Gleanings of Wheat

Yes, I exist. It's kind of awesome. Shout out to my favorite 11 year old pest (this means you, Hannah!)...

A friend of mine mentioned that she bakes her oatmeal to me a week or two ago...craziest thing I've ever heard! Turns out it is really good! I made some today for the kiddies, here's the recipe I used. 3 cups rolled oats 1 cup brown sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup milk 2 eggs 1/2 cup melted butter 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3/4 cup dried cranberries Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Beat in milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Stir in dried cranberries. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.

So, my game plan tonight was to make this version of sesame chicken . I asked J if she wanted to help, she said no, so I started making dinner. I went to check on her brother and I came back just in time to see her tip the bottle of sesame seeds upside down. You know how in the movies something is falling and they shoot it at half speed to make it dramatic? You know how the inevitable "No!" really sounds like "NNNNNoooooooooooo!"? Totally what happened. I thanked her for her help and sent her off to finish her movie while I finished dinner. This is what she left me with: This is the end result: Considering there was way too much sesame, it was pretty good! I'll remake it without her help and let you know my final verdict. Recipe 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds, divided 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional) 5 (6 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast ...

Now that the kids' dad is more involved in their lives I don't have them full time on holidays anymore - I know they're glad to see their dad, and I'm happy for them, but I miss how laid back things like Easter used to be. This year I got them for Good Friday and half of Saturday so I tried to make the most of it. Friday we visited the grandparents and cousins - always a lot of fun, always exhausting. Since I wasn't going to have them for Sunday we celebrated the Resurrection as a family Saturday morning. When they got up they raced to the fridge to grab the stuff to make our Empty Tomb treats - they've been looking forward to it all week. Now that they're older and have a better understanding of the Gospel they get more out of it than just the treats. J is still surprised when our "Jesus marshmallows" disappear, though. It's a lot of fun to talk about how much more amazing the real Jesus and His resurrection is. Once we got done we headed t...

If you follow my business blog, sorry for the duplicate content, I just wanted to cover all the bases so that as many people as possible would hear about Derek & Sammy. I'm going to get a bit personal on this post, but it's for a very important reason so bear with me. I've got two small children and until February 17th this year I had four nephews who were all younger than my kids. Now I only have three nephews. I only have three nephews because Derek was murdered. He wasn't even two years old yet. There is a lot surrounding the circumstances of his death that, frankly, doesn't add up. Sammy, Derek's younger brother, was also hurt - though we still don't have a straight story on that either. The wonderful thing is that Sammy is fine. His broken leg healed, and he's home with his father - where he ought to stay. This brings us to the purpose of this post - Derek & Sammy is a website that we as a family set up in order to have a place to sha...

Ok, since I'm the awesome mother that I am, I occasionally am too lazy to tell my children a bed time story have my kids make up their own stories in order to encourage their imaginations and communicative skills. Tonight my almost 8 year old was in charge of the story. Here is my transcription of it, as best as I can manage from memory, minus all the "Um"s. Once there was a boy named William, and he lived in a village in Massachusetts. And while he was there he made two friends, Michael and Andrew. They lived in a tent made out of sticks way back during the time of the pilgrims - in 1994. Then in 1995 he got a book and started studying how to write with a feather pen. Then in 1996 he sailed across the sea to Wisconsin and built a new tent out of sticks and twine, but this one was bigger than the last tent. It had 3 bedrooms, and 5 doors - two of them were for exits - and 2 backyards. The end. I'm not gonna lie, I think I was distracting the kids with how hard I w...

I haven't posted in almost a month, what a shock. Depending on where you live your children may have headed off to school for their first day today. My kiddies have been in school for almost 3 weeks already! When my son started kindergarten I wasn't super emotional, at that point Julianne had already been getting bused to her preschool for 8 months so William going off to school wasn't a big deal in a lot of ways. But now that he is in 2nd grade? Somehow that just seems like a huge deal. He's almost eight! When did he stop being my adorable baby? Wasn't that just yesterday? J's transition to kindergarten has been good in a lot of ways, but still difficult for both of us. She's in a wonderful program with a very small class size specifically for kids with IEPs. The teacher and aid are lovely ladies, but still there is this twinge of sadness for both of us. She likes her new teachers and new school, but she still misses her teachers from the preschool a lo...

The kids and I just mixed the batter for a chocolate cake...we didn't have any oil in the house so I substituted butter. I'll let you know how it turns out. After dinner update: Not bad. You really couldn't tell the difference. Just so you know, it is a 1:1 ratio, so if the recipe calls for 2/3c oil that's how much butter you'd need.

Or at least, that's what I'm calling it. Back story: My daughter inherited not only my looks (she's practically a mini-me) but also my clumsiness. She's constantly falling and getting hurt - her knees look as though she's been to war - which is a major problem b/c she's going to be a flower girl this September. Scars are kind of discouraged by the bride and bride's mom. Today, J ran straight into the door knob of our back door. Not a huge shock, considering a few weeks ago I sliced my finger open on the front door knob, but ever the wise and watchful parent I look for opportunities to bestow motherly wisdom on my children. After I got her to calm down and she asked to go play I told her to be careful b/c "Miss Nancy is gonna kill you if you fall on your face again." About a month ago she fell, literally, straight on her nose and scraped the crap out of it much to the dismay of BFF's mom, Nancy. So, earlier this evening the best big bro...

