Joke

Joke for Today:

A kindergarten teacher gave her class a "show and tell" assignment. Each student was instructed to bring in an object to share with the class that represented their religion.

The first student got up in front of the class and said, "my name is Benjamin and I am Jewish and this is a Star of David."

The second student got up in front of the class and said, "My name is Mary. I'm a Catholic and this is a Rosary."

The third student got up in front of the class and said, "My name is Tommy. I'm a Mennonite, and this is a casserole."

Healthy Cookies

For all you health nuts out there you need to try this Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. I was a little scared to try them, but they were very good!

Laughing

Maybe this is a little too personal, but I have to share it anyway. Tonight I was rubbing Jeremy's back and found a long hair (lone, long hair, he does NOT have a hairy back. I want to make that clear. :)) I showed the hair Isaiah. He got a very serious, sober look on his face and said "Maybe his back is a head or something".

People tell us to write this stuff down, but seriously, there is too much to write down or remember. We never know what is coming next. He has us stumbling around trying to explain stuff all the time.

I feel like I'm always posting stuff about Isaiah right now because he's talking so much. I wish I could post videos of Nathan. He's just a ham. He's into everything. He threw a slinky into the toilet a couple weeks ago. Jeremy fished it out (after taking a picture -that's one for the books!), washed it off and gave it back to him. I later found Nathan on the table dunking it in my water glass. :( Yesterday we caught him on the top rail of his crib about to fall out. He never stops. He gets himself and Isaiah into trouble a lot. :( Isaiah follows him way too much, but sometimes Isaiah will run to me and say "Nathan's doing something bad!"

Bread Crumbs

Today I'm baking French Bread. When life gets too fuzzy and unsure I bake and often it's bread. Today is one of those days. Don't call the shrinks or anything, it's just one of those days. It's one of those times in life that just don't feel right or at best uncomfortable. Some days it's OK, even good. Other days I just am. I don't post this to ask for sympathy. Somewhere way down in a little corner of my heart is a little light and that little light reminds me that some day, maybe next week or next year life will look different. That little light gives hope and the ability to look at Bread Days as the stepping stones that will get me across this crazy time. I tell the Lord that this is ok, sometimes I can only whisper it or barely breath it, but it's ok, because he promises that He will complete what He has started in me. I love baking bread. I love the process. I love beating it to death in my kitchen aid only to watch it rise again. So, I'm going to enjoy this bread day. (Mom, don't call, don't worry, I'm fine. :) ) P.S. Our Sunday school lesson this week is on humility. Hmmm...

In other, more positive news I posted a lot of pictures from the wedding, but I failed to mention anything about the party that took place at our house after the wedding. Matt's three oldest girls spent the night here along with my parents. The time was way too short, but it was so much fun. This aunt misses the days when I had hours to spend playing with my nieces. I miss it, but I do love watching them play with Isaiah and Nathan. They are great babysitters! Here's a picture of Sunday morning breakfast. (notice Nathan's long hair)

The next week I cut it -finally! Here is an after picture. Sorry it's so dark. I love his eyes. One of these days I'll post an update on what all he is getting into and doing. He is growing up so quickly!

One more random thing. A couple morning ago Nathan woke up before Isaiah and started playing in his crib. He was laughing and having a great time. Isaiah woke up then and we heard him interact a little with Nathan, but then he came over to our room and told us with a very sad look on his face, "there isn't any laughing in my mouth!" :)

This morning Isaiah wanted me to do something with him, but I was talking to Jeremy. I'm not sure what Jeremy told him, but he responded with "but she's my woman!" I wonder where he hear that from?! He called me "Babe" the other day. I put a stop to that rather quickly!

And that's enough random thoughts for one day.

Update

Just wanted to clarify something. On the site where I was reading about using plain yogurt in baking she said she substitutes yogurt for butter. She mentioned she has done this with some muffins and coffee cake recipes. I'm having my doubts about using it in cookies and the such. Just thought I'd mention that before someone totally destroys a good batch of chocolate chip cookies. :) However, if you do try this and it works please let me know!

Plain Yogurt

I made yogurt in my crockpot on Friday. I got the recipe here. I added unflavored gelatin and that did help to thicken it up, but next time I'll mix it a little bit better because I ended up with a chunk of gelatin on the bottom of the crockpot. yuck. I was impressed with the results. However, this is the only way I've ever made yogurt so I can't compare it with anything. Anyway, I've been reading about all that you can use plain yogurt for. I made waffles last night and replaced the buttermilk with the yogurt. They were great! I've read that you can replace butter with plain yogurt in a lot of baking recipes. Has anyone had success with this? What do you use plain yogurt for?

3/17 Update: I made this yogurt again a few days ago. I added the gelatin to the cold milk before I started the process and it worked much better than adding it to the warm stuff. I stirred it once during the first 2 1/2 hours too.

Wedding

Last Saturday my cousin, Anya, got married. Isaiah was the ring bearer and our niece Chloe, was the flower girl. Jeremy preached. I decided having a son and husband in a wedding is more stressful than being the bride. Not really. :) It was a beautiful wedding. There is so much I could write about it, but I'm just going to post pictures. Isaiah and Jeremy (and Chloe!) were great. I was a very proud wife, mother and aunt. :) (these are not really in order)

Ready to walk down the isle.

Here is Isaiah during the ceremony. (it's also one of the very few pictures I have of Anya. :() One of the groomsmen handed Isaiah a piece of gum when he got to the front. Isaiah was thrilled and held it up for me to see. Chewing gum kept him so busy that he didn't have time to try to do anything else. What a lifesaver!

This was taken just a few minutes before the wedding. He was clueless about what was coming, but thrilled to see himself in the mirror.

Chloe showing Isaiah her flowers. He was sooo impressed

Me and the preacher. We sleep together. (sorry, I never said this was a G rated site. :)) I was so proud of him. He did an incredible job at the wedding. Isaiah ignored him during the ceremony. (I don't think he could see Jeremy) I was glad because Jeremy used play dough as an illustration and I'm afraid if Isaiah had seen it he would have wanted it. :( Oh yeah, and Jeremy looked great too!

Me and the ring bearer. I used to change his diapers. What a cheesy face. I'm afraid this is the face he had on most of the pictures taken after the wedding. At least he wasn't crying.

Isaiah and the groom. He told me the day before the wedding that David is his favorite.

I love this picture because it is typical of how he looked for most of the day. No wonder I was on pins and needles! That rose lasted the whole day and still looks great! Amazing.

This is one of my favorites.