Summer Vacation & Super Woman

I remember as a kid how I would look forward to summer vacation. Starting January I would be counting the days till the last school bell. Each month would pass and I would celebrate as the temperature would rise and the snow would melt.  When the flowers bloomed I knew my days of hanging out with friends and endless lazy afternoons were ahead!  Summer would finally arrived then it seemed to fly by before I even felt settled in. The Fair would start and we were shopping for school clothes.  So here I sit 20 years after my last day of school with kids of my own in the middle of Summer.

My son The Noodle will be going into First Grade in September and it will be the first time he will be away from me all day long. I go back and forth between mourning the fact that he is growing up so fast and cheering at his accomplishments. My Little Goon will be in Preschool 3 afternoons a week and then next year he will be in FULL DAY KINDERGARTEN! So this will be my last year with a kid home during the day again another fact that I look upon with a mixture of mourning and cheer! I have thoroughly enjoyed being a stay at home mom a job I never planned on having. Sure I always thought I would be a mom but somehow I just never thought I would have the opportunity to be home with my kids. My mom was a single mother and worked her tail off when we were growing up and almost every single one of my friends had mom’s who worked.  So my examples of Stay at Home Moms were limited to TV, movies and the occasional friend whose mom seemed to do it all.  I realize that I have spent the better part of 6 years now trying desperately to be Super Woman. I have somehow bought into the fact that a Stay at Home Mom has to do and be all things.

• I should have a clean a house because I am home all day
• I should take my kids to the Zoo, Library, Bounce House, Museum…because I am home all day
• I should have them in activities like Karate and Dance ……
• I should do craft projects with them every day …..
• I should make them healthy meals……….
• 

The list is endless, I also feel that I should be in better shape and that I should be the perfect wife and that I should give the best gifts and cards and SHOULD SHOULD SHOULD SHOULD SHOULD SHOULD SHOULD SHOULD………………………………………

The lists in my head are endless and overwhelming. So this year when Spring came and every mom I knew started talking about Summer Camps for their kids I backed out of the conversation. I remembered how fast my summers went when I was little and I wanted my kids to enjoy their summer and not feel like it was eaten up with too many activities.  I wanted them to play outside and ride their bikes, swim with the neighbor kids and learn how to play ball.  Unfortunately what I didn’t think about was that Super Woman over here started her own business last November that is busier than ever and Super Woman is on the board of a theater company that is going through a huge transition and Super Woman is training for the IronGirl. So now I am trying to be Super Woman and Super Mom and all I am managing to do is feel stressed out and scattered and all my kids are doing is whining that they are bored and fighting over video games.

Last week on my morning run with my cousin she mentioned that she had to get her daughter to Dance Camp.  Before the words were out of her mouth I jumped on that!!!!  “What time is Camp? How Much is Camp? Is there Room for my Kids?” Luckily the Camp is at my BFF’s Dance Studio and I had an in.  I ran all the way home I packed those kids up so fast their heads were spinning. We raced down to the dance studio and I dragged those kids in there and walked into the crowded room. “Is there room for 2 more in the class?” I had Cash in hand and looked desperate. The kids got in and I walked to my car feeling a huge weight off my shoulders for the first time since the school bell rang in June. The camp was only an hour and a half each day for the week and the boys didn’t really participate but they were out of the house and I had a moment of peace. I then drove directly to my local Michaels Craft Store and signed them up for Craft camp next week.  As I left the store heading home I felt a little guilty for what I felt was dumping my kids at camp. The truth is no one can do it all and even a Stay at Home Mom can’t handle her kids 100% of the time. We all need a break and my kids are having fun and learning new things. Yes it’s true that the Noodle asked me “Mom can I never ever come to this camp again?” after dance camp by the Goon had a blast.  He made a fairy wand and danced in the recital. So next week they will tackle craft camp and I will have 100 things to display on my refrigerator.

I guess the real difference from being a kid and being a mom when it comes to summer vacation is that as a kid I counted the days until the last school bell rang in June and as a mom I am counting the days until the first school bell rings on September 8th! Thank you teachers for taking my kids for a few hours a day and helping me be the best mom I can be. Can someone please kick Super Woman for me cause she is really getting on my nerves!

