A Suburban Saga

Cinnamon Streusel Coffeecake

2012-01-30T19:07:00.001-05:00

The stomach bug has left our house, thank the Lord. To celebrate, I made the family this recipe from Good Cheap Eats.

David said its the best coffeecake that he’s ever had. ‘Nuf said. It’s pretty awesome. I’m copying the recipe here so that I have it on hand whenever I want to refer to it, but go to the link for a pretty picture. =)

I made it in an 8x8 Pyrex because that’s what I had. I think that a 9x13 dish would make a cake this is flatter than I’d like. I will probably try an 8x11 next time to see what happens, and I suspect that will probably be best.

I made up two more bags of dry ingredients for this, and I also made up sandwich bags with the dry ingredients for the streusel topping. I taped the sandwich bags to the quart bags, and now they’re sitting in my pantry, ready for whenever I need them. That may be soon….my group has brunch for MOPs on Valentine’s Day. =)

Cinnamon Streusel Coffeecake

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup oil

1 egg

½ c. milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons unbleached, all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat the oven to 350 °. Grease a 9×13 baking pan, 9-inch springform pan, 8x8 Pyrex, or 8x11 Pyrex. In a large mixing bowl, combine all cake ingredients. Stir until just mixed. Spoon into the prepared pan.

In a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle them over the batter.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

The plague…

2012-01-26T22:08:00.001-05:00

5th birthday Jello

We have the plague. It’s the stomach flu/diarrhea plague, and it all started last Friday evening. What, you say? That’s been almost a week? Oh, I hadn’t noticed! (insert sarcasm here)

First Seth threw up all evening. It was the worst that he’s ever been sick, and we were worried, but felt confident all would be well before too long. (We were hopelessly naive.) And then I started throwing up at 9:00 that night. It is a miracle that I had enough milk to continue feeding Ben, and that’s only because my darling BFF brought over some fenugreek early enough in the day that I had it in my system before my stomach emptied. (I’d been worried about my supply, but that became the least of my worries, and it seems to be fine now.)

David struggled along all weekend, trying so hard to keep everyone disinfected and taken care of. I was slow to recover, probably because my body was trying to feed Ben and also because this virus is of the Devil. And then he succumbed on Sunday night.

I rallied enough to take care of us on Monday, and David wasn’t down with it so hard that he couldn’t function at all. There was hope that things would improve by Seth’s birthday on Thursday….

Fast forward to Wednesday morning when Seth woke up with diarrhea so bad that I had to strip the bed entirely and give him a bath. There would be so partying for us this week…

Weary to the bone, I wrapped his presents and made him birthday Jello on Wednesday night, hoping for a somewhat pleasant birthday for him. When the baby slept in this morning, I hoped it was the start of good things to come.

There was a reason the baby slept in.

He threw up everything I fed him at 8:00 a.m., and my heart sank. I hadn’t even opened Seth’s door yet to wish him Happy Birthday. When I went in, I told him it was his birthday, and he smiled and said, “Are you joking, Mommy? My birthday is a long time away.” I said, “No. You can go downstairs and find out.” We all trooped downstairs, and he was so excited to see helium balloons tied to his chair.

I managed to make him his big birthday breakfast of white toast with a little butter and blueberries. You would’ve thought it was cinnamon rolls with bacon, he was so excited. He and Evan put on their party hats and grinned through breakfast.

And then Evan had diarrhea. And Ben threw up again. I called for backup. I’m not superwoman.

When I told Seth that Daddy was going to come home and spend his birthday with him, he acted like he’d won the lottery. He screamed and did a happy dance.

And I learned that it doesn’t take much to make your birthday happy when you’re 5 years old… even if your entire family has the plague. Here’s my list of ways to have a Happy Birthday anyway:

1. Yay! Daddy is home! (Who cares that it’s because Evan has diarrhea, and Ben is throwing up?)

2. I get to eat grape Jello! And white bread! (Isn’t the BRAT diet just another form of the toddler carb diet anyway?)

3. Somebody brought me balloons. I love balloons! (Seriously. Thank God for Dollar Tree.)

4. I get to wear my pj’s all day! (All the easier to strip you if necessary, my dear.)

5. If we don’t go anywhere, I just have more time to play with my new toys!

He had a great day. We sang to him, and he blew out his candles. Friends and family called to wish him a Happy Birthday, and he ate up all the attention with a spoon. A dear friend dropped a present on our front porch, and he loved it. (She ran down those steps like her car was on fire, and I don’t blame her a bit. Save yourself!!!! I’m not sure I would’ve come near the house without a hazmat mask on if I were in her shoes.)

Ben threw up all day, every 3 hours. The nurse told me to keep feeding him, even if he threw it all up. I didn’t put him down all day long. He went 5 hours without peeing in his diaper. It was really sad. He only threw up a little after the 5:30 p.m. feeding, and it looks like the 8:00 p.m. feeding is staying put. Poor, poor baby.

And now we’ve all had it. It’s over. I’m going to find out how long it’ll be before we’re not contagious anymore, but I have hope that we’ll be able to leave the house sometime before February.

Seth will get his birthday cake and fun next weekend. Maybe I’ll have recovered enough by then to do something extra special for him. Or maybe not.

This is the sickest we’ve ever been as a family, and I am done in. Please, God, don’t let us get anything like this again for a very, very, very long time.

Standardized tests vs. a Love of reading…

2012-01-22T22:26:00.001-05:00

I found this article, and I thought I’d pass it on….

One of the things that I noticed about some of my conventionally schooled peers growing up was that they seemed to think of reading as a dull school assignment. It was hard for them to imagine picking up a book and reading for pleasure. I wonder if this had anything to do with it for them?

(Not that all of my homeschooled friends loved reading as much as I did… just that they didn’t talk about it in the same way as friends who had been assigned book reports on most things that they’d read.)

Beginning a journey…

2012-01-20T16:19:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday night, I started teaching Seth to read. Now, of course we’ve done all kinds of things to get him ready for reading, but this was the first time I’d pulled out a curriculum and done a lesson with him.

I was nervous. I’d put everything together in a bag, gotten the filing card box filled, etc., but I was kind of afraid to just dive in with him. I waited until David was home so I would be assured of no interruptions for the first go round.

He LOVED it! He squealed and laughed and danced up and down with delight. It was 15 minutes of fun with my almost 5-year-old. He asked yesterday if we were going to do his reading lesson again, and I put him off until today. We did lesson 2 while the other two boys were napping, and it was another hit out of the park. If the rest of the curriculum is as enjoyable and enriching as these two lessons have been, I can’t imagine a better fit for us.

I’ve learned something about curriculum from this experience. I had bought “Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading” 8 months or so ago. While I’m sure it’s a good curriculum, I figured out slowly that it probably wouldn’t be the best fit for Seth. I’d bought too early. One of my reasons for buying it was that he wasn’t interested in worksheets and writing. Well, now he is. Lesson learned: Buy curriculum as soon as possible to when you’re going to use it.

I decided to go with All About Learning Press’ Pre-Reading Program. He still needs some help on recognizing his lower case letters, and it seemed like this would be a gentle introduction to a reading curriculum. My plan is to do it 3 days a week. We should be finished with it in time to start their regular reading program sometime in the fall.

Finding a curriculum that really works for you and your child is such a confidence building experience. I am a new teacher that needs a lot of help learning how to teach, and this is giving me exactly what I need at this stage of homeschooling. It’s so easy for me to just open and go. There are games and songs and a puppet! There is time built in for him to practice writing letters every day. And it’s short. I’m having to do this while my two babies are down napping, and I’m pretty tired by then and ready for a break.

Life is really challenging right now overall. There are days when I wonder how in the world I’m going to homeschool three boys. But then I remember that figuring this out means more to me than words can express. My mom gave me a priceless gift when she decided to teach me at home. I want to continue this legacy and pass down this gift to my own children… even though I know it will cost me a lot.

I need to remember that I only have to take it one student and one subject at a time, adding things in gradually as I get stronger and more confident and as my children become more ready for it. God will lead me in finding help (like good curriculum), and He’ll be gracious to help children nap while I implement it.

So I’m taking a deep breath. Here we go…

Children’s books read on Youtube…

2012-01-17T21:34:00.001-05:00

It’s been a long month. (One of these days, I’m going to write a blog post to my older baby hungering self, reminding me why I will need a rubber room if I have another baby, but that is a post for another time. =)

Anyway, David was off yesterday, experiencing the insanity that is my everyday experience. I’d taken Seth with me to the Wal of Mart for some much needed one on one time (and milk and bread and dental floss.) He was left with 1) a grumpy baby that wanted to be held, and 2) a perpetually whiny toddler that (lately) is guaranteed to fall on the floor crying when you tell him you can’t read him a book. Out of sheer desperation, David decided to go on YouTube and search for “Curious George Flies A Kite,” (seeing as that was the desired book.)

What happened next has changed my life for the better (much like the invention of paper plates, Lysol wipes, and white noise machines.) Feast your eyes on this, exhausted mothers of insatiable readers everywhere!

I want to find goldfishman82 and give him a big, grateful hug. He reads in an interesting, calm voice, shows all the pages and text, and helps me to feel like they’re getting to enjoy books when I just can’t read one more. I want him to make many, many more of these. He did make a few more… just click on his name for the rest.

Alas, my friend goldfishman82 is a rarity on YouTube for fine reading voice, readable text on the page views, and no animation (basically, a reading that is as close to you reading as possible). I have found another source which is usable… but you have to be ok with a somewhat odd British accent. Try this collection if you can handle that. Since Seth has learned to yell “Help and bother!” and say things like “Mommy, Ben is ever so wiggly,” from our Kipper the Dog viewing, I guess we can handle a little more Anglophilia around here….

Isn’t this fantastic?!!! (Ok, a lot of you won’t be THAT excited about it, but I am, and I’m cool with that. =)

why there aren’t enough children’s books…

2012-01-09T12:09:00.001-05:00

This is a fascinating blog post on why there aren’t enough really good children’s books around…

I love to read, and I love to read to my children. There are few things I enjoy more than sitting on the couch with a boy under each arm, snuggled under a blanket, a stack of books lying next to us.

My mom did me a huge favor by saving a lot of books from my childhood. Many of them were Caldecott award winners… some of them are quirky books with great illustrations, vivid imagery, and challenging vocabulary. I love so many of them, and I want my boys to do the same.

But there aren’t as many of these treasures available as I would like, and I think this article may explain why. And sure, my boys like the occasional story based on a tv show…. but that isn’t the only thing I want for them to read.

I want them to travel down the Yangtze River with Ping, go to Portsmouth Market with the Ox Cart Man, fly a kite with (the original) Curious George, trick some bees with A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh, and fight with some toy soliders for the return of Miss Suzy’s house. I want them to go sledding with Frog and Toad and follow Harold into his Purple Crayon world.

We go on adventures on our faded flowered couch…. and they’re the best!

friday…

2012-01-06T17:01:00.001-05:00

All the boys are still napping, so I’m taking 5 minutes to sing the praises of a wonderful day!

We haven’t had much winter weather in our part of the world, and while I miss it for cozy time around the fireplace in the evening, I must admit that this helps a lot when you have active little boys. We went to the “merry go round” park today… without our jackets. =) The boys dug and built piles in the sandbox, and I stood there and watched them, Ben snuggled up against my chest in the Beco carrier. We all enjoyed the sunshine, and I swayed gently back and forth, kissing Ben’s sleeping, downy head, saying silent prayers of thanksgiving for each of them.

Everything is better when Ben naps. Everything. =)

He went down in his swing, fully awake, not even crying for 5 minutes, and I had a blessed hour and a half with Seth and Evan. Seth had some cutting practice with scissors, he did some glueing on a collage, and Evan got to put some stickers on paper. (I’m thinking of creating a little art tote for Seth with markers, crayons, scissors, glue stick… basic stuff…. but there are some things I don’t want Evan to have access to. Hmmm, what to do? Seasoned moms, give me advice.)

Imaginary play was back today after a few days of absence. David and I have realized that we probably use reading books like popping in a video sometimes. It’s the default thing we do when the boys are fighting or whining. “Come here, and I’ll read you a book.” Or 2. Or 12. =)

But today, Seth pulled out the baby doll, stripped him down, and gave him a bath in the blue changing pad “bathtub.” Dolly got a good scrub and a towel off. Then Evan wanted to try it. It was pretty funny to see him lay down obediently on the changing pad, and Seth scrubbing him all over with an orange washcloth.

Seth is currently building an airplane with newspapers and tape. I think I’m going to give him a roll of aluminum foil for his birthday to help with his endeavor.

Well, I hear crying from my bed. Time to rescue the baby. And get the beef stew going for dinner. Happy weekend eve, y’all!

The siren song of the kindle fire…

2012-01-02T17:43:00.001-05:00

Last night, we went to our annual New Year’s Eve gathering with old college friends. One of the friends had gotten a Kindle Fire for Christmas.

Oh. My. Goodness. We’re on the Luddite end of the spectrum for middle class suburbanites. You should see our 11-year-old box tv with the slight high pitched whine whenever you cut it on. =)

So, needless to say, this shiny gadget bowled me over quickly. I played Angry Birds for the first time. (Addictive…. very addictive.) I surfed the web, streamed a movie from Amazon Prime, and read a book. It was like magic under my nimble fingers. I felt myself falling in love….

All the way home, I daydreamed about having this new toy for my very own. I have a birthday coming up, and I had been considering asking for a Kindle, mostly for the love of old books downloadable for free….

A friend had brought her new Nook to the party, too. I looked at it as well, but it barely held my attention for 5 minutes. The only thing it did was show you a book. Boring.

But wait a cotton pickin’ minute…. I thought I wanted a Kindle so I could read books? Right?

I’d been dazzled by a more exciting lover, and I forgot what I really valued in the first place.

We limit our technology in the Suburban Casa by choice. We want less technology around distracting us and our young children. (We’re easily distractable. =) David even deleted simple games off of his work-issued Blackberry when he realized he was playing them at free minutes instead of interacting with us.

We don’t want to introduce our children to the computer until they’re older… say 7 or 8. We’ve decided to limit the amount of media they’re exposed to so that their imaginations and their love of reading quality books will have the best chance to flower at a young age. They will have plenty of time to become fully integrated into the digital/computer age when they’re a little older, and I’m sure they’ll be educating us in all the latest and greatest one day. One of them may even be a computer programmer… who knows? But there is time for that later, and the days of not being dependent on email and the web are short in a modern person’s life. I want them to make the most of those….

So why was I was thinking of clicking “Purchase” for a device that would tempt me to find a video or game for my children to play instead of interacting with them at the dr.’s office (no matter how challenging that might be)? This is a device that would encourage me to spend money on buying apps and videos that we have chosen to limit. We don’t have WiFi or Amazon Prime, so streaming or YouTube viewing isn’t even something we can do for free.

I thought through it, and I realized that I don’t want a Kindle Fire with my conscious mind. I just wanted it with my new-gadget-loving itchy fingers. =) I already spend enough time on the computer reading blogs, updating Facebook, and basically ignoring my small children for minutes here and there. Do I need another distraction? No. The computer in my kitchen is bad enough….

The power of the desire for an impulse purchase is awfully strong sometimes! You find yourself about to get something you don’t even really want/can’t really use because it seems new and fun. Sheesh! =)

So I’ll probably be asking for a Kindle Touch for my birthday. It will enable me to read books… something I rarely feel guilty about. =)

Feeding a friend…

2011-12-27T21:53:00.001-05:00

I’m going to see a friend from my Bible study tomorrow. She’s due with her 3rd child in a month, and she also has a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old. She’s feeling achy and frustrated, and I so remember being where she was about 5 months ago.

So I thought I’d bring her dinner…. Ok, well, not really, but, sort of…

I’m bringing her all the ingredients for Beans and Rice Soup. I put them in a gift bag, measuring out the rice and the taco seasonings in little separate sandwich baggies. I threw in a box of corn muffin mix, and I cut up half a link of turkey smoked sausage, which I will throw in her fridge. Food Lion has been running a lot of specials lately on low sodium canned chicken broth, and I’ve stocked up.

Here’s the tally on what it cost me to try and bless a friend a bit… plus the few minutes it took to put it all together and print out the recipe.

1 smoked sausage link, chopped: $1.29

1/3 c. rice: $.10

2 cans of beans: $1.58

2 cans chicken broth: $1.10

2 T. taco seasoning: $.25

1 can diced tomatoes: $1.24

Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix: $.50

Total: $6.06

If you’re wanting to help out a struggling friend, but you don’t have a lot of time or energy to make a full meal, you might consider trying something like this instead. We’re all just doing what we can, right? =)

Rain…

2011-12-27T13:44:00.001-05:00

We’re starting nap training here, so let’s see how much I can write before the timer goes off in 6 minutes, and I go to rescue Ben. =)

Good times at my parents… but not really the break I was hoping for. Ben wouldn’t let me hand him off, and he didn’t sleep well. Mom and Dad both came down with a stomach bug, back to back, and I spent a good bit of time worrying that we would come down with it. I was relieved to get into my own bed late on Christmas Eve.

