Bread Machine Fun

My bread machine died one day. We were very sad because Holly was using it a lot and we had some yummy bread out of it.

We put it in the rafters of the garage, with the question "Should we fix it when we have more money?" Well, you all know what happens to those things. They sit there forever.

Except that I am cleaning out the garage a little at a time. I mentioned off-handedly to Kristel that I had to decide what to do about the bread machine and she said she would give  me hers. It's almost brand-new, but she doesn't know how to use it. Her only request is that I make pumpkin carrot bread for her. So I need to get some nuts and then I can do that.

Dallen found a manual online for me, so I just need to get it printed. But the basic features were pretty easy to figure out. 

Of course I had to try it out right away, so I made a loaf of light rye bread. It was wonderful! Then I made a loaf of nut-less pumpkin bread, and it was also terrific. This machine is great! It has a lot of nice features. It's similar to the one pictured at left, but not quite the same. Mine has lots more buttons!

I feel truly blessed. My old bread-maker went into the garbage and the new one is on the counter just waiting for me to throw in a loaf of oatmeal bread. YUM!

I'd post pictures--but the family and guests gobbled up the bread before I could even think about it.

Done at Last!

Done at last! Now I need to find an all-night post office since I refuse to pay $20 to e-file state returns.

Now I just have to get the paper filing all done, making a new folder for 2009.

Frank Gehry

Dallen had to do a presentation on Frank Gehry for his honors class. He had most of the PowerPoint presentation done, but he asked for help with his collage. He did all the research; he just wanted me to help figure out the layout. In the end, he just gave me instructions and all I did was move the mouse. This was what we came up with in about 45 minutes.

I think I like my buildings straight, but these are certainly eye-catching. He could tell you what they are. The middle one is, um, yeah...I think the one on the lower left is called mARTA museum, upper right is a beach house...that's about all I remember.

Daffodils

 I love spring! I actually planted the daffodils and tulips two years ago with Kristel. I love it when I can see the results of a previous project! It gives me incentive to keep working away.

More Easter Fun

This year, instead of baskets, I gave each of the kids a colored gift bag. They each put on their name and decorated it with stickers and felt-tip markers. They took theirs home, so I had fun and decorated one myself. I couldn't scan it with the entire handle, but you get the idea.

More Egg Fun

I had my niece over for Easter Weekend. It was very fun. She saw Missy M.'s eggs and loved them, so I got the stuff out and we made a bunch more together. She's 10 and was able to handle the glue gun by herself and did an awesome job.

I hope her mom will forgive me for letting her take all of them home. She and her new friend enjoyed playing with them for over an hour.

The spiders were all her idea. And the little fuzzy things? They are spider babies.

We traded ideas and pieces: She made the bee wings and I made the bee. I thought of the butterfly and she made it, but she thought of the ladybug and I made it.

The rose is all hers; I was taking a nap by then, her uncle was watching her work. The funny-looking orange thing is a Philippine monkey called a Tarsier.  The tiger reminds me of Hobbs, Calvin's little pal.

Later we did egg-dying with her cousin. We tried the wax crayon thing but with a little experimenting we discovered that hot glue works great for making patterns and peels right off when you are done. 

Here she's concentrating on drawing a design on her egg. 

Easter Animals

Missy M. came over for a visit yesterday. We made fun animal Easter eggs. She was so excited to show her mom!

Missy M with her favorite--the owl.

The rest of Missy M's eggs. She enjoyed being able to draw the faces herself. I love the dog!

My Eggs. I wasn't wild about the owl, so I made a chicken for the second one. I think the pig is my favorite.

I am not an experienced crafter, so this was a challenge. I started out with craft glue, switched to Krazy Glue, (which I am still peeling off my fingers!) and eventually settled on hot glue. M. was very patient with the fact that I had to do all the gluing at that point.  She decided to get creative with chenille sticks and markers and made a colorful egg to "feed" her animals! 

Maybe someone experienced could have done this faster; it took us over two hours--I would have quit sooner but M. was determined to do all six and take them home! With older kids, it's probably an hour project, because they can do their own tracing and gluing. 

I got the speckled eggs at our local Dollar Tree--18 in the package.

I found the original idea on  Be Different, Act Normal. She got it at Family Fun.  They have several others featured as well, and a template for making these.