BEST pancakes!

My friend Alaina shared her pancake recipe with me a few months back and I made them last Sunday for the first time. They are amazingly delicious and very filling. I wanted to share the recipe because even Jer who doesn't love pancakes likes these! I made up a few batches of the mix to have on hand so I can just scoop what I need. This is a double batch cause our kiddos will eat them throughout they day if there is any leftover.


Pancake batter
2 cups mix (see below)
1-1/4 c milk (any variety will work I have used cow and coconut)
1 cup cooked oats or mashed banana* (I have also mixed cooked oats and applesauce)
1 TBSP honey
2 eggs **
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon (I added this cause I think all pancakes are better with cinnamon, but you could leave it out)

depending on how thick or thin you like your pancakes you can add more mix to the batter. I like mine to be a little thick so I add about 1/4 cup extra mix.

* 2 pkg instant oatmeal is about 1 cup and you can find good instant oats in the health food department
** if you can't have eggs sub in 1-1/2 TBSP water, 1-1/2 TBSP oil and 1 tsp baking powder per egg


Mix:
2 cups ground oats. (just whiz in the blender)
2 cups flour (I use Bobs Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour)
4 TBSP sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp salt
I hope you like them as much as we do!


Blessed is me...

Farmhouse pictures!

 I was going through the pictures on my phone and found the 'before' pictures from when we first bought the farm. The changes are amazing!

Bathroom 1

Really nice wallpaper, no sink and you had to get in the shower by squeezing by the toilet.

 Laundry room/entrance
Note on the before picture all the brown on the ceiling.. that my friends is RAT PEE!

The new pantry and hall tree were made with wood from our barn, Jer's parents barn, Uncle Dan's house and from Jer's grandpa's wood pile.

Kitchen
2 layers of wallpaper to be taken down!
The 'new' cabinets were moved to this wall from about the stove area.

Open shelving pipes were custom made by J.H. Boatworks (cause Tim and Deb love me)
Only downside is the dishes on the way top have to be washed before I can use them cause they get greasy and dusty.

Jameson's Bedroom
GROSS carpet and moldy walls.

Madalyn's Bedroom

When we took the closet out you could see through the wall to the outside.

 Master Bedroom
Yellow walls and green carpet. This was Mrs. Kraft's bedroom.

Dining Room

There were FOUR layers of wallpaper! I saved the chandelier and it will go into the master bathroom when it is done being remodeled.

 

Fireplace
I love our fireplace! The wood, tin and nails were all found in the barn. The pegged piece is from the stable and was used to hold the halters for the Kraft's Draft Horses.

We aren't finished yet, but I love love love our little farmhouse. I feel like I have been here all my life. I wish that Johnny and Jean could see how much love bursts inside these walls. I know Jean would love to see Jameson with his barn boots on headed out to mend fence with Jer and to see Madalyn standing on a stool wearing my apron mixing cookie dough.





I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world. — George Washington

Blessed is me...

Fog

 The fog is thick and heavy at the farm (and likely all of Clatsop County)

It lays upon the fields.
The mountains are covered and unseen.

The sun is rising but is hidden behind the thick blanket of mist

 

and caps over the tall trees

birds nestled up high can be heard with their morning song

 

There is always hope that the sun will burn it away and shine bright on the day, but

sometimes the grip of the fog is so tight that it holds on until very late in the day revealing only a short glint of light before it is covered again in the darkness of night. 

Where is the sun?

I never question that the sun is there. I know it is. I just can't see it.

The fog wont last forever.

Soon it will come to pass.
Like many things in life it is temporary.

Trials.. Temporary

Sadness.. Temporary

Stress.. Temporary

Sickness.. Temporary

Life.. Temporary

Just like the fog sometimes these things burn away quickly and pass, but other times they linger and hold on.
It seems like the fog (trial, sadness, stress) will never lift.
Where is the son?

When will He shine?
Then I remember.. He is always there, always shining.
Sometimes I just feel like I can't see or feel Him, but He is always there.

Burning away the trials of life.
Shining bright like the sun.

We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! 1 Corinthians 13:12

Blessed is me...

There are these girls

Friend

noun

a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.

a person who gives assistance

a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile

I have a lot of these, but there are some that are more. They are special.

They are what some may call BEST.

They are all different and yet all the same.

Some are tall (okay taller than me) and some aren't

Some are skinny and some aren't

Some can cook and well some can't

Some believe in God and some don't (yet)

 Some I have known since preschool

 Some are even LIBERALS!
Some were in both my weddings

All are Momma's
One is a doctor (what can I say I have smart friends!)

They know when I am sad

They know how much I have always wanted to be a mom
They know I yell at my kids and sometimes Barbie loses her head

 They know when I am mad at Jer
They know that a hot shower is where I de-stress

They know if I cry it isn't gonna be just a little and that I am at my breaking point
They know that I am not as tough as I act
They know most everything about me

We can talk about nothing and everything all at the same time

We can text all morning long even though we may spend days together

We can save the world over coffee, a haircut or a martini

We laugh until our bellies hurt

We swing in the rain cause one is sad

We get lost when we go to the city

We get to be ourselves
We pray for each other

I know not everyone gets to have this and I get to have it with more than one.
I know that if I called every single one would answer
I know that days or weeks can pass without a word and we will pick up right where we left off

I know that they love my family
I know they would do anything for me. my kids. my husband
I know they are all just who I need them to be

I love them just as much as they love me

I would answer when they called

I love their families
I love that I get to share in life with them

I love love love every single one

They are my best

Blessed is me...

When life gets heavy.. rest.

The quiet of the morning makes my mind wander.

My love and my kids are still snug in their nests.

Snoring dogs.

Barn kitties who just became mommas meow at the back door.

Frogs croaking, birds singing and the sun rising over the mountains with colors so vivid I wonder what it looks like on the other side of heaven.
log trucks rumbling by
So quiet, so peaceful, so still in my corner of the world.

But, the world seems to be spinning out of control.
What used to make sense now doesn't. 

Facebook is hard to read.

The news is hard to watch.

abortion, politics, no faith allowed in the military, NBA players deemed heroes because they are homosexual, war HEROES forgotten, hungry children, babies who have no one to call momma or daddy, addiction, sadness in so many.

What once seemed easy now seems hard.

One day runs into the next and I feel like I missed it.

Life for so many seems like a daily struggle and sometimes I am no exception.

Some days are hard.

Some days I wonder if the world will stop spinning just long enough for me to gain a little control.

It wont.
I like to be in control.
I like to have a plan.
I like to know what is going to happen next.
Right now I have no control
Right now my plans keep changing.
I have no idea what is coming.

What I rest in is the God is in Control.
God has a plan.

He knows what is going to happen next.
His plan is going to be HUGE!
Rest.
Resting isn't easy for me.
I am a doer.
But, I have no choice.
I have to rest.
I have been in a funk that I just can't shake. I can't shake it cause I am trying way to hard to do it my way. In the quiet of this morning I finally realized that if I just STOP trying to do it my way it will work out just right.
I don't have to fix everything.
So, today
I am a daughter of the One True King
and I am choosing to 

REST in His plan whatever it may be.
Resting in His timing.
Resting in Him.

He says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10

Blessed is me...