And I think I’m ready to spend Christmas Even in town from now on. It’s been a lifelong thing for me to go to my grandma’s or great-aunt’s on Christmas Eve, but I think it’s time for us to move on to creating some of our own traditions on home turf. The buildup to it and the long drive home late are more than I can handle well right now…

I was pretty worried about this morning, to be honest. I haven’t handled the boys with much joy in the past few weeks, and I hate that. Ben has gone backwards on sleeping well at night, and I know that’s been part of it.

Today has been the best day I’ve had with them in awhile, and I am more than grateful. It’s a rainy, rainy day, and we’ve stayed in our pajamas. Actually, I let the boys put on some new, special pajamas for Pajama Day. (Thanks, Aunt Kelli!) We did lots of reading, snuggling, imagining, playing playdough, and eating popcorn for lunch, etc. Ben napped well, so I was able to spend some good time with my big boys. They got more eye contact, kisses, and big hugs from Mommy than they’ve had for awhile, and it showed in their sweet attitudes.

I can’t make everything right in the world for everyone I love. Oh, how I wish I could! But I can create joy in my own house by pushing out of my exhaustion funk….

Ok, times up, and he’s still crying. =) Catch ya later!

“…. Great things…”

2011-12-12T14:05:00.001-05:00

“Then it was said among the nations,
‘The LORD has done great things for them.’

The LORD has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.”

Psalm 126:2-3

My life right now is a whirlwind of babies and toddlers and playdough and meal prep and hurried emails… and it is tough to find a place to be still and know that He is God.

That being said, I got one yesterday. Ben has been up and down every 2-3 hours all night long for the past few nights, and Saturday night was particularly bad. (I know it’s the 3 month growth spurt, and it will end eventually.) I could barely move on Sunday morning when the alarm went off, and I dozed past shower gettin’ time. It was at that point that David told me to stay in the bed, and that he was taking everyone to church. (Thank God the baby will take a bottle of formula from time to time.)

I haven’t been all alone in my own house for that long since before the baby was born. I slept until 10:30, took a shower, and settled in with my Bible study notebook. Now, I’ve been getting my study done so I can participate at Community Bible Study on Thursdays. Usually, I’m scrambling to do most of the lessons on one day. Holy Spirit insight is hard to come by in those moments. =)

But it wasn’t hard to come by on Sunday morning, all alone in my room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows. I had a chance to sit and listen and ask God what He wanted to tell me. I got to take time to notice and pay attention to the finer points of Scripture. I saw a theme develop, and I remembered another devotional book I’d gotten to skim this week. I saw that a couple of similar things were standing out in this lesson. I found myself noticing God’s spirit telling me to remember not to be so “relevant” to my unsaved neighbors that I looked too much like them. How many things that He wanted to tell me have I missed in this season of life? I mourn that.

The verse above was in my lesson for the day. I remember reading it and smiling. And when David opened his Bible last night to do our nightly bedtime reading, can you guess what he read? Yep… Psalm 126.

I believe that God wants to encourage me that He can speak to me and show himself to me even in this crazy time of my life. He is gracious to show me that He wants a relationship with me when I show the smallest step in His direction. And the Lord has done great things for me. I see His care for me in the sweetest things.

My mentor mom emailed out of the blue to tell me that she’d be doing my table decorations on Tuesday. (She doesn’t read my blog, as far as I know.) Problem lovingly solved! I didn’t go over there this morning (as originally planned) to discover a scheduling glitch that meant we couldn’t set up after all. A good friend brought by a delicious leftover homemade calzone for my lunch today… along with a little baggie of chocolates. And despite my sleepiness and grouchiness to start off the day, my big boys played together lovingly all morning. Their kindness to each other warmed my heart when I really needed extra grace.

And in all that He whispers, “See, I have been good to you. Have joy…”

stress….

2011-12-10T10:25:00.001-05:00

I’m stressed.

I think I’ve decided that when I get enough nights of interrupted sleep, my body gets nauseous at the slightest provocation. I’ve felt bloated, mildy nauseous on and off, and crampy for a week. No period coming… he’s only 3 months old. And, no, I’M NOT PREGNANT. I took a test, since my symptoms were starting to freak me out. Then my brain went to the “Well, I’m probably just going to die of ovarian cancer because stomach issues are the only way you can tell if you have it, and then I’ll leave my three small children motherless, and that’s just great because they won’t diagnose it because they’ll just tell me this is normal for an exhausted, breastfeeding mother….” train wreck line of thinking. I don’t have irritable bowel syndrome. Dr. Wikipedia told me that. Maybe celiac disease? Or paranoia? =)

I like parties… but not this year. I’ve had two Christmas parties this week, and I haven’t enjoyed them nearly as much as I would’ve liked. I wanted to fall asleep in my CBS small group time on Thursday. And you’re going to have to dynamite me out of my house this weekend because I’m not leaving for anything other than church. My children are watching Kipper the Dog on YouTube every day right now. (Yeah, yeah, but that’s something we don’t do at our house, so it makes me feel bad. No judgment on you who do tv and videos, I swear.)

If you give me one more thing to do, I might go ballistic on you. I found out on Tuesday that I am responsible for doing the table decorations at our MOPs Christmas meeting next Tuesday, and that I have to bring a casserole. This means that I have to get a friend to watch my kids so I can go on Monday to the only available set up time. I had to borrow stuff from our mentor mom to decorate with, and when she casually mentioned that I’d have to go to Michael’s to buy candles for it, I wanted to either break something or fall on the floor crying. Or both. (I’m borrowing some from a gal in my small group, thank God, so no breakdown this week.)

But the worst of it is that I didn’t want to go to the park with my big boys this morning. And I usually always want all of us to be together on Saturday mornings. I’m desperate to teach the baby how to nap somewhere other than my arms, so he needed to stay here anyway, but it bothers me that I was glad to have the excuse.

Ben slept pretty horribly last night. Between the 3 of them, we’re both up multiple times a night because somebody fell out of bed, somebody’s having a growth spurt, or somebody started crying for no particular reason. So, yeah, it’s been a bad several months of sleep now, and I guess it’s just leaving it’s mark. My body feels worn out.

Please pray that I start feeling better this week. If I don’t, I’m going to have to make a dr.’s appointment, and I don’t want to add that to the list of things I don’t have the energy to do. And also, please pray that I will have joy in my boys and in my husband and in my job right now.

Ellen’s Chicken Noodle Soup

2011-12-07T19:01:00.001-05:00

I love soup weather. Now, we haven’t actually had much of that yet, but I’m pretending. (It’s been a ridiculously warm December so far.) I light the candles in the kitchen in the evening, put on a classical Christmas Pandora station, and start chopping vegetables….

And I’m especially proud of this recipe. I tweaked and added and subtracted from a few chicken noodle soup recipes so much that I think I can safely call this one my own. David and Seth raved about it, and it’s even better the second day.

Ellen’s Chicken Noodle Soup

1 medium onion, chopped

2 small carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 t. ground thyme

a generous dash of marjoram

10-11 c. chicken broth (or combination of broth and water and bouillon)

salt and fresh ground pepper

2 c. medium egg noodles

2 c. chopped, cooked chicken (2-3 breasts seasoned with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning - roasted)- (do this earlier in the day while your children are wrestling and throwing toys at each other)

1-2 T. butter

Melt butter in the bottom of a stockpot and add all veggies. Sprinkle on salt and pepper, and saute for a few minutes. Then add broth and seasonings, and bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Simmer until vegetables are almost tender, about 5 minutes. Add noodles and cook until tender, 5 - 8 minutes more. Add the chicken, warm through and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve and enjoy!

baked Chimichangas…

2011-12-01T15:57:00.001-05:00

Hey, all. Baby boy let me slip away from naptime in Mommy’s bed, so I get a few minutes to myself today. Whoopee! (That’s why I’ve been scarce around here, BTW. Naptime is short and usually all accounted for.)

I’m making one of my favorite recipes tonight, and I’m tripling it. I always get compliments on this recipe, and I’ve made it a several times for friends who have had babies, etc. It freezes wonderfully, and I can’t think why I didn’t think to do this before Ben was born.

Baked Chimichangas

1 1/2 c. chopped cooked chicken

1/2 c. picante sauce or salsa

1 c. shredded cheddar (we like sharp)

2 green onions, chopped, or 1/2 regular onion, chopped

1 t. cumin

1 t. garlic powder

1 t. onion powder

1 t. salt

1/2 t. black pepper

1/2 t. dried oregano

flour tortillas

butter

Preheat your oven to 400. Combine everything in a large bowl. Warm tortillas briefly in the microwave on a wet paper towel to make them pliable. Put some of the mixture evenly down the center of each tortilla. Fold sides of the tortilla over the filling and place seam side down on a cookie sheet. Brush with melted butter. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Figure out how much filling you put in the center of each tortilla, and put enough of it in a freezer ziploc to feed your family for a meal. Freeze and enjoy!

I got this recipe from a great cookbook. I don’t buy many, but I bought Family Feasts for $75 a Week, and I haven’t regretted it.

Happy THanksgiving…

2011-11-25T10:39:00.001-05:00

Thankful for a full table….

…. good neighbors who deep fry a turkey for us…

…. food that all came out at the right times…

…. grandparent time in warm sunshine….

…. Pop Pop….

…. with the newest baby…….….. and Aunt Judy taking a turn for snuggles.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T08:46:00.001-05:00

More later…. but for now…. click here to get your Happy Thanksgiving greeting from Catalog Living. It’s a good one today. =)

In my bathrobe…. ingredients in the breadmaker for rolls… listening to David read to the boys…. time for a shower!

how to enjoy the holidays…

2011-11-22T16:44:00.001-05:00

Our speaker at MOPs today was a wise, older woman with 4 grown daughters. At one point, she had 17 consecutive years of having a preschooler in the house! She often comes to us with great advice… and it’s usually some form of “Don’t stress out so much! Enjoy your children!” =)

Today she talked to us about how to enjoy the holidays. Here I present some of Miss Martha’s wisdom, and some tidbits of my own.

- Write down your vision of the perfect holiday season. Then figure out how much of that vision is actually attainable. Figure out what you can do to make it happen, and think about what depends on others. Hang on to some of it, let go of some of it. PLAN TO BE A CALM, RELAXED, KIND MOMMY!

- Delegate. If your mom-in-law makes good pie, let her bring it. Don’t try to make it all yourself. Do what comes easiest and is most enjoyable to you, and outsource the rest. For instance, I’m making rolls and mashed potatoes from scratch this year for Thanksgiving. Everything else will come from a box or can, be bought from Trader Joe’s, or come from someone else’s kitchen. Everybody gets their traditional Stove Top and green bean casserole, and I’m not a total wreck.

- If it’s a busy season of life (aka. “you have 3 children under the age of 5), don’t think you have to make homemade cookies in order to visit the nursing home on Christmas Eve. Buy a box of candy canes, and head on over. The residents care more about getting a hug from your kids than they do about the cookies, anyway.

- Don’t feel responsible for everybody’s happiness. Do the best you can, make the holidays as beautiful as possible for your immediate family, and don’t worry if Aunt Sue and Aunt Hilda can’t seem to get along for 5 minutes in the same room.

- Think about how some of the different activities you plan can lead your little ones to Christ. Try again with that advent wreath, even if you only get in a couple of readings this year. Patiently explain about how the Pilgrims gave thanks to God. Make the time to order that catalog of geese and cows, and pick out some livestock to gift to a needy family with your kids.

- And remember… You’re the Matriarch now! Enjoy the power to create special, goofy, and tender traditions, and bring it on, woman! =)

first smiles…

2011-11-22T16:25:00.001-05:00

He’s 3 months old now…. and we all, even the big boys, call him our “precious baby.” (Evan especially… he baby talks to him and hugs/crushes him all day long.)

Who wouldn’t, though? I love you, my tiny man.

First leaf raking…

2011-11-15T13:59:00.001-05:00

It’s been a whirlwind last few days…. David and I went to D.C. for The Justice’s 20th anniversary on the bench dinner…. spent some time with old friends from when we lived there…. wandered around at our old apartment complex in Arlington with a different sweet baby boy than we left with… and spent long hours in the car, talking and listening to said baby boy cry….

I went to Mom and Dad’s to pick up the big boys yesterday. After struggling with whether or not to attempt the fun, yet ambitious, playdate that I’d planned for my MOPs small group today, I decided that my decision to bail was right after I locked my keys in the car while attempting to load the van. Thank the Lord that David hadn’t left to drive to a courthouse a couple of hours away or I would’ve been picking them up today instead. Sometimes I just have to figure out what will take me over the edge and cancel accordingly…

Sometimes I think we’re nuts attempting everything we do right now…. and other times I think we are probably striking the right balance. It just depends on the week….

Today has been absolutely gorgeous, so we played outside some. Baby napped in his swing, so there was time to read Richard Scarry books, practice drawing “2’s” in a workbook, play games with Seth of his own devising, watch Evan run around with his new ball David bought him on the trip, etc.

Every day, Seth seems so much older to me. He’ll be 5 in January, and I’m just not ready in some ways. But he’s become sooo helpful that maybe I can be reconciled to the change. I sat them both down with blank sheets of paper and leftover stickers from our years of teaching Sunday School. Evan can’t peel stickers off the page yet, but Seth can. Guess who peeled stickers for his brother today for the first time? He would attach them to the end of his new slide whistle and hold it out, and Evan would pull them off. Adorable… and immensely helpful.

Don’t let the picture above deceive you. Both of them cannot rake, even though Evan did a passable impression for the pictures. He did eventually prove helpful by picking up leaves and putting them in the bucket. Seth raked up pile after pile and put them in the bucket, and then he was actually tall enough to take those two buckets out to the yard waste can and pour them in! My first baby is growing up…

A good day…

2011-11-08T16:34:00.002-05:00

The past couple of weeks have been difficult at the Suburban House. Evan was the main culprit, since he’s been a teething, drooling, parent defying wreck. There were some days when I didn’t know how I’d get the energy to try again tomorrow….

With that in mind, I woke up yesterday to a 2-year-old who’d miraculously had an attitude adjustment in his sleep… and therefore, to a much more pleasant day. =)

By the way, if you are about to become a parent to 3 children under the age of 5, I can tell you exactly what not to do…. =)

But I’ve finally learned that you should start off the morning catering to the baby’s needs the most. Yes, I know, this goes against a lot of conventional wisdom, but it has worked for us around here. If I get Ben happy and secure, feeling like I’m not going to pick him up and put him down every few minutes, then he’s a lot more settled. That means that he’s willing to eventually, possibly, stay asleep somewhere other than my arms. This worked for us yesterday when I was able to transfer him to the swing for an hour of nap.

This means that I’m doing everything with one hand to get breakfast ready, so it goes a little slower. It also means I’m eating breakfast with one hand, so breakfast bars help a lot. Kraft has this new milk and granola bar thing that I am finding useful.

I’ve also learned that I’ve got to let go of the idea of doing anything other than play with the boys for the first 2 hours of the morning. Wanna put a load of laundry in? Sorry, forget it. Wanna wash dishes? Nope, ain’t gonna happen. BUT, if I will just sit with the baby and talk to them while they play, cultivating a patient heart, THEN I might be able to get a few chores or games or reading done later on because they all have their love tanks at least partially full….

Sooooo, some things that I was thankful for yesterday…

- Singing and dancing with the baby in the kitchen, on the screened porch, etc. to Pandora’s Christian Rock station. Who says you have to have a local Christian radio station anymore?

- Boys lining up and racing matchbox cars on the porch in the autumn sunshine.

- Being able to let them go out in the backyard because the new grass is finally established enough. Watching them explore, find sticks, pick up big rocks, etc.

- Cutting a full pink rose from my bush and putting it on the vase for my table. It’s a small, simple thing, but I love being able to cut flowers from my yard for my table.

- Ordering “The Ox-Cart Man” new and hardback on Amazon. Just because….

- Discovering the Amazon Wishlist feature. If you want gift ideas for us, just go there, and search under my maiden name, Ellen H. W……. Great place to keep track of resources I want to get eventually for the boys for school, etc., and then I don’t forget!

- Watching an old episode of “Reading Rainbow” with the boys on YouTube. I have such fond memories of that show. Seth was mesmerized the whole time…

- An almost 3-month-old who is learning to smile and coo at his brothers. “Mommy, he’s smiling at me!”

- Crockpot stew bubbling away all afternoon, making the house smell delicious.

- That Ben can sit up snuggled in the middle of my lap now while I type this. =)

“Oat balls,” Vs. 2…

2011-11-04T21:21:00.001-04:00

Ok, I know, I know, I post nothing but recipes right now…. but I’m having to scramble to find ways to cook and feed us easily, so that’s what’s on my mind. I have a version of these that includes powdered milk, but these are just as delicious and healthier for you.

No-Bake Energy Bites

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)

1/3 cup honey

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, raisins, nuts, or other add-in

1 tsp vanilla

Mix everything above in a medium bowl until thoroughly incorporated. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls and enjoy! Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

This is our go-to meal after church. We all get home tired and hungry, and if I’ve taken the time to make these on Saturday night, lunch prep is a lot easier. Just throw some bananas and carrot sticks on the table with them, and you have a kid pleasing meal! Evan is a picky eater, but he’s a big fan of these, and they’re not terribly sticky. Most of the time, I double the recipe….

