Best Mom EVER

It's official, This girl right here, has been deemed BEST MOM EVER. Thank you, Thank you.

 Over the past few months, we've made each kid a pinterest board and scoured the internet for inspiration for their bedrooms. We started with Sprouts room, cause he has a serious "Nobody loves me" complex.

Here is a before shot of the room.

 The blue paint was so bright it was blinding. We had to actually nail on the baseboards and caulk around them (There was like one nail per wall, they were practically just leaning against the wall). Those closet doors were new, and they had just set them there. They are about 2 inches too long, and you couldn't even budge them. The blue was all over the edge of the ceiling and the baseboards.

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 We kept the blue for the stripe, no sense in doing more work than is necessary. Now it still has a lot of fun color, but it's not so blinding. There is a 3rd poster: Guardians of the Galaxy, but I couldn't fit it in the picture.

 We made these out of the cheapest thin wood I could find at the store.  We had fun doing them, I of course can see all of the imperfections in them, but he's so proud of them.

This was my first major vinyl project I did using my silhouette cameo. I seriously love it. It was pretty hard to get up there, I'm sure it'll get easier. When I was done, I stepped down to see that the BATMAN in the middle is crooked, (and I may have cried just a little bit over that) but he loves it so, it'll do.

I had a major accident in this room, and was sure I had destroyed his brand new carpet!  I was painting the baseboards, and hurrying to have it done before I had to pick Sprout up from school. I had set the can of paint on the carpet at the end of the bed. Well, when I got to the other side of the bed I shoved it out of the way and finished the room. When I stood up to leave (with just 5 minutes to be to the school) I discovered that I had knocked over the paint can when I had shoved the bed. Literally a whole can of white paint had spilled and had been soaking into the carpet for probably 15 minutes.

This was what I posted on facebook:

If you text your husband "oh my gosh. Huge emergency. Call me asap" he will assume someone has drowned. Then when you tell him that no, you only spilt a whole gallon of paint on the carpet, he'll be so relieved that someone isn't dead, he won't even be mad, and he'll suggest we go area rug shopping. True story:(

Fortunately, I have to help people through this situation over the phone quite often. Spilled paint, what do you do first? Call the carpet cleaners. So I knew what to do, but I HAD to go get the kids. So I soaked a towel and layed it over it and then ran out the door. When I got home I went to work with my shop-vac. I had to scoop up as much of the paint as I could, then I just started pouring water on it and sucking it out with the shop-vac. I filled the shop-vac twice I used so much water. Shockingly I got it all out. I can tell that that spot has a lighter tint to it, but no one else can. If anything else, it just looks cleaner in that area. 

Total cost with the new bedding was just under $150. Not bad, and I have one happy kid.  Next up, one seriously FROZEN little girls room!

Preparedness post #2 APPLESAUCE

I'm working on #6 today, although it encompasses #5 as well. 

 

1. Child ID cards. They started these at the fair. I just need to find them. And finish them.

2. Water storage

3. Food storage

4. 72 hour kits

5. Work on using more of the whole grains I do have stored, more home made items.

6. Canning

7. Gardening

8. Composting

9. Financial Preparedness

10. Medical/First Aid Supplies

 

My local produce store had apples for $.48/lb and so I went and stocked up on 21lbs!  They were gala which are one of my favorites cause they are so crisp.   So today we busted out some applesauce. 

 

Applesauce is so easy that even a 4 year old can do it. We peeled and cored all our apples. Then we cooked them in the biggest pan we could find. I had to break it into two batches. Note to self: buy big stock pot.  Instructions I found online said to add only 1 cup of water to the pot, which I thought surely would cause the apples to burn/stick, but they didn't and soon started to break down their own liquid. I added cinnamon and a little agave nectar for some added sweetness. I'm thrilled that it turned out sweet on its own, but because my kids are used to store bought applesauce and it's made with corn syrup (at least the one I had in my fridge was) they like it SWEET. If I can get them used to this level of sweetness, I'll probably leave out the agave on the next go round. I decided to puree it in my blender. Sprout has some serious issues with texture, and if he finds even a lump, he will not ever eat it again. Then we put it in the jars and gave it a water bath. I love hearing all the little "pings" as it seals. Music to my ears:)   I got 13 pint jars! 

