Who Needs Toys?

Here's Madeline and I experimenting w/ Emily's Bosch Mixer-- We whipped up a 1 batch of whole grain bread dough=6 big loaves and a double batch of chocolate chip cookies. We made a HUGE mess! We had to grind the grain first, then mix up the bread. Madeline had fun "digging" in the flour and dumping things.She has on her cute lil' apron that Auntie Krista whipped up for her.

Snitching...busted!


Cleaning up...who needs toys, when you get to play "real-life" like this? I put one knee behind her, up on the stool, and we wash dishes together. All my kids love this! We get water and soap everywhere...and maybe even taste a few bubbles!
Cleaning up the floor...while we were in the midst of our mess-making, the boys came home and dumped a bag of trail mix (accidentally) on the floor. Justin hurried off to a meeting, so the kids "helped" me clean up. I told them to run get the vacuum and the broom, so we could clean up the mess. Instead of rushing them off, to make another mess, they were quite content to work the "grown-up" contraptions...and help clean up!
In real life, she looked much tinier there at the kitchen sink...

The boys, manning the vacuum. After they figured out the suction, they started suctioning themselves and laughing hysterically.

Consensus on the Bosch Mixer: I LOVE IT! I think I'm going to make the plunge, and invest in one! I was impressed w/ it's ability to churn out 6 loafs of bread dough in no time. All I did was dump in the ingredients, and it did the rest, incl. about 20ish minutes of kneading. The dough comes out either ready to freeze or rise and bake. Our fore-mothers would be jealous of all of our modern-day "servants"(appliances) :)

The double batch of cookies was a snap to make in it as well. My lil' hand-held mixer, just doesn't cut it, most of the time. :) The Bosch is a handy machine, b/c there's lots of attachments. I need a food processor and meat-grinder...so it's a very justifiable investment. :) The meat-grinder attachment is what sold Justin on it, I think. :) I think he also finds it amusing that his wife would spend her hard-earned $$$ on a kitchen appliance. Hmm...

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TOYS OF A DIFFERENT SORT...

Madeline: The Audience

I have an old viola w/ 3 strings, and a violin, that my kids LOVE to practice on. Whenever I get out my viola to practice, they love to get out their vlns and "practice" too. Samuel even has to get a music stand and some music. I haven't taught him anything on the violin, and he's picked up a lot, just by exposure and observation...

Maybe I need to invest in some smaller (durable) violins for them. The interest is definitely there. I'm cautious about starting them so young, but I may re-vamp my position, since they have so much fun. :)

William's playing the viola d' gamba...I think.