Baking Day...

Today has been a fun baking day for me...but I still have lots left to do.  I've made a hors'deovoures for a wedding I'm going to tomorrow, baked bread for us, made homemade pizza for dinner and am waiting for two cakes to finish right now.  The last three are all gluten/wheat free too!

I really love making bread for us.  And as far as gluten/wheat free bread goes it tastes great(so much better than anything you can buy at the store and costs less too).  I've been trying to get into a routine of baking it about every 2-3 days but keep running out of ingredients.  I have to start planning ahead better.

The pizza turned out much better than my last batch of GF/WF pizza dough so I was happy about that, but will definitely keep working at making it better.  The crust of pizza is my favorite part so I definitely want to work on making a great pizza crust.

The cakes smell delicious!  I found a recipe for GF/WF cake on allrecipes.com and I think it turned out great.  I modified it a bit...added some cocoa powder and a bit more sugar and changed up the flours a bit.  Tomorrow I'll frost them...one for each birthday(the pilot and the princess both have birthdays this week).  If I can do it I'll be doing one with a Cars theme and one with a Princess theme:-)

Well, I need to go to bed...have to be at church earlier than usual and am so thankful that my mother-in-law will be watching my older kids for me in the morning.  It's so much easier to make it places on time when I only have 1 child:-)

Anticipation

It's mounting.  We finally finished decorating our Christmas tree tonight and I only have 2 more gifts to finish before all my Christmas shopping is done.  I'm looking forward to next week, as our my kids.  It will be busy as we celebrate 2 birthdays plus Christmas.  I can't believe my kids are going to be 5 and 3 next week.  Time is flying by it seems.  I'm learning to love it since I know we will never get this time back. 

Snow!

We've been getting lots of snow this week...it's wonderful!  This morning the pilot was watching the plow truck in our driveway and as the guy is plowing he says "It is amazing!"  So cute!
Since it's been snowing we've been trying to get out and play in it.  Monday we went hunting for our Christmas tree.  We borrowed a friends snow machine(snow mobile for you non-Alaskans:-) and took it out and hunted in the woods for our tree.  We had a blast, all 5 of us, out in the snow.  Dh and one kid rode the machine while the other 3 of us rode in the sled behind it.  And we found a fabulous tree!  We will be decorating it tomorrow evening and I'll take pictures of it after that and post them.  But here are some pictures from our Monday adventures!

 

 

 

 

Amazingly Beautiful

I just wanted to share the amazing beauty that I get to view out of my front window.  It's amazingly breathtaking and I have learned over the years that I've lived here(almost 9 now) to be thankful for the grandness, majesty and beauty of the mountains(even when the thermometer reads 0*F).
This is today...about 30 minutes ago...(just imagine it without the houses or power lines:-)...

We've been having amazing sunrises and sunsets this past week...pink, red, and orange blazing across the sky and behind the mountains...but I haven't taken a picture of it yet...I will try today(if it happens of course).  It's incredible.


And I wanted to link you to a great blog...where I won a new Cuisinart Rice Cooker!!!  Plus she's just hilarious and I think you might enjoy reading and watching(her VLOG) what she did for Chick-Fil-A sweet tea(which I freely admit is THE best sweet tea ever...and I'm sad there is no Chick-Fil-A in Alaska).

Results...

Well not really results but a quick overview of how the day went...

First off...I did not get up early.  I slept until the kids woke up but woke up in a good mood since I went to bed at a decent hour.  We stayed home thru guy smiley's morning nap(which was way too short, but that's another story).  Then we headed to the grocery store(instead of the gym).  During nap we did get the kid's room a bit picked up and I did the dishes and cleaned off the stove.  So I was happy with how the morning went. 
The rest of the day went fine...I put groceries away right after I got home(which sadly is good for me).  Then it was naptime and I relaxed a bit.  Then when the princess and guy smiley got up I popped a chicken in the oven for dinner and the princess and I made a paper chain for decoration.  Once all 3 were up we went and folded and put away some laundry. 
I'm realizing that I do best when I just start my day off moving...when I sit for a lot in the morning I just keep on sitting...it really is sad I know.  Now tomorrow to just add in reading time...which should be easy to do since we are planning on the library after the gym:-)

Routines/Schedules...

I've really been struggling with laziness lately (it didn't help that I had a cold this past week...but really that was just a good excuse).  I have a really hard time having a routine/schedule to my day.  I don't know what it is about a routine/schedule that makes it so hard for me...I think deep down I just don't want to have one and I don't like them (only because I think I have freedom NOT having one).  But I also know how freeing and relaxing and really good for my kids it would be to have a set, yet flexible, routine to our days.  I find that I do pretty good, when I set my mind to it, at establishing a routine during my husband's work week, but as soon as he is home it just gets lost(he has 3 days off in a row and not typical weekend days). 

What makes developing a routine so difficult?  Why can't I just do it?  I'm not really sure.  Maybe I'm just not controlled enough with my time...and if that is the case, then I need to work on it.  I want to have time to get "chores" done, plus spend time with the kids and have time to myself(whether to blog, read, knit or go to the gym).  Maybe I'm just against them...and if this is the case then I just need to get over it and get on with it all ready.

I think I'm going to start blogging about setting our family up on a routine...and day to day what that looks like...or maybe week to week how it pans out.  

Some things I think (or know) would be good for me(and the family):
-going to the gym in the morning...but working this around guy smiley's morning nap.
-doing "chores" first thing...maybe during said morning nap(having daily and weekly chores)
-reading time...the princess has a reading bear that needs filling in daily for preschool...so we need to start having a set reading time(more can be added if we want, of course)
-going to the library once a week
-shower at the gym
-grocery store once a week
-meal planning once a week
-craft/art time daily
-getting up before the kids...having breakfast, reading my Bible and praying, waking up:-)
-going to bed before 11pm every night
-making dinner throughout the day or earlier in the day instead of winging it as dh is on his way home.

So I think I need to work on one or two things at a time because I know if I try and do it all I will burn out and then just give up...so I think for tomorrow I want to be up before the kids which for me will mean being up and at 'em by 7:15am.  I also want to be home during guy smiley's morning naptime because we need to work on his sleep schedule badly...so during that time I will do my "chores" and read to the kids.

What do you do?  Do you have a routine or not?  If so (or not) how does that work for your family?  If you have a weekly chore list...what do you do on what day?

Fun in the snow

Just a few pictures from our fun time playing in the snow a couple days ago!

Don't you like the snow whale???  That was Grammy's creation, we just helped her mend it after it rained.

Sleepovers with Daddy

I love listening to my husband and the kids interact...especially on sleepover nights. It's become tradition for him to sleep in their room during the work week(this is due to a baby that sleeps in our room and not through the night yet and a very early morning for my husband so a good nights rest is crucial). They've started having quiz time nightly. DH(Dear Husband) quizzes them on all sorts of things but typically movies that they've seen. And nightly I get involved by being the third party answer when they are either stumped or arguing over an answer.
Tonights involvement:(See below for the answers.)

What is the name of Cinderella's dog?

Previous questions that I have either answered or had to look up:

What is the name of the cat on Curious George(the PBS kids show)?
What is the name of the big red tractor on Cars?
What is the name of the Doorman on Curious George(PBS kids show)?

Can you answer any of these?

But back to the post...

I love that DH has these special things that he does with the kids. He is an amazing Dad and I love watching how he interacts with them.


Answers:
1. Bruno
2. Gnocchi
3. Frank
4. Doorman