Sock Hop

The elementary school had a sock hop. Alyssa, Jonathan, Michael and Charlie had a blast dancing the night away. Michael won the best decorated socks for his age group. Alyssa and Jonny both participated in the hula hoop contest but neither won. All of the kids played the Limbo. All in all it was a fun night!

David and Melissa

They popped in for a surprise visit and we had to take a picture on the couch with all of this kids. This is becoming the thing to do when we have company.

No-Knead Bread

Over at Southern Spirit Hunters, Sarah has started a bread baking club. Here is the first recipe she posted and my finished product. I did make two loaves out of this recipe rather than just one and I baked mine on very well greased cookie sheets. This bread was served for my kiddos with honey butter and was gone pretty much instantly. They loved it and it is such an easy recipe. Enjoy!


No-Knead Bread

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

Veggie Tales

Grandma bought the kids tickets to see Veggie Tales live. Aunt Joyce, who was visiting from Michigan, along with Aunt Carolyn and I took Katie, Zackery, Alyssa, Jonny, Mikey and Charlie to the show.


Right from the start Michael was entranced. Charlie was scared and snuggled close to me but finally danced after the intermission. I know that we all had a really good time at the show.

Uncle Bob and Aunt Willie Visit

This week Uncle Bob and Aunt Willie came to visit. We had them over for dinner twice, once with fresh cod that Uncle Bob caught while deep sea fishing. The kids had so much fun getting to know them and so did I. Lots of pictures, lots of laughter!

First day of School

Zackery is in 8th grade.
Alyssa is in 3rd grade.
Jonny is in 1st grade.
Mikey is in Kindergarten.