Sunshine & Rainbows

This posts come to you fresh off a little kid-free time spent at the walking track. Gramma offered to scoop up my little guys for some play time and to give Mama a break (Thanks Gramma!) and what better way to use it than to enjoy the beautiful sunshine and fresh air, right? So that's what I did! On my walk I couldn't help but reflect on life and where I'm at, where I've been, and more importantly to be grateful for all that I have. Life hasn't always been all sunshine and rainbows... I'm just as flawed as the next gal, but I keep on keepin' on and look at me now! Not perfect, but who is?

While walking I also had moments of uncertainty. Why are some things the way they are? Why are some people SO difficult? Why CAN'T the world be all sunshine and rainbows? But we all know the answer and simply put, it just isn't. Being the peace-maker, do-gooder, fixer-upper kinda girl that I am, I am wired to make things better. Not so much to physically FIX things. But more in an emotional sense. I see a broken heart and I feel a little brokenhearted too, ya know? And those times when that broken heart is my own, I tend to want pick up all the pieces and do whatever I have to do to put them back together. But what about when people won't let you fix it? What about when you can't just use a little tape or glue and make life happy again? ...Then what??

On my walk is where I started to contemplate all this and realized that here's when you need to stop trying to change other people or put things back the way they're 'supposed' to go, and change yourself. My husband always says, "Control what you can control!" And he's right. I can't control everything and everyone to keep peace and love around me, but I can control myself and how I choose to respond to these situations. Like I said, it's never going to be all sunshine and rainbows and that's just the way it is. But that isn't the be-all, end-all for happiness in the world. We take the good with the bad and we keep on going. We do our best to bring good to the world and to those around us. We love people when we can and wish them well when we can't. We take time to reflect on where we've been, where we're at and where we hope to be. We live life moving forward because that's how winning is done! Just ask Rocky...

Science

Every day after lunch I try to get some down time while my two little guys go in for a nap. Mama's need this time for lunch, a shower, or housework I've neglected all morning! But if I can manage to get all that done or decide that being clean isn't a priority, I try to squeeze in special time with my big boy, Owen! Today we did some fun science experiments and he really got into it. These are projects that were super easy, really quick, and even mess free! Owen loved that we had a fun time experimenting and I feel good about spending some one on one time! Also, these experiments are made up of simple things I already had in the house and require no prep at all. Do you have kids? Do you know kids? Grab yourself a little one and get to work! 

BUOYANCY

All you need is a carrot, a glass of water and some salt. Fill your glass with water and drop in a chunk of carrot. Watch it sink. Now slowly add salt, a spoonful or a generous pour at a time and watch what happens. Your carrot will soon float! Ta-Dahhh! 

CHEMISTRY

Gather a glass of water, an ice cube, a string, and salt. Dunk your ice cube in the glass of water and allow it to float to the top. Place one end of a string along the top of the ice. (I literally ripped one of my husbands old sweatshirt I had on) Sprinkle salt over the string and count to five. Pick up the loose end of the string and lift your ice right out of the glass. Ta-Dahhh!

VOLCANOLOGY

Grab a water bottle, red food coloring, vinegar and baking soda. Place your bottle in the sink and fill about 3/4 way full with warm water. Add a few drops of food coloring and about a 1/4 cup of vinegar. With a funnel (or a piece of paper turned funnel) drop in about a tablespoon of baking soda and watch your 'volcano' erupt. Ta-Dahhh!

Be Yourself.

If you're like me, you always open the fortune cookie. Do I eat the cookie? Not usually. But we all know it's not really about the cookie itself, it's about what's inside. Just a couple weeks ago we surprised the boys and met Eric for dinner one night. Upon receiving our bill at the end, of course came the cookies. The boys were excited to eat them but once they realized Mama was reading an important message, they were interested to see what their fortunes were too. While the messages written were a little complex, I decided to break it down in terms that they would be able to understand. I don't remember the exact phrase, but Mason's chopped up to, 'You are very brave!' and Owen's was along the lines of, 'Always be yourself!' They were pleased and mentioned their fortunes over the course of the night. Fast forward a couple weeks and there I am tucking the boys into bed last night when I said, "Owen, it's a little chilly tonight. Let me get you a shirt for bed." Mason quickly steps in, "But Mom, Daddy doesn't wear a shirt to bed!" And here's where Owen spoke up, "NO, Mason!! I can wear a shirt if I want to. Remember my fortune said BE YOURSELF!" Well, he told him now didn't he?