Crockpot Chicken Marrakesh…

2011-11-03T21:08:00.001-04:00

We had another family to dinner tonight, and I served them this. It was delicious, totally company worthy, and I made up the whole thing last night. I put it in the crockpot this morning before we headed out to Bible study, and I didn’t touch it again until they got here at 6:00. With a little garlic naan from Super Target or Trader Joe’s, you’ve got yourself a meal….

Crockpot Chicken Marrakesh

1 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (can substitute regular potatoes, but it doesn’t have a really strong sweet potato flavor, so I wouldn’t)

1 (15 ounce) can great northern or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, completely frozen

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

A little bouillon and water at the end if needed (I didn’t need it.)

Directions

1.Place the onion, garlic, carrots, sweet potatoes, garbanzo beans, and chicken breast pieces into a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper, parsley, and salt, and sprinkle over the chicken and vegetables. Pour in the tomatoes, and stir to combine.

2.Cover the cooker, set to Low, and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender and the sauce has thickened, 7-9 hours. Shred chicken with a fork in the crockpot, and serve…

I peeled and cut up the sweet potatoes last night before bed, along with the other veggies, and put together the spice mixture in a little baggie. You can store the rinsed potatoes in a bowl of water, completely covered, overnight with no problems.

Crockpot bean and rice soup….

2011-11-02T22:19:00.001-04:00

Hey, all. Today was truly hard. Evan is teething, and he has been a drooling, coughing, whiny, whiny little guy for days now. Seth has too much energy, and I didn’t have it together to get us out somewhere to play today. Ben doesn’t want to be put down, and I’m not ready to fight him on it because he’s so little. It’s hard not to get discouraged, even though I know this is just a season. But…. at least I had dinner in the crockpot! =)

Crockpot Bean and Rice Soup

2 cups cooked, cubed pork, beef, or chicken, or smoked sausage (I used turkey sausage, sliced and browned the night before)

1 cup cooked rice (or 1/3 c. uncooked)

2 cans black beans, drained

4 cups beef or chicken broth

2 Tablespoons taco seasoning

1 cup tomato sauce or 1 can diced tomatoes

Toppings: grated cheese, salsa, chopped cilantro, chopped onion

Place all ingredients (except rice) in the crock of a slow cooker. Stir gently. Place the lid on top and turn on the cooker. Cook for 6 hours on low or 3 hours on high. Serve with toppings.

This didn’t affect the flavor, but the rice was basically mush because I put it in with everything else in the beginning. I’m going to try adding the rice several hours into the cooking process to see if that helps.

I highly recommend buying taco seasoning from a company like Penzey’s or Savory Spice Shop. No preservatives and less salt. Penzey’s has a salt-free mexican seasoning called Arizona Dreaming that I may sub in for 1 T. next time, since I did use canned broth and beans.

I got this recipe from the Life As Mom blog, and I didn’t change much. She’s got good recipes!

happy halloween

2011-10-31T17:57:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween from our pirate and his faithful giraffe…

(Seth wants you to know that he is a good pirate that saves all the boys and girls from the bad guys. Just so you know…)

He kept all this on the whole time… hat, earring, and eye patch. We were really surprised by that. And, just so ya know, cheap black eyeliner makes great whiskers and mustaches…

Happy Giraffe. I’m glad it was cold ‘cause this costume is warm… $7 at a yard sale, baby! Never been worn… the mom had bought ahead, but she was moving to Hawaii. =)

And last, but not least, my littlest punkin. He was so cute that I wanted to eat him with a spoon… but I settled for kissing him over and over instead. =)

harvest festival….

2011-10-31T17:46:00.001-04:00

Our church has a harvest festival every year. It’s just one of the many things we love about our church. They have inflatables, pony rides, and rooms full of games to play. The rooms are divided by age, and the games are manned by kind older kids and teens that make me feel like we must be in the right place. I aspire to my boys turning out like that. And this year, all the food was free! They had hot dogs, snow cones, popcorn, hot cocoa…. and funnel cakes! Personally, I feel ministered to by free funnel cake. =)

This was Evan’s very first pony ride. He was a little nervous at first, but then David encouraged Seth to cheer for him… and Seth did. Loudly. For the entire pony ride. “Yay, Evan! Yay, Evan!” And that took care of the nervousness problem, and the smiles came out.

Seth’s turn. It was his first pony ride, too. Unfortunately, my horse died before Seth ever got a chance to ride him… sniff. But… now that my mom and dad have seen this cuteness, I’m sure they’re going to go right out and buy a pony. Right, Mom and Dad? =)

This was really, really tall, y’all. David and I realized that it was mistake for him to try and take both of them up, but by that point, it was too late. Seth did it all by himself, and he only got a little scared right at the top. But that was ok….

….’cause Daddy took them both down with him. I love this picture. =)

Mommy and her….

2011-10-25T21:43:00.001-04:00

….. 3 little pun’kins. =)

fall cooking…

2011-10-19T19:00:00.001-04:00

I may have an adorable 2-month-old, but I will not let him keep me from doing some fall cooking! Even if we eat that fall cooking off paper plates until he’s 6 months old! =)

I made an easy cake while the boys were playing before nap today. Seriously, it was really, really easy… and quite good. I made it with Ben strapped to my chest in a Bjorn and the boys playing with cars in and out of the kitchen. There are many variations of this on the web, but I like the kind that include eggs and applesauce…

Pumpkin Spice Cake

1 box of spice cake mix

1 can pumpkin

1-3 eggs

½ c. unsweetened applesauce

Generous shakes of pumpkin pie spice and/or cinnamon

1 c. butterscotch or cinnamon chips

Mix together, put in a greased bundt pan, and bake at 350 for 30-40 min.

Enjoy!

Yummy baby photos…

2011-10-14T16:48:00.001-04:00

I would’ve made this my birth announcement photo if it wasn’t for the ugly flowered couch background. Ahh, for mad Photoshop skills. But… isn’t he a tiny cherub? =)

A sweet lady at the park saw me trying to take photos of him, and she got a few good ones of him on my shoulder. Little love bug… And the boys all together. The video of this shoot is much funnier, but I love Seth’s protective arm around Ben’s shoulder in this one. The big boys love “Baby Ben.”

brain dump…

2011-10-14T16:39:00.001-04:00

It’s 4:23 p.m. on Friday, and the boys are still all sleeping (miracle!), so I’m brain dumping. Ben is in my bed, of course. These days, the two of us go down as soon as the boys do. Gotta love that baby. Put him in the swing… he’ll wake and scream every 10 minutes or so. Put him in my bed… he sleeps like a log. =)

I’ve realized that the mild nausea I’ve had on an off for a couple of days is familiar. Yes, it’s exhaustion nausea. Ever had it? I did after Evan… after enough nights of crummy sleep, my body fights back this way. Here you are again, old friend. That’s ok. I can get you to leave for awhile if I get a nap. =)

I feel worse for Seth, actually. He practically has dark circles under his eyes. Evan keeps him up with crying and waking a lot more than usual lately. Evan is our light sleeper, and he wakes up when we’re up and about with Ben, and then he wakes Seth up. The poor guy was having meltdowns today at the children’s museum, and it was because he was ridiculously tired. I was more gentle than usual with him about it. I wish there was something I could do to help him, but Evan wakes us all up, so it’s not like moving him out of Seth’s room would help.

I took a picture of Seth today “breastfeeding” his baby doll. Yep, he hiked up his shirt and put baby “Evan” to his chest. I promise not to show it to his girlfriend one day. If he pays me. Mwah hah hah! I can’t bear to break it to him yet that he won’t be able to do this part of baby caring. He’s such a little nurturer.

David and I have kept striking out on getting a date night the last couple of weeks. One of his friends, realizing how tired he is, offered to take the hit and watch his 2 kids and our 2 two oldest tonight by himself so we can go out. And I will bounce until I’m dizzy with Ben in the baby carrier if it means we can go to a restaurant without Seth and Evan.

I think I’d like to “boo” some of the neighbors. See this for more information. I think the boys would get a big kick of sneaking up to someone’s house in the dark and leaving a treat on their steps, then running away. I bought the stuff to make chocolate kiss acorns, so maybe we’ll make those and do it. Maybe.

See, I want to enjoy my children to the hilt, despite exhaustion. I kissed Ben’s sweet sleeping cheeks a few minutes ago and prayed that I would. I want to take them to the children’s museum and watch them play, even if I’m dead on my feet. And I am so glad that we have three, even though I look around and see other couples with less children who are also struggling less with the tiredness. I don’t envy them, really. The boys are worth it.

October Saturday…

2011-10-08T17:43:00.001-04:00

….a fall picnic by our special “rock throwing” stream…

…. riding his bike up and down hills, racing Daddy with the stroller, and stopping to wait for Mommy and Ben to catch up…

…. excitedly throwing rock after rock…

… and borrowing a blanket from his baby brother after he fell in throwing one of those rocks…. =)

Embracing the adventure of 3 tiny boys today. I love fall.

easy hamburger and vegetable stew

2011-10-05T10:32:00.001-04:00

Well, it’s time to get back to cooking again! We were given meals by sweet friends 3 times a week until Ben was almost 7 weeks old. I feel very spoiled and loved… and I appreciated every. single. meal. It was such a huge help.

But now I’m getting back into cooking again… and I pulled out the crockpot yesterday. This stew was easy, had cheap, healthy ingredients I had on hand, and had a nice, comfort food flavor.

Crockpot Hamburger and Vegetable Stew

6-8 white or red skinned potatoes, chopped

4-6 carrots, chopped (I’m buying peeled baby carrots again to save my sanity, so more of those if you’re using them)

1 onion, chopped

1 lb. ground beef, browned (I have browned ground beef in my freezer, so I put it in the crockpot partially frozen.)

1 cup tomato sauce and 1 cup of water

Salt and pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

1 T. Italian seasoning

2 tablespoons rice

Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5.

Serve with cornbread if you a) don’t have 2 little boys under the age of 5 or b) squeal with glee at the idea of sweeping up many, many cornbread crumbs off the floor.

I cut up the onion and carrots the night before and put them in a bag in the fridge, and I took out the frozen ground beef and put it in the fridge overnight. I also took out all the other ingredients and put them on the counter with the crockpot. That’s the only way I can do something like this in the morning with 3 tiny boys to help get ready…

pumpkin monday…

2011-10-03T14:01:00.001-04:00

Hello on this beautiful fall day! I woke up this morning with a determined glint in my eye. I would do more today than simply get by… I would craft, and do laundry, and make waffles, and be outside… all before naptime! As you can imagine, I now have a sink of dirty dishes, I’m tired and mildly frazzled, and I’m praying the baby doesn’t wake up before I finish this post.

But we did have a good morning overall! I made up the batter for waffles last night and stowed it in the fridge, and despite oversleeping and not getting my act together, we did actually have them for breakfast. And then it was on to crafting!

This is a craft I was able to do with both boys at the same time while the baby (fitfully) napped. Seth got out the scissors and cut up orange construction paper while I worked with Evan to rip up his orange paper. Then we all sat at the table, and I helped Evan glue his papers onto a cut out paper plate circle with Elmer’s while Seth used a glue stick to put his papers on. I cut out the stem, eyes, nose, and mouth for them, and I put them on for them after they were done with the rest. Seth spent quite a while trying to get his just right, and he kept telling Evan, “Move away. You’re distracting me from my work.” =)

Then we read “Too Many Pumpkins” by Linda White. It’s a sweet story that I got from the library after reading the linked review.

For lunch, we had applesauce with cinnamon sprinkled in, just like the cinnamon in the baked goods mentioned in the book. Seth enjoyed it especially. And I wondered what I was thinking letting Evan feed himself out of a bowl. =)

I have lots of other plans for fall activities. We’ll see how many of them I get done ‘cause I really need to take it slower than I did today. But I found some great stuff on my new favorite preschool website… Homeschool Creations. Her preschool printables are perfect for Seth’s level right now. I printed off the fall printable pack, and I’m looking forward to doing them.

And if you haven’t seen the neat acorn munchie idea floating around the web, you’re missing out. Take a Hershey’s kiss, glue on a mini nilla wafer with peanut butter, and add a smidge of peanut butter for a stem. You have an adorable snack!

better…

2011-09-27T15:37:00.001-04:00

I want to be a better mother every day. I want to see noticeable improvement in my parenting every year.

And I get very tired of not seeing improvement in myself. I pray and pray for it. And I feel like it’s a constant struggle, and if I’m not losing ground, I’m not gaining it either.

Basically, I guess I’m sick of being a sinful person stuck in a sinful world.

And today is one of those days when I think my children might be better off in daycare than with me at the moment.

I have allergies, and so does everyone else in the house. The boys are stuffy and snotty, the baby is snuffly, and I haven’t felt the greatest for the last couple of days. I didn’t sleep well last night, and getting up with the baby didn’t help.

So when Evan decided to cry on and off through his nap because he FEELS BAD, and this meant that I got no nap, I was steaming by the time I got him up. And I yelled at him, had a temper tantrum, and had to apologize for it. And I hate being this kind of mother.

I am sick and tired of failing every day at my resolution not to speak harshly with my children. Because I do at some point every day. I am short, terse, frustrated, angry, whatever. And when I do it, I feel like it negates every good thing I’ve done with them all day, no matter how many of those things there are.

Yes, tomorrow is another day. But I feel right now like that doesn’t matter because I’ll just blight it’s promise of a fresh start like I always do. And I’m tired of that.

The end.

UPDATED THE NEXT DAY… I got my sadness out, asked God to forgive me again, and indulged in some “bad day” pizza takeout. And then I cleaned out my nasty van. And cleaned up some of the backyard mess. And felt better, hugged all my babies, and resolved to do better today. Of course, everyone got less sleep last night than the night before. =) We’re gonna make it, sisters in the trenches… yes, we are…

cuddly days…

2011-09-17T09:56:00.001-04:00

- It’s raining and chilly, and we’re all snuggled in together in the house. David is reading the older boys an abbreviated version of “Little House in the Big Woods” with Ben sleeping on his lap.

- I had leftover macaroni and cheese for breakfast. It was yummy, and I’m not apologizing for it. I don’t like to eat cereal every morning for breakfast.

- The highlight of my week was the 3 hour nap the boys took yesterday afternoon. I snuggled down in the bed with Ben in the crook of my arm, and we napped. It was the best nap I’ve had since he was born 4 weeks ago, and it felt decadent to lie there and watch his tiny face.

- Seth is ramping up his energy to more boyish levels these days. He sure picked a great time to do it. (Insert sarcastic smile.) Yesterday went a lot better than Wednesday, and I attribute that to us going to the mall playplace for an hour to jump and run after doing an hour of “school.” I can only take so much wrestling and jumping off the couch and crying because “He pushed me!” without going slightly insane.

- BTW, you’re not going to get a lot of sympathy from me when you’re crying after you begged your brother to jump on your head. ‘Nuf said.

- I’m reading a book on raising boys called “Wild Things.” It’s useful, but it’s mildly depressing. Apparently, I’m surrounded by little creatures whose brains naturally lack the impulse control of your typical girl. Good times…

- I did laundry, and it’s been sitting in the baskets clean for a couple of days now. And it’s almost time to do laundry again! =) I’m ok with this, but I am wondering when I’m going to find a good time to fold it. If the baby would be willing to be put down some, that might help. =)

- BUT… I love holding my tiniest man. And I don’t want to give it up because I have older boys to take care of. It’s a little more challenging to do much this way, but with the help of the sling, we’re functioning. And if he gives me an hour in the morning when he’s willing to sleep out of my arms, I can get a ton done with the boys!

- We had our college student over last night. He ate what was delivered to us from friends, and I didn’t feel guilty about that, either. I want to be able to see people occasionally, even if I’m not up to cooking for them. We played a game with him. We both kept forgetting and moving other people’s pieces. We were a pathetically easy conquest for Josh, but he was nice enough to play with us anyway. He’ll understand one day. =)

- I’m going shopping today for “fat pants.” My bestie is going with me, and only because she’s also got a postpartum body, and she can handle ugly crying. She insists on calling them “step down” pants. Whatever. They’re fat pants. It’s time to make friends with ridiculous amounts of spandex in my jeans.

- Oh, and Evan walks beside the stroller now whenever we go somewhere. He puts one hand on it to “help” me push Ben. Yesterday, he wanted to stop every few feet through the store to spontaneously lean over and give Ben a kiss. They both adore him…

easy teacher gift…

2011-09-10T21:26:00.001-04:00

Hey, y’all. Writing with Ben in a sling. I think we’re going to be using it a lot in the future. He likes human contact a lot. =)

We’re doing pretty well. It was kind of a rough week. My mom was here helping me, and that was great. It was especially great because David ended up having to work very late every night of the week. The poor guy… It was hard on all of us. And I think I’m about ready to start the “new normal” around here. Monday is my first day without help. Pray.

