Well, yesterday I made some Strawberry Rolls to take to our monthly mom's get together and my kids were hoping for leftovers, but alas, they got scarfed down lickety split.  So, I assured the kids (Curlylocks especially) that we would make replacement rolls today.  This began this morning with cinnamon roll dough being mixed up.  Somehow it snowballed (breadballed?) into homemade soft pretzles and bagels as well.  I was shocked at just how easy it was to make homemade bagels.  Lots of little steps, but it actually kind of fits nicely with homeschooling life.  Work a little, knead a little, work a little, shape the bagels, work a little, etc.

The recipes for bagels and pretzles I found at www.thefreshloaf.com.  I saw this link on a blog here the other day (I'm so sorry, I don't remember who posted it... it was in a comment), checked it out because I love baking bread, and was thrilled at the tutorials there for things I've always deemed too difficult to try myself (bagels and pretzles being at the top of that list).

I am so excited because I've been trying to make more things from scratch lately that seem to cost a ridiculous amount at the grocery store, especially considering what they're made of.  Some examples... Refried Beans, Salad Dressing, Bread products, and Popcorn.  These things are so easy to make from scratch, yet cost sooooo much at the store.  Well, I'm on to 'em!!  If you too are looking for simple recipes for these types of items, stay tuned... I'll post some of my new tried and true faves soon.

Mmmm... I smell bagels almost done... gotta run!

Oh!!  But did you get a chance to read Kris's post about Invisible Mothers?  You must go now and read it!  It will change your entire mood!!

With the bonnet's done, I'm eyeballing some yarn that I picked up the last time my mom was in town.  It's soft, lucious, and warm.  But... what to do with it??  I'm thinking of some sort of shawl, but don't know whether to knit or crochet it, use both yarns at simultaneously, or work some sort of color pattern.

Here are the yarns that I found...

Lest you think that I've found the Fountain of Time (who really cares about the Fountain of Youth?), this is to keep my hands busy while listening to audio Bible and books for my quiet time in the morning.  I hear things much better if my hands are busy, and stumbled across this method of working/listening a while ago.  Very Shaker-like:  Hands to Work, Hearts to God.

Plus there's something special about having things around the house that I've made while listening to Bible teaching, all I have to do is look at a piece and all the memories of what I learned while working on it come flooding back.  I suppose it's kind of like having my kids draw pictures while listening to the books I read aloud for school.  When they tell me about the picture, the story we were reading is all woven in, even if the picture wasn't directly from the story.  The complexity of the mind is truly a mystery!!  Glory to God!

We're in the middle of the Prairie Primer for school this year.  If you've never heard of it, it's a unit study-type curriculum based on all of the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Well, my girls have been aching for their own bonnets.  My search for some sort of free pattern online was mostly fruitless, and so I got the crazy idea that if I figured out how to make them on my own I could do a tutorial.  So, you're all my guinea pigs.  Let me know if I missed anything, if anything's unclear, or just what you think...

Step One:

Due to photo limits, I have moved the entire bonnet tutorial to my "other" blog.  Sorry for the inconvenience.