Quick Post

So, I've been a little MIA this week. I'm getting used to having my 4 1/2 year old home for the summer and having the baby give up his morning nap. As a result, I'm not getting on the computer like I used to and my house is suffering as well. You should have seen it this morning!! I made bread, so I had my board out and flour sprinkled all over the counter. Plus, the baby was wanting attention while my hands were coated in bread dough, so I opened up the pantry and he found the garlic and methodically peeled off the papery coating. That kept him happy for a few minutes. Let's just say that I had a lot of things to put away once he went down for his nap.

We've all been lucky. The past 2 days he's slept for 3 hours for his afternoon nap. Yesterday, Matthew and I had a nice afternoon together. He splashed in the pool while I attempted some sit ups. I gave up when I thought that maybe I shouldn't be doing them outside...I didn't want an audience seeing me struggle. We found a couple of strawberries!! Daniel and Matthew each had one. They ooo'd and ah'd and said how delicious they were. We found another one that might be ready tomorrow.

In addition to a change in my daily routine, I've been running more consistently at night. I don't like running by myself in the dark. I'm afraid of the dark. I have no problem admitting that. But, it's light out until almost 9pm, so if Jessica isn't available (she's my friend who lives 3 houses down and we usually run together. We've run 2 half marathons together.) I've been going by myself. Tonight we had a really good run. We were both feeling good, so we did just over 6 miles. And, here I sit, watching Parenthood and blogging.

So, just as I get used to this new schedule, then my older son will be done with school. I'm really looking forward to summer. A new routine, less driving, more playing, more traveling, more fun, less stress!!

So, now I must close and head up for bed. Morning comes too soon in my house.

Not Me! Monday

In Mcmama's words:

Not Me! Monday was born out of my desire to admit some of my imperfections and reveal a few moments I’d rather forget. You may find it therapeutic to join in and do the same thing!

Go to www.mycharmingkids.net to link up your Not Me! Monday post!

Here's mine!

My oldest son has been sick since the end of last week. He has had a fever, sore throat, cough, and tummy ache. I remembered over the weekend that he had a field trip coming up today. The whole school is going to a AAA baseball game this afternoon. They'll have lunch first at the park, then stay for the game. Sounds fun right? Sure. On a typical day it would be lots of fun. But, we experiencing a heat wave here in NE Wisconsin. It's 10:10am and the temperature is 79 degrees in the shade. The forecast high is expected to be in the 90's. And, it's humid.

Can you imagine yourself sitting among 6 second graders wiggling in their seats? The sun is beating down on you. And as you're sitting shoulder to shoulder, you can't even feel the hot, humid breeze that wouldn't give any relief even if you could feel it.

I signed up to go along with my other two boys (ages 4 1/2 and 14 months). Now, can you imagine sitting in those conditions with a wiggly baby who wants to get down on the concrete and crawl around? Having the sun baking his soft, white baby skin? Nope, me either. That's why, when my oldest was coughing last night and complaining again of a tummy ache again, I never thought, "Yay! I can keep him home from school and we don't have to go to the baseball game!" Nope, not me! I always follow through and tough it out if it means being uncomfortable.

I'm not secretly doing the happy dance inside.

Nope, not me!

Sick Babies and Reminiscing

My boys have been sick this week. Matthew was the first one. Last Monday, he cried and cried saying his throat hurt. After having something to drink and a little breakfast he was feeling much better, his spirits lifted too...he was ready to go to his last day of school. I knew they would be playing at the park that day, so I had him take a bottle of water with to keep his throat moist, if it started hurting again. After I picked him up from school I noticed he was warm. I took his temperature and sure enough, it read 102.8. He was sick the following day and since he was done with school for the summer, we just relaxed at home, making sure he drank lots of fluids. My waif-like child was not eating well (he's 4 1/2 years old, weighing 32 pounds and wearing 2T - sometimes 3T - clothes) and still had a fever the following day. And, he lost his voice.

Then, my oldest son was complaining of a sore throat, and he felt warm. His temperature was 103.1. He stayed home Thursday and Friday, missing 2 days of state-wide standardized tests. sigh. He felt much better yesterday but was still complaining of a cough, sore throat, and even a tummy ache. Tonight after dinner, he said he was going to lay down...that was at 6pm, it's now 9:11pm and he's still sleeping on the couch in only a shirt that he wore all day on this 90 degree day.


My baby started to feel bad on Friday...same symptoms, his fever was only 101.8, compared to the other two's fevers. He kept waking up at night, coughing, crying...poor baby. Last night, I went in to his room to rock him and help him relax. He fell asleep in my arms. I let him sleep, watching his face. Seeing the complete calm expression he had, the peaceful look, the slow breathing, the heavy weight in my arms, how his legs dangled and hung past my thigh I thought, "It won't be much longer and I'll never get to do this with my children again." That makes me sad. I'm content knowing that my family is complete, but it makes me sad to think that I'll never lay on the couch with Daniel sleeping on my chest again. I'll never have Matthew on my hip again, his arm holding onto the back of my shirt. And shortly, I'll never have a sleeping Nicholas cradled in my arms again.



