Attack of the Nap-less 3 year old

I thought we were having a great Saturday. I got to sleep in while Grandma and Cindy took the boys...oh, I don't know, wherever they went while I was sleeping!!

Then we decided to go swimming at Aunt Annie's. So we made some yummy banana pancakes (and at them of course) and got stuff together to go swimming (which, with the 2 little ones, was about an hour adventure.) We got in the van and took off for Aunt Annie's. It was GREAT! We sat out by the pool and ate snacks - Guacamole & chips, crackers and smoked cheese, mango, strawberries, veggies and dip, etc. Somehow we managed not to sink to the bottom of the pool after all this food, and we had a nice time swimming.

Aunt Annie needed to get some stuff taken care of with her phone, and as she is not as cell phone savvy as I am (not that I'm a pro, but let's face it, I'm not 60-something), I was going to go with her to the store to get it all worked out.

HOWEVER, Ben had not had a nap, and it was almost 5 pm. This was NOT good news for trying to leave him with Grandma and Cindy, even for a little bit. He got in the van with him and was NOT happy when I went with Aunt Annie, but he fell asleep pretty quickly once in the van. They drove around and he napped, but they came to meet us at the store, and the parking lot driving around wasn't enough to keep him asleep, so he woke up, and was VERY unhappy and wanted his Mama. Even once I picked him up though, he wouldn't stop crying and whining and saying he wanted Mama...even though I was holding him. He was physically awake, but he was such an emotional mess...luckily, he fell asleep again once we were back in the car and the car was moving, but it was not a good time when he was awake and so very unhappy.

I forget the havoc that 3 year olds can wreak since he is usually so very well behaved.

Why you should learn to bake bread from your grandma instead of a recipe you got off the internet

I decided to make some bread this week, and I haven't really made a yeast bread, well, ever. I mean, not on my own. So, I got a recipe online for this specific bread (or a copycat of it...) that I've been craving that they have at this restaurant near my hometown. I thought, hey, I can read directions, so I can do this, right?

Things I was not-so-much right about...
Warm water is warm water, right? Um...how warm is warm? If warm is good, hot is probably better, right? Better to err on the side of too hot sounds good...OR...as you out there who DID learn to bake bread from your grandmothers...too hot will kill the yeast entirely. First of many OOPS.

Also the recipe said to knead the bread for 2 minutes. I thought this sounded like not nearly enough time, but I wanted to be a good little direction follower and do what they said. So after 2 minutes of kneading (which I DID learn from my grandmother), I put the bread in a bowl in a warm place (outside...yes, covered...it was 95 degrees outside, so I figured I was good there...) I was supposed to wait for it to double in size.

So I waited...and waited...and waited...and then I realized I had maybe increased the size by.,.oh, 10% at most. ARGH! So I microwaved some water until it was boiling really good and then put the bowl of dough in the microwave with the steam (no, I did NOT microwave the dough at least.)

Still, no more rising. I was not about to throw this bread away, so I finished it, even though it was barely risen. It's a flatbread anyway, so I broke it into some small balls and starting rolling with my amazing super-high tech rolling pin (which is ACTUALLY a piece of PVC pipe...)

It rolled out pretty well, and it actually tasted pretty good after I cooked it, but a little "heavy." I have eaten it all at this point, so I guess it's not a total failure, but...this is what I get for not paying enough attention to grandma...

Another conversation with Ben...

Ben: I need milk.

Me: Good to know, do you want to ask for some?

Ben: Mama, get me milk.

Me: I don't think so. Try asking nicely...like, mama, can I have some milk please?

Ben: Mama, have a milk, PLEASE!

Baby Jeff "walking"

I'm a little retarded and took the video sideways...I'll work on turning it right-side up, but for now...here it is.... (p.s. let's just say we were at someone else's messy house...not OUR messy house!!)

Ben's Birthday Pictures

Ben's birthday was several weeks ago, and we had a great time. Here's some pictures...

Social Banking

I think this is a cool concept...Social Banking....check it out, they explain it better than I could...

Zopa

What do you think?