Blessings

Things are getting a tad easier with the boys. Ethan has been listening better, and it’s been so very wonderful. I’m not as worn out by the end of the day, and I’m enjoying the ‘trenches of motherhood’ part more. I’ve heard this happens when they get a little older.

Its been too hot to go outside, at least by 11am. If we’re not out of the house by 9-9:30, it doesn’t happen. So instead, we make something wonderful in the kitchen. Yesterday, we made vanilla bean ice cream, and chocolate sauce. Oh, so good. The sauce is lethal to have in the fridge. I just keep dipping my finger into it. Totally terrible, but insanely good. Vanilla beans are so expensive, but so worth it. The flavor from those little seeds inside the pod make it all worth it.

We were blessed to have some friends stay with us last night. Their kids and my boys had a blast sliding down the queen mattress that we prop on the couch, and supervise for injuries. I love it when my kids can play and have fun with other kids. It makes me so happy.

Getting incredibly anxious for a vacation. Back in my college/single years, I had no idea how important and much needed vacations would be when you are strapped down with bills and young kids. No idea, since it was so easy to jump in the car with roommates and go somewhere for the weekend. Now, I appreciate vacations so much more. Shaun and I are both burned out from the same routine of work and raising kids day in and day out, but we are doing ok. Counting our blessings, just really excited to have a break for fun.

Neat experience this week. I taught the boys about following Jesus and choosing the right. Ethan said if we choose the right, that Jesus will bring us surprises. That day, some sweet, blessed soul left a box of food on our doorstep. Ethan said ‘Jesus brought us surprises!’ Thank you, dear donator, for helping me teach an important lesson to my boys. Bless you.

Morning peace

It’s 7am, and both my boys are still asleep. Rare for Ethan, as he’s always up between 6-6:30. Ethan came down with a fever late yesterday. It happened a little bit after our attempt to get out of the house, and let the boys play outside. After 10 minutes, we went back in. It’s still too darn hot. I’m not sure if that caused Ethan to get sick or not, but the poor guy was laying on the couch, not being his active self. I put some of my Doterra peppermint oils on him pronto, and he took a nap on our bed. Shaun took Kevin with him after work to get a new car battery. I love impromptu Daddy/son dates. Kevin was happy as ever to get out with Daddy.

I have a list of things to work on, and all I want to do is slow down and enjoy the moments. Do you find that you want to toss your errand list out the window, and just look around at the the blessings in your life? Sadly, the dishes still need done, and the laundry piles up, but it’s just more fun to play pillow fights with the boys, and be happy to have Shaun come home from work each day.

Good things I’m loving right now:

• Pinterest. It’s so great, and I actually love it more than Facebook. Reason why; I find it to be my awesome idea gathering place. I love collecting ideas for food, home organizing, homeschooling, crafts, and organizing them onto my boards. Basically, it’s a place where you can ‘pin’ something you like on the web, a recipe or article, etc. You can follow your friend’s boards, and they can see yours. I have to be careful and time balance, but many times I am found in the bathroom with the phone. Pathetic, yup. You have to be invited to join, so let me know if you want an email invite.
• “3 Idiots” Shaun brought home a redbox movie which made my day. I looked at the title, and my first thought was ‘dumb college movie’, or something. Far, far from it. It turned out to be a Hindu movie with subtitles. Awhile back, my dear friend Jenny and her family watched this movie called “Lagaan” while I was living with them. I was intrigued that they were into a really long, subtitled movie that actually was an awesome movie with a great plot. The main actor was great, and led his village to victory against the British in a cricket match. Lots of songs and dancing, too.  Anyways, as I watched the 3 idiots, and it had the Lagaan guy. Apparently, he’s the biggest actor in India, and this movie was the highest grossing Hindu movie ever. 2 1/2 hour movie, but not a boring part in it. The movie was such a fun find, a breathe of wonderful air from the usual cruddy movies that our country dishes out. (Usual! There are still some golden nuggets in our movies) It’s about three engineering students, one of them being Rancho. Rancho inspires his friends to dump their fears, pursue their dreams, and goes along lifting and helping everyone in his path.  He disappears after graduation, for ten years, and his friends start looking for him. Cute love story, super sad teary parts, 2 silly songs. Hindu music is so fun and different. So, while the planet is watching Harry Potter, I’m in bed at night watching this wonderful, little movie on my ipod, and it makes me happy.