The Blog Post from the Black Lagoon

The Blog Post from the Black Lagoon.

Love these books!!!  They are so so great!

 

BLACK LAGOON!

Homemade Granola Bars – For real this time!

So if you read my last post you know I tried making Granola Bars and ended up making Baked Oatmeal! Now that was pretty yummy but not the intent.  So I finally got around to making the real thing so I thought I would share with you my results.

 

First off there are quite a few ingredients (don’t get scared!) I actually was surprised to realize I had most of these things in my cupboard already. So here ya go, you will need the following:

3 Cups Oatmeal

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour (use regular if you don’t have it- no sweat!)

1/4 Cup Flax Seed Meal

1/2 Cup Wheat Germ

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Cinnamon (I used a few extra we really like Cinnamon)

1 tsp Ginger (optional)

1 Tsp Nutmeg (optional)

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

2 Cups Dried Fruit or Nuts or Chocolate Chips ( I used Craisons cause it’s what I had)

1 Egg

2 Tsp Vanilla

1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil

1/2 Cup Honey (I might have used a bit more)

1 Mashed Banana

2 Tbsp Applesauce

2 Tbsp Peanut Butter (If allergic to Peanuts just add another banana or twice the applesauce)

First mix all of your dry ingredients; Oatmeal, Flour, Flax Seed, Wheat Germ, Salt, Cinnamon, Brown Sugar, Ginger, Nutmeg. Mix all together and make a well in the center. Feel free to add a little more or a little less of the Cinnamon, Nutmeg & Ginger you are making your Granola Bars so make them taste yummy to you!

Now add the rest! Egg, Vanilla, Vegetable Oil, Honey, Mashed Banana, Peanut Butter, Applesauce. At this point the consistence of your final product is in your hands! If you want a crunchier Granola Bar stick close to the wet measurements!  If you want a softer chewier Granola Bar add a little more Honey or Applesauce. Not too much just one or two extra Tablespoons.

 

 

 

 

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Now you need to Spray a 9X13 baking pan or a cookie sheet with nonstick baking spray. I chose to use

Ready for the Oven!

a baking pan because I wanted thick and chewy Granola Bars.  For thinner crispier bars use a baking sheet. Now spread the mixture evenly in the pan.  Use a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper to help you spread it evenly without getting your hands all gooey! Then pop it into a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

 

Once they come out of the oven let them cool in the pan on a baking rack for 5-10 minutes.  Then you want to make sure you cut them before they cool or they might be too hard to cut!  I removed them from the pan and let them cool completely on a baking rack.

 

Once they were cool go ahead and chow down-  I sure did!!!  These are super yummy!  My kids love Granola Bars and I am so happy to be able to make some that they love just as much as Quaker but are made with love by me!

 

I promise these are really Granola Bars and you will really like them!

Finished Product so Yummy!

 

I found the original recipe on Pinterest  http://therealhousewife.com/blog/goin-granola/

Baked Oatmeal by Accident!

So I have recently gotten hooked on Pinterest. It is slightly addicting and I am trying very hard to keep my addiction under control.  So this afternoon I saw a Pin which read “baked Oatmeal to go instead of Granola Bars” but somehow all that registered in my brain was GRANOLA BARS. So I repined it and thought what a great idea I am totally making those! So I got out all the ingredients:

• 2 Eggs
• 2 Cups Applesauce, unsweetened
• 5 Cups, Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
• 1 Banana
• 2 3/4 Cups Almond Milk
• 3/4 Cup Honey
• 1/4 Cup Flaxseed Meal
• 1 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
• 3 Teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• Optional Toppings: raisins, walnuts,  chocolate chips

 

 

I followed the directions to a T:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix eggs, vanilla, applesauce, banana & honey
3. Add oats, salt, baking powder, flaxseed & cinnamon mix well
4. Pour in milk and combine
   

   Ready for the Oven!

5. Spray muffin tins w/cooking spray or use cupcake liners.
6. If using fresh fruit, add before filling cups.  If using toppings add after filling cups.
7. Bake 30 minutes until a toothpick in center comes out clean!

