Eastern Washington Weather

It seems it has always been the saying here that if you don't like the weather, just wait a couple of hours! Less than 2 weeks ago we had snow.


Now today, the kids have decided to be engineers and they built a backyard Grand Coulee Dam complete with water. Of course you can't build a dam and fill it with water without wearing your swimsuits. So here's to life in our backyard!

Blast From The Past

I sorted through the kids' books last month and gave them to Emma's teacher to use for her classroom, for her young son or to see if anyone else at school might like them. Mrs. Steinberger sent this photo home with Emma. Evidently it was in one of the books that we gave away. Wow! It is a photo of the last time that all of my brothers and sisters were together. The year was 1982. It was shortly before my father died - I was a senior in high school. From left to right: Tom, Janice, Helen, Susan, Dan (in back), Marjie, Judy & Dorothy.
Now, compare that to this one. It is the first picture of all of my brothers and sisters together. It was in 1964! From left to right in back row: Susan, Judy, Helen, Marjie - holding Janice. Front Row: Dorothy, Dan & Tom. I was just a couple of months old, my sister Helen had been married for a year!

Just One Word --- Yum!

I found this recipe through a facebook entry from my friend Catherine. We all loved it. Another friend said she was going to try making bread sticks out of it - I think that would also be yummy. So for the weekend, here's a yummy recipe compliments of The Family Homestead. We also love this honey whole wheat bread recipe.

Italian Pizza Crust

2 T yeast
3 cups warm water
1 T honey
¼ cups olive oil
1 t. salt
2 T Italian seasonings
1 t. minced garlic from the jar
1 t. minced onion, dried
½ cup parmesan cheese
¼ cup gluten flour
6 cups whole wheat flour (I use hard white wheat)

For the Bosch:
Combine all ingredients in the mixer and when well blended, knead for 4 to 5 minutes.

For other mixers or by hand:
Mix water, yeast, oil, and honey and let sit for 5 minutes. Add seasonings and flours. Knead for 7 to 10 minutes.

Allow the dough to sit for a few minutes and then roll divide into 3 pieces and roll to fit 3 15in pizza pans (if you like thick crust you can make 2 pizza’s instead of 3)

Let the dough rise for 10 to 15 minutes. Pre-bake the crust at 425 for about 6 minuets and then top with your favorite toppings. Return to oven and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes.

If this is more pizza dough than you will use, freeze either the dough or roll the dough out, pre-bake and then freeze.

St Patrick's Day

We got into the spirit of St Patrick's Day and decided that we would try and capture a leprechaun last night. First, we constructed a leprechaun trap. The theory is that the leprechaun would be drawn to the necklace on top of the box - he will climb up the handy ladder and then will fall through the top when he tries to get the necklace. We put some tissue in the bottom of the box to soften his fall - after all we want him to be able to tell us where his gold is.
This morning we found the trap sprung and the wily leprechaun had braided an escape rope from the tissue and had escaped from our trap. He must have been in a hurry to leave our house because he left behind some gold. He also played a few tricks. Everyone (including the puppy) has a green shamrock tattoo & the milk and butter have been turned green.
LOOK ITS SHAMROCKY!!!

Take Down

Ethan started training for Little Guy Wrestling this week. He is really getting into it. I will try and get some better pictures but here are some of practice!

They're Warped

Well, it has finally happened. I have finally managed to completely warp my children. A few of you may know of an evil plot that I thought up while I was in my 20’s. I had a plan to teach my children the wrong names for all of the colors so that when they went to school they would argue with their teachers saying things like – ‘But my Mama told me that was blue!’ – as the teacher holds up a pink balloon. I never really had the nerve to follow through on that evil plot but I did discover a new one.

Whenever the kids and I are in a good sized town and have some time to waste, we find a Goodwill store to peruse. Monday, Ben had a dentist appointment in Spokane so after his appointment, we did some shopping. We started at the Salvation Army store on Division, hit the Goodwill on 3rd, stopped for lunch at Old Country Buffet and then went to the Goodwill on Sprague. On the way home I hear the following conversation in the back of the van. Ben – "I love Goodwill, they have the best clothes!" Bailey – "Ummm…my sweater smells great – just like Goodwill!"

