So, back to my grain mill.....

I got a grain mill after taking the nutrition classes from Amanda. I've milled flour exactly twice. First time was to make whole wheat brownies (turned out about 1/4"thick and hard) bricks, then today to make whole wheat chocolate chip cookies. This time I used soft wheat berries instead. They are yummy, but about 1/8" thick. I bought several cookbooks about grains and how to use them. Then, out of no where, a recipe will call for All Purpose Flour. Well, they don't sell All Purpose wheat berries at Whole Foods, so I am out of luck! =)

Hope everyone has a safe and fun weekend!

Camping Pictures.

We went camping with our friends this past weekend. I am glad to say that I actually took pictures this camping trip! I don't usually think to do it until we have camp half broken down! This is the William Kent campground in Lake Tahoe. The weather was perfect, which was good, since this was our first attempt at 'dry camping' meaning: no water or electricity. It went very well!

We were across the highway from a beach, but we drove to a sandy beach for the day on Saturday. The kids played in the water all day. Teagan got tuckered out and napped on Greg. Declan and Jamie played in the 'hot tub."

There were no dogs allowed on the beach, so we made sure that Otis stayed up on the chair... (there has to always be one that breaks the rules....).

ETA: LOL! After I posted this picture I realized Otis isn't on the chair.... whoops.

Are you ready for some serious cuteness?

I took the kids to the local donut shop. You know, because I'm all about eating healthy... and they begged. Well, turns out that I got a better picture of all 3 of them than I did at JC Penney portrait studio. Seriously cute!

Teagan horsing around. Look at that skill.

I thought this was pretty cute too.

This is the windowsill in Teagan's room. Maren *loves* to line cars up here. This is what I found this morning. Maren was so proud of herself too. I personally like how some are stacked.

I met my friend Janice at free movie Tuesday last week. Yes, I was the crazy lady taking a picture of my kids in the dark movie theater. Hey people, you can't complain, it was free. We saw Space Chimps, and the kids had a blast (even the wild littlest).

Thought I'd impress you all with my cooking prowess as well. Maybe there is something wrong with me, taking pictures of food???? I should be making notes of what these recipes are so I can make them again.

This is Declan and Teagan at Adventureland (like Chuck E Cheese with bounce houses). This is what they would be doing on my sofa at home, so I figured we may as well go get pizza too...

Hello? Is this thing on?

Did I so completely bore everyone to the point of not even looking anymore? =)

Here's Otis.

Here's Maren.

Look at that tiny little bun!!!

Here's Teagan (and Sarah and Declan).

Teagan dramah.

Declan, at Adventureland.

Finally, some of the pack o'Loops.

Thanks for looking!

Teresa is turning into a foodie????

I mentioned taking a series of classes from a nutritionist a few months ago. I was just gearing up when Declan got sick, my Mom visited, school got out, birthdays came and went and the dog died... In other words, when life happened. The main reason I wanted to take the courses were to learn how to cook using 'real' food. Food that is in it's original form, grown locally and organically if and when possible.

This has set a lot of things in motion at our house. Greg was on board for anything that will hold the impending heart attack at bay. He got the new appliances I posted about, he got me a grain mill, a sweet Kitchen Aid food processor, and he doesn't complain when I shop at Whole Foods. I've also recently acquired at least 10 new cookbooks (yeah, ME!) that are along the lines of eating locally, how to cook without a book, how to incorporate grains and lastly, how to bake bread daily. Phews. I spent the past weekend perusing the books, and compiling a shopping list. Like, a "I'm going to have to wait until the next billing cycle on the Am Ex" type of a list. I need a pizza stone, pizza peel, kitchen scale, oven thermometer, dough container and so forth. There is just so much to learn.

The kids start school in about 4 weeks, D will be in 1st grade, and Teagan in 4 yr old preschool. Crazy. I am still scrapbooking pictures of Declan when he was a newborn. It is amazing how quickly time goes by. It seems as if it were literally yesterday that I was completely panicked that I was going to have a 3rd baby. I mean it is insanity, but it was insanity that at that time, I could not even imagine.

Well, I guess I'd better be getting dinner ready....

The Definition of Life...

My friend Pam forwarded this to me, I thought this was pretty cute!

The first day, God created the dog and said: 'Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.' The dog said: 'That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?' So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said: 'Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span.' The monkey said: 'Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?' And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said:'You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years.' The cow said: 'That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?' And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said: 'Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years.'But man said: 'Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?' 'Okay,' said God, 'You asked for it.'

So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you.