I have a seven year old. How did that happen???? And what a boy he is. When he got up this morning he told me he'd been dreaming of "Batman's car" and that it was just the right size for him to drive. I was exhausted, I'd been up about 24 hours at this point, spent 3 or 4 hours pushing, and still ended up having a c-section. This is one of my favorite photos from just after William was born. His uncle (who was like 10 at the time) came over to visit and William kept crying when DJ would try to hold him so we stuffed DJ's shirt with a pillow and after that William was fine.   December 2009

This is awesome looking, and really, who doesn't love strawberries & brownies? 1 box prepared brownie mix 1 jar of frosting fresh strawberries sucker sticks In a greased mini muffin tin, make the brownies. Remove, let cool on a wire rack. Frost. Stick a sucker stick through a strawberry and into a brownie bite. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

I've loved VT since I discovered them when I was 16, now that I have kids it is socially acceptable for me to watch them, but honestly I'd watch them even if my kids didn't want to. At least - I'd watch the older ones. The post Jonah era often lacks something, in my opinion. Anyway, here are a few lyrical samples of why I love the Veggies. Thankfulness I thank God for this day, For the sun in the sky, For my mom and my dad, For my piece of apple pie! For our home on the ground, For His love that's all around, That's why I say thanks every day! Because a thankful heart is a happy heart! I'm glad for what I have, Thats an easy way to start! For the love that He shares, 'Cause He listens to my prayers, That's why I say thanks every day! God is bigger You were lying in your bed, You were feeling kind of sleepy, But you couldn't close your eyes because the room was getting creepy. Were those eyeballs in the closet? Was that G...

Today my kids and I played at the park after school - we haven't done that in a couple months, so it was a nice treat for all involved - and while we were there my almost 7 year old and I sat on the swings for most of the time. After running through the normal "what'd you do today" conversation I mentioned that next week he only has school for two days. The little girl next to him pipes up and says "that's because it is Thanksgiving!" before running off to play with her friends. I asked my son what he was thankful for and the first thing out of his mouth was, "I'm thankful for you, Mom." Go ahead, say it with me, "Aww, he's so cute." After that though he told me he was thankful for "everything," the swing he was playing on, the pizza he had for lunch, the whole world. Then he told me he wanted to go to Africa and visit the "Indians" - I can only suppose he means the tribal communities. So very out of the...

Go read this post & then do something about it if you're able to. And remember even a couple dollars - when it comes from your necessity - is a great gift in the eyes of God. Luke 21:1-4

Both kids and one of the dogs camped out in bed with me (on a twin bed) last night, today I can't turn my head to the right b/c I slept funny. Still, I had a bed to sleep on. There have been times when I didn't have a bed to sleep on and there are countless people around the world who currently don't have a bed to sleep on, so today in spite of the pain, I'm very thankful to have a bed.

Last night we got some frustrating news about my mom's van that she's been letting me use - it needs an insane amount of work to keep it on the road. It has been running fine until the past couple of days when it started overheating, but all the fluid levels were fine. But this morning after reading Carla's Thankfulness post I was once again reminded of how blessed we are that it is still running! I'm expecting some money in the next week or so that would allow us to get a lot of work done to mom's van, so I'm just praying it holds up until then. I was hoping to do something else (either donating it and/or buying me a used car) with the money, but if this is where the Lord has us then I know it is for the best. Also, as I was packing my son's lunch and finding my daughter's homework I was struck with how blessed we've been with the teachers they've had. The public school system isn't where I planned for them to be, but thus far they'...

I came across this earlier today and thought it was a great way to save some money on your Halloween stuff. Simply mix 3 tbsp cornstarch and 1 tbsp flour together. Stir in 3/4 cup light corn syrup and 1/4 cup water and mix until smooth. Divide mixture into several paper cups and use food coloring to tint. Use a paint brush or cotton swab to apply; wash off later with water.

Earlier this week my daughter started running a fever in the middle of the night, being the wonderful mother that I am, I would never dream of hiding the meds in some pudding. Nor would I ever eat ALL the left over pudding, thus forcing me to make another batch up for her. Twice . This weekend while my kids were visiting their uncle (who is on leave from Afganistan) I certainly did not go out to eat after church with two families who had all their kids in tow. Furthermore, I was not ridiculously excited when I found out that we were going to Old Country Buffet and that OCB now had a slushie machine. I certainly would never eat a ton of food and then stuff myself even more simply b/c the cake on the dessert bar looked amazing. Additionally, I did not toy with the idea of going back to get a mousse that looked really good despite the fact that I was ready to burst. After eating I did not volunteer to walk the two boys over to guitar center so that the three of us wouldn...

The kids & I went camping this weekend with some friends. It was a ton of fun. Here are photos. W in a tree. Mr. T (haha best internet nickname ever) walking us to the playground. Miss E examining the gap between where we were standing and a rock. Mr. T had taken the kids to the car so they wouldn't see what was coming... This is the gap... This is the view from the safe side of the gap... This is me after I jumped the gap. We wore bandannas to keep our heads free from bugs. It also happened to be "Talk like a pirate day." Isn't it insane how beautiful this is? Resting... J was really tired. I finally gave in and carried her for a while - up hill. She's trying to kill me. This was on Sunday. W taking a break from his play fighting activities to show me how strong he is. Or that he is a rhino. I can't remember. The car My nightmare of a car (I've posted about it before , but not each time it has broke down. If I ...

Do your kids want some clay? Want to control what they come in contact with? Want them to be able to make their own clay? Then this post is for you! 1 c flour 3/4 c salt 1 tbsp vegetable oil natural dye (see below) In medium bowl combine the flour & salt. Pour in the oil & your natural dye. Stir well. Knead the dough on a floured surface for a few minutes. If too soft add a bit more flour. Store clay in airtight containers in the fridge. Natural Dye options Brown: 3/8 c hot water + 4 tbsp cocoa powder Fuchsia: 3/8 c hot beet juice Orange: 3/8 c hot water + 1 tbsp paprika Yellow: 3/8 c hot water + 1 tbsp tumeric