Tasty Treat Tuesday and An Afternoon Craft

I might not get this in every Tuesday, but I am going to try to do this at least a couple of Tuesdays every month:  Tasty Treat Tuesday.  The idea is to share a recipe about something sweet that we are enjoying in our home on or around that particular Tuesday.  Feel free to leave a comment with a recipe for your own tasty treat!

This Tuesday the kids and I enjoyed a family favorite that my husband introduced me to back when we were dating.  It has no special name and very basic ingredients.  This is not a healthful snack, but could be considered a semi-decent source of protein (as far as snacks go).  It is simply a graham cracker, spread with peanut butter, and topped with semisweet chocolate chips.  So simple, but so yummy! 

Did you catch that little hand sneaking in to steal a chocolate chip?

Please pardon that this one has been partially eaten- they are irresistible in our house!

An Afternoon Craft

Some time ago, my grandma gave me a bunch of beads to be used in whatever craftical whimsy I might happen to come up with.  Well, this afternoon while Caitlin was napping (and after Aiden and I had finished our tasty treats : )  I decided that it was time for some one on one crafting with my oldest.  I wasn't in the mood for the usual play dough or color crayons, or even finger painting.  I thought it might be fun to make some pictures by gluing beads onto construction paper.  It really was fun!  We were out of white glue, so to add to the fun, I made some homemade no-cook paste.  Recipe:  Mix some white flour with water and a pinch of salt until you get a goopy, somewhat runny mixture.  Apply it with a paint brush (or you could probably use a squeeze bottle if you made it runny enough) and use liberally to affix your craft item of choice.  It was fun and by the time we were done, there were beads everywhere.  Let me know if anyone tries this recipe, how it goes, and if you have any helpful revisions.

Happy crafting and happy snacking!

Busy Busy Today

I didn't get very much sleep last night due to the restless tossing and turning that always comes during the third trimester of my pregnancies.  So, this morning when my 2 year old comes into my room saying "I hungy!" and my husband calls from work and asks me did I go back to bed (I had), I expected that I would be dragging myself through my day, sleepy and not accomplishing much.

Not So! 

For some reason, I felt very motivated today to: 

• Make the bed (let's be honest, some days this just does not get done)
• Sweep and mop all of the hard floors in my home
• Clean the microwave inside and out
• Clean out the refrigerator, tossing leftovers, wiping down all of the shelves, drawers, etc.
• Dust all surfaces in the main living area
• Vacuum all carpeting (except the kids' room where the baby was napping)
• Run a load of dishes through the dishwasher
• Switch out our toilet seat (which I've been meaning to do for about a week), and clean all parts of the toilet
• Pick up and put away everything that was out of place (mainly toys and stinky socks -thanks hubby!)
• Create and print out my June dinner menu calendar (I'm only a few days late on this one!)
• Chase and tickle my adorable children
• Read a new story to someone who "didn't want to take a nap" but is now very unconscious
• and...Bake delicious cookies!

I feel so good accomplishing all of this today, but the best part that made all of the hard work worth it was having a good attitude and the right mindset while feeling purposeful in my tasks.  This makes such a big difference and on the days when I do not ask God to "give me the right attitude", I can accomplish all of the chores in the world, but feel miserable because I am not living joyfully and purposefully.  I chose to be a stay at home mom, and some of my jobs as such are keeping my home a restful and (reasonably) clean place for my family to spend time together and "to raise up my children in the way they should go".  If I slack off cleaning the house, or do so with a bad attitude, then not only will my home feel unrestful, but I will be a poor companion for my family to be around.  If I view my children as interruptions to my day that only need to be dealt with when they are interfering with whatever I'm doing, are in danger of dismembering one another, or are destroying something, then why did I stay home with them in the first place?  I want to view them as an enjoyable break from the daily grind of chores.  I want to welcome the chance to dry my hands of dish water, and chase them around the corner for the fifth time -armed with "tickle fingers" : ) 

I worked hard today.  And I felt good while doing so because I went through my day enjoying all of the reasons why I chose to do this in the first place.  I pray for a thousand more days like today!

Our Extended Weekend

I feel as if I am coming to the end of a long, extended weekend.  A not-so-brief overview:  Some of my husband's family were in town over the weekend (actually in the foothills about 1 hour away) and we went up there to visit once on Saturday and once on Sunday.  It was nice to visit with everyone, but it made for late night drives home and not much sleep for everyone (mainly me). 

On Sunday afternoon, while shopping at Costco, I received a call from my dad that my great grandfather had passed away.  It was not entirely unexpected since his health has been poor for the last several years, but the news still came as a bit of a shock.  My great grandmother (a very special and sweet old lady) passed before him, about 5 1/2 years ago, and their home has been an epicenter for family gatherings for as long as I can remember.  Even though I wasn't very close to my great grandfather, his passing will surely bring about the sale of his memorable home.  I find that I am struggling with this the most.  Even when my great grandmother passed, I didn't feel like I lost all of her, because I was still able to come to the home where I had spent so much time with her.  Now, that home will not be a part of my life any longer, and it feels like I am losing more than just a great grandparent.  It feels like I am losing a part of my past; a place that holds many special memories for me.  I might post more about this in the coming days and weeks.

On Sunday evening we attended a Baccalaureate service for one of my brothers-in-law, who will be graduating from high school tomorrow.  It was a nice service, but with such a shook up schedule, the kids had a hard time sitting the entire time.  I walked Caitlin around for a while and towards the end, Tim and Aiden joined us and we sat on the grass behind everyone. 

On Monday, Tim went into work for a few hours, then came home and played Legos with Aiden.  The kids and I took a nap after that, but my husband took a long phone call with a friend who has recently returned home from his military training.  When the kids and I got up, it was time to leave for my dad's house, where we were taking the kids to play in their little swimming pool and to enjoy a family barbeque.  Tim was so tired from our very long and busy weekend and since he hadn't napped, he said he didn't think he could make it through the barbeque.  He stayed home to sleep and I took the kids to the barbeque.  It was nice and relaxing at my dad's and I even got some cute pictures Aiden in the pool!  Caitlin was entirely too wiggly to capture on film, but she wore an adorable pink ballerina tutu swimsuit which I got at Target and will snap a picture of sometime this summer, I promise!

Tim worked Tuesday morning, but then had some business to take care of downtown, so he had the rest of the day off.  After finishing his downtown errand, Tim surprised us all and took us to Toys R Us where he bought Aiden some Lego "otocycles" : )

Aiden insists on sleeping, eating, and riding in the car with these little guys and we have had to set some ground rules, so they don't get lost in the car, or dunked in his morning cheerios.  Another very real scenario:  Caitlin could eat a little Lego man arm or helmet and I think it would probably cause Aiden more distress than it would her.  We already have a general rule of no toys at the table when we are eating, but we have now added no toys in bed at naptime (Aiden started staying awake to play with his new toys until the very end of naptime, when he would fall asleep and very crankily protest being woken up a half hour later and continue being a grouch until bedtime- this made everyone miserable!)  The other new rule has left our little Lego buddies housebound because they are so small that I am afraid I could never find tiny Lego motorcycle goggles in our car, which is where they would surely fall off and get lost, if given a chance.

That was the majority of our weekend excitement and I almost forgot an appointment that I had this morning, because it simply did not seem like I would be starting off my "regular" weekday activities on a Wednesday.  Well, this is sure to feel like a short week and I will try to post after my brother-in-law's graduation tomorrow to let everyone know how it went!