Kid Fun

Yesterday, some of my friends from my Novell days came over for lunch and to let the kiddos play.  Here is a video of MJ and Cannon riding on the zebra together, and no it's not a two-seater.  ;).   I was waiting for MJ's shirt to come out of the dryer which is why she is a little immodest! 

Lauren, I hope you can save this video- sorry it's sideways!

Long awaited pictures

I know you guys have waited on edge for these pictures... drum roll please... Our halloween costumes!  Dog the Bounty Hunter and his wife Beth.  Am I aware that it's December 1st and everyone else in the world has posted their Halloween pictures?  Yes.  Do I feel bad about posting these late?  No way.  I'm not sure how I feel about Adam's G-less halloween costume, but oh well, the sin be upon his head.  And yes, I have added those Cheetah print capris to my wardrobe... they're HOT!
Mimi (my mom) with our little witch, Madeline.  Ok, her costume was basically just an excuse for me to make a tutu, every mother's dream.
MJ at school with Daddy watching the costume parade.
A smock I made for Madeline.
The back.

Best White Bread Recipe

This is Julia Child's White Bread Recipe, and it is the best I have found so far ( I have made it 4 times, and every time has been a success) and so easy to memorize.  

2 1/2 cups water

1 T yeast

1 T sugar

7 cups flour

1 T salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1.  Mix 1/2 cup warm water with sugar and yeast until it proofs.

2.  mix the yeast mixture, plus the remaining water and 3 1/2 cups of flour and salt.

3.  Add a couple more cups of flour,

4.  Add butter

5.  Add as much more flour as you can.

6.  Turn out to knead.

7.  Knead for approx. 15 min.

8.  Let rise twice,

9.  Bake at 375 for 35-45 min.  

Eat while hot with butter and fresh jam!  It is soooo good.  The next time I make it I will try it with oil to see how it turns out, but the butter does add this great rich buttery flavor that is great!  For more info: go here.

Gap commercial with Jon Heder

I love Jon's new commercial, totally made me laugh out loud.  Merry Christmas!

Help! Shoes!

Whenever I see something great onsale online, I freak out and can't make decisions (which I don't do well anyway... but that's another posting)  because I think they're going to run out of stock, or I'm going to miss the deadline or something... so I need some help!  First let me say, I've been cleaning up lots of puke for the last week -'nuff said- which is why I"ve been delinquent on my blog- yes, Rachel, I'll post our Halloween pics soon...probably in December.... so, on to more important matters: which shoes do you like for Madeline?  I love the Owls and they're on sale for $20!!  Excellent!  But, they aren't completely closed at the top which is what I wanted for winter... see what I'm saying?  So I love these boots from See Kai Run as well, but they're double the price!  And for someone who just bought her daughter's Christmas present--Spin and Bounce Zebra for less than 1/2 this morning, I'm not inclined to pay double for anything... but with shoes I will pay a little more because I think it's important for little developing feet to have good shoes..  What do you think?

A Good Turn...

I periodically try and ask myself, "What am I doing to better humanity?"  Regular answers excluded like: raising kids, serving in church, etc.  This semester it's been hard to find volunteer efforts that fit my lifestyle: i.e. I can't dedicate a 3 hour block every week to teaching English, for example (not that I have done that before).  But  I did come across one that really fits the bill right now.  Deseret Industries has a humanitarian element to it.  They make humanitarian kits and send them all over the world.  For their newborn kits, they need flannel blankets.  45 inches by 45 inches, with a 10 inch square sewn in the middle.  

  My friend actually went to Humanitarian Square in Salt Lake and watched the video (that I refuse to see until I've at least donated some blankets, because I know I will just bawl my head off seeing all those poor babies) she said that they show video of babies being brought home wrapped in newspaper in some places of the world that are too poor to have blankets to wrap their babies in.  That is inconceivable to me.  So, if you have a spare afternoon and have some extra flannel, and want to do something for the world, dust off that sewing machine, and let's make some blankets!

Madeline

You can't see the top of this hat, but it's a PUMPKIN!  How appropriate!  Madeline always knows how to dress in season!
She LOVES this bike seat!  And she gives me reassuring pats on the 'rear' as I'm biking up the steep hill that's in between our house and the park.  You can't see her helmet in this pic either, but it's got Bees on it--cute!!
Mommy and MJ (in her pig pj's) and baby doing some yoga; unfortunately the baby doll doesn't really get it.

Madeline is into imitating everything we do.  Here you can see the intrigue on her face while flossing with daddy.  This must be a hard concept for little ones to grasp.  'Why do you pull string in between 4 teeth?' she must be wondering.

 She also likes doing yoga with me.  It makes me laugh.  She just puts her head down on the floor and stays there!  That is the same position she has adopted when she is sad and cries.  I don't get the connection, but it's pretty darn cute.