I'm dreaming...

My family loves our granola recipe. We usually eat it for breakfast every morning. Recently I decided to try to come up with a way to make it in the oven, so it wouldn't take so long. I really like the ease of making granola in the crock pot, but there are days I don't have several hours available to watch it. My husband and children all agree they prefer baked granola to crock pot granola, as it is crunchier and also has sweet clusters of granola that stick together. I like the fact that it bakes so quickly. Here's what I've come up with.

6 cups old fashioned oats
1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons cinnamon (we like extra cinnamon)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Pour the oats and cinnamon into a non-stick baking pan. Mix the cinnamon into the oats. Next, pour oil and honey into a 1-cup measuring cup, followed by the vanilla. (By pouring the olive oil in first, the honey slides right out of the cup, rather than clinging to the glass sides.) Pour this mixture into the pan and mix well. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Be sure to stir the granola at the sides of the pan, so it doesn't burn.

Once the 30 minutes are up, I usually give it one last stir, turn off the oven, and put the granola back in the oven to cool overnight. It doesn't need to cool that long, but I find leaving it in the oven gives it a little extra baking time and helps it dry out so it's ready to eat by morning. If you have a well insulated oven, I'd probably let the granola cool on the counter, but our oven is pretty old and cools off quickly.

One batch of granola usually lasts us about a week. We each eat 1/4 cup in milk for breakfast. Sometimes my kids like to eat it as a snack, as well. One fun way we've found is making "healthy donuts." I slice an apple into 3 rings, spread peanut butter over the tops like frosting, and let the kids top it off with granola "sprinkles." Granny Smiths are what we had on hand tonight, but it's even better with sweeter apples. The girls like to do this with bananas, as well.

Last week I bought a sewing machine! I've been saving up for a while, so I was so excited when I was finally able to order it. My first project was to sew night gowns for the girls' dolls. They're a bit tight to get on or off, but once they're on, they fit well. These are very simple night gowns that I made from old t-shirts that no longer fit my youngest. I've discovered 3T or 4T short sleeved shirts work perfect for 18- inch dolls. The length of the shirt goes down to the doll's ankles, and the short sleeves go almost to the doll's wrists, so no hemming is required! I followed the basic instructions from this blog. She has several other helpful tutorials listed on her blog, as well. I'm so glad to have these night gowns finished for the girls' Christmas presents! And I look forward to learning how to do more projects, as well. I'm very much a beginner, but I'm having fun! :-)

It's hard to believe Christmas is only 46 days away. Last year we started a new tradition; rather than buying gifts for each other, we made them. Our girls had the enjoyable experience of making gifts for each other, and Mommy and Daddy. And my husband and I had fun planning and making gifts for the girls.

Yesterday I ran across a blog with wonderful directions on how to make doll pajamas out of old baby clothes. My older daughter bought an 18 inch doll from Vision Forum earlier this year, so I've been looking for ideas of how to make pajamas for dolls. I made nightgowns for each of the girls' dolls last Christmas, but my stitching didn't hold up very well. This year, thanks to this tutorial, I will be making nightgowns for the girls' dolls again, but this time I anticipate them turning out much better! Unfortunately I don't have a working sewing machine, so I'm doing all my stitching by hand. Yesterday I made a quick nightgown using these basic instructions, and it turned out very well! I've found my younger daughter's old 4T t-shirts are the perfect size to make nightgowns for an 18-inch doll. The length of the shirt is the perfect length, and the short sleeves are perfect for the doll's long sleeves, no hemming required! Yesterday's project was just a quick trial to see if I could do it, but when I have a final product ready for Christmas, I will post pictures. Now if only I could think of what to make for my wonderful husband...

My youngest daughter is a very picky eater. For a while she would eat nothing but bean burritos, bananas, and raspberry yogurt. At least those three are healthy choices. Her doctor said not to worry about it, eventually she'll get tired of the burritos and will try something else. I don't think that will happen. Ever. :-) The other day I was searching the internet, trying to find recipes for picky eaters. One blog I ran across suggested Mac & Cheese, as the author of that blog had never known a kid who didn't like Mac & Cheese. She has never met my 5-year old. She will not eat Mac & Cheese. Or PB&J. All the normal kid foods, she won't touch. Unless it's loaded with sugar. But I try to avoid too much sugar with the girls.

