Attempting to be a Super Mom

Wow, there's a lot.  We've all been just a tad under the weather here.  It's alright though.  It hasn't been too bad and it's probably just allergies.  Lots of pollen right now. My little brother, Andy, came out and stayed with us for a few days right before school started.  He hadn't gotten to stay with me in quite some time and we had lots of fun.  Ben was so upset when Andy had to leave.  He didn't want Andy to start school. Shawn's little brother started school out here and is commuting everyday.  Most days he comes over and has lunch or dinner, and sometimes stays the night or plays basketball with Shawn.  I enjoy having him around.  He's a wonderful young man and the kids LOVE him. We've been enjoying the outdoors.  The weather has cooled down a little bit.  Some evenings have been down right chilly but for the most part it's been highs in the 80s which means lots of trip...

I finally started baby books.  I'm on the look out for a good one for Ben, but I started Sydney's two days ago.  I haven't really scrap booked since my Hanson obsession back in the 7th grade.  I ordered a scrap booking paper set that will be great for their books.  Yesterday, I started going through pictures to print off, but I keep putting too many in the folder.  I have to keep reminding myself that this is a baby book, not a full blown photo album. I have to work on my photo albums too.  I haven't put pictures in there since our trip to Table Rock Lake when I was pregnant with Ben.  A lot has happened and changed since then and I need to get on the ball.  If I do it, little by little, then it shouldn't be too expensive, haha! I guess the whole point of me blogging tonight was to brag about finally starting the baby books for my children. My sister and I need to get together and work on all the scrapbooks!  She created the f...

This week we started the letter Y.  We actually did this craft Monday and it turned out really cute. Y is for Yo Yo What you'll need: construction paper markers scissors glue yarn, thick string, or a pipe cleaner 1.  Draw and cut out the letter Y. 2.  Cut out a circle for your yo yo. While I was cutting out the pieces, Ben was doing a letter Y coloring sheet. 3.  Color the letter Y. 4.  Glue the yo yo to the bottom of the Y. 5.  Color a dot in the middle of the yo yo. 6.  Glue the string, yarn, or pipe cleaner so that it starts at the top of the Y and connects to the yo yo. (I needed a glue gun because I used a pipe cleaner.) And you're done.

My best friend Lauren posted this great note to her facebook about breastfeeding.  A lot of new moms try and have a hard time and then feel bad about themselves or like failures.  Know that this is common, you are not alone, and there is help for you out there. Here's her post: As a new mom there are lots of things people dont tell us, one of those is that to breastfeed it takes alot of effort and patience on both ends.   It is not something that just happens naturally. Each of you have you will have different experiences, so hopefully mine will help you.  Learning to feed Cullen was not easy.  He had to be born early due to complications with the pregnancy and therefore spent a few days in the NICU.  When he first popped out I tried to feed him , which you can absolutely request happen before weighing, bathing, shots etc.  He didnt take, which is absolutely ok.  Infact I didnt think he would, we were both drugged out of our minds from ma...

This week, we are learning the letter X.  Today we started with a fairly easy, but really cute craft.  I got the idea for this from Totally Tots  I'm sure some people will be laughing at me when they see this, as it's pretty fitting for me.  For those that may not know or understand, I'm quite accident proned and have had multiple broken bones in my lifetime. X is for X ray What you'll need: black and white construction paper scissors glue 1.  Draw and cut out the letter X. 2.  Draw and cut out 2 long bones. (While I was cutting these out, Ben was coloring an X for x-ray coloring sheet) 3.  Glue the bones down the X. And that's it.  You're done.

Shawn's mom gave us some really ripe bananas on Sunday night.  I've been meaning to make some banana bread for a while, so I did it with these bananas. Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup butter (room temperature) 2 eggs 3 mashed bananas (good and ripe) 1 1/2 cup flour 3/4 cup chocolate chips cinnamon and sugar Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cream sugar and butter, then add the eggs, bananas, flour, and chocolate chip, mixing well.  Place batter in a buttered loaf pan.  Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over the top.  Bake for 1 hour. My only problem was getting it out of the loaf pan with the cinnamon and sugar on top, but it was so good.  it just kind of fell apart a little bit.

