Hattie's Christmas Letter

Our house

Now that we are mostly moved in (the unfinished basement is still a pile of bins and boxes that need to be organized), I finally got around to taking some pictures...

Pro: three car garage! And yes, that is a weather vane with a rooster on top!

Pro: large entry way

Pro: lots of counter space

Con: no pantry, and it is located right off of the entry with windows looking out the front of the house. Not horrible - a little odd is all.

View from entry into family room/dining room

Pro: awesome laminate floors

Cons: dining room light fixture is weak sauce...only one light bulb so I can barely see to eat my food

Pro: high ceilings

View looking back to the entry way

When you go up the stairs you find three bedrooms and two bathrooms:

We need to either repaint or get a new bed spread cuz red and pink isn't working so well

Girls room...it took a while narrowing down paint colors, but we finally painted it about two weeks ago, followed  by building bunk beds. 

Niels room...I don't plan to repaint...I like the green.

 Main bathroom...there is a small master bathroom too...not worth photographing.

And then we go downstairs to laundry, playroom, and office.

View as you come down the stairs

 Pro: GIGANTIC laundry room. I love it! Once we get the extra dryer out of there I'll have enough room for my sewing machine AND ironing board to be out all the time.

Pro: large playroom...this will someday be turned into a bed room when more kiddos arrive. 

Pro: an office/spare room. It's great to have a real place to send guest when they come visit, as well as enough space for all Paul's medical books.

Pro: fenced yard. Most of the yards here in Milwaukee don't seem to be fenced in. Not that I necessarily want to limit my kids' freedom, but I do like that I'll be able to send little ones outside without the fear of them wandering into the neighbor's pool or the main street.

It is starting to feel like home. We are grateful to have enough space for our growing family and that we feel comfortable here. If anyone is visiting the Chicago area, we are only an hour away and would love to have visitors!

Other October Fun

Fun at the pumpkin patch...

 And we saw this pyramid driving around Oak Creek...pretty serious Halloween spirit!

Day trip to South Bend

Being only 3 hours from South Bend, how could we pass up the BYU vs Notre Dame game, especially since two of my sisters, three brother-in-laws, and my parents would be there? I guess that's what you get when two brother-in-laws received their graduate degrees from ND.

Outside the administration building. We arrived hours before game time and wandered around campus to kill some time. It was a perfect fall day. Even with the game loss, Paul and I enjoyed having an entire day without children.

 Yes...both of our hair is getting long!

And surprise! Paul's brother Michael was there too! So we smashed 2 mini-family reunions in on the same day.

Surprise balloons

Last week Hattie decided she wanted to throw a surprise party for Anna. So during her nap we decorated, complete with balloons. Here is what the party turned into once dad came home:

Halloween 2012

You are probably wondering why I am posting about Halloween on October 29th. Well, up here in Wisconsin (at least Milwaukee) they do things differently. Every town, excepting two, does trick or treating on the Sunday before Halloween. And they do nothing on the actual Halloween night. Go figure. It makes no sense to me! Our neighborhood actually had a block party on Saturday with trick or treating beforehand, so we got to do ours really early.

Anyone know who they are before scrolling down?

Hattie wanted her braids to flip out just like Doc McStuffins, so we had fun playing with wire to make it work.

And most people thought Anna was a bunny. She was quick to correct them that she was Lamby (which she pronounces 'yammy.")

Obviously Niels isn't blue like the real Stuffy, but the costume was free.

 It was about 39 degrees halfway through trick or treating. Hattie was freezing while Anna was nice and toasty in that fluffy costume. So we stopped back by the house to get a coat and mittens, and snatch some pictures with Niels.

Paul and I meant to go as Chilly (the snowman) and Hallie (the hippo nurse) but when I lost the eBay bid on the perfect candy striper uniform, I gave up, not wanting to sew one myself. Maybe next year we will finally all coordinate our costumes.

Gratefully our ward Halloween party was right after the neighborhood block party, so we only had to get dressed up once this year :)

100% Whole Wheat Bread

Some people have been asking, so here’s my 100% whole wheat bread recipe, from my sister Laura:

The Sponge:
4 1/2 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast or 2 packets
3/4 cup warm Water
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
Mix warm water and yeast, then add whole Wheat Flour; mix vigorously. Let it sit for 45 minutes. It will reach a peak of expansion and then settle back down a little. That's when its time to do this:

The Dough

While mixing add:
2 1/2 cups of warm Water
2 cups of Whole Wheat Flour
Stir very well and add
1/2 cup of Wheat Gluten (Should be at most grocery stores in baking aisle)
2 1/2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1/3 cup Honey
1 1/2 Tablespoon Salt
Mix very well and add slowly:3 cups of Whole Wheat Flour or a bit more until it's a good bread consistency

Knead 10-15 minutes. Place into greased pans and let it rise in a warm place or a slightly warm oven for 1 hour if using regular yeast, or 40 min if using quick bread machine yeast. Bake at 325 for 20-30 minutes depending on your loaf size and how your oven works. It should be a very light golden brown, not a dark brown like you see in stores. I hope you enjoy!

Fun around the house

Since having the house under contract, the kids and I had a lot more time to enjoy together. They were thrilled not to be loaded in the van every other day and spend hours driving around Milwaukee. So here are some pictures of the last month...

 The girls have started piling pillows around Niels and calling it his house.

 Frozen custard is a big Wisconsin thing. Every restaurant makes it's own custard (either that or they brew their own beer!). Anna of course loves it, but to be honest, Sheridan's is better!

 We've started exploring some local museums.

 Nothing is quite so nice as when Anna puts herself down for a nap.

 Gratefully, Niels loves being pushed around.

 We built a lot of forts last month.

 And the girls like to have photo shoots with their stuffed animals.

 Laundry baskets make the best train cars.

And Anna is converting to a Packers fan!