Family News and Photos

Readers be warned:  This is a long post!

Happy New Year!!  Have you made any resolutions for 2012?  I'm not usually one for making long-range resolutions because I'm not good at sticking to them.  Especially any that involve food, or the lack thereof.  So, instead of making resolutions, I'll just list a couple of goals that I'd really like to accomplish this year (not in any particular order): ...by the way, I'm sure there's a difference between a resolution and a goal...ahem...

...that said...

....here are my GOALS....

 1.  Make a cookbook for myself with all my favorites

 2.  Finish decorating my house (big undertaking)

 3.  Start a regular routine of some kind of exercise (who doesn't    start a new year without thinking about exercise?)

 4.  Learn how to install trim in my home

 5.  Spend a little more time playing with my kids

Now for the good part.

Remember way back last year (actually it was just last month) when I said I was cozying up a spot in my basement for my SIL and her hubby to stay?  Well, I'm pretty late with the photos, but here they are.  But first, I have to show you a picture of my basement BEFORE the cozy pics, so you can really appreciate all my hard work.  Also, the space I fixed up is nothing elaborate so if I show you the before photos then you'll see how bad it could have been.

The space at the far end of the wall now looks like this...

That dresser in the picture is the $5 particle board junk I bought at a garage sale a few years back.  It has a hole punched out of the side that someone patched with another board.  It was unpainted until just before I started this project and looked like this...

Overall the transformation is nice, and the kids are all taking bids on which one of them will get to sleep down there next.  :-)

I am finally getting around to posting some of our winter break/holiday photos.  We had a really nice, relaxing break this time.  No one was sick, so for us, that was a HUGE plus.  

Christmas Day was spent with family and friends in a special fellowship gathering.  That evening we had dinner with some of our close friends who happened to introduce us to a fun game called Mad Gab.  I highly recommend it!

The day after Christmas we welcomed my husband's side of the family to our home for a long-awaited visit.  We typically only get to see each other about once a year as they live 12 hours away, so the time together was special.  We celebrated my nephew's upcoming birthday, played games, joined my parents for a delicious post-holiday Christmas dinner, and just enjoyed hanging out and relaxing together (along with the occasional run to the thrift store to hunt for bargains).  

Sam, Lauren, Hannah and Emily playing a game

Aunt Nettie playing a memory game with Owen and Nelly

For Sam's birthday we went to a Mexican restaurant

There seemed to be an abundance of bunny ears going around

Lots of love and hugs, too.

after supper we went home and had cake and presents

we did some sparklers for fun

and we enjoyed an after Christmas dinner at my parent's home

where everyone got a little job helping out

My SIL is very artsy-fartsy (I mean that in a good way!).  She also has the patience of a saint, especially when it comes to dealing with kids.  She organized several little craft activities for the kids to enjoy, such as making felt flowers for the girls and fingerprint art for the boys and little ones.  They were so proud of all their creations.  I'm so sad that I didn't even take one photo of all their hard work.  :-(

The only crafting I did was to make some holiday gifts for my husband's co-workers.  I found a tutorial for making coasters, so thought I'd give it a whirl.  They were pretty easy to make, and I thought they turned out pretty cute.  Here's a mini-tutorial if you want to try making some for yourself or someone you know.  

Supplies you need are wax paper, roll of cork, paper cutter, scrapbook paper, foam brush, gorilla glue, mod podge, scissors, 4x4 ceramic tiles (barely shown here) and spray enamel.

a better photo of some supplies

4x4 ceramic tile (I used 4 per set of coasters)

cut scrapbook paper to just slightly smaller than the tile, brush mod podge on the tile itself, then center the paper on the tile, and brush another layer of mod podge over the paper

here are several tiles with mod podge drying

Cut cork in squares just slightly smaller than tile and adhere to the back of the tile with a heavy duty glue.  Spray all the tiles with at least two coats of enamel and then package everything up together with a pretty ribbon.

We've completed one week of school post-holiday.  I have to admit that I was looking forward to the return to routine that school brings.  Things get chaotic here when we are just allowed to run wild with our time.  

My recipe for today comes from KK's mom, Delores.  I hope she won't mind that I'm sharing the recipe here.  They are fantastic rolls and not at all hard to prepare (if you have a good mixer...or sculpted biceps).  It IS hard to just eat one, though!  This recipe will definitely be making it into the cookbook I plan to make for myself this year.

Potato Rolls

2 pkgs yeast (or 4tsp)                       1/2 c. warm water

1 c. milk, scalded and cooled            1 c. mashed potatoes

3/4 c. shortening                              2 eggs

1/2 c. sugar                                      1 tsp. salt

6-8 c. flour

In a small bowl dissolve yeast in warm water.  Set aside to proof yeast.  In a small saucepan, scald the milk and then set it aside to cool.  In a large mixing bowl (I used my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and started with the regular mixing paddle), mix together shortening (I used butter flavored crisco), potatoes, and sugar.  Add salt and eggs and mix.  Add milk and mix again (mixture will look very wet and curdled).  Mix in dissolved yeast.  Add 4 cups of flour, mixing well (I switched to the dough paddle after the 4th cup of flour was added).  Add in as much remaining flour as needed to form a soft dough (I used a total of 6 cups).  Knead until smooth and elastic.  Turn dough out into a greased bowl, flipping once to grease the top, and let it rest in a warm spot with a towel on top until it has doubled in bulk (about an hour).  Punch down and shape dough into rolls and place on a greased cookie sheet (with sides).  Cover again and let rise about 30-45 minutes.  Bake at 400* until golden brown (15-25 minutes).  I used the convection feature on my oven and baked them at 375* for 20 minutes.

Yield:  approx. 20 large rolls  
Enjoy and don't eat them all at once!