Morning Kitchen Project

Ever since we moved in five months ago (has it been that long?)  I've been dying to do something about these

I just don't like them.  They don't really match. They look out of place.  They get twisted and crooked. BUT cabinet knobs are expensive and we needed 34 of them...
Then this week, there was an amazing deal on Amazon. 
So $68, 20 minutes, and one enthusiastic helper later....

A transformation.

A small one, but I'm thrilled.

When there's nothing else.

Today I clean.
My heart is heavy as my prayers are full of heavy, hard things.  There's something restorative about a good clean.
When there's nothing else you can do.  When you've prayed all you can and you're still mad and you're still broken and you want so much to be able to do something.  To fix something.  To make it all go away.
I'm not mad at God, though I have been before.  I'm mad at sin and the way it destroys our world and the way it hurts and I long for the only One who is able to restore it all and that person is not me and that day will come when He does. 
But right now when your heart is hurting for boys' lives taken too soon, for a little boy in Russia whose future is unknown (to us..), for doctors appointments you're dreading, for a little girl too young to have to fight a cancer, for a friend's daddy who just had another stroke,  for other things that can't be listed here and it breaks your heart, because it hits close to home, and you hug your own kids tight and you cry and you pray.
And I clean.
I restore order to the chaos that I can control and leave the rest of the chaos and the mess to the One who holds it all in His hands, trusting Him and His plan and His goodness. I blast music that speaks the truth, the kids dance and sing along and I scrub floors and scour sinks and trust and I pray.

Banana Muffins

Bananas rarely have time to get overripe in our house, but yesterday there on my table were two perfectly overripe bananas just begging to be made into warm moist banana bread.  I love the smell, the taste, the texture, the fact that I trick myself into believing it's healthy.

I have two little helpers in my house that love to cook. What a 'good mom' moment I was about to have.  I could almost hear the silly giggles as they patiently stir the batter and wait for my next instruction in my perfectly clean kitchen, a light dusting of flour cutely resting on their sweet noses.

Excited little man pushes the chair over in preparation.

It started with Ky helping with the dry ingredients.  I measure, hand him the scoop and ask him to dump it in.
"SURE Mama!" See?  my fantasies are coming true.  I turn around to grab the baking soda and Kyler has leaned across the counter to scoop more flour from the canister into the bowl.  I smile, we've only added the flour anyway, problem easily solved, I dump the flour back into the canister and we measure one more time.  I take the scoop and hand him a spoon to stir.  At which point he begins methodically flicking flour all over the kitchen.

Finally we have combined all the ingredients, though I'm not sure exactly how many spoonfuls of flour Kyler snuck into the batter when I wasn't looking.

Darby has now decided she's ready to help.  (Meaning she finally finished her lunch she refused to eat.)
By this time, I've realized that I don't actually have a loaf pan.  No problem.  Muffins it is.  I ask Darby to scoop the batter into the muffin tins...and bite my tongue as she spills batter everywhere.  In my rush and perfectionism, I ask her if I can help and do a couple.  I take the spoon and fill a couple cups which breaks her heart a little.  She's doing her best.  I hand her the spoon and let her finish

 

The muffins go in the oven and 15 minutes later the air is filled with the smell.....of burnt muffins.  The batter splattered across the muffin tin is burning. 

The muffins were a flop.  Almost too dry to eat from the sneaky flour elf's special recipe and my freshly cleaned kitchen was covered in flour and batter.  BUT still a fun afternoon with some proud mini chefs.

It's the Little Things

A few moments from our morning around the house.  

I love my job.

Paper Bag Puppets

Sneaky 2yr old coffee addict

Silly Faces and Unbrushed Hair

Sparkly nail polish on tiny fingers

Spontaneous Tackle Hugs

First Tastes of Grilled Cheese

Nail Polish that turns PINK in the sun!

Sand-filled Diapers

Trampoline Tricks

Chubby Legs Learning to Stand

Sweet boy with lunch on his shirt

Little Man

Sweet Kyler said goodbye to the beloved binky tonight.  Kyler loves his binky.  He's only allowed to have it at night but he literally giggles with delight whenever he sees it.
So as part of the transition to 'big boy status,' the whole family went to ToysRUs and he got to pick out a special toy that he "bought" with his binkies.  All went smoothly.  He cried a little tonight asking for it, but he was not at all hysterical.

This is harder on me than on him.  I think I'm just sad to give up those baby habits...it's forcing the reality that he's growing up, becoming more of a little boy than a toddler....Soon he'll be in preschool, then resisting mom's kisses in front of the school...

I know there's joy that comes with every stage, I'm just really going to miss his baby-ness.
his bear hugs
the way he lays his head on my shoulder when I sing to him before bed
his arm-flailing run
his dances to VeggieTales
his sweet little voice and words only the family understands

And yet, time goes on, baby boys become little boys...the best we can do is hug them tight and enjoy each moment, thanking the Lord for each precious day.

