May 12th, 2013 (Mothers Day & Wedding Anniversary)

May 12th, 2013

As I sit here writing this today I cannot help but think how blessed I am. Today (well in 5 minutes or so) is not only my 6th wedding anniversary with my husband but it is also Mothers Day. Having so much to say on both topics I figure I might need to write it tonight as tomorrow will be quite busy!

 

First, lets start with mothers day (since she is a main reason I have anything at all to talk about)... My mother has always been there for me, thru the hard and the good. See, we moved allot and our family was very close knit because of that, my mom and I became best friends growing up. Now I wont say we didn't have differences ever but we have and still do have an amazing relationship. She and my dad raised us in church, she prayed with and for us and always stands by us. She is an amazing woman and I am blessed to know her and to have her as MY momma. That being said, she also taught me how to be a mother, and being a mother is the most amazing experience and blessing in this world. Motherhood is a true miracle and I pray for those I know who are struggling with a desire to begin this journey and for whatever reason cannot. Around about 3 years ago I experienced the most unbelievable pain, we lost our first child due to miscarriage. Never would I wish this pain on anyone, it hurts in a way I cannot describe. We were so excited to have a baby, and then we didn't, it broke our hearts in ways we still cannot completely repair, nor will we. And speaking of mothers day, that first one after losing a baby by miscarriage is painful, akward and more difficult than I could say. It is hard for those around you not knowing what to say and hard for you missing your child. Afterwards it took some time to heal (what parts could heal that is) and with Gods help we began trying again, after 3 months we found out we were expecting yet again. Our daughter, Annabelle, came that November bringing another heaping amount of emotion and love that is growing still today. She has the absolute sweetest personality and at 2.5 years old she will talk, ask you how you are, say "I miss you, love you" without being directed to and even today she sang Happy Birthday to "aunt Kayla" on the phone. Being her mother makes me so proud, she is my little helper I tell people all the time, she will try her best to help people with whatever they are doing, she cleans her room without being asked and loves to do any craft or project for anyone she can. She is our daughter and is absolutely amazing. Next came our son, only a little over 12 months after our daughter we were blessed yet again with a tiny miracle. And yes, I mean tiny... He was 4lb 13oz and 2months premature, after a long 12 weeks of bed rest and countless trips to l&d for premature labor and shots, magnesium, the whole 9 yards to stop it he finally showed up early anyways. With that I must add that I started premature labor at 19 weeks and he was only 2 months preemie when he was born so if that does it tell you what a miracle he is I don't know what would. After he was born I experienced something I never thought I would... I didn't WANT to leave the hospital, I knew when I did he wasn't coming home with me, at least for some time. Leaving your child hooked up to monitors everywhere you can see them and in the care of people (tho highly trained) you have never met before, that is a whole other kind of hard. After walking out of the hospital my husband went to get the truck, I sat on the bench just bawling, how could I leave? He needed me, after all, I am his mom! It took some getting used to and more tears than I know shed over leaving him there but he had to stay, to grow & strengthen, and that he did. Even through Christmas which is my favorite holiday and that made it even harder, we wanted our family together and my daughter was not allowed in the NICU and didn't even meet him until a few weeks old. After a month tho he was doing amazing and was released. The next day, I began life full throttle as a mom of 2 little ones, and I would never change a thing. Our son, Cayden, is a bright eyed little toddler now who is getting so big they he will probably pass his sister soon on size (and she is considered average) and he has more strength than we ever could have imagined and more personality than ever. Also a little helper and such a sweet spirited little boy. My children are miracles, and if you have one either on earth or in heaven, yours are too! Being a mother is and always will be an amazing blessing and responsibility that God has given me and I am forever grateful! No one promised motherhood (or the journey to it) would be easy at all times but it is most definitely the most blessed, meaningful, miracle of a road you will ever travel. Happy Mothers Day to all the mom's out there!

 

And next, I cannot forget today as my anniversary. May 12th marks 6 years I have been married to the most amazing, christian, loving man! And on May 15th it will mark 9 years since we started dating. Today I not only get the honor of seeing him as MY husband but I also get to see him as a father to our 2 wonderful children. Seeing him laugh and play, pray and read and just be 'dad' to them makes me even more proud to be his wife. Loving him comes natural to me, and being his is an amazing blessing and honor. I Love You Charles 'Wally'!

How to make chocolate pudding out of Vanilla mix

Making vanilla pudding mix chocolate!

Ever want Chocolate pudding and only have vanilla mix?

Well, we did, and I had already promised my daughter she could help make a pudding pie which is just not as good with vanilla (in my opinion anyhow). So... We improvised with cocoa powder and powdered sugar. This was an experiment but hey, it was worth it and was a definite hit. The kids ate 2 pieces (sharing) after eating a big supper and for my kids who are not the biggest on sweets to begin with that was allot!

Here is what we did, simple and quick!

1 lg box vanilla instant pudding

1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

1tbsp powdered sugar

2 1/2c milk

Yep, that's all you need! Mix all the dry ingredients together really well and then mix as the directions on the box tell you too! Now, you may have a great scratch pudding recipe you like to use but for a quick "let the toddler help cook" I love instant pudding and jello it is quick and easy for them to do.

