Saturday, December 29, 2012

Sourdough bread and Crochet

Yesterday I finished crocheting a dishcloth and started on a second one. I do this as I watch tv. I feel like it makes the wasted time a little more worthwhile if I am making something useful.

My friends gave me a King Arthur sourdough starter and they also served us some delicious sourdough bread that they baked at home and it was better than any store bought I have ever had. It was nice and sour and delicious. So I will be making my own. I started the batter today and need to let it sit overnight in the fridge. But tomorrow I will be able to bake two loaves. It is a process but it is so worth it.

I promise to add pictures of the loaves and the dishcloths in my next post.

Okay, on a side note, Juliana is being as stubborn as Peter was in terms of wanting to potty train. She has no desire to do it. It's been so difficult to teach her. I have to "police" her constantly. Well, we took a break over the holiday and I told her we would start again after Christmas. I offered to show her the potty movie today and she said no. So I am not sure that she will cooperate. She is turning 3 in January and it would be nice to not have to change diapers anymore. Her older brother Peter was also stubborn and didn't give in to being potty trained until he was 3y4m. UGH! My older four children were all trained by the age of 2y2m or 2y6m. So these last two children are certainly cut from a different mold :)

Today we are stocking up on meats and I will be shaping hamburger patties to freeze. I like buying my ground beef in bulk at Sams and making my own, because I can choose how much or how little fat to put in them and we get a better quality burger. I am also starting to bulk cook again. But that will be another post. In the meantime I want to suggest the book "Not Your Mother's Make Ahead and Freeze and Cookbook". It's got wonderful freezer recipes and ideas to make it easier to freeze lots of meals in very little time.

We are enjoying the last few days of 2012. I hope you are too!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

I'm Back! For a while at least :)

I'm back!!! I've had a long hiatus. There are many reasons I haven't posted in a while. First I have been so busy with the children. The newest one being Juliana who is getting ready to turn three in January.
The other reason was frustration with blogging here. I have had issues with uploading pictures and it would take so long to do that I just gave up. I am going to give it another try. If you don't see many pictures, it's because of the long upload time and you can see photos on my Facebook page if you'd like.
Today we had Mass said in our home. We have a wonderful priest who is also a dear friend and he often offers up the Mass in our home. When I say often I mean about 6 times a year, at least that's how many times in this past year. What a blessing for all of us!! We need all the graces, lol!

Speaking of graces, both my oldest children were in car accidents this past week and they both were spared any serious injuries. Praise the Lord. But unfortunately, both cars were totalled.

Let's see what more shall I share on my return to blog land? Here are the children last Christmas. This year only five of the six were home for Christmas.

I am feeling ever so blessed this Christmas. I didn't get nearly as much knittin, crocheting, sewing, or crafting done as I would've liked, but I am not down about it. I will still do more of those things, just not at the timing I had hoped I would. I will continue to crochet and knit and craft as I find the time.

So in the new year I plan on one big goal, and that is to get this family moving. Especially myself! We just don't exercise as we should. In the summer we are in the pool almost every day. In the winter none, and so we have to do something.  I have the garage set up with the treadmill, bike, weights, and the exercise ball. I also have a radio and fan. So we now have the Riello Family Gym! I don't exercise on a regular basis and I would like to get back to doing that. Paying for a gym membership has all ready proven to be a waste of money. I don't go out of my way to drive to the gym. I thought that the cost of the membership would be an incentive to go, NOT!
 So the convenience of having it in the garage is helpful. I also have a Kindle fire that I received from my lovely husband last Christmas that I can use to listen to upbeat workout music, or watch a show while I workout. I find I exercise longer when I am distracted. My goal is to workout 6 days a week, but realistically I will probably get 3-4 days in. I am going to make better food choices, but the main thing I want to make a habit of is exercise. It has proven to be the best at helping me to lose weight. My kids usually play in the garage while I exercise and then the older ones like to get in on the workout so it gets them moving too.
 I plan on posting at least once a week, but probably more in the beginning. I will be sharing some of the things we do for school, and at home. Hence the name of the blog "Our Home and School".
This blog is mainly to keep my family and friends in touch and updated somewhat on what's going on in our lives. I also like the idea of having a family diary of our life here at home while these little ones are still at home.
This is my wonderful hubby with Juliana, 2 years ago. Updated pictures will be coming soon.

This is Juliana a few months ago.

Thank you for joining me and I hope you enjoy your time here.