Making Bread

I've been baking our bread for close to a year now. I've tried different flours, different recipes, different techniques but they never turned out like the pictures and what I've seen other home made breads look like. I visit teach a lady who makes her own bread for her family of seven. She even grinds her own wheat! I thought if she can do it with 5 kids I can definitely do it for our (then) family of 3. I wanted something that was healthier than what you can find in the store and that didn't have preservatives. Plus I thought it would be a fun thing to do.

Except for the first few whole wheat loaves I made before I was told about wheat gluten they have all been edible and taste delicious. Wheat gluten is a must when making whole wheat breads! Although my bread tasted great it didn't rise and look as full as I wanted it to be. Finally after a year I decided to watch some youtube videos watching professionals making bread. I figured I could learn a few tips from them. Here are the things I learned:

• One, bread making is a longer process than I was making it. I wasn't kneading it long enough.
• Two, you must make sure your water isn't too cold or too hot.
• Three, I wasn't adding enough flour and my dough was too sticky.
• Four, even though recipes say you can knead it in the kitchen aid the bread turns out much better if you knead it by hand.
• Shaping the dough into a ball and oiling the bowl before rising the dough helps to make the bread look prettier.
• Two rises is crucial.
• Shaping the dough into a loaf shape before putting it into the pan also makes a prettier loaf.
• One recipe I had said to put a clean towel on the dough when it's rising in the pan but that prevented the loaf from rising above the pan sides. The video I watched didn't do that so I stopped.
• Don't make the dough rise to quickly by putting it on a heating pad. The bread deflates in the oven.

This makes bread making seem like a really hard process but it's not. You only have to do it a few times to get a feel for the dough and try a few different techniques. Once you figured it out then it's easy!

I'm writing this post because I finally had a break through with my bread loaves! I'm so glad I watched those youtube videos because now I can say I have great tasting and great looking bread! See for yourself:

I bet you can tell which bread is the good and which is the bad. I'm so thrilled to finally have a good looking bread! I've been trying to achieve that rounded top for a year now. Thank you youtube! You're a bread saver! Now we'll continue to enjoy some delicious and healthy home made bread.

Macy's Smile

It's very hard to get a good smile on camera of Macy. She's adorable but doesn't always have a good smile. Here is a smile sequence I took today. I told he to look at the camera and say cheese. I think she took the saying cheese part too seriously.

I love this one. It looks like Anna is thinking, "What is going on?! You're crazy Macy!"

Macy is growing up

Everyday Macy does something new that amazes me. I can't believe she will be 3 in only 12 days!

Yesterday Macy fully entertained herself for a whole hour! This is a big deal for her. Usually I have to suggest the activity or sit with her. I was in the kitchen making cookies and she got out a magnetic doll to dress, markers to color with, and books to read. Then she sat in front of Anna and read her books. Lots of books. Then she wanted to sit in the cabinet so she pulled out all her books. (See photo)

We went to Barnes and Noble and she read to me there. This girl loves her books.

I'm very impressed with Macy's reading comprehension. We've been reading some Christmas books lately. Granted she's heard them a lot but tonight she read them to me and I was surprised at how much she repeated. She said actual words and phrases she doesn't use in normal conversation.

She is growing up so fast. I'm so proud of her accomplishments!

Making Christmas Cookies

We had Macy's friend Oliver over to make and decorate Christmas sugar cookies with us. The kids helped make the cookies which were very easy thanks to Betty Crocker.

Mixing the cookies

Cute Oliver

Cute Macy

Flattening the dough

The best way to eat yogurt is with your hands

Time to frost!

They were very focused on frosting their cookies and were quite neat about it.

The finished product

 Each kid was good for about 4 cookies. Us moms frosted the rest. The kids were so good at making these cookies. I see this as a good winter indoor activity this year. I love this age because now they are able to do more things like this and are so excited about everything.

Ward Christmas Party

We had our ward Christmas party this Friday and it was really fun. It was a Tacky Christmas sweater party and Ja won third place! I got his black and silver metallic sweater in the women's department :) I thought my shiny gold sweater paired very nicely (in a tacky nice of way) with Ja's metallic black sweater. Macy had a cute and more traditional Christmas sweater with a Christmas scene on it which included a little girl, a tree, and presents. Anna was also very cute in her gingerbread outfit.