We poured into a chocolate graham cracker crust we made too, you can find the recipe HERE. 

If you prefer, I have also posted a recipe for an original graham cracker crust HERE.

Or, one of my favorites an Oreo/Graham crust, that recipe is HERE

Enjoy... I know a typical pudding pie has whipped cream on it but my daughter really wanted sprinkles!

Graham cracker crust

Graham cracker crust:

2 2/3c Crushed Graham crackers (into fine crumbs)

1/4c sugar

3/4 stick butter melted

Mix the graham crumbs and the sugar together in the pie pan. Melt the butter and pour into the crumb mixture in the pan pressing it all together to moisten all of the dry mix. Then, press to the sides of the pan about 1/4inch thick and the to the bottom making sure to press around the edges good. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes or if your pie recipe calls for a pre-baked crust you can go ahead and fill and then bake according to the recipe.

We also like to make a chocolate one too you can find that recipe HERE. And for another variation we do oreo/graham crust, who doesn't love that combo? You can find that recipe HERE.

Oreo & Graham cracker pie crust

Oreo and Graham crackers combined in an amazing pie crust?... Ummm, yes please!

2c crushed graham crackers (into fine crumbs)

3/4c crushed oreos (into fine crumbs)

1/4c sugar

3/4 stick butter, melted

Combine dry ingredients into pie pan, melt butter and then add to dry mixture. Press together to moisten all the dry ingredients. Press to the sides of the pan first and then to the bottom, being sure to press it well to avoid crumbling. Bake at 325 for 15minutes or fill and bake according to pie recipe.

HERE is an original graham cracker crust recipe (my grandmothers very best). 
 And HERE is a chocolate graham cracker variation too. Enjoy!

Chocolate graham cracker crust

Here is a variation of graham crust we enjoy especially with a chocolate pudding pie!

2 2/3c crushed graham crackers (into fine crumbs)

2tbsp cocoa powder

1/4c sugar

3/4 stick butter

Mix dry ingredients well in pie pan, then melt the butter and pour into dry mix. Pressing and mixing together to ensure the dry ingredients are all moistened. Press to the sides of the pan first then to the bottom being sure to press well to avoid crumbling. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes or fill and bake according to pie recipe. 

Also, I would like to share our original graham cracker crust HERE and our oreo/graham cracker crust HERE. Enjoy!

22 Moving Tips and Tricks... With Toddlers!

My little helper! Carrying boxes.

We recently moved HOME! YAY! We were living between 2 states for about a year now with my husbands job and we recently moved home (our original one) and we couldn't be happier about it! Hope these tips and tricks can help you with your move with toddlers!

Moving Tips and Tricks...

(with toddlers tagging along too!)

1-    Clean House! You don't want to start packing with a messy house, even if you are planning to pack               over a few weeks or however you plan to, it will make it easier and make you feel much more                       organized about the entire process. This especially applies to laundry, you will not want to pack half an         outfit and not be able to find the other part of it later on when you are packing another box.  

2-    Get supplies together. (Nothing like getting started and having to stop to make a run for more tape,             especially when it involves getting kiddos ready too, that's not always a "quick" trip)
                   -Tape (lots of TAPE) 
                   -Large Sharpie Marker
                   -Newspapers 
                          *They may leave a film on some dishes so if you want to buy packing paper more power                                  to you, we just went for the cheaper way out, but hey, you do what you got to do!
                   -Lay out blankets for packing fragile items (TV, dishes etc) EVEN the baby blankets,                                        big comforters... in a move you can and should utilize EACH of these items.
                  -Zip-lock bags for liquids              
                   -Boxes 
                          *You can order or purchase moving boxes but honestly it is worth the money you save to  just go get a load of them after your local grocery store does stocking (call ahead so they don't crush them). Up to you but it doesn't bother me that the boxes have brand names and such on the sides of them.

3-     Tape up some boxes to get started with, you will get on a roll and if you are like me it'll drive you nuts            having to stop to set up a new box every 5 minutes so I like to have a good many empty boxes set up            and ready to back.

4-      MUSIC... You always need music! hehe! Pandora is a great free app I have on my android!

5-     Labeling. Make sure you label the boxes, sides and the top to make it easy to read from the stacks.             Also, label specifically, don't just write "kitchen"... as you can imagine you will definitely loose track of         each box and its contents so make sure you are specific on labels so you don't have to stress about it             later on. If you are making more than one trip and not having one major 'moving day' remember to 
        label boxes with 'trip 1' or 'trip 2' so that you can remember what is in the necessities for week one.

6-     Sort as you pack, I don't mean get rid of things you want/need but this is a great time to separate or   
         sort out things you can toss or donate. 

