Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Saltines challenge?!

"The saltine cracker challenge or simply the "saltine challenge" is a competition in which a person has 60 seconds to eat 6 saltines (also known as soda crackers), without drinking anything; all the crumbs must be eaten too. Although the challenge sounds easy, it is actually very difficult, because the crackers quickly exhaust the saliva in one's mouth." 

Sister Williams threw down the challenge and Paul was eager to give it a go!

 Kinda hard to chew when you're laughing and others are laughing at you!
Okay dad you've got 11 seconds! YOU can DO IT!
 Okay, maybe not...

 The next ones to step up to the challenge. A whole lotta giggling going on!
 Laughing and cracker crumbs don't mix- hence the cracker spray in the air!

 I think Sister Cannon was giving it a "courtesy" try...
 Two left not gonna win this time!

So Paul thinks that he can fit all six crackers into his mouth- Yup big mouth it is!
 "Even though six saltines can fit in one's mouth all at the same time, and a minute is plenty of time to chew, the resulting mess of crumbs resists swallowing."  

Ya think?!!!

 Lookin' kinda like a chipmunk here!!!
 So the 3rd time is NOT the charm for Paul. He gave it a good go, but FAILED in the end!
Always a fun night when the sister missionaries come for dinner! 

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Annual walk in the woods

Once a year we make the trek out into the last 3 acres of our woods and then well beyond. The snow makes it easy to traverse and the thorn bushes are minimal at this time! 
And best of all NO ticks! I loathe them!!!!

 King of the mountain!


 Once we hit the train tracks the landscape goes on until it reaches the Mass Pike. 
 The kids think the hills at the very back are Connecticut. 




 Next years Charlie Brown tree?


Go Lissy Go!

The kids are estatic when there is snow on the ground! 



Since it all melted they are eagerly awaiting and praying for more!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

First Robin Spotting

Saw our first Robin this morning. Actually a bunch!
Spring can come now! Can't wait for the bright blue eggs in May!



Although this really has been the BEST WINTER EVER! 

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Lucky You!

Over Christmas break Xander chose to do extra credit for his math class. He had a 90, but was afraid of it slipping below that. SO he created a fun board game! I was grateful that Paul and he did this one together.
Xander came up with all the questions and idea. Paul helped him create the game pieces on the computer. 

You have to answer math questions correctly and the first one to 1000 points wins. 
We all got a chance to play it. It was a lot of fun. Good job Buddy!

sunrise snow walk

Lately I haven't been taking too many pictures on our walks. It is such a pain to get to my phone to take a picture- because my phone is buried under layers of clothing and then my fingers get frozen! (I finally got smart and wore snow pants the other day. Single digits and negative numbers make it really uncomfortable outside!) But yesterday it was worth the frozen fingers!
 Look at this view! It is the tree line on the left side of my house. So beautiful! 



 Ya got a treat for me mom?
 Seriously?! You have to drop it in the snow??
 No worries! I got it mom!

 One of my favorite trees! The roots have grown into and around the rocks! Amazing!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Perfect winter dinner

Yesterday I spent the day cooking in the kitchen. I made everything from scratch. It took a long time but we were rewarded in the end!  
 Dinner was delicious and dessert was just as wonderful! 

Alyssa shares my love for the goopy middle so she claimed this piece! Smart girl!

If you're in the mood to try a few new recipes I highly recommend these!
I made the bread bowls with this recipe: From Christy Jones
Artisan Boule/Bread
2lbs or 6 1/2 cups flour (exact amount)
1 1/2 Tbsp yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp Kosher Salt (no substitutes)
3 cups lukewarm water
-Mix yeast & salt into water let sit for 5 minutes
-stir in flour, mixing till no dry patches
-cover and rise for 2-4 hours

To bake
cut grapefruit size piece (I find that each batch makes 4 loaves)
fold into a ball with hands, no kneading, very little flour
put on parchment paper sprinkled with cornmeal
let rise for about 1 hour 
heat baking stone in oven for 20 min (baking stone a must)
bake @ 450 degrees 
slash top w/ knife and dust w/flour
slide parchment onto stone
bake w/ metal bowl over top for 20 min 
remove bowl and bake for 10 minutes more
**For bread bowls I made the balls into the size of an orange**