We had a good dinner while being entertained with musical numbers performed by people in the ward. They also had people bring hot chocolate, cider, and wassail for us to drink. There were cupcakes that the kids could frost and decorate too. After the performances we all sang "Santa Claus is coming to town" and wouldn't you know it, Santa appeared! Macy was very excited shouting, "It's Santa! Santa is here!" And even though she sat on his lap last weekend she was too scared to do it this time. Eventually Ja sat on Santa's knee with Macy on his lap.

Ja held Macy and Oliver during the musical numbers

 We tried to take a family photo but as you can see Macy wasn't having it. Then she saw her friends sitting on the stage for a picture and asked if she could do the same. Ja had walked off some where so I only got Macy. Then I got Macy to hold Anna and an adorable picture was born.

That night I noticed Macy rubbing her eye a lot and that it looked pink. My fears were confirmed the next morning when she woke up with green goop in her eye. Then again when I took her to the doctor. She has her first case of pink eye and an ear infection. She hadn't been complaining about her ear so I'm glad we caught it before it got worse. She hates the idea of the medicine and drops but actually does very well with them. She was also very brave at the doctors office. She only cried once for a little bit when the nurse wanted to weigh her. But she didn't cry at all when the doctor was checking her.

Christmas at the US Botanic Garden

We took a field trip downtown for Macy's preschool group. The US Botanic garden has a Christmas train which runs through
little fairy houses all made out of plant materials. We've gone for the past three years so I guess it's a tradition now.

Macy has a new friend in her preschool class named Emma. They've been good friends ever since Halloween because they both dressed up as princesses. Macy followed Emma around all morning and they had a great time. They even posed for pictures! Their favorite part was the mermaid and the waterfall.

It was a very warm day and was perfect for doing to DC. The group of kids sat outside on the grass and ate lunch together after going through the exhibit.
Macy loved watching the ducks in the pond that we walked passed. The best part was we got a great parking spot close by without having to look very far.

Sitting on Santa's lap

Last night we headed to the Alexandria marina to watch their holiday boat parade. People decorate their boats with Christmas lights and decorations and take a leisurely ride down the river.

At 4:15 Santa rode in on a boat and was available for pictures. Macy surprised me and asked if she could sit on Santa's lap. I said of course and we got in the long line to wait for our turn. We were very lucky because they cut the line off right behind us so we were the last in line. Throughout our wait Macy would say, "I want to sit on Santa's lap mommy." I told her we were in line and she would be happy. She was incredibly patient the whole wait.

Once there was only two people in front of us Macy started spinning and jumping because she was so excited. She happily sat right on Santa's lap and had her adorable smile on the whole time. She even told him she wanted a dog! That was the first I've heard of that!

I was (and still am) so proud of my little Macy. She was so sweet and adorable on Santa's lap. Although we waited close to 45 minutes for that one minute on Santa's lap, it was totally worth it. I am so glad I will have this happy memory of Macy on Santa's lap.

We then watched perhaps three minutes of the parade. Macy told Santa what she wanted and was ready to go home. Totally worth every minute.

We think Macy now likes Santa after watching Elf so many times. Now she knows there is nothing scary about him.

On a different note, Macy also pet a strangers dog last night! This is also a very brave thing for her to do. The owner of the dog stopped by us and Macy said, "I want to pet doggie mommy." I was surprised and walked over to the dog and she walked right up to it and pet it. No fear at all. My little girl is growing up!

Could they be any cuter?

Seriously, look at the evidence:

Both daddy and Anna fell asleep

Macy painting my toe nails

They love each other! Macy is good at making Anna laugh.

Macy is such a good helper.

Anna loves her thumb

Anna LOVES to smile

Anna loves her big sister

Macy the duck

I think not!

Macy is so thoughtful

Macy painted a couple of pictures and wanted to hang them up somewhere. Ja gave her a piece of tape and she put her pictures on the table legs. Later on I tried to move them and she got really mad. She said she put the pictures there so baby Anna can see them. I think that's so sweet she put them on Anna's level and was concerned that Anna wouldn't be able to look at them if I put them up on the wall.