Little Lauren is sick now. I hope that she and I both will be able to get at least some sleep tonight. Today was a good day. Steven took the boys to church this morning, and to play tennis later today. I did get a lot of cleaning and laundry done today. (all of the things I was too tired to do yesterday, due to staying up all night when Justin was sick.) I made a crock of home-made soup, and gifted a loaf of home-made white bread to a friend. I made another friend, who had a birthday this weekend, a loaf of pumpkin bread. That pretty much sums up our Sunday. Not too eventful, but sometimes those are the best kinds of weekends! Now if we can just get rid of all of this sickness going around. It is tuff, when there always seems to be children at school who are sick. Makes it hard to stomp out illness. Thank goodness spring is almost here, maybe the warm weather will help to end some of these germs! I know I for one am ready to get outside again, and go for bike rides and just take the children on outside outings once again. I do have a bit of spring fever!!!

Last night little Justin was sick, with a repeat of what little Megan went through the other night. He was not able to keep even one sip of water down all night long. Thankfully, this morning he stopped throwing up. He is doing so much better tonight. I was pretty much a zombie all day today, after another sleepless night. I did get some laundry done, and finished the book I was reading. The book was awesome, and a real tear jerker! Other than that, I just spent time with the children, and didn't do very much. Tristyn stayed the night at one of his friends house's last night. I am praying that tomorrow I can get a bit more done! All I need is a little sleep tonight. Lauren says her tummy is hurting, so this may be a sign that she is going t to get this bug as well. (I sure hope not.) Tomorrow the girls and I are going to make a friend a loaf of pumpkin bread, so long as everyone is well. I plan to wrap the pumpkin bread in tissue paper and tie it with raffia. I love the look of raffia. I had a little of the pink gigem fabric left that I had used to line the inside of the girl's Valentine purses, so I made a little heart to tie on the outside of the pumpkin bread. I've got a pillo calling my name, so I'm off to what I hope will be a good nights rest.

Recipe For Amish Donuts~

Jill, here is the recipe for the donuts I made the other day. I cut the batch in half, and for my family of six there was the perfect serving of donuts. If you are cooking for more, or just want some for later, you should make the entire batch.

3/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp of sea salt
1/4 cup of butter
1/4 cup of warm water
1 pack of yeast, or 2.5 teaspoons if you use bulk yeast like me.
1 beaten egg
3 cups of unbleached flour (organic is best) You can add a little extra if your dough is too soft.

(on the reverse, if your dough is not moist enough to form a proper ball, add a little extra warm water, just a drop at a time, as a little goes a long way.)

In a pan heat milk, sugar, salt and butter, until the butter is melted. Cool to a luke-warm temp. I just take a spoon and lift up the milk mixture and pour in back into the pan, again and again, and this process cools it fast.

Measure your warm water into your large bowl, or kitchen aid, sprinkle in yeast, stir until dissolved. Add the milk mixture, egg, and flour very slowly. Use dough hook, or stir until it forms a dough. (if you have a kitchen aid let it knead the dough for you for about 5 min.) If you are doing the kneading by hand, then do it a bit longer. Cover, and let rise 20-30 min. (I sometimes skip this step, but if there is time I like to allow for it.) Punch dough down, roll it out and cut with a little cup. Use a cap to cut the holes, or in my case, I use a very small medicine measuring cup. Add a little oil to a small pan. (enough for the donuts to float.) On Med. heat fry the donuts, then put into glaze as soon as done, and lay on a plate.

Glaze Recipe

2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup of milk
1 tsp vanilla

I like to sprinkle some cinnamon into this glaze when I've made half of my donuts, because I think it makes them oh so much yummier!

That's it. You can let the children frost and sprinkle them if you like, after the glaze has dried.