Here's the other dish I did for our Chinese themed dinner with our friends.  It was really good too. Asian Grilled Green Beans Ingredients: 1 tbsp brown sugar 1 tbsp sesame oil 1 tbsp soy sauce 2 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes 1 1/2 lbs fresh green beans, trimmed 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced 6 fresh mushrooms, quartered Directions: In a large boil, combine the first 5 ingredients.  Add the beans, onion, and mushrooms.  Toss to coat. Wrap the veggies in foil packs making sure the sides are sealed tightly.  You will need to make 2 packs to make sure they are all cooked fully. Grill, covered, over medium heat for about 20 minutes or until the beans are tender, turning the packs over once.

We do dinners with another couple, one night, every other week.  Last week, our dinner was Chinese themed.  This is one of the sides I cooked.  It turned out really good. Asian Garlic Broccoli Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups fresh broccoli florets 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil 1 tsp canola oil 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes 1 tbsp soy sauce 2 garlic cloves, minced 3/4 tsp sugar 3/4 tsp lemon juice Directions: Put 1 inch of water in a saucepan, and add the broccoli.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes or until crisp-tender. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat the oils and the crushed red pepper flakes over medium heat for 2 minutes or until hot.  Stir in the soy sauce, garlic, sugar, and lemon juice.  Cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved.  Remove from the heat. Drain the broccoli and transfer to a serving bowl.  Pour the garlic sauce over the top and toss to coat....

I feel like we haven't done a lot, yet I've been too busy to blog.  I have to admit, I've been reading some, I haven't had a lot of time to do so, but have been doing it a little.  Right now, I'm reading Julie and Julia.  I love to read and try to get the children involved in books too.  Honestly, that's no problem.  Sydney is still really young for books, but loves to be read to.  Ben has me read at least four books a day to him. I've been cooking and baking a lot, that's for sure.  Breads, soup, frittatas, and some Chinese side dishes for dinner with our friends to name a few things.  I'm enjoying this baking and cooking and my goal for today is to learn how to use my never used before bread machine. This was me while baking bread.  I was a huge mess.  Thank goodness I caught the most of it and not the kitchen. We've been swimming at Shawn's parent's house a lot this summer.  Not until after our vacatio...

Yesterday I made fresh baked bread (you can see the recipe on my blog about it here ) and I wanted a nice soup to go with it.  A while back, I found a recipe for a Cheesy Chicken soup, I just don't remember where I found it.  I changed the recipe so much though that it's not really important as to where the recipe was. Cheesy Chicken Soup Ingredients: 3 chicken breast, boneless, skinless 6 1/2 cups water 1 medium sized onion, chopped 2 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped 3 cubes chicken bouillon 2 cans cream of chicken soup 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese Dash or 2 of pepper, garlic powder, beau monde Directions: Add chicken breast to water and boil until tender.  Remove chicken breast from water and allow to them to cool.  Skim the foam off the top of the water. Add onion, carrots and bouillon to water. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Shred cooled chicken and add to soup. Add the cream of chicken soup, cheese, and s...

Sunday night, I got this incredible urge to bake bread.  I have a bread machine although I've never used it.  I didn't want to use the bread machine this particular time either.  I've never made bread before and to be honest, I am NOT a baker.  I don't know why I had this urge, but homemade bread just sounded amazing.  The feeling of the dough in my hands, the smell of it in the oven, the incredible taste, and the satisfaction to know that I accomplished it. I spent Sunday night and Monday morning searching for the perfect recipe.  Since I'm not a baker, I needed a recipe to follow 100% of the way.  After a couple of attempts with different kinds of bread, maybe then I'll get brave enough to adventure onto my own recipes.  I got the recipe here .  It turned out perfect. Milk and Honey White Bread Ingredients: 2 pkg dry active yeast 2 1/2 cups warm milk (110 to 115 degrees) 1/...