Girls, Girls, Girls

Well, it seems that this is the time for everyone in the family to be having girls! Can't anybody have a boy????

Congrats to Trever and Krista, and I hope you have better luck next time they do an ultrasound. We found out yesterday that Christina is having a girl also! Mom is very excited, as she has been waiting for a girl in the family to spoil with all those cute clothes. They have picked out the name "Meadow" and I can say that I like it. Now, if we just got to see them more often (and they only live about 15 minutes from us).

The wedding has been planned and is set for May 2nd. I have a few months to drop some pounds, and just ordered some new workout videos to help me. Steve is even ready to get in on the action, so next time you see us we will be thinner.

Quinn has been ill lately and combined with a couple of snow days he was home for 5 days straight. I am so glad he is back in school - and I think he is too! Here is a picture of his artwork - he decided to do this prior to going to school one day and I decided to let him go like that!

Here is Quinn and Grandpa messing around one afternoon.

Passions

Last year I started focusing on improving one of my "someday" goals - I started making my own bread. Not from a machine, or a mix but real, old-fashioned homemade bread! You know, the good stuff.

Let's just say that it wasn't without failures, but I believe I have mastered the basic art of bread making. I have attempted to make sourdough, but it really didn't turn out like I thought so I will try that again in the future. I have not attempted french bread, as it's a very wet bread and I don't have that kind of "uninterrupted" time right now!

I have made basic white breads, oatmeal, pumpernickel and Hawaiian. The oatmeal and Hawaiian are by far my favorites right now, but I'm still experimenting. I have also delved into pizza dough with success and am looking to try my hand at english muffins soon.

Here are a few pictures of some my successes.

Here is a bread made from a potato starter:

Here are some cinnamon rolls made from the same starter.

Here is a pizza that Quinn and I shared one evening.

And here is another loaf of bread. I think this is the Oatmeal Bread.

Christmas has come and gone, and was filled with all the excitement a 4 yo can exude! We had a long day, since Quinn was up at 6:45am and then didn't go to bed until after 10pm sometime. Santa came and left lots of presents, all of which are now being enjoyed. The biggest hit of the day was by far the 2 small flashlights he got. The boy loves flashlights and daddy decided he needed his own to play with. Now we have to close up the windows tight every day, and we also try to sneak outside after dark to play with them!

A big meal was had, presents were opened and we all got to spend time with each other - which is what I look forward to the most. Christina is wearing maternity clothes now and looks so cute! Another couple of weeks and we should know what the baby is. I just realized that is 3 pregnant ones in the family right now!

Speaking of family, we made our annual trek up north for the Christmas party. This year was interesting in several ways. First, Aunt Mildred passed away so mom, dad and Mike went to the funeral at 11 that morning. Then came Kyla's baby shower where the power went out for about 45 minutes (naturally it happened while she was opening gifts) and it poured rain so we had to jump "BIG" puddles when we came out of the church. Third, after we got to Sue's for the party the power went out again and stayed out the rest of the night! Talk about a party to remember - although I don't think the pregnant girls were having much fun. There wasn't any heat, but thank goodness it hadn't been too cold that day and there were plenty of candles around so we could see. We couldn't eat dinner though, so it was just snacking and drinking!

After we left Sue's and headed for home we really hit the bad weather. It had been nasty all day, but by the time we got to Champaign the next front hit and we bucked 50+ mph winds all the way home. That was a stressful ride and we were very glad to make it home in one piece. Thankfully, Quinn slept for almost the entire ride home and went right back to sleep after we got here. Lola had a good day and didn't get into anything, or tear anything up, and she was ready to climb into bed with us after going out into the cold/wind. Here is a picture of her enjoying the down comforter.