The Breakfast of Champions...

...was not served at our house this morning. No Wheaties, no pancakes, not even a piece of toast. No, what you see here is not the remnants of a healthy morning meal. You see, I did not wake up until after 7 this morning. Didn't hear the alarm, didn't notice the bathroom light shining through my door, didn't hear the murmur of children chatting as they brushed their hair. Leah came in and said, "Mom, are you going to get up?!?" Brooke wasn't up either, and when I went in her room, she says, "Mom, I don't think I can get ready in time." Well, somehow the kids did make it on the bus, but that was only because I told them to grab a CUPCAKE that I had made for snack the day before. Yes, my children had chocolate cupcakes for breakfast this morning. How great a mom am I? Ask the kids and they'll give me rave reviews today.

Here's how I justified it...is it any worse than a cinnamon roll? It has eggs, another breakfast staple, and I did substitute applesauce and a ripe banana for the oil. And, in the name of health, they were eaten sans frosting.

So there you go. Cupcakes for breakfast, Andrew had a muffin (yes just a muffin) for lunch (we were late getting back from Aldi's), and for dinner.....well who knows what might happen. I did get some ice cream at the store today.....

Stop the treadmill...I want to get off!

Catchy title, eh? This phrase kept running through my head as I was plugging away down in the basement. That, and "You're spending some time in the pain zone!" Not even Felicity and her circa 1998 college adventures could fully distract me. Felicity is a show that I never watched but knew I'd probably like...a young adult drama a la Gilmore Girls. Thanks goodness for TV shows on DVD and our wonderful library. It gives me a chance to catch up on worthwhile entertainment instead of staring at a cinderblock wall. I may have to give Dawson's Creek a try at some point to see what all the hoopla was about.

So Jill gently reminded me that I have not posted in a while and the only reason for that is there just hasn't been anything too blog-worthy going on. Read the following list of the happenings around our house and I am sure you'll agree.

• There is a 1500 piece puzzle on our dining room table that Andrew picked out for us to do. He sure does know how to think big. It is maybe 1/5 done. But we are having a family Super Bowl party at our house Sunday and we need that table. A lofty goal that I am not sure will be met. Especially when Andrew takes apart the section that is done and puts it back together just for the satisfaction of finding pieces that fit.


• Andrew noticed a cardinal in our tree on Saturday. Yay for the digital camera. He made sure to tell me that if I put it on the blog to credit him with spotting it.

• Yesterday I had to talk to Brooke about something that I knew would make her upset. I found out she had done something wrong and it needed to be discussed, but I didn't want her usual reaction of breaking down, crying, and clamming up. I said a quick prayer, and the thought that came to my mind is to write her a note telling her that we needed to talk and that she could either choose to come to me that afternoon, or we could talk about it at bedtime. It worked really well. I think it helped her to not feel attacked and to have a little bit of control over the situation. Our talk was fine and we got somethings straightened out, and then she said, "How long is this talk going to go?" That's my cue--good night, Brooke! I am just grateful to know that Heavenly Father will help us with even the littlest things!


• There is a family investigating the church and they have twin girls that are in Emma's and Leah's classes at school. The missionaries asked us (me, Glenn, Emma, and Leah) to go teach with them last night. What a great experience for Emma and Leah. I am proud of the examples they set.


• I have been trying to use my time more wisely. In my head I go from room to room thinking of what I can do to improve it (that doesn't involve a sledgehammer). Yesterday I organized the wrapping paper area in the basement. Yeah, I know that Christmas was over a month ago. Now I am not saying that the entire house if perfect, but organization-wise, I am doing pretty good. And I am getting dangerously close to starting up scrapbooking again. Yikes!!


• Tonight I am going to make a real dinner of fajitas that I am going to eat with everyone else. Lately I have been making the kids something and eating a salad later. That's fine, and I do still sit down with everyone, but I want to join in this time. I made some quick beans and rice last night to go with it.


• Emma still has a cough, but I think it's getting better. It seems to get worse at night. We have been loading her up with honey (which she now thinks makes her sleepy). We are giving her Delsym, too, which is the only OTC cough medicine I think is really worth anything. Anyway, she has been sleeping well at night (go, honey!!) and she hasn't had a fever. I just admire the fact that she can down a whole spoonful of honey without gagging.


