Saturday Morning

Fun times again at the Wilkins' House on Saturday morning. Roger and Ed (a neighbor across the fence) spent two and a half hours shoveling dirt. We've had a huge pile of top soil in our garden area for 2 years. When we laid the patio in the back yard, we had to remove a grundle of sod and top soil to properly level the brick pavers for the patio. We didn't have a plan for all that extra dirt so we just started dumping it in the garden spot. Um, ya...it's really been there for two years.

Finally Ed said he would take the dirt to plant flowers around the border of the fence in the apartments behind our house. So today, in the wonderful cool March air, they shoveled and

shoveled, hauling load after load of dirt across the back fence to the apartments. They took down a section of fence to make the job a little easier.

Brayden, Parker and Little Ben also had a sleepover with Devin last night. They spent the morning playing All-Star Wrestling on the tramp while Roger and Ed shoveled the dirt out of the garden. Pancakes and eggs for a late breakfast helped fill them back up after two and a half hours of jumping.

Fun times on a Saturday morning!

Big Bad Musical Slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Big Bad Musical -Tuesday Night

It's time for Devin's Musical! It will be presented at our school at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday March 24th. We would love to see you all there. You're all invited to come!

Passing on the Bread Making Torch

Today we spent the afternoon learning a precious family recipe from Roger's sisters, Ellie and Ruth. Roger, Ellie and Ruth always tell stories of their dad making bread for the family while they were growing up. Today Ellie and Ruth gave us a demonstration on the fine art of bread making and 2 other dishes we could make with the dough. They also showed us an enchillada dish made with food storage ingredients like black beans, TVP (texturized vegetable protein) with dried onions, white bean powder and chicken bullion soup base. It was so
delicious! On the 3rd Saturday of each month we are going to can things like flour, sugar, powdered milk, wheat, beans, grains, honey, etc. to slowly build up our food storage. After we've canned what we brought for the day we will make a recipe using food storage items and eat together. We had such a great time today that I already can't wait for next month's classes! Thanks Ellie and Ruth for your hard work and effort today. You taught 3 young ladies a very wonderful skill and we are very thankful and appreciative! We love you!
Is there anything better than homemade bread fresh from the oven?

Filling the dough with cinnamon/sugar and brown sugar for cinnamon rolls.

Preparing the dough for braiding. Fill the center with anything savory like chicken and vegetables, ground beef and vegetables, or something sweet like jams and jellies. Today Ellie filled it with ground beef, carrots and peas and served a cream of chicken soup gravy over the top. Yummy!

Three very happy little

"Taste-Testers!" They were well fed today.

Fun St. Patrick's Day Dinner

Oh my goodness! This year for St. Patrick's Day, Roger made a traditional Irish dinner of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots. It was so delicious we just could not belive it!!!

Between the two of us, in 10 years of marriage, we have never cooked corned beef before. The beef comes with a seasoning packet that you spread over the meat. It gave the meat such wonderful flavor. The recipe said to pile everything in the slow cooker and let it go for 8 hours. How easy is that??? By the time we all got home from work and school it was ready to eat and the house smelled incredible. I've posted the easy recipe for your enjoyment if you'd like to give it a try. Happy St. Patty's Day!

INGREDIENTS
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 pound baby carrots
3 cups water
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (3 pound) corned beef brisket with spice packet, cut in half
1 small head cabbage, cut into wedges

DIRECTIONS
Place the onion, potatoes and carrots in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Combine water, garlic, bay leaf, sugar, vinegar, pepper and contents of spice packet; pour over vegetables. Top with brisket and cabbage. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Little Ben Turns 4

We had another fun time with cousins at Little Ben's new favorite place... Jumping Jacks! He insisted on having his birthday party there this year. These kids grow up so darn fast!!! Happy Birthday Little Ben!
Recently he's been learning the 50 states song at his daycare. So far he knows all the way up to Virginia with a little hand action to go along with each

state! In just one more year he'll be off to Kindergarten and he'll be smarter than his whole class...hee, hee, hee! Biased Aunt, who me? No way!!!