Deal!!

Warning, this post will not include pictures as we prefer to clean in our underwear due to the intense heat with which we live and the frugal nature with which we run our air conditioning.


Like most families a regular struggle in our home is getting the kids to pick up their rooms. Our oldest two share two rooms. One is their bedroom and the other is their playroom. We like that it creates separate sleeping and playing areas and promotes a sharing spirit. However, it does make it difficult at pick up time to determine who should be picking up what messes. We've tried letting them figure it out for themselves, but the fact is they need help. We've given them each a room to clean or each a side of a room to clean. We've set timers, set up reward systems and threatened consequences. All to no avail. One Saturday morning Whines 1 and 2 were told they could not go play with their friends until their rooms were cleaned. They were in those rooms all day except for meals and bathroom breaks and still went to bed that night with a mess. We've tried daily pick up so it doesn't get too bad, but frankly we just don't have time for that on most days. So one of my biggest dreads each week is pick up day. 


Last Thursday was pick up day. The kids were told I'd be vacuuming on Friday and would throw away or give away any of their toys that got in my way. On Friday morning as they were leaving for school (and the rooms were still a mess) Whine 1 proposed a deal. He said that if I would clean their rooms without a garbage back then they would clean all three bathrooms after school. I pointed out that would include showers and toilets and they were both on board. Now neither of them have ever cleaned a bathroom and I knew I would have to supervise that task, but it still sounded like a good plan.


While they were at school I got their rooms done (and was able to clear out some junk they will never miss) and when they got home, they were more than happy to get started on their new chore. We did the first bathroom together and then they did the  second two on their own. Now, they aren't perfect, but them main parts are done and they are passable. Best of all, I didn't have to do it and they worked together as a team without arguing (for the most part).


I'm not expecting to pass on the toilet brush for good, but it sure is nice to know that they are each capable of a new household task. We all get bored completing the same jobs day after day so if changing it up makes it better, I'll be more than happy to share the household duties to make that happen. 

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Kitchen Disaster ... or not??

I'm a bit picky about my babies eating refined sugars. By their second birthday they are usually digging into a store bought or boxed cake, but for the first birthday I make them a healthy version of a cake to tear into. The problem is that I am rather incompetent in the kitchen. I'm famous for messing up Hamburger Helper... three times. So a from scratch cake is really pushing my limits. Christian and Jayna each got an Applesauce cake that was okay. They enjoyed them for the most part, but most of the leftovers got tossed. That recipe has long since been lost (perhaps thrown out with the Hamburger Helper Boxes) so for Hope I had to find a new one. So off to the trusty Google search I go and found this site: 

Healthy First Birthday Cake Recipes

  I scrolled through them and was captured by the following statement, "If you have little baking experience and you're worried about making a mess of baby's first birthday cake, then this is the recipe to try - it's almost foolproof!"

Recipe and Foolproof are usually not words I put in the same sentence so I figured I would prove the author wrong. The problem was I didn't! The Banana and Blueberry cake was delicious! We had muffins for breakfast the morning of Hope's birthday and they were a huge hit with the entire family. Well, not the icing. I was shocked. My entire family was eating the same thing that I had made from scratch. It was not only healthy, but the kids only wanted the "cake" and not the icing. 

After this great triumph I was determined to make these cupcakes part of our everyday diet. So one day this week I stocked up on ingredients and decided to tackle a double batch. My first task was to mash up 12 bananas. That didn't sound too fun so I decided to try out the strange machine that recently took up residence in the corner of our kitchen.

Lo and behold

So maybe this baking thing might just work out. 

I continued to prepare the dry ingredients and then the others that needed to be added (chopping blueberries which I found was easier to do if they were still a bit frozen, melting butter, and whipping eggs.) During the egg whipping stage I ran into a snap. I needed 8 eggs and only had 6. Looking out my window I did not see the cars of any neighbors home to borrow from (yes, we do that on our street) so back to Google I went. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that bananas can be used as an egg substitute. Since I already had 12 bananas in there I figured being short a couple of eggs wouldn't matter. This kind of thinking often gets me in trouble. Before I could finish the project it was time to get Whine 2 from school. So after lunch I was back to business but now with a helper. I mixed up the ingredients and filled the muffin tins.

But oops... there appears to be an ingredient that didn't make it into the mix. So I scraped everything from the tins and little cake pans back into the mixer, turned it on (too fast, got splattered, learned a lesson) and cleaned all the pans to begin again. Got it all ready and realized I had never turned on the oven. So wait to preheat, put them in, nurse the baby and...

