Success in the bread department...finally!

When we got married over 3 years ago, I honestly did not know how to cook or bake anything. I'm still very new at it all, and I find myself pleased if I just do something creative in the kitchen before Paul gets home. I hope one day to be a great "mother" chef. Thank goodness for Paul's patience with my cooking skills!

My latest endeavor has been homemade bread. I've been making bread all winter long, but I've only been trying one recipe so that I could get it right (It's the recipe the church gives on ProvidentLiving.org). In fact, one day, I got a little confident, so I invited a friend over to teach her how to make it, and our bread turned out looking awful! She said it tasted okay, but I was a little discouraged.

Then a few months ago, I ended up with some awesome loaves. Every time we ate a piece, Paul and I would talk about how good it was. But I couldn't ever figure out what I had done differently, so I haven't seen anything like it again...until today!

Since I finally got my dream loaves back (and who knows if I'll ever get any like this again), I thought I'd take a few pictures and celebrate! I was so excited when I peeked into the oven to see these beautiful things. They are tall, light, fluffy, moist and delicious! I can't stop eating it!

I think the trick lies in using only 5 cups wheat flour and 3 white flour, and then letting it rise twice--once on the counter, and then again in a heated (but turned off) oven. Too bad they aren't as healthy as the 100% whole wheat.

Anyone want to make homemade bread with me? I'm becoming a big fan of it. Or, if you have a favorite bread recipe, send it my way. I want to branch out a little more.

My Little "Music Makers" Class

Last Summer, my friend (Gina) asked me if I ever teach a general music class to young kids. That got me thinking that maybe I should. I began to teach a couple group music classes to local kids, called "Music Makers." I did it last Summer, and then again in January. I've had a way better response than I could have imagined. I think the kids really had fun, and to my great surprise, I actually enjoyed it too!

Just think, I've found a fun way to get us ready for the day by 10:00 am, have friends over, be a fun, creative mom, keep my "foot in the door" with music lessons, and earn a little extra spending cash, all in one! Yea!

I teach a "Mom and Me class" for 18 mo. - 3 year olds, and a "Preschool class" for 3-5 year olds. We sing songs, learn about instruments, notes, the musical staff, dynamics, rhythms, and we make music on fun little kid-friendly instruments. They come once a week for four weeks, and then it's over. By then, I'm ready for a break for a few months, but I keep coming back to it. It seems to get better each time!

The best part for me is that Millie and Gracie have loved it. I love seeing them so content during the class, belting out the songs as if we've been practicing for this moment for them to shine--afterall, we do all their favorites! How long will they appreciate the fact that I'm their teacher? I know these days are numbered. So I'll just enjoy it for this small stage of my life.

But, as you can imagine, my hands are completely full, and I don't ever get a chance to take pictures. Here are a few I was able to borrow, and my goal for next time is to get way more. Just imagine a fun children's song playing in the background and a lot of additional noise when you look at them...


I'm gearing up to do "round 3" of my Music Makers class in April. If you or someone you know may be interested in signing up, leave a comment and I'll email you the class information.

My Latest Food Storage Kick

I struggle to get motivated with food storage until I see someone else's and I hear how they are doing it. So after debating whether or not to post this, I finally decided that if it could help someone else get excited about food storage, it would be worth it.

Our 3 month supply of food storage has been dwindling lately, and I didn't have much motivation to do anything about it UNTIL...I started reading this blog:

myfoodstoragedeals.blogspot.com

I completely agree with everything I've read on this blog. I learn something new every time I read it. She helps you see how easy it can be if you do just a little each week.

Plus, she explains how you don 't have to spend a lot of money to get your food storage. She knows the best prices for everything and helps you know when something is on sale for the lowest price and where to get it.

I love the excitement of getting a good deal, and I love the peace that I feel when I buy food storage.

Here's her method:

• Use her website (www.mealstodeals.com) to know what the best sales are each week (you can get two weeks free subscription, and then it's only $5/month after that)
  
• Buy things only when they are on sale for a really good deal
• She explains how you can shop at Walmart and do price-checking instead of going to all the stores just to buy the sale items
  
• Buy a year supply of each item when it goes on sale
  
• Use your food storage as a grocery store (except for milk, eggs, & produce)
  
• This way, everything you eat was purchased at the lowest sale price!
• Your food storage gets bigger each week as you stock up on the items that are on sale
  
• No or little couponing involved (I just can't handle one more thing to do each week!)

So, can you guess where our tax return money has gone? All I needed was the "go ahead" and I got going on our food storage again.

Emergency Drinking Water: I got this at the case lot sale for less than $18. It stores for a couple of years, and I would much rather drink this water than the old stuff in our 55 gallon drum.




More Shelves: My handyman did this for me as a late Christmas present (thanks, sweetie!) Back then, I promised him if I had this one shelf, I wouldn't need any more. Now I want three more! :)

A Lot of Food on Sale: I got most of this food at the case lots sale, and some at Walmart with price matching (see www.myfoodstoragedeals.blogspot.com). This is the last week of Macey's case lot sale. If you don't have a Macey's close by, you can get the same deals by price matching at Walmart.



