"Jump"

Ok, so this is Bella's new attempt at jumping. She's really trying, she's just not quite there yet...

Bittersweet (the past couple of months)

Bella and Ryker

So last wednesday, we had play date over at Ryker's house. Here's some pictures of the fun that transpired:

Ryker "helping" Bella with her sippy cup...and Bella letting him :)



...and Bella swinging on the BIG swing for the first time, ever! She did great! :)

A Day at the Park

Bella and I went with my friend Skylar to Ft. Clinch National (?) park, in Fernandina Beach, FL, a couple of days ago. There is a fabulous completely shaded park area with picnic tables and all. It was the perfect day to play - and play, Bella did! I'm always amazed at how much more she can do on her own every time we go to the park...even if it's only been a couple of days! she had fun climbing stairs, crawling through a tunnel (I think she spent more time crawling back and forth in the tunnel than anything else), pulling herself up a couple steps of a ladder, and finally sliding down some slides. Of course, she had to spend some time in the swing too...both swinging and spinning (her new favorite).

Here are some pictures from her playing:

Going down the slide...

Crawling up the slide...

Climbing up the CORRECT way (via the stairs)...

...and Tunnel Time

Bread Recipe

I was asked multiple times for the recipe I used to make the bread shown in my previous post. So, here it is! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Happy Baking!

Whole Grain Wheat Bread
from pg. 68 of Instructions and Recipes for your KitchenAid Stand Mixer, 2006.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup, plus 1 Tbsp. brown sugar, divided
2 cups warm water (105-115*F)
2 pkgs. active dry yeast
5 to 6 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup powdered milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup oil

Directions:
Dissolve 1 Tbsp. brown sugar in warm water in small bowl. Add yeast and let mixture stand
Place 4 cups flour, powdered milk, 1/3 cup brown sugar, and salt in mixer bowl. Turn to speed 2 and mix about 15 seconds.
Continuing on speed 2, gradually add yeast mixture and oil to flour mixture and mix about 1 1/2 minutes longer. stop and scrape bowl if necessary.
Continuing on speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until dough clings to hook* and cleans sides of bowl, about 2 min.
Knead on speed 2 about 2 minutes longer.
Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover. Let rise in warm place (80-85*F), free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.
Punch dough down and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface roll each half into a rectangle, approximately 9x14 inches. a rolling pin will smooth the dough and remove gas bubbles.
starting at short end, roll the dough tightly. Pinch to seal seam.
Pinch the ends and turn them under. Place the dough, seam side down, in greased 8.5x4.5x2.5-inch loaf pan. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.
Bake at 400* for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350* and bake 30 minutes longer. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.

*Note: Dough may not form a ball on the hook. However, as long as hook comes in contact with the dough, kneading will be accomplished. Do not add more than the maximum amount of flour specified, or a dry loaf will result. When the dough clings to the hook, and cleans the sides of the bowl, enough flour has been added. May not need to use all flour in range specified.

Lovely Loaf

Isn't it beautiful? There's nothing like home-made bread.

I've been trying out different recipes lately, trying to find a good one I can make all the time that is both yummy and healthy...preferably made with only whole wheat flour. My goal is to eventually stop buying sandwich bread, and just make it and store it in the freezer until needed.

Well, friends...Here's the winner!!

By the way - it was the easiest recipe ever and it was the first time that my bread truly turned out right from start to finish.

Hooray for the Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough attachment!

I was thinking about getting a bread maker... not anymore. Don't "Knead" it. HA!

Finger Painting

Today Bella had some fun finger painting with food-coloring dyed cool whip. we haven't done this in a while, because she wasn't really "into" it last time. It's amazing what a difference a couple of months makes! She LOVED it this time...and focused a lot more on painting...and less on eating the cool whip :) She was actually kinda upset when we were finished painting. I'm not so sure if that was because she liked painting, or because I took away a really sweet snack...



And just for the record...yesterday was Neil's birthday. Neil, I tried to do a fun video with Bella to wish you a happy birthday, but she just would NOT co-operate. I suppose this icing-ish fun will have to do. But we do love you, and miss you, and can't wait to see you again! Hope you had a good day! (we'll celebrate mucho when you get home!!)

Rock Shrimp Festival 10k

So I heard about the Rock Shrimp Festival on Thursday night, and decided that I should run in the 10k this morning. I've been training like crazy, and thought it would be good to kind of evaluate where I'm at WITHOUT the stroller, and in a race situation. Plus, why NOT run it?

So, I woke up at 5:15 this morning, woke Bella up at 5:45, Skylar met us here, at the house at 6, and we showed up to the race at about 6:30 - just enough time to register, warm up, and stretch before the race started at 7am.

My only complaint: It wasn't the correct distance, so the mile markers were off, which made it difficult to pace myself with. I knew it seemed kinda funny that my first mile I did in 9:00 and my second one was 11:00?? (I'm not one to start out fast, so this was just odd...and 11:00 is slower than I run pushing Bella in the stroller. Just didn't make sense, so I had to check it out when I got home.) It's supposed to be 6.2 miles. It was 6.37, according to runningmap.com (which is the most accurate way I've found to measure).

No matter what, it was good just to do it. I can't really complain too much though, because I finished really well.

How I came out:

1st place in my age division (Women's 20-29) and 3rd place All-around for Women.

Time: 6.37 miles in 57:52
Average pace: 9:05

Here's some pictures from the race, etc.: