Favorite food to bake with

My friend Jackie just did a great post on her blog (Shake My Soul) about one of her favorite things. I was a bit surprised she chose to blog about lunch meat but after I read her post I was craving a stinky chicken sandwich too. She asked us fellow bloggers to write about one of our favorite things so in the spirit of food (and a sandwich) I decided to go with the favorite food idea and chose...


Jules Gluten Free Flour

(Sorry no Photo)

Anyway, this is the brand of flour I use whenever I bake or cook. I was first introduced to it almost a year ago after finding out that I could no longer eat products containing gluten. I went to my local Hy-Vee grocery store and met with the dietitian to find out which products were safe for me to buy. She was very excited to show me this particluar product since it was a fairly recent addition to the market and was the only GF flour that had xanthum gum added to it so it could be used in recipes just like "regular" flour. For those that don't know, gluten is the sticky substance in wheat or other grains that hold things together. Items made with gluten free ingredients will fall apart if some sort of binder isn't added to the recipe.

So far I have been able to make pretty much any baked item I want to using this flour. My first try at GF baking was banana bread and it was a delicious success. It was almost impossible to tell the difference between my GF banana bread and regular banana bread. I have also had luck with snickerdoodle cookies, muffins, and cakes. Sometimes I have to tinker with the recipe since wheat flour does things differently than the GF flour. I'm still working on my chocolate chip cookies. They taste great but don't look as good as the ones I make with regular flour. I have also been able to make bread. Very important tip...make sure to cut the bread BEFORE putting it in the freezer.

So there you have it, my favorite food to bake with. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm getting the urge to bake something right now.


I have not received any type of compensation nor do I expect to receive any type of compensation for mentioning this product in my blog.

Rapid City

Andrew just loved the big pirate ship slides.


Carolyn shows off her fantastic swimming moves.



Ok Mathew, I dare you to run under that mushroom.



Check out those big tusks on that Mammoth skull.

Really big fish type dinosaur skeleton.

Isn't she just the cutest thing?

Andrew practicing to be a talk show host.

Birthday boy enjoying his cake.

Rezin family 2011




Well this past weekend we traveled across the state of South Dakota to Rapid City. We decided to use the vacation days the kids got off from school and visit my parents and siblings. Of course last week that area had beautiful weather and record high temps. This week when we decided to come out for a visit we ended up with freezing cold wind chills and a big snowstorm that dumped over nine inches on the area. Go figure.

We got into town Friday night and spent some time over at my parents house before coming back to the hotel. I decided to get a room at one of the hotels that had a water park so the kids would have something to do. Unlike last summer when I tried the hotel with water park thing I made sure this hotel did include the water park in the room rate. Everyone was pretty tired so we skipped the water and headed for bed.

The next day started off with snow so instead of doing something outdoors or up in the Black Hills (we are not skiers) we headed over to the Museum of Geology on the campus of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. The kids had fun looking at all the rocks and bones they had on display. We also walked across campus and looked at the updates that have been done since the loving husband graduated. Mom had to work that morning so we called and had Dad meet us there. I'm pretty sure he enjoyed the outing as much as the kids did.

Later that afternoon we invited my sister and her family over for cake and swimming. The kids had a blast going down the huge water slides and splashing in the water park area. After swimming for a bit we went up to our room and had cake and Matthew opened his presents.

Because the kids had this great water park to keep them busy, I asked Mom if her and Dad would mind watching them that evening while hubby and I grabbed some kid-free time together. The plan was to eat at the restaurant in the hotel but there was a 30 min wait to get a table and it was looking like the service would not be on the speedy side so we decided on plan B....a local BBQ place that had great food and was a whole lot cheaper than the first place. The reason we were wanting something on the fast side was the water park was quite busy and both hubby and I didn't want to leave the kids too long. My sister and her family also returned that night so I wanted to spend some time with her too.

The predicted snowstorm hit during the night and no travel was advised so we spent Sunday swimming and hanging out at the hotel. It was also Dad's birthday so we headed over to Target to buy him a card. Mom had called earlier in the day to let us know there would be a delicious pot roast supper to look forward to.

After heading back to the hotel and letting the kids take monster naps we went over and celebrated Dad's birthday. The highlight of the night was Matthew winning the Yahtzee game. Either he's really good at this game or he's really lucky. After the game was over we returned to the hotel and I took Carolyn and Andrew to the water park for one last swim.

Thankfully Monday morning was bright and clear. We said good-bye to Mom and Dad at a local fast food restaurant and headed for home. I now have a new love and appreciation for technology. Thanks to the DSI's and portable DVD player, we were able to drive from Rapid City to Chamberlain (3+ hrs) without fights, whining, or having to stop and take a break. Unfortunately, when we got to our lunch stop in Chamberlain it was packed with travelers so we just did potty breaks and kept going. We ate in Mitchell instead.

The roads for the most part were pretty good for travel except for a 30+ mile stretch that was really really icy. If not for that then I think we might have set a new travel record for the trip back. Once again, thank goodness for modern technology that kept the kids occupied and not fighting with each other. We got home and the cat was really glad to see us. I spent the rest of the evening doing laundry and catching up on e-mails.

It really is the thought that counts

Valentine's Day, the one holiday I really can't stand. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not against love or anything. I'm just not in favor of Corporate America telling me I have to spend a boatload of money just to let everyone know that I love my spouse. However, there are those who celebrate this day, some with reluctance, others with boundless enthusiasm, that might be reading this post and wonder what my point is...

Well to be truthful it is about giving the special someone in your life a Valentines Day gift.

Hey wait, didn't I just write about my dislike of the whole spending money for this stupid holiday? Why yes, yes I did. This post isn't about the commercial or monetary meaning of this holiday. It's about celebrating the meaning behind the holiday which of course honors St. Valentine the Patron Saint of lovers, martyred in AD 269 for giving aid to Christians
(not allowed) and supposedly trying to convert the Emperor (gutsy but not too wise).

Anyway, back to the 21st century..and what has now become an excuse to drain your bank account in the name of love (or stupidity). The giving of a Valentine's Day gift should be a thoughtful and careful one, it should reflect both a part of yourself and a part of the person who is to receive it. A gift which is given freely from the heart out of love will always be cherished as opposed to something thought of and bought at the last minute.

Commercials on the TV and radio try to paint a perfect picture of what true love is supposed to look like, especially if you use or give their product to that special someone. However, those are not real people (with exception to the dating sites) and this isn't always what love looks like. Yes a diamond lasts forever but if the relationship is not on a solid foundation then what good is buying "a symbol of your love" ? Flowers are pretty but if they are bought just because that's what you do on Valentine's Day, why spend the money?

Well here it is, the point of this post. When giving a gift on this day, it really is the thought that counts. Seriously, we women want you guys to actually put time and effort into our gift. Run to the store in a panic the night before or day of and you are setting yourself up for disaster. The best gifts don't always come in a box or vase or insert store name here. Be creative, be bold, go sappy, it doesn't matter as long as whatever gift you give has a significant meaning behind it.

What I'm trying to say is that if you are going to spend money and celebrate this holiday then do it because you love your significant other and for no other reason. I realize there are some people out there who are very self-centered and shallow and want only things and attention. For them it's all about the how much are you gonna spend on me and how much can I brag to my friends about this. I truly feel sorry for them because this is not what the holiday is about. They are so caught up in the marketing and social expectations of this day that they fail to appreciate the blessings they have.

So there you have it, my annual Valentine's Day post. The funny thing about Valentine's Day is it always finds a way to creep into my life and shower me with love. This year it was in the form of the word's cutest 6 year old handing me a home made colored and cut out heart with I (heart) you on it. This accompanied by a big hug and "I love you Mommy".

See, it really is the thought that counts.

