Irish Brown Bread

2 1/4 c whole wheat flour
2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c rolled oats
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 T sugar (I used Splenda)
2 1/2 c buttermilk

Heat oven to 400*. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix with your hands. Dig a hole in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in 1 1/2 cups of the buttermilk.

Continue mixing with your hands, adding the remaining cup of buttermilk as you combine the ingredients. The dough will be wet and very sticky!

Dust your hands with flour and shape the dough into a ball. Place the dough ball on a floured cookie sheet and score a deep X into the top using a knife.

Bake until it's golden grown, about 50 minutes, and cool on a wire rack. Let cool at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Makes a crusty, dense, and delicious loaf of Irish Brown Bread just in time for Saint Patrick's Day!

I got this recipe out of this month's Family Fun Magazine.

To the Tatums

David wanted to tell his cousin, Jordann, thanks for making the one-eyed monster for him!

And Tabi, Fluff and Tort also thank Jordann for the toy she made for them!


When y'all were here at Christmas, Uncle Glenn commented about how much music David knew. Let's see if you can identify this tune, Uncle Glenn:

Dad has watched this video so many times that David now sings along! I tried uploading this to YouTube, but it wasn't working for some reason. I hope this works.

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Elizabeth loves books! She especially loves the astro-turf grass in Biscuit's Pet & Play Easter. (notice the ladybug?)

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David has said some hilarious stuff this week! Let's start with song lyrics...

I think there's great value to listening to Christian music within his ear shot, because he quickly picks up on songs and starts singing along. In the car one day, he started singing.

David: Bumba bumba dee

Mom: The words are, "Holy, holy is the Lord."

David: Holy, holy is the gourd.

Mom, hardly able to control the laughter: LORD! The word is Lord!

David: Holy, holy is the LORD!

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Here's another song he almost picked up from listening to Wee Sing:

I love the mountains,

I love the rolling pin...

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After having chewed up his last toothbrush, I found a 2-pack of Crayola marker looking toothbrushes on sale at HEB. I am so glad it was a 2-pack, because he stuck one of them down the drain. (Dad had recently removed the drain plunger.) Anyway, not only to they look like a marker, they also have a suction cup on the bottom so they can stand upright on the counter!

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David stuck it to the counter one night when he realized:
My toothbrush has a Larry ear!
What a cool super-suction toothbrush!

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See more of Tiny Talk Tuesday over at Not Before 7!

Party Week!

It's party week in the blogosphere! Welcome to my little get together! I can't really throw an actual party, since we're living at Grandma & Grandpa's house right now, so this will be perfect! Click on over to 5 Minutes for Mom to read more about the Ultimate Blog Party!

First, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Mom. That about sums it up, doesn't it? That means I'm a jack-of-all-trades, domestic engineering goddess. ; ) I am a lover of one handsome firefighter and two beautiful babies (3 & 1), fixer of helicopters and Spaghetti-O's, washer of sippy cups and diapers, teacher of manners and finger painting. Oh, and in my spare time I blog!

I started blogging after baby #1 and we lived 5 hours from all family. It was the perfect way to share adorable photos and keep all the family up-to-date on our life and David, and so was born, "What's He Up To Now?"

Now we're back with family but I'm hooked on blogging, and I've taken my family with me! Just check out their links in the sidebar!

Another party going on this week is a Grand Opening as the Homeschool eStore is changing it's name to CurrClick! Click on over there to discover exciting curriculum to download for your kiddo's. Some of my e-books are there, too:

• The Real Mother Goose
• Made With Love: A Collection of Recipes for Homemade Baby Food and my newest publication,
• Made With Love: A Collection of Recipes for Art & Craft Projects

My sister (who blogs here), also has some e-books:

• Childhood Stories of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln
• My Book of Continents
• My Book of State History and
• Give Thanks! Thanksgiving Readings for the Family

So come on in, grab a piece of Fiesta and fill it with Goldfish, strawberries, animal crackers, Cheerios, and bananas. I'd love to get to know ya! And who knows, I might even make a batch of chocolate chip cookies before the week's over!

Resources for Homeschoolers

BTW - The Ultimate Blog Party comes complete with awesome prizes! My top three picks would be the Go BPA Free Sippy Sampler Kit (#137), the Klean Kanteen Sippy Cup (#19), or the My Baby Can Talk DVD Set (#17). Or any of the free blog design / makeovers!

100% All Natural Teether

Elizabeth has invented a new 100% all natural teether!
She started this at HEB. She was getting fussy in the basket, so when I picked up a yellow squash, I just handed it to her. Somewhere in the store, she gnawed the top stem off. I assume she spit it out, because I haven't seen it "again." I cut the bottom off at home when she started chewing on that end, too.

BTW - She broke her first molar through using this teether!

Saturday Airshow

Dad's favorite WWII airplane is the B17 bomber. When he heard there was going to be an airshow at Alliance Airport, he decided it would be fun to take David.

They both enjoyed the opportunity to go inside the planes. David didn't want to get out of the planes! He noticed the number of rotors on the planes, too. They got their hands stamped at the gate.

Back in the car, where Mom & Elizabeth were hanging out. It was a bit chilly for her & would have been hard to carry her into the planes!

They had some good Dad & David time.

Friday Morning

We woke up to this view Friday morning:
I showed David how to build a snowman... kind of. This one actually looks more like a penguin.
Then I introduced David to the wonderful world of snow balls.
Just thrown...

Artsy Boy

Earlier this week, David tried his hand at finger painting:

Then it became full-body painting:

And he made some play doh snakes:

Tiny Talk Tuesday

I saw a photo like this on a friend's blog & thought it was so neat that I decided to try it out!

One morning this week...
David, chipperly: Good morning, Grandpa!
Grandpa: Howdy doo!
David, now confused: What???

David, while drinking watered down juice: Mmmm, delicious!

David, after finding plastic Easter eggs in the closet: Hey, what are y'all doing in here?
Yep, my boy said "Y'all!"



Elizabeth, after watching Grandma close the bathroom door, "Ah-ma! Ah-ma!! Ah-ma!!!"

Read more Tiny Talk at Not Before 7.

Standing Strong

Here she is, standing on her own, with no one adding support, for the first time. My how time flies.