Cassie's Cuddles

I can’t believe it, I worked with yeast and they actually turned out. Yay! I found this recipe, http://makemethod.vox.com/library/post/homemade-bagels.html and decided to give it a go, afterall Lachlan and I just love bagels. Since they are at least $1 each, I thought that I can’t do any worse.  They are very simple to make, just time consuming (in the sense that you can’t whip them up five minutes before you step out of the door). I don’t have a mixer, but mixing it with your wooden spoon works just as well (and builds up a little muscle). Here they are ready to be cooked in water briefly (that was cool to watch). Ok, so they look a little like snails, but next time they will look more rounded (don’t roll out a sausage shape and join it, it doesn’t work). Instead roll out a ball and use something to cut out the centre. Also my baking paper got stuck on the bottom (don’t tell anyone, they didn’t notice), of course I did my best to peel it off, but I’m not too sure that I got all of it off.  Hee hee, my family ate them too quickly to notice. By the way, they were yum!

Oh, and I tidied up my very full pantry. I haven’t had it this full in a long time, I will consider this a blessing. Now Jared should be able to find  the Peanut Butter when he wants it 😀 I also started on a couple of flowers to go toward my handmade swap, oh, and a wrist pin cushion.

Yay, I have Lachlan’s first school photos. 

Meanwhile, Stephanie has finally finished her apron. She made a few major errors, but she was able to fix them up. Well done Steph!

You saw Cassandra’s picture yesterday didn’t you? It was a picture of her brothers. Today we decided to make them into dolls. Cassandra kept saying that she was very excited to use my machine. Remember that she is only 4. The end product! Two dolls with a bell inside.

Ok folks, this really isn’t funny, but it is. Does that make sense? I just said to my husband, I wonder who is reading my blog? My daughter very quickly said ” You know how you make a lot of mistakes with your spelling? Well, maybe the mothers are getting their children to go through and find the spelling mistakes as part of their schooling” What? That really puts a dampner on things don’t you think? Come on, you can tell me, is anyone actually doing that?

No, I’m not jealous, just going green.  Seriously, I’m not that great at the whole “going green” thing, but after using so many little plastic baggies over the last couple of months, anyone would feel a bit wasteful, especially as they don’t seem to find their way home. So, I found this tutorial, http://ihavetosay.typepad.com/photos/reusable_snack_bag_tutori/img_9196.htmland made my first baggie. I didn’t use PUL, because I’m not quiet sure what it is, but, I might try using some new nappy plastic wraps for the inside layer so that they will be easy to wipe clean. I have another 7 lined up to make.. Look at this great picture that Cassandra drew yesterday. It is a picture of her two brothers playing, and she added herself in too.

I know, I hear you say “another one?” What can I say, I love the postman! I also love making things, and I already have all the stuff to do so, so why not? If you would like to make 5 or 10 things, and recieve the same, pop over to herehttp://soozs.blogspot.com/2010/05/put-to-good-use-swap.html and put your details down. You have ages, until the last week of June to make the items, so get going. Oh, it is only for Aussies though, sorry! Humm, now what will I make first?Something like the above would be cute. I found this here.http://kellyrachel.com/blog/2010/04/12/little-letter-needle-book-tutorial/She is having a give away at the moment too, but don’t enter because I want to win. 😀What about this?

Gotta go folks, I have to enter the giveaway.

Today after school, the girls and I made strawberry jam. Just 1 KG of strawberries ($4) and 1 KG of sugar, and a dash of lemon juice. We enjoyed some for our lunch. When Jared got home, I was excited to show him our 4 bottles of jam. He asked for a little taste on a spoon. The jam that was in the fridge, and the spoon couldn’t even break through the jam, it was set solid! Hmm, don’t know what went wrong there. I just zapped it in the good ole microwave, and “ta da”, nice and smooth again.

I also made these yummy cookies. I love the idea of having most of the ingredients already weighed out in a pretty container. All I had to do was add one egg, some Vanilla essence, and a cup of butter. This recipe came fromhttp://www.achristianhome.com/GoodThingsandRecipes/Cookies%20in%20a%20Jar.htm If you would like to display the ingredients, get a nice clean jar, and layer the dry ingredients in it.

1/2 cup of white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup of choc chips

2 cups of SR flour

preheat the oven to 180c, add 1 egg, a dash of vanilla essence,one cup of butter,  and maybe some water depending on how dry your mixture is.  cook for 25 min.

Yum, yum!

I also spent a couple of hours under the house, you should see how much stuff we have under there! I have now donated a few items. Why do we hold on to stuff anyway? Meanwhile Steph cleaned up the outside steps. She looks like Cinderella don’t you think?

Do you want to know what our family ritual is? It’s fanning the fire alarm at breakfast, lunch and tea!

It was Stephanie’s turn to do the ritual. Don’t think I burn everything, it is just super sensitive, in fact all three are.

Look what Cassandra recieved in the mail. An application for a card from the commonwealth bank, what? She is only 4!

I found this package of beeswax at the op shop for only $4, cool. I have also started to prepare for the next Dayspring Day. I have bought over 120 small pouches, here are some. They were $1 each.

Yesterday I drove up to Ballarat to attend a mini conferance about mothering and homeschooling. I was a bit nervous about it, but the speaker Barbara Smith was honest and likable. They publish a magazine from NZ called Keystone. and I also bought this book. Jared read my blog yesterday, he asked me why our life sounded  more exciting on my blog. What can I say to that? Our life IS exciting, in a calm way.

Yay, I just heard from Australia Post, they are going to send me $25 since they lost the parcel. I’m glad that I re-made the swap. On the way to Stephanie’s music lessons, I swung by my swap buddy’s place, and handed it to her. I might have looked like a freaky mumma turning up at 7.30 with a little brown bag in my hand, but Ebony was gracious. Take a look at her site if you want to see the re-done swap 😀 http://offthepeg.blogspot.com/

Oh man, I can’t believe that the pincushion swap that I sent on the week of the 14th of April is lost!!! I have been wondering why I hadn’t heard from my swap partner, I thought that maybe she didn’t like it. I thought maybe she was too busy to answer me, and the my mind really started to wonder. I finally emailed her the other night, asking her if she got it, and she hadn’t. Agggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! Australia Post, you have done me wrong (and of course my swap buddy), how DARE you! Now I am playing Detective. No, the postoffice doesn’t know where it is, but they gave me a number to call (yeah, it’s looking promising, not!). Although my swap buddy said don’t worry about it, I know how I would feel about waiting at the letter box for so long, so….I will start again. Hohum. Australia post, you better have it sitting on your desk when I call tommorow, or else I will…I will…be very sad :C