Bouncing Eggs on Rainbows and The Children

Here's sleeping beauty with her bed buddy really close.


a tea party with hats. I had on a Santa hat.

Love Gwen's pose!

We made paper plate rainbows yesterday with Grandma as a St. Patty's day display and then today I saw these fun little eggs at Hobby Lobby. I had to get them. So now we have happy little boy and girl eggs bouncing off of clouds. Wow... weird, but I'm LOVIN' it.

Stuff and the Best Banana Bread on the Planet

The dreaded hand foot and mouth disease is back in our house this winter. There is no medicine for this... just have to wait it out. It's bad and it seriously limits getting out of the house. Well... I guess that's the way the good Lord has let us know we need to stay home more this week.

Here's my girl with the first sign of hand foot and mouth.


She wasn't feeling well so she laid down in her bed and Zeke decided on his own to lay down with her to keep her company. I found them in there listening to classical music on the radio (Kansas public radio) and talking. Oh, and yes, Zeke had it too and it turned into infantigo and now that that is healing Gwen gets it.

Our Valentine's boxes we made last week. Gwen chose a butterfly box and drew her own name on the box.

With a suggestion from his mama Zeke decided on a frog box.

and now... what you've all been waiting for... the Best Banana Bread Recipe I've Ever Had! Up until this point, my mother's recipe topped the charts, but this one I like better. (sorry mom)

2C flour

1 1/4 C walnuts (toasted) (I used toasted pecans instead and not as much)

3/4 C sugar

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 very ripe, soft, darkly speckled bananas- mashed well

1/4 C plain yogurt (I used plain Greek yogurt)

2 large eggs, beaten lightly

6 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp vanilla extract (homemade if you have it!)

Bake 350 oven for 55 minutes in a loaf pan. YUM!

After the Doughnut

Snow Woman and Engagements

This is our snow lady we made today. Her name is Madame Clusoo.



Jake recently got engaged to be married to a fantastic woman named Melody. On a side bar, I took Zeke to another ENT for another opinion and they finally scoped him. Well... he's got vocal nodules which I knew, but I actually got to see them this time and the placement of them they said is due to misuse of the voice. He's so young now that voice therapy wouldn't do much, so there's nothing I can do except encourage him to use a quieter voice. So, he doesn't have to take the prevacid tablets he was prescribed or go non dairy or the nasal spray that he was prescribed. I'm just thankful it is nothing more serious and now I feel as good as I can about the situation. He's still my little butter ball and so we always want to see them whole and well and wonderful don't we? Just thankful for him.

Zeke and Jake... he loves his Uncle Jake.

Aunt Melody and Gwen. (or she will be Aunt Melody) I have applied for Gwen to be in a preschool classroom for several hours a week. We'll see how that turns out, but in Kansas you can send your child to school at age 5. I think I'd like to do that with Gwen and I think this step would help her transition better. She is doing very well with learning academic things... now we are in a season of obedience training again. It comes in waves for us with her. Just when you think you are in the clear... here comes another tide of challenge. Oh well... we love her dearly and she has come so far this year!

Land of the cheese heads

I went to Wisconsin for the first time ever this past week to sing with my choir at a convention. Here's a strange sighting in the airport. A Best Buy vending machine. Does anyone else think that's weird?

I went into the capital in Madison because I was told it was the second largest rotunda in the nation... second to the white house. Here's lady Liberty. I liked that she was a little chubby.

Unhappy Bunny

Ben subscribed me to a magazine called Create and Decorate and it has some weird stuff in there. I'm not sure who is writing this stuff, but I am loving this bunny they have in this month's issue. I thought it would be a good discipline tactic to say "if you don't obey you have to sit with unhappy bunny." Think it would work? :)

Quotes of the day

Ben here. This morning I was exercising and Gwen & Zeke decided to join me. I said:

"Good stretching Gwen!"

... to which she replied:

"Yeah, it's like we're a real family!"

