Tuesday, February 17, 2009

I finally did it!!

After almost six years of marriage and dozens of failed bread attempts, I finally made a decent loaf of bread. Some of you may not consider this a very big deal, but for me it is. I have had such a hard time making bread, that I told Darin
if this batch didn't turn out, I would never try again. Sometimes I couldn't even make bread in my bread machine. It was soooo yummy. Below is the recipe that I used. This recipe is for 100% whole wheat bread. You know those wheat kernels you have in your food storage that you have no idea what to do with. Get a wheat grinder and make some bread using this recipe. Yum!

Ingredients

6 cups warm water
2/3 cup oil
2/3 cup honey
8 cups freshly milled whole wheat flour (more flour needed later)
2 Tbsp. wheat gluten
2 Tbsp. salt
3 Tbsp. instant yeast
4-8 additional cups of whole wheat flour
*The amount of additional flour you will add will depend on the protein levels and moisture in your wheat.

Instructions

In your Bosch or Kitchen Aid mixer bowl, combine warm water, oil, and honey. Next add 8 cups of freshly ground wheat flour. On top of the four, add wheat gluten, salt, and yeast. "Jog" your mixer off and on so the flour won't rise out of your mixing bowl, then mix on your first speed until smooth. Next, slowly add an additional 3-4 cups of wheat flour, stopping periodically to test it Remove bread dough from the mixer and place dough in a large plastic bowl. Knead dough and slowly add 1-4 more cups of wheat flour until the dough is the right texture. The dough should not stick to your fingers. Do not add too much flour or knead the dough too long, the dough will become too tough. Form dough into 5 dough logs. Spray 5 loaf pans with cooking spray and place one dough log into each loaf pan. Prep. your oven by turning your oven to the "warm" setting, boil some water and place the boiling water on the very bottom rack of your oven. Turn your oven off once the oven is warm and place your bread loaves in the oven to rise for 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. You may need to replace the water every 30 minutes to keep your oven humid for best bread rising conditions. Once your bread has risen to your satisfaction, turn your oven to 350 and set the timer for 45 minutes. Start the timer from when you turn the heat on, not from when the oven gets warm. Bake times may vary slightly depending on the oven. This bread is delicious and surprisingly light for an all whole wheat recipe.
Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Be My Valentine

Last week I told Abigail that we got to make Valentines for the kids in her class at school. Every day since then she asks "Is tomorrow Valentine's day?" Well the moment came, we made frosted, cut-out sugar cookies for the kids in her class. They are celebrating Valentines day on Thursday because pre-schoolers don't go on Fridays. She is so proud. We had a lot of fun, but I think we will have to wait until Halloween to make more sugar cookies, they are kind of a pain to make.
I love that sweetie!

Dance Party 24/7

So, at our house Abigail's favorite thing to do is turn on her music (Hannah Montana, Spice Girls, or a movie sound track like Shark Tale) and dance. We have about three hours of dance parties every day. I would say the dance parties can be a little loud and excessive, but still pretty cute at the same time. I can't believe that I have to limit the amount of dancing and loud music that Abigail does each day, I mean, there are only so many hours a person can listen to "You can't touch this" before going crazy. The twins have started to join Abigail in her dancing craze and it is pretty funny. Enjoy!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Has anyone printed their blog?

I am considering printing my blog since it is really the only journaling that I do. Does anyone have any suggestions on a company that I should use? Any tips are welcome.

Disco Diva

A Few Cuties in Abigail's Dance Class.
Abigail - Dancing Her Pants Off - 2nd From The Left

Stretching Before Her Dance

PEACE

Disco Diva

Shake Your Grove Thang

We had a big snow storm on the day of Abigail's Christmas Dance Recital and the highways were shut down, so her Christmas Dance Recital was cancelled. Abigail had a little recital yesterday to make up for the Christmas recital being cancelled. Her class was the Disco Divas. They still have alot of work to do, but it wasn't bad for only three weeks of practice. I think they will be taking this dance to competition in March, so they still have a bout 6 weeks of practice to do. Here is a little video clip of her dance. Abigail is third from the left (the one still hopping when everyone else goes down to the floor). They are so cute!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Let Me Out!

Today I was back in the girls room changing Emily's diaper when I hear a scream. I run to the living room and discover Abigail sitting on top of a laundry basket with Elizabeth trapped inside the laundry basket. I said to Abigail, "Abigail do you think your sister likes to be trapped under there? Can't you hear that she is frustrated?" She replied to me, "Mom that is not my sister, I put my puppy in her dog cage and she is just barking alot!" Wow! Was I confused? I could have sworn that there was a baby in that laundry basket. I am sure glad that Abigail set me straight. Needless to say, Elizabeth was rescued and no harm was done.

Cow Ranch

Abigail's favorite lunch is Chicken Nuggetts. She loved to dip her chicken nuggetts in ketchup and ranch dressing until she discovered "her new favorite dipping sauce." Now when we have chicken nuggetts she has to have "Cow Ranch" on it, which is really Bulls Eye BBQ sauce. She calls it "Cow Ranch" because it has a red bull on the front. The things kids think of!