Some New Additions to the Family

Just wanted to put up a couple of photos and introduce a couple new members of the family. No, we didn't go to China again. We now have Rocky the puppy and a new to us white Dodge Caravan. Love the Caravan - not so sure on the puppy! Maybe it will get better when he quits pooping on the floor.

Keeping Up With the Dennis'

It's hard to believe that almost a month of summer has gone by. We've been having a great time here in Lind. The 14th was the annual Combine Demolition Derby in Lind. The kids decorated up their bikes and rode in the kids parade for Junior Grange. They were so excited. Then they got to catch candy and watch the "big" parade. It was a very good parade. My favorite part was the Viking group from Poulsbo that threw candy at the kids and then rushed the kids with their wooden boardswords drawn. Ben spilled half his candy and the girls latched onto our legs very quickly. It took us a few minutes to convince the kids that it was all just for "fun" and they weren't really "bad" men. Oh, how I wish I had a video of that!!! Here's a couple of pictures of the kids getting ready for the parade and a picture of my boss' wife with the Vikings.



We also had a trip to Seattle for another post surgery visit with Ben's surgical team. They took x-rays and examined his mouth. The graft looks good and he got the go ahead to eat corn on the cob! He was a happy boy! We made a fun day of it and went to the zoo after Ben's appointment. A good time was had by all at the zoo. Some of our favorite things were the birds and the butterflies. We got to get up close and personal with them. We also got to see the lions mating. Talk about an educational fieldtrip!!!
The last pictures on the slideshow are from one of our visits to the Ritzville pool. We went ahead and got season passes for the Lind and the Ritzville pools. I think the kids are part fish. They are so happy when they are splashing around in the pool. Emma is doing really well in the water. She still likes to have her tube float most of the time but has actually been jumping in and diving for things in the pool. She even got up the nerve to go down the slide at Ritzville by herself. Of course, Ben talked her into going down backwards and she tipped over and got a bit anxious but she dogpaddled out by herself. She needs to learn not to listen to big brothers. That is a lesson I learned pretty early in life. Probably the reason Dot & I are still alive - we had each other for back up against the boys!!!

Long Time No Blog

Whew! Forgive me readers for I have sinned. It has been almost two months since my last blog. To catch everyone up: Ben was released from activity restriction after 5 weeks and has been constantly on the go ever since. He was able to play T-ball the last two weeks of the season and really enjoyed it. The kids finished school this last week. They will all be going to summer school this summer. Hopefully it will help them retain all the knowledge they have gathered and it will give them something to do so they aren't always bored. They will also have swimming lessons during summer school - something cool that the school does for them. They will probably spend every afternoon at the pool as the babysitter now lives in town - just two blocks from the pool. Rod is going to get a bike rack fixed up for my van so we can take their bikes to the babysitter's every morning. They are really bike riding fools.
Emma had a very momentous day today. Her top two front teeth were very loose and she asked me to pull them out - so I did. She only cried for a minute when she saw the blood. She just went outside with the boys and got out Ben's old bike. It is smaller than her bike and is a little easier for her to control. She got on it and rode it to the end of the street and back - very straight and controlled without training wheels!!! So two teeth out and riding a bike without training wheels - can't get much better than that.

Since I have been promising Aunt Melanie that I will post new pictures, I have put together the following slide show. It shows the kids helping Dad drive the Terragator, T-ball photos, our camping trip where the kids had a ball rolling down the hill and playing in the river, the spring concert at school & riding bikes. Just another normal month at the Dennis house! Hope you all are having a good spring and are as ready for summer as we are.

1 Week Down!

Well, its been a week since Ben's surgery. I keep forgetting to take pictures of him - will have to get something tomorrow. His swelling has gone down - he looked like a lopsided chipmunk for most of the weekend. He is still showing some bruising - I'm sure it would look lots worse if he had light skin tone. Right now he just looks kind of green. He is eating really well - I had to send Rod back to the store the other night because we were running out of his special soft snacks! He is walking lots better and hasn't even been asking for any pain meds. Now it will be hard to keep him from over doing stuff. Bailey, Ethan & Emma are going to start T-ball next week. I'm sure that is going to be hard on Ben. We will have to think up something fun for him to do while they play. Only 5 more weeks of restriction for Ben!!! Hopefully they will go by quickly.

