Finally, a bread recipe that really works!

Ever make a bread recipe and it says to knead it and you can't get the dough off your fingers? So then you add 3 more cups of flour? That has happened to us so many times that I can't even count them all. Well, finally, I found a recipe that was just right! To celebrate this momentous occasion, I am posting it here for everyone to enjoy. And another bonus is that you can make these delicious pretzels in less than an hour—virtually no rising time at all! (Courtesy of the Sugarcreek, Ohio Amish community.)

Soft pretzels
4 c. warm water, divided
2 T. yeast
4 T. brown sugar
1/4 c. oil
6.5 c. flour
4 t. baking soda
cooking spray

1. Dissolve the yeast in 2 cups of warm water. Grease a baking sheet; set aside.
2. Beat sugar, oil, and yeast mixture with several cups of flour. Knead in remaining flour; let rise for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together baking soda and remaining 2 cups of water in a shallow bowl.
   
3. Cut dough off with pizza cutter. Roll each piece 18" long and shape as a pretzel.
4. Dip into soda water and place on greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with pretzel salt. Let rise a few minutes.
5. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Makes approximately 24 pretzels.

Happy 2-month birthday, Sweet P.

The biggest loser

Last night we went to some friends' home for dinner. While there, the challenge went up to compete against one another as couples in a "biggest loser" contest. (We don't have much knowledge of how they do it on the popular TV series, but we do own bathroom scales!) So this morning, Tyler and I did our first official weigh-in. I won't embarrass either of us by broadcasting our starting weights. I won't embarrass us by posting shocking bathing suit pictures either. Let the competition begin!

The pants are coming off
Yesterday during afternoon nap time, E. came out of the bedroom holding S.'s diaper. And not just any plain ol' diaper—one filled with poo. He informed me that S. took off her pants and her diaper. (I think she is almost ready for potty training! Yah!) I walked in and sure enough, she was standing there in just her turtleneck and socks. Luckily, no stray poo was strewn around the room or wiped on the walls.

While cleaning S. up and re-clothing her, E. stood by to talk. Without even making a move, his pants fell down straight to his ankles. He looked down, then looked up at me smiling and said, "My pants just fell off." I think it may be time to start investing in suspenders for both of them.

Snow storm
We are supposedly in the middle of a winter storm watch right now. It has been snowing for almost 4 hours and we still only have 1-2 inches. They are projecting 8 inches by tomorrow night. I talked to one of my friends who grew up in Chicago and now lives here, so she understood my confusion when things started canceling today 6 hours before the storm was even supposed to hit. Don't misunderstand me, I don't miss Chicago winters. But when the snow plows show up to clear the roads by us the day after the snow has stopped, I just have to wonder if there are that many roads to plow or that few snow plows to do the plowing. My next thought is then one of horror: with this current storm they might not get us plowed out until Friday! Good thing we have enough food to last us through the weekend.

A day at the mall

The kids and I went to the mall yesterday. I had some tennis shoes to return and I wanted to take them to the play area. We have been avoiding public places pretty heavily since P.'s RSV scare, but she has been doing great so I thought a day out would be good for all of us. I also found a super cute sweater and a pair of jeans that actually fit me (and aren't maternity pants!). Better yet, they were buy 1 get 1 free at JCP. The downside? The sweater I tried on had a snag so I grabbed another one just like it ... or so I thought. I got home and showed Tyler, except this new sweater no longer fit me and the buttons were different. I was so totally bummed because it took me a long time to find this sweater in my size among all of the clearance racks and I even took off all of my layers in the middle of store to try it on. I guess shopping with three kids does something to your concentration! Though I have a full day of cleaning planned for today (guests are coming over tomorrow for lunch), the kids and I may be heading back to the mall for a "quick" exchange!

Wanna play?
I was struck yesterday with how interesting my son's interactions are with other boys his age. Another 4-5 year old showed up at the mall play area and they didn't really start playing with one another right away. Instead, they would sort of walk around one another and each do little "tricks" on the playground equipment, watching out of the corner of their eyes to see what the other one was doing. I was laughing at how they just had the exact same personality. E. is shy at first and then pours the attention on. I tease him because he never thinks to ask the other children what their names are either. This other boy was the same. Then came the clincher that my son has a twin—I overheard the other little boy saying "Are you in school? I am." And the two minutes later, E. says, "Do you have a Leapster? I do." Hmm, I wonder who ended up winning the intellect/possessions contest.

8 weeks old
Thursday, P. turned 8 weeks old. She is so precious. I love watching her smile and hearing her coo. It is just uncanny how much she looks like E. While we were getting ready to go to the mall, I saw E. entertaining P. while she was in her swing. She was smiling and talking back to him. I busted the camera out and she almost became a deer in the headlights, but I thought I would post it here anyway. E. is wonderful with her, just like he was with S. With S., he would put a blanket on like it was a cape and run through the room acting like a superhero. S. always thought it was hilarious and would just laugh and laugh. E. is such a great son and brother. I am really proud of the little man he is becoming. I never thought I would say that during his "terrible 3s"! Enjoy the cute video!

Nails, chili, and birthdays

Our weekend was really busy and really fun, but now that Monday is here our whole family is pretty tired. I did make it out Friday night after working over all week to get off early. It ended up being even more fun as we had dinner with friends in celebration of a birthday, too. After the dinner, the guys and girls split. The girls did pedicures and watched a chick flick while the guys went out to see a movie at the theater. It was really relaxing. I have never had a full pedicure done before, and even though I didn't have it done at a nail salon (my friend Rebecca did it), it was great! I still can't believe she touched my feet—they are pretty beat up and nasty; what a servant. Before and after pics of my feet would totally have been blog-worthy. Lucky for you, I didn't have the foresight to take my camera along. =)

AWANA Chili Cook Off
On Saturday, I had the privilege of being a judge at the annual AWANA chili cook off at our church. AWANA (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed) is a club that E. is in. They meet once a week and memorize Scripture, learn about the Bible, play games, sing, and eat treats. He loves it. One of these days I will post a picture of him in the "Cubbies uniform" that he wears there every week.

The chili cook off is a fundraiser they have every year to support the AWANA program. From what I hear, normally they have 30+ pots of chili entered into the contest. Since I was a judge and a lactating mother, I was thankful that this year there were only 22 pots to taste. The five judges had to try each chili and score it. The top six chilis were served to us again for the final winners to be determined. The winning chili was really, really good. It actually had steak in it and was sort of barbeque-ish. Sounds odd, but it was good. (There were actually 2-3 chilis with steak—which surprised me —and even one made with deer meat. The deer meat chili got 5th place this year and won the contest last year. There you go, Uncle Ron; you need to start cooking up that deer you recently got!)

After the chili contest, we hung out at our friends' photography studio for a January birthday party. They had a Wii set up, games, and lots of food. We hung out there until S. had a meltdown. It was bound to happen. She had her first ever tootsie roll at the cook off and was really hyped up. At one point she was even doing a rendition of "The Worm" on the floor. (Does anyone remember that breakdancing move? I wish I could have gotten a video of it!) Well, when the tootsie wore off, it was a definite crash landing for my little tootsie. She won't be having candy again any time soon.

Sunday was just as busy with a ton of face time with more friends. We have been getting to know two couples really well here and it has been nice to get to hang out with them both so much this weekend. I am even contemplating doing a blog post on each of them—a sort of "meet the friends" type of post. So stay tuned for more on them!

My little girl's first haircut

Well, we did it! We got S.'s haircut! Gone—for now—are the days of long ponytails. Also gone—for now—are the days of Cousin It! Her little cut wasn't exactly what I wanted, but is a haircut ever exactly how you pictured it turning out? She did a great job though. She sat really still and didn't even try to put her fingers in her mouth. It only took the stylist five minutes and she was done! At first I was a little sad that it was cut, but getting her out of bed this morning and actually seeing her beautiful eyes made it all worth it.








Here is the humorous/horrifying part. (First, I need to state a fact: I don't carry cash. Out of the 365 days in the year, I may have cash on me a total of 10-15 days. My mode of operation is to always deposit it in our checking account because I like knowing how much spending money we have and having it all in one place is the easiest way to know. The second—and equally important—reason is that when I have cash I will quickly spend it . $1 here, $3 there ... and soon I have spent oodles of money!) Ok, so on with the story. This was our first time at this salon. After the haircut, I walk to the register to pay and there is a small sign taped to the side that reads similarly to, "Our stylists cannot accept gratuity on credit/debit cards." Oh no. I instantly knew that I didn't have any cash and I had unloaded my purse into the diaper bag for this trip but did not transfer the checkbook. So after many apologies where I felt like the worst customer in the world, I offered up the one thing of value that I had from my purse: a free Redbox movie rental coupon. I felt so ridiculous, but I assumed that he watched movies and it was better than nothing, right? I don't think we will ever revisit this salon of shame!

So what now? Well, my next chat with my sister-in-law (the stylist) will be about the proper protocol for this type of situation. Hopefully I will never be in that position again, but it may happen unexpectedly because I don't plan on changing my zero-cash habits. Next time I go into a salon or similar establishment, I will have to look for "the sign" BEFORE getting any service. Either that or carry a wallet full of Redbox coupons!