7-     Get the kiddos involved, even the small toddlers enjoy helping pack. Plus, if you have them help    
         and make it fun for them the process wont be quite as traumatic or scary to them.
         Tasks they can do include:
              -Carrying small empty boxes
              -Pressing tape down on boxes for you
              -Stacking can goods in boxes for you
              -Putting toys in boxes
              -Packing clothes
              -Picking a song or music they like to listen too
              -Cleaning up and prepping to pack

8-     Depending on how quickly you are moving this may not apply, but, pack the unnecessary things first               starting a stack or corner of things that will be set aside and ready. 

9-     Kitchen Tips:
           -There are many things in the kitchen you do not use on a daily basis and can get packed up to go.                  Mixer (unless you are more talented than I am you wont be doing allot of baking in the weeks prior                to the move). Extra pots/pans, cups, plates, blender, fryer, you know all the things that just are                      just something you can do without for a week or so. 
           -Use newspaper for dishes, you may have to rinse off ink when you get thru moving but hey, one      
             last thing you need to buy.
           -Pack up pantry extras, can goods you wont be needing, baking flours and so on. 
           
10-   Pack heavy items (can goods, dishes, etc) in small boxes. Boxes get heavy quickly, especially with 
        these sort of items so be careful not to pack it too heavy to carry later on.

11-   If you are moving all at once this doesn't apply but we had 2 trips we would be making so make sure  
        that you don't pack things you will need in boxes for the 2nd trip and vis-versa. Aside from labeling   
        the boxes with "trip 1, trip 2" make separate stacks so that you wont have to sort thru them on moving  
        day.

12-   Do one room at a time, even if you are doing the unnecessary things that will be packed first complete 
        those items in each room individually.

13-   Start a miscellaneous box, this sounds crazy and unorganized but you wont have a place for everything
        and some items are just 'akward' shapes or whatever so having this box to put things in that you don't
        know what to do with is good. Just remember to label the box specifically because misc. will be too
        broad a description and you wont want that confusion when you get there.

14-  Pack tightly, things moving around mean things break, spill, etc. Just make sure it is tight and not allot of
       movement in the boxes.

15-  Pack liquids in zip lock bags to avoid spills, still though, make sure they stay upright and write that on
       box. Also, make sure when packing the truck/trailer that liquids are on the bottom, you don't want an 
       accidental spill to ruin furniture or other items.

16-  Unload boxes into rooms they go to, this should be easy with the labels on boxes. It will make 
        unpacking easier.

17-  Clean up the home you are moving in to. It will give you a fresh start to keeping a nice home.

18-  Another great tip (which I did not use on my recent move because I didn't have the resources at the 
       time but highly suggest) Take pictures of what is in the box, print and tape to the box. Easier than 
       labels.

19-  Making moving easier with toddlers:
           -If you are moving in multiple trips pack a suitcase or box to open as soon as you get there. Have 
            items that your kids love in that box. Make it exciting for them to find a place in there new room
            for there favorite toys, blankets, babies etc. Another item that is good is like my daughter has a 
            favorite bath towel so we made sure to have that. You know your children so remember items 
            that you think will help make your new place feel like "home" to them.
          -Like I stated above, encourage involvement, this may extend time slightly but is very important to 
           getting them to enjoy the experience and not be afraid of it.
         -Talk to them. Yes toddlers wont grasp the entire concept but getting them excited with "you get a 
           new room", "we are going to move to a brand new house" is good for them. The older they are 
           the more explanation they will require.
         -Let them play some, getting in the unpacked boxes is the coolest game ever for little ones, it will
          be a stressful time for the family as a whole so if they find fun in the little parts of it, allow it!
         -Packing toys may be hard for the kids but leave out some favorites until the last moment possible
           and pack them the night before while they sleep or even have them help with excitement of getting 
           them ready for their new home.

20-  Take it slow, if possible and make a list. We had a week notice so I didn't have this option really and
        had to do it all quickly. But, I still made my list to stay organized and not go crazy.

21-  Leave a box of basic cleaning supplies open (but packed) until final day. You will want to go thru and 
       do a last minute clean (at least I like to) to make sure you are leaving it clean either for the landlords or
       new homeowners.

22- If traveling with an open trailer, put clothes and other items that could get messed up in trash bags before
      boxing in case of rain.

Below I'm going to share some pictures of our move, labeling etc. to show you how it worked for us. Hope some of them may help elaborate on the tips above.

Be specific on labels

Can goods in small boxes to avoid them being too heavy for carrying

Put liquids in zip-lock bags, cleaners can be in trash bags!

Clothes in bags in case of rain when traveling with open trailer. (leave them on hangers for easier unpacking)

Use baby blankets for padding on fragile items.

Label with trip 1, trip 2 if you are making multiple trips.

Let the kids play, this is a new experience it is our job as parents to make it is a fun one!

Newspapers, sadly our move fell on the week of this terrible tragedy. Please check out my views on this HERE

Have a misc. box.... this one couldn't be more random. Gun kit, Wilton kit, wipes lol

Unpack into rooms they go in. This picture shows the opposite but our first load of boxes was done correctly, this one my husband arrived with after the kids were sleeping so we unloaded about midnight and I couldn't put their stuff in the rooms without waking them.