Grab Some Potato Chips!

I have so much sweetness to share today, you are going to need some potato chips to counteract all that sweet!

I took a ridiculous number of photos yesterday. Well, YOU try to resist snapping photos of little girls all dressed up and feeling beautiful! You won't believe it but I've actually done a lot of editing. I'm shameless, I know. This time in our lives is fleeting, though, and I want to absorb every bit of it. Also, these girls have other grandparents/aunts/uncles who may enjoy seeing these photos.

Hey! Why am I explaining myself to you anyway? It's my blog and I'll post lots of grandma photos if I want to!

Happiness

Today was such a lovely day! Although we had snow just days ago, today we had green things, warm weather and a noticeable lack of Wyoming Wind.

I love Easter! It is, by far, my favorite holiday. Today we spent a lot of time with our church family as well as our own family. I got to connect with Ben and Sara by phone and later, Mike and I went to the movies. It was a full but happy day. I took plenty of photos but I'll just start with a few for now. I hope your day was as sweet as mine.

Jesus Bunny

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, EASTER IS NOT ABOUT THE BUNNY!

However, Mike was once given a little bunny that is pretty cute.  Both of our granddaughters have been drawn to this little guy. He wears bunny slippers, which are cute. The best part, though, is that when you press his tummy he sings "Jesus Loves Me".

Jesus Loves Me... that's what it's all about!

Happy Easter!

Still Her Little Child

Maria!

Today is Maria's birthday!

I could not be more proud of this lovely daughter of our's. 

She is tender, talented, kind, funny and has such a beautiful spirit it simply lights her up. She is a great friend, a delightful mother and a dear daughter.

Have a happy day, Maria!

We love you!

Maundy Thursday - Washing Thursday

Tonight we observe Maundy Thursday at our church. The word "Maundy" is about "washing" as tonight one of the things we read about is Jesus washing his disciples feet. This occurred the night they were celebrating the Jewish Passover. This is such a powerful passage with so many lessons within!

When Jesus was washing his disciples feet, Peter at first refused. I expect he felt that it was wrong for the Son of God to be bent down over his own dusty, dirty feet. At his refusal, Jesus told him that if he wasn't washed by Jesus, he would have no part of him. That must have sounded mysterious to Peter but he immediately agreed to the washing and in fact, offered his entire body for Jesus to wash!

These guys did not yet understand what all was going on there. How could they? But Peter knew he wanted to be totally washed by Jesus if that was what would draw him nearer. Isn't that what we all need, to be totally washed by Jesus? Not only for the cleansing of our sins, but to draw us near to him, to be a part of him.

John 13:1-17

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

13 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him,and that was why he said not every one was clean.

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

This is one of my favorite songs and it goes well with these verses. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Sour Dough Tutorial I Mean Explosion!

Every now and then I get it into my head that I should be like an 1890 prairie woman and should do more things from scratch. Recently, I had one of those moments and decided I need to have my own sourdough starter. So, like any good prairie woman, I went onto Pinterest to find out how to do that. Actually, back in my farm wife days I had sourdough starter by that was so long ago, I'd forgotten.

Well, as it turns out, I am very good at it. VERY, VERY GOOD.

I went with the first recipe I found. I told me to mix together 2 cups of warm water, 1 package of yeast, 2 cups of flour and a bit of sugar if I wished. The sugar speeds up the process. That seemed like a good idea as it takes several days of sitting out on the counter before it is ready. It did warn to go easy on the sugar. I thought I did.

So, naturally, being the farm wife 1890's prairie woman that I am, I first went to Walmart to get a cool jar for my starter. You don't seal a lid on starter, but I thought I could just fold that little hinge dealy inward so the lid would remain loose. When you are not wanting to use sourdough on a daily basis, you can keep it in the fridge and I thought the lidded jar would be great for those days. I mixed it all up. The recipe says you don't need to worry about the lumps as they will disappear. My jar seemed about right, with room for the dough to bubble up nearly double its original size.

 So far, so good.

I had purchased two of those sweet jars

so I could start some for Maria as well.

Did she WANT to also be an 1890's homesteader person?

I don't know but it seemed she might.

 I covered the starter with a cloth just as directed.

I'd let it set 2-5 days, just as the recipe said.

All I had to do was stir it once a day during that time.

I set a pie tin under it, just in case it dribbled a bit.

