New Hats

Hey Mom, are you sitting down? Because I don't want you to faint or anything, but look...I'm posting a second time in one day. :)


We have been hard at work getting boxes unpacked and getting our new home organized. One thing that I have found in unpacking is a rather large stash of yarn, so I've started crocheting again. It's not that I ever really stopped, but I just wasn't hard at work on anything in particular. Other then the prayer shawl that I am making for the group at my in-laws church. Of course, I haven't exactly been working HARD on that since I usually only get a row or two done at a time. So it's taking a very long time to finish.

ANYWAY...in regard to getting serious about crocheting, I specifically wanted to make a hat for Jacob. You see, Jacob really likes hats. He wears his sister's hats all the time. And his Daddy doesn't like that. You see, Daddy thinks that boys should NEVER wear frilly girly hats, even to play a little. And ESPECIALLY not when the boy's mommy takes pictures that could be used for future blackmail...and sometimes posts them on Facebook.

SO I started looking at hat patterns. And I found LOTS of girl patterns, but not a lot of boy patterns, at least not the free patterns. I also found a lot of adult patterns, and a much smaller number of children's patterns. So I have been working on adapting things. I started out making this hat in the same yarn with which I made a scarf for Samantha last year. It was the only yarn I could find that day that was the right weight. I was trying to see how the pattern worked up and then would possibly make one for Jacob with a different yarn. It was supposed to be a beanie type hat. But when I followed the pattern directions, that is NOT AT ALL how it turned out. So I started undoing it. When I got the hat about halfway undone, I decided not to undo the whole thing but to see if I could change the bottom half enough to make it fit Samantha. SO I tried...and I wound up with a cross between a beret and a slouch hat. Samantha likes it, so we kept it as is.


But I knew that pattern wouldn't work for Jacob's hat. So I continued my quest for the right pattern. Next I tried this one, once again in the same yarn as Samantha's scarf. It's a no brainer, really. I have several skeins of this yarn and it is a somewhat bulky yarn which means that it works up quickly, so it is my test yarn right now. And I really do like the hat. Once again, so does Samantha. So she gets to keep this one, too. It is a little big, but I figure I can either line it to help make it fit a little better, or I can use some elastic thread in the edge.



I wasn't sure about the pattern for Jacob, though. And once I started using the yarn for his hat, I quickly realized that the pattern is nearly impossible to work with his yarn anyway. And even if I did manage to get it worked correctly, the pattern is practically not there because of the way is yarn works up. So that was a no go for him, too.

So then I moved to a very simple pattern that uses worsted weight yarn. I made it with the worsted weight yarn, and it turned out pretty small, in fact, it just barely fit Jacob. So I used a slightly larger hook and a the bulkier yarn. I also modified the pattern a bit and it turned out just right. Jacob loves the hat. But when I tried to take his picture, he wouldn't wear it any longer. This was the best we could get.
So Samantha modeled it for us instead. Brent thinks the hat is too fuzzy, but guesses he can live with it. Now the final question...there's enough yarn left to make a matching scarf, should I make one for my boy? Seriously...I want your opinion. Because when I asked Brent about it, he replied, "That's really yuppie."

And then, just because I saw this cute pattern (which I also ended up having to modify and it still turned out a little big) I made this cute little number for Samantha.

I am really enjoying crocheting hats, it's something I can actually get done because they are quick to finish. Now who else wants one? :)

Calzone

I tried making homemade calzone the other night. I used a hodgepodge of recipes to do it, and they didn't turn out exactly right...or at least not the way you think it should. I still liked them...a lot in fact, especially the inside, but Brent said that they are strange, and while OK, not worth the time and effort.

I started out with the dough for crust. I wanted to make a whole wheat crust but the recipe called for wheat germ and I didn't have any. So I used a recipe that calls for all purpose flour, but used the rule that you can substitute up to half of the flour with whole wheat and then just add a little extrra water. I also used pizza dough yeast, but then still let it rise.
So here are the ingredients:
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1.25 cups all purpose flour
1 pkg yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
about 3/4 cup hot water (about 110F, not too hot so you don't kill the yeast)
1Tbsp olive oil

In a small bowl combine the yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup water, leave in a warm place until frothy. (It ought to get frothy within 5-10 minutes. If it doesn't get frothy within 15-20 minutes, you may have made the water too hot and killed the yeast or you might just have yeast that is too old...yes, I know both of these answers from experience) Combine flour and salt in a medium bowl. Add yeast mix to flour mix along with the oil and remaining water. Mix to a soft dough. (With the whole wheat flour, I had to add quite a bit more water, but I don't know how much...I just kept adding a little at a time until all the ingredients came together as a dough.) Knead on a floured surface 10 minutes until smooth. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 45 minutes)
Punch dough down and knead briefly. Pinch off a ball of dough and roll into a 6-8 inch circle, depending on how big you want your calzone.