But anyway… I thought I’d give you a tip for a really easy teacher gift. I have no energy for crafting right now, but I wanted to do something for the Sunday school teachers who faithfully taught my boys during the last year. I taught a class myself, so I know how much a little gesture can mean. And this will be a very little gesture. =)

First, go to the store and buy some packs of Snickers bars. Then buy a bag of Hershey Hugs.

Go home, and drag out a couple of plain colored gift bags that you’ve been hoarding from your stash of used bags.

Open Microsoft Word and type the following:

“Hugs and kisses” to some awesome teachers that have “really satisfied” this year. =) We will miss you. Love, Seth

Then Google “pictures of Snickers” and click on one of the images given. Right click on that, click on “print picture,” and print out a couple. Cut out the pictures and glue on your printed message. Glue the whole message to the front of the gift bag and fill with the appropriate amount of candy.

You’re done! You’ve got an easy teacher gift that even the sleep deprived mother of a newborn can create. Now, let’s hope she actually remembers to take it to church tomorrow…

Mmmmmmmm bop…

2011-09-02T15:19:00.001-04:00

Ok, time to embrace all the possibilities of a future of 3 boyness! And here is one possibility… heh heh. =) Three brothers, evangelical homeschooling family…. do I smell a winner? =) Here we have Seth on guitar, Evan on keyboard, and Ben on drums.

Seriously, though, when we walk around the neighborhood, and I hear the sounds of badly played 80’s music screaming from open garage doors, my first thought is, “Thank God we don’t have a garage.”

And please, please, boys, please don’t tell me you want to grow out your hair…

Homemade board game…

2011-09-01T19:38:00.001-04:00

The week before Baby Ben came into the world, I was feeling like doing some last minute crafting. It’s a nesting thing for me, I think. =)

Anyhoo, I ran across this tutorial online. I had a lot of colored card stock, and I had half a piece of white posterboard left from making signs for our yard sale. I used different colored buttons for the playing pieces, and after about 10 minutes of work, I had a personalized toddler game!

I gave this one away as a birthday present to my bestie’s little girls. I hope they’ve enjoyed it.

One of the things I like the most about this game is that it’s more interactive than most board games. You can actually do things, like jump up and down, when you land on a space. That is bound to keep a toddler’s interest better than Candyland… well, maybe a boy toddler’s interest. I don’t know what those things called “girls” like to play as far as games go. =)

One more mouth to fill…

2011-08-29T21:27:00.001-04:00

“She says I shall now have one mouth the more to fill and two feet the more to shoe, more disturbed nights, more laborious days, and less leisure for visiting, reading, music, and drawing. This is one side of the story, to be sure, but I look at the other.

Here is a sweet fragrant mouth to kiss; here are two more feet to make music with their pattering about my nursery. Here is a soul to train for God; and the body in which it dwells is worthy all it will cost, since it is the abode of a kingly tenant. I may see less of friends, but I have gained one dearer than them all, to whom, while I minister in Christ’s name, I make a willing sacrifice of what little leisure for my own recreation my other darlings have left me.

Yes, my precious baby, you are welcome to your mother’s heart, welcome to her time, her strength, her health, her tenderest cares, to her lifelong prayers! Oh, how rich I am, how truly, how wondrously blest!”

- From “Stepping Heavenward” by E. Prentiss

Good things: new baby edition…

2011-08-25T17:03:00.001-04:00

- A sweet smelling baby with soft, brushed down baby fuzz, fresh from his first bath. And realizing I still remember how to give one… =)

- Seeing the neighbor’s gift of balloons floating down from the backyard trees days after they escaped from our front porch. And getting to call her and tell her that we got her present after all.

- Hot, fresh meals delivered every two days…. and an online calendar full of this kind of love to last us all month. Overwhelmed with this generosity.

- A full box of wonderful toys and games, lovingly chosen by a friend and blog reader, and opened at the end of a hormonal day. Thank you, Powell.

- Lactation consultants that call back promptly.

- That pumping on one side for 24 hours, soaking in salt water, and coating in Neosporin seems to have my one poor, wounded baby feeder back in business… with a nipple shield. Continued prayers for full functionality and healing appreciated. Pumping every 3 hours, cleaning up pumping stuff, trying to get the baby to eat it… not such a fun thing.

- A call from a friend on the way to the grocery store to ask if we need anything… right after realizing I’d forgotten to buy milk.

- A wonderful preschool counting game discovered in my feed reader from Money Saving Mom. Click on “Workboxables” and “Number Wheel By Ami.” I’m looking forward to getting the clothespins for this…

- Lysol wipes. And the fact that me spilling two sugary drinks on the floor within 5 minutes of each other hasn’t taken down my afternoon because of them.

- A morning alone with my 2-year-old baby while Daddy and Seth introduced Ben to his co-workers. So helpful in making me feel less guilt for making my baby a middle child…

- The best husband in the universe telling me that he wouldn’t want to miss out on the early tough days even if he could by going back to work right away.

Benjamin Elliott….

2011-08-24T14:36:00.001-04:00

Another sweet blessing came to us on August 17, 2011 at 10:30 a.m. He weighed 7 lb., 5 oz. and was 21 inches long. It didn’t take long for him to steal my heart, just like his brothers….

Big brother had to have a turn first. He wanted to hold him multiple times for short periods of time. And when he was at his grandparents, he asked every time we called, “Are you in the hospital with Baby Ben? Is he still wearing his little hat? Is he sleeping in his little bed?” =)

Evan was more interested in trying to knock over my iv bag stand and climb on shiny medical equipment than he was in his baby brother. (At least Ben got one kiss.) But that has definitely changed since we’ve been home… now he’s a 4 star baby helper.

Mom made this cake with Seth for Ben’s birth day. Seth got to frost it with her, and it seemed to make the whole event more real for him. They sang “Happy Birthday” to him, and they blew out his candle. Very sweet…

And here’s one with his eyes open. He’s the cutest little bundle of happiness, and definitely the most easy going newborn that we’ve ever had. We feel abundantly blessed…. to go along with abundantly tired. =) We’re enjoying these early days as a family of FIVE. I never thought I’d see this day. God has been merciful far beyond what we deserve.

just checking in…

2011-08-13T12:32:00.001-04:00

- Gray Saturday morning. Headed out early for a little yard saleing. We have one excited 4-year-old who loves to get little toys with his ziploc baggie of coins.

- I found an awesome tanagram set for a quarter! I was thinking of ordering one from Amazon for over $20, so finding it was such a nice blessing. I think the one I got may be better than the one I was looking at online, and I can’t wait to sit at the kitchen table and do some of the easier cards with Seth.

- Seth bought a beanie baby turkey with one of his quarters. The irony is that we sold off its identical twin at our yard sale. That boy… =)

- Evan has the Cold That Never Ends. He lay down last Friday night and had a bad night with congestion and coughing and a runny nose. And it’s been like that all week. He hasn’t been up and down every night, but it’s been a few. David has slept with the boys in the guest bed a few nights to deal with it more easily. I took him to the doctor yesterday, and I got a prescription for a bubble gum flavored antibiotic. He’s got to have a sinus infection… no cold lasts this long with no improvement. Sigh.

- We’re having a quiet weekend because of Evan’s illness. David is really tired, and so am I, so this is probably exactly what we need. I’m worried that one of us will come down with Evan’s cold if we don’t get more rest, and this would be horrible timing. And I’m a little sad because it looks like he won’t get to meet his new brother on said brother’s birthday.

- My arms and legs feel tight and heavy. No more overdoing it. The floor can just stay filthy…

- But we now have little boy scooters! They were a great deal at another yard sale! And I’m thankful that we have a porch that goes the length of our house. Since we don’t have a garage, this is a great place to keep our increasing collection of riding toys/roller skates/helmets and knee pads. =)

- David had “coffee time” with Seth this morning. Seth thinks he’s a big boy when he gets to sit and drink “coffee” alone with his daddy. Now they’re off for a father/son date at Steak and Shake. He’d been pretending to make me hamburgers out of playdough a lot the past two weeks, so we figured he had a hankering for one.

- Wednesday is D-day. I feel like it can’t come soon enough, and it also seems like it’s not real, and we’re not prepared… This baby thing is like riding a bike, right? =)

stream of consciousness…

2011-08-08T15:37:00.001-04:00

I have little things to share, but they’re probably not going to be terribly interesting or well written. Oh well. If you have literary standards, stop reading now. =)

We had a good weekend overall. By the time I hit Friday evening, I was so tired and sore and weary of my cranky boys that I didn’t know how I was going to do anything other than sit on the sofa and stare into space all weekend.

This stage of the pregnancy has been a good bit harder than it was with Evan. I have more muscle pain and soreness, and sitting is uncomfortable a lot of times. The baby dropped more on Saturday, and he is so low that I can’t wear anything but dresses comfortably. I have some amount of trouble standing, walking, and basically getting around right now.

David saw my patheticness and started cleaning. =) Yep, he changed and washed the boy’s sheets and decided that our bathrooms needed cleaning. He said that my state made him think I could actually go into labor this time, so he thought we’d better be prepared. =)

I made myself make the chicken curry for the freezer that I’d planned on. We went to Marbles on Friday night for their once a month evening play time. The newborn clothes are now washed, though I can’t figure out how to sit on the floor to fold them.

Church was great on Sunday… really refreshing. And on Sunday night, we got to go out on a date. Dinner and a movie! David had been dying to see the last Harry Potter movie in the theater, and he got his wish.

I have been praying a lot about my stress and attitude with Seth and Evan. They’ve both been fussy and on edge, and I know I’ve contributed to that a lot. This morning, I decided to be all silly and goofy and read them extra books. And this has been the best day we’ve had together in about 2 weeks. I want so badly to enjoy our last 10 days as a family of 4.

Oh, Evan seems to have come down with a summer cold. Please pray that the rest of us don’t get it….

and I will not have to rip down my porch… =)

2011-08-01T13:33:00.001-04:00

Thanks for praying for my porch inspection, y’all. I have been sweating this thing all weekend, praying whenever I felt worried. But it’s been affecting me. For instance, I took Seth to see the “Winnie the Pooh” movie as his first cinema experience, and the part where Piglet was digging a hole made me want to look away. (There’s been some digging around porch footings going on around here.)

The inspector came out, the guy who built the porch was here, and the inspector gave him a very small and manageable list of things to fix. The way the inspector had been acting before, asking for all these things to be taken up and dug up, I had NO IDEA what he could ask for. And I’m a control freak.

David reminded me last night, “Everything we have is God’s. If God wants to waste His money ripping down a porch and putting it back together, that’s up to Him.” =) I just didn’t want to live here while that was happening…

So this is a huge load off my mind. And maybe everything will get put back before my littlest man arrives. Oh, just so there’s no confusion…. We’re not naming him “Trey.” That’s just been my blog nickname for him since we found out he was the third boy. We knew lots of guys in law school named things like Oscar Hamlet Beauregard III, and they all went by “Trey.” =)

prayer for something dumb that’s stressing me out… =)

2011-07-29T13:50:00.001-04:00

Hey, all. I figured I’d put a prayer request out there because extra people praying certainly can’t hurt, right? =)

Ok, so, our lovely new screened in porch is now being inspected. When we contracted with a local guy to build it, we didn’t realize (a) that it would need to be inspected because we’re ignorant buffoons that haven’t owned a house before, or (b) that we’d need to figure anything like that out because the guy building it would know, and he would take care of whatever was needed. After being asked by a couple of friends how much the permits were, etc., we then casually asked our guy if he had gotten permitting done. We found out that he had not. Problem. He had neglected to ask us to get a homeowner permit if we wanted one. And permits are required for new porches and decks in our city.

What to do? We felt like, as Christians, we couldn’t ignore this now that we knew about it. And so began the process of me waddling into a city inspections office with my two little boys, filling out paperwork, etc. A building inspector came out, and an electrical inspector (he’d put in a ceiling fan.) The building inspector immediately demanded that a bunch of boards be taken up and large holes be dug so that he could see the porch footing and how the porch was attached to the house. He also wanted some extra, different bolts attaching the porch to the house.

Our guy, realizing that he had screwed up, kindly came here and did what he requested. It took him a day and part of another. And I had to watch him unscrew boards from our beautiful porch and deck and put them in a pile to the side. This stresses me out, as you might imagine.

In the meantime, our guy discovered that there is a lot of water in our heating and cooling ductwork under the house. Soooo, I called about that, and we got more news. Our ductwork is over 20 years old, it wasn’t insulated right to start with, and now it’s filled with debris and water. It all probably needs to be replaced. I see more dollar signs.

I have scheduled an estimate for the ductwork for Monday, and I have an electrical guy coming to fix the minor things the electrical inspector wanted fixed on Monday…. and I have the inspection with the building inspector on, you guessed it, Monday.

It’s the building inspector that has me worried. The heating and cooling guys had nothing good to say about inspectors in our city. And this one seems like he could be on a power trip, depending on his mood on a particular day. I also confirmed what I’d thought…. we are completely at his mercy. If he tells us to completely dismantle our deck and porch and start from scratch, we either do it, or we face a yearly fine and a black mark on our house if we decide to sell it. This would all be over whether particular bolts are used that aren’t in code now but were 5 years ago, other nitpicky stuff, etc. I am not concerned about the porch not being built well and strong.

Pointless, government bureaucracy at its finest, folks. Oh, how I wish I didn’t believe in being ethical sometimes….

I’m trying not to let this really stress me out because I can’t do anything about it at this point. But it’s been hard on me the last few days, and I just want it all over. So PLEASE pray for me and for mercy on Monday.

No bake oat balls….

2011-07-26T11:09:00.001-04:00

I had Seth help me make these this morning. I was a good chance to talk about 1 c. and 1/2 c. measures, and he got to dump everything and help me stir a little bit. Mom made these for us when we were little. She got the recipe from my Great Aunt Mary, who was the world’s best preschool teacher…

No Bake Oat Balls

1 c. rolled oats

1 c. dry milk

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/2 c. honey

a handful of raisins or chopped nuts

Mix together well, roll into balls, and chill in the fridge. If the mixture seems too crumbly, just add a little more honey and peanut butter.

some folk songs…

2011-07-26T10:55:00.001-04:00

My mom was a preschool music teacher before she started homeschooling us. She would go around to the classrooms in our little church preschool, play her autoharp, and teach all of us all kinds of songs… songs about frogs and squirrels and the days of the week and how to cross the street.

I was in the library a couple of days ago, and I ran across a picture book of this old Aaron Copeland song. This was the tune I learned, so I included it. There are lots of different animals and sounds. My boys are enjoying it with me…

The next day, I came across another childhood favorite. There are hand motions for this one, and there is also a tune, but I couldn’t find it on Youtube. We always clapped when the turtle caught the different animals, and I tickle them at the end when we say, “But he didn’t catch me!” Enjoy!

“I had a little turtle,

He lived in a box,

He swam in the water,

He climbed on the rocks.

He snapped at a mosquito,

He snapped at a flea,

He snapped at a minnow,

He snapped at me.

He caught the mosquito,

He caught the flea,

He caught the minnow,

But he didn’t catch me!”

I feel increasingly thankful that my mom gave me a heritage of singing and playing these classics with us. I have treasures to pass on to my children because she taught these to me. Thanks, Mom!

good things…

2011-07-23T13:18:00.001-04:00

- A 4-year-old who spontaneously decides to put his underwear and shorts on his head, just for giggles. And finding out later that his daddy taught him this trick. =)

- A Wednesday night trip to a baby superstore with the BFF to browse and dream and pick up a couple of necessities.

- The husbands who watched the kids so we could take off on a random weeknight for a bit. They’re bigger heroes than Superman, and you can tell him I said that.

- Cold, refreshing water in the local city kiddie pool this morning. And friends to play with there.

- A big batch of taco soup frozen in bags for later.

- 2 eggs borrowed from the neighbors last night to make a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough. And a plate of hot chippers that we walked over there after they were done. They said they’d trade eggs for cookies any day.

- “Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel.” And how Evan loves to point out all the cars and trucks in her beautiful vintage illustrations.

- Brainstorming a couple of ideas for freezer friendly meals that aren’t completely tomato or cheese based. Any ideas, gentle readers? Maybe a stir fry mix I could make up for the pantry and add chicken to later?

A slice of real life…

2011-07-21T14:22:00.001-04:00

Ok, so yesterday was rough. Rough with a capital R. It’s about 100 degrees with high humidity, so I can hardly stand to be outside for more than 5 minutes. Seth has been harassing Evan more than normal for the last few days, and that really frustrates me. And naptime was short because a good friend dropped by on her way through town during it, and the boys didn’t stay down well as a result. Sigh. By the time they got up, I was begging them to play the “Mommy’s Eyes Are Closed While She Lies On the Couch Game.” It wasn’t terribly successful. Oh, yes, and Seth pooped in his naptime diaper for the first time in months, didn’t tell me that, and somehow tracked poop down the carpeted stairs. We’re learning how to use the steam cleaner that’s become a piece of downstairs decor tonight.

I told David that I was really wishing it was the weekend. He remarked that that wasn’t a good thing because it was Wednesday. I know, oh, I know.

