Gluten-Free Granola Bars

Incredible! I started with the granola bar recipe that I have been using for several years now and changed it in several ways to make it gluten free.
I eliminated the oats and doubled the gluten-free Rice Krispie cereal. So, instead of 1 1/2 Cup Oats, and 1 1/2 Cup Rice Krispies ... I use 3 Cups Rice Krispies.
I also added flax seed, xanthan gum, and an extra egg. I use Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour instead of wheat flour.
They turned out GREAT! I actually think they are better than my other Gluten-FULL recipe.

Here is the recipe:
You will need 2 bowls.
In the first bowl combine:
1 Cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 stick of butter
1/2 Cup natural peanut butter (gluten free)

In the 2nd bowl combine:
3 Cups Gluten-Free Rice Krispies
1 1/3 Cup All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 scant teaspoon of xanthan gum
1/2 Cup ground almonds (not flour)
1/4 Cup plus 1/8 Cup of ground flax seed
1/2 teaspoon of soda

Mix wet ingredients well, then add dry ingredients and mix well.
Once mixed together add:
1 Cup of Unsweetened Coconut
1 Cup of chocolate chips

Press into a well greased 11X13 baking pan. (make sure you press the mixture down well!)

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes.

Cut into bars while still warm.

I store mine in the refrigerator. I find that they stay together better when they are cold. Rich also prefers them cold.

Enjoy!

Busy-ness

Martin is taking band - learning the trumpet  - 2 days each week. (an hour each time)

I'm teaching Kindergarten, 3rd grade and 5th grade. (The picture above is a history project that Martin was working on last week) I get up at 6 AM every morning and start school with Martin and then we break for breakfast and I school the other 2 boys while Martin is working on his independent work.  School makes every day busy! I've been having a tough time figuring out how to get all the routine house work done with all the time I spend schooling ... and now the other time we spend going to band and baseball. Blogging just hasn't been happening lately! 

Eye appointments for the 2 middle boys. It's that time of year to check the eyes and pick out new glasses. My boys LOVE going to see Dr. Bailey!  They also love that they get to pick out new glasses!

Lots of baseball going on ... practices and games. Aaron LOVES baseball! He's having such a great time learning the game. I am so glad we signed him up! He got a home run on his 2nd game. Oh, yes... that boy was very happy!
I almost forgot to mention AWANA! We have AWANA every Wednesday. Rich was concerned (rightly so) that I would be so overwhelmed by the schedule that I would be a basket case ... and there fore not so much fun to live with this fall. I have accepted the challenge to not get overwhelmed ... and enjoy this busy-ness and do my best to stay on top of everything. So far so good. Rich is also very busy this fall.
Even though we are busy, we are still gathering together each night to eat a family meal together, and having great conversations. The questions I have been getting from Martin and Aaron are pretty amazing. We are having deep spiritual conversations and they are asking questions that I would have never known to ask at their age. I hope and pray that this line of open communication that I have with my children will remain as they get older. It's pretty fantastic!

My budding artist!

Rosalie handed me this sweet picture the other day. The figure on the right is Daddy and Mommy is on the left. I was incredibly impressed with the detail! 

Aaron's First Baseball Game

Aaron had an AMAZING first baseball game! Here doesn't have nearly as much experience as most of the boys on the field ... so he's figuring things out as he goes along. He's having such a great time with it and is loving every minute of it!

Aaron got to bat 3 times during this game. He hit the ball every single time! I was so excited for him! The first two times he made it to first, and the third time he got out. I was just thrilled he hit the ball every time. (many of you may know that I don't know very much about baseball ... or about any other sport for that matter. In fact, I have always had the urge to take a book with me to sporting events, so that I would have something to do. I have to tell you, though, that sporting events become CRAZY exciting when you have a child out on the field!) 

One of the times that Aaron hit and made it to 1st base ... he was able to run to 2nd and then to 3rd by other base hitters. Unfortunately, he never got to run home before the team hit the 3 strikes out mark. (please excuse me if I am not using proper baseball terminology ... I'm still learning, afterall!)

I may not love baseball ... but I sure do LOVE how much my Aaron loves it!

I am so excited that Aaron has the opportunity to play baseball this fall.  He has already improved in his skill and ability a lot since he started, and I am looking forward to seeing him improve even more as the season progresses!

Practicing

Martin has finally grown into the air rifle we got him a couple years ago. He is LOVING target practice! 

He has been wanting to get his air rifle back out for a long time now ... we finally pulled it out and he can practice completely unassisted now. He'll be shootin' deer before we know it!

Coach Pitch Baseball - Fall Ball begins!

Aaron started coach pitch fall ball a few days ago. We are now trying to keep up with the schedule of practices and games! (and just for the record ... they are are called practices ... not rehearsals which I admit to almost always calling them rehearsals - I'll get it straight, I promise!)

This is Aaron's first time playing baseball - so he has a lot to learn, and is super excited about it!

He likes batting the best of all!

Crazy Hair Night at AWANA

Rosalie wore her hair crazy. I put her hair up in pony tails and braids. 

Jonathan wore a tank hat. We made a tank out of a box, an old can, construction paper, and a straw. We had a lot of fun making it ... and he had even more fun wearing it. He put his stuffed frog in the can to ride in the tank!

Martin used cardboard and construction paper to make his hat. I think he called himself the snake ninja man. He put a couple of stuffed snakes in his hat. He did really well making his hat without help!

Aaron made a crazy baseball hat. He covered the box that he used for his hat with red construction paper ... and then started decorating it ... I suggested that he make it a theme hat and paste baseballs to the hat. It turned out great! We had a fun night wearing crazy hair and hats!