 

 

Preparedness Post #1- HOMEMADE SANDWICH BREAD

So here were my 10 goals from the preparedness fair. I'm working on #5 today:

1. Child ID cards. They started these at the fair. I just need to find them. And finish them.

2. Water storage

3. Food storage

4. 72 hour kits

5. Work on using more of the whole grains I do have stored, more home made items.

6. Canning

7. Gardening

8. Composting

9. Financial Preparedness

10. Medical/First Aid Supplies

Over the last few years I have been trying to make from scratch as much as possible, rather than buy it from the store. I tried homemade laundry soap. It was ok, don't know if I'll do it again. I tried homemade dishwasher soap and didn't like that. I've tried tortillas, just ok, I've tried pita bread, also just ok. But I've had successes too, and this is one I wanted to share.

I have had one too many late night or early morning runs to grocery store to buy bread for the boys lunches because I forgot I used the last slice. Also, Sprout doesn't like store bought bread, and I have to cut the crust off, so I usually use a hamburger bun for him.  Up to this point, any whole wheat bread I've made was better used as a hockey puck then for a sandwich. But I learned from a friend that WHITE WHEAT is the way to go, when she made 100% whole wheat cinnamon rolls that were melt in your mouth fluffy. Turns out all of the wheat I bought from the LDS cannery is red wheat, but I have 2 big 5 gallon buckets that I bought from somewhere else that are white wheat. Also, thanks to the Blendtec I just splurged on, I can grind wheat in my blender now, rather than having to break out the beast of a wheat grinder that I got handed down to me.  So I set out to find a recipe, and thanks to pinterest I found this one from An Oregon Cottage.

Soft 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

• 6 to 6-1/2 c. whole WHITE wheat flour
• 2-1/2 c. warm water (between 105-110 degrees)
• 1-1/2 TB instant active dry yeast (not rapid rise) – regular active dry yeast can be used as well
• 1/3 c. honey
• 1/3 c. oil
• 2-1/2 tsp. salt
• 1-1/2 TB. vital wheat gluten- OPTIONAL (I don’t use this anymore)

1. Combine water, yeast and 2 cups of the flour in a mixing bowl. Set aside to sponge for 15 minutes.
2. Add honey, oil, salt, (gluten if using), and 4 cups of flour. Mix until dough starts to clean sides of bowl. Change to dough hook (or turn out to knead by hand), and knead 6 to 7 minutes (10 by hand). Add only tablespoons of flour if dough sticks to sides, being careful not to add too much.
3. Form into two loaves and place in greased 9×5″ pans. Allow to rise in a warm place for about 60 minutes (1-2 inches above pans). Preheat oven to 350 ten minutes before rising time is done.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, rotating halfway through if needed.
5. Immediately remove from pans to cool on a rack.

Makes 2 loaves

Seriously, it's like the most beautiful loaf of bread ever!  The best part is my kids love it. In fact, I ran out and had to use store bought bread for their lunches and they both asked me to not do that again!  Yay for small victories:)

So, maybe Motherhood is not for everyone...

The missus loves to play "dollies" - she likes to play dollhouse, baby dolls, barbies. She doesn't really care which kind of "dollies" we play, just as long as we do it ALL.DAY.LONG. She is a really attentive girl too. If you need something she'll get it. If you look uncomfortable, she'll fix it so you're not any longer. Sick? She'll rub your back and talk softly to you. Up till this point, I've thought she'd make a really great momma one day.

However, today, while playing dollies, she has a doll knock on the door and then asks... "Can I live with you?  My kids were annoying me, so I threw them in the hot lava. But I don't want to live alone, I'll be scared." 

Who knew?  Maybe Motherhood is not for everyone...

School woes

We moved the kids to a new school this year. I was super excited for this school, it had a STEM focus curriculum. That stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. What an awesome focus for a couple of boys who love stuff like that.

