A Week of Firsts

First of Firsts- I made wheat bread for my FIRST time this week. I have been intimidated in the past with yeast breads. But I have decided it is finally time to face my fears. So- bring it on kneading, gluten, and rising. It also helps that I am trying to get a bit more food storage savvy so in effort to learn how to use wheat and our longer storage items I have been incorporating them more into our everyday meals. To make the wheat bread, I went over to my friend's house to grind the wheat with a hand-crank wheat grinder. Do you see my level of commitment here? I used this recipe and thought it turned out pretty good but I did add a bit more honey.

Honey Wheat Bread II

Rated: Submitted By: Meghan Monahan Photo By: Angelfire Prep Time: 30 Minutes Cook Time: 30 Minutes Ready In: 2 Hours Servings: 24

"This is a simple loaf with less whole wheat than many, but it still offers all the essential ingredients for a wholesome eating."

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) 2 cups whole wheat flour 1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup honey 1/3 cup vegetable oil 5 cups all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add honey, and stir well. Mix in whole wheat flour, salt, and vegetable oil. Work all-purpose flour in gradually. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead for at least 10 to 15 minutes. When dough is smooth and elastic, place it in a well oiled bowl. Turn it several times in the bowl to coat the surface of the dough, and cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
2.	Punch down the dough. Shape into two loaves, and place into two well greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise until dough is 1 to 1 1/2 inches above pans.
3.	Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2009 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 2/14/2009

Second of Firsts- This week Kaley woke up early one morning. I am not quite sure how early but it was before 6:30 because Jed was still in bed. I could hear Kaley talking so I thought she might be playing with Anna. After awhile I didn't hear anything. Of course I had to get up and check because when you can't hear your children that is usually when there is trouble. I walked out to our family room and there was Kaley on the couch with her blankets sitting in a stack of books. Anna wasn't awake yet. Kaley was "reading" herself stories. This was a FIRST for her to wake up and just go out on her own and start reading books. I was pleasantly surprised. 

Third of Firsts- the most important one. Anna had her FIRST birthday on Thursday, February 12th (she shares the day with Abraham Lincoln). In the morning we went to story time. In the afternoon we went on a walk and Anna was the leader. In the evening we had a nice dinner at home followed by opening presents and cake. Her cake was inspired by the nickname Jed has given her- Goosemonkey. I am not sure of its origin but it seems to fit. 

Here is the birthday girl in the outfit Grandma Simmons sent her. This is the look she gives strangers or Mommies who keep taking her picture. It looks like she is pointing her finger at me warning me to stop or else.  

Opening presents. She liked taking her presents and putting them back in the bag and then taking them out again. 

Here is the monkey cake. The face is made with peanut butter and white frosting. I put a layer of this in the middle of the cake. I got the recipe here. I thought it looked pretty close to the original. 

We are about half way through Operation Cake Destruction.

And she lived happily ever after. The End.  

THANKS TO THOSE WHO SENT HER GIFTS AND WELL WISHES. 

One More Down

YESSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am one more class down in my goal to get my bachelor's degree. I am doing an online degree through BYU. It will be a Bachelor's of General Studies with an emphasis in Family Life. It is a lot of psychology courses, English courses, and a few other topics such as Family Finance. I just finished a Psychology class about Personality. I have a couple of more chapters left in a Child Development course. When I finish that one I will have 6 more classes to go:

1. Doctrines of the Gospel- about half way through this one

2. Literature for Adolescents

3. Adolescent Development 

4. Health and Aging

5. A Political Science course

6. BGS Capstone Project 

This pursuit has taught me a lot about time management and how to set concrete achievable goals. It has also taught me how to revise or be flexible when things don't go as planned or I just plain ol' don't want to do it. I started working on this in Winter of 2006. I used to be able to study while Kaley took her naps but now with two kids and Kaley not taking naps anymore I am left with studying at night after they have gone to bed and on Saturdays when Jed can be home with them. 

There are several reasons why I am doing this. It is not to be more employable at the moment since I am not looking for a job. Maybe having a degree might help me later but who knows. Maybe if Jed ends up working at a university I could get my Master's. One of my biggest reasons I am doing this is because I started and I want to finish. Education is a priority in my family. Both my parents got their master's degrees. We were always expected to do well in school. I used to love report card day because my mom would pay us for good grades. Bribery? Incentive? Positive Reinforcement? Call it what you want but it worked for us. 

Anyways- I really want to finish and I just want to give a shout out to all the people who have helped me along the way- my mom, Jed, friends who have watched my kids so I can go and take tests, Shelley for always being interested in how I am doing, and the the financial support of grants and scholarships. It is going to be so great when I finish- I think a real sense of accomplishment.