Wordless Wednesday

Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations... keep moving forward, friends.

Noodle Makin'

 I supervised Megan making noddles one morning. 

 If you haven't tried your hand at this it is fairly easy. 

You'll need:

2 cups of all purpose flour
3 eggs
1/4 tsp of salt

That's it.  See I told you, easy!

Make a "well" in your flour/salt mixture and add the eggs.

 Using a fork start beating your eggs and gradually adding flour into the well with the eggs.

Once it is fairly combined then you use your hands to mix and kneed the dough. 

 
 On a lightly floured surface you need to roll, turn, roll, turn, roll. 

This step take quite a while to thin out the dough.  If you don't have a noodle maker then you keep doing the roll and turn step until you get the dough to your desired thickness.  

I'm not a huge fan of pictures of myself.  Megan has found her "selfie" love so I suck it up and smile with my girl.  I figure at least people will know I really did exist. Ha!

One Christmas I was gifted a noodle attachment for my Kitchen Aid.  I ran strips of the dough through twice to thin it and then ran it through the noodle cutting portion.  

Again this is not necessary.  Until I had this attachment I would roll and roll, then use a pizza cutter to cut the noodles.  

Place your cut noodles on a floured towel, cover and let dry until you are ready to use.  If you don't need them all you can also freeze them after you had let them dry a few hours.  

 

This batch of noodles was used to complete our chicken and noodles dinner.  Yum! 

May you find joy in the journey as you chase your life!

Birthday Girl!

We spent the weekend celebrating Megan!  It's hard to believe that she is twelve. She is still very much a little girl yet I can see a glimpse here and there of the young woman she is becoming.  She brings us great joy.  She is funny, has a quick wit, and is still very head strong.  As frustrating as that sometimes is, I know that is a quality that helped her in the first months of her life and will make her a strong woman.  We just need to work on how to hone it into a positive attribute!  

She is certainly an introvert and timid with those she doesn't know or isn't comfortable around.  As we move toward her teen years we will be working to help her improve her social skills.  I know first hard how hard it is to put yourself out there, but she must learn how to function in the world without her parents always being by her side.  

 Megan has a creative soul.  I often refer to her at a girly tomboy!  She is able to keep herself busy by creating things from sticks, mud, popsicle sticks, and loves using her glue gun.  Her latest fascination is working with leather.  I look forward to watching her learn this skill.

  She isn't afraid of hard work or getting dirty.  She often amazes us by how she will jump in and help someone with a project.  She recently helped Grandpa spread mulch at his church.  She jumped right in carrying bags and getting down and dirty spreading it out. It made me smile when he told me this because that is so Megan!

 Although she is timid and her circle of friends is small, she is loyal.  If she invites you into her life you have a friend that will love you, support you, and value you.    

  I often wonder how the years have sped by so fast.  The years of little were good, but so is today.  It's my joy to watch my girl grow in a young woman.  I pray continuously for her future.  My greatest prayer is that she continues to grow in her faith and follow the Lord.

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 3 John 4

Happy Birthday, Megan! We love you!!!

May your day be filled with joy in the journey!

Riding the Rails

As you can tell it looks like our internet issues have been resolved. It involved a visit from a tech, a visit to the service center and in the end a change of providers. The good news is that we are back in business!

*************************************************

Saturday, July 1st Megan celebrated her 11th birthday. We have tried hard to raise her to experience life and enjoy the simple pleasures instead of having a desire for material possessions. When we asked what her birthday wish was she said to take a train ride. I made arrangements for us to ride the rails!

We arrived at the station to get our tickets. 

There was time to kill so we went to check out the cute little town. 

They happened to be having their farmers market so we browsed, listed to music and enjoyed the sights. We were able to enjoy all of this with Grandma and Grandpa. (Chuck's mom and step dad.)

Here it comes!

There was an opportunity to visit the engine.

All aboard! We are excited to begin our trip in a restored 1923 rail car. 

 

We had great scenery along the way. The Whitewater River ran beside the tracks. 

Along the way we saw wooded areas, 

farms, 

old farm houses

passed country roads, 

and saw field after field of corn. 

Megan thoroughly enjoyed pointing out the sights to us. She even saw her first bald eagle! Sadly I missed it. 

We had a really run conductor. He had the passengers sing Happy Birthday to Megan. She was less then thrilled to have the spotlight on herself. 

We arrived at our destination and had a couple of hours to explore. 

We were able to explore the canal lock, 

see the old grist mill. 

There were cute shops to visit and in no time it was time to head back. 

The ride back took about a hour and fifteen minutes. It was nice to rest and enjoy the view and breeze after exploring town. 

Good bye until next time! 

Happy Birthday, Megan! It's my pleasure to watch you grow into a beautiful young lady. 

May your day be filled with joy in the journey!

Celebrating 10!

Friday was Megan's birthday. Chuck took the day off work and we picked up the in-laws to head out for a day of adventure. The plan was to take a ride in this.

Sadly the balloon ended up being grounded due to the wind. I think we were more disappointed then Megan. The balloon is inside of a 1800's living history museum so we were still able to have fun. 

Along the way there were activities kids could participate in for a small fee. Megan was able to make a bracelet out of a copper pipe, create a pinch pot out of clay, dip a candle and make a turtle by doing silver casting. She enjoyed all of these things. Of course, you could skip these things and still have fun! We usually do without complaint. ;) 

It was a beautiful 80* day with a nice breeze. It made for an enjoyable day to walk the paths. 

All of the hands on activities make this a really fun place. 

Once we were headed back home we gave Megan a choice of two places for dinner. She choose to have steak for dinner. 

The evening ended at the in-law for presents and cake. 

What a fun day we had celebrating Megan! 

There have been so many changes in Megan this last year. She is leaving little girl behind and becoming more and more of a young lady. Not only in her looks, but in her actions. I love her gentle heart and quick wit. I am looking forward to watching her grow this next year.

May your day be filled with joy and contentment!