Here they are on their first day of school:  

 It was bright out. But, we've also reached the age where smiling is NOT cool. And gym shorts are. Every. Single. Day. I just roll with it.

 This kid was so excited to be the "New Kid" because "everybody loves the new kid"

They were scared to death and so brave. I was so proud of them.

I originally heard about this school about a year ago, and toyed with the idea of switching the boys there just because of the STEM program. They work with the nearby community college, they do major science type projects, I could just picture all the awesome learning that must be going on there!  So,when we moved into our current neighborhood and that was the school they were assigned to, I was totally stoked! I requested that they be put in the STEM program and they happily obliged.   That's when the fun started...

At teacher orientation this RUDE parent walks in and butts into my personal conversation I was having with the teacher.  This particular teacher was new, and the parent wanted assurance that her daughter would not fall behind and that they would still be doing 7th grade work. SAY WHAT?? This is 6th grade, and my son has not yet learned 6th grade things. Like math. How does one just skip a whole year of math?  One doesn't. One is very very confused when this happens.  Then we go to meet the 3rd grade teacher. We address our new concerns with her. Will he be learning 4th grade math?  Yes, turns out he will. Turns out, STEM is a highly advanced class, that you typically have to test into. SAY WHAT??

Basically, I just threw my boys into a pool of sharks, tossed in a fresh, juicy raw steak and said "Have a nice day!"

We tried, we tried really hard for 6 weeks. Then the boys brought home progress reports. C's, D's, and even an F.  I knew they were both having a rough go of it. But the progress reports shocked me. What was worse was that they were a total shock to me. Not a single teacher had reached out and said, Hey you, Your kids are drowning here! Not a single one. Not once had I received any kind of "This is what we're working on" notes or emails (that's what the old school did). They never had homework, so I never even knew what they were learning. To say we were frustrated was an understatement.

I marched my butt over to the old school and was prepared to beg for my boys spots back, turns out, no begging was required and they said they could start tomorrow.  I took two happy boys to school today. Happy to see old friends, happy to talk to teachers who are willing to work with me. Happy. They are HAPPY for the first time in 6 weeks.

Several times over the last 6 weeks, I've asked myself what am I supposed to learn here?  Today, I thought of a story told my (I believe) Elder Holland. He tells of a trip with his son, where they came to a fork in the road and didn't know which road to take. They prayed and both felt strongly to take the path on the left. After just a few minutes, they came to a clear dead end. They turned around and instead went down the right path. His son asked him, why would the Lord clearly tell us to go down the wrong path?  After some thought, Elder Holland said that he thought the Lord sent them down the wrong path first so that they knew for certain that the right path was in fact the RIGHT path. If I would have kept them at the old school, I would have always been wondering what they could miss out on at this fancy, science-y, school. I would have always wondered what potential they were missing out on. But instead, I now know that they are in the right place, and any doubts I would have ever felt, will now be replaced with assurances.

My boys have not missed an opportunity to tell me that I should have listened to them from the beginning. Being the very mature parent that I am, I stick my tongue out at them and kindly tell them to shut it.

Preparedness Fair

Our stake has a seriously awesome Preparedness Fair every year, and every year it succeeds in making me feel terrible. We will surely not last long if a major disaster strikes. I was not the only one totally over-whelmed though. I guarantee you that!

They have a website if you'd like info. Peoria Stake Preparedness Fair

This year they had the police there, and my kids thought it'd be so funny to get a picture of me "behind bars"

Dear Lord, may this be the only time they see the inside of a cop car. Please and Thanks!

There is so much that I need to work on, so I'm making a list and hope to make some progress, using this blog for accountability:)

1. Child ID cards. They started these at the fair. I just need to find them. And finish them.

2. Water storage

3. Food storage

4. 72 hour kits

5. Work on using more of the whole grains I do have stored, more home made items.

6. Canning

7. Gardening

8. Composting

9. Financial Preparedness

10. Medical/First Aid Supplies

I'll keep you posted.