28 People, Places, and Things I'm THANKFUL For:

In honor of the rapidly approaching Thanksgiving Holiday

I thought I would share a few of my reasons to be THANKFUL.

1. My Husband.

Without question, he is the rock of my world. I truly hit

the husband lottery. There's nothing I could say that would do justice

for how amazing a husband and father he is.

2. My Kids.

Duh. They are the center of our world.

They have taught me so much and I'm incredibly thankful

for each of their budding little personalities.

I love them in ways I can't even explain.

3. My Family.

We have had our ups and downs, but we all finally

seem to be in a place of understanding. My siblings and I each have

families of our own now, and that alone has completely changed the dynamics

between us all. And for that, I am thankful (I think my parents are too).

4. My In-Laws.

You always hear stories about spouses not getting along with their in-laws.

Not the case here.

My MIL and FIL are incredible. They have done so much for our children and

they adore them all the more for it. I am so lucky.

5. My Friends.

Having people in your life, outside of your family members,

is important. I have some pretty great people in my life.

6. My Job.

I know how lucky I am to not only have a job, but have a job

that pays the bills AND I love. Enough said.

7. My Husband's Job.

See above. We are very lucky to be in the positions we are.

(The remaining entries are in no particular order.)

8. Coffee.

It tastes good and it has the power to change your whole day.

Who wouldn't be thankful for something like that?!

9. Scarves.

I love fall. I love winter. I love chilly weather.

Scarves are the PERFECT accessory.

10. My IPhone.

Hopefully this doesn't sound ridiculous, but I am thankful for my IPhone.

It allows me to keep in touch with those near and far and helps me

keep my life organized. It is what it is.

11. My House.

This should probably be further up the list...

It's nothing fancy or elaborate, but it has done everything

we've needed it to do, and that's reason enough for me to be thankful for it.

12. My Camera.

I love taking pictures. I can only hope someday that my

kids are as thankful to have the pictures of their past, as I am

to have them now.

13. Warm, Cozy Blankets.

I live in Minnesota. It doesn't need to be said how

cold it gets around here. Snuggled up with a kid (or a husband) and a

blanket?! Sign me up.

14. Good Books.

I don't have nearly enough time to read as much as I

would like, but that's exactly why I love a good book.

A book that I MAKE time for.

15. Music.

More specifically: Songs that rattle your bones and speak to your soul.

16. My Education.

Like my house, this too should probably be further up the list.

I know what a privilege it is to have a college education.

17. Laughter.

Like coffee, and can turn your whole day around.

I love a good belly-acher.

18. My Health (& My Family's).

Man...I should have proof-read this list first (I wrote it out

by hand prior to sitting down at my computer)!

I am thankful beyond words for my health, my husband's health,

and my children's health.

19. The Seasons.

We have great season in Minnesota! Sure, some get a little short

(we've only had 4 months WITHOUT snow fall so far this year),

but being able to watch the leaves on the trees in the yard change is priceless.

20. The Sunshine.

It gets DARK this time of year by 5 p.m.

so I make sure we get as much out of the sunny hours each day as possible.

21. Hot Showers.

A hot shower is almost a metaphorical way of closing the door on a crap day.

No complaints about that.

22. Teachers.

I had some great teachers growing up. Teachers who love their job

are invaluable. This is a point of I have learned 10-fold now that my son is in school.

23. Crock Pots.

Being able to throw a bunch of things in the crock pot early in the day,

fill the house with yummy scents, and have my family look forward to

it's contents all day is why it is the BEST kitchen invention of  ALL TIME.

24. Fresh Snow.

Sure, I'm not big on shoveling and I'm definitely not

a fan of what the snow can do to the roadways, but you can't

argue how pretty it is.

25. A Good Pair of Comfortable Shoes.

I'm chasing after 3 kids, working, and running errands all week long.

Comfortable (cute) shoes make all of that a little easier.

26. HOLIDAYS.

I LOVE holidays! I love festive decorations, festive foods,

and festive movies. We make holidays a big deal in this house!

27. Each New Day.

We don't always get it right...

Which is exactly why I'm so thankful to get a fresh start every 24 hours.

28. The Struggles.

I think we learn the most from our mistakes and

you can't put a price on a lesson learned.

