3 Men & A Little Lady: {The Fresh Loaf}

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

{The Fresh Loaf}

Growing up in Kansas, I had the wonderful opportunity to experience harvest! My memories go way back to riding in the combine, sitting up high on my grandpa Elliott's lap, watching as all the long rows of golden wheat were cut, and then poured into the big red trucks. My favorite part was when we were allowed to "swim" in the truck full of cut wheat!

Me at age 3! I can still remember the feeling of the wheat between my toes and all the hidden wheat in my clothes!

Even as a teenager, my sister Carmin, and I still loved playing in the wheat!

Well 32 years later and my passion for wheat is renewed! My great friend Darcy, started grinding her own wheat and making homemade wheat bread. After going to her house and smelling the amazing smells of fresh wheat bread in her oven and tasting some of her bread, I too wanted to start making bread for my family.

I remembered as a child my mother making homemade bread, so I called her up and she informed me that she still had the wheat grinder and Bosch that she used to make bread, but hadn't used it in years. I quickly let my request be known of how much I would love to inherit the Bosch! The next thing I knew, I had a wheat grinder and Bosch delivered to my door! I am so grateful for my parents who gave me this amazing gift! For some reason, this sweet gesture brings tears to my eyes! I could not be more excited to start making bread out of the same mixer that my mom used to make bread for me as a child.

I enlisted in two of the cutest helpers to be my assistants in the kitchen. I wanted to share this bread making experience with my little girl!

These two girls chose the boys' Iron Man and Hulk aprons instead of the girly ones. Being a Super Hero makes baking more fun!

We purchased 50 lbs of wheat and started grinding! Mya and Elliott were amazed to see the before and after process of the wheat being ground up. They too were playing in the big bucket of wheat before it was ground up. It brought back good memories!

So my bread might not be the most sanitary! It was hard for them to keep their hands out of the ground wheat too!

Then the mixing began!!! They giggled as they watched the batter spin and spin and spin! Then they started eating the batter and licking the spatula. It was so yummy I just let them go ahead and enjoy the dough.

The finished product!!!!

My whole house smelled like a bakery and the loaves where devoured in a matter of minutes by the kids and their friends. I have sense made more loaves and have been passing them out to neighbors and friends! I really enjoy the whole process and feel a since of pride that I can make a fresh loaf of bread.

I am so grateful for my wonderful memories of growing up in Kansas and the beautiful wheat fields that I took for granted. I am thankful for my generous parents and all the love and support they give! They mean the world to me! I am truly blessed!

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They say the cutest things.....

Mya, my little girl, said in her prayers last night, "Please help us to be strong and healthy like the Hulk!"

Owen almost ran straight into a woman as we entered a dark parking garage. As I told him to watch out, he quickly yelled, "Well she's all black!" Coincidentally she was African American! She was wearing a black dress, which is what he was referring too!

Owen told me today, "You are the best mom I ever had! I love you all the way up to Jesus!" He also loves kissing and told Kenny, "I just want to stay home from school and kiss mom all day!"

Drew lost a tooth at school when he bit into his apple. He felt the tooth inside his mouth as he was chewing and when I asked him about it, he said, "I didn't realize it was mine and I wondered if it was one of the workers!"

While at church, a teacher asked the kids what happened to Jesus right after he was baptized and brought up from the water. Ian enthusiastically raised his hand and said, "He asked for a towel!"

After a long struggle with my boys, to get them inside, bathed, and into bed, I yelled, "I am done, go to sleep!" Owen looked up at me and said, "Mommy I'm sorry you're sad, but the problem is that you don't beat up Drew and Ian. Just beat them up and I will be on your team!"

We are not a family who eats beans, so when Drew went to a friends house to play and eat dinner, he was hesitant to eat the burrito that had refried beans in it. When I picked him up he said to me, "Mom she put mud inside the burrito!"

Aunt Connie pleaded with Owen to shoot his daddy with the gun instead of her and his response, "No, he's the best daddy i've ever had!"

I begged the boys to quit fighting and Drew looked at me and said, "Its not Mothers Day anymore mom!"

Owen got kicked in his "man hood" and said, "Oh, I hurt my Tenders!"

Drew asked this morning, "Mom in 2011 can we get a cat?"

Everytime I feed Mya prunes, Owen comes up to me and says, "Me like chocolate mom!" I give him a bite and his face turns to total disgust.

Owen ran up to me after wrestling the dogs and said, "Me see Cassie's boobies!"

While I was nursing Mya, Drew walked in and said, "Is she done drinking from your boob?" I replied, "No and it is called a breast, thats the proper way to say it." He looked at me puzzled and said, "No thats the Spanish word for it."

Kenny opened the fridge and said, "Something in here stinks." Ian looked at him and said, "Dad, sometimes I toot over there!"

Last night as the boys were saying good night to Mya, Drew looked up at me and said, "Mom, Mya has a boy haircut!"

Drew was reminding me about how when we saw macaws in Hawaii, that one of the macaws was chewing on a woman's hair. He said, about the macaw, "Thats not very nice, it's not choosing the right."

My favorite word Drew and Ian used to say when they were toddlers was, Laddie- for water. I thought it was such a cute word. Owen comes to the fridge and points his little finger and says, "Wa-Wa" for water. So cute!

Last night Kenny went in on a call to deliver a goat and Ian came into our bed. He climbed in and snuggled up beside me, he usually snuggles into Kenny. I asked him why he was snuggling with me and he said, "I can snuggle you because daddy isn't here mom!" He is such a daddy's boy.

Ian is such a daddy's boy. The other night Kenny had to go to the clinic and Ian was sobbing for him for a good twenty minutes because he wanted to go too. When I asked him why he was so upset he replied, "I just want my daddy, he is my favorite boy!"

Birthday parties celebrated in California are usually BIG! There is always a huge jumper, pinata, food for the whole family, and tons of presents. Well we went to a party last night and the boys spent 2 hrs. jumping in a big jumper. On our way home we saw another party going on that had an even bigger jumper with a slide attached. Ian asked, "Can we go to that party too?" I replied, "We don't even know who those people are. " His response, "Well lets just go ask them their names."

As we prepared to go to the Glenwood Springs pool in Colorado with Kenny's four sisters Drew impatiently said, "Come on girls, you're taking too long!" Kenny told him, "Get used to it, this is what men do, wait for girls to get ready."

Much to my dismay I found black ink all over our white sheets on our bed. I of course went straight to Ian and asked very sternly, "Did you write on my sheets with a pen?" With an innocent look he replied, "I was just trying to write my name."

Drew was watching me as I divided my hair into sections with clips to straighten it. He looked up at me and said, "Wow, you look beautiful!" Then when I was completely done with my hair he said, "You're a cute little mommy!"

Ian was dipping his finger in Kenny's contact solution and then touching his eye. I asked him what he was doing and he replied, "Just putting my eyes in mom!"