Place fillings in the center, fold over and seal the edges with a fork.

Place on a greased baking sheet, brush calzone with olive oil and bake in a 450F oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

You see how the cheese is oozing out of the one on the bottom? Well the calzon on the left, yes, the one that is cut off a little, had A LOT of cheese oozing out...and when I took it off the baking sheet, that cheese separated from the calzon, so I ate it...yes just the little chunk of cheese...and BOY WAS IT YUMMY!

Now for the filling ingredients. I got a Pioneer Woman cookbook for Christmas and she has a recipe for calzone in it. I sort of used her cheese mix and then just added other stuff. I used 1 cup ricotta cheese, .75 cup shredded mozzerella, and .75 cup shredded colby/monterey jack and mixed them all up. Then I added frozen chopped spinach that had been thawed and drained. I also cooked sweet italian sausage with onions and garlic, then drained the grease and added some of that on top of the cheese and spinach, I also added fresh sliced mushrooms. I tried tomatos, but they made it too watery. We used pizza sauce for dipping.

Overall, Samantha ate the ones that didn;t have any spinach, Jacob loved it all and inhaled it, Brent said it was OK, and I thought they were really yummy, even though the crust was a little crunchy instead of being like bread. I might need to work on the the dough a little, but I think the rest of it was just right! :)

Another First

Yikes! I just noticed that I haven't published anything for about 6 weeks! Mom, I am so sorry! But at least you have seen us a couple times recently, so you aren't COMPLETELY grandchild deprived.

Anyway...for everyone else, now, I have to tell you about another first that happened today...and this time it is not about Jacob but is about Samantha instead. I made an appointment for Jacob to get his haircut because it was getting quite long and his curls were REALLY showing up. Brent had been threatening to just buzz his hair, so I made the appointment.

When we were getting ready to leave the house, Samantha said that she wants to get her hair cut, also. I told her that we could ask Ms. Sherri if she has time or not, and that if she does, then we will get it cut, but if she doesn't then we would have to try again another time. Well, Sherri did have time, so at 3 years 8 months and 8 days of age, Samantha got her first haircut. She was so excited and sat very still for Ms Sherri. She said that she really liked getting her hair cut and she wants to do it again. We may have created a monster! But at least her hair really does look cute...at least for today, we'll see how it looks when it is my tunr to fix it tomorrow!

There were supposed to be picures attached to this post...but something is wrong. I have tried 3 times to uplaod the pictures and it keeps coming up with an internal error and therefore my pics are not publishing. I will put them on facebook, so that until this problem is resolved, you can still see the pics.

Choices, Choices

Our new house is coming along very nicely and quickly, too. There is currently brick sitting in the yard, and the rock will also be there in a few days. The sheetrock is up, and I believe there is texture on the walls. The cabinets are set to go in the beginning of next week, and we should be done 30-45 days after that.

So now we are in the make TONS of decisions stage. I never thought about how many things there are to choose when building a house, AFTER choosing a floor plan, that is. Shingles, brick, rock, exterior paint, windows, doors, door knobs, cabinets, countertops...both bathroom and kitchen, floor tile, backsplash tile, the rest of the flooring, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, appliances, interior paint, and I don't think I have even come close to naming it all!

Yesterday, the kids and I drove to Belton to look at granite for the kitchen countertops and brought home four samples to look at with Brent, hoping that he would like at least one of them. Before starting this housebuilding process, I had no idea how very different our taste tends to be. For example, when we started talking about appliances, he asked if I wanted stainless or black. I said "NOT black, either white or stainless." He waited a while and then said, do you REALLY want white appliances?" I told him I hadn't decided for sure, but maybe. I asked if he didn't like that and he said that he thinks that white appliances look cheap. So we went with the middle ground.

I am learning all about how to make decisions together peacefully with Brent, how to not get my way all the time, how to compromise. Hopefully we will continue to use these newly refined skills with one another in other areas of our life.Some of the samples we are currently looking at for bathroom counters, kitchen counter and flooring. (Since taking this picture, we have chosen the granite for the kitchen and the marble for the bathroom. Our granite is the largest piece, on the far right of the picture, called ornamental brown. The picture doesn't come close to doing it justice. And the marble is the very top piece in the picture. This picture makes it look yellowish, but it isn't at all.Jacob is fascinated by all the samples we bring home. Apparently he wants to help in the decision making process.