 
So I mixed them up and popped the bad boys in the oven fully expecting to have granola bars when they were done.  Um hello???  It’s not like I haven’t baked before how would my kids eat a 3 inch think granola bar! Yep I was really thinking clearly.  So after 30 minutes to my surprise I have a dense cupcake…what happened to my granola bars? I immediately go back to my aforementioned PIN. Oh isn’t that crazy how it says quite clearly Personalized Baked Oatmeal!!!  LOL Yep

 

Now that being said!!!!  I tossed one of those babies in my mouth and was delighted!  What a great idea for breakfast.  My kids love oatmeal and I know it only takes a few minutes in the microwave but hey I made this myself! So the directions from Sugar-Free Mom say that I can just plop these suckers in the freezer so that is what I intend to do!  Some times the best surprised come from the biggest accidents!

Yummy Yummy BAKED OATMEAL!

My boy and his shoes

So I took the boys to Payless to get new sneakers yesterday. I always have a little sense of trepidation as I walk into a store. I am sure many parents struggle with finding things their kids want that work into the family budget. I know I have several friends with teenagers who struggle to agree on what is appropriate for a teen to wear. My struggle is figuring out how to handle my 3 year old sons request for everything pink, pretty and girly. Do I crush his dreams with a NO. Do I give in and face our disapproving family and worry that he will be ridiculed by his peers?

This is my struggle every time I walk into a store.

Yesterday as we walked from the car my little Goon started asking “Can I get Girl Shoes please mom?” My response was “let’s go and see what is in your size.” My 5 year old picked out a great pair of sneakers he ran up and down the aisle and he felt like a cool cat!  I tried to get his little brother to get the same pair and be JUST LIKE BROTHER! No Deal. Then I pulled all the boy shoes off the shelf.  NOPE No Deal.  He spotted the pink dress up shoes and was smitten. 

Thankfully, we were looking for sneakers so those really didn’t qualify. Although he was pretty disappointed he went along with my logic. He quickly vetoed all boy shoes, he even insisted a pair of perfectly fitting SPIDERMAN sneakers were killing his feet because they were “so tight!” I was starting to realize I had 2 choices, refuse to buy him what he wanted and deal with the tears and heartache or let the 3 year old have the sneakers he wants.  I also realized that I let the 5 year old pick out his sneakers and he picked out super cool black sneakers with lime green stripes.  This didn’t bother me at all they were in my budget and they fit great. But here I sat ready to cry because my happy little man wanted Purple Sparkle Dora sneakers.  They were in my budget and they fit him great. SO the real reason I didn’t want to buy them was because they are unacceptable in my society. They are GIRL shoes and everyone will know it.  They are NOT BOY SHOES and people will stare at him.  They are NOT what everyone else wears in his class.  I realized that my real problem was what everyone else is going to think and say.

I looked at my special little guy and although I was fighting back tears I bought him the Purple Sparkle Dora Sneakers. Though I was heartbroken my little Goon was beaming from ear to ear as he skipped out of the store on his way to the Carousel for a ride on the Pink Horse!

Mom Thank you so much for my Dora Sneakers I love them SO MUCH!!!!

Dinner Time

 

Why is it that no matter what I cook my children don’t want to eat it? I make dinner and we sit at the table as a family every night and every night my kids turn their noses up.  It doesn’t matter what it is.  I feel like they conspire in the other room.

Noodle” OK mom made mini pizza’s and I know you like them but lets cry real hard when she puts them on the table!”  Goon “Yeah great idea, and I’m gonna throw the carrots at you when we sit down!”

 

I know that if I just made them fish sticks every night they would be thrilled but I just can’t be that irresponsible. I have invested in cookbooks full of “creative recipes for kids” yeah they hate them!  I have tried hiding veggies inside food they like and somehow they know and all of a sudden HATE that food.  I searched Pinterest for fun ideas and came up with what I thought would be a slam dunk!  Only to Foul out in the end.  Hot Dogs stuffed with Pasta what a great idea!  A little spaghetti sauce on the side for dipping and some puzzle shaped carrots a perfect meal. I mean how can I go wrong the kids ate hot dogs all summer on the deck and loved them!  Famous last words.  I told the kids they were having Octopus for dinner.  I even let them help me make them thinking that would get them excited.  It worked they were excited they loved helping me prepare the food. I am not sure what happened between the boiling water and the dinner plates but as soon as the Octopus was on the table the kids tag teamed me and revolted! What was suppose to be a successful dinner with my family turned into another night of crying, whining, making deals and threatening. Oh yeah and also resulted in my dinner being ice cold and my husband being frustrated that he couldn’t eat dinner in peace.  Yep welcome to Dinner Time!  Honestly when does this get easier?  I am so tired of hearing “I hate dinner!” every night. One of the reasons I am a stay at home mom is to make sure we have dinner as a family every night. I just wish somehow at about 5PM every night my little boys would magically sit like angels and eat everything on their plates without a complaint. Then at 5:30PM they can turn back into wild animals!  Hear me universe????

