Carlyn

my stair steps!! luther and pearl are still telling me happy mother's day everyday :) luther knows how much i love pictures so they sat still and smiled(with lots of help from aunt catherine) while i tooks these pictures of them at the botanical gardends today. luther told me it was for mother's day. man, i love these kids!! they bring me as much joy as they bring me work and that is a whole lot!!

I get lots of questions about how we do family worship at our house.  So, I thought I would just describe what we do.  We do family worship mostly every evening, unless the kids are up way past their bedtime(7pm) for some good reason (like prayer group on Wednesday nights).   We have tried different locations and times, but what we have found that works best is right before bed in Luther and Pearl’s room. We(typically James) reads the kids a Bible story, discussing it and asking them questions along the way to make sure they understand the main principles. They must sit and listen to the story.  They are not allowed to have any toys or get up and play.  Calvin sits in my lap and the kids sit on either side of James so they can see the book.   We ask them more questions and answer any questions they have at the end of the story.   Then we pray.  James first and then kids usually pray too.  We don’t make them pray if they don’t ...

Breastfeeding has been a huge part of my life for almost 5 years(14 months with Luther, 15 months with Pearl and I am on the 10th month with Calvin and still counting).  With Luther, I had a lot of problems in the beginning and that caused me to do a ton research on breastfeeding.  I read lots of books and info on the web, talked with many of other mommies about their experiences (including my own mommy), and worked with several different lactation consultants. Armed with knowledge, I was actually able to see what info was helpful using trial and error.  With Pearl and then Calvin, I was able to prevent all of the problems I had had with Luther and resolve new challenges my own. I have friends come to me with questions on the subject often and I have realized that I have a lot of help to offer.  So, I have sorted through all of the info and come up with what I think you really need to know in the beginning.  The first few days and weeks really make or break...

flying home from Seattle after one of james's interviews watching the kids play at the park our Easter babies!! Luther and pearl sporting outfits mommy made them me with her baby boy and baby girl daddy fishing at the pond beach trip!! the kids in the matching thomas outfits i made them playing in the water at the beach James is finishing up his 3rd year of anesthesia residency. just a 2 rotations left and he will be starting his final year here in July. he has completed all of the interviews for the pediatric anesthesia fellowship he wanting to do. he interviewed at little rock AR, seattle WA, portland OR, nashville TN and atlanta GA. he will be making his rank list in may and then we will find out in mid june where he has matched. it i just a one year program, so it will interest to see where we land after that. we planted our garden the end of march and james has been enjoying taking care of it. he has done a fab job and the plants all look grea...

                                                     wheat berries fresh ground flour Things that I have learned that I think are helpful in grinding your own flour: Wheat needs to be ground fresh or stored in the freezer. I keep a canister in the freezer of my “all purpose mix” (see below) so I don’t have to grind that every time I make something. When I make my bread each week, I grind that flour fresh. Then I make my all purpose mix to go in my canister while I have everything out. Flour ground fresh is still pretty fluffy and so it measure a little different than once it has settled in the canister for a little while. So when using flour I just ground, I just used rounded cups and don’t level of my measuring cup. If I am using flour out of my canister that has had time to settle and pack together, then I just measure it like normal. Exp...

My bread recipe using store bought flour (scroll down for home ground flour recipe) Prep You will need 2 greased loaf pans a clean dish towel your mixer with the dough hook attachment Step 1 2 cups of warm water 1 Tablespoon brown sugar 1 heaping Tablespoon of bulk yeast(or 2 packets) In a small bowl or measuring cup dissolve sugar in water and the add yeast, let sit while you do the next step Step 2 3 cups whole wheat flour 1 cup bread flour 1/3 cup brown sugar 2 teaspoons of salt Put all of this in your mixer bowl, and mix on the lowest speed until everything is combined Step 3 1/3 cup oil (Canola oil, vegetable and olive oil all will work fine) 2 cups whole wheat flour Slowly add the water/yeast mixture from step 1 and the oil to the mixer while it is on the lowest speed. Once everything is combined, start adding the flour ½ cup at a time. Give a few minutes in between scoops for it to be kneaded into the dough. This is the tricky part. Sometimes it wor...

The Best Lemon Bars Ingredients § 1 cup butter, softened (i use 1/2 salted butter & half smart balance) § 1/2 cup white sugar § 2 cups all-purpose flour (i used my fresh ground wheat flour 1/2 soft & 1/2 hard wheat) § 1tsp salt § § 4 eggs § 1 1/2 cups white sugar § 1/4 cup all-purpose flour(add extra 1T if using 2/3 cup of lemon juice) i use my wheat here too § 2 large or 3 small lemons, juiced (1/2- 2/3 cup) § Zest of the lemons used Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan. 3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice & zest. Pour over the baked crust. 4. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheat...

i typed this up for a friend but thought i would share it here too in case anyone was look for some great meals. these are all meatless, super healthy, super cheap and freeze well. so we have a pretty limited budget, so we eat lots of dried beans!! here are 3 of our favorites, 2 of which are my favorite freezer meals too. ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Lentil Soup info i boil chicken for recipes a lot, and when i do i always save the broth(freezes well!) for this yummy soup. it works fine with store bought too, but if you have your own, it makes this recipe very cheap!! Lentil Soup recipe Ingredients • 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling • 1 large onion, chopped • 4 carrots, peeled and chopped • 4 celery stalks, chopped • 4 garlic cloves, chopped • 1 large can of diced tomatoes • 1 pound dried lentils • 11 cups chicken broth • 1 tsp of dried thyme • 1 cup dried pasta(elbow or rotoni work great) • Salt and pepper • Shredded Parm...

tomorrow calvin will be 7 months old. here is a picture of each one of my baby right around 7 months. i thought it was fun to have a side by side comparison. they look so similar yet, they all have there own individual look. my 1st born: Luther Samuel. it is so hard to even remember him at this age anymore. so glad i took lots of pictures. #2: pearl carolee, my beautiful princess calvin james!! my oh, so precious #3 p.s. this is the best booster seat ever.  we have never owned a high chair but we have 2 of these and they are great!!  steer clear of the safe first ones.  they are impossible to tighten to the chair and slide and wobble.     

i am pleased to announce that i have finished Pearl's 2nd Year Photobook . now time finish cooking for our family Christmas we are having tomorrow, finish wrapping presents & get my Christmas cards mailed!! so take a look if you get a chance. i am pretty happy with how it turned out. i feel like each one i do gets a little better.

so i typed this back in December and never exactly finished it and just remembered about it today(Feb 7th). so here is our uncompleted unedited year in review!! 2010 has been a busy year, but isn’t every year?? So what have we been up to?? well, we started the year with a 1yr & and a 3 yr old and ended the year with a 5month old, 2 yr old and a 4 yr old!! James finished up his 2 nd year of residency which was his 1 st year doing anesthesia and he is now half way through his 2 nd year of anesthesia. So, that means he just has about 18 months left of anesthesia training and he will be an independent anesthesiologist!! We will then have to relocate at that point for him to do a one year fellowship in pediatric anesthesia. We are looking at several locations and James is in the application process. We won’t know where we will be moving until the official match day in June. We have really enjoyed these last few years in the Birmingham area and we are planning on m...