mm, mm, good

I finally did it, I made homemade bread! I really feel great about finally getting over my fear of making bread and the best part is it was easy and my family loved it.

When I first got married I tried to make bread but it never worked out it always came out more like a rock than fluffy bread. With some help and lots of practice I learned how to make rolls. After a few years of being married, Eric was so happy when I finally learned how to make the rolls he had as a young boy. After basking in the praise of finally making something tender and yummy I didn’t want to even experiment with making bread again so for over a decade our family has enjoyed homemade rolls but never bread.

Eric and I have been talking about cutting our budget and stretching our money. One of the things we decided to cut was bread. It really is amazing how much bread five kids eat. So, I turned to my favorite internet cooking site http://www.allrecipes.com/ to find an EASY bread recipe. It took me a while to get up the nerve to experiment but I found the perfect recipe, Amish white bread.

I am so excited because it really is easy to make. I think there are 4 ingredients and I used my kitchen aid mixer so I didn’t have to get tired while kneading. The only problem is by the end of the night there were only two pieces left. :) Pretty good stuff!!!

A light at the end of the tunnel :)

I am starting to do a big happy dance because our four year law school adventure is coming to a close. We are so excited for Eric to graduate on May 18th with an L.L.M. in Real Estate Law. It is amazing how fast the last four years have gone and how much has happened while we were away. This really has been a great experience, we have met wonderful people and done things that we never would have been able to do if we wouldn't have taken the the leap faith.

With that being said, it is going to be great to get back into 'real life' (meaning life not as students) and have Eric doing something he really has a passion for.

Real life here we come!

Wow, Jacob is Walking!

I really didn't think Jacob would start walking this early. All the other kids, except for Jennifer, started walking at 14 months. Jennifer walked at 9 months, it was so cute seeing her walk because she was so tiny.

Jacob had taken a step here and there but no real walking. Then the other day he stood up --on his own-- and walked to Jennifer. Wow, we were all shocked and excited. We all applauded him like crazy, He thought that was so great so he kept walking back and forth and all over the room. :) Eric was at school so he missed it. :( But Jacob was so happy to show his dad he could walk as soon as he got home.

I am sad and happy. Sad because his baby time is fading fast and happy because he is growing and progressing. It is so fun to see him learn new things. It is also exciting to watch him pass through the new phases of his life. I never get tired of seeing the first crawl, word, and step. :)

My Kids Make Me Laugh.

We were sitting at the kitchen table for dinner one night and Eric started talking about how one of his associates at school had been talking his ear off. Rachel sits right by her dad at dinner and Rachel's eyes get real big as she stared at her dads face so I asked her what was wrong and she said, “ dad you shouldn’t let people talk your ear off because you need them to hear,” Hee, hee, hee.

Here's another one;

Eric and I were talking the other day about feeling a little baby hungry and Rachel had over heard us and blurted out very adamantly, “mom and dad that is so rude we don’t eat babies,” hee, hee, hee. Jennifer had said a similar thing when she was Rachel’s age.

My kids keep me in stitches!!! :)

Peek-A-Boo

We have french doors that seperate the living area from the bedrooms and Joseph and Jacob love to play peek-a-boo there. Joseph will get Jacob laughing so hard . . . it is really funny!!! :)

Our Anniversary :)

Eric and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary last week. The past four years we haven't done much because of Eric's hefty school schedule but this years my oldest daughter, Jennifer, decided that all needed to change.

She secretively planned our anniversary for us. She had been asking me for quite a while what places in Florida I would like to see. I had mentioned how great it would be to go visit the Florida Keys so she actively found all sorts of attractions. About a week before our anniversary she reminded us how imortant it was for us to do something special; she then showed us all the research she had done on the Florida Keys, it was quite impressive and looked like a lot of fun. We were lucky enough to have one free day, on our anniversary, when Eric had no classes so we decided to take her up on her offer and go visit the Keys for the day.

For lunch we ate at a restraunt that used to be a sea turtle cannery, check out what we found on the menu, it's always fun to try new foods.

After lunch we bought tickets to go on a glass bottom boat to see Florida's protected coral reefs and the brightly colored fish who inhabit them. When we were out at sea we were able to watch the sun set, that really was amazing. Later that night we tried some other Key West cuisine; fresh, locally made, Key Lime Pie, y-u-m-m-y, and then we had Mahi Mahi which is dolphin fish, (it's not the cute flipper dolphin you think of) that was Eric's and my favorite dish, the crispsy fried alligator we had earlier in the day tasted too much like cat fish to me.

When we got home (after midnight) Jennifer had made us a happy anniversary cake, that we all enjoyed, and all the kids had helped create a banner for us. We really had a great time and we felt so loved to see all the effort the kids went through to make sure we would have a special anniversary.