Olivia wants to be a Mom

Olivia, like me, was born ready to be a mother. You know the type: Those little girls that are pros at swaddling baby dolls before they are potty trained. They love to boss, love to take care of others, love to be the first on the scene when something happens. The child loves babies!

Today, while we were eating lunch she commented on how much fun it was to see Amelia growing in my belly. I could tell that she was thinking about something and a few seconds later she said, "Well. I've decided that I'm ready." At first I thought she was saying that she was ready for Amelia to be born, but then she finished her thought with, "I'm ready to get pregnant!"



After I gave myself the heimlich and stopped choking on my pasta salad I said, "Well, Olivia. Why are you ready now?"

"I really need someone who I can boss around without getting in trouble. If I boss my sisters I get in trouble and Isaiah won't listen to me!"

I gave a bit of a laugh and said, "Well, I think you'd better wait until you have a few more reasons than that. Having a baby inside you is a tough job. AND, when they come out they are a LOT of work!"
All she said was, "Hmm."

Wow. I'm not ready for this...=)

Happy 101 to Leslie's Little Smittles!!

Whoa! I missed saying anything about my last post being my 100th. I should celebrate with cake, I think. That's probably just my pregnant brain telling me to make any excuse to eat something.=)

We've been passing around yucky coughs and snots lately. I finally got Isaiah on an antibiotic since it'd been three months and his nose still hadn't cleared up and he'd been coughing. My kids are rarely sick, and usually don't require a Rx, but this time I decided that he needed some help to kick this cold or sinus infection or whatever it is.

So, being in the heart of the south we don't get much winter weather. I mean, it's cold to us when it's 30 degrees, but as far as serious cold or winter precipitation we just don't ever deal with that. Until this winter. It's been really cold and snowing a lot. I love the winter weather for several reasons, but mostly because it means that manly is home with us! I also like the fresh look of everything covered in WHITE! So pretty and soft and quiet. The kids like the winter weather because of momma's homemade hot cocoa. That stuff is GOOD! I use this recipe to make chocolate syrup, warm the milk in the microwave for 2 minutes, add three mini marshmallows, and serve. SO yummy! You can also use it for Chocolate milk and as an added boost to your coffee. I mean, I usually just drink it straight out of the bottle...Kidding...welll....It's the pregnant brain that made me do it that ONE time...=) The thing I love about this recipe is that it's stuff we usually already have at home.

I also made a DELICIOUS banana bread recipe with the kids the other day. Olivia had been reading from one of her books and brought it to me to ask if we could make it. Since I've been in the mood to increase my baking skills lately(I can cook with the best of them, but baking is NOT my thing) I decided that we would indeed tackle the bread. It's a very easy recipe:

Big Bird's Banana Bread

3 peeled ripe bananas

3/4 cup honey

1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Oil bread pan(we used our pampered chef heart-shaped spring form since it was a treat for daddy and close to Valentine's day)
• Mash bananas in large bowl.
• Melt butter and add to bananas.
• Add in other ingredients.
• Stir until mixed together.
• Pour into pan.
• Bake for one hour.

We added chopped nuts to the top of half of ours.

I love this recipe for me and the kids because it has no added sugar, but it doesn't lack good taste. It's really good, really moist, and actually pretty healthy. Enjoy!

It's Monday. That means laundry day and school. I just heard my dryer finish and Olivia is working through a tough math lesson. Time for me to get going.

Have a great day! Soak it up! This is your life!

OH, and Happy 101 to Leslie's Little Smittles!=)

KK la May May

Emma Claire loves food. Loves it. It seems she likes the thought of food more than actually eating, but that girl has thoughts of sugarplums dancing through her head ALL THE TIME! At one point I even talked to the doctor about her in fears of her having OCPD only for him to tell me she just liked food! Ha!

When she wakes up the first thing she says every morning is, "What are we gonna have for breakfast?" Either while she is eating or shortly after she asks, "I wonder what we'll have for morning snack?" Usually by 11 she's asking what we'll have for lunch. Then as soon as she's up from nap she's ready for afternoon snack. As soon as she hears the pans start to clang at 4PM she runs in to investigate and see what we are having for lunch. If you ever say anything about food, or cookies, or dessert. or ANY food you have her full attention.

She can smell food on your breath, in the car after we've had take out, and even from another room. This child just LOVES food. It makes me laugh and a little worried at the same time...

She's always talking about when she grows up what she's going to eat and how much she's going to eat. She'll say things like, "WELL! When I'm a woman I'm going to have Papa John's EVERY day!" and "When I don't live here any more EVERY day is going to be cinnamon roll day!" Scotty will just smile and say, "You sure could!" I usually just ignore her for now. If this is still going on in later years I may start to really worry, but for now, it's her thing...

She doesn't actually EAT much. Not many veggies. Nothing that's mixed up. No butter. No eggs. No cheese. No colas. She was the baby that would spit baby food across the room and refuse to eat. She went for months without eating until she was so hungry she'd FINALLY eat what we gave her. She's picky, yet she still wants to eat all the time.

I'm praying recently that she'll become hungry for the word of God. I'm praying that the same passion she has for food she will develop for a relationship with Christ. She is, for sure, a passionate child, and I can't wait to see her passion for Jesus. She is already so knowledgeable. We're just waiting for the right time for her to be ready to accept Jesus as her savior.

Winter Fun!

So, if you are like me and many other mothers for that matter you're counting down the days until you can load up the littles and make a trip to the local park in the warm sunny weather! It's so hard to pass the days when it's too cold to go outside and play.
I thought today I'd give you an idea of what we do when we just need SOMETHING to do.
The Insiders Scoop-Winter Crafts
Today you'll be making a colorful winter sun catcher!

• First take a muffin pan and fill the cups half-way with water.
• Next drop in a few drops of food coloring to each cup. The more colors the better.
• Place the muffin pan in the freezer until completely frozen.

• Next fill a pie pan 1/3 full of water.
• Get the frozen muffin pan out and crack them into the pie pan.
• Insert a cup(we used a sippy) half-full of water into the pie pan to be used later.

• Once all the ice cubes are in the pie plate fill until all cubes are covered with water.
• Freeze several hours or overnight.
• Dip pie plate in warm water for only a moment then pop out.
• Remove cup.
• Use hole to hang with ribbon.
• Hang from tree and watch the beautiful colors come to life.

  
  

It will actually last a few days especially if it's really cold.=)

Got Threads?

I've recently been following Money Saving Mom. I love that her site doesn't just have coupons. She's got lots of freebies and other good deals and information. I'd recommend that you add her feed to your subs.
Yesterday she posted a link to ThredUp.

I'm wondering if any of you have ever used or heard of anyone using it for kids stuff. You all probably know that I am the queen of consignment. Our kids wear mostly used name-brand clothing. It looks like you go online, pick out a box of clothes, pay a really low price, then when you are ready, you post your own box. Looks like a really great deal.
Anyway, I wanted to be sure and pass this idea along. Let me know if you decide to use it and how it goes!