For starters, I was impressed that he still remembered his fortune and really took it to heart. But more importantly I was glad that he was using his voice! Not his actual 'voice', but his voice as in speaking up for himself and doing just what the fortune said, BEING himself. Owen loves loves loves his Daddy and as most little boys do, he has always wanted to be just like him. As of late we've been trying to boost his confidence a bit and remind him that being Owen is pretty awesome too! Instead of allowing him to say, "I wanna eat what Daddy eats!",  we'll ask Owen to choose first so that he has the opportunity to decide for himself. Other times when Owen speaks up Eric will encourage his choices or emphasize how it's neat that they like different things. I guess all our efforts are paying off because my big boy is finding his voice and is clearly not afraid to use it! 

Good job, Owie!

Energy, anyone?

Well, hello there stranger! It's been about a week now since the last post and I guess I could sum it up and say, 'I've been busy.' Isn't that so cliche? Yes! I know. But although that's the go-to excuse for people when they don't have a really good reason for neglecting things, sometimes it's also true. Last week the weather was beautiful in New England so we spent tons of times playing outdoors, not to mention my husband left me high and dry went out of town for work. (ha! don't tell him I said that!!) The combination of the two kept me on my toes at all times! And when I did have some down time from the munchkins I was honestly just so exhausted that all I wanted to do was either take a shower or close my eyes until the next shift set in. Can you blame me??

The night before Eric left last week we stayed up talking and I jokingly asked if he had any last bit of advice to get me through the week. He shared with me an article he read with tips about how to wake yourself up when that's the last thing you want to do. I guess with an early flight and being on the go he was worried about those sleepy eyes! One of the tips was to quickly drink a cup of coffee and then lay back and close your eyes for fifteen minutes. I didn't quite get into details but from what I gathered that's supposed to give you a little energy burst! Another one is to drink organic unfiltered apple cider vinegar. Apparently that stuff cures everything! I didn't use these tips last week but maybe the next time Eric goes out of town I'll put them to the test.

How do you stay awake when you just wanna take a nap? Do you know any good energy boosts? Share your best tips with me so I don't look like this pic below!!

Banana Banana Bread

It's no secret that I like to get down in the kitchen. I'm a big fan of baking, cooking, and when I don't know how to make things, I can even pretend to bake and cook! Last week I could feel the urge coming on and decided I'd give in and bang out some oatmeal cookies. As I started to gather my ingredients, I came to find out that I was all out of vanilla! GASP! Ugh, every bakers worst nightmare!!! And because running to the store for one item with three children is WAY more work than I wanted to put into these cookies, I decided not to bake after all. But the itch wouldn't go away...I just had to bake!! (Are you loving this dramatic recollection of my baking predicament? Because I'm digging it! Ha!) After throwing back my cabinet doors and scouring the kitchen for some kind of sign that baking was still possible, I happened to notice the bananas laying on the counter. YES!!! Bananas! And I knew it would be perfect because I remembered from my old Banana Bread Recipe that I didn't need vanilla! Yayyy for banana bread! So, instead of jumping  on the blog and pulling up the last recipe, I decided to google away and find another one to try. There are certain recipes, mostly ones that were passed down from family, that I stick to and try not to change because  they're just that good. But others that I came up with while scrolling around the web sometimes leave me feeling a little less than satisfied. Or even if they are up to par, I can't help but think they need a little something more. This time I ended up finding an easy recipe over on All Recipes and decided that this was right up my alley. Just a handful of ingredients, and no call for vanilla? Sounded perfect! After dinner we all sat around eating banana bread and my children were in banana heaven. Does that exist? I couldn't blame them because it ended up being the best banana bread I've ever made! And because it was that good, I even made the effort to hunt down the most brown and squishy bananas at the store over the weekend so that I could give it another try yesterday morning. Good news is, it was just as great the second time around! Wanna try? 

Banana Banana Bread

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)

3/4 cup brown sugar 

2 eggs, beaten

2 1/3 cup overripe bananas, mashed (I used 3, minus the piece Gavin ate)

Preheat oven to 350f. Grease 9x5 loaf pan. In large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Mix in eggs and mashed bananas. In separate bowl, (ahem, here's where I rebel and put them together, but don't because I'm sure the reasons are logical) combine dry ingredients...flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into wet inredients and pour into loaf pan. Bake for about one hour, or until inserted knife comes out dry. (Tip: If the top starts to get too brown before the inside is done, cover with foil.) Remove from oven and let stand to cool. Flip over and slice, and if you're like my family - spread with butter! Ta-dahhh!!!