"Be thankful for what you have and you'll end up having more.

If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."

-Oprah Winfrey



Cameron's BABY FEVER.

 

The things this kid says...

 

As if his puppy requests weren't gut-wrenching enough,

he's asking for something else these days...

 

A baby.

 

He has more than once asked if we can "get" another baby.

(In fact, he frequently requests to go to the doctor's office because that's

where we can "pick out" a new baby.)

Or mentioned that we have a baby brother but now need a baby sister.

(He clearly doesn't remember a time without Eva. He was only 15 months old

when she joined us. So in his world, she has always been here... and I

guess that translates to not having had a baby sister yet.)

 

He's so adorable in his requests for another baby, that it

makes it next to impossible to respond in an age-appropriate manner.

I usually stick with, "Maybe someday."

 

Fail. Again.

I should know better by now!

This kid (and I'm sure the same could be said for his siblings) does not

hear the word "maybe". The tone of the word itself must be

completely inaudible for him.

 

He had gone silent in his baby requests for a few days, and

I was just starting to think he had forgotten about it.

 

Not even close.

 

I dropped him off at preschool last week and before

I could leave, his teacher pulled me to the side.

"Cameron told us he's getting a new baby!"

Oh Lord.

"No. No baby. I know he wants one... But we're not having one."

She looked surprised.

"So you're not expecting?"

"No."

"Oh. Well he told the whole class last week that he was getting a new baby."

 

At this point, I can't remember what else was said... things got awkward, fast.

I skipped out of there like the place was on fire.

 

So in case you run into my 4 year old, let me just set the record straight.

Right here.

Right now.

 

I am NOT pregnant.

 

But he certainly has put the pressure on an already big decision:

 

To have a 4th baby, or to not have a 4th baby.

 

I guess we all know where Cameron's vote falls.

Halloween!

This post is coming a week late, but nonetheless, I thought I would share a few

photos from Halloween night.

 

As expected the kids had a great time!

We even lucked out in Minnesota with some half-decent weather

for the door-to-door journey.

 

I can remember plenty of years growing up where we couldn't

stuff enough layers under our costume to stay warm in the 20 degree weather,

so all costume plans were foiled by the dreaded winter coat.

 

And though we still had to layer the kids this year, we were able to

get by without heavy coats.

Thank you Minnesota for the mid-40's evening.

 

 

I could barely get them to stand still long enough for the picture.

Excitement had set in and they were more than ready to run off without the rest of us.

 

This wagon is the BEST child purchase we've ever made.

JP wouldn't have been able to walk the entire way

and at 33 pounds, neither Jay nor I could handle toting him around all night.

 

So the wagon it was!

And it worked out perfectly. I was even able to stuff those

horrible, anti-costume coats in the wagon too... just in case.

 

They were more than happy with their bounty and couldn't wait to dive in.

It was late, and we had to of course limit intake, but we didn't see any harm in

celebrating their success with a couple pieces of candy.

 

 

Remember when I mentioned the way to Iron Man's heart?

Like I said, cherry suckers for the win!

 

 

I hope everyone had a Happy (and fruitful) Halloween!

 

Until next year...

 

 

 

 

 

HALLOWEEN practice run.

I'm incredibly jealous of all the towns that decide as a community

to do Trick-or-Treating on the Friday or Saturday night

BEFORE Halloween, when it falls on a school night.

A LOT of towns in our area do it like that... except the one we live in.

 

So tomorrow night we will be hitting the streets!

I can't imagine we will last long though because it's DARK here by 6pm

and the high for tomorrow is a crisp 46 degrees.

 

We really have to work for our candy in Minnesota.

 

We do however have a Truck-or-Treat event downtown every year,

the weekend before Halloween. They block off several blocks downtown,

local businesses decorate a vehicle or trailer, and hand out candy.

(And shove business flyers in the hand of every parent as they walk by.)

 

 Its nothing to write home about,

but its an excuse for my kids to wear their costumes, so we're all about it!

 

Here is a little preview of what's to come tomorrow night...

 

Cam and JP are Avengers OBSESSED so it was no surprise to us

when we took the kids to pick out costumes that they wanted to be

Captain America and Iron Man.

 

As for Eva, she picked the pink-est costume she could find.