Happy 8th Birthday Matthew

I still can't believe it's been 8 years since I first saw your cute little face and held you in my arms. While your face is still cute, you have grown way too big for me to pick up and carry around. I love you enthusiastic spirit and love of life. Your smile is always present and you have such a goofy sense of humor. Even though you think in literal terms, you can still find a way to laugh at yourself (or me) when corrected on what the slang meaning of the word or phrase is. As far as brains go..well you've got lots of those. I am amazed at how smart you are and how fast you learn things. I am always trying to stay one step ahead of you when it comes to learning things and it won't be too long before you'll have to ask your father for help with the Math homework.

Happy Birthday my sweet wonderful child. I thank God each and every night for bringing you into my life..your name says it all.

Matthew - Gift from God.

I'm Back

Hi everyone.

I know it's been forever since I last logged on. I really didn't mean to be gone this much but somehow I've been able to find all sorts of things to do instead of blogging. Not a lot has happened since you last read something from me...the Holiday season came and went and 2010 left us in favor of 2011..but other than that not much else going on.

A quick recap on things goes as follows.

We ate ourselves silly over Thanksgiving down in Lesterville. SD and then I got up at oh freeking early the next morning to celebrate the "unofficial" holiday that is Black Friday. I snabbed some really good deals and set a new personal best shopping time of just under 3 hours. Of course I also had a few gifts that I didn't need to buy that day so I guess since my list was shorter it should take less time.

I managed to get all my shopping done in time for Christmas and even got gifts wrapped early too. That I consider my Christmas Miracle. Truth be told I hate wrapping gifts. I'd much rather toss them in a gift bag and be done with it but the kids do like ripping open paper so wrap I must.

We spent Christmas Eve down in Yankton with the Schwarz side of the family. We left that afternoon and came back that evening. Everyone had a blast and I ate way too many sweets and candy. The kids also decided that Santa should have meat sticks to go with his cookies and milk this year. Carolyn made sure that all was right for Santa and she even had daddy go online to track Santa's progress.

Later that night after we came home and the kids were in bed I helped the loving husband put together Andrew's gift. We got him one of those arcade style basketball hoops games. It has 2 baskets and 4 toddler sized balls and a 60 second shot clock. He absolutely loves it and spends lots of time shooting baskets. He has beaten me more times than I care to admit but of course I have been known to outscore him a time or two. Please note this is NOT a toddler/preschool toy..this is a game that can be used by anyone with enough coordination to make (or attempt) to make a basket.

Matthew finally got the Nintendo DSi XL that he' always wanted. I gave into "mommy guilt" due to the fact Carolyn has one and Andrew got a Fischer Price iXL which is a portable gaming system for his birthday. Poor Matthew had to borrow either Carolyn's DSi or Andrew's iXl anytime he wanted to play a game and fights broke out when someone did not want to share.

Having personal gaming systems for the kids makes for an easier drive and a few days after Christmas we all piled into the van and headed over to the big bustling metropolis of Chamberlain, SD for what has become our annual Rezin get together. I get a couple of hotel rooms and we meet Mom and Dad for an evening of fine dining (Al's Oasis) and endless entertainment. The kids enjoyed swimming in the pool and this year I packed a couple of board games so later that evening the Grandparents could have "grandkid time". So far this has been a much easier way to celebrate Christmas with my folks. We do plan on going out to Rapid City in February.

Well I think that pretty much covers the past few months or so. Super exciting as you can tell. Other than what I've written about nothing much has changed. I will be trying harder to update my posts on a more regular basis. I also got my camera fixed and will try and put photos up at some future date.

Have a happy 2011!!!

And then they started to throw the paper airplanes

Wow, time goes by fast. It seems that I never get around to updating my blog. Anyway, another month has gone by since I last posted. In that month my camera broke and needs repairs so there will be no photos to accompany this post. I did pick up a cute red Kodak Easy Share camera so I could at least give you something to look at but the darn thing didn't work yesterday when I needed it to. Anyway on to the post.

