Pancake Breakfast

Over the weekend we had a sleepover party with my niece, Sienna and my nephew, Tavian. Normally if I were hosting guests, even little ones, I like to plan ahead. I buy special snacks and set up fun things for us to do to get in full party mode with the kids. Kinda silly, but always fun. This sleepover was sort of a last minute decision since the kids were already over and begging, so I had to wing it. Since it was just about dinner time once we decided they'd be staying the night, I quickly got a hold of Eric on his way home from work so that he could pick up pizza, followed by ice cream while we snuggled up for a movie. I figured I'd make a big pancake breakfast in the morning to continue the sleepover fun. Once I looked in the cabinet, I realized I didn't have the usual pancake mix I keep on hand. There it is, another confession - I make pancakes from a box. But, my box was gone and now I was left pancake-less. Rather than pour everyone a bowl of cereal, I decided to do a little googling to find out just what it takes to make real pancakes...you know, the non-box kind. So, I did. Turns out it's pretty easy and just as it happens with every homemade recipe I take on, I can't believe I was making it from a box!!! 

After looking over a handful of recipes and reading some reviews, I decided to go with a whole wheat pancake. Not only do I like the taste of whole wheat, but I figured I might as well bump up the health factor too. For the kiddos I dropped in some mini chocolate chips to better my chances they'd eat them! They came out SO good and even the little ones were begging for seconds! I was desperately hoping some fresh berries would appear out of thin air because a simple syrup drizzle was only leaving me wanting more. Don't get me wrong, they were great...but fresh berries on a whole wheat pancake - YUM! 

I highly recommend that you grab all the ingredients, along with some syrup, berries...maybe even some whipped cream and a little side of bacon...and then make a big pancake breakfast this weekend! Also, they freeze great too! We had leftovers that we popped in the toaster for a round two breakfast the next day! Enjoy!!

Whole Wheat Pancakes

2 cups whole wheat flour

4 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp sugar

2 large eggs

2 cups + 2 tbsp fat free milk

2 tsp vanilla

Add ins - nuts, fruit, chocolate chips, etc

Mix all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix through (but not too much)

Heat a large skillet on medium. Coat with cooking spray. Pour mix on pan to desired size. If using add ins, drop them in now before flipping. When edges start to cook and bubbles form on top, flip to finish opposite side. Add your toppings of choice and enjoy!

PS. You can find this recipe and other great healthy meals here!

Missing You

I just wanted to share a little story with you because, one - I still can't believe it just happened. And two - it's a really cool story. It all stems from this song below...listen if you'd like.

This song is one that my friends and I have heard often over the last eleven years. Eleven years, because that's how long it's been since my friend Quazie passed away. You may have heard or read where I've mentioned Quazie now and then, but if not I'll catch you up quickly. Quazie was a name we called my friend Ryan King back in our school days. Today marks eleven years since he passed suddenly from an inflammation of the heart due to an allergic reaction...nobody knew it was coming and it took my friend out of nowhere. We were shocked and saddened and his friends and family grieved that loss tremendously. At Quazie's services back when we were just sixteen, you could hear this song playing and it was perfectly suited for who he was. Still just listening to it brings me back to that day. 

This morning Quazie's mother posted on Facebook about eleven years having gone by and I responded by simply writing, "Til the day we meet again, in my heart is where I'll keep you friend. Love ya! xo" because she and any others who know the weight of this song will realize those lyrics when they see them. Now I wouldn't normally share those personal sentiments so blatantly like I just did...but there's more. As I sat at home today, I kept finding myself reminiscing about my friend. It's been a sad day and I decided to sit down at the computer and look up an old video of that song, 'Missing You'. After I played it a few times, I decided to bury my tears in some cookies. As I started to bake I planned to deliver these cookies to Quazie's family as a secret little 'thinking of you' gift to leave at their door. (which isn't a secret anymore I realize, but this story serves a better purpose than the secret) After I finished baking, I packed them up with a baby blue ribbon - Quazie's signature color, you could say. Then I signed on to my Facebook, and posted this...

"Til the day we meet again, in my heart is where I'll keep you friend"

Nap time ended and I loaded my munchkins into the car to head out for our special delivery. As I'm driving towards their home and explaining to the boys where we're going, Owen says, "Hey Ma, can we get some kids music in hea?" ..."Not right now Owen, let Mama listen to some music." And I turned on the radio to the new 'throwback' station I've been hooked on. A commercial finishes up and then.... 'Missing You' begins to play. My mouth fell to the floor. Really? Right here, right now, this song??? I couldn't figure out whether to laugh or cry, so I did both. I listened to that song as I laughed and cried all the way to Quazie's families home. Yes, that just happened. If you ask me, someone was looking down on me today and wanted me to know it. And because that moment turned my 'sad day' a whole lot less sad, I thought I'd share it with you and maybe it'll do the same.

