When Adam cooks...

...it is not a simple matter of putting ingredients in a bowl, mixing, pouring in a pan and baking. That would be WAY to easy!

I have a sourdough bread that I make. I feed the starter one day, that night make the dough, let it rise over night, put into loaves the next morning, then bake around supper time. This recipe is really hard to mess up (I have done it though, but it was my fault. I forgot the salt...)

Friday while we were at work and school, I fed the starter. Friday evening Adam help me make the dough. Saturday morning I showed him how the dough had risen and needed to be punched down. Then he asked, "Why? Why do you have to punch it down and let it rise again?" Well, to be honest about it, I didn't know. I just knew that is what you did when you baked bread and never questioned the theory behind it. I told him I would find out.

After he punched it down, I told him to flour his hands because the dough might be a little sticky. "What does the flour do?" I explained that the flour makes it so the dough won't stick to your hands. "How?" "Really, I do not know. I will have to find out for you." We got the dough in the pans then I was on my mission to find out this information.

I called my sister and her husband and they answered my questions. I knew that he had been interested in one chef who explained the chemistry behind baking, plus they have a good all around knowledge. :)

Last night we went to a harvest party and I was retelling my bread baking experience with Adam. She told me, "And that is why he is going to be getting paid a lot someday." If nothing else, I am learning the chemistry behind baking.

I do have to admit, his bread looks beautiful. I can't wait to try it!

Fall Flowers

Having a new house, I am getting to see what flowers and other plants are planted around this house. We have this beautiful flower garden, that is shared with our neighbor.

It has some lovely mums in bloom right now.


II just want to make sure that Diane (our neighbor lady) knows that, in the past I have favored flowers that thrive on neglect. I will try to do my part to try with this flower bed, but really...

...It's best if they want neglect.

How Austin Feels

Austin has always been a child who wants to express himself through notes. When he was little (even before Kindergarten) he would tell me what he needed to tell Mike and we would write notes and put them in his mailbox at work. Sometimes the notes were lovely (I love Daddy because...) other times they were (I am so mad at Adam...) I'm sure Mike loved getting the first example, not so sure about the second!

As I was unpacking a box this morning, I found something that Austin made for Mike.

The bottom says, "What a Awsome great Dad I have." I'm not sure how he did the "#1 Dad" but it is engraved in the wood.

The other Sunday Austin wanted to know when Father's day was. I told him it is always in June, in fact sometimes it is the same day as his birthday. (in those cases Austin's birthday often overrides Father's Day. That is what happens when you become a parent.) Austin wanted to make a card for Mike. I thought is was really cute, so for memory sake, I'm going to type it in.

Dear Dad, (This is a late father's day card)
Your the best dad I ever had.
You let me go places I'm begging for (and I thank you.)
you let me go out to Klines ice cream.
And other fun stuff.
I gave you a gift.
You might not like it but just try it out and see if you like it.

**Side note**Mike is the ONLY father that Austin has ever had (just to be clear!). Secondly, I had to chuckle about the "begging" really it is just that he asks to check out new places (stores, etc.) begging makes it sound so much worse than it really it! Lastly, I love how he wrote in parenthesis "and I thank you".

I love how Austin expresses himself on paper (or wood). We do save some of these things and like to look back and see how he has grown and changed.

Hello

Several days ago I did a post saying goodbye to the house we just moved from. I decided that to follow that up, I should say, "Hello" to our new home.

We are looking forward to many good years here. We look forward to the memories that we will have here, and the boys milestones that will happen. We feel very blessed to have this home.

The Mural Room

When I was pregnant with Austin, Mike decided he wanted to know if the baby was a boy or girl. He wanted to paint a special room for the baby. We found out that Austin was going to be a boy. It didn't take long for Mike to start sketching out his ideas.

Mike worked really hard on this room. I remember being on complete bed rest in May and as I would be heading towards the bathroom, I would peek in to see how the progress was coming. I was always pleased.

Recently, Adam had started to ask if he could have the room painted. I could not bring myself to paint over the hard work that Mike put into the beautiful walls.






Some of the pictures were resembling different parts of our lives (or a a life of someone in the family)
A pick up truck. My Dad has a pick up truck (but what little boys doesn't love pick ups?)

playground equipment.
A big truck. I think this is suppose to represent the truck that Mike drove at the ice company through his College years.

A fun race car.
The sun :)
Mike's dad had a motorcycle.
Tornado slide
swings
slide
Mike's mom's first car was a VW bug (The door has her initials SJG --maiden)
Who doesn't love a hot air balloon
My Dad was driving a dump truck at the time (the door has his initials GEK)
Sand box
Slide

School bus that says Harrisonburg City Schools (the system that Mike works in)
Fun helicopter
Playground equipment

I loved this room for 10 years. The boys have out grown the mural, but now I have the pictures to remember this wonderful room by. I am glad that my baby boys had this fun room to stay in while they were little.

Adam's Thoughts

The other day we were headed to church. The boys were in the back seat, unusually quiet. All of the sudden Adam pipes up and asks, "Where do ticks go in winter?"

I have to honestly say that I have never, ever thought of this question. But that is exactly how his mind works.

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The other week I had to take Adam to piano lessons. That is usually Mike's "job". During the lesson he started to ask questions about how the piano worked, and what it looked like inside. His piano teacher is a wonderful lady, who promised that if he did his lesson she would open the piano for him. She followed through. He loved seeing the works and when she played, he was fascinated at the works moving.

He loves to see how things work, and I'm glad Diane is willing to work with him in this way.
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One evening this week, I walked down the street to get our mail. Adam was riding his bike with me. He was, of course, a step or two ahead of me. He stopped and was looking at a rock wall in the front of the house across the street. He had found some cocoons hanging on the rocks. One caterpillar was in a J, 2 had hatched, and 2 were in their cocoons. He was so excited about this. He wanted to do an experiment. He took something fluffy, and tried to tickle the one in a J.

This was very much "up his alley." This is just an example of how Adam's mind works.

Good-bye house

Mike and I bought our first home right before we got married 12 years ago. In the past 12 years we have had lots of memories form in this house. It served us well, but it was time to move on...

This was our living room. I remember bringing Austin home from the hospital and asking Mike, "what do we do with a baby?" Then when we brought Adam home at 2 days old, I asked Mike, "What do you do with a 2 day old baby?" I had barely held Austin at that point, I really did not know!


The hallway to the bedrooms and bathroom. What beautiful floors!

Austin's room.

This was the first time he was able to make choices like wall color. Orange would not have been my choice, but he liked it.

This was Adam's room.

This room was the nursery.

Mike drew and painted all the pictures.

Adam had been asking to repaint the room recently. I could not bring myself to do this


I loved this room. I will do a longer post on this room later.

Basement rec room. (Where we had our guest "room")

This was a great room to play in for the boys (Mike included). It was a great place for Mike and I to watch movies after the boys were in bed. Our "in home" date nights.

Our dining room.

Our kitchen. I prepared many meals in this kitchen. Some were GREAT, some were...not so great.

It was a nice kitchen.

Mike installed these cabinets for me when Adam was a few months old. They looked really close to the ones that were installed already. It was great to have the extra space.

We added this sign for the new owners.


We have many great" memories in this home. It was a wonderful home to start our family in. Now it is time to say, "Good-Bye." It is time for this house to be a great home for a new young family.