More White Wheat: I bought this at the cannery last week. I still have work to do--I need to store it in buckets. For a while there, it was hard to get white wheat, but things have slowed down. I decided that I prefer the white wheat in my home made bread, because it makes it lighter and fluffier. I think it's good to have about 50/50 red to white wheat in the bread. Macey's sale right now includes buckets of white wheat for just $18.99. That is a little more than the cannery, but when you include the cost of what a good bucket costs, the difference is made up. The cannery sells 25 lb. buckets of white wheat for around $7.




An Upright Freezer: I Love it! We found this on Craig's list for $90. It's 20 years old, but these things can last forever! Used freezers are hot items right now. Good deals come up, but they go fast! It's already stocked with sale items from last week's sales. I saved $20 on orange juice alone!




If you want to get going on food storage, but don't know how to begin, I would love to be your "food storage buddy." I think everyone needs a friend who knows how to get started.

And please let me know if you have some more good ideas for our food storage.

A Good Lesson Learned

While visiting my parents' home the other day, their neighbor's dog, Sumee came over to visit. We spent at least 30 minutes playing with her. She let the girls give her hugs and pet her and sit by her. Since we will probably never have a dog of our own, we have to really get our "dog fix" from others' dogs. I decided to get some pictures that we can enjoy, so I ran inside to grab my camera.

When I came running back out, Sumee had led Gracie straight into the street. They were wandering down the middle of a somewhat busy street, while 2 cars waited for me to rescue her. Ahhh! How embarrassing! I felt like an awful mother!

I figure these pictures are worth posting, just for the reminder to myself not to take my chances with my girls out by the street. I guess that's how you learn!

Our Trip to the Emergency Room

Yesterday morning, Millie was acting normal, but tired. Still, she insisted that we go to playgroup at the church. So we went, but she wanted me to hold her the whole time and she fell asleep in my arms (the first time ever!).

When we got home, I noticed she had the chills and a fever of 1o2. 7, so I gave her some Ibuprofen. She just lay limp on the couch. I tried to talk with her, but I was getting no response. She was staring at me but wouldn't say a word. Then she just stared up at the ceiling. I got worried, so I called Paul to tell him that I was going to call the doctor. While I was talking with him, I looked over and Millie was foaming at the mouth, but lifeless on the couch. I hung up, ran over to her, and picked up her limp, pale body. Her eyes were back and over. While I called 911, her eyes closed and she wouldn't respond. She was still breathing heavily and I could feel her heart beating rapidly. 911 sent an Ambulance. Paul was on his way home.

It took the ambulance a few minutes to arrive. They asked a lot of questions, checked her out, and then said she would need to go for a little ride. She was still unconscious and shaking. Her heart rate was at 200. I was still in shock, and didn't know whether to wait for Paul or ride with her. I decided to wait for Paul, since I still had Grace. A few friends saw the ambulance and came running over. They told me to go in the ambulance, and that they would take Grace. But I refused, since the ambulance was pulling away and Paul was so close. I totally regretted this later! I wish I would have gone with her!

Our friend took Grace and we headed to Primary Children's. That ride took forever! It was so hard not knowing how Millie was doing. We had no way to contact her or the paramedics. All we could do was drive, pray and call our family to ask for their prayers. We imagined the worse, but hoped and prayed for everything to be alright.

It was such a relief to walk into the Emergency Room and find Millie with her eyes open. She looked scared and traumatized. The nice nurse and doctor were trying to get her to talk, but with no success. We couldn't even get her to talk for over an hour. She only said about 10 words the entire 5 hours at the hospital. She would only nod her head, and even then, it just didn't seem like Millie. Even when we talked to her about her younger sister, she just gave us a blank stare as if she didn't remember Grace. It was a little scary, but the doctor said that's normal for a little while after a seizure.

As soon as he got a chance, Paul gave Millie a Priesthood blessing. It was simple and brief. But we were so relieved as we exercised our faith once again in her behalf. We knew that Heavenly Father was watching over her. We also felt the power of the prayers being offered by family members.

We relished the time in the hospital with Millie. We felt so grateful to have her still! We read her books, told her stories, cuddled with her on that uncomfortable hospital bed, tried to explain what had happened to her, and comforted her when she was being "poked." We tried to get her to take liquids, but everything came back up. She went through 3 pairs of hospital underwear. Thank goodness for IVs!

The initial diagnosis was a seizure, but it was hard to know how severe it was, and what caused it. After many tests, including a CT scan, they concluded that she had a febrile seizure (fever induced seizure), and that no harm was done. We knew nothing about these seizures before this, but they are fairly common in children. Here's a link to read more about them

It was so nice to come home and find that Gracie was happy at our neighbor's home, a meal had been prepared for us, "get well" balloons were hanging on the porch, treats were delivered by caring neighbors, and many friends and family had contacted us to see if everything was okay. We felt so loved and cared for by everyone. Thank you!

Today, Millie is doing so much better. She was able to keep all her food down, and she ate a lot! I had to bribe her to take a bath (to get rid of the throw-up smell) because she didn't want any of her "special" band aids to come off. She had to wear her green swimsuit all day because it matches her green band aids. She and Gracie both insisted on wearing the yellow balloons around their wrists all day long. Oh, the simple pleasures!