 One hour later,

yes,

ONE HOUR LATER,

I came back to this!

Anyone need some sourdough starter?

A few other things you may want to know...

You can maintain sourdough on your counter at room temperature as long as you "feed it" equal amounts of water and flour, stirring it in daily. You also should be taking some out every day if you do that. Use what you take out for a recipe or give it to a friend (but be careful, they may unfriend you), or throw it out. I don't like the idea of waste. Also, if we go on vacation someday I don't want to have to find a sourdough sitter, so I'm going with plan "B". I will keep it in the fridge (you can do that for several months) between uses.

If you are interested in making some sourdough starter, you should probably just click here for a REAL tutorial. There you will find out about Hooch, why you may not want to use tap water, and how to freeze your starter. 

You may want to opt out of using sugar... I'm just sayin'.

Happy Chaos

Yes, I realize I didn't include any people pictures in my Monday post. Not to worry (I'm talking to you Grandma Grace, Grandma Carol and Alaysha!) as I did indeed take some during Mike's birthday celebration. There was a LOT of chaos, but it was all fun.

Early on Elise decided to spell some words on the fridge.

She's really smart, you know.

 Cordelia was ready for a good time; you can see it in her eyes!

Elise wanted to be a butterfly.

She stuck with that plan until it was time to go home.

There were multiple basset hounds.

 Laura (borrowed family member, as Maria put it) looks

innocent here but she can hold her own with this crazy group.

By the way, click here for some better photographs from the evening.

Maria & Eric got some nice ones of Mike.

Mine of him did not turn out so well,

probably because he put a curse on my camera

or something since I disobeyed him and posted photos of him

against his will.  Whatever.

I am aware this is a poor photo but it captured a fine moment.

While Wii bowling was going on, Sam kept obliging Elise 

as she  requested to fly. A butterfly needs to fly, you know!

This went on long enough for Sam to get a good work-out up 

and down the hall and around and about the upstairs.

Sam is a good sport!

Eric taught Cordelia to Wii Bowl.

Doesn't that just make you want to say, "Aaaah"?

Then there was this...

Elise, once again begging Sam to make her fly.

Admit it.

You couldn't turn that face down, now could you?

And Sam, once again, obliging.

When Sam was exhausted, Laura stepped up to the plate.

Sam got to sit, at least for a bit.

And that, my friends, is another crazy

family night for the record books.

Frosting Inside and Out

Yesterday was not a very spring-like day here. Or maybe it was. Spring often looks like this around here. No matter that we think Spring should be all fresh green and growing things. Well, we do have some of that but yesterday it was covered, frosted with snow.

We had padded seating, complete with good lumbar support, on our deck.

Nevertheless, we had a nice little family celebration last evening in honor of Mike's birthday.  One of the things my husband really likes for his birthday is for me to make cupcakes in ice cream cones. He remembers his Mom making them when they got their first microwave oven. The texture of cake and ice cream cone together is not a big thrill for me but he likes it. So, here is how I made them...

I used an ordinary cake mix but since Maria and Eric and girls are vegan, I needed to avoid the use of the eggs called for in the cake directions. No problem. I keep egg replacement on hand.

 It is easy to use. 

It tells you right on the box how much powder to mix with a small amount of water, 

based on how many eggs you are replacing. Mine called for three eggs.

I mixed the replacer up then added it to the cake mix.

 I put the cones in my mini muffin pan.

They fit just right.

I filled them up, not all the way to the top, though.

I made that mistake before and it makes a big mess!

 Don't tell Mike, but I put them in the oven.

It is tedious to do them one at a time in the microwave

and I don't usually get them quite right.

As you can see they don't really turn out quite

right for me from the oven either.

 That is what frosting and sprinkles are for!

I opted to skip the sprinkles on a few of them and sprinkled on sea salt instead.

THAT was a moment of genius if you ask me!

 When it came time to serve them, 

I decided to carry them to the table while they 

still stood in the muffin tin.

It seemed like a good idea 

but I didn't get more than a few inches 

off the counter before nearly 

every one of them tipped over! 

Some ended up on the floor!

They'd become quite top heavy!

Then, instead of crying, I 

went over the edge, 

meaning I laughed so hard I

could barely breathe!

Eventually, I stuck a candle in one and brought it to my dear man

for the song-singing/candle-blowing/wish-making moment.

It was all good.