Never a dull moment!

overheard while Zachary and Mallory were playing Monopoly:
Mallory:"Go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200, go directly to jail"
Zachary:"We'll see what my lawyer has to say about that!"

Thirteen Years Ago...

A beautiful, blazing light entered the world and, after 3 days with no name, came to be known as Mallory Faith. Ten pounds 3 ounces of energy, fun, mischief, determination, attitude, and love charged into our lives (once she finally decided she'd allow them to deliver her!). Vaseline head to toe and wall to wall, peanut butter and fluff body painting--jumbled in with one of the most loving and kind spirits I've ever known; suffice to say variety is the word with child #3.

This child epitomizes the season she was born into: like leaves giving oxygen, she gives as much as (and often more than) she receives; like the the temperatures, she is refreshing and crisp, with just a little nip now and then; like the color changes on leaves, she is full of a magnificent light and energy that she doesn't quite believe she has, yet everyone that knows her can see it blazing.

As she begins to step towards adulthood, I can't wait to see the great things she will do. Her spirit, filled with kindness, empathy, leadership, and love combined with the ball of energy, attitude, and self-motivation will take her far. I am so lucky to be able to watch and learn with her.

Happy Birthday to my baby girl!

A little nicey nice for you :-)

This is a new blog "game" I saw on Holly Bee's Blog and I like it! I hope those of you reading that are also bloggers play along, too. I especially like it cause I have a whole year to fulfill the pay-it-forward of the game. The procrastinator/perfectionist (yes I actually consider myself both, go figure) in my is already freaking out--only 365 days?? What if this happens or that happens or even-GASP-that happens?? But I am shushing her down and giving this a go.

For those of you that aren't bloggers-and bloggers too, what is your favorite way to "pay it forward" or random of kindness? The kids and I love love love to randomly pay the toll for the person behind us. As a matter of fact, Alexis is convinced the only reason Mallory was found quickly after getting lost in Disneyworld in 2002 is because we paid someone else's toll. Tell me what you do, what you've done, what you'd like to do, and any random act of kindness you've received. I'll never forget when TD's website crashed, right after they took over Commerce Bank (karma perhaps??), and my transaction came up declined at Walmart; the lady behind us paid it for us, no fuss, no thinking, she just paid it as if it was her own transaction.

So here's the game:

1. I  will make a little something for the first 3 people who comment on this post. It will be a surprise and you will not know when it will arrive.

2. I will have 365 days to get this surprise to you. The catch? To get a goodie from me you must play along too! Share the giving love on your blog by promising to send a handmade goody to the first three people comment on your blog post.

3. You must therefore have a blog!

4. After commenting on my post, you have to go post this on your blog.

My youngest

This child of mine, this gift of pure joy has nothing that needs to be fixed. He is a work in progress, a light that shines into dark recesses that, without him, would have gone unnoticed. His world is simple and sensible and when it begins to get complicated, he finds his way to a soothing, simple, and sensible place. I am his rock, yet he is a rock for so many. Joy and laughter and love emanate as physical senses from his soul. This boy is special, aren’t they all? His needs are special like all children’s should be. He is as different as each being created is different. He is perfection in his simplicity of what is good, he is perfection in his capacity to love, he is perfection in his expressions of great thinking. This child of mine, this child of mine, this child of mine.

A new Challah recipe,

This came out so good! There really is bread-making-life after the bread machine.  ;-P  Heavy and cakey and stringy and sweet...with just enough bread texture to keep it out of official cake status. While you certainly don't have to use wheat flour (otherwise known as "that disgusting brown flour" by one 17 year old boy...), I have come to realize that using at least a 70/30 ratio of regular flour/wheat flour is what helps give Challah that desired density that is definitely a requirement for me. :)

Challah Recipe

1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup warm water
1 package yeast (about 2 1/4 tsp)
4 cups white flour (you may need to add up to a cup or more to get a good consistency)
3 cups wheat flour

My first round of directions:
Place ingredients into the bread machine pan as directed by your machine manufacturer. Select "dough" option, push start, go to the store. Come home to find bread machine ON THE FLOOR, cracked, broken in pieces--fall to the floor, grow speechless, then mumble incoherently about how-what-who-why-whathappened-whodidit-why-how...***note: if you use your machine, do not go to the store with it on, with your brother and son (that was getting tired of all the wheat bread recipes....hmmmmmmmmmmm), both of them only saying that it EXPLODED, or fell, or both, and both of them trying to stifle laughs....

Okay, so the dough actually, thankfully, had at least been kneaded for about 10 minutes before the fall, so I could continue from there. Your dough should be smooth, somewhat elastic, not sticky at all, and if when pressed the indentation bounces back.

Put about 2 tbsp oil into a bowl, and place dough into the bowl. Turn the dough over in the bowl to coat with oil. Cover the bowl (with a damp towel, or with loosely placed oil coated plastic wrap) in a warm location. (a tip I read years ago-- when you start mixing the dough, set your oven to its lowest temperature, usually 175 degrees F, for about 5-10minutes, then turn off, creating a warm location if you don't have one) Let the dough rise to at double its size, about an hour depending on the type of yeast you used. Punch the dough down, then let it double again.

At this point, shape the Challah however you'd like. For this recipe I made a round (sort of lol) shape for Rosh Hashanah. Brush your loaf with yolk, then place in a preheated 350 degree F oven.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes--the Challah should sound hollow when "thumped". Most bread recipes say "when thumped on the bottom," honestly I almost always do the "thumping" on top, because really, it's kind of hard to check the bottom of a loaf of bread, especially when it is in a bread pan or some other kind of shaped pan. I'll leave your thumping to your own personal discretion.  ;)

While the picture doesn't show it well, this had a nice golden color. I did have to place a small piece of foil on the very top, about halfway through baking, to keep it from burning.

Later, I'll add the continuation--Challah French Toast we had this morning. Here's a picture to keep you going:

It was so dense, and sweet, and gooey-barely any syrup needed!