yogurt making . . .

Well this is something I thought I'd never do, but I made yogurt this week! Since it seems that Justin has a cows milk allergy, and he's a big eater, I thought I should add goats milk yogurt to his diet. But it cost $5 for a small unflavored little tub. Then I came accross a blog of home cooking, and some simple instructions to make yogurt in a slow cooker. And it worked!

So, here's my math:

2 cups of store bought goats milk yogurt = $5

8 cups of homemade goats milk yogurt = $5

My girls all like yogurt too, but it gets eaten up so fast around here that I rarely buy it. So I thought, why not? and made a batch for them too.

3 cup tub of cows milk yogurt = $3

8 cups of homemade cows milk yogurt = $3

The goats milk yogurt didn't seem to set properly, but after being in the fridge for half a day, it changed consistency and gelled up. The cows milk yogurt gelled up in the slow cooker already. I still have to add fruit and/or sweeteners because this is just a plain yogurt that it makes, but it's still a huge savings (and you can only buy goats milk yogurt unflavored anyways). And I did use the tip of adding the unflavored gelatin - I didn't want to take a chance that it would be too runny. So my kids are all happy, they can have yogurt everyday now if they want!

a little JP update . . .

Our little guy is sitting on his own now! He's also really close to crawling - he does his own made-up crawl, using only one arm and the knee and leg on the same side to scoot forward, while he reaches with his other arm for what he's trying to get to. This kid LOVES to get at things, he'll be crying in his crib just because he can't reach a toy through the bars, and he knocks the DVD player off its' shelf daily. He's also broken his first tooth, and loves to chomp on all his toys now.

this is what big boys do for fun . . .

They pull out shrubs with trucks, and have the biggest grins on their faces while doing it. They got out eight in total. Anyone have a burn pile?

ready for Summer . . .

Just wanted to share a pic of our little guy in a romper that I won from a sweet crafty mama. She makes some CUTE stuff, and it is always so great getting something handmade. Thanks Beth! We'll be getting lots of wear out of it this Summer!

Chantel lost her first tooth!

So our middle girl is right behind her big sister in the losing teeth department. She had two wiggly ones on the bottom, and one even had the new one broken through behind it. So we encouraged her to start wiggling and she managed to get one out.

Alyssa is 3!!!

So our baby girl turned 3 this week! We started off her big day by giving her a present from us - it's a cute wooden cupcake set that you can decorate, wipe down, and make again. She has spent time every day with this gift now and LOVES it! Then we got ready for her party and with the beautiful weather we've been having, we were able to have her whole party in the backyard. She invited a couple friends and cousins and they had a great time!

bull riding . . .

So it's been a busy couple weeks. We were on a committee for a school fundraiser that happened yesterday. It was a lot of fun and a big success. I made a mother/daughter apron set to auction off in the silent auction, but totally forgot to get a picture of them. The kids had a blast playing all the games and getting to see all their friends. Brad even got in on the games by riding the mechanical bull. Today we had a relaxing day and it was the most beautiful day so far this year, the kids were even outside playing in the sprinkler - felt like Summer :)