• Brooke has been having headaches off and on for a couple weeks now. I called the TSC neurologist that we see and she is going in next week. I don't think it is anything major, since she had a clear MRI just last year, but with Nicole's experience last fall, I can't be too careful.


• And finally, I'll be back on the treadmill tomorrow.....

OK, that turned out to be a long list. But none of those things made for an interesting single post. It seems like a bunch of nothing, but I do know that there are people out there who care about my life, and even if some are still lurking out there in the blogosphere, that makes me feel good. (A shout out to Mom, Dad, and Miss Karen!) So thanks, Jill for the reminder, and remember that I care about the little things in your life, too!

Reflections on (or through?) a clean window.....

Yesterday I had a moment which I decided to clean the sliding glass door. I had not done this in a while, not just because I was avoiding the chore (I mean, who doesn't like to clean windows?) but because I hate it when the glass cleaner freezes. But I had noticed some smudges and thought I'd give it a go.

A couple of things struck me as I was scrubbing (yes, scrubbing) away. First, am I crazy to think it was unusual to have to use the kitchen scraper on the window? Yeah, whatever it was was on there good. So there I sat on the kitchen floor, scraping gunk off glass. Having burned some calories on that side of the door, I moved to the other, supposedly cleaner, side. I began to wipe, starting low, where it would make sense to find fingerprints. I stood up for a preemptory swipe of the upper half and saw a major splatter of who knows what at eye level. MY eye level. How did that happen, and how did I miss it? Where was I when that milky liquid splashed at a height above my children's heads?

Well, it's gone now, and no thanks to the Windex microfiber cleaning cloths, either. Those things are supposed to be streak-free and do the work of 12 paper towels! Ha! Do you know how long it took me to get the INSIDE of the entertainment center door clean? Give me a good Bounty paper towel any day.

As you can tell, I had moved my window-cleaning frenzy to the living room. Just a couple swipes to the various glass surfaces in the room, but I realized that I was removing evidence of my little Jenna. I got a little sad as I wiped away her little fingerprints from the TV. (Porter's were there, too but he'll be back soon.) I'm not going to get too sentimental over this--I am sure there is a country singer who has done that already. (Not a dig, I promise!!) And you know, a little elbow grease was worth it-- I have to say that last night's sunset looked amazing through my sparkling sliding glass door.

The Baker Boys

Even though I am trying really hard to be good, I decided to make one of my greatest temptations.....muffins. Here is the recipe I used.

Whole Wheat Flax Seed Muffins

1/4 C. ground flax seed
3/4 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten (I used eggbeaters)
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 C. pumpkin
3 Tbsp. applesauce
1/2 C. milk

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture and stir until blended. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

That's it! So easy and so healthy--no fat and low sugar. I actually modified a recipe that called for 1 1/2 C. chopped apples instead of the banana and pumpkin, and you could use all white flour if you don't have wheat. And I added a mini chocolate chip to make them more appealing to the kids. Yummy!!

Porter came over to have rice krispie treats made with cheerios. Andrew's idea was to make some sort of sculpture with the food, but it didn't work out, so the boys just added sprinkles, red hots, and mini chocolate chips and dug in.

I like the sprinkle on Porter's nose.

The happy chef!

Bowling and Bedrooms (title by Macey)

Yesterday was day 4 of our 4-day weekend. Andrew decided that we are going bowling. Sounds like a good idea to me. But I was envisioning a morning full of the lovely bickering and squabbling that is so prevalent in our home, and knew that would make me just want to send the kids to their rooms rather than spend money on a fun activity. I got on the treadmill and was sure that by the time I ascended the stairs I would be met with screams and shrieks. But all was quiet. Where was everybody? Are they watching TV? (always a sure way to keep them quiet) No...they were all in Emma and Leah's room, playing NICELY TOGETHER. Wow. So I jumped in the shower, absolutely positive that in that 20 (or 30) minutes all you-know-what would break loose. But still, it was quiet. They had moved downstairs, but somehow had refrained from driving each other crazy. I was quite happy to take them bowling! And they had a great time.

