February 11, 2014

  This last week has been fairly uneventful except for the foot and a half of snow we received over a course of about three days. Karl and I brought Donovan outside a couple times to "play" but it's kind of hard to play when the snow is up to your waist (for him, anyway). But he had a good time. He was pretty upset when it was time to come in. Ah, to be a kid again! It seems no everyone is as thrilled with the snowfall as Donovan and I because the news has been nonstop coverage of wrecks and slide-outs in and around the Portland area. Makes me glad we don't live near the city, although we live RIGHT on a major Highway. We ventured into town last night (The Dalles) and had our own little winter experience! After dinner with the in-laws and grocery shopping, Karl and I (and the boys) were headed back home when we spun out. We were getting on the freeway when we hit a patch of ice and spun 180 degrees only to stop facing oncoming traffic and about 3 inches from the center divide on the passenger side. Thank God there was not heavy traffic. We managed to get going safely but Karl and I were a bit shaken. I'm pretty sure I heard Donovan say "Wheee!" in the backseat and Cooper was snoring away. I can laugh about it now because he probably thought Daddy was doing something "crazy" for fun. Needless to say, I won't be going into town again until this snow and ice melts away! :)
  But with all this snow comes feelings of nostalgia. I recently got my Grandmother recipe for her homemade bread that everyone in the family is obsessed with. I was in the baking mood already so I made my first batch of gluten-free molasses cookies. The gluten-free was not intentional but I was out of all purpose flour and used my mother-in-law's gluten-free flour instead. They turned out fine, but they were a bit flatter and definitely had a different aftertaste. I think from now on if I don't have the regular flour, I'll just wait...haha. I am going to make my first attempt at my Grandmother's bread today. It should be interesting as I have never made bread before. And I don't plan on using a bread maker. THAT would be cheating! Another "first" I'm going to attempt today (after my breadmaking, of course) is making an apron. I have a sewing machine that my mom gave to me a long time ago and now it's time to learn how to use it. I am a cross-stitcher to the bone but have always been interested in doing other sewing...or REAL sewing. :)  Plus when my mom made all the grandkids quilts for Christmas two years ago, it made me want to learn to do the same. Currently she's in the process of playing catch-up with two more quilts for her most recent grandkids. Hopefully there will be a lull in the family additions long enough to let her catch up! haha.
  Well, another week as flown by and here we are in Day 3 of this week already. I feel like these days are passing much too quickly! Every day my boys are doing (and saying, in Donovan's case) new things. Donovan's imagination has taken off! Currently he is pretending to be a puppy, thanks to a recent trip to see his cousin Grace. The barking and yapping is getting to be a bit much...! So I should end this so I can distract "puppy" and see if we can start a new activity!
 

  V/R
Shara