The Holy Grail of allergy-free cooking...the multi-grain sandwich loaf!

We did it! We finally faced the stress of replacing half the ingredients in a loaf of bread. "The bread was yummy!" says Blake. "Thanks, mommy."

Tom wants me to add a few things to this post. First, yes, it is gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, corn-free, and egg-free. Second, he wants to be sure "y'all" know that the stuff we used to buy from the store--the "brown-rice loaf"--tastes slightly less savory than plywood. (It's also been compared to a used sponge, after it has dried up.) He thinks it is practically miraculous that I came up with anything, let alone something that tastes this good. It defies reason. (Who couldn't adore a husband like that!)

I'm almost embarrassed to add that when faced with a piece of the store-bought brown loaf as an option for a sandwich today (because we devoured the homemade loaf yesterday), Blake declined, looking at my "sandwich" with disgust. He didn't say another word about bread today. (Hurry up UPS man with my new guar gum. The whole thing will literally fall apart without you.)

Happy Valentine's Day!

On the one hand, it's still cold. On the other hand, we finally learned a good "allergy-free" recipe for cut-out sugar cookies--just in time for V'day. Here is a picture of the butterflies, hearts, and flowers we made. (Blake was pretty excited about the results, so he had to take a picture. I think he might be a budding photographer.) There's also a picture of the boys in Olean at Christmas time.

Live free or die!

We made it to New Hampshire! Blake and Will love it here. This is the place for social children. They have friends of all ages everywhere. For two kids who can eat a combined 5 items at the dining hall (one of which is water), they sure love going to see their friends.

Occasionally, they ride to the dining hall in style in the battery-powered jeep they got in September. We live about as far from the central part of campus (and the dining hall) as you can live while still technically being on campus so having some extra power helps!



I had to include a picture of Halloween fun. They made pirate hats and wands from a kit the other night. Here is a picture of them on their pirate ship. In pirate fashion, Blake had just stolen my "princess wand" and was celebrating on the ship. Will was enjoying a jump on the couch, too!

The Lake Park

For a week or two Blake was rehearsing the things he would miss about Kenosha. The Lake Park is high up on the list!



Will, who was at Kindermusik while Blake was at the park, will be very happy to discover that he can still drum on anything...anywhere! Blake will soon discover that he can run anywhere, too.

Will and the tricycle

Will loves the tricycle. His single-minded intent to procure the trike every time Blake left its seat prompted us to buy Blake his "big boy" bike. Now the tricycle is all Will's. He can't reach the pedals yet, so his center of gravity is in a very bad place for balancing the bike, but he is so determined. Here is a photo documentary of the scene that replays itself daily (frequently many times daily).

It was warm here once...

About one month ago, the boys were wearing short sleeves outside. Today we had to don our winter coats, hats, and gloves again. This was no fun! We still made it to two different parks and rode the new bike around all day, but it was COLD!




As we are about to leave Kenosha, I thought I would reminisce a little bit. Here is a picture of the boys on their favorite mulch hill outside our apartment.

Blake on a Bike

Today we bought Blake's first two-wheeled bike. What a blast! We came right home and assembled it. This gave Tom a chance to make dinner while Blake and I worked on the bike. Tom came outside to bring Blake and Will a "picnic" dinner. He looked at Blake with the socket wrench in his hand and said, "There is Blake Kemmler!" Sure enough, he has looked like Tom from the start, but thankfully he has the knack for tools and construction from the Kemmlers. I'm glad he took after me on this one! (Tom takes no offense at this blog entry, and he intends no offense to the many Simpsons who, unlike him, are good with tools.)

Bathtime Fun!

Not much to say right now, but I couldn't resist sending a little bathtime pic your way!

The Domes

Here in the Milwaukee area, it is freezing...actually with the wind chill factor, it has been WAY BELOW freezing. So last Friday we traveled to the Domes. (We've been spending a lot of time in Milwaukee and really loving it.) The Domes were a warm place to be on a cold and snowy day. There are three enclosed domes each with it's own climate. One is tropical, one is arid, and one is...a miniature train set running around the dome through an interpretation of several scenes from Gulliver's Travels. (I don't know what climate that would be exactly, but it was warm enough that we didn't have to wear jackets.)

Here are some pictures. The third child in the last picture is our friend Liam. The pictures are cloudy because the camera lens kept fogging up.