Don't try this at home...

I have been soaking my grains for about 8 months now and have done something that I said I would be careful enough to NEVER do. To soak grains, I mix part of my bread ingredients and leave them in the bowl to soak for 7 hours. I put the plastic bowl in the oven with just the oven light on-which keeps it warm enough to break down the acid that makes grains hard to digest. Well, I placed my bowl in the oven and then a few hours later decided to make muffins. I made the muffins and then TURNED on the oven....not remembering my bowl was in there! Yep, at 300 degrees I remembered. AHHHHHH! But it was to late. This is what a bowl looks like after being in a 300 degree oven. It melted right where it was sitting on the metal rack. And I because of this I couldn't get it to lock again on the mixer stand.

So I had to order another one. I WILL NEVER DO THIS AGAIN. I just made a sign to tape OVER the bake button on the oven, so I can't turn on the oven without seeing the note. OH.....I was SO frustrated! But in case any of you ever want to order anything like a mill or bosch or other sort of kitchen machine...www.plesanthillgrain.com is WONDERFUL. They were so understanding (she did ask, "now how exactly did you do this?") and since they noticed that I had just gotten the mixer this past Christmas, she said let me wave the shipping fee for you! Oh, I was so excited. My new bowl just arrived and I am getting ready to soak again...with the sign taped to the oven button!

Kitchen and Katie

Most of our cabinets are "locked" now that Katie can get into them and pull EVERYTHING out! :) But she did manage to get out the collander/strainer a few days ago. She used it as a seat and thought it was wonderful. She posed for me for about one minute...it was adorable!
Katie, hopefully sometime soon we can cook something real and enjoy eating it together! Thanks you for being so creative with all the household "toys". Love, Mommy

In the kitchen with Katie at 14 months

First photo is cute! I think the middle photo is hysterical!! She is a ham and we love her like crazy! Last photo...and now that she can get the pans successfully out of the one other cabinet that is not "locked" she has managed to give me a symphony many times with a spoon and pan. :) And when I asked her what she made in the pan for us to eat..it must have been a suprise because that is the face I recieved!

Foods for Toddlers...

Here is a great article for those of you that have babies that are beginning to eat table food!
:)

http://www.westonaprice.org/children/foods-toddlers-preschool.html

The Largest Show on Earth

This has got to be the largest collection of baby/kid stuff of anywhere in the world! Okay so that is a little bit stretched...but at the State Fairgrounds in NC each July and January they have a garage sale for baby/kid stuff. One can find ANYTHING you might need for kids. There are ROWS and ROWS or clothes...ROWS and ROWS of toys...cribs, carseats, books, DVD's, bookbags, furniture...EVERYTHING. Justin and I went when I was preg. and got a few things then...But my friend Robin and I decided to try it out again now that we have little ones that are constantly growing! It opened at 9am and there was a LONG line already when Robin got there at 8:45. People pulled in their shopping bags, carried totes, or wagons, just to have a place to set their stuff in! It was insane. We both talked and said that with the excitment in the air, we were jittery! :) It was fun. We only had to wait in line to check out for 20 minutes, but they say that one can wait up to 2 hours to check out. Whew... We got some CUTE clothes, shoes and a few toys. Katie did a great job! She quacked like a duck most of the time and ate raisins. :) Even though she might have had more fun at home, she was a trooper. And for a treat, Katie and I went to Whole Foods afterwards and had lunch...yum!
So if any of you like good deals and to shop...come on down! We will be going back in January!

OH MY...OH MY...OH MY...Planet Earth

Have any of you all seen this????? IT IS AMAZING! Our friends Nick and Allison recommended watching this and they are right, it is beyond fabulous! Justin and I have been glued to the TV these last few nights!!! We have been watching these with eyes wide open and are blown away by all the stats and amazing footage of the earth. It is awesome to see all the creative creation the Lord has made. WOW...rent it, borrow it, buy it...just see it! It is over 12 hours in film so you won't be needing any other movies soon. We are watching caves tonight..popcorn anyone? :)

LK Erie...the end!