Firsts

E. had a new first this past weekend (for St. Louis at least!). One of his new friends—R.—came to our house for a sleep over. (I tried to capture a photo the morning after but one of the boys refused to look at the camera ... he may be destined for a life of fame, fortune, and being chased by the paparazzi!) We had pizza and brownies and movies, but all they really wanted to do was play with Hot Wheels. Yeah, the whole time. Kung Fu Panda? No, thanks. Peter Pan? No, thanks. Not that I minded that they didn't want to watch a video; I just found it very, very odd. We did play four or five hands of UNO with the boys (E. got UNO Spin for Christmas), so that was a good change of pace from the cars zooming around. We are going to try and have another sleep over again soon. This time complete with a tent and sleeping bags set up in the living room. That was originally on the agenda, but we couldn't get to our camping gear amidst the vast amount of Christmas decor standing in our way that still needs to make its way back into hibernation. I suppose it all worked out to my personal benefit though ... putting away Hot Wheels is much easier than a tent!

S. is about to have a "first" of her own as well. I am finally breaking down and taking her to a salon to get her first haircut. She still isn't too enthused about the cute little pigtails or headbands she gets to wear, and she is still eating her glittery barrettes, which all means that she walks around the house looking like Cousin It most of the time (see glamourous photo, left). Be on the lookout for future photos of her transformation and new ability to actually see!

Only 17 more to go!
I had my 6-wk checkup at the OB this morning. It was surprisingly uneventful; I was in the examination room less than 10 minutes. They didn't even weigh me, and I had been holding off at home just for an official reading at this momentous event! So, I did the awful deed on our own scale. I was quite surprised at the outcome, especially considering that I thoroughly enjoyed everyone's holiday fare and ate approximately 31 pounds of chocolate during the month of December alone (I at least had a pound a day ... most of that in the form of fudge!). And that is on top of gaining 45–50 pounds during the pregnancy. Yes, 2008 was my "fattest" year ever. So my new goal of getting back to pre-birth weight began today and it is going to take some serious detox of my system. To start, I have decided to eradicate all of the chocolate from the house by eating it all—today. (Ever done that before? I have, and I can definitely see where this is heading.) I guess the effort for weight loss will have to officially start tomorrow instead!

My so-called social life
We have a really busy weekend coming up and I am trying to work extra hours so that I can participate in all of the happenings. A couple of friends and I are planning on doing something fun together Friday night and I really want to go. The difficulty is that I work until 9:30 pm on Friday nights. So my task for this week is to try to work extra time every day so that I could accrue enough hours to be off by 6:00 pm on Friday. How am I doing so far? Well, I am actually behind where I should normally be because of my OB appointment this morning. Sigh. However, I am still determined to try and make it! (How often do I get to get out of the house without the kids because of a pre-planned event like this?!? I won't answer that question—it is quite pathetic!)

Why I have E.S.P.

E.S.P. ... nope, I am not referring to extrasensory perception but rather the abbreviation for my kiddos' names. Throughout my blog, I decided to abbreviate the kids' names for additional safety and security. I didn't actually fill out my profile giving specific details on our location and my blog is not searchable, but I have seen enough news to know that people are crazy and may show up at E.'s school someday saying "I am a friend of your mommy's and I am supposed to take you home from school. Look, your mommy even gave me a picture of you so that I could pick you up." Call me paranoid and I will tell you that you are right. Call me crazy and I will tell you, no, it is to keep the crazies away! =) I love my kids and want to live without any regrets about their safety. I try to get away from the million "what ifs" that could happen, but I think I inherited this particular endearing paranoia from my dad's side of the family. Though mom has a pretty strong dose of it too!

Back to work
Well, my maternity leave is officially over tomorrow morning at 6 AM. I am pretty bummed, though I think I am ready to jump back into the crazy schedule working brings. My husband has been awesome at doing all of the outside-of-home things for our family, like going to the grocery stores, WalMart, etc, etc, etc. It gives us much more family time together if I do the errands while I am home with the kids by myself, but I am still not certain how I want to tackle it. I mean, do I use two carts at the stores—one for each girl? Or do I just pile groceries on top of P. when I run out of room around her car seat? "Here honey, hold the hamburger, will ya?" I am definitely not adventurous enough to let S. walk through a store just yet. Neither she nor I would do much walking! It would be like the sprint to checkout! The best cart I have seen to-date for moms with a lot of kids have a built-in seat for a baby by the cart's handle and two toddler seats behind it so that the tots are sandwiched between the baby and the food. It is quite impressive. However, I am reluctant to try taking one of those things through the store. It is such a big cart that I think going down an aisle would be like trying to turn a Mack truck onto a railroad track. Not only would I wipe out the people beside us, but I could very likely take out every display from the door to the register! Maybe letting S. walk would be the better alternative ...

