Spiritual Sundays

"Selfless service is a wonderful antidote to the ills that flow from the worldwide epidemic of self-indulgence. Some grow bitter or anxious when it seems that not enough attention is being paid to them, when their lives would be so enriched if only they paid more attention to the needs of others.....The answer lies in helping to solve the problems of those around us rather than worrying about our own, living to lift burdens even when we ourselves feel weighed down, putting our shoulder to the wheel instead of complaining that the wagons of life seem to be passing us by....Stretching our souls in service helps us to rise above our cares, concerns, and challenges. As we focus our energies on lifting the burdens of others, something miraculous happens. Our own burdens diminish. We become happier. There is more substance to our lives."
- Elder David S. Baxter

Learning Links

Some links for blogs I have found lately that I REALLY like (per last post):

1+1+1=1

ABC and 123

No Time For Flash Cards

The Crafty Crow (mostly crafts for kids)

Activity Mom

The magical ABC's

It's the time of year to think about school and preschool for next year.

Lucy and Alden are both born in October. We waited with Alden and put him in so he was one of the oldest in his class. And now I am seeing how good of a decision that was. He just flat out would have struggled in grade one a year ago! But now he is having success.

Alden said very little until he was about 3. Lucy on the other hand started talking in 2 to 3 word sentences at like 15 months.

She could count to ten by herself when she was 18 months old. (i have no idea where she picked it up as I really didn't teach it to her). She hasn't stopped talking or learning since then. Even when you think she isn't paying attention, she IS! She is eating up everything around her.

I have been wondering about putting her in kindergarten or not for a while. When we move to Raymond in a couple years, the cut off for kindergarten is September, where as in Lethbridge it is Dec. So if we already lived there she wouldn't even make the cut off. So i've been talking about it with my mom, Regan, my SIL's, and Lucy's preschool teacher (Melina).

Well this past week Melina tested Lucy to see if she was ready to go to kindergarten. She got every thing right on that test. She knew all her letters upper and lower case, can write her name and recognize it (she can write Eli, Mom and dad too) she knows her numbers up til 15, her colors, and her shapes. Melina said "she blew the test out of the water."

Last week Lucy came upstairs and said to me "mom, can you teach me to read?"

So we've started having school time at home. Every day she asks as soon as she gets up if we can work on reading. In some ways I am not really sure what to do, since when I had tried to do all this with Alden when he was this age and he HATED it. (Goes to show you how different these two kids are!)

So now each day we are having a letter of the day and making crafts with them.
A is for Alligator

B is for Bee (and bad lighting in this pic but here it is!)

Practicing her writing of B's

practicing her cutting by cutting out her B


I found a whole bunch of great blogs and sites online that give ideas (i did NOT think of these myself!!) Isn't the net great ;)

I'll keep working with Lucy and see where she wants to go with this all, no pressure, just fun and who knows maybe we'll have two reading kids this year!

In the Craft Room: Fabric Lunch Bag

So two weeks ago I come upstairs and smell plastic burning. I say to Alden "what is that smell?" He announces that he was helping me out by unloading the dishwasher (yes he is a sweet boy) and he found his plastic lunch bag and noticed it was still wet so he put in on top of the toaster and turned it on.... to DRY IT OFF. (if I could insert big EYES here I would). Needless to say, it was the end of the spider man plastic lunch bag.

I've been meaning to get him a new one for, oh about 2 weeks, but I never got around to it. (i'm getting forgetful in my old age).

I found this great new blog about a month ago (maybe??) Anywho, Kristin at Pea Pod Creations is just great. She is super nice and has some GREAT projects on there!!! (Right now she is competing in the SYTYC competition right now! So go and vote and see the cute stuff there!)

This morning I spot Kristin's post and thought hey I can make that and I already have enough scraps around to do it. So I did. :)

I wanted to make it personalized. So I took one of Alden's MANY drawings

and traced it onto my outside material. (I used a thick muslin - almost canvas material I had)

and did some embroidery. Then it SCREAMS ALDEN to me :)


The finished product, full of lunch for tomorrow!



I linked it up a few places!

In the Kitchen: Linzertorte

I had requests from every one who tasted this for the recipe. SO here it is!!!



LinzerTorte
(from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)

1/2 cup hazelnuts
1 cup blanched almonds
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
Raspberry Jam

Preheat oven to 350. Spread the hazelnuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast, stirring occasionally until skins begin to split, about 15 minutes. Immediately rub hazelnuts vigorously in a clean kitchen towel to remove skins (as much as will easily come off.) Let cool.

In a food processor (i used a magic bullet), pulse the hazelnuts and almonds until finely ground. (be careful not to over process it into a paste). Transfer into a small bowl, set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and beat 1 minute to combine. With mixer on low, add ground nuts and the flour mixture all at once; beat just until combined.

