Mom in training

So you would think after 16 years I would be getting better at this.  I think in some ways I am, I have definitely become a better baker, better at planning quick dinners, better at accepting I am a soccer mom and free cab service.  At this point in my life I have fixed hundreds of boo-boos, planned dozens of birthday celebrations, made countless sugar-free valentines, attended countless soccer games, snapped thousands of candid shots and made more meals in one day than should be necessary.  So what have I learned? Well here are a few of my mommy lessons so far:

1.  Don't ever start any project with the kids you aren't prepared to finish and clean up yourself
2.  Don't ever adopt any pet that you don't want to be your own
3.  Never stop saying I love you
4.  Don't forget to stop and really listen to your kids
5.  Don't get your feelings hurt when you try new recipes
6.  Counting to 10, 50 or 100 doesn't always work, when in doubt move to wine
7.  Always bring a change of clothes... for everyone
8.  Pack snacks, no matter how short your trip is, seat belts always cause hunger pains
9.  When things are too quiet something is usually wrong
10.  Make time for yourself

I am certain that child rearing is the most exhausting and rewarding experience in human existence.  It surprises me that there really is no formal training for this task.  You have to practice and test for so many things in life: driver's license, school, degree, work, CPR.  You need a license to own a pet, get married, practice medicine, law, accounting even sell real estate.  Yet you don't need more than functioning ovaries to become a mom.  There is no test, no training, no instructions and no follow ups.  You are basically winging it from the day they place that baby in your arms at the hospital to the day... you take your last breath?  Sometimes I laugh at the way we raised the first one, so far so good, but seriously the first one is like a guinea pig.  Lucky enough to be surrounded by other humans who would say, "I don't think she should eat that yet" or "that looks a lot like chicken pox".  If it weren't for these albeit sometimes annoying words of wisdom who knows if the first one would have even made it to age 5.  But she thrived and lucky for me is now old enough to help me with the other two.  Such a protective big sister, I jokingly tell her I know she will never let me keep her future children because I am just too much of a laid back mom.  I am comfortable letting my kids explore, sometimes they get dirty, sometimes they get bug bites, sometimes they fall down.  And sometimes they discover a killdeer nest in their very own backyard, sometimes they fall down and learn how to get up, sometimes they learn to swing all by themselves and every time they share their new experience with excitement and smiles.  Ah yes, these are the little wonders that make it all worth the stretch marks, wrinkles, sleepless nights, grown out hair color and hang nails.  The big hugs from tiny people, the "I missed you" and "I love you
", the best for me of course is the "that is really cool" and "you need to make that again".  These moments beat out all the likes on FB, Instagram & twitter; being cool to your kids is so much better than being cool to your social media friends.  Even knowing that in a few short moments your next "No" will turn you immediately into the worst villain from any Disney movie.  10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Chardonnay.

Mom Stuff including Cloud Dough

So an unseasonably warm day today and being off from work, took us on an afternoon adventure!  Lately my little girls have kept me so busy I can barely squeeze in a shower, so it takes extra effort to remember to add a little fun into their days.  Of course they manage to keep my days filled with fun, from cereal mashed into the carpet and our toddler cramming all her magnetic letters into the toaster!  Of course Audrey is growing up so fast, she asks questions most days I can't even answer.  Today she asked me why when the car is moving everything look so fast out the side windows but not out the front window...huh...good question!

But back to our day, we picked up our friend Holden after school and headed to the library.  Funny that school age kiddos don't really understand what "library voices" are.  After picking out some fun books and movies we headed to the park behind the library and made "Cloud Dough".  About 4 other kids from the park decided to join our dough making experiment, huge mess=total success! I got so into it, I forgot to take a picture of the aftermath.  Because of the baby oil, it not only feels cool but smells awesome too! We wrapped up our evening with a five star meal at McDonald's.  If I was a first grader, I would say best afternoon ever.
Cloud Dough Recipe

A year in the making

I can't believe it has been 10 months since my last post! As Christmas draws near I realize I have so many things to be thankful for this year.  A healthy family of three beautiful girls, a husband who loves me no matter how crazy I can get, a job I don't dread going to each day and true happiness.  This year I have been blessed in so many ways that it must have flowed over into my Christmas decorating! Tonight I was able to mimick a little idea I saw online while internet shopping so I thought I would share.  My inspiration this year was music as our newest family member, Natalie has brought so much to our family.  Her laugh is exactly like music to our ears.  More fun than the joy I have with her is seeing my husbands face light up when she smiles and squeals "Da-da".   Our first family project involved shredding music sheets and stuffing into glass bulbs to hang on the tree, we made hangers with red and silver ribbon.  I ran across a project for Christmas trees made from music paper that I made from the music sheets I had left from our ornanment project.
My final project tonight (pics attached) was the easiest of all and tied the rest together beautifully.  I was able to find free music sheets online and simply copied them to a Powerpoint slide and added text from the lyrics in red over the sheets, framed them in some frames I had laying around and wal-lah, instant art! Hope you and yours have a blessed holiday season.
Love,
Karen

Treasurers

Today I was thinking about geocaching, though I have never tried it I love the idea of hidden treasures and the hunt for them. As I move into the beginning of my third year of blogging I hope that within these posts one day my children and grandchildren will find some treasures of their own within these pages. 
This morning I made my all time favorite blueberry muffin recipe, I try to refrain from blogging about food unless it is something spectacular, this one is too good not to share.

Alienated Blueberry Muffins          recipe from Allrecipes.com

Makes 12

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons margarine
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease muffins tins, or line cups with paper liners.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons flour over blueberries, and stir to coat berries thoroughly.
In a small bowl, whisk together 1 cups flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream margarine, and gradually mix in sugar.
Beat egg, and stir into creamed mixture along with vanilla.
Stir in milk alternately with flour mixture, mixing well after each addition.
Fold in berries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 25 minutes.

I like to add 2 tbs ground flax seed to the flour mixture and sprinkle the muffins with cinnamon and sugar before baking for a crunchy top.  If you use frozen blueberries, don't worry about thawing just rinse with water so the flour will stick.  Yum!

T-Shirts

Friday night the girls and I decided to play around with contact paper stencils.  Bailey helped Audrey come up with an idea, this one is Love, Peace & Happiness.  Bailey drew and I cut out the stencil for Audrey and she got to painting, she had the idea to add a bow to the smiley and polka dots to the peace sign. It turned out really cute, Audrey has since decided that she would prefer her shirt be short sleeves so today I will be cutting the arms off her artwork!

Natalie Jane Kastner

Our tiny angel joined the family on October 21st around 1:30PM.  Natalie weighed in at 7.7lbs and 20 inches long.  She was greeted promptly by Mommy, Daddy and Big Sis Bailey in the delivery room!

Audrey started her first season of soccer this fall.  The biggest surprise was when 'Dad' decided to volunteer to be her team's coach.  We have spent most of the last few months running to and from Bailey and Audrey's practices.  Lots of fun and new friends made a fun season!