The morning is moving fast. It’s so calm right now, and yet, it will get busy and loud with the boys waking up. Let’s hope Ethan is feeling better. Love being home to give hugs and tickles. Hopefully, I won’t be tempted today to cook every new recipe I find in the kitchen. It’s too much fun, but being on my feet too long catches up with me. Let’s just have pancakes for dinner, today

Organizing the home

I got some motivation to organize the home, and make the school/library room more friendly. I also went through the kid’s closets, dejunked and organized. This happens when I don’t feel like packing the kids and house up to get out. Lots of good stuff happens at home.

The happy, little learning toy area.

Kevin enjoying the fun magneato toys. Good amazon investment.

The main reason why I did this bookshelf/organizing project; I wanted the toys more accessible for the kids. Success!

The hideous mess that will be rescued and organized on another day

It’s been fun preparing this room and other spots of the home for school. I did some more researching on my most favorite home schooling blogs, 1+1+1=1, and Homeschool Creations, and got inspired again with ideas. During quiet time last week, while Kevin napped, I spent better time with Ethan doing games, school stuff, and books. I got the discovery toy cups with numbers, stuffed some little balls in Easter eggs, and had him count out the balls. He then put them in the matching cups with numbers. He then had fun just stuffing balls into the eggs. The kid is so, so smart, and almost intimidates me because he’s ready to learn anything. It’s exciting, and I want to do my best to make this home a house of love and learning. Even, a love of learning home. So, that’s me just trying to make better use of the time that is flying by.

Haircut day!

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Baby steps at church

For 6 straight Sundays, sweet Ethan has been struggling in primary, having a hard time being reverent and not disruptive. Its been rough. This past week has been a blessing of learning new steps in ‘time out’ processes, and it has greatly helped at home. Yesterday, Ethan did amazing in primary. No loud yelling and being super grumpy. Not perfect, but much better than the usual norm. Ethan loves to speak in the microphone, and is always willing to say the scripture or something.  He was asked to fill in for someone not there, and gladly recited the theme for primary. So darling to hear his happy voice in the microphone. He didn’t throw a fit when he was done, and quietly went back to his chair in class. I practically passed out behind the piano in shock. (I play piano in primary, and Shaun teaches another class in the junior primary.) I made sure to give him a big hug, and tell him he was asked to help out because he was sitting reverently in class. So, huge blessings and finally some baby step progression. Love that little man.

I recently changed OB doctors, after getting fed up with the consistent 4 hour waits for each doctor appointment. I gathered information from friends on FB, did some homework, prayed and prayed, and was blessed to switch to a kind and very punctual Dr. Sheldon Paul. The difference between his office and my old one is like night and day. My old office I took a creaky elevator up to a somewhat cramped, dimly lit room. The chairs had padding, but got uncomfortable after the first hour. The receptionist were ok in being friendly.

Dr Paul’s office was a dream. First off, leather couches!!!! I sank into one, and wanted to immediately take a nap. Big, tinted windows that let in a lot of natural light. I’m big on light. The staff was much nicer. The main girl recognized me from church. I got in and out in 45 minutes. I was blown away and just so very grateful. Dr Paul is awesome, and he knew about my old doctor and her constant tardiness. They work in the same OB circle, and he mentioned that she’s always late for their doctor meetings. Good grief. He said he feels bad if he’s 30 minutes late, and it drives him crazy. I think that there grants him a ticket to heaven.

So, a huge, wonderful sigh of relief on that one.

I’ve stumbled across some super recipes, and had to share!

First off, a very simple pizza dough recipe. You can make it quickly, roll it out, throw toppings on it, and throw it in the oven. No wait time for rising. I’ve used it twice, and it’s been very helpful. Go HERE for the recipe to Mel’s kitchen café. It’s the second recipe in the post, the ‘fast’ one.

Here’s my favorite new dessert: Nutella cake in a jar. It turned out so fun. You basically make a yellow cake mix, put a cup of it in a canning jar, microwave it for 2-3 minutes. Take a scoop of cake out, drizzle some nutella, put the scoop back, and drizzle more on top. I melted the nutella for easier drizzling, and added some cool whip in the jar. Heaven. Go HERE for the recipe.

My latest pasta craving, my simpler version of the Pioneer Woman’s creamy red pepper pasta recipe.

I basically satuee onions for a bit, throw in some minced garlic, then add the onion mixture and a bottle of roasted red peppers into the food processor. Blend it up, throw it back in the skillet, and add some cream (1/2 a cup, or more?) to the mixture. Cream, you devil, you, but you make stuff taste so good. Let it cook and thicken for a bit, and its good to go over some pasta. Gotta have your Italian parsley and real Parmesan cheese, the big wedge of the good stuff you see above

What the sauce looks like after its been blended up, and now waiting to thicken.

The goods!