P.S.
The laundry is officially done—two days ahead of my estimation, too!

Where are all my clean clothes?

Life with three kids is proving to be interesting. Especially when two of them can't tell me what they want and instead resort to crying, grunting, pointing, or all out screaming in frustration. My one goal today was to finish the laundry. I was doing pretty good, especially considering how much dirty laundry we have (mainly from those two communication-challenged kids). Then S. woke up from her afternoon nap. Those nicely folded loads on my bed became the new trampoline in the house. I didn't know whether to cry, grunt, point wildly, or all out scream in frustration. You know, resort to her techniques. Instead, I picked her up, took her out the room, shut the door behind us, and tried to block it from my memory. I mean, she is just so cute; how can she terrorize my home so joyously?!? Can't she recognize the severe agony she puts me through?!? BUT there is hope! Despite the late hour and number of loads left to make it through the washer/dryer, S. is now in bed and the extent of her destructive path will end at the bars of her crib. I love cribs. Does anyone know where I can get one for a twin bed? ;)

Epidural, please
P. had her 1 month appointment today. She was in the 25th percentile across the board. I was shocked and so proud of her! Not only was she born bigger than her siblings, but she is continuing to gain and remain bigger than them. (Both E. and S. barely ever made it out of the 10th percentile. Actually, I think they are still somewhere in that ballpark. We are currently waiting for E. to someday hit the big 4-0 in weight!) Yesterday at church I was talking with a mom that had a little boy one month before P. was born. He was gigantic in comparison; really, he was big. Then she reminded me that he was 9 lbs 4 oz when he was born. Yikes—I can't even imagine birthing P. at this point due to her size, much less if she weighed 10 more ounces! One word for moms who have big babies: epidural.

Is that a T-rex in your kitchen?
E. and daddy made a new "centerpiece" for our kitchen's window a couple of days ago. E. got the kit for Christmas and was really eager to put it together. It turned out pretty cool and I was surprised how large it is. I am not sure how long he is going to be allowed to live in the kitchen though, staring over our fruit bowl. I saved the box, so I have a feeling that he will be coming in and out of extinction. A really good rainy day activity—like a 3D puzzle for kids!

New year, new happenings

Wow, 2009

I remember back in late elementary thinking that the year 2000 just seemed too futuristic to ever really seem real. And now, here we are in 2009. It still seems too futuristic to be real. Interestingly, bringing in the year 2000 and this new year were drastically different. Probably a very good thing, although I hate to admit that I went to bed at 11 PM.

And with a new year there are always new year resolutions, right? I never was one to have resolutions; most likely because I didn't want to set myself up for defeat knowing that I could never meet them. However, maybe it is all of the changes during the past year but I decided to set some goals. (Of course, goals are different than resolutions. Don't ask me how ... just work with me here.) I set some family goals, personal goals, and general learning goals for the kids. Here is a sampling:

1. [Personal] Become a blogger
2. [Personal] Try "bimonthly baking"
3. [Family] Make healthier eating decisions
4. [E.] Learn to tie shoes
5. [S.] Learn colors and numbers
   

#1 -- check. So far so good. Now, just check back in with us in December!

Christmas madness

Tyler and I decided to celebrate the holiday at home with the kids this year. This was the very first Christmas we have spent at home since we have been married! The overwhelming positive aspect was that it was really great to have devoted time as a family. We spent both Christmas Eve and Day together at home. The negative aspect was slamming visits to three families across Ohio and Kentucky in 4 days. We drove 1200 miles /20+ hours with three kids and a dog ... I think we may have been nuts. Here are some photo highlights!

E., P., and S. on Christmas morning.S. (18 months old)E. (5 years old)E. opening his new scooter.P. (3.5 weeks old) and I; she had some help opening her gifts. =)An amazing feat: all of the great-grandchildren of Tyler's maternal grandparents sitting still for a picture AND facing the cameras! The newborn on the right is my sister-in-law's little girl.The three newborns (with mommies) on my dad's side of the family—P. and I, Jen (Jason's wife) and G., and Earlene (Andy's wife) and M.My mom with E. and my nephew C. (Tracey's son).E. opening a gift at my mom and dad's house. Yes! A Batman cave!Opening gifts is hard work—S. decided to take a break.S. immediately started getting use out of her new potty ... once she was convinced it wasn't a hat, of course!Papa Sparks with P. and E.