sam!

I was helping Tyler prepare his lesson for Riverwalk

and there

on the sidebar 

(I never look at sidebars!)

was Sam.

Today 

is his birthday;

he's 17.

Only one more year and he's out of chances.

It about broke my heart to think of a young man

near my Tony's age

being to old to sponsor.

Growing up

not knowing that somebody cared enough to choose him.

But you know what?

I care.

We choose him.

I told Tyler we could give up our 'bill-pay dinner'.

He reminded me
that we'll have opportunities to give to orphanages in Africa.

I told him we'd just find something else to give up.

You think Down's babies are close to my heart?
Starving African babies very nearly do me in.

~

Sam, happy birthday.

I hope this is your best year yet!

You are valuable.

You are beautiful.

You are chosen.

You are loved.

you gotta watch this

It's no secret there's a big ole soft spot in my heart

for those with Down Syndrome.

Many thanks to my sweet sister-in-law

for sending this fantastic story my way.

(go ahead, click the link right now; I'll wait. Oh, turn your sound up!)

I love everything about this video,

from the way the opposing team 'tried' to tackle him

and the way Ike's team supported him

to his little victory dance at the end.

He and his family must have felt so loved that night!

Speaking of DS

ya'll are keeping up with Nella, right??

Oh!

She is such a doll!

And doing so well, too!!

favorite fall treat

like a cool spring

For the first time in our lives

we have water - cold clean refreshing water

at our fingertips.

You shoulda seen us dancing around. 

or - maybe not....

It makes me think 

of all the people without even remotely decent water to drink.

I wish I could remember to be more grateful for everything I have!

the week in review - ish

1.

The boys started Taekwondo yesterday.

Of course it goes without saying,

they love it!

2.

As I was filling out their information cards (for Taekwaondo)

I looked up and saw my very dearest girlfriend,

the one who knows pretty much all my ugly

and loves me anyways.

Her boys were going to start the class, too!

So we got to catch up a bit, which was a nice treat.

3.

Finally admitted that our freezer was dead.

Instead of a freezer to replace it, though,

we bought a brand new almost big side by side fridge.

Which meant moving the old fridge

(which now looks really junky...)

back into the kitchen.

It's so weird having a fridge in my kitchen again.

4.

I am officially an old lady.

I covered my flowers with sheets last night

to protect them from the potential freeze.

My porch thermometer apparently read 32 this morning;

I wasn't up that early, so I can't say for sure.

Maybe the kids were just trying make me feel better

about

being an old lady now?

5.

It turns out

That the guy we bought the fridge from

is a budget-conscious builder.

And he is happy to share his tips and subs with us.

He also took us on a tour of his latest house

which he built for $50 a sq. ft.

Which is what we hope to do

(if we build)

and everybody says can't be done....

6.

The big new of the week is

Lexi has gone without momma during the night
for the past two nights.

Wednesday

I was just exhausted all day

after getting up 30 plus times with Lexi the night before.

Poor girl came down with a cold and was having a miserable time.

I was so tired, I wasn't sure I could make it to her 1 a.m. sleeptime

and thought I'd just try to put her to bed early around 11:30.

Lets just leave it at things didn't go well

and I behaved badly

and Daddy woke up and took over.

7.

I still am completely exhausted

and my under-eye bags are bigger than ever.

Of course, 

just 'cause I'm not tending to Lex' during the night

doesn't mean I'm sleeping perfectly.

And even if I were

I suppose it takes more than 2 nights 

to make up for over 7 years of chronic sleep deprivation.

But maybe the end is in sight.

Speaking of the end being in sight,
somebody needs a diaper change...

for more seven quick takes, visit Jen

udderly delighted

I was lying on the bed, shirtless.

When the caladryl on my back was dry,

I sat up to re-dress.

Lexi took one look at me

and laughed delightedly.

"Two!"
 she shouted.
 "Nurse!"

poison ivy

I've got it.

All over my back.

(through 2 shirts ??)

I'd like to say it was worth it

'cause I got the perfect shot.

But

I didn't.

And

it wasn't.

taken walking back from the dam
blissfully unaware that I'd be an itchy mess in mere days

keepin' me humble

So.

I wore my hair up in a clippy today.

Which really is nothing new.

Since it'd been straightened, it actually looked almost cute.

Which isn't the norm.

Anyways.

I was out & about

and my clippy felt like it was slipping out

so I took it out

re-grabbed my hair

gave it a twist and stuck the clip back in

never giving it a second thought.

While at Hancock's

I saw a friend I hadn't seen in a year

Becky

the most put together lady I know.

I pretty sure Becky looks fabulous cleaning her toilets.

We chatted; I left.

I happened to look in a mirror at my next stop.

Ya'll!

My hair was sticking straight up out of that clippy

in the back of my head.

Not a cool, funky straight up

just a 

'dang girl, you look in a mirror today?'

sticking straight up.

Sheesh!

reading lessons

I spend between 45 and 60 minutes a day 

doing reading lessons.

Jeremiah really struggled last year

so we didn't push it.

Consequently he's still learning to read.

I'd decided long ago that I was okay with my kids being late readers.

That's one of the beauties of home schooling;

if a child isn't ready - we can wait

and learning can be much less stressful.