Later Zeke was trying to tell me something and it's sounded like "I want ehhhshuhh". I asked Gwen for her spirit of toddler interpretation but she couldn't understand it either. Through a long process of elimination we figured out Zeke wanted to watch the kids alien movie ("Planet 51") that we've been watching recently. ehhshuhh = aliens.
As I started up the movie, Gwen laid back in the recliner and sighed: "oh Zeke - you said aliens... I'm so proud of you!"

Questions to Consider

Ben sent an article to me with these questions in it and I printed it off and have it on my fridge. I try to look at it every day and think about them. I thought you might find them interesting too. (whoever you are!)

1. Have I made certain that those I love feel loved?

2. Have I done something today that improved the world?

3. Have I conditioned my body to be more strong, flexible and resilient?

4. Have I reviewed and honed my plans for the future?

5. Have I acted in private with the same integrity I exhibit in public?

6. Have I avoided unkind words and deeds?

7. Have I accomplished something worthwhile?

8. Have I helped someone less fortunate?

9. Have I collected some wonderful memories?

10. Have I felt grateful for the incredible gift of being alive?

For Uncle John

This is for Ben's brother in the Navy, Uncle John.

Heart Pies

I finally tried out my heart shaped pocket maker. I've got a whole assortment of little pocket makers. I've got little empanada kind, heart shapes and a mini lattice pie one that I haven't tried out yet. I wasn't able to have one of these heart pies, but they were fun to make with the kids. These had cherry pie filling in the middle.

Kids and Meal Plans

I became a brunette this week. Here it is. I'm not really sure why I wanted a change, but there ya go. I think this is living on the wild side when you're a stay at home mom.


My new meal plan organizational thing. Instead of buying those weekly stick on calendars, I can see the whole month at a glance. I got this with a gift card someone gave to me and put command stripes on the back to make it adhere to the fridge. So far it's working great. I'm experimenting with planning two weeks of meals at a time. That way I can really work hard at using what we already have and going to the store for a smaller amount of the regular fresh stuff we get. I have started using www.saymmm.com Check it out if you have the time.

Here are the kids playing dress up. Zeke wants to do everything his sister does. Today I let him go around with a bow in his hair. It's so cute to watch them play. Gwen is the leader of the two and she tells him that they are baby kangaroos and he just hops right to it. Sure, they fight some, but mostly they are excited to be with each other. Have you seen two cuter faces than these? Ok, so I know I'm biased. :)

Pawpaw and Chowder

Might I suggest a children's book to you all? We got it recently from the library and it's called "Chowder" by Peter Brown. It has some funny pictures like this with the dog on the toilet. I get a kick out of it.

Pawpaw is moving back to Florida and so we said goodbye. We will miss him nearby but hope this new job is a good one.

Sewing and Movies

My mom got a sewing machine for me for my birthday.  Up until this point, my crafts have been centered around paper mostly.  I'm a little afraid of fabric.  There, I said it.  A piece of paper?  Well... I can just wad it up and throw it in the trash.  I mean, how much does a piece of paper cost anyway?  But fabric?  Yikes!

But today some friends from my small group who also want to learn got together and learned how to thread our machines and fill bobbins and such.  So far my favorite words are "feed dogs" and "bobbin".  I'm going to try to work that into my everyday speech.

Here's my machine.  Ain't she pretty?

This is my first project that isn't done yet.  I took a size 3 skirt I found in the thrift store and I'm making it into an apron.  I will put on a pocket and side straps to tie round and a thing around my neck.  We decided it looks a bit like the little mermaid makes an apron... but I can live with that! Did I mention it's a size 3?  I just think that part's funny.

Yesterday the kids went to the movies for the first time.  We saw Beauty and the Beast.  They had a ton of popcorn and water and loved it.  The first movie I saw in the theater?  I think Bambie.

They also really appreciated the hand blowers.  Those things are pure power!

In The Works

I have recently discovered chalkboard paint. I borrowed some from a friend and painted this lid. I bought yeast in bulk the other day and I thought it would be nice to remember what is in the jar.


I have been working on this project too. I painted these doors in the play room (Beki's old room) with magnetic paint and then chalkboard paint so they can draw on them or put magnets on them. I thought it would be a fun place to practice penmanship. :) I'm feeling the itch to redo this room now. That means scraping more popcorn off the ceiling and painting trim. (sigh) Maybe I'll get to it one day here soon.