And, for one last good find:

I saw this idea at a friend’s house. I got a scrap booking sheet, put it inside a cheap walmart frame, and used a dry erase marker to mark the week’s meals. I’m such a nut. I will do my best to meal plan for two weeks, but constantly switch up the meals, going back and forth, etc. I thought this would be helpful.

Fun stuff!

Good things

I find it incredibly helpful to write down good things that have happened. It helps me remember to count my blessings better. Here’s an assortment of good things I can recount that have happened recently:

• I taught the hymn 'Choose the Right’ to the boys. Ethan has the chorus memorized, and Kevin loves to yell at the top of his lungs ‘choose the right!’. It’s quite funny.
• Ethan gets upset if he doesn’t get to say the prayer over blessing the food and other occasions. Waited a long time for that to happen.
• Discovered the wonderful LDS gospel library app for the iphone. I can read General Conference talks at night, highlight my favorite parts, and bookmark them, all the while snuggled under the comforter.
• Trying to start a school routine with the boys, starting with ‘storytime’ at 9am after morning chores. The boys seem to like having a routine, and respond well to it. Well, duh! Sometimes, I’m so slow to recognize simple things to do with the boys.
• Found a brand new food processor at DI for twelve bucks, to replace my old one that was ready to explode any minute, so old. Also found a new Fisher Price cookie jar/shape toy for Kevin, all for $1.50. Thank goodness for people who donate brand new appliances and toys to the greatest thrift store on the planet.
• Got a few pretty, wicker baskets from DI in attempt to organize the home, with less books and toys all over the place. Super hard to keep a home orderly with young kids, but its worth a try so you don’t go crazy from the messiness.
• Found a great pizza dough recipe that doesn’t require any time to rise. You can use it as soon as you finish kneading it. Go HERE for the recipe, and it’s the 2nd recipe listed in the post.
• My last OB visit seemed to trigger something in me. I’ve been going to this OB for quite some time, and every time I go, it’s a 3-4 hour wait for my appointment. I try to get the earliest time at 10 am, and end up leaving by 1-2. Found out that day that my doctor doesn’t really care to be on time for her appointments. Utterly ridiculous. I decided I had enough, and felt super bad for my babysitters. Got some good OB recommendations, found one that was taking new patients and my insurance, but the biggest part, had a shorter wait time for the appointment. Got the whole deductible/deposit transfer junk figured out, and I got an appointment with Dr. Sheldon Paul this week. So very, very grateful for this answer to prayer. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to get in and out of the OB visit in less than 4 hours. It’s too hard for me to believe at the moment, but we’ll see.
• This summer has not been nearly as hot to me, being pregnant and all. I thought it would be harder to bear, but with lots of water, I’m doing ok. Yea!
• I can feel the spirit helping me with the rough stuff of the boys, breaking up toy fights, constant hitting, etc. It’s still hard, but it’s nice to have some help from above.

These are just a few of the good things I can recall. It helps to keep a good perspective. One day at a time

Ethan walking Sierra around the house. She puts up with him well, poor dog.

Videos of the boys

At last, successful video loading to blog! Thanks to the sweet iPhone, I had a much easier time loading some fun family videos for you guys. The 2nd one is our attempt at a preschool routine for the day, starting with story time on a down comforter. The first one is good times, the boys doing the usual nighttime routine of running laps around the house with their trucks. We had some friends over for dinner, and they were cheering them on. Boys are so, so active. Having them push trucks around and run like crazy is so very vital, and helps them sleep good, too I just like seeing their little legs fly and booties up in the air.

 

Love my boys

The mountains!

Last Sunday, we packed the boys up and headed out to the nearby mountains. The smell was wonderful. Pine trees, forest, ahh. I love it. The boys loved it, too. For a moment, they were by these beautiful purple flowers, and I tried my best to get a shot of them. Always on the move. It was just so nice to spend an afternoon with Daddy, and have family time. Getting out and seeing the beauty of this earth is truly rejuvenating.

We had some interesting changes in our phones this week. Long story short, out of necessity, we needed to get new phones, and got iphones. Wow. I heard they were awesome, but had no idea. They are amazing. We were delighted to find it had a choo-choo train whistle for text messages. I love the old ‘awooga’ model T ford horn for the ringer. Makes me giggle.

I got some fun, preschool apps for the boys. Our favorite is the Pocket Zoo. It has a map of the animals in a zoo, and more, but the coolest thing ever; it has live, video streams of animals in a zoo. We watched the penguins get fed last night, hopping all around by the zoo worker. I can’t believe this phone. So fun, yet easy to be on it too much. I put the phone down yesterday, and did my best to leave it alone so I could play with the boys. Discipline for sure, but its been a fun addition.