Author: Superpaige (Page 44 of 180)

My Mom and Dad have entered the digital age, and they have a BLOG!! It’s mostly a way to show off their pictures from their wonderful travel adventures, like this one.

Hooray for them!!!

Do me a favor and check it out, would you, please? They would love some happy comments, I am sure. You can find them at http://colemansonthego.blogspot.com/

Oh, and just in case I forget, you can catch me on Sunday’s Music and the Spoken Word broadcast. I’ll be the blonde one ringing the bells.

I have been pretty frustrated with the whole scouting thing, and have shared my opinion liberally with many of my friends. I just don’t know why those people in charge must make it so complicated and confusing, and why there is a complete lack of communication from the ones in charge to the the ones who make things happen–the MOTHERS.

It probably doesn’t help that I’m in the Primary presidency, and we are currently wracking our brains to figure out who would possibly be good cub scout leaders for the little guys. It’s not an easy calling, and there are NOT a lot of people who will do it. Double frustration for scouts.

Why is there not a book titled “Eagle Scouts for dummies”? Maybe there is, let me check. Nope. They do have this book at amazon, though.

Some mom out there needs to write a book explaining to all the other moms out there the steps to follow to help the sons of the world complete in an orderly fashion, all the requirements. So that we won’t be running back and forth trying to get things done, saying, “I thought you DID all those requirements.”

Ahem.

Well, before I pull every single one of my hairs out and work myself into a tirade where the only thing will help me calm down is a plate of mint brownies or other such sugar and fat laden confection, I’ll skip most of the complaining and go right to the good news.

Cole has finally obtained all the signatures needed, and is ready to START his Eagle project.

Can I get a “Hallelujah”?

He will be collecting used eye glasses. We’re hoping for 100 pairs. Then he will clean them, make minor repairs, and have eye doctors tell us what the RX would be, then we’ll package them up nicely and give them to a local charity, who will then send them to Iraq, where they will be distributed to people who don’t have glasses.

So, do you have glasses hanging around collecting dust? Would you like to get rid of them? Here’s your chance. Let me know, and I’ll send the boy over to pick them up. Or you could just bring them to me. Or send them to us.

We WILL get this project completed.
He WILL get those last couple of things finished up and pass off those remaining merit badges.
We WILL figure out the whole paperwork thing and get everything done and turned in.

We have 10 months to do it.
Wish us luck.

The rain, it keeps coming. Last night I heard a HUGE long clap of thunder and then it sounded like I was in the shower full strength. I wondered how much water could POSSIBLY fall down on us. Thankful that we are not close to a river or stream (or any body of water, for that matter), I said a little prayer asking for blessing and courage for those who ARE facing flooding. Eventually I went back to sleep.

But this rain, it’s getting me down. Isn’t there a song about that? Oh, yes, Karen Carpenter, rainy days and Mondays get me down, too. I don’t even want to leave the house. Seriously, I want to stay home, bake bread and yummy treats, make soup, eat the yummy treats, and curl up and read a book. I bought some shall/blanket things at Kohl’s the other day that were on 90% off clearance, because, technically it’s spring, and should be getting warmer. But my kids have all embraced them and are wrapping up in them every chance they get. I find them quite cozy, too.

On the other hand, it is spring, and a part of me is itching to get outside and take care of my baby plants in the garden before the gopher gets them. I want to kill every last dandelion and pull out all the weeds that are crowding my gorgeous tulips. But I can’t do any of that if it’s RAINING. So, I hole up inside and read, bake, and watch tv.

It was supposed to be the Fathers and Sons campout this weekend, but for the second year in a row, it was cancelled (or postponed, rather) due to the weather. Hopefully they will reschedule it for another NICE day and Ryan can take the boys then. John was SO looking forward to it. He wanted to pack two days ago. I’m glad I didn’t let him.

The lawn is SO LONG. Cole mowed it last Saturday and it took him HOURS. It filled up all the garbage cans, and then it was filling up the back of the truck. We told him he should really mow at least the front lawn by Tuesday or so. Fat chance. We haven’t had two hours of non rain to dry out the lawn.

Oh, well.

In other news, Cole now has all the signatures needed to begin his Eagle Scout project. Finally. He is going to collect used eyeglasses to send to people in Iraq. After he collects the glasses, he will clean them, do minor repairs, and have eye doctors prescriptionize them for us. So, if you have any old eyeglasses around the house, we would love to take them off your hands.

And we’re hoping that at some point, the rain will stop, and we can continue on with spring and baseball and softball games.

I was going through some old pictures looking for something specific. But I found it hard to not stop and look at all the pictures of my kids when they were cute and little. Not that they aren’t cute anymore, but honestly, they aren’t NEARLY as cute as they were when they were little.

Look at my little dancers. Dancers! And they liked each other.

(Sigh)

And those little faces. And those little cheeks. And those little hands that wanted to hold my hand.

It’s just not the same anymore.

There I was, sitting on the couch, enjoying the silence of a quiet house with all the kids at school. *Sigh* It’s lovely, really.

When–BEEP-Beep-Beep-BEEP-Beep-Beep ZZZRT. The front door unlocks. What the heck? Nobody is supposed to be home from school yet. Giggle, Giggle. I go to check it out and I hear, Beep, ZZZRT. The door is now locked. It’s the neighbor girls. Unlocking and locking our door. Not because they want to get in, but because they think it’s fun.

I get a text from my husband asking me if it’s early out day. HE just got a text that is generated whenever anyone uses their code to unlock the door. Jenna’s code.

So. Jenna is the one who “shared” her code with these little hoodlems.

Time to update some codes.

About a year ago I found the perfect wheat bread recipe for me. I can’t say that MY recipe would work for everyone, but here, it’s not failed me. Granted, sometimes I let them rise to long and we end up with some funky shaped loaves, (like these ones) but they still taste yummy.

But as far as rolls go, I just haven’t gotten it right. The recipe I had just didn’t seem to rise enough, and I always ended up with rolls that tasted ok, but just weren’t light and fluffy enough.

Then I found this recipe for bunny rolls

We tried to for Easter. The bunnies didn’t turn out so greats, so we just made regular rolls shapes. And we left out the orange zest and used water instead of juice, and the taste was PERFECT! I made rolls again last night, and they turned out great AGAIN! So it wasn’t a fluke, it’s just finally a recipe that worked for me.

So, here’s the modified Roll Recipe that Works for Paige

1 1/2 T. yeast
2 1/2 c. hot water
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 T. lemon juice
Mix together and let sit for 10 minutes until yeast begins to foam. Then add:
1 egg
3 T. water
1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. powdered milk
1 T. salt
7 1/2-8 c. flour
Knead everything together in the Bosch until dough is smooth and then continue to knead for another 5 minutes. Once the dough is incorporated, let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes. Once the dough has rested for a few minutes, roll the dough into a large circle, cut into pie shapes and roll up to make crescent shapes.

Place on a sprayed cookie sheet a couple inches apart. Cover them and let them rise for 40-60 minutes, or until they have doubled in size. Bake at 350 for 14-16 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

Yes, I’m sure there are other amazing roll recipes, but for me, this is the first one that has worked. Hooray!