Morning Miracle

Well, the day is finally here……

After 5 and a half long years of little boys jumping on me at 6am every single morning. Crying for breakfast or a cartoon I slept until 8:30. Now I know 8:30 might not seem like SLEEPING IN to many of you  but to parents of small children it’s a dream.

We have been through many stages of waking up with my children.  The infant stage where they cried every 2 hours or 20 minutes depending on which kid we are talking about. The baby stage where they woke up at 6am or every 20 minutes depending on which kid we are talking about. The toddler stage where they woke up at 6am or 3 times a night again depending on which kid…. The little boy stage which we have been in now for about a year where they started the morning at 6am yelling from their beds “Mom can we get up?” which moved to running into our room and yelling “Mom it’s morning time get up!” and earlier this week morphed into yelling at each other at the top of the stairs as they fought over what to watch on TV.  This was all before the TV was even turned on.

Today we somehow entered a new stage a stage I have yet to name as I am afraid to jinx myself for tomorrow. My little guys got up at 6 just like every morning came in my room and yelled “Mom it’s morning time get up!” just like every other morning.  But this time when I said “Just go downstairs and watch cartoons!” They went!!!!!  Yep that is right they went downstairs all by themselves turned on the TV and entertained themselves for 2 and a half hours. They even let the dog out!  They forgot to let the poor thing in and at 8:30 her barking woke me up but hey she is a husky mix so a little snow isn’t that big of a deal right?

 

Overalls

I was getting my little guys dressed for church this morning.  I pulled out overalls for them both to wear and matching long sleeve shirts.  I couldn’t wait to see them both dressed knowing it was going to be a super cute photo moment.  My little 3 year old Goon got dressed like a champ he helped buckle his overalls all by himself and felt pretty cool about it.  A few minutes later when Noodle got done standing at the naughty wall he came upstairs to his room and looked at the clothes I had laid out for him. I could tell by the look on his little 5 year old face he was not thrilled with his outfit. I helped him dress, telling him how cute he was going to be as I buckled him up.  Visions of adorable poses danced in my head as I stood back to see my little man in overhauls for the first time in 2 years. On the verge of happy tears I said “OK let’s go downstairs and show daddy!”

My little Noodle looked at me and said “Do I have to go to school today mom?”

“No honey we are going to church.” I said.

He then looks at me and very kindly explains “I can’t wear these Mom all the kids at church will laugh at me!!” I tried my best to beg and plead as all my dreams quickly ran out the window.  I think he could see how crushed I was because he looked at me with a small smile on his face and patted my arm and said “Mom listen, I promise on a day when we aren’t going anywhere I will wear these pants for you. OK?”

Yep at 5 he knows how to work it! But don’t worry I will totally trick him into wearing them soon so I can get those pictures.  I am the mom after all I will win!!!

Gym Buddy

So I lost my gym buddy and this has seriously derailed my exercise routine.

My friend Mandy joined the gym with me a year and a half ago, at that time I was the #1 cheerleader. I got us motivated and kept us that way for the entire workout.  But the days that I was low energy or wanted to bail Mandy kept me on track.  I can honestly say that without her I would have never completed the IronGirl last summer.  We trained together we supported each other and we completed the race together.

Recently Mandy switched gyms.  She wanted a place that had a pool and was closer to her house. While I totally get that, I am using her defection as a major excuse for my poor attendance at my kick butt classes.

I have little spurts of energy like last week where I somehow made it to the gym 3 times. Unfortunately, it is now Thursday and I have not made it at all this week.  I am signed up for the IronGirl in August so I actually HAVE to get my butt to the gym or I will never beat my time from last