So this morning, when I woke up, I was dreading the day. (It didn’t help that it started before the alarm went off with “Mommy, Evan’s out of the bed.”) So I spent some time praying for patience and strength and joy and supernatural amounts of energy.

And ya know, He came through.

I had to take them with me to the dermatologist to get a couple of tiny warts on my hands frozen off. Yeah, I know, TMI. But, my point is, this had “gigantic disaster” potential written all over it. You know, small doctor’s office, no way to know how long the wait will be, an inadequate amount of snacks, frowning elderly people with magazines, etc.

We were in the parking lot, and as I was getting out of the car, I swear the Holy Spirit started saying to me, “Ellen, take the huge, heavy stroller. Do it. If you don’t, you will regret it. Seriously, listen to me. I’m your friend.” So I did. It was all I had, and I don’t like using it in small spaces. I knocked into a few doors, and it wasn’t easy to turn around, but 5 minutes of Evan on the loose in the waiting room was enough to remind me how thankful I am for the Holy Spirit in my life. The 3 and 3/4 of us already look like a freak show as it is without 2 of us climbing and diving off plastic chairs.

Evan settles down and stops screaming to “get out of stroller!,” the dermatologist explains about skin to Seth, and I find out that the burst blood vessel smack in the middle of my forehead will probably heal after Trey comes out. Win, win, win! We’re in and out quickly, and I praise the boys to high heaven and promise them a treat at Target.

Off we go to Target, where we get backup carpet cleaner in case the steam cleaner gets mad at us for actually wanting to use it. Seth is hanging onto the side of the cart and making train whistle noises through a plastic straw that he found in the cart. (It was covered with the paper when he found it. I’m not THAT laid back.) Evan joins in. I don’t care because the only people in Target are wealthy middle aged women buying organic incense burners on their way home from the gym and other moms with kids. They smile at us; it’s all cool. My boys are behaving angelically.

They get Bugles in their snack trays on the way home. I used to love Bugles as a little kid. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree apparently.

We get home, and they eat lunch nicely and play well together. Seth and I discover that he likes playing catch now that we’ve unearthed some velcro catcher's mitts and a velcro ball. Who’d have thought that this would be the answer to every game of catch ending in tears? (I’m really looking forward to him getting better at playing catch, y’all.)

Now they’re down for a nap, and I’m soooooo thankful. So if you’ve just had a REALLY bad day, take it from me, tomorrow could be a whole lot better….

harvesting…

2011-07-19T14:20:00.001-04:00

Seth planted this corn back in early summer. Now he gets to harvest the fruit of his labor. (I’m so glad he gets to experience firsthand where fruits and vegetables come from.)

“Mommy, it makes a cracking sound!” Papa was proud of the fact that he learned the proper technique of twisting to get the ears off the stalks…

And this is what Evan was doing in his 1 minute of unsupervised time while I was taking pictures of his big brother…. =) Yes, he climbed it all by himself. He was very proud.

Fresh cantaloupes and “his corn” that Nana served up for lunch.

One of my favorite pictures of them ever. This was my brother’s pedal tractor when he was growing up, and there is a picture of him driving with me in the trailer. Mom, I’m glad you didn’t let Dad get rid of this toy. =)

Seth taking his brother for a ride. Things go a lot more smoothly now that Evan has learned that he can’t take the pin out that attaches the trailer to the tractor…. =)

Me and my little man at 34 weeks pregnant. I broke down and bought a couple of brand new maternity dresses. They help me feel a little less huge. =)

I went to my parent’s house for the weekend with the boys. In our 10 years of marriage, David and I hadn’t ever thought to take some time alone every once in awhile. If we were doing something away from the kids on a weekend, it’s either been together or going away with other people, etc. I got to experience some alone time on the weekend for the first time in years, and it was really rejuvenating. There was nobody to plan around and nobody’s needs to think about other than my own. If you haven’t done this in years, and you have young children, I highly recommend this kind of mini retreat.

Anyhoo… I got a chance at it, but David didn’t. I wanted him to have the chance for a little personal retreat before “Trey” arrives… and so did my parents. They know how hard he works for his family, and they wanted to give him a gift for all the help that he was with Claire and Isaac while we were at the beach. So they took care of us this weekend so David could rest. We all had a great time… and there was much hugging and rejoicing when we all got back together, too. =)

the truth about preschool….

2011-07-15T16:34:00.001-04:00

I just ran across this article about preschoolers…

I’d been wondering recently if I should buy a nice days of the week/month/weather calendar. Seth has been asking about that more. And I don’t think it would be a bad thing to have.

BUT… I like to hear that it isn’t necessary. I like to look at preschool educational ideas, and we have lots of educational games and toys around here. Honestly, there is so much out there that it overwhelms me…

These days, my goal is for us to spend a good bit of time reading together, step back and let the boys create imaginative play together, and do 2-3 short learning activities.

Yes, I did some alphabet themed preschool. I may go back to it sometime. BUT… I think Seth and Evan can learn the same things that they got from that without me planning it all out so much.

Here is a typical day with preschoolers around here:

Seth gets up and puts on his clothes. I point out if his shirt or shorts are on backwards, and he corrects it. Evan puts diapers in the trash can. That’s his “job.” Seth puts his own bowl and spoon from breakfast in the sink.

We read several books together. Evan picks some, and Seth picks some. They will ask me to read a lot throughout the day. At this point, Evan has the attention span to make it through many of the books that Seth reads, including “Frog and Toad.” Pretty good for a barely 2-year-old boy, I think.

I spend about 20 minutes with them doing little learning activities. These can include a few worksheets with Seth from his Rod and Staff preschool workbooks, a letter matching or number matching game, building with multicolored bears, a memory game, doing increasingly more difficult puzzles, playdough, sticker books, etc. We often sit at our little table together, Evan on my lap, and he either tries to do what Seth is doing, or I have a little activity for him to do. We don’t do this every day if we’ve got something going on, but if we don’t, we do this.

If I’m cooking something, Seth helps me dump and stir, and we talk about measurements. I encourage them both to make up rhymes and songs. They pretend all kinds of neat things, often based on books. Seth packed a “picnic” and sat on a “rock” (the sofa), just like Frog and Toad in one story.

I feel like they’re thriving, and I’m trying not to stress about whether or not Seth can recognize all his lowercase letters and his numbers. Since I know he doesn’t know them, I throw more of those games or activities in there for him. David came up with the idea of having him pick a number from the number puzzle each afternoon, and he only gets that many Goldfish crackers. Talk about an incentive for learning numbers… heh heh.

Sooo, preschool? I think we’re doing well here for now. I care most that they’re using their imaginations and loving to read, and I figure that’s most important at 2 and 4…

What do you do with a black thumb?

2011-07-15T00:56:00.001-04:00

You see all that beautiful fescue grass? It died.

It’s been a week of putting out little fires here and there. A car inspection here, a permitting thing there. A lamp breaks… you hunt in vain for a good cheap replacement, etc. David’s had the same kind of week at work.

And I realized tonight that I was fantasizing about having a paid gardener. David wondered why I wanted that instead of a full time maid/decorating consultant. I thought about it, and I realized that I feel like I’m making incremental improvement on the house. The yard, however, is another story entirely. Since we’ve lived here, we’ve gone backwards, not forwards.

Behold the seeding and aerating experiment of fall 2009. We paid a guy to kill some weeds, seed, and aerate. It wasn’t cheap. We watered religiously. The grass grew. It was BEAUTIFUL. And then we had a horrible drought. We were paying through the nose to the city to water our lawn. We stopped watering and prayed that the grass would survive. It didn’t. Now, our yard is a wasteland of crabgrass. It looks worse than it did before we seeded because of the patches of ground that were toxic from the guy’s weed killing technique. So almost all the nice fescue died, the crabgrass came, and we now have bare patches on top of that where fescue never grew in the first place. Sad end to story.

Did I mention that I fertilized twice with the fertilizer that’s supposed to keep crabgrass from growing at all? I did. I might as well have spread the yard with bunny feed. Maybe they would’ve eaten the crabgrass…

But I have other examples of my black thumb, my friends. This is not the only sad yard story.

Around the same time that we seeded, a pipe burst under the front sidewalk. We had to replace the sidewalk. They dug up our nice, new grass on both sides of the sidewalk. We replaced the soil. We bought grass seed kits that said “GUARANTEED TO GROW GRASS!” We watered. The grass never grew. Now there are patches of crabgrass and black dirt on both sides of the sidewalk. There is no actual grass.

I called my Master Gardener mom and asked her when to plant tulip bulbs. I had my friend with a yard like the Garden of Eden come over to help. She brought her bulb planter thingy. We put in special bulb fertilizer. We planted 20 bulbs from two different packets.

Not a single bulb came up.

I got a bunch of hardy mint from my mom to transplant on the side of our house. I’d planted some of her mint at the rental house we’d had, and it took over the place. I planted it here. I watered it. It died.

I grew sunflowers in little cups with Seth. When they had come up nicely, and Mom told me it was time, I planted them in the yard. I watered them. They died.

My dad and David mulched the pathway around the large flagstones leading from our deck steps to the fence gate. That was over a year ago. The mulch is now completely covered over with crabgrass. Crabgrass likes our mulch a lot. I want to tear up the crabgrass and cover this area over with rocks. David won’t let me. He knows the boys will just pick up the rocks and throw them in the yard so he can then lose an eye while he’s mowing. He’s right.

We replaced our deck. In the process, we made it a little bigger and had to dig up the monkey grass and hostas around the edge of it. Now we have hard packed red clay around our deck instead of grass or overgrown plantings.

From the proceeding paragraphs, can you guess how excited I am about trying to plant anything there again? Yeah. Not much.

Our yard has defeated me. I’m fed up. I’ve watched David and my dad sweat over it, raking leaves by the ton, putting down mulch, trying their best to beat back the weeds over the last 3 years.

But we’re not making progress. The weeds are winning. Sigh.

s.O.P.P. Skillet…

2011-07-13T19:49:00.001-04:00

In my never ending quest to find easy, somewhat healthy dinners, I came across a new use for turkey smoked sausage today. =)

It’s a Sausage, Onion, Potato, and Pepper Skillet meal! Very simple…

Cut up 1 long turkey smoked sausage linky thing. (You know, from the Butterball package of 2 found at every supermarket.) Freeze the other one.

Chop one onion and one green pepper, and get a skillet heating with a little canola oil in it, just a couple of tablespoons.

Peel and cut one large baking potato into small pieces. Put in a microwave safe dish with a dribble of water and microwave for 5 minutes.

Start sauteing the pepper, onion, and sausage. Add cooked potato. Season with salt, pepper, and a little cajun seasoning or other seasoning blend of your choice.

Stir occasionally while you make a salad, mostly ignoring it all for 10 minutes…

Voila!

I realized that I could probably do this a lot more easily without all the vegetable chopping if I just buy a frozen package of potatos O’Brien. And that may be exactly what I do when Boy III arrives… Or I may do all my chopping earlier in the day while male family members are napping… =)

A little church humor…

2011-07-10T12:58:00.001-04:00

I got the opportunity to visit my best friend’s church this morning. David has the boys at his parent’s house, we recently stopped teaching S.S. at our church, and I realized all of a sudden that this would be a good opportunity for me to come…

I really enjoyed the message from a visiting pastor, so I googled his name. He’s recently moved to N.C., and the sound guys at his old church put together this YouTube video as a going away “present.”

His comment was, “Never trust the sound guys when they tell you to just leave your mic on…” Amen, brother. I laughed until I snorted. Enjoy. =)

Good things…

2011-07-07T16:22:00.001-04:00

In case you can’t tell, this is a boat. And that ring he’s holding is the steering wheel…. =)

- A durable plastic wading pool and water table that they love to splash in…

- Watching them take a break from splashing to go down the back yard roller coaster… wearing nothing but smiles. =)

- A heart to heart with Seth about loving his brother that yielded fruit…

- Listening to Seth “read” Evan books. Seeing Evan squeal and run with excitement to give him one to read. I’ve heard “Monkey and Me” 15 times today…

- Two yard sale Magnadoodles- one small and one large- for double the drawing practice. “Evan, come here and draw with me!”

- Gentle afternoon rain…

- Clean laundry folded and ready to go upstairs…

- Anticipation of a weekend to rest and do a couple of projects while my kind in-laws take care of all my boys, big and little…

homemade Mexican rice…

2011-07-06T18:39:00.000-04:00

Mexican rice freezes well, and my boys both love it. Go here to see a quick YouTube video on how to make it. I heated it up on the stove top with a little oil after it thawed, and I think that did better for me than trying to heat it in the microwave would’ve….

I don’t usually have good luck with making more than 1 c. of rice on the stovetop, but this turned out well for me.

Also, she uses a can of tomato sauce in hers. I used the same amount of salsa and a generous dash of salt free mexican seasoning I had on hand….

homemade salsa with canned tomatos…

2011-07-05T18:34:00.000-04:00

Homemade salsa is soooo good. I didn’t know what I was missing out on until I started making this, and now I think I’ll never go back to the canned stuff. It’s also full of flavor and FAR less salty.

This recipe is also from Good Cheap Eats, but I’m putting it here for those of you that won’t click over. I know who you are. =)

2 15 oz. cans of fire roasted diced tomatos OR 1 28 oz. can of diced tomatos

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, rinsed well and coarsely chopped

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

1 serrano or jalapeno chili, stem removed and seeded, finely chopped OR 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (cut up the pepper while wearing rubber gloves or face the consequences =)

1 Tablespoon lemon or lime juice

salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Serve with chips.

Seriously, it’s that easy. The fresh cilantro makes all the difference in the world. And now that you have the salsa, you can use some of it to make a big batch of mexican rice to freeze…

Happy 4th of July….

2011-07-04T13:04:00.001-04:00

Happy 4th of July from our boys….

This was our second time doing our little neighborhood children’s parade. Seth was so excited about it that he told everyone he met for days that he was going to decorate his bicycle and ride in a parade. And he kept asking me if it was Monday yet…. =)

Evan decided early on that his stroller was for sissies. He just climbed in with this little boy. (We made him ride in the stroller once the parade started. This 5-year-old was a wild driver. =) After the parade was over, Evan hopped on a battery powered 3 wheeler and tried to take off before anyone noticed. He’s our wild man.

Seth never looked back. And he wanted to keep up with the older kids who didn’t have training wheels on their bikes. Oh, to be four years old with a big boy bike…

Somebody came out of one of the closest houses with boxes full of bomb pops for the kids once it was over. Sweet. Literally. =)

delicious taco salad….

2011-07-03T18:28:00.001-04:00

taco salad photo courtesy of Good Cheap Eats

I have found a meal that I would gladly eat once a week. It’s healthy, cheap, and totally delicious… and most of the ingredients we have on hand, or they can be frozen easily. I’m in love. =)

For all the details on making really wonderful taco salad, go to this page on Good Cheap Eats… I think Jessica Fisher of Life As Mom is my new favorite food blogger.

For this meal, we load up our plates with: homemade pintos, homemade salsa, a spoonful of sour cream, shredded cheese, a handful of crumbled chips and/or some mexican rice, and some shredded lettuce and green pepper.

Here’s her recipe for homemade pintos. They’re so easy, and the flavor is great after you take the time to season at the end with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I freeze in 1-2 c. packages, and I double the recipe…

Homemade Pintos

1 pound dried pinto beans

1 onion, finely chopped- (I think mincing it in the food processor and making sure to add all the onion juice is important for the flavor of these beans)

minced garlic- 1-2 t.

salt

pepper

garlic powder

Sort through the dried beans, removing any stones or defective beans. Rinse thoroughly. Place in your crockpot insert and cover with at least an inch of water. Allow to soak overnight.

The next day, rinse beans. Add the chopped onion and enough water to cover by about an inch. Cook 8-10 hours on low. Stir in salt and pepper to taste.

We prefer to mash the beans slightly and season to taste with garlic powder.

*If you don’t want to use the crockpot, or if you don’t have 8 hours until serving time, you can cook them on the stovetop. Place beans, onion and water in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover slightly. Stir frequently, adding water if necessary.

(Don’t mash the beans in the water you cooked them in. Take them out and then mash and season them.)

Next up…. homemade salsa….

Good things…

2011-07-02T18:51:00.001-04:00

- Lazy Saturday mornings of bike rides, late yard saleing, and a quick stop by the neighborhood grocery for bread and baked beans…

- Snagging a really nice soft-sided cooler for $1 that everyone else had ignored because of a little dirt. It cleaned up in a jiffy…

- Sitting on the porch swing with my honey, watching the boys splash in the wading pool.

- Making homemade chocolate chip cookie dough.

- Being able to reward the 4-year-old who had gotten up from his nap to go potty (which equals dry diaper) with chocolatey goodness…

- Said boy’s smile of pride at his accomplishment…

- Suddenly insecure toddler wanting to cuddle with his daddy all day. And him asking first thing when he woke up, “Where’s Daddy?”

- Friends who loan us caulk guns and tell us about mold resistant shower caulk. =)

- Doing a numbers sticker book with Seth. And seeing him get better at counting all of a sudden…

- Offloading some princess dress up clothes (that didn’t fit nieces) on friends who want them. And remembering that that wasn’t the part of having a girl that I was that interested in anyway. Barbie princesses= blech.