Children's Hospital

Ben came through his surgery with flying colors. The surgeon said everything went very well. He is getting some antibiotics, steroids and some pain meds through an IV so he is still tethered but he is ready to get out of here. He is really sore. We were able to get him up last night and he made several laps around the hospital wing. He was really hungry and ate almost all of the dinner that they brought him last night. Then when we stood him up, he lost it all on the floor of his room!!! After he walked around, he was starving again so I made a few trips to the nourishment room. They have a little room on the hospital floor where they keep things like jello & pudding cups, soup, juice, ice & ice cream. He ate two single servings of chicken noodle soup, two jello cups, two pudding cups, a couple of cups of apple juice and two ice cream cups. The surgery certainly didn't slow down his appetite.
Bailey & Marjie came for a visit. They had a good visit with Chris, Becky & Sarah. Bailey looked worn out. I'm sure she didn't have trouble falling asleep last night. We also went to visit Paul's brother Tom yesterday before Ben's surgery. He is at Virginia Mason. He has been in the hospital pretty much since January. He didn't look too bad. They are hoping that he will be able to go to the hotel close to the hospital in the next week. I'm not sure what his exact diagnosis is but it has to do with his pancreas and the way that the bile is draining. He also has been fighting some infections. I know it is really hard for him to be there - he has always been really active and the farm must be weighing on his mind pretty heavily.
Ben will be getting out of the hospital sometime around noon today. We just have to wait for some prescriptions to be sent in and the doctor needs to sign off on the discharge papers. There is a really cool playroom here and Ben is looking forward to trying it out. The nurses are also looking for a portable game system for him and his roommate. There is a little boy in the other bed here that had some kind of operation on his leg. They have been asking for a game system all morning!!!
Bailey & I took some pictures around the hospital yesterday. They have some really cool sculptures and decorations around the hospital. It doesn't really look that much like a hospital, which is a good thing. It is really welcoming and bright. Not scary!

Seattle

We made it to Seattle. We left Lind at about 2:00. I had a message on the answering machine to call the hospital to get Ben's surgery instructions - it took awhile to get ahold of a real person. His surgery is scheduled for early afternoon tomorrow. That will make for a long morning. He won't be able to eat anything after midnight tonight. He will be one hungry boy!
We are staying at the Silver Cloud Motel next to the UofW campus. It has a pool and vending machines. Both those things are fascinating when you are 6 & 7!!! The kids got in some serious swimming. Sometimes I wonder if they are 1/2 fish. Marjie's friends Chris & Becky are going to come visit tomorrow with their granddaughter Sarah. She and Bailey will have fun in the pool.

Recipes

Ok - I haven't posted any recipes in quite awhile. So here is a link to a whole slew of Weight Watcher recipes. I read these several years ago for the first time with my sister Marjie. I think we were both rolling on the floor by the time we made it through the last recipe. Enjoy scrolling through the pictures!

A day of driving

Ben & I spent Thursday on the road. He had his pre-surgery appointment at Children's Hospital in Seattle. The weather wasn't too bad, just a little snow on the pass. The appointment went well. The surgeon said that Ben's mouth looks very good - perfectly ready for the bone graft. The surgery is in two weeks and he will be on restricted activity and diet for six weeks after. That is going to be way too much fun. He won't be able to run and play - participate in recess or PE at school. He will be on soft food only, no chewing!!! Really looking forward to that.
I always get a deep reality check when I take one of the boys to Children's. I fuss about the kids at times and then we go there and I see the parents with the 1 or 2 year old child that has a bald head from chemo and is on oxygen or has a feeding tube and I think - wow, I really have it easy. It really puts everything into perspective. This surgery is just a little bump in the road. Ben has had his share - lip repair in China, two hand surgeries at Seattle Children's, a rhinoplasty at Seattle Children's and double hernia surgery at Spokane. It will be over soon and hopefully there won't be anything else for along time.

Future Seahawk?

Look out Matt Hasselback - looks like you have some up and coming competition. Ethan is very excited - he figured out how to throw a spiral. He is pretty good at catching the ball too. I think this is one boy that is going to be a ball player.

The Lind Diamondbacks - Minor Minor League!!!