Maybe a little burned as previously mentioned nursing baby stops at no timer, but overall not too bad. Final test of success:

YES!! Both Whine 1 and Whine 2 gave their approval and ate about 3 mini-muffin cakes each. If the lack of eggs, late added butter or slight browning was a problem, it was completely missed by these two.

The only challenge I'm facing now is that this process took me all day. That was three days ago and there are only about 4 muffin cakes left. Please tell me the process can be streamlined.

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(Almost) Free Family Outing

A couple of weeks ago we packed up the family and went to the "Fancy Mall". AKA International Plaza. We call it the fancy mall because it has many higher end stores that the mall 1 mile from our house does not have. Now we are not typically a family that shops at the higher end stores, but this mall does have two specific draws that keep us coming back. One is the Kid's Play Area that is huge and has a Tampa Bay Rays Looney Tunes theme. To avoid the tempting California Pizza Kitchen that we pass to get to the play area, we packed our own lunch and had a ballpark picnic.

After lunch the kids took off playing and Hope practiced her new walking skills around the bases.

And she's safe!!

As the kids were playing, we happen to notice this sign:

Oh yay!! It was FREE PRETZEL DAY!! So for dessert we each got a delicious pretzel from Auntie Anne's. (Until I just typed that while looking at the picture, I always called it Aunt Annie's...). Then it was time to round up the troops and head to our second reason for going to the Fancy Mall. Off to Fit2Run we headed and while Mama and Daddy tried on new shoes, the kids got to run around the track. Great way to burn up energy! The shoe shopping was successful (especially thankful for the gift card we got for Christmas) and now we are ready to prepare for our next races. I've registered for the Women's Half Marathon in November. Sounds like a long way off, but I know I better start training now. 

Who wants to train with me?? If I can get out of bed early enough on Saturday mornings, I'm hoping to join the IRunMommies St. Petersburg and IRunMommies West St. Petersburg for some runs. They are some HOT mamas and even though I can't keep up, with the motto "No Mommy Left Behind", even a turtle like me is welcome. You will also find me cross-training at Baby Boot Camp St. Petersburg enjoying the beautiful parks and company of the great friends I've met there.

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Singing the Baby Blues

While I'm no stranger to the postpartum blues that follow the arrival of a baby, nothing tugs at my heart more during the baby stages than the first birthday. My sweet Hope Elizabeth turned 1 yesterday and I'm so happy and sad all at the same time. With each child I have struggled with this momentous event, but with Hope it seems to be an even bigger challenge. I think it's because I know she will be my last baby.

No picture can recapture the moment I held her for the first time. No journal entry can recreate the feeling of nursing her as an infant. All of the First Holidays are done. At Target the other day I saw outfits for "Baby's First Easter" and almost got one forgetting that this will not be Hope's first Easter. I'm having a hard time imagining what life will be like without the anticipation of a new baby to look forward to. Chris, my wonderful husband, reminded me that the precious newborn and infant time, for me, is like a slice of heaven and that I haven't made it to heaven yet. My heaven will be holding my baby forever. Until then I need to focus on the wonderful gift God has given me on Earth. The gift of standing beside my husband and watching our three wonderful children grow up. There are many milestones to look forward to during Hope's second year. Each Holiday will be new for her as she doesn't remember last year's. She will cheer for Christian at his baseball games. She will copy Jayna's dance moves.


She will tell me she loves me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HOPE!!

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First Comes Love, Then Comes Marraige

I want to start off wishing my wonderful husband a Happy Anniversary!! Here we are 9 years ago today:

As with most anniversaries, we usually take some time to think about how it all began. Prior to meeting Chris I had very few long term relationships and was not much of a "dater". I would sometimes fantasize on how an arranged marriage would be so much easier. My parents probably know me better than any else in the world so why not just let them pick the person they thought best and we'd go from there. Of course that is not how our society and culture works so I was on my own for finding Mr. Right. Or was I??


Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV 1984)




While I had no idea who I would marry or if I ever would, my Heavenly Father had already made those future plans for me. I had the wrong perspective in wishing I could rely on my earthly parents to choose my husband. God knows me better then even they do and He also knows Chris (who my parents had never met and therefore could never have considered for my husband). I am so grateful that I left it to God to find the perfect husband for me. I, nor my parents, could have made such a perfect match on our own.




Whine 1 (with the help of Grandma) made us each a card to celebrate this special day. This is how they were addressed:

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