Busy and Social Bees

This summer has been just flying by! We have been very busy and have been enjoying ourselves tremendously. We had our VBS here in Clifton. We had Benjamin with us for 2 weeks and one of those weeks we spent at the beach and in College Station. The day that Benjamin left, we went to Dallas to go to the Prestoncrest VBS where I taught 3rd grade, Samantha had a blast and Jacob didn't spend all of his days in misery...just most of them. (I really felt bad for poor Ms. Leslie and her helpers who had to listen to him cry for most of the week.) I have all kinds of things to write about...such as finishing Jacob's 18 month post and actually posting it, writing about his first haircut, our beach vacation, 2 different VBS programs, etc, but for today, I am talking about making new friends.

We came back home after VBS and had a few days off, then Samantha started swimming lessons. (I will give you a post just about the swimming lessons later, too.) Those swimming lessons have been almost the best thing that has happened since we moved here! I am SOO glad that she was allowed to participate even though she is 3.5 and not 4. Not only did she make great progress, but we made friends!

You see, earlier in the summer...maybe about a month ago, I met a couple of ladies at the pool one day. They said that they have a playgroup and got my phone number and e-mail address and told me that they would let me know the next time they were doing something. On the first day of swimming lessons, I saw one of them, Amanda, again. Her younger daughter, who is about 6 months older than Samantha, was placed in the same class that Samantha was. So when we came back for the second day, Amanda and I talked during the lessons and Jacob and her older daughter played in the baby pool. Then during her older daughter's lesson, we stayed and the younger daughter played with both Jacob and Samantha. And the 3 girls were suddenly fast friends. Each day after swim lessons, they don't want to leave because they like playing together so much. And I really enjoyed spending time with and talking to Amanda.

They had a play group this past Tuesday afternoon, so after swim lessons, we went to Amanda's house and had lunch, then followed her out to another lady's house for the playgroup...which was an afternoon in the pool at Jill's house.





I met a bunch more ladies, and really enjoyed getting to know them. They are all so nice and so friendly! One of the ladies told me that they started the playgroup a few years ago because there were two of them who could not seem to find a friend when they moved to town...then they met each other. And now whenever anyone in the group meets someone new, the new person is invited to be part of the group as well, because they don't want someone else being as lonely as they were. It already feels like I am part of a group now, and although the individuals may be different each time, I think we will be able to find someone to do things with us fairly regularly. And they have a FB group, which I have been added to as well. That makes planning times and things for getting together VERY easy.

Then on Wednesday, we went by our new house, and met some more neighbors while we were there. They have a daughter about 6 months older than Samantha, a son about 6 months younger than Jacob, and a brand new baby. And they were also very nice and friendly. Our girls really enjoyed each other's company and were sad to say goodbye when we headed home for the night. We promised them that they would get to play together frequently once the house is finished.

Then some ladies from the playgroup decided to come to the pool on Friday for the afternoon. So I brought our lunch for the last day of swim lessons and my kids and I just stayed through all 3 classes of swim lessons, then got out and ate lunch during the 30 minutes that we had to wait for the pool to open. We were at the pool from 9:20am until 4:00pm. That was CRAZY! But we had a great time and once again I got to talk to people more and make more friends. And Samantha decided that she would rather jump into the pool to Amanda than me, and Jacob cried when Amanda tried to give him back to me, then stopped crying when she held him again...so I know that my kids are happy with our new friends, too.

I have to say...I am exhausted after the week and a half of swim lessons and I am grateful that they are over...but I am so glad that we went and had so many days in a row of making new friends and spending time with them!

First Day of Swimming Lessons

Samantha had her first day of swim lessons yesterday...and I missed it. Yes, I am completely serious. You see, swim lessons were supposed to start at 9:30 and I needed to meet with the cabinet guy at our new house at 10. So I called a friend from church and she came to be with Samantha at the pool. When I left the pool at 9:45, they were just beginning to get in the water. Then when I got back at 10:40, Samantha was already done and getting dressed. They told me that she did great, and she was excited to tell me so herself. I did get a couple of pictures as they were beginning to get into the pool...and you can bet I will be taking more today since I will be there for the entire lesson!

Morning Visitor

We had a new visitor this morning. When we looked out the kitchen window we saw a grey fox just looking around and sunning itself. It stayed around long enough for me to get the camera out and take several pictures through the window (hence the noise in the pictures, the screen was between the fox and me and I couldn't get quite close enough to the window to make it disappear) then it calmly walked up the road to Charles and Ginger's house, went across their carport and into the trees in their front yard. This is definitely one of the bonuses to living in the country. :)