The loving husband and I have been married for 10 years. It has been kind of a running joke that we need to get away for a "just the two of us" vacation. However, the three wonderful very energetic children we have pose a slight roadblock to that vacation. Also, we happen to like taking our children on fun vacations so there really was no pressing need to vacation sans kids.

Earlier this month an opportunity came up that involved tickets to the Vikings-Packers game. The loving husband had the opportunity to attend with his boss and several co-workers. Normally it's a he only gets to go kind of thing but due to unusual circumstances he was given the chance to take me with him. After a few phone calls he had childcare for the kids and let me know the happy news. Can you say "Happy Butt Dance" moment.

The plan was to drive to Yankton on Saturday night and drop the kids off with my Mother in Law. My Sister in Law and my nephew (her son) would help watch the kids on Sunday while we were at the game. We would drive back down to Yankton Sunday night and pick the kids up. That gave us about 24 hours of kid-free time.

We didn't tell the kids our plans until we got to Grandma's house and of course they were pretty excited. I was kinda nervous about leaving them alone without me but I knew they would be well taken care of. We drove back to our strangely quiet home to try and get a few hours sleep before our very early wake up. We had to meet up with Jim's boss at 5:45 am.

Sunday morning arrived very early and the roads were not the best so it took a little longer to get up to the Dome. We were supposed to meet another group at the VIP tent at 9:30 but we didn't get there until after 10. We also discovered that there are several tents set up in the area around the Dome so we had a little difficulty finding the right one.

If you remember my post last January about freezing my butt off in the "Losers Tent" as I called it I am happy to write about my VIP tent experience. We had to have a special ticket to get in but once we were in it was really nice. It was warm with lots of tables set up and a huge buffet in the middle of the room. There was also a bar set up too but I only took a Mt. Dew. There were a few Vikings Cheerleaders there selling calenders and posing for photos. Since the calender was the swimsuit edition I could not in good conscience get my dad a calender but I did get one for my brother, complete with autographs. The food was very good and there was enough variety that I was able to eat something too. They did have this oh so wonderful smelling apple crisp everyone was eating for dessert.

After filling up and chatting with some very nice people I decided to head over to the Dome and say hi to my friend Pam. I also wanted to take photos but sadly, the camera I bought decided to not work. It worked the day before but I think the batteries went dead. Surprisingly they don't sell batteries at the Metrodome. Pam was nice enough to lend me her camera so I got a few shots. I gave the camera back to her at the end of the game so I'm hoping she e-mails me my photos.

Seat wise, last year I had an awesome seat with a killer view of the Vikings bench and field. This year my seat was on the other side of the field and much higher. I did have a great view of the end zone though. The photos I did take were not as good and close as the ones I took back in January.

Since this was a Vikings-Packers game there were a lot of Cheeseheads in the stands. I had a few in front of me that were a little on the annoying side but not too bad. The atmosphere before the game was happy and festive and the energy in the dome was at excitement level. We were yelling and screaming and on our feet most of the first quarter. There were some really great hits too. Things weren't quite so loud the second quarter, especially when the interception happened. We still managed to keep the noise level up there but the Cheeseheads were able to cheer louder.

At halftime I watched the ring ceremony for John Randle who was a very good defensive player for the Vikings. He had been inducted into the Hall of Fame and he was being recognized by the Vikings. Hubby and I also headed out to find something for my dad. I also called home from the Dome to say hi to the folks. Hubby called his mom to find out how everything was going with the kids.

I missed kickoff for the second half and by the time I got back to my seat, Green Bay had already scored. Things went pretty much downhill from there. The plays on the field got worse and worse for the Vikings and better and better for the Packers. My great view of the end zone provided me many opportunities to see Packer touchdowns. I actually commented to the guy next to me that while I was excited to see touchdowns, these were not the ones I wanted to see.

Late in the third quarter it was starting to look as if the Vikings forgot to come back out of the locker room. The "Go Pack Go" shouts were getting louder and the "Go Brett Go" cheers were becoming less and less. Sometime late in the quarter after yet another Green Bay score a loud "Fire Childress" chant started. It was hard to shout and laugh at the same time but I guess I get to cross another thing off my bucket list...yelling 'Fire Childress" at the Metrodome during a game. It was also in this quarter the paper airplanes started to appear.