But, then I think of all the new things we're experiencing together. Daniel received his first communion this year. Matthew attended his first year of preschool. Nicholas lived his first year, and may be walking soon...maybe. And, I can't be too sad and reminiscent of those times when my older boys were babies.



Or can I?

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Go to www.soulemama.com to attach your own moment for today.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Firsts

The weather is warming up here in NE Wisconsin. As a result, we're experiencing many firsts this week. We're wearing shorts!! We're finding more toads (well, my boys are finding the toads) and caterpillars.



We also planted the garden.



Today, the baby discovered the sandbox and LOVED it!





And, the older boys ran through the sprinkler.


They also drank from the sprinkler...sigh.


We're keeping tabs on our strawberries too.


Summer is on its way! Hooray!

What did you do this weekend?

What did you do this weekend?

We had a busy weekend filled with birthday parties, baby showers, cooking on the grill, heading into the big city, and running.

I recently got a couple of new cookbooks. Since recently becoming a vegan, I got a new cookbook, Vive le Vegan! by Dreena Burton. I just love the title, it's so exciting!! And, the recipes all look so tasty and delicious. I made the applesauce muffins Sunday morning for breakfast. I didn't have the hemp seed nuts that the recipe called for, but they were still delicious, and vegan.

The other cookbook I received was the Tessajara Bread Book by Edward Espe Brown. I'd heard good things online about the basic bread recipes and am not knowledgeable in the art of bread-making. But, I am ready to learn. So, I read the beginning chapters, bought some yeast and was ready to bake bread!


The directions instructed me to begin by making the sponge. This step is normally skipped, but it's a good idea to begin making bread this way because the yeast has an opportunity to grow in the absence of salt and develop elasticity which would otherwise be developed during kneading. Here is what the sponge looks like:


It has the consistency of thick mud and we let it sit in a warm place, covered with a wet towel. And then it looked like this:


Nice!! I then incorporated the salt, oil, and more flour. I kneaded the bread and after it raises again, it looks like this:


Shiny, elastic, just beautiful!

It makes 2 loaves. I made 1 loaf of bread




and 1 batch of rolls.


My rolls were a little big, but still yummy.

We've been eating homemade whole wheat bread today as toast, sandwiches, and as a snack. Now that I've made the basic recipe. I'm going to branch out and try something daring and exciting...maybe cinnamon raisin bread, maybe english muffins...maybe I'll ask the boys what they want.

{this moment}

In Soulemama's words:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

go to www.soulemama.com to participate.

Have a wonderful weekend!

You do what you gotta do

My 14 month old baby is transitioning from 2 naps to 1. Right now, he's recovering from a trip out of town, teething (molars and an eye tooth), and a cold. It's difficult knowing if he needs a nap or not. I'm assuming because of the aforementioned issues, that he would have needed 2 naps today. Considering he had a relatively short nap this morning, I assumed he'd need that extra nap this afternoon...I guess I was wrong.

After I had already begun making rhubarb bread, I realized this baby would not be napping this afternoon. I hadn't begun dinner yet and time was quickly ticking away. After getting my very happy baby out of his crib and bringing him downstairs to observe me frantically finishing my bread and begin to throw something together for dinner I gave him a snack to keep him happy. I put a few puffs in a small bowl that he holds onto himself. He scooped them all up at once and put them in his mouth, looked up at me, asking for more. Too cute.

Once snack was done, he was on the prowl, to find something interesting to do. And what did he find? This:


...napkins!

Now, my former self would have stopped this fiasco before it came to this, but my new self, who knows to pick her battles now, let him have fun.


...and he had FUN!


Tossing and giggling...


and tossing some more.


He created quite the mess.


But, he did help clean up. What a good boy.

An Update

Good news!! Since my last post (written last week, posted yesterday) I have finished my sewing project for my sister! Unfortunately, it not the quilt that I've finished, but it is the bundle of wipes that she'll be needing to wipe her new baby's bottom. My oldest son chose the fabric. I think it's a nice, bright, cheerful color. And, being that we knew he was a boy, I thought the blue thread complimented the yellow nicely.


Now, just to bundle them up along with the rest of my baby clothes and send them to a beautiful baby boy! Happy hiney wiping!

Not Me! Monday

Go to www.mycharmingkids.net to participate in Not Me! Monday and read some of the other bloggers who have linked up with their fun stories.

I wrote this post last week but wasn't able to post it. So, here it is this week!

It's my second Not Me! Monday post. Yay! Actually, I'm not really writing this on Sunday. Nope! Not me! I'm never prepared in advance. Really, I'm not.

I never procrastinate. Never! And, that's why I haven't finished some of my sewing projects that are for my sister. You see, she's pregnant. She's due in 3 days and actually called me last night, thinking maybe she was beginning to go into labor. I haven't heard from her this morning (it is really Sunday as I'm writing this) so either she's still in labor or she's sleeping (since she lives in CA and it's just now 8:15am there). Anyway, I got off track. I have one more small, quick, easy project that probably will take me 20 minutes at most to finish up. Have I completed it so she can have all of her gifts from me before her baby is born? Nope! I haven't! Not me!

I always finish my projects in a timely manner. There's no way I'd wait years to finish a quilt for her either! I didn't buy beautiful Batik fabric so many years ago that I can't even remember how long it's been.

sigh...not me...