"Til the day we meet again...in my heart is where I'll keep you friend"

The Family Bed

Ohhh, the family bed... If you've been reading my posts regularly, you've probably gathered that we do have somewhat of a family bed. But not really by choice. While a family bed can be great for some people, I think we'd prefer to just see our family in their own beds. So, what's the problem then? Well... The truth is - we're tired. Really tired. It would be great to have our bed all to ourselves as an escape from our little monsters, but it just isn't so. Every now and then we've put our foot down and said, "This is it. Tonight you will not come in our bed!" ...but as the middle of the night approaches and Eric and I are exhausted, we hear that pitter patter of little feet tip-toeing down the hall and feel them quietly sliding into their designated spots, turning it into the 'family bed'. And to be completely honest, I just don't have the energy to put up a fight. Call me a pushover if you'd like, I know. I could be more firm and lay down the law. But most nights I just find it easier to curl up in my little corner with a dog snuggled in behind my knees, a three year old nestled in my back, and a five year old resting his little head along my feet. Oh, and my husband in there somewhere too. Let me just say, thank God that little Gavin sleeps in his crib. Thank God!

Anyways, yesterday Eric decided that he'd had enough. Again. He announced that the boys would be sleeping in their own beds all night, no matter what. Ugh. Although I appreciate his intentions, that really kinda stinks for me too. This meant it was going to be a LONG night for all of us. But, he was right. Our boys are getting bigger - and our bed is not. All day Eric reminded them what was coming and they went back and forth between moments of whining and determination. Mostly whining. Then they'd start in with all the things they think would help...a chart, a light, some music, new pictures for the wall, new pillows....you get it. In past attempts to kick these boys out we've actually entertained all of these ideas at some point. Needless to say it hasn't worked so this time all bets were off. "No. Nothing. Everything is fine and there's no reason why you can't do it. No negotiations this time!" ...And more whining.

Night time came and they went to sleep in their beds perfectly fine, as always. Then just as Eric and I head off to bed, pitter patter. "NO! Back to bed!" Ughhhhh. And so it carried on throughout the night. Constant ups and downs from both us and them. Tucking in, consoling, yelling, crying. (I'll let you decide who did which) What. A. Long. Night. BUT, we did it. We stuck to our guns and didn't let them in our bed. Granted we're all beyond tired and crabby today, but at least we did it, right? Hopefully we can stick to it this time and reclaim our bed once and for all! 

Wish us luck for tonight!

PS. That cute 'family bed' picture on top - NOT how we look at night :P 

Ta-dah!! (more pallets)

Well, we did it!! Did what? We made a pallet coffee table!!! (Remember the pallets from this post?) Last weekend after our little getaway, my wonderful in-laws offered to take our three munchkins for an overnight. After we hurried to pack their bags thought about it for a bit, we dropped them off and headed home for some much needed Eric and Lynden time! We were pretty exhausted from being away so we decided to lay low at home. A case of beer, bottle of wine, bag of doritos and a couple of pallets later and here's what we came up with!

There's our before pic, which wasn't really the beginning because Eric had already cut and sanded them and I think we had already done a light coat of stain on them too...See, I'm not meant to be a diy blogger because I forget to take pictures as I go, I'm more of a 'ta-dah' blogger. 

Sooooo....

Ta-Dahhhh!!!!

PS. Thanks for a wonderful date night Bub! Building tables with you is everything I hoped it would be and more!! xx

Ragamuffin.

My littlest monster of all, Gavin, has been growing out his do for quite some time now and I've been having a hard time parting with it. I know it's normal for mother's to have a difficult time with their baby's first hair cut, but we've actually had a handful of haircuts in his short 20 months. It's been about six months or so since the last and I guess I've sort of reattached to that baby hair again. I've been debating the whole 'to cut or not to cut' scenario a while and I always choose the latter. I just love that messy bed head look and running my fingers through during our special moments too. Eric pushes the issue from time to time, but mostly just to give me a hard time, he really doesn't care either way. But lately...lately he just kinda looks like a ragamuffin. While I love that little ragamuffin look, I guess I started questioning whether it was cute or just a big mop on his head. I decided it was probably more of a mop and the time had come to clean up that mess of hair. 

When Eric stopped home for lunch yesterday, I mentioned my wavering decision and he took that as a 'go ahead' and scooped our little ragamuffin up and brought him right to our barber shop, the bathroom. Gav sat on the toilet while Eric took to him with the clippers. I stayed out for a while and when I finally did make my way to peek, I couldn't. I stood there in the doorway with my hands over my eyes saying, "I can't even deal, I can't look!" and Eric and the kids laughed at my drama. Finally, I peeked through my fingers and gasped! "My poor baby has no hair!!!" I watched it fall all over the floor and teared up for a minute, then moved on to making silly faces and squeals to keep him busy while Eric finished up. Afterwards we had to throw him in the tub to wash up and he kept patting his head and we'd say, "Where'd your hair go?" which made him laugh. "All gone!" And it was...and that's okay, because now my cute little ragamuffin is just - cute! See!!