Divide dough in half. Using your fingers, press half the dough into a 9 inch cheesecake pan (you can use a bottomless tart ring if you have one but I didn't) to form the bottom and up the sides about 3/4 inch. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly dust a piece of parchment paper with flour and roll out the other half of dough to a 13 inch round. Place on a baking sheet and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

Using an off set spatula, spread the Raspberry jam evenly over the chilled base. Set aside. Cut the dough into 3/4 inch wide strips from chilled round of dough.(the recipe tells you to use a fluted pastry wheel but I don't own one of those, so I just used my pizza cutter!). Arrange strips on top of the jam in lattice pattern. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350.

Bake, rotating pan halfway through until torte is golden brown, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 20 minutes. Remove ring and cool torte completely. Best eaten the day it is made as the crust gets soggy if left too long.

TRY IT!!!

And while i'm talking food, an update on my MSBH Challenge.
76. Linzer Torte
77. Bagels
78. Blueberry Muffins
79. Plum Coffee Cake Muffins
80. Marble Cake (SERIOUSLY good one!)
81. White Chocolate Glaze
82. Danish Dough

The newest Member of our family

is named D300s. It's made by Nikon. And I am in loooooooooooooooooooove!!!!
She looks like this....

WOW it is SO AWESOME! I can't even explain. And it shoots 7 frames per second. So it's like a machine gun. Which is COOL. i might actually giggle every time it does that still.... cause it's so awesome......

So OF COURSE I've been taking pictures of my kids



And anyone else we've seen in the first few days I got it...

(doesn't she look pleased as punch to be holding our visitor, little Colby??)


(yes she does in fact pick out her own outfits!)

My brother's kids



And since I had a wedding this past weekend I didn't want to go to a shoot without using my new baby at a REAL shoot, I phoned one of the cutest couples I know and asked them if they'd do me a favor and let me shoot them for a half an hour or so....


(ridiculously cute couple eh??)


AND they dress good too.... (which is why I asked them to help me out! ;)

And my wedding was SO AWESOME. We got to shoot in the airport hanger with sweet airplanes and GREAT couple and fun family. It was AWESOME. Photos of that to follow SOON!!!!

I am so grateful for my new camera. I was going to upgrade eventually but more like when Reg was done residency, but since the ol' D80 isn't working, I was kind of backed into a corner.

But the view from this corner looks GOOD :)

And BTW, thanks so much for all the support and votes for Brooke's giveaway. I didn't win, but THANK YOU!!!!!! I REALLY appreciate it a LOT!

Spiritual Sundays

“If we do not have a deep foundation of faith and a solid testimony of truth, we may have difficulty withstanding the harsh storms and icy winds of adversity which inevitably come to each of us.

“Mortality is a period of testing, a time to prove ourselves worthy to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. In order for us to be tested, we must face challenges and difficulties. These can break us, and the surface of our souls may crack and crumble—that is, if our foundations of faith, our testimonies of truth are not deeply embedded within us.”

-President Thomas S. Monson

I need your HELP!!

I take pictures. I love doing it.

I first started out in College when I was in my program (finally finding one I liked after trying out 3 before that....) of Advertising and Public Relations.
In that program there is a photography class with a teacher named Kevin. Back then (ouch I sound old!) it was Dark room and film and developing with stinky chemicals. It was COOL!!! It was mostly taking pictures of events and learning to not be afraid to stand up in front of a room and take pictures of the main event. Which has served me well. It doesn't embarrass me at all now!

I took pictures now and then but didn't really fall in LOVE with photography yet.

While living in Nova Scotia I had started taking a lot more pictures. We had a nice little point and shoot digital Cannon given to us (or more correctly to our soon to be born first child so that Grandma and Grandpa would get some pictures of him). I realized again that I like it and I loved when I got a good shoot.

Fast forward a few years and a whole pile of photos later and a good friend asked me if I would take pictures at her wedding..... I didn't have a good camera and even our point and shoot digital was on the fritz from so much use. She found a film SLR camera and I used it at her wedding. And realized I LOVED taking pictures like this.

We moved home to Alberta for Medical School and I convinced Regan to let me spend some of our school fund on an DSLR. And then I started taking pictures a LOT. Of everything and everyone. I LOVED it. The more I took the better I got at it. I read lots of books and started looking at photographers on line to see what I could learn.

A few people started asking me if I wanted to get paid for it. And I entered that field with trepidation. There is lots I don't know about photography. Technically I make mistakes all the time. I have wanted to do some mentoring with someone for a long time. But being in med school doesn't exactly pay well. (In fact we pay THEM a lot of money!) And going to one on one teaching or seminars costs moola - most of the time lots of moola.