Da Da

Most of you already know that Darin works for IBM from home. His office is upstairs and we just pretend like he is not home when he goes up stairs to work. Abigail has learned pretty well to leave daddy alone when he is working and up until now the twins were oblivious to where he was going when he would dissappear. We put a gate at the bottom of the stairs for safety reasons and so that little ones would not go upstairs and disturb daddy's work. Emily and Elizabeth had decided that they had enough of me for the moment and they went to the stairs and started shaking the gate and yelling "Da Da." The secret is out. Oh well, I still think we are okay until they learn to open the gate or climb over it. Emily
Elizabeth

Healthy Babies

I couldn't get these pictures to go where I wanted them to so they are a little out of order for my post, but oh well. All three of my girls have taken an intrest in sitting in chairs right around their first birthday. Funny how they are so alike and yet so different.

Elizabeth
Abigail (2005 - 1 year old)

Emily

The twins had their one year check-up a couple of weeks ago. Here are their stats....

Elizabeth
Weight: 20 lbs 6 oz
Height: 29 3/4 inches
Head Circumfrence: 47.4 centimeters


*Elizabeth finally passed Emily up on her height. I couldn't believe it, so I had the nurse measure her again, and it is true. Elizabeth is taller than Emily for the first time since birth.

Emily
Weight: 22 lbs 12 oz
Height: 29 inches
Head Circumfrence: 46.8 centimeters

*Now that Emily is walking there is just a 2 pound difference in their weight rather than a 3 or 4 pound difference.

Just Cause I like to compare. Here are Abigail's stats for when she was 12 months old.
Weight: 19 lbs 6 oz (my little light-weight)
Height: 29 1/2 inches

Monday, January 19, 2009

Elizabeth Walks

Emily started walking at the beginning of December, but I don't think we ever put a post up of her walking. Yesterday, Elizabeth just took off. She decided that she had been observing long enough and walked half way across the living room before stopping. We are in trouble now with two one-year-olds toddling around.

Heather's Last Wedding Reception

By the 3rd wedding reception, Heather and Shane became pros at cutting the cake.

Emily

Elizabeth


Abigail

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

A Whole Lot To Post

Wow! This month has been a blurr. We traveled to Texas for our holiday to celebrate Christmas, New Years, two weddings, the twins birthday, Harrison's Eagle Court of Honor, and we took family pictures. About eight hours after we got home from our trip to Texas, Abigail and I went to Pendelton, Oregon for a little 2 1/2 day trip. I am so glad to be sleeping in my own bed and to not be living out of a suit case, but we had alot of fun and made alot of memories. Read on and you can see what has been going on in our lives for the past month.

Happy 1st Birthday Emily & Elizabeth

The twins turned 1 on January 9th. I can't believe it has been a year already. We celebrated at Darin's parents house with a little birthday party. I think the twins enjoyed themselves.

Elizabeth's 1st piece of cake

Emily devoured the cake and is working on her gorilla.

Heather is A Married Woman

Heather Stocker & Shane Booth were married for time and all eternity in the Dallas, Texas temple on Saturday, January 3rd 2009. Congrats to them. These pictures are from their reception in Denton, Texas & Pendelton, Oregon. They still have one more reception this Saturday in Pocatello, those pictures will be posted later.







Abigail & Jakobi (Shane's niece)


Flower Girl and Matron of Honor


Abigail cutting a rug with her friend Sterling Bigley


Snack time for the twins.


What a beautiful cake!

Look at that spread of food!

What a cute couple!

New Years Party

For New Years we went to Darin's brother's house for a little New Year's party. We had our first introduction to the Nintendo Wii. It was a lot of fun. This is a video of Darin playing Dance Dance Revolution, with his own twist. For those of you who might be wondering, No there wasn't any alcohol at this party.

Monday, January 12, 2009

A Texas Christmas

You never know what to expect as far as weather is concerned in Texas. We didn't get to have a White Christmas, but we did experience weather ranging from 20-80 degrees.

The stockings all hung on the mantle with care.

Abigail

Elizabeth

Emily

Santa Came

Christmas Party At The Stocker Home

Heather & I recorded a CD for my dad for his Christmas Gift. He is opening our gift in this picture.
Stars of the Nativity Play

Darin Ralphs - Inn Keeper

Harrison Stocker - Donkey
Thomas Stocker - Roman Soldier

Abigial Ralphs - Sheep

The Ralphs Family Christmas Eve Party

Grandma Mimi (Darin's Mom) is known for her Christmas Village that she puts up each year. The kids love to look at it.

Abigail & Cousin Ariana in their matching PJ's from Grandma & Grandpa Ralphs

The Ralphs Grandkids in their Christmas PJ's.
The Christmas Nativity Play

Grandpa Del's famous Cinnamon Roll Wreath.

We Love Going to Grandma & Grandpa's House

The best thing about Texas is that both Grandmas and Grandpas live there. The girls get alot of attention every time we visit.

Grand Nan and Pa Pa Stocker with Elizabeth

This was the only picture I had of my mom or dad. This is the second time we have visited Texas since we moved and we have yet to get a good picture of them (I guess this one is kind of cute). My parents won't sit still long enough to be photographed.

Grandma Mimi & Grandpa Del with Twins - Elizabeth: Lavender & Emily: Marroon