I don't think she cared what it was, she just saw pink and it was all over.

She's my sweet little Fairy Princess.

 

 

I just love them.

 

 

And in case you ever need to know, the way to Iron Man's heart is cherry lollipops.

 

 

The highlight of Truck-or-Treat was, without question, the train rides.

 

 

And the annual candy thief has returned! We didn't even

make it home before Jay was looking through their buckets for Reese's cups.

(And in case you need to know, the way to a grown man's heart is peanut butter.)

 

Have a HAPPY and SAFE Halloween!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Parenthood FAIL.

Well, we had a major fail a few nights ago.

I'm talking about the choke-back-tears kind of fail.

Let me set the scene:

Several weeks ago we were considering getting a puppy.

It's been years since Jay and I had a dog and Cameron was

far too young to remember.

We got the puppy itch, did some research, found a breeder, etc, etc.

Now I could go over the pro's and con's with you all day,

but long story short, despite REALLY wanting a dog,

we decided against it. For now.

Unfortunately we made the mistake of telling Cameron we MIGHT get a dog.

Clearly, children, or at least mine, NEVER hear the word "might".

In fact, I'm pretty sure they are programed to have no sense of the word.

BIG mistake.
HEART BREAKING mistake.

Once we decided against it, the puppy talk around the house ended

and things went back to normal...

until last week.

We were sitting at the dinner table, eating a meal together

when Cameron (completely out of left field) asked,

"Did I do something naughty?"

Confused, I quickly replied, "No, honey. Why would you think that?"

Cameron, with the saddest eyes I've ever seemed in my life,

looked up at me and said, "Well... I didn't get a puppy for my birthday."

I was mortified. I immediately felt the tears start to fill my eyes.

I had been punched in the gut.
I don't know why he thought not getting a puppy was some sort of punishment
and I don't know what we had done to make him think that
but I felt AWFUL.

"We'll get a puppy someday, babe... just not right now."

(Yes, I call my son "babe"... in fact, I call all my kids "babe". Judge me.)

Seeming to accept that answer, he looked back down at his plate

and slapped me with a one-liner that dang near shattered my heart:

"It's okay. I'll just ask Santa instead."

We are the worst parents ever.

At least that's how I felt at that moment.

BLUE VELVET PANCAKES

I'm a sucker for all things red velvet.

It's easily my favorite cake, and slowly becoming

a favorite for my entire family.

And now that I've found a way to incorporate "red" velvet

into every one's birthdays, not only is it a favorite,

but a tradition.

All birthdays in this house now start with version of red velvet pancakes!

So for our BLUE VELVET PANCAKES...

(at the request of my handsome 4 year old)

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 egg

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon blue food coloring

(this is where you get to be creative and tailor it to the

crowd you're cooking for... like BLUE for my son's 4th birthday)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons melted butter

This is a THICK batter, so I usually add 1/4 cup water

to thin it out, and make it so it better resembles standard

pancake batter. The water also makes it easier to pour

onto your griddle.

Cook as you would any other pancake.

These can be topped with pretty much anything.

We usually stick to whipped cream and fruit of some kind.

My daughter has requested pink velvet pancakes for her upcoming birthday.

I found pink food coloring, so wish me luck!



PEANUT BUTTER-BANANA MUFFINS

We eat A LOT of bananas in this house.

They're an easy snack and not something any of my kids ever refuse.

But occasionally they ripped before we get a chance to eat them,

so it's important to have some go to recipes to use them up with.

 

Our newest favorite...

 

PEANUT BUTTER BANANA MUFFINS

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

2 ripe large bananas (mashed until smooth)

1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup)

1/4 cup brown sugar (I substitute another 1/4 cup honey)

1/2 cup plain Chobani Greek yogurt

1 egg

1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 and 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

Preheat oven to 425F

Spray muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with paper cups

Combine wet ingredients until smooth in one bowl.

Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl.

Slowly combine the dry with the wet, mixing until smooth as you go.

Toss in chocolate chips.

 

Fill muffin cups at least 3/4 of the way full.

 

Bake for 5 minutes at 425F.

With the pan still in the oven, drop the temp to 350F and bake

for an additional 12 minutes or until a toothpick

inserted into the center comes out clean.