This photo does not due my most recent project justice. But here it is anyway.

I made it with some blocks my sister gave me and I'm giving it to a friend. Luckily Carrie was sweet enough to let me borrow her sewing machine so it could be done in time for the baby shower on Saturday. Thank Carrie!

And here are some of the cookies I made for our ward's talent show this weekend.

Polk a Dot dresses

I decided to get some family photos done last month. I knew I wanted my husband to wear his uniform, but I didn't know what I wanted my girls to wear. Luckily my Mom had given me some cute blue fabric with bold white polk-a-dots on it. So I pulled out some patterns and made some dresses for my girls. I used Newlook 6473 to make the dresses and I wanted them to have a sleeve on them, so I used the cap sleeve on Newlook 6448. And I added a bow to tie around the waist.

They turned out great, as you can see...

I measured the girls and the dresses fit. But I forgot to check the length on Gwen's and it was a little too short. (It looked fine for the photos, but she won't be able to wear it for very long.) Also, my machine is still broken, so this was another by hand project. It went fine, but I am really ready to stop doing everything by hand. I like to do some things that way, but not everything.

Also I was so tired of the project that I did a really sloppy job on the buttons so I could get done faster. I used those clear plastic rubber bands for hair as button holes. It did the job, but I think it would have been better if I had just done it right.

Another funny thing about making do in a bind is that this photographer lives near our old base, so we scheduled the photo shoot for a time when we were there for the weekend. Sadly I forgot some of the things I needed for the project and the material I used for the tie around the waist is actually material from a pillowcase I stole from the hotel. I guess I should call them and make sure they charged the missing pillowcase to my room. :)

Rachel's Whole Weat Bread

Here is a yummy bread recipe I got from a friend in Ridgecrest, CA. It makes 2 delicious loafs of bread. (This used to be posted on our family photos website but I needed to move it here for convenience.)

2 1/2 Cups Warm Water
1/4 cup sugar
1 TBSP Yeast
1/2 cup Powder Milk
3 TBSP Oil
2 1/2 tsp Salt
3 cups whole wheat flour

3 cups bread flour

1. Mix water, Sugar and yeast together. Let sit for a minute.


2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. If you don't have a stand mixer you'll need to get your hands dirty because it's too thick to do this just with a spoon. (This is the California recipe, but while living in Maine I've been needing to add an extra cup of flour for it to pull away from the sides of the bowl.)


3. cover dough with a towel in a warm place and allow to rise until double in size, about 30 minutes.


4. grease your hands and a surface to kneed the dough on. Kneed dough for just a minute to make sure the airbubbles are out. Form dough into 2 loafs and place into greased loaf pans (I ALWAYS use shortening to grease with because the bread NEVER sticks when I use it.) Put loafs in a warm place, cover with towel and allow to rise until double again (about 30 minutes.)


5. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes and let cool. (If using a glass pan decrease oven temperature to 325 degrees.)


6. When bread is cooled, place in an airtight bag. Store in the fridge to prevent premature molding.