What I've been up to....

Other than the illness fun......which is hopefully on it's way to an end....Jared is better, Riley is feeling better and back to school(yeah, even she was out for 2 days), and I took Nicole and Ellie to the ped today for a dose of Decacron each to take away this nasty croup(for whomever might be keeping track, that is SIX insurance co-pays in EIGHT days!)....here's what I've been doing:

Feeling overjoyed when Ellie is doing this. Really, most of the time she isn't doing the above, she is crying because her throat hurts, which makes it hurt all the more....my poor baby. Her voice sounds like she's a little old lady that has smoked for 40 years...although this picture sure is cute....I adore her ponytails!

Trying to keep the kiddos entertained....our "Gathering Table" certainly has gathered.....alot of papers, crayons, markers, and other assorted time filling clutter!

Meet Joey.....our cocker spaniel....although he is feeling a bit less like a cocker spaniel since I SHAVED OFF his hair! He is so embarrassed....he knows all the other dogs are going to make fun of his homespun hair-do. But I was so sick of his long hair shedding all over, that I took care of it! He'll deal with it, he has survived the many other shavings of the past!

And last....I once again attemped to bake homemade bread. Heidi made the mistake of posting a recipe for I hadn't butchered before, so I figured, what the hey?! For some reason, I have never been a successful bread maker.....for whatever reason I end up with loaves that don't rise and resemble adobe bricks, or end up so crumbly and dry that they just come apart.....I don't know why. Perhaps yeast and I don't get along. But actually, even though this loaf is certainly not the prettiest thing to come out of an oven, I think I did remarkably well! The dough doubled well in the 1st rising, although I do think it possibly should've risen more in the baking process...maybe since I didn't use freshly ground flour I ended up with a bit too much? (If you read this Heidi, any tips? Other than use less flour?!) But as I cut into that nice warm loaf, it didn't fall apart, wasn't an adobe brick, and I was pretty excited....maybe I actually had a bit of success! The dough was moist, and as dense as you'd expect from 100% whole wheat, hey, I think I may have a good thing here, like something EDIBLE! I slather it with butter, take a bite....and well, there was something lacking....a certain flavor missing.....I quickly scan the recipe....



That's when I realized I forgot to add the salt.

Sigh.....so goes my week!