I also have been organizing and sorting in the basement. I think I have all the tubs of kid's clothes organized. (thank you Stephanie for the clothes!)

and here is my crafting area as it stands now. I'm going to borrow someone's carpet squares so that should add some sophistication to the dungeon. Benny hung my peg board for me. I really like it.

Baby hutch I love you!

The makings of a garland going up soon. The kids and I had a good time painting today.

This years Valentines. The one on the left says "thumbody loves you" with a little thumb print man and the one on the right will have a sucker inserted for the butterfly body.

What projects are going on at your house?

Crumpets

Here's a recipe I tried this week and enjoyed very much. In fact, we've frozen some and have been enjoying them every day. This yields 25 crumpets... but you won't be sorry. If you have never tried a crumpet, give it a try. It's like a yeast roll in pancake form. Oh, and this recipe is 2 points per crumpet for all you weight watchers out there no matter if you use skim milk (which I did) or if you use 2% milk.

3 packages active dry yeast

3/4 C warm water

3 tsp sugar

1 C warm milk

3 eggs

3 C all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

*nonstick spray or butter for pan

Mix yeast, warm water and sugar in glass bowl. Sit for 5-10 minutes to proof or poof up as I like to call it.

Into that whisk warm milk, flour, eggs and salt until no longer lumpy. Cover and let rise 30-45 min. (check after 25, but the more bubbles the better) Do not stir it after this rise. I made that mistake this time, but I think it would do better to just dish it out in the risen state. Cook on hot griddle or skillet.

Zeke Turns 2!!

These are the kids today. Zeke has found his new "smile." They were watching apples dehydrate. Is that like watching paint dry?

For Zeke's birthday we took him and a couple of his buddies to Little Monkey Business. Boy, did they have a good time. Here he is with Luke dressing up in costume. Zeke is supposed to be smiling.

and here are the girls... Gwen and Katie Beth.

Me and my little friend, Claire.

bouncing at Little Monkey Business.

We also had a trifle at small group. He had been practicing how he would blow out the candles all day. Is he GORGEOUS or what???

The trifle I made for Zeke.

They helped me make the cake for the trifle and were kind enough to lick the beaters. I am on weight watchers now so I told them to watch me and if I look like I might put any of the batter near my mouth to shout "no mommy!" They were happy to hold me accountable and this first week I lost 2.8 lbs. My weight issues is a whole 'nother post all together people.

It seems like yesterday when Zeke looked like this. :)

35 and My Life

Well, another year has rolled around for me and I am 35. Wow! Does that sound weird. It's like I'm an adult or something. Here's some photos of things I've celebrated lately.

Gwen has been working on writing her name for a while and I've been really making sure she forms the letters the right way so she doesn't have to relearn it later. I've recently cut shapes out of foam and let her put letters together like a puzzle. That has been our breakthrough. Here is the first time she wrote her name. I have it on the wall. I am working with Zeke on learning colors and being able to count from 1-10. He thinks everything is either yellow or purple. :)

I got tired of my mitten garland so I made another one to hang photos on from the past year.

Of all the things the kids got for Christmas, I guess their favorite would be the pillow pets. They sleep with them every night and during the day "ride" them and sing She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain. It makes me laugh.


Is it me or is her face changing to a little girl face instead of baby?

Yesterday was a fine day. Actually warm for once in January. We went over to our neighbor's house and jumped on the trampoline. Here is Zeke with his hair all stuck up from the static electricity and he is attempting to smile. :) In a few days he will turn 2. He is becoming very silly and also stubborn at the same time. He is now sleeping on a mattress on the floor. We took down the crib. I felt like he was ready and he hasn't figured out he can get out of his bed yet, so it's good. At dinner time he likes to sing the "go go poopy" song that Ben sang one time and he just cackles like he told a fantastic joke. Ah hem... we're working on that.

Star of Bethlehem

The other day I bought myself some flowers. The white ones are called "star of Bethlehem" and the purple are heather. Love it!