3 little monkey's

Three little monkey's sick in the bed.
One woke up with dry puke on his head.
The other woke up saying he feels bad.
The third little monkey just looks real sad!

Mr. Breadman, my new BFF!

So, my good friend Laura told me she made bread in 1hr start to finish! This I have to try! Time has been my nemesis in this bread making adventure, so an hour would be a huge victory against that nemesis. I gave it a try. Takes less than 10 minutes to mix up the batch in the bread machine. Set the machine for the super rapid bread baking cycle and then wallah homemade bread in an hour.

No, it's not pretty, but the texture is perfect! Soft,and just right! The two downfalls: a hole in the bottom of the loaf, and the huge mushroom top.




I really haven't found anything creative with the two bottom pieces that have a hole. However the top of the mushroom is incredibly soft. When sliced sideways, it's like a nice dinner bread. It is devoured by my little ones while warm.









I have to take a moment to apologize to my hubs! He bought this breadmachine 8 or 9 years ago. I huffed and puffed because I hate additional appliances and I can not stand a cluttered counter-top. The bread machine is big and ugly. I really didn't want it in my kitchen. It's been stored for years because Keith would not let me get rid of it. Sweet Wendy encouraged me to pull it out and let the bread machine do the kneading on the knead only cycle.Reluctantly I did it only because my Kitchenaid mixer was not doing a good job at kneading for me.
The kneading in the bread machine was perfect. I never ventured out to try and cook my bread in this machine. It was just for kneading! Now that I've baked my bread in this machine, and it's turned out wonderful 6 times in a row! I'm hooked! Honey, please forgive me! Mr. Breadman, I'm so sorry for my snobbishness toward you! I will never turn my back on you again. Jesus, thank you for hearing my prayer at the beginning of this year and helping me to find a way to bake bread that my family will eat!!!
The recipe:

2 1/2 cups wheatberries (fleshly ground)
1 cup of all purpose white flour
2 T of wheat gluten
1 1/4t salt
2 T of breadmachine yeast
2-3 T of honey
12 - 13 oz of warm water
2 T of canola oil

Grind your wheat berries. Then add enough white flour to make a total of 4 cups of flour. I add my 2 T of wheat gluten to this mixture, then make a whole in this mixture and scoop my 2T of yeast in that whole. (All of this is in my Vitamix container, you could use any bowl for this mixture). Then I go to my new BFF, Mr. Breadman. First I put the water, salt, oil, and honey in the machine and then I start the super rapid cycle. Then I add the flour mixture little at a time, until it's completely incorporated and turned into a dough ball. It's very important to add it little at a time, like a 1/2 cup or so. Then close your machine and let your BFF do all the work for you. In 1 hr you will have a GREAT loaf of bread. Take it out of the machine and let it rest on the counter top for an hour, until cool, or eat hot, YUM!

A Mission Lesson

Last night was a beautiful night for our family. We got to spend the evening with one incredible young lady on a mission. Christy Barton has been a part of our church body for the past 3-4 years. You can follow her missionary journey here:
http://christyywamupdate.blogspot.com/
She will be leaving to go to Australia on a mission trip with YWAM in a few short weeks. She will be gone for 2 years. So, last night we got the privilege of picking her brain about her trip and teaching our kids about missionaries. After dinner the kids were given a chocolate chip for each question they ask Ms. Christy. The first question asked by Cade, "Can I have a chocolate chip, please?" We all laughed hard. He did what he was supposed to, ask Ms. Christy a question :D Other questions asked were:
How long will you be gone?
What city will you be stationed in?
What will you do while your there?
How can we pray for you while you are there?
What kind of food do they have in Australia? (this sparked a whole silly conversation about vegemite)



Oh Christy, thank you for spending the evening with us! Thank you for sharing your passion with us. Your heart for our Lord Jesus Christ is more beautiful than words can describe. The Best will be praying with you and for you daily! We have been blessed to know you! I know my kids saw Jesus in action in your life last night, and I know they will never forget it. What a treasure the evening was for us all!

The O.C.D Potty Experience: Cade Style

So, we have been potty training Cade. He's much different than the first two. He does not like to be dirty or wet. So, he stays on the potty crying a lot. Crying because he does not want to go pee or poop in the potty, but he doesn't want to get off the potty and let the pee or poop get on him. So, he just sits on the potty all day naked, crying cause he doesn't want to go potty, but refusing to get off the potty. Who is this child??? How will we ever get him to potty??

The Chesney Way

The Chesney way to clean! How I wish I could clean with such joy and song!

A Mountain Vacation

A glimpse of our family mountain vacation complete with mom's and dad's, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, sons and daughters, cousins, and of course grandparents that made the trip possible.
We did a little of everything whitewater rafting, shopping, river tubing, horsebackriding, hiking, swimming, gem stone mining, and lots of card playing. A good time was had by all! Thanks Raymond and Sherry for a most memorable trip!

The Ballerina Girl Turns 5!

So, the past month had a few special moments for our baby girl!!! A dance recital and the big 5! Our very shy little girl shocked us all and danced her heart out in her recital. I could have bet money she'd run off the stage, but the stubborn side of her out-won the shy side. Here are some pictures and video of her recital and 5th birthday! My baby girl is growing up :( sniff, sniff!!