Brooke said she felt "uncomfortable" bowling, and shed a few tears, but she came around and ended up winning the second game. The kids were all cheering each other on and encouraging each other...so nice to hear. It was so funny to see how the girls would run back to look at the screen rather than watch the ball hit the pins. A fun winter activity, and I think everybody got at least one

Epilogue:

Don't worry, there was some fighting yesterday. I don't want to leave any of you with the false notion that we had a totally peace-filled day. That would take a miracle. I was just glad for those rare moments when I enjoyed being with my kids, not refereeing them.

And I would be remiss if I failed to mention that we rearranged Emma and Leah's bedroom on Saturday as well. Here is the new layout, we just have to work on the picture/poster arrangement.

What I have done this morning before 9:00am....

1. Got out of bed.
2. Made the kids a hot breakfast of sausage and egg sandwiches on refrigerator biscuits I baked the night before.
3. Ate my own fairly healthy breakfast worth only 3 Weight Watchers points.
4. Checked everyone's blogs and even made some comments.
5. Cleaned the kitchen and washed all the dishes, including the Foreman grill and waffle iron.
6. Vacuumed the hard floors.
7. Mopped the hard floors on my hands and knees.

What I have NOT done this morning....
1. Exercised.
2. Taken a shower.

The first list is longer and full of admirable accomplishments, considering it was lucky I even got past #1. Yet for some reason, I'm feeling really guilty about the second list. I guess there is still time to exercise, and if I do that, then I'll definitely get to that shower. Why can't I just look at the positive instead of dwelling on the negative? So I'll start by being proud that I have updated my blog by 9:06, and not worry that yesterday's bowling pictures haven't been posted yet.

An Awesome Amish Adventure, By Leah and Emma (the typing by Leah)

Well, all of the kids had school off today, so Mom took us to Amish country. It began with all of us running around the house packing things to take in the car. Emma and I brought our Webkinz and a TON of books. We all got in the car. It turned out that Emma and I didn't use our books at all! All we did on the way there was make our Webkinz dance along to music (this includes Hairspray, Wicked, and High School Musical 2 soundtracks). It took a while to get to our first stop, the Smuckers store. We were driving along when Mom saw a Smuckers sign. She turned into a parking lot after passing the sign. We all got out ( it was freezing) and went into a building. It certainly didn't look like a store. Mom asked a lady at a desk and it turned out, this was where they MAKE the stuff. We had to keep on going. Then we FINALLY saw the STORE! They also sold Pillsbury, Martha White, JIF, and Crisco. When we got inside( it was still freezing) the first thing we saw was that it was BIG. There was a HUGE sign that said " With a name like Smuckers, it has to be good" and, we found out later, was made out of about 200 to 300 cans. Mom found out her camera ran out of batteries(sorry about any inconvinience).There was a bunch of little things, like magnets and plates. Then there was the regular stuff; Pillsbury cake mix, Martha White muffin mix, JIF peanut butter, and Crisco shortening. We wound up getting some muffin tins. We wanted to get something from this cafe thingy but we hadn't had lunch. We had lunch at The Amish Door. Mom got salad, Andrew and Brooke got mac'n'cheese with fries, Emma got mac'n'cheese with mashed potatoes, and I got grilled cheese with french fries. At the end we got free cookie coins and each got a cookie, 2 chocolate chip, one m+m, one lemon (Brooke got that one). Then we headed to Grandpa's Village, which was made up of 3 stores: Grandpa's Cheesebarn, Sweeties, and Grandpa's B+B something. We only went to the first two. We got some cheese at Grandpa's Cheesebarn, and then headed over to Sweeties. There Mom let us pick something out to buy. Andrew picked out a caramel covered marshmallow thing, despite the fact that they had fudge. Brooke picked quarter of a pound of buckeyes, Emma got a quarter of a pound of peanut butter chocolate fudge, Mom got a quarter pound of mint fudge, and I got a quarter pound of moose track fudge. Then we got on the freeway to drive home( which included a nerve-wracking experience in which Mom thought she had left her purse at Sweetie's). But it was a good trip overall.