I have come a long way since I started. But I feel like I can do better. I want to do better and really work on perfecting my art. I need someone to teach me and guide me openly and honestly about where I can improve and what I can do better on. Enter a giveaway... I have the chance to win a mentoring session with one of my favorite photographers (and I actually even know her from my time in Nova Scotia where she was serving a mission)

About the session:
"“For the Love of Photography” includes:
-Weekend private mentor session

(2 hrs. on Friday evening and 2 hrs. on Saturday… one on one in the office discussing what YOU need to learn. Camera techniques, creativity, editing, or business.)
-Private photography session of yourself! (sat.)

Yep! You’ll be in front of the camera! This is good for a number of reasons. You get to understand what its like for those you photograph, you might learn a few things while I’m directing you, and of course, chances might be that you just might not have very many photos of YOU! Need a new stellar shot of yourself for your blog or facebook? An about page? We’ve got you covered!
-Model session of your choice (family, kids, seniors, couples) where we shoot side by side. (sat.)

You can watch how I approach a shoot and direct people, as well as take the reigns yourself and have the opportunity in a non-pressure atmosphere to ask questions and treat the session as a photography lesson experience. Afterward, we’ll come back and do a quick edit session to a few images and you can see the workflow process of post production."

oh I want to win SO BAD!!!! 100 people are in for it. You guys could help me out by going here and voting for me. Each computer can only vote once.... Oh pretty please!!!!! Will you do this for me???? With cherries on top??

We've got a big problem around here people

And this is the culprit!

His current wake up time. 5:30 am to 6:30 am. That's EARLY people! Like REALLY early. Like to get 8 hours of sleep a person would have to go to bed at like 9:30pm And 6:30 would be a GOOD day.

Sure he's cute....

But that's EARLY!! So we have to keep him quiet (which is no small feat) until the other kids get up. Which is like 830 or 9. That's when there is no school. Alden has to get up at 730am for school.

But still if Eli is up at 5:30 that is 2 hours to try and keep the kid quiet.
And he's not quiet.


So by 11:15 he looks like this.......

(and it is also how I feel come 11:15)

But I have to keep him up until 1 so I can drop off Lucy at preschool. Which is always fun. And he is always happy during that time - NOT (I had an 80's flashback when I typed that....)


I just don't know what to do with him. Cause that is TOO early. He didn't get the memo. Around here we sleep in. Like at LEAST 8.

He's signing "all done" in these two and his hair is all spiky cause after he ate all he wanted he dumped his bowl of rice krispies onto his head and smeared it around. It was awesome.


I feel all done with this crazy early morning business!!

In the Kitchen: Baking Bread

You'll have to forgive all the cooking posts lately, and not so many craft or sewing posts, but my sewing machine is on the fritz and had to take a trip to the shop.

Lots of people have asked me for my bread recipe. So I thought I'd share it here. AND I actually measured all the flour this time so I could TELL you how much :) Wasn't that swell of me??? :)

I do mine in my bosch that my lovely inlaws bought me our first Christmas. If you aren't lucky like me you can make this by hand (I used to before my lovely inlaws spoiled me!)


1. Combine 2 Liters (or 8 cups) warm water with 3 Tbsp salt in a Bosch and mix to combine.


2. Melt 1 pound (2 cups) of margarine (or you can use 2 cups oil)


3. You are going to pour HALF of the melted margarine into your salt water along with 1 cup white sugar. And mix it up a bit.


4. Add 10 cups of flour (I do half white and half whole wheat) while mixing. (if you were doing it by hand - you would be mixing it with a spoon until this part)

A close up so you know what the dough should look like here. A sloppy mess. That you could stir with a spoon but it would be hard to do.


5. Sprinkle 3 Tbsp of instant yeast on top and the mix it in. (NOT active dry yeast)


6. Put your lid back on and turn on your machine

and start adding flour while it's running. You want to add 8 cups or until your dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.


7. Dump your dough into a big bowl


8. Add about 2 cups of flour on top (one cup at a time)

and knead it in until it makes a smooth dough. When you press your fingers into the dough it should softly bounce back to you. If you live in a more moist place that southern alberta (which is most of the world!) you would need more flour.


9. Turn your dough over so the smooth side is up


10. Take the other half of the melted margarine and pour it over top of your dough, using your hand also spread the margarine so it coats all over the inside of the bowl (including underneath the dough). As it rises this margarine will seep into the dough making a very moist light bread. Just do it even though its a big bunch of fat!!! :) (as Homer would say, fat is the vehicle by which taste travels)


11. Cover dough with a tea towel and place in a warm spot until it doubles in size.


Do some other things while you wait..... like dishes


12. Once it has risen to doubled in size, punch it down and let it rise to doubled again. Then it is ready to use


13. Put it into pans and let rise. Cook at 350 for about 30 minutes (or until it is golden brown on top and sounds a bit hollow when you knock on it.


14. Enjoy!!


If you need any clarifications on anything (or if I missed something which I often do!) then let me know!!