Tonight I tried something new, thinking I had finally found something healthy she would love. It was healthy, disguised as junk food. I made "healthy donuts." But she wasn't fooled. She knew right away these were not "real" donuts. On the other hand, my 8-year old, who is not very picky, loved them! First I cored and sliced two apples into rings. I sliced the rings thick, as I discovered when I made them too thin they broke. So each apple made 3-4 "donut" rings. Then I spread peanut butter on each of the rings, and generously sprinkled home made granola over the peanut butter "frosting" for the sprinkles. I thought they were wonderful! My 8-year old really enjoyed them. My 5-year old thought they tasted too much like apples. :-) So the search for healthy food she will eat continues.

There is one benefit to her pickiness. She's even picky when it comes to candy. Both girls got quite a bit of candy this past week; they each have a sandwich sized ziplock bag filled. That might not be a lot of candy to most people, but since I'm trying to keep it out of the house as much as possible, that's a lot for us. Anyway, thankfully her pickiness also falls into the candy category. So when she takes a bite of something and decides she doesn't like it, Mommy gets to eat it! Which only seems fair, seeing as how I didn't get any candy last week.

I admire Moms who can get their kids to eat anything. Last week when we were eating supper at the church before AWANA, one of the girls at our table didn't really like what was served, but she followed her Mom's instructions and ate it, anyway. She didn't eat all of it, but each time her Mom told her to take a bite, she did. And it wasn't a little lick either, which is what my daughter would do. I think I'm going to try to teach her to just eat what she is served, whether or not she likes it. I'm getting tired of fixing burritos. :-) If anyone who reads this blog has a suggestion, either on healthy foods to try, or creative ways to get her to eat what we serve, I'd love to hear them!

Right now my oldest daughter is in her room reading a book for school, and my husband is doing science with my youngest daughter at the dining room table. She is learning to read, so she's sounding out the different words in her science book. It is music to my ears to listen to her sweet little voice reading the words from the pages. She's also started sounding out the words in her AWANA handbook. I love to hear her reading and reciting Bible verses! There is nothing as sweet as listening to children speaking the words of our Heavenly Father! What a blessing it is to have this opportunity to teach our children about the world God has created for us.

This past Thursday was a day full of memories. There were new memories to be made, and precious memories to be relived.

My oldest daughter has been taking Ukulele lessons for almost a year. Thursday, she and my husband's Dad played at a local nursing home. They did a very good job, and people enjoyed listening to them, as well as visiting for a bit.

Being at the nursing home took me back to the last time I saw my Gramma. It's hard to believe she's been in heaven for over a year! But I hadn't been to a nursing home since I saw her last Spring. Being there on Thursday and seeing all the precious people in their wheel chairs reminded me of Gramma, and even though I know she's in heaven with Jesus, my heart ached for her. She was such a wonderful woman. Gramma loved Jesus with all her heart. Before her stroke she travelled the world, telling people about Jesus. She had a heart of gold, and had such a love for everyone! But Gramma especially loved her Hubby, her children, her Grands, and her Great Grands. They meant the world to her.

I miss Gramma. I think I'll give Grampa a call today.

Recently my husband and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. I've been meaning to write about that, but I am so behind in just about everything right now. :-)

On our anniversary my wonderful husband brought a box into the room. He said he has not done a good job of giving me the traditional gifts on our anniversary, and so this day he wanted to make up for it.

On the first anniversary, the traditional gift is paper. He opened the box and handed me that day's newspaper.

The second anniversary's gift is cotton. My husband reached into the box and pulled out a cotton ball.

Leather is the traditional gift for the 3rd anniversary. He gave me a leather shoelace.

The fourth anniversary has a choice between fruit and flowers. My husband handed me a bag of dried apricots. I love dried apricots! :-)

Anniversary number 5 is wood, so my husband gave me a wooden knob, or drawer pull.

The sixth anniversary also has a choice, between candy and iron... my husband knows me well and knows I wouldn't even know what to do with an iron, so he gave me a snicker's bar. *lol* :-)

Number 7 is a choice between wool and copper, so my husband gave me a penny.

Since bronze and pottery are the choice for the 8th anniversary, my husband gave me a bronze drawer pull.

Anniversary number nine has a choice between pottery, willow and china, so he gave me a little clay flower pot.

And for the 10th anniversary, the traditional gift is tin or aluminum. My husband handed me a sheet of aluminum foil. :-)

I loved my husband's creativity as he put this gift together! Here's a picture of all my anniversary gifts.