This morning we started the day with a rousing game of baseball. Ben actually connected and hit one out of the yard!!! Everyone else got in the groove and hit quite a few. I'm sure it won't be long and we will have to start checking them for steriod use. I don't know if they will have a T-ball team here this year. Ben won't be able to play as he will be laid up from his surgery.
We also went to the Ralston Egg Hunt yesterday. The girls kind of stood around and watched - they thought it was too cold to pick up eggs! We had fun playing all the games and eating all the snacks inside the grange after the hunt. Ben ate 6 servings of fruit! I think everyone thinks that I starve my kids because they eat so much but I keep telling them that they eat like that at home too!!! In fact it frightens us to think about our food budget for the future - might be more than the mortage!!!

Love & Marriage

Emma & Ethan are in Kindergarten together. Their teacher, Mrs. Steinberger, does some really cool stuff with the kids. She puts together books of their work and does some theme books too. The kids then get to take turns taking the books home and we get a real kick out of seeing their world through their eyes!!! Today, Emma brought home the Love & Marriage book. Mrs. Steinberger asked the kids, "What does love mean to you and how old do you have to be to get married?"

Ethan said: "Love means that like you hug people. I love my Mom and Dad. I know they love me too because they tuck us in at night, they read books, they let us play video games and they take us places. I think you need to be 20 years old to get married."

Emma said: "I love my sister Bailey and my brother Ben. I love Ethan. I love my Mom and Dad. They read to me and take me places. I love my Aunt Sashie, I love Sophie and Tristian. I kissed Tristian. I don't know if I'm old enough to get married. Bailey is almost old enough. I need to ask my Mom and she will tell me when I can get married."

And that's all I have to say about that!!!

Long Time No Blog

Just a warning - this will probably be a long one! Not really sure why I have been off the blog lately. I think I just got sad and got out of the habit. We had some really bad news early in February. Our babysitter's mother Nana had a stroke and then died a week later. We were all very close to Nana. She was our back up babysitter and the kids spent alot of afternoons sitting around her kitchen table having tea. Nana was from England and was a very unique lady. Her first husband had been in the British Military and they had lived in Africa. She had amazing tales to tell about Africa, living in England during WWII and just life in general. She was a true force of nature and never afraid to speak her mind. We miss her every day.
Other news for February: Emma lost another tooth, Ben had 4 more teeth pulled and we survived filling out valentines!


We have Ben's bone graft surgery scheduled. We have a pre-op appointment March 20th and the surgery is scheduled for April 3. He will be on very limited activity and diet after the surgery for 6 weeks. We really wanted to get this over before summer. I just couldn't imagine telling him that he couldn't swim for 6 weeks! We got him a used gameboy so hopefully he won't feel too bad about not being able to ride his bike or participate in PE at school.
Yesterday, we went down to Pasco to visit and do some shopping. We hit Walmart right before we came home. There was a big display of slippers on sale for $1 ea. They were the fuzzy scuff kind of slippers. The boys were complaining because they were just girl slippers and I told them if they wanted, the girls could have the pink ones and the boys could have the purple ones. They all agreed - then when we were at the check out, Ethan piped up and told the cashier that the purple ones were for Ben and him. Ben just about had a conniption telling him to be quiet - that we don't tell people that the boys were going to wear girl slippers - that was just for home!!! Once we got out to the car - they all wanted me to cut the strings off the slippers so they could wear them. Ben took a good look at his and got all excited because he could read that they were "MADE IN CHINA" - he called out - "Hey, that's so cool - these were made in China." Then he said, "Hey, maybe Emma made these! Emma, did you make these slippers when you were in China last year!" Emma replied, "Yes, I think I did!" I just about fell out of the van laughing!!!

We cleaned up the garden a little - Rod and the kids hauled the cut up firewood out and stacked it up. Bailey was the number one helper on the project. She even went out after dinner and hauled another load. Quite the little Daddy's helper!!!


Another warning: I just got a new toy!! It's been here about 5 days and so far I've made a triple batch of chocolate chip cookies and a single batch of bread. It was so easy to mix up both of those that it was almost laughable. Can't wait to make more!!! I promise to post some recipes soon. Wish we could have smell a vision here - the house smells like fresh baked bread - yum!!! Oh, and there were 3 loaves of bread in the batch - 1 disappeared in about a 1/2 hour after it came out of the oven. Four little snarf mouths made short work of it.