 

The toy he traded his bink for.

SuperWhy!

Joke of the Day

So Darby is developing her own little sense of humor.  Developing is the key word.  These things take time. 

Today she shared one of her original jokes with us.
When does a bug sleep?
When it's dead.

Tuck that one away for the next time your dinner party gets a little stale.

Leave the boy alone for one minute...

And this is what I find.

 
Sometimes all you can do is laugh.  or scream.  At least they were on sale.

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Kale chips

Thought I'd share a new recipe we made tonight.  I know you're already wondering how you can get your hands on some of this. 







Rinse kale & dry thoroughly (that part's important).
Chop and place on cookie sheet, drizzle in olive oil.  Bake @350 for 12 minutes.  It should be crispy. Then sprinkle with sea salt.  That's it.  It's so addicting.  We had it as a snack tonight and the teenager at our house was literally eating it by the handful. Yummm.  No really.  It's really good.


And just so you know I didn't totally torture my family tonight.  This is what we had for dessert.

Some Days...

Today started out tough.   Carson was up through the night screaming.  In retrospect I'm sure some tylenol and orajel would have calmed him right down but in my sleepy fog I just nursed him and held him and tried to put him back down, where he cried again.  Not cried, screamed.  Loud screaming. 
Eventually around 630 the screaming finally stirred the other two.  I stumbled to the couch where my gracious husband brought me a cup of coffee before he left for work.  The older two fought all morning it seems.  We bought two comfy polka dot chairs when we moved in this house.  Two.  For two big kids. But every single time the chairs are out, the kids fight. "I was in this one" "Me first" "My turn" "He's not sharing"  I read a book once with great ideas to try to talk them through these situations and get to the root of their selfish heart and help them come to a place where they can love and serve each other.  Awesome in theory.  when Darby was 6 months old I was a parenting expert.  All these books all these ideas.  2 yr olds don't have conversations about selfish hearts.  They scream and they cry and they hit and they repeat the words their siblings have said "SSSSHHHHHAAAAAAAAAARRRREEE!!!!" A word meant to teach has become a fighting word. 


I put the crabby baby down for a nap with orajel.  He sleeps for 2 glorious hours and wakes up a new child.
I put away the chairs and pull out pen and paper.  Darby reads her first words.  Bat. Cat. Rat. and Mat.  She's proud. We laugh and high-five.
Kyler and I do letter puzzles and he tackles me with hugs.

It was a hard morning.  Feeling sorry for myself.  Feeling tired.  Missing those good friends that really know me and those trips to chick-fil-a.

The thing is, if I wait long enough, and I choose to start counting my gifts, the day turns around.  Kids still bicker and the messes are overwhelming, but these faces....  these sweet faces are worth these tough days....that really?  aren't that bad. 

End the R Word

My sister had the opportunity to sing at an "End the R Word" Concert this week.  Pretty much her dream come true to sing in front of people.  She's such a ham!  I hope you can understand the interview in the beginning.  The video is not the best quality.  Cory's "Best Buddy" Bonnie is interviewing her about how the "R Word" makes her feel.  Cory answers that it makes her sad and it hurts her feelings, as well as her family's feelings.  Just thought I'd share.  Maybe you'll consider joining the pledge at www.r-word.org

Why Pledge?

"I pledge and support the elimination of the derogatory use of the r-word from everyday speech and promote the acceptance and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities."

First day of Gymnastics

And as a bonus, some pictures of D getting ready for her first gymnastics class.

Green Eggs and Ham

So in my quest to be an intentional mom and create memorable moments for the kids I decided we would celebrate Dr Seuss' birthday with a special dinner "treat."  If nothing else, it would be memorable and they'd know mom cared...at its best they'd actually eat it.

I found a recipe on e-how.  I guess it's a recipe, essentially they added food coloring to eggs and ham...complex I know.  If we ever do this again, I'll find a way to add veggies if it's going to be green anyway.  This time - nothing but food coloring.  I'm sure it causes cancer or birth defects or at least attention problems.

I think it was a success, or would have been, had D not thrown sand in K's eyes mid-egg cooking.  So there I was with his head in the sink, holding his eyes open and pouring water while he screamed (it was caked IN his eyelashes and he would NOT stop rubbing.) and yelling at Conor to turn off the eggs.  The ham was overdone, the yolks broke in half the eggs, and we ate our now cold eggs with K wearing nothing but a diaper after his impromptu bath. They looked pretty cool...or disgusting...

D's comment was "hey they're not really all that bad.  How many bites do I have to eat?" (her question at EVERY MEAL)  I told her all of it and she said "Well, you're lucky it's pretty good"

Happy Birthday Dr Seuss.  Consider yourself celebrated.

stress

First post = stressful.
Seriously.  I think between the first post and choosing a name, I've managed to put off starting this blog for weeks, no months.  So here it is, my first post.  Now, on with life.