Here are the last photos of our trip to Lake Erie. These are at the capital of WVA. A funny story...We went into the capital builiding (it wasn't locked!) to have a look around. As we walked into this beautiful marble building Katie opened her mouth and said, "AHHH". Since it was an empty building and huge, it echoed back to her....she LOVED IT. She kept saying, "AHH" very loudly and though we hushed her quickly, it was SO CUTE! She had the biggest smile on her face. :) I hope that I continue to pursue that since of aweness that kids have over the smallest neatest things!
Our trip all in all was a good one! Katie did great with her altered schedule, sleeping in her p'n'p' and in the same room as us. Though she slept very little even not falling asleep until 9 pm that night, she was a great vacationer. Thanks Mom and Dad for doing all the rentaling! Thanks Tommy, Jessa and Dustin for being there too! Love you all!
Us

LK Erie...part 11...WVA, the way home

We made our way home from the lake last week and for a break from the car decided to stop at the WVA state capital. It was beautiful and a great place for Katie to play. Since it was a Saturday it was empty and we followed Katie wherever her feet wanted to take her. If you are ever in need of a place to walk while driving the WVA turnpike, stop in Charleston! :)
There is also a lot of history displayed here...the statute is of a coal miner...

LK Erie...part 9...the beach!

Katie had a blast! I think her favorite part was sitting in a hole that Justin dug right on the edge of the water. She could have stayed there for hours! She is at such a cute stage...we could have played with her forever! And we brought plenty of sand home with us!

LK Erie...part 8...Fun!

Katie got to ride the Carousel, which is one of the oldest ones wooden animals that is still running. She thought it was fun to ride and even wanted to switch animals at the beginning! I think her favorite part though was the music that was played!

My family decided to rent mopeds and toured the island...yes, I come from a true getto fam.

And one of the favorite past times! Bocce Balls (spelling?) Justin and I won one game that we played! Oh and we also played cards one night and Justin rolled in the quarters! :)

LK Erie...the views...part 7

Since being a little girl we have gone to the Lake for vacations and here are a few shots of the views.

1st...on the ferry coming up to Put-In-Bay Island... There are plenty of things to do on the island. Ride any vehicle...bike, golf cart, mopeds. Shop at the downtown shots, tour the historical areas, sit at the docks watching the boats come in and out, eat at the yummy restrauants, parasail, etc...

2nd...the Perry Monument for the battle on Lake Erie

3rd...the view, a bit from our rental house porch..a morning sunrise! A precious Daddy and Daughter walk towards the beach...

4th...It is hard to tell, but it is a red barn. We used to play as kids a game called "Red Barn" ...it brings back great memories of travels in OH. Oh, don't you love car games?

LK Erie...part 6

Katie did a great job riding around in her stroller!
Oh and Justin and I would like to know..."What can Brown do for you?" I guess you could say that great minds think alike...yep, we are both wearing brown tee-shirts! Aren't we cute?
Katie also decided that the purse she is carring in the last photo is HER purse. I received this from my parents for my birthday, but I think she claimed it first! Thanks Mom and Dad!! And she is STILL carring it around here, one week later at home. :)

LK Erie...part 5...the fam

Here are some photos of our (my) family! The first one is blurry :( but of Jessa (my sister) and Dustin her hubby! Then Grandpa and Katie...Next, Mimi enjoying the trip over to the islands on the ferry, and finally my brother who decided to rent a bike and kept up with us in the golf cart as we drove around Middlebass Island. :)

LK Erie part 4...parks~!

Katie LOVES to go to the park. And we were blessed a lot on the trip to be by some great parks. We spent every day there at least once. I should have gotten some photos of her on the swing as that is her favorite piece. There was a park on the mainland, Put-In-Bay and MiddleBass Island! We were thankful for the parks everywhere we went! :)