- “Trey” letting me know he’s there with squirms and swings and kicks all day long. And the comfort and dawning realization that he’ll be here in 7 weeks…

a thursday morning…

2011-06-30T13:15:00.001-04:00

The boys are climbing and jumping all over our flowered Goodwill couch in the playroom. This is something they do every day around this time lately. I don’t care… as long as they don’t beat each other with flying feet, and there is more laughing than crying…

…………………………………………………………………………..

I took them to bowl for the first time this morning. We have a local upscale bowling alley that offers free bowling for kids on Thursday mornings. The staff were really nice, and you didn’t have to rent shoes as long as everyone had rubber soles. We were paired up with another mom and her 3 girls, and the kind ladies working there put in all the names and got the board set up for us. Evan and Seth rolled their balls down the little portable ramp, and Evan eventually learned to say, “I knock the pins down with my ball!” Having to wait our turn made things a little harder, but it was ok…

But we won’t be going back this summer. Sigh. We had to leave before they’d finished the last 3 frames because I was getting worried about myself. At 32 weeks pregnant, stooping down, picking up, and placing 7-9 lb. balls over and over again was too hard on me. I started getting sore and achy. I hate this. I want to be able to give my boys new experiences and fun activities this summer, but it’s getting harder and harder for me. Things are going to have to get more simple around here. I tell myself it’ll be fine for them; they’re not really missing out. But I’m sad about all the things I will have increasing trouble doing for the next several weeks…

………………………………………………………………………..

We ARE going to do the local neighborhood 4th of July parade. I really love it. Everybody meets up in a local cul de sac. Kids decorate bikes and wagons, and somebody pulls a portable CD player blasting patriotic marches. This will be Seth’s first year riding his bike, and I think he’ll feel like a super big kid. Now to figure out how to decorate his bike tastefully…. heh heh. =)

………………………………………………………………………….

I asked David what he wanted me to make for the 4th of July this year. Cherry pie? A nice ribeye? Nope. The man wants hot dogs, chips, and something simple like ice cream for dessert. And he’s right. This year is not the time for me to go crazy in the kitchen. Low key is best, and some of our favorite comfort foods aren’t terribly complicated. If he would be happier with hot dogs than filet mignon, who am I to argue? Actually, this year I feel the same way myself. He did request a nice, juicy watermelon. =) Nothing says 4th of July like watermelon….

at 5:40 a.m. again…

2011-06-29T06:01:00.001-04:00

Up with the birds. Literally. They’re singing up a storm out there. =) I’ll probably go back to bed in 5 minutes, but I was a little uncomfortable, so I got up for a bit…

We’re back from our week at the beach with 4 kids. It started with a bang. David had gone to Tampa to get my nephew and niece, and I was here, feeling all full of myself because I’d gotten everything packed up, and I still had some energy left. (Yeah, that should’ve been my clue to stop right then.) But, no, I had to make some homemade salsa. Soooo, I cut into a serrano pepper for the first time. And a few minutes after I’ve put everything away, I realize my hands are stinging. I’ve gotten some sort of pepper acid on them. I wash them over and over again, ask Dr. Google what to do, soak them in milk, and wash them in rubbing alcohol.

That didn’t stop me from getting the acid in my eyes when I washed my face before bed. I woke up in the middle of the night with my eyes glued shut. I prayed it wasn’t the world’s fastest case of pinkeye. I washed out my eyes over and over again, and I ended up driving to the beach with the boys with one eye pretty swollen. Figures… =)

Meanwhile, on a highway somewhere in FL, David is getting the most expensive speeding ticket we’ve ever heard of. The cop told him that he was pulling him because he’d missed the speed limit going down “at that last stoplight.” Really? Happy Father’s Day…

Things got better from there out, but the trip did include… my parent’s dog getting locked in a closet by some kid or other and us driving the neighborhood calling him, the one toilet at their cabin breaking and being replaced, and my nephew stepping in dog doo barefooted.

I would like a vacation after my vacation. BUT… the kids had a fantastic time, and we enjoyed getting to bond with the cousins. Listening to the two littlest sing and giggle together in the car was priceless.

This week I’m trying to focus on just enjoying our little family and taking it easy. I’m not making myself shop at Walmart anymore with my boys until after this pregnancy is over. We’re eating off paper plates more. There will be a lot of pool time and children’s museum time in our future… and lots of book reading and snuggling. And if we eat a lot of frozen pizza and takeout after “Trey” gets here because I didn’t manage to restock the freezer before his birth, I’m going to be ok with that.

Oh, and I seriously love homemade orange creamsicles. These are Seth’s latest obsession, and he nearly freaked out tonight because he thought that not getting to ride his bike (it was raining) meant that he wouldn’t get one. Here’s the recipe- 1 c. vanilla yogurt, 3-4 T. orange juice concentrate, 1/2 t. vanilla. Stir until concentrate thaws, pour into molds, and freeze. I’m daydreaming about other concentrates I can use… =)

mama musings…

2011-06-17T10:30:00.000-04:00

(taken looking down in an airport at about 27 weeks, back when my thighs hadn’t yet outgrown those shorts I’m wearing =)

- Vacation starts on Sunday. We’re going to be staying at a lovely beach house right on the water for a week. My parents will be at their place 15 minutes down the road. We’re expecting lots of excitement and fun, but not expecting tons of relaxation…. =)

- …And this would be because David is driving to FL to pick up our 5-year-old nephew and 3-year-old niece. He’s driving down on Saturday, spending the night, and then driving them back up to the beach on Sunday. We’re talking many, many hours in the car. David is an excellent, wonderful, enthusiastic, helpful man. He begged to be able to do this because he is so incredibly nice. But he’s going to be whupped before this vacation even starts, y’all, so please pray for him on Saturday and Sunday.

- My brother has had some sort of chronic fatigue syndrome for months now, and that means their family can’t come on vacation with us like originally planned for various reasons. BUT… we can take 2 of their 3 kids off their hands for a week to give them a break, so we are. And our boys are super excited about the time with their cousins, so win win!

- I think I’m going to buy some t-shirts for me and David that say, “Are you quiverful? We are!” Yep, that’ll keep the comments down when we go out with 2 grandparents and 4 children ages 5, 4, 3, 2, and one in utero. Heh heh. Ok, I won’t really, but I’m going to be very amused at the horrified looks I’m sure we’ll be getting. =)

- At this point in the pregnancy, I have no will power. Zero. I have eaten a lot of chocolate in the last few days. I need to stare at my cellulite more and get some will power from the view. If junk food is in the house, I’ll eat it. I need a good little angel to go grocery shopping on my shoulder at the beach so I leave that bag of white cheddar cheese puffs at the store. Remember, Ellen… you put it on now, you gotta get it off in a year. Remember… you don’t enjoy sweating. =)

sorting and stockpiling kid’s clothes…

2011-06-16T09:25:00.001-04:00

Hey! I guess I never told y’all how the yard sale went. =) We were up until midnight the night before sorting and labeling boxes with the various sizes of boy clothes we were selling. We started pulling it all out on the lawn at 6:00 a.m. At 7:00, people started rolling in. It was hopping from 7:00-9:00 and then slowed down a lot.

We priced at rock bottom prices (like $.25 a piece for most things), and we sold A LOT. I’m actually embarrassed to tell you how many items of boy clothing we sold… most of it hand me downs we’d been generously given that didn’t fit, wrong season, etc. AND I had bought a lot of toys at yard sales and consignment that we didn’t end up playing with. Our front yard was crowded.

It inspired me to never let our shed and closets get that full again. At this point, if a new clothing item comes in, one is going to have to leave (in most sizes).

I’ve been following this discussion at Money Saving Mom on stockpiling clothes. It’s been interesting, and I’ve gotten some great ideas from it (especially from the comments).

At this point, I have all the boy’s clothes sorted into sizes. All the baby clothes are in the baby’s dresser, filling drawers all the way down, each drawer devoted to a size, until we hit 12 months. The other clothes are sorted into piles on the floor of our room.

I’m going through each pile and writing down everything I have in a particular size. Then I write down anything I’m needing. (For instance, we could use lightweight pajamas without feet in just about every size from 2T up, so I note that.)

We’re clearing out the shelving in the boys’ closets in the next week or two. And this is our new storage method… paper boxes!!! =) David can get lots of nice, clean, new ones from the office, and they fit the existing shelving really well. We’re going to type up labels and tape them to the fronts of the boxes. This will be so much better than our current method of dumping all clothes in a giant Ziploc bag and throwing them into the shed until needed again. That was a frustrating mess every season…

Anyway, here’s hoping this works… at least for a few more years before the clothes get a lot bigger. =)

Vacation Bible school, Y’all…

2011-06-14T22:15:00.001-04:00

It’s Almost Naptime is one of my new favorite blogs. I totally get this mama’s sense of humor. I wish she’d invite me over for sweet tea. =)

She just put this post up about VBS. Cracks. me. up.

See, I just signed Seth up for VBS at a church I have never set foot in. And I am not going to feel guilty. Nope. Nun uh. I have many years of VBS volunteerage under my belt. David and I taught VBS at three different churches before we even had kids, and I taught at our church a couple of summers ago. We have been teaching 2 and 3-year-old Sunday school every Sunday for the past 2 years. I have paid some dues, people. This hugely pregnant woman is putting up her feet and only having one crazy 2-year-old to watch for one glorious week this July…

A friend told us about this VBS, her kids will be in Seth’s class, and it’s 5 minutes away. 3 hours each morning, 5 days total. He’ll have a blast… and so will Mommy! =)

summer evening…

2011-06-14T20:28:00.001-04:00

Ahhh, June evening with no humidity, I love you. =) This is my toddler boy eating on our new screened in porch. Yes, we did it, and I don’t regret it! I love sitting out there in the evening watching the fireflies, and we still have half the deck for grilling and water play. My mom has reminded me over and over again that I spent more time on our screened in porch growing up than anybody else in the family. She knows me…

Now, we haven’t put much on it yet. This will probably be our last time trying to eat a sit down dinner out there for awhile. Evan getting up and down and up and down while we were trying to eat a full dinner at the card table was driving me nuts, so I think we’ll wait awhile to get the full patio set. We have a little round table I can use for me to eat on while picnicking with the boys, and that’ll be fine for awhile longer. But the porch swing is definitely there… you can’t have a screened in porch without one, in my opinion. =)

I’m loving these summer days with my boys. Just a few of the highlights…

- Seth’s new obsession with riding his bike with training wheels. A neighbor gave it to us, and we put it away for awhile in the shed until he was really good at pedaling the trike. Every morning when he wakes up lately, he asks, “Can I ride my bicycle today?” He walks out on the front porch to “check on his bicycle.” I got him a helmet and a bike bell today, and we took our first ride in the neighborhood with him tonight, him riding and us pushing Evan in the stroller. This is a sweet first for us all.

- Seth convincing Evan to try scrambled eggs for the first time. And Evan loving them so much that he cried when there weren’t any more. =)

- Boys taking turns climbing up on the block box and diving over the arm of the loveseat, giggling and squealing, over and over…

- Evan bringing Seth one wooden block at a time so Seth can build a castle. And then when all the blocks are gone, both of them knocking it down with wild abandon.

- The look on Seth’s face when he felt the baby kick him for the first time.

- Making a triple batch of banana bread while they push cars around my feet. And being excited about my new habit of dumping some ground flax seed into everything baked. You can’t even taste it! =)

baby shower for “trey”

2011-06-12T17:02:00.001-04:00

My MOPs small group gave me the sweetest baby shower for “Trey.” Everyone brought food, and we stuffed ourselves on 7 layer bean dip (a request from me =), baked brie with red pepper jelly, homemade pound cake, tres leche cake, fruit, punch, and other goodies I’m sure I’m not remembering.

I’ve been to a lot of baby showers, but this one definitely had the coolest game I’ve seen yet. We all sat down at the table and were instructed to make a baby. Our hostess had cut out lots of eyes, hair, noses, mouths, accessories, and a bunch of random names. We sat around and talked and made these crazy looking little guys. I got to vote for the winner. His name was Ralphie Beaufort, and he had some great nerd rocker glasses and a lovely smile. Here I am as Octomom. =)

Crafting babies and chewing the fat. I named mine Maximus Zeus. I think my little guy already has a power trip complex as much as he enjoys keeping me up at night with his antics, so it seemed to fit. =) Hah, hah.

A big part of my MOPs group. We’ve laughed and cried and playdated together and been there for each other this year. They surrounded me and prayed for me, and Sarah B. even gave a little devotional. I’m so thankful for MOPs and the relationships it has given me over the last few years. What a wonderful group of godly women!

pool day…

2011-06-09T14:15:00.001-04:00

It’s a hot 96 degrees today, and after all the errands I’ve subjected the boys to this week, I decided they deserved a little pool time. So we headed out to Seth’s favorite swimming hole. This pool has a large 3 foot area where he can practice his new moves that he picked up at swim class a few weeks ago.

The boys are starting to get the pool drill down, and so am I. It makes it sooo much easier to go, and I’m thankful. For starters, the pool bag stays mostly packed all the time with sunscreen, pool toys, and snacks. I fill up a water bottle with ice and water, throw in a couple of rolled up towels, and that’s done. Also, I don’t get dressed in the morning when we’re going to the pool. I leave on my nightgown and bring down all our swimsuits to change into after breakfast. Lots easier… They now know that I’m going to spray them and apply sunscreen to their faces on our porch before we head to the car, so they wait instead of charging right to the van, etc., etc.

The water felt great today, and it’s nice to feel the weightlessness that only comes from being in water right now. I’ve started wearing a large straw hat to keep me from getting too hot. That, and some big sunglasses, and I look like a fat Zsa Zsa Gabor. The boys don’t care. And since it’s just other moms and preschoolers at the pool, I don’t care, either.

Evan has gotten better at knowing his limits at this pool. Even a couple of weeks ago, he would charge out fearlessly over his head, and I’d keep dragging him back, coughing and sputtering, every 5 minutes. It was exhausting. Well, he’s a lot better at keeping his balance now and not getting in over his head. It’s wonderful. I can be at the pool with both of them now for 2 hours and not feel totally stressed the whole time.

It says something about how pleasant they were today that Evan could fall in our hallway, bust his lip wide open, and have to sit in his high chair sucking on ice to get the bleeding to stop for several minutes… and I wasn’t fazed. While the ice sucking was going on, Seth was smearing poop all over the downstairs bathroom trying to wipe himself, but he asked for help, and I was able to clean him and it up without much trouble or any tears. One again, not fazed today. Why? Because they weren’t fighting or whining or dissolving into tears every 5 minutes. Little emergencies don’t seem like big emergencies so much when everyone is calm.

Please, Lord, more days like this this summer! At prayer night a week ago, one of the other moms there prayed that I would really relish these last couple of months with just my two big boys. She prayed that their hearts would be knit closer together, and that they would enjoy each other more and act out more kindness and sharing every day. It was a great prayer. I’m copying it myself every morning when I wake up… =)

about my brother…

2011-06-09T08:15:00.001-04:00

I haven’t written about this on my blog because I just haven’t known what to say. But I know that some of you might have some advice or be willing to pray, so I’m going to put it out there.

My baby brother is pretty sick. He’s been sick for months now, and we’re all worried about him. He is exhuasted, nauseous, headachy, has body aches, and has had to miss work because of it. This thing just came out of the blue, and it’s very tough to see a young, hard working, healthy, and energetic person suddenly get hit by a disease with no real diagnosis and no standard cure.

You can find out more at my sister-in-law’s blog here.

Please pray for Vance, Terri, Isaac, Claire, and baby Eve. We love you, and we wish we were closer to give you more hugs and more help.

And I know I spend some time in bed at night, every night, praying for healing…

brain dump at 12:21 a.m.

2011-06-08T00:37:00.001-04:00

I can’t sleep. “Trey” (also known as Baby Boy the 3rd) has been having a party in my tummy, and that usually gets me thinking and rolling around trying to get comfortable, and sometimes it ends with me coming downstairs and checking Facebook for the 100th time today at midnight. This is one of those nights…

Sooo…. after all my bellyaching and worrying about everything I want to get done in another 2 1/2 months… I actually got something done. David (aka Mr. Organized and Motivated) pulled me up off my heavy tushie, and we spent an evening cleaning all the toys out of the shed and de-cluttering the playroom. We started the shed part when the kids were up, and that ended with them whining, muddy, covered in bug bites, and in need of a quick bath. But after they were in bed, things really got cooking. We went to bed with a nicely decluttered playroom (and shed) and bags of toys on the front porch. Bags, I tell you.

This lead to us deciding to attempt our First Ever Yard Sale this Saturday. I’m nervous, y’all. I hope this isn’t a huge flop. I hope creepy people don’t come and try to run off with baby toys under their trench coats. I hope we don’t all succumb to heat stroke. If you have any tips for having a successful yard sale, I’m all ears. I know I should advertise on Craigslist and get plenty of change, etc.

We’ll be spending a couple of nights this week going through every stitch of boy clothes we have- from 0-3 months to 5T. I may have to hyperventilate into a paper bag. We have a LOT of clothes.