As the fourth quarter started, the trickle of Purple started to get larger. From areas above and around me paper airplanes started flying around. Made no doubt by fans with nothing better to do than watch them fly. I almost got hit by a few but luckily, escaped. The loudest cheer from the Viking fans in my area occurred when one of the airplanes made it down on the field. I have to give the cheerleaders credit, they tired their best to jump around and look happy to be cheering for this team. Even the Vikings horn started to sound flat and weak. Almost as if the horn blower wasn't overly excited about whatever play the Vikes made. Ok, they weren't making too many of them at this point. By the two minute warning when the Vikings fate was beyond sealed, they started to leave in droves. I decided to stop by and give Pam her camera back so I left and told hubby to meet me downstairs.

After dropping off the camera I stood at the foot of the staircase and waited for my group to come down. As I waited, I was able to observe the fans. Most of those in purple were reserved and wanting to just leave. The ones in green and gold were much much happier. There were high fives and hand slaps. It didn't matter if they knew each other, green was good. Thankfully no fights broke out. I'm sure since this was such a lopsided loss there really wasn't much to fight about.

After re-grouping, we all headed outside to get the van and start home. Even the outside activities were reflective of this loss. There were lots of photos and goofy poses from those wearing green. Everyone else walked on by. A group of Packer fans were swarming a poor camerawomen in excitement of this win. I'm pretty sure it was a Wisconsin station. There were a few musicians playing to the crowds for tips. The one guy on a trumpet played some very good New Orleans style funeral music.

Van found, it was time to get back home. We all wanted to get back before the weather got icky. Shortly after we got out of the city, Jim's boss commented on how easy and fast it was to get back on the interstate and out of the downtown area. I of course pointed out that a lot of people already had left before the game's end so there was much less traffic than usual.

Four hours or so later hubby and I were dropped back off at our car in a parking lot in Brandon. We drove back home, switched cars and headed down to Yankton to get the kids. They were pretty happy to see us.

Even though the Vikings lost the game and as far as games go, this one pretty much stunk, I still had a blast. It was wonderful to spend so much kid-free time with the loving husband and do a fun activity together. We decided to call this our happy 10th anniversary vacation getaway.

A walk in the park

The adventure begins. And this is probably the best shot of the kids I got all day.



It's "say cheese" Carolyn, not give me a cheesy look.



All is quiet and peaceful.

Oops, loaded the wrong photo. Sorry.

A peaceful path.

Another attempt at getting all children to smile and look into the camera lens.

Fall colors against a blue sky.

Even the bees were enjoying the day.

I think this is a Little Blue Heron.

Beautiful yellow flowers make me think more of Spring than Fall.

Male Downey Woodpecker



Hubby was out of town this past weekend so it was up to me to entertain 3 kids. The day was bright and sunny with just a hint of a breeze. Thankfully Carolyn who was not very happy with me for choosing a hike calmed down and was able to have a really fun time. After our walk in on the trail we headed over to the Outdoor Campus and went inside the building. They have an amazing display of the plants and animals of this region. When we finished inside, it was over to Sertoma Park to play. For those who don't know, the Outdoor Campus and Sertoma Park are right next to each other. We usually start the hiking trail so that we end up in the park.

After letting the kids play for a while I bribed them with the possibility of a cold Coca Cola ( I know, shameful) and finally got them to go back to the van. I decided that the Hy-Vee gas station was as good a place as any and it also had slushees. Matthew and Andrew opted for the slushees and Carolyn chose Cherry Coke. I was a little surprised at her choice but she enjoyed it. Andrew preferred to sneak drinks of my plain Coke. I also got three bags of popcorn (on sale that day for 35 cents) and two candy bars. No one complained when I set out for home. The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful and by 9:30 that night I had three dead to the world sleeping kids (go figure).