We use the book Teach Your Childto Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

Honestly

I don't like the program.

I use it, because, for some reason

it works.

I tried to use my own 'program' based on 

Mommy, Teach me to Read

and it just wasn't clicking.

When I pulled out -groaning all the while - 100 Lessons

things starting clicking.

Slowly

but clicking all the same.

Anyways.

None of that is my point.

What I sat down to say is - I've added a small component

to an already effective program 

and it has really helped.

Flashcards.

When we begin a lesson

we run through the flashcards

(letters written just like the stupid book has them)

of all the sounds Jeremiah has been introduced to.

This seems to help us move through the lessons more quickly.

The real bonus I've noticed is with the younger ones.

They get the flashcard as soon as it's been added for Jeremiah

but it's 2 - 4 weeks before Josiah and Lily will be

introduced to the sound in our reading book.

(Jeremiah is about 12 lessons ahead of Josiah

who is about 10-12 lessons ahead of Lily)

so that

by the time they reach a new sound in their book

they are already quite familiar with it.

Lexi even gets in on the action

and calls out the sounds she can remember

'eeee' being her favorite.

Speaking of The Beastie,

 she no longer hates homeschooling - which is a huge blessing!

And

speaking of reading lessons

I've got a little girl waiting on the couch for hers

right now.

hi, I'm Mrs. Peters

...Tired

to the very bone

Mrs. Peters groaned a groan...

from Seven Silly Eaters

that was...unexpected

I am not Jeremiah's favorite person in the world.

Never have been - even as a tiny baby he preferred Papa

(which I thought was so unfair!
I  was the one nursing him, for goodness sake!)

I'm really fine with it now, though.

I think boys should prefer their dad,

just not 3 month old boys....

Jeremiah also despises shopping.

with a passion.

So when he kept telling me,
 "This is the best time I've ever had with you!"

with a huge grin on his round little face

I was more than a little surprised.

We were clothes shopping!

I decided to make an evening of it and take him to dinner, too.

Of course, he chose Marketplace Grill.

Ton' was working so we got good service :-)

(Ton' also talked me into letting the boy have a Sprite, 
which was a huge mistake)

I don't know when the last time was

that I took just Jeremiah somewhere.

He prefers to stay home; Josiah always wants to go.

Consequently, Josiah gets time alone with Momma fairly often.

I have a feeling, though,

 that maybe

now that he knows it's kinda fun

he might want to go shopping with me more often.

Then again, he might not..

He'd tried on 5 things - 3 of which didn't come close to fitting

and he told me, "Well, now you know what size I need

 so you can just go by yourself to buy it for me next time."

mmhmm.

Lest you think he forgot all about his deep love for his papa

while spending an evening out with me - never fear.

He wanted to stop at the car wash on the way home

so we could wash Daddy's car for him as a surprise.

That boy does love his Papa!!

and, Jeremiah - Momma loves you!

behind the lens

We don't usually participate in co-op.

Naps

take priority.

This time around, though, at the last minute 

Lana stepped up to be an assistant teacher for a crochet class

so she said she'd be the 'responsible adult'

 if Brandon and Jeremiah wanted to take any classes.

(Thanks, Lan!!)

Needless to say, Jeremiah dearly loves his classes!

Brandon wouldn't let you know if he dearly loved anything

(except his sisters - he's not a bit shy about that!)

but he is enjoying both his 'weapons of warfare' class

 and the photography class he's taking.

These are some of the photos he's turning in to his class teacher.

He still has a few assignments left - people, transportation, and tools.

Some are taken with his camera - a 5 megapixel Panasonic Lumix

and some with my new baby.

As you can clearly see - the boy's got potential!

Action

Animals

Architecture

Creative Lighting

Facial Expressions

Food

Landscape

another Landscape - 'cause he liked it so much, too :-)

Still Life 

Texture
(some of his classmates thought this looked like it'd been taken by a  professional)

 ~

Pretty sweet, huh?!
Great Job, Bud!
 Keep up the good work!!

my best day

Tyler had hoped to take Thursday off from work last week

but it didn't work out - so he took Tuesday off, instead.

Everyone slept in

and I made the most delicious waffles for breakfast.

Seriously ~ they were amazing,

still crispy even after warming in the oven.

I  need to make them again soon.

oh - back to my day.

After
 the scrumptious breakfast

I nursed Lex' - it would be her first time to go over 5 hours
 without momma.

And then we left for the day.

Just Tyler and I .

All by our lonesomes.

We went to Rogers and spent a lovely quiet day together

lazily shopping and eating and talking

and not being interrupted by whining or crying

or anything, for that matter,

except a welcomed text
telling us things at the house were going really well.

If I would've gotten a free birthday dessert

the day would have been just perfect.

As it is

it was pretty darn close.

~

Thanks, Love for giving me just the thing I needed this year.

I love you and am so blessed to be yours.

surprise

The boys went waayy overboard for my birthday!

I sorta figured they'd ordered something camera-related

but I was shocked to find a lens

when I opened my present!!

I'm scared of it

but they've been messing with it a bit.

hubba hubba

this wasn't with the new lens - but Brandon took it and I love it!!

this was taken by the old dog run (clear on the other side of our property)

and this - is one of my faves!

thanks, Guys!!! I love you all!