Domesticity Fever

I have been inspired by a number of things...Laura Ingles' Farmer Boy, which I'm reading outloud to the girls, the rainy fall weather, and a love of baking to engage in some fun food projects. On Friday, while Madeline was spending the night at a friend's house, Abby and I made bread. We got the recipe from her kid's cookbook, and Abby did a lot of the work kneading it. The point of the bread was to make fun shapes with the dough. So, the flavor wasn't great, and it only rose once, so it was pretty dense. But we ate it for dinner and it was tasty. Today, I made stew, and right before dinner the girls and I made little apple pies in muffin tins. I let Abby make the dough, again from the kid's cookbook, and Madeline cut up the apples and mixed in the spices and sugar. Sam got in the way. The pies are cute, and tasty.

We had a real storm that started Saturday night, and is still going now, on Monday. We have enjoyed thunder and lightning. While out driving today, (to buy candles due to some random power outages) I got to splash through big floods in the street, and also through a small river on a side road. It's an adventure driving in the rain out here in the desert. The water goes wherever it wants; across streets and everything. You just never know where the low points are until it rains. I'm enjoying this seasonal shift.

The Van Gets Some Love

I am happy to say that today we finally sold our '89 Ford Van, and used the money immediately to buy tires, fix the alignment, and get the front brakes and roters done in our newer '94 Mazda MPV. It cost exactly what the other van sold for. So, while I was excited to have some extra money for about six hours, I am also glad to know that our Mazda is safe and reliable. We knew that we'd have to get the work done this month, so I'd say that the Lord provided just what we needed. And, on a happy note, we no longer have to pay to insure the old van.