Donuts & Coffee

This morning, for a little surprise, I made my family a batch of home-made donuts. They were awesome! I found this recipe in an Amish cook book, years ago. I have tried others, and always go back to this one. After they are done, they are dipped into a glaze. Today, I did half with regular glaze, and the other half I had added some cinnamon to the glaze. My favorite are the cinnamon glazed donuts. They truly taste like the donut shop's that I love so much. I am going to post the recipe for these tasty little treats, in case anyone else would like to try them. The donuts with a regular glaze, can be frosted with your favorite frosting, and sprinkled with colorful sprinkles. Just make sure that you let them cool and the glaze harden before doing this step.
Anyone who knows me, knows that one of my favorite things to drink in the morning is coffee. I just have to share my favorite coffee cup. What I love about it, is that it not only keeps my coffee warm to the very last drop, and is spill proof, but when I put my hot coffee inside and add the milk, and shake, it seems to infuse the coffee with the milk, in a way that mere stirring does not. It is like it steams the milk. I truly love this cup. Tristyn, my oldest child, said to me the other day, "you sure take your coffee seriously". I truly do love good coffee. My favorite kind is a Arabica blend that I buy at Aldi. It's brand is called Beaumont, and I love it more than other costly brands I have tried. I use 1 Tbsp per cup 6oz cup of water, and it always turns out perfect. What I like, is that I can brew 1 and a 1/2 cups (just the right size for my mug.) in order to just have a single serving at a time. I am the only one to drink coffee in this family, so I don't need a lot at once.
I am very thankful today is Friday! I like to do Friday movie nights with the children from time to time. I need to plan a movie for our family tonight. Tonight's dinner will be, seasoned navy beans, corn bread, peaches with brownies for dessert. I have a big pot of seasoned navy beans on my stove cooking right now. It makes the house smell so yummy. I have found when I have a menu made up ahead of time, that my life is so much easier, than trying to decide at the last minute what to make.
Little Megan stayed home from school today, due to the fact she ran a fever yesterday, and was throwing up all night long the other night. I am thankful she is well again, and how fast she has recovered! Megan and Justin are sitting at the table making pictures. It is nice that they are getting along today! :) That is always such a blessing.

Grandpa's Buttermilk Pancakes~

Here is the buttermilk pancake recipe that my father always made for us children. They are light and fluffy and wonderful! You can use regular milk, just add a teaspoon of vinegar to sour it. The real buttermilk is much better though!

Mix the following,

one and a half cups of unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp of sea salt
1 Tbsp sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp oil
one and a half cup of buttermilk

Use spray oil in a skillet, and cook on Med. heat until golden on both sides.

Happy Tuesday!

This morning rather than my go, go, go attitude on getting my house in order, I chilled out with Justin! (Then, I got my work done.) He ate his Cinnamon and sugar toast, and I had my whole wheat English muffin with strawberry jam. We cuddled on the love seat and watched Dinosaur train and some Sesame Street. I just feel so blessed to get to share my day with such a sweet little guy. They do grow up so fast, and I feel so lucky to get to stay at home while my children are little. Above are a couple of photos of Justin this morning. If you look close, you may see some crumbs on his little face from his toast. LOL

Our weekend~

This weekend the girls and I went to see our town's production of Peter Pan. It was truly amazing. Flying and pixie dust and beautiful costumes, made for a very happy evening. On Saturday, the girls auditioned for The Emperor's New Clothes. Then on Sunday, all of the children, except little Justin, went skating at the skating rink. Tristyn was not feeling all that well, so he kind of just took it easy for a change. I will try to post photos soon.

The girl's Valentine handbags~

We have had sickness in our home the past week. First little Justin got it, super high fever and terrible coughing. Then I got sick, not as bad as Justin though. Next came Megan and Lauren. Heres hoping that Steven and Tristyn don't get it. We were sick on Valentines day, so we kept it a pretty simple celebration. For Tristyn, I got him a Trinity hoddie. For Lauren and Megan I made them little hand bags, one for them, and one for their American Girl dolls that they got for Christmas. Steven had a box of Chocolate turtles. (His favorite) Justin got a little snow globe and a little bag of candy. Then for me a box of Russel Stover chocolates, which I shared with everyone. To add to everything, our center fan in our heater went out, so for a few days, we made due with our space heaters for heat. They were a blessing, but certainly not the same as our heater. I am making a big dinner tonight. Salad with home-made croutons and home-made dressing, my Mom's potoato cassorole (with fresh graded potatoes.) baby peas and Chicken for Steven and the younger children. For dessert we are having pumpkin pie. I don't always make such large meals, but once or twice a week I really like to.
Steven has been busy at work with his audit this week. I am trying very hard to get caught up with my laundry. I normally do around three loads per day, so being sick, really got me behind a bit. Tristyn will be going to Portlad to visit his Dad and family there for spring break. Steven and the youger children and I plan to visit Jamesport, Mo. with my sister Lori and her husband Pradeep. I am looking forward to that. I love the Amish shops they have. I will try to post a photo of the little hand bags I made the girls. I had not yet attatched the straps at the time of the photo, but they were done otherwise. The children and I are going to see my friend and her little girl in the production of Peter Pan this weekend. We are looking forward to the return of warmer days, so that we can get outside more again. Spring will be here before we know it, and I for one am ready!!!