Directions and tips for making my delicious cinnamon/orange rolls

This is the yeast mixture as it's getting bubbly and activated. I put the dry yeast in the bowl first, then pour the warm water over the top so that I don't have to worry about over stirring it.

This is the dough after I've given it a good kneading and it's ready to rise. It's still very soft, but not sticky.
I put it in a greased bowl and cover it with a wet wash cloth.
I make sure that it's full rung out.

Then I put it over the bowl and place it in the oven which I then turn onto 170 degrees. Once it says that it's heated to that, I quickly turn off the oven (as that temp can cook the dough if it's in too long), then let the dough continue to rise for 45 min. or so. By doing it this way, you cut the rising time in half.

This is the video showing how I cut the cinnamon rolls with a string. Very simple, very efficient, and it doesn't smash the dough down at all or stick to it like cutting with a knife could.

This is what the dough should look like after it's risen. It's sticky again, so I put quite a bit of flour on the counter, and cut the dough in half to roll out one half at a time.

It's rolled out to about 1/4 inch thick, then the orange filling is added.

I roll up the filled dough, and cut it with a string about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide, which I'll put a video on showing that.


Once cut I put them on an ungreased cookie sheet with a little space in between them This is after they have risen for another 30 minutes.
This is them cooked for 17 minutes at 350.

Here is the cinnamon roll dough with filling on it.

This is them rolled and cut.

This is after they've risen for the 30 minutes.

This is after they have cooked for 17 minutes at 350.

Halloween

Here are the lovely pictures of our Halloween night!! I took the kids to the library for a trunk or treat where many strangers asked them to stop and pose for their cameras because we had, pretty much everyone covered in the cast. They were adorable!

Getting ready for Halloween!!!

The kids were so excited for the start of this month becase they know that Halloween is coming!!! We broke out our wigs and had one for everyone, but Brynlee decided to wear a hair net instead, just as nice. :) Aren't thy cute?

Wayne County Fair!!!

This last week was the Fair, and boy was it fun. Elise was so excited to see all the sweet baby animals, and Nicolas was afraid that everyone was going to get bit. It was so sweet to see him trying to protect them by moving them (unwillingly) away from the cages. The kids get a day off for the fair, so we all went Monday, and the kids each rode the dragon roller coaster!! We had cotton candy and watched the tractor pull, which is my personal favorite. We told Nicolas that next year we'll get tickets to the demolition derby, and I can't wait for that! It's funny how something so destructive can bring a child so much joy!

Haley's Baptism

Here are the pictures of Haley opening her gifts. Thank you to everyone who made her special day, even more special with these items of rememberance!!!

Her towel with her name and CTR embroidered into it from Aunt Sara

Her baptism book from Grammy Lou and Papa

Her first set of Scriptures from Mom and Dad

A beutiful charm bracelet from her school friend

Haley's baptism

Well, I realized that we never shared pictures from Haley's baptism in March, so here they are! It was a very special day. Nels' parents came to visit and share the experience with her.

Sunday

I am always excited for Sundays! It's funny, when I was little Sundays were the hardest because we had to stay quiet at church, and we couldn't play outside when we got home. However, now things are different. Now, I wake up with energy, and am excited for all the things I get to learn. It's noy just the learning, but the spirit that is present when I'm doing the things that will bring me closer to my Savior. Since I work in the Primary, I get to see all the little children light up as they too learn new things. I know that there's so much for me to learn and do in life, but I am just so grateful for Sundays, and how they rejuvenate me for the coming week, and help me to better recognize all of the Lord's creations.

When we got home from church, we noticed one of the gorgeous finches, that we have around here, eating the sunflowers seeds from our sunflower. At first Nels said he was upset that the little bird was eating all of the seeds, but then he thought about how awesome it is to be able to watch the little bird so close. It just reminds me of the Primary song that says, "Whenever I hear the song of a bird, or look at the blue, blue sky, whenever I feel the rain on my face or the wind as it rushes by, whenever I touch a velvet rose or walk by a lilac tree, I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world Heavenly Father created for me."

I'm so thankful for Sundays!

ATI Family Fun Day!!!!

Nels' work has Family Fun Day at this golf course that they own, so were able to go on Friday and ride the golf carts all around and hit some golf balls. We were even able to go fishing in one of the little ponds. Sadly, we assumed fishing lures were good enough, but we soon realized that they are spoiled little fishies, and they'd only bite for real worms. So, we only caught one fish, with the worm that we borrowed from our friend. It was a blast!!

Allergies

Last night I took Kaden to his horse therapy, and Haley, poor thing, regretted the decision to come with us. She has come before and been fine, but last night, I heard her sneeze once. Then a few moments later, she sneezed again, then again, and when I looked at her face, she couldn't even open her eyes because they were watering so much. Her nose was completely stuffy and by the time we got home, this is what she looked like. Thankfully I had benedryl in the car, thanks to Brynlee's new allery to cold things, so she got it immediately. She was tormented all through the night with this allergic reation and then this morning, I thought it would be gone, but no, her eyes were still puffy. It's now almost 4:00pm, and she's just now stating to look normal. Poor thing. I told her to thank Mama Linda, but she was not very happy that she had someone to thank at all for this awful state!

Morning Fun!!!

Our garage has been full of stuff that we are preparing to sell in a garage sale in the next little while, so there's a bit more space than usual. The kids finally realized this, so this morning as I was cleaning up the house, I came and found them riding their bikes in the open area. Kaden, of course wanted to join them, so I put him in his wheeled stander, and they all had a blast!

Kaden's New Toy

So here's Kaden's newest toy. It's called a wheeled stander. We got it yesterday, and he was wheeling all over outside. The way it works is that we strap him in so that his feet are flat and his tummy is up against the long black thing in the front. Then, the part you don't see is that there is a support behind his butt to keep his stomach up to the front, and there's velcro all the way around his feet and ankles, so there's no way of him sliping out of the correct position. This is giving him a great stretch, and also will allow him to be upright with the kids in his gym class at school. He's such an amazing boy!

Is blogging worth the time?

With so much going on, is this blogging thing really worth it? We'll see. Right now I have 8 crazy kids at home with me (two of them ,of course, are not mine). One is sleeping, and 7 are running around playing something that makes a lot of noise for a sleeping child, but they sure are having fun!