Random thought: I was in our local grocery store the other night, and I started longing to shop there with another newborn. This is how it went when Evan was born: I’d load the baby up in the car about 9 or 10 at night, (after everything was quiet but before he was willing to go down), and we’d stroll through the deserted aisles. I’d be bleary eyed and tired, but it was a peaceful time. His infant carrier would be propped in front of me on the front seat of the cart, and I could enjoy watching his little face and tickling his tiny feet as I picked up the frozen broccoli for the week. Little man doing jumping jacks in my tummy, we have a date at the Food Lion coming up soon. I’m looking forward to it.

but here’s a woman with real problems…

2011-06-07T08:24:00.001-04:00

Now here’s a lady that makes my single gender and running out of names issues look tame… =)

“Did I ever tell you that Mrs. McCave
Had twenty-three sons, and she named them all Dave?

Well, she did. And that wasn't a smart thing to do.
You see, when she wants one, and calls out "Yoo-Hoo!
Come into the house, Dave!" she doesn't get one.
All twenty-three Daves of hers come on the run!

This makes things quite difficult at the McCaves'
As you can imagine, with so many Daves.
And often she wishes that, when they were born,
She had named one of them Bodkin Van Horn.
And one of them Hoos-Foos. And one of them Snimm.
And one of them Hot-Shot. And one Sunny Jim.
Another one Putt-Putt. Another one Moon Face.
Another one Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face.
And one of them Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate...

But she didn't do it. And now it's too late.”

- Dr. Suess

Hmmm…. Sunny Jim sounds nice… =)

Asked and answered…

2011-06-06T15:51:00.001-04:00

… “Yep, we’re having a third boy.”

… “Yes, actually I did want a girl this time. Thanks for reminding me.”

… “Are we going to try again? Well, the odds of having another boy after this one just went up by 10-15%, so I don’t think that’s my best bet for having a girl. Would you like to play those odds? Didn’t think so…

… “No, I’m not all that interested in having a basketball team.”

… “Actually, I wouldn’t have minded paying for a wedding.”

… “No, I have nothing against boys. I have two of them, and they’re wonderful. Wanting to have a daughter doesn’t mean that I don’t want to raise boys.”

… “God must think I’m really special? Thanks…. I think?”

(I’ve been doing an unusual amount of answering these questions and fielding these comments during the last week, and I’m tired. Next time someone asks, I’m having a hippo. Seth and Evan would like that. =)

Summer heat and pregnancy…

2011-06-01T15:50:00.001-04:00

Man, it got hot fast! It’s been in the 90’s for the last few days, and today is the first day of June!

I’ve got to admit that this has me a little worried. Late August seems really far away, and I already have a little bit of swelling in my hands and possibly some swelling in my legs. Sigh. By the time the boys go down for nap, all I want to do is put my feet up and rest.

We went to the local kiddie pool this morning. It was crowded, but really great for us all. I thought I was keeping cool, but I was slightly dizzy by the time we left. I’m guessing I needed to drink a lot of water. The dizzy feeling didn’t go away until an hour later. I guess I’m really going to have to be careful all summer.

There are a million things that I want to do to get ready for this baby. The boys’ closets need to be cleaned out. All the boy clothes need to be gone through, sorted, and many given away. The playroom needs another thorough cleanout. I want to steam clean all the upholstery and downstairs rugs…. You get the idea. I know that once this baby comes, it’ll be about 2 years before we’ll feel up to doing any of this again.

BUT… it’s so hard already for me to find the energy to do any of it. David has decided that we’ll tackle projects on some weeknights after the boys go to bed. That’s a good idea. I hope it works out for us…

Maybe I’ll get a burst of energy and excitement to encourage me soon… =)

sloppy joes…

2011-05-31T20:45:00.001-04:00

I’m looking for easy, flavorful meals that can go with the fresh, prepped fruits and veggies that I try to keep on hand in the fridge in the summer. So tonight we had sloppy joes, apple slices, and green peas… (Pickings were a little slim around here after a long weekend away. I had to borrow an onion from a friend down the street. =)

I found a great recipe on AllRecipes and made some modifications. I think this is going to become a family standby…

Sloppy Joes

1 lb. ground beef

1 c. chopped onion

1 c. chopped green bell pepper (or omit and double the onion)

1 T. brown sugar (less if your sauces are plenty sweet)

1 T. vinegar

½ c. ketchup (we like Trader Joe’s organic)

½ c. bbq sauce (we like T.J’s smoky sauce)

2 tablespoons mustard, ground or prepared

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large skillet over medium heat, combine the ground beef, onion, and green pepper. Cook until beef is browned, and drain off excess grease. Stir in the brown sugar, vinegar, ketchup and mustard, and season with cloves and salt. Simmer for 20-30 minutes on low. Serve on hamburger buns or pitas.

my baby’s 2nd birthday…

2011-05-30T19:11:00.001-04:00

My baby boy turned 2 this Sunday. Sniff. I snuggled him and kissed his little blonde head yesterday morning, and I couldn’t help but think about the first time I held him in my arms. Now he can speak in full sentences, do puzzles like a pro, and even ask us, “How was your day?” =)

Memorial Day weekend is a great time to have a birthday. No need to plan a party… we can just go to the beach to celebrate! I made up a batch of Evan’s current favorite dessert, homemade chocolate chip cookie dough, and we packed up and went to my parent’s cabin on the sound.

I baked cookies all evening the night before his birthday, and David taped up balloons. I made cherry Jello jigglers in the shapes of sea creatures (using the cookie cutters from his playdough set.) I love doing little things to prep for their birthdays… I find joy in it.

We went to the aquarium for Evan’s birthday, and he was SOOOO excited. He ran from tank to tank, squealing and yelling “Fishy! Fishy!” He was a ball of 2-year-old overstimulation.

I took Seth to the dollar store to pick out presents for Evan. I told him he could get 3 things. He kept seeing new things he wanted to get for Evan, and he’d have to choose and put something else back. We finally ended up with a ball, a boat, and some small airplanes.

Seth is big on playing in the water in front of the cabin right now. He’ll spend hours out there, practicing his new kicking and paddling techniques in the shallow water. Evan, however, isn’t such a big fan. The small waves intimidate him at this point. BUT… he spent an hour throwing oyster rocks in the water. Dad and David kept pulling them out and he’d throw them again and again… and again.

Happy Birthday, my little one. Thank you for making Seth a brother. And thank you for showing me how good being the mom of boys can be…

Yes, homeschooled children are odd…

2011-05-17T16:38:00.001-04:00

I just found this article… and I agree with a good bit in it. =) I was raised by an unlikely looking rebel who questioned and rejected lots of conventional norms. (Home church and home school anyone?) I suppose it’s not surprising that I question a lot and don’t accept a lot of conventional ways of doing things, either. Now I know why I look so weird to myself sometimes! =)

There’s a down side, though. There are times to conform and get along, and I think some homeschoolers probably have a harder time knowing when those are than their conventionally schooled counterparts. Our knee jerk reaction is to question… and it has to be tempered in areas that really don’t matter that much…

with the texas cousins…

2011-05-16T17:52:00.000-04:00

We recently took a trip to David’s brother and his family. They live in a small town in Texas, and it’s a plane ride and a drive to get there, so we don’t see them as often as we’d like…

But when we do see them? Oh, my…. Seth and Evan have a BLAST! I think it has something to do with the fact that his older cousins don’t steal toys and read him books whenever he wants and treat him like boy royalty… and their younger brother is thrilled to have some boy playmates, and he’s just as good at sharing…

Seth spent the entire trip home trying to figure out a way that we wouldn’t have to be separated. It was fun to see him try and logic it out. Plan A: Daddy stays at home and works so that the rest of us can “stay forever.” Plan B: They move to where we live. Plan C: We move to where they live.

Then he started asking about having a sister. Having a sister sounded great to him. Sorry, bud…. I suspect that he wanted a big sister anyway, so I think the kind he could’ve had would’ve been a big disappointment. =)

We miss all of you, Dan and Kelli. Hugs!

Preggers times 2…

2011-05-14T17:43:00.001-04:00

A last girl’s night out before her 3rd arrives… Tacos and pedicures and McDonald’s sundaes…

She cheated. She got a two for one pregnancy last time. =)

But here we are… 3 for each of us… 3 girls… 3 boys…

… and great with child at the same time… a sweet and unexpected blessing.

Parenting 001

2011-05-11T21:47:00.000-04:00

Ok, I just found this link to the coolest article on parenting. As a person who has read a lot of parenting books and spent a few months in Sunday School doing the “Shepherding A Child’s Heart” videos, I just about laughed until I cried at his description of what actually happens in his house when he tries to implement the heart to heart talk techniques…

And there’s some actual wisdom there, too. Enjoy….

sliding…

2011-05-05T15:01:00.000-04:00

… to find joy in the rush of that first time down a new slide.

Lettering…

2011-05-04T14:58:00.000-04:00

His first letter….

At 23 weeks…

2011-05-03T14:57:00.000-04:00

I can hear the gasps now. “Holy cow, she’s huge!!! She’s only 23 weeks? She’s got the whole summer left!” Oh, wait, maybe that was just me… =)

All you moms of two children out there… be prepared. This is what it looks like when you’re pregnant with your 3rd, and your stomach muscles are shot. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya. =)

Pictures from my latest visit home…

2011-05-02T14:50:00.001-04:00

A few pictures from my time with my parents….

Above we have the dinner bell. My mom would ring it to get us all to come in for dinner. When Vance and I got tall enough, she would send one of us out to ring Dad into the house. He was always outside in good weather around dinner time, come to think of it. =) And on the day I was married in our back yard, someone rang it to celebrate our beginning…

Dad plowing the garden to plant this year’s silver queen corn. The tractor is a 1960’s Oliver that belonged to my grandfather. Dad inherited it, and it gets a workout when my boys come to visit. It’s their favorite toy, and if they don’t get at least one tractor ride a day while we’re there, life just isn’t worth living… =)

Me and my biggest boy. I can’t believe he’s 4… and that he’s wanting to hear stories again and again about his life and our family’s life…

“I’ll catch Evan, Mommy. That way he won’t fall off the end.” This was a slide that belonged to my brother and I when we were little. I can’t believe it still works after 30 years in the attic…

Seth was very proud of himself for helping Papa plant corn. Here they are mulching the corn. Dad said he did great and was very patient and careful. Seth keeps talking about the corn that he planted, and how he’s going to get to eat it this summer. I’m glad he gets to have this experience without me having to create a garden at this stage of our life… =)

ride your firebolt…

2011-04-28T16:28:00.001-04:00

Here’s a little video for you fellow Harry Potter fans out there…

“My sin! My Sin!”

2011-04-28T14:06:00.001-04:00

This is going to a cute kid story, so prepare yourself to be awed. =)

Evan will be 2 at the end of this month, and a couple of months ago, I noticed that he was yelling, “My sin! My sin!” every time someone took something from him. He sounded perfectly heartbroken, but I did think it was awfully odd. I couldn’t figure it out.

Then, one day recently, I heard him singing a little catechism song that we have taught both of the boys. There is a line in it that says, “On the cross, he took my sin…” A light bulb went off.

Whenever someone takes something from him, he thinks they’re taking his “sin.” He took my sin, Mommy! Give it back!

Honey Lamb, that’s one thing you want taken away. =)

wait a second… i’m going to have 2 older children and a newborn?

2011-04-27T14:15:00.001-04:00

It’s been a decent morning overall. We didn’t have anywhere to be this morning, so we did a lot of playing, making cards for teachers, etc. A little friend came to stay while her mom went to a doctor’s appointment, and that went just fine.

My friend got back with her 2-month-old, and she sat down in the playroom to nurse after we all had lunch. The playroom looked like a bomb had gone off, and my boys were being a little goofier than usual because they were showing off. I watched her nurse with Nerf guns being shot, children attempting to climb on her lap and look down her shirt, and while I attempted to referee the usual wrestling that turns into crying around here.

At this point, the sight of this has me discouraged and a little overwhelmed. (My friend is a laid back trouper who didn’t complain, but I’m not her. =) Seth was a pretty mellow 2-year-old when Evan was born, and things were still hard. I was in a mildly bad mood for months on end. Now I have two boys, neither of which seem very mild on a lot of days, and both with lots of demands for stories and crafts and helping to cock the Nerf gun, etc. How am I going to do this?

I want to enjoy my new baby. I love the new baby stage. Are the older two going to make that virtually impossible? Do they make straight jackets for 2 and 4-year-olds? =)

If anyone has any tips for how to get some peace and quiet with two active little boys while nursing a newborn, I’ll all ears. I’ve thought about mandatory room time for both of them to start off the day with special toys, etc. The problems seem to come most when they are playing together….

all together again…

2011-04-22T20:19:00.001-04:00

I know it’s been awhile since I’ve written. Not long after I wrote the last post, we escaped to my parents for a week. I battled the stomach bug on and off for 6 days total. The night before we went to my parent’s house, it was really bad. David was unexpectedly able to come home that evening. If he hadn’t been, I would’ve had to call someone to help. So… I was thankful for that, but sometimes I do wonder why you get help to make it temporarily instead of God just moving that mountain for ya. =)

The next morning, I dragged myself out of bed and out to the car, and I got us to my parents. They were great, as usual. I was still in semi rough shape for a couple more days, and then I recovered. Thank you, Jesus! The boys did really well, and we got to have a lot of fun on “the farm.” Seth helped my dad plant and mulch the corn rows, and both boys spent a lot of time on the swingset and climbing on and off the farm equipment… mower, trailer, tractor, plow, etc. =)

David’s trial went to the jury on Wednesday afternoon. We came home on Thursday morning. I’d called him on Wednesday night, urging him to go to bed early. (He doesn’t get much sleep during trial.) I came home on Thursday to find that he’d washed all the sheets for all of us and put them back on the beds, vacuumed, and steam mopped the floor in the kitchen! I told him that he was going to have to act like a mere mortal if he wants me to believe that he’s not Superman. =)

I cleaned all the bathrooms, dusted, swept, cleaned the fridge and microwave, and then sat back to enjoy my clean house before Easter weekend. Oh yeah, and I made him a batch of homemade brownies. Can’t forget that essential item on the to do list.

It’s so nice to be together again. None of us had seen much of each other in the last two weeks. Everyone slept in until 9:00 this morning! We’ve been lounging around, playing in the backyard, doing a little grocery shopping, and just soaking in the chance to be a complete family.

Looking forward to putting together the boy’s first Easter baskets for Sunday and getting up a fancy Easter dinner. I have so many reasons to be grateful this Easter.

And… oh, yeah…. the defendant was found guilty. Way to go, rockstar Daddy! He does his best, and then all he can do is give it to the jury, and let it go to God. But I’m happy that all his hard work resulted in what we all pray is a just result…

Hanging on…

2011-04-12T13:36:00.001-04:00

Did you ever hear the one about the 21-week pregnant mom of 2 small boys who got the stomach indigestion bug right before her husband went to trial and stopped coming home at night or on the weekend?

No? What about the one where she called her dr.’s office, desperate because she’d been dealing with this for 4 days without much improvement, and they told her that it would take her longer than everyone else in her city to get over it because she was pregnant. Oh yeah, and it wasn’t a problem until it’d been going on 7 days. 7 days.

I don’t know how this story ends, but it isn’t looking that great right now. Just what I needed, another reason to dread trials. I’ve been trying so hard not to have a bad attitude this time. I’m feeling pretty spiritually attacked right now.

*** Updated at 9:24 p.m., same day. Immodium and rest have been really helpful, and I guess I can’t cheat on the BRAT diet like I had been without consequences. Thanks for the prayers. We made it through another day without Daddy, and I’ll be going to my parents’ at the end of the week for some help.***

the blessing of learning games…

2011-04-04T14:41:00.001-04:00

Hi, all! It was a crazy week last week, and then the weekend was just as nutty. David’s dad has been in the hospital, and he and Seth went up there this weekend to visit. He’s on the mend, but pray for him if you think of him. Evan has an ear infection, so we kept that grumpiness here at home.

It was David’s birthday on Sunday, and he did get home in time for us to sing to him and have cake and open presents. We even got to go out to dinner, thanks to our babysitting adopted college student. Hey, he gets to save money on laundry, and we get to eat without our children. It’s a win, win, win for everyone. =)

But on Saturday, I found the most awesome spelling game at a yard sale. It was a $1, and it had all the pieces! Go to this link to see it. The reviews explain how it works… We pulled it out today, and Seth spelled his first word with me! I love how the little lowercase letters fit neatly in the pegs, and there are 4 different colors of letters. If he’s looking for a particular letter, he doesn’t have to look through the whole alphabet to find it… he just looks at the color of the rectangle on the board, and then he looks at the letters that are that color.

David and I went to Barnes and Noble this week, and I picked up this ladybug game for Seth as well. We had a gift card, so it cost me nothing, but the $10 would’ve been worth it. Seth has his uppercase letters mostly down, but his lowercase letters are another story. I wanted something that would help him learn them and connect upper and lowercase in his mind. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that he knew several of them already… I hadn’t been sure. I can thank Dr. Suess’s ABC book for that, I think.

He enjoyed playing with both of these games today, and it’s great to feel like we’re learning reading essentials in multiple ways that interest him. Now, if I could just keep Evan happy while I’m working with Seth. Sigh. That’s going to take a little more practice…

When God slams a door…

2011-04-01T02:19:00.001-04:00

We had our 19 week ultrasound yesterday. We’re having a third boy. He’s healthy.

(Moment of silence to let that sink in.)

I’ve run the gamut of emotions since then, most of them pretty negative. I’ve gone from shock to disbelief to anger to hurt to grief so fast that I have whiplash. This has been far harder for me to handle than I imagined.

I was so sure that this was it… my miracle no-fertility-treatment baby had to be a girl. I’d had two boys… I’d waited (semi-patiently =)… and this had to be it. Surely God wanted to bless me with this. Boys are great, and I’ve enjoyed having two, but now it was time for something different. I had a list of reasons as long as my arm why having a girl would be a wonderful thing for me, this family, this world…

And for the 3rd time, I got a big, fat, gigantic “no.” And this time it felt final. I’m assuming that’s why I have done so much crying in the last two days.

Thank God for my wonderful husband. (And my mom who watched the boys so we could go out together and put me back together in peace.) He has been so faithful to remind me of God’s love and kindness to me. I need to hear that right now.

Everybody has deeply held dreams and longings. Having a daughter was one of mine. It is hard when anyone that you love tells you that your dreams and plans are less important to them than their goals for you. It’s especially hard when that person is your heavenly Father… and you thought that He’d planted those dreams in your heart a long time ago.

David reminded me again yesterday of all of the times that God has said “yes” to our cries for help, our pleadings for specific blessing…

“Yes, you can have a baby after years of infertility.”

“Yes, you can even have one without fertility treatment.”

“Yes, David can have his dream job.”

“Yes, you can move close to family.”

“Yes, I will give David his voice back.”

There have been countless blessings that we have received from His hand that we didn’t even know to ask for. And there have been several times when, if we’d gotten what we wanted when we wanted it, we would be in a far more difficult place than we are right now. Infertility ultimately blessed us… if it hadn’t have been for that, there would’ve been no S.C. clerkship, no move to N.C. etc.

This is just another time and situation where I have to say, “Your ways are higher than my ways.” I’m afraid of what having three boys will be like. I feel totally outnumbered and worried about the amount of energy in my home. If anyone had told me that I would be the mother of three boys before now, I would’ve laughed hysterically. I wanted something that I thought would be easier for me than this.

And then there is my grief for the daughter that I won’t have. I feel sometimes like somebody died… and I never got to know her. That’s probably harder than anything else, honestly.

If you think of me in the next few days, please pray for me. I’m going to get it together, mourn, and move on. I am thankful for a healthy baby, and I know that I will adore him as much as I adore my other two sweet boys. I just need a little time…

italian pasta salad…

2011-03-23T14:18:00.001-04:00

The weather is really warming up around here. The boys were in shorts and t-shirts today, and I’m aware of the dire necessity to start hunting for boys summer shoes, etc. Ahem.

I’m looking for cool, simple foods right now. And I’m all about carbs at the moment… =) Enter pasta salad!

I found this recipe for Italian dressing seasoning at All Recipes… I subbed in garlic powder for the garlic salt, eliminated the celery salt because I didn’t have any, and lowered the salt to just a dash. Lots of flavor… little sodium. And I used red wine vinegar instead of white… and olive instead of canola oil.

I cooked up a little less than half a pound of rotini, added in the dressing and a cup of cooked chicken that I’d thawed, and tossed in some chopped green pepper, (a little sharp cheddar for my portion), and some sliced pepperoni. I can make this in a few minutes after the kids go down for naps, and it’s nice and marinated by dinner…

I like those Suddenly Salad box kits, I must admit, but I don’t like all the salt and preservatives. And they’re much pricier and less tasty than homemade… Now that I have this Italian seasoning on hand in the pantry, I can make up my own just as quickly and more cheaply… Enjoy!

E is for Elephant…

2011-03-16T10:05:00.001-04:00

Ok, I’d fallen off the wagon for awhile with doing any “formal” preschool. Lately, we’ve been doing little activities here and there without a theme… coloring, cutting, puzzles, alphabet flashcards, etc.

Today I got back to the alphabet…

E is for….

- Fill a bag with items that start with letter E, both long and short sound- egg, eggplant, earrings, stuffed eagle. Let kids pull them out.

- Print out a couple of E worksheets from First School. Let Seth and Evan both color one- S. with washable markers, Evan with crayon. Seth cuts his up afterward.

- Make this craft together- an awesome elephant! Identify the shapes and colors used and talk about which are bigger or smaller. Add googly eyes for fun… and let Evan help with the glueing and placement as interested…

- Watch this video on elephants. There is great footage of elephants playing in the water together… Point out the body parts we just glued together.

- Make elephants out of Play Dough… as well as other things that start with E. Let them come up with ideas…

- Puzzle time….

Simple woman’s Daybook… hmmm…

2011-03-09T16:56:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I like these prompts from the Simple Woman’s Daybook blog… but I don’t really like the name. I mean, how many really simple women do YOU know? And who wants to be thought of as simple, anyway? It makes me think of a Victorianism for slow-witted. So, I may post a version of this from time to time, but I may not call it by its original name.

Outside my window . . . gray, cold… the kind of day that makes me want to curl up under blankets and read…

I am thinking . . . that I love being home with my little boys surrounding me. Years from now, we’ll all be scattered, so I don’t take this for granted now.

I am thankful for . . . rubber snakes, umbrellas with cars all over them, and roller coaster ride squeals coming from the backyard…

From the learning rooms . . . I have my reading curriculum picked out, but we’re not really close to getting started with it. Doing lots of upper and lower case flashcards and talking about letter sounds right now.

From the kitchen . . . Frozen homemade breakfast burritos for David and Seth tonight, and a Trader Joe’s frozen gordita for me. I’ve got a hair appointment tonight, and I don’t want a lot of cleanup for David.

I am wearing . . . bulky, warm clothes… huge cast off college sweatshirt of my brothers that totally conceals my 16-week baby bump and gray sweatpants.

I am creating . . . fingernails and hair and ears right now… or so the baby book tells me. =) This is why I tell myself I have no energy to create anything else.

I am going . . . to the zoo soon. The boys have never been, and we want to go before it gets hot. That can happen without warning in the South. Maybe in a couple of Saturdays…

I am reading . . . To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. I’ve never read anything by her before. It’s interesting… different.

I am hoping . . . for some sun and warm weather this week so we can enjoy a new park I’ve heard about.

I am hearing . . . Seth humming to himself. He does this quite a lot. I love it.

Around the house . . . the laundry is folded. It’s early for this week. Not put away, though…. Hey, we aren’t out of underwear yet. =)

One of my favorite things . . . Trader Joe’s dark chocolate covered caramels.

A few plans for the rest of the week . . . Nothing unusual… CBS, park playtime, finishing up a fun craft…

Spring project for multiple ages…

2011-03-09T12:35:00.001-05:00

This morning, the boys did their first art project together… well, sorta. =)

Here’s what you do:

Take out a sheet of white posterboard. Lay it on the kitchen floor on top of a couple of old towels.

Put your 4-year-old at the table with green tempera paint, 8-10 popsickle sticks laid out on paper plates, and a paintbrush. Tell him to paint all the popsickle sticks green. They will be daffodil stems later on.

While he’s working on that, have the toddler fingerpaint with green paint on the bottom of your posterboard (grass) and on the top of the posterboard with blue (sky). Attempt to keep both of you from getting covered in paint. Good luck.

Let it all dry…. The next day, glue the “stems” on the paper, and have the toddler help you glue baking cup daffodils on top. To do this, glue one baking cup completely flat, and then glue another (not flattened) in the center of it.

The 4-year-old is now cutting up strips of green paper into additional “grass” using his new and improved cutting skills. Let him glue them over his brother’s fingerpainted grass…

Voila! A beautiful spring painting for your playroom wall…. =)

weekending…

2011-03-07T19:11:00.001-05:00

Hmmm, this is a “let’s see what this post ends up being about, and then I’ll pick a title” kind of day. =)

It’s been a slightly down Monday. I think that’s just because the weekend didn’t turn out to be as relaxing as we thought it would be.

For starters, we went out for dinner on Friday night at our favorite Mexican place. After that, we walked over to the children’s museum. It’s open one Friday night a month. So far, so good, right? We’re feeling relaxed, we’re chillin’, all is right in the world.

So we go back to our car, parked on a street near the restaurant. It’s dark, and it’s time for bed for two tired boys. We all pile in, and we pull away. That’s when we hear the awful scraping sound. Another car honks at us. We pull over… and discover that someone has hit our car so hard that our front bumper is almost completely ripped off.

Thank the Lord for the kind guy who gave us zip ties and helped us put it back on enough so that we could get home. It was a nerve wracking ride back to the house, lemme tell ya. We had to stop once because a piece of bent rubber started scraping, but we managed to push that back up.

The damage report is in… it should cost about $1600 to fix. Our insurance will cover it, minus the deductible, and they’re covering a rental car…. but they couldn’t tell us if our premiums would go up as a result of this.

I’m trying not to seethe with anger about this…. I would love to find the lowlife scumbag and give him a piece of my mind. Examples of the depravity of man abound, don’t they? I’m thankful that we have the money to fix it, and we’re not going to be out a car while we wait on it.

So, after that, David wakes up Saturday morning with the overwhelming, uncontrollable urge to buy Seth a bunk bed. Today. Now. This minute. Don’t finish your breakfast, honey, just get in the car. So we go to the local BJ’s and get one. It’s a great deal… and we discover why. We bought a pile of lumber, a pile of screws, and an instruction manual. He spent just about every waking moment of his weekend putting it together. And I spent it keeping Evan away from the action, so we didn’t see each other much…

Seth loves his bunk bed, and David is living the little boy dream of brothers and bunk beds. Don’t ask me why this is so appealing to guys, but it is, and I’m glad to see him get joy out of it.

I woke up this morning wishing for another weekend. Oh well, I get another chance at it in about 6 days… =)

baking and freezing chicken…

2011-03-06T16:54:00.001-05:00

Ok, I just bagged up a bunch of cooked chicken. It’s a rainy Sunday afternoon, and it needed to be done. =)

Why, oh why, didn’t I do this before? I read the Life As Mom blog, and she talks often about freezer cooking. I scrolled through the comments in one of her posts, and a lot of her readers were commenting that having cut up, cooked chicken in their freezers was the best thing they’d ever done for easy meal prep.

So I went to this post, and I followed the directions. It was super easy. I just grabbed a package of bone in, skin on, Tyson chicken breasts from Walmart. They weren’t on sale, but they were cheap at $1.18 a pound. I put in 5 large breasts in two Pyrex dishes, and the house smelled delicious an hour later.

David, Seth, and I ate from one breast for dinner, and then I bagged up the cooling breasts to deal with later on. I’m glad I waited. I suspect they were a lot easier to cut after they became completely cool.

I got 7 c. of chicken meat to freeze for soups, casseroles, stir-fry, quesadillas, pasta salad, etc. out of those 5 breasts. And that doesn’t count what we ate for dinner on Friday night.

The bone-in breasts definitely had a better flavor and were more moist than the boneless, skinless breasts that I usually use. And it seems that chicken fat is now considered good for you in some circles, so I kept the skin on without guilt. =)

Anyway… if you haven’t tried this, you should. Or maybe I’m the only one late to the party… =)

friday morning thanks…

2011-03-04T09:42:00.001-05:00

a little nostalgia from last March….

- a big bed of yellow daffodils…

- … with their loveliness filling tiny vases all over the house…

- Seth: “Mommy, we need more flowers in the house.”

- discovering bought-but-forgotten construction play tools in the closet…

- a new stroller for my birthday… thanks, David and Mom and Dad… and all the people who will hopefully be buying all my old strollers off Craigslist… =)

- a 21-month-old who is giving me extra snuggles lately…

- a picnic lunch all ready to eat with Daddy today at work…

- this video that makes me misty every time I see it…

- Nestle Drumsticks…. need I say more? =)

- finding hand me down shoes in the closet that fit Evan for the rest of the winter… sweet blessing…

- red buds on the tree out front…

setting foot in the homeschool store…

2011-02-28T16:21:00.001-05:00

Ok, I did it. I actually went to the local homeschooling bookstore. Everyone applaud now. =)

Seems like it took me a long time to take this step. I’ve always known that I wanted to homeschool my children one day, but I’ve been hesitant to dip my little toe in waters that I know can be huge and overwhelming to a newbie.

You’d think that being homeschooled would make this easier for me. Well, maybe it does. I’m familiar with some curriculum authors and methods. BUT, I have boys, and I am a girl. A lot of the things that I remember liking as a child DO NOT apply… workbooks, etc. I still have to figure it out as I go, just like anyone else.

And this may sound crazy, but it can be a little intimidating when your mother did a really excellent job of teaching you at home. Those are big shoes to fill… and I’m choosing not to fill them in certain ways to give priority to other things. Am I ok with that? Sort of. Depends on the day… =)

Anyhoo…. I made it in the store. I wandered around, pretending I had a clue what I was looking at for a few minutes… and then I finally mustered up the courage to ask the lovely homeschool mom who was running the store to help me out.

After sitting at a table covered with books for a couple of hours, I came away with two things! I talked to a couple of moms around me about what I was looking at, and by the time I left, I felt like I’d made good choices. And I was relieved. I feel like I just needed to dive in and made a decision. I’d heard about different curriculums for teaching your child to read, and I just needed to get one and start trying it…

I looked at several, and I ended up coming away with… “The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading.” Seth is interested in letter sounds, but he doesn’t know all his lowercase letters. He is also not the least bit interested in worksheets. This curriculum is simple, straightforward, and it looks like it takes about 5-10 minutes a lesson to do. It doesn’t require him to recognize all his letters to get started, and there is no writing required. I want to capitalize on his interest without overwhelming him, and we can do a few lessons and stop if he’s not ready right now…

I also came away with a simple book of science experiments by Janice VanCleave. Seth is interested in this kind of thing, and I thought it would be good for his reasoning ability. These require very little in materials, and there is a clear explanation of the scientific principle for each experiment. I was so tired of books that did the experiment without explaining why it worked! The Usborne Science Experiments series looked good, too, but they didn’t have any of those used, and I decided to quit while I was ahead. =)

So there ya have it. The maiden voyage seems successful. Hopefully I won’t be moving to Step 2 of the new homeschooling parent experience soon: Discovering that the curriculum you just bought and agonized over is a total dud for your kid. Stay tuned…. =)

thankful tuesday…

2011-02-22T20:30:00.001-05:00

- for the 32 great years that God has given me…

- for my parents, who give me a weekend each year for my birthday when David and I don’t have to cook, clean, or have full responsibility for our children. That, my friends, is the height of birthday happiness at this stage of life… =)

- watching my boys swinging on the big swing set in my old back yard…

- finding a solitary daffodil in bloom… and feeling like it was God’s birthday gift to me…

- realizing that my rundown sluggishness this weekend was nothing more alarming than the beginnings of spring allergies…

- the special coconut whipped cream cake that I almost always ask Mom to make me for my birthday…

- the lemon flavored chapstick and birthday hat that Seth picked out for my birthday presents…. and his obvious joy over having a secret to keep about my big day…

He can’t see Jesus….

2011-02-14T20:43:00.001-05:00

Hi, all…

I’m writing specifically to get some advice on dealing with a spiritual issue with Seth. I’m hoping maybe some of you with older children have seen this before and have some tips for addressing it…

Seth has become increasingly frustrated lately because he can’t see Jesus. We talk about Jesus all the time, sing about him, learn about him at home, church, and Bible study… and he wants to know why Jesus can’t come to his house, talk to him, eat dinner with us, etc. We explain that Jesus is here, but he is invisible. After he lived on earth and died on the cross, he went up to heaven, and he doesn’t have a body anymore, etc.

This isn’t satisfying him. He cried today in the car, saying that “Jesus isn’t at my house.” I told him that he probably won’t be able to see Jesus until he goes to heaven. Well, that led to him saying that he wants to go to heaven and visit Jesus. Arrghh! Don’t really want to get into talking about death on top of this right now…

I feel for him. I have the same desire that he does. I want Jesus to show up in the flesh and talk to me, too. Hearing his longing makes me realize my own longing. I hate living by faith and not by sight as much as my 4-year-old. But I have to teach him how to live without sight…

Any tips on how to do that effectively? Help….

love is….

2011-02-14T15:10:00.001-05:00

Sometimes Love is not defined by chocolate candy hearts or flowery bouquets or a nice dinner out….

Sometimes Love is going to the park instead of the grocery store on one of the first warm days in ages…. even if you’re almost out of milk.

It was worth it to watch the fearless baby climb and slide and climb and slide over and over again… grinning fit to crack his tiny face…

It was worth it to see my 4-year-old open his own imaginary ice cream stand under the play structure and sell to everyone in sight… and proudly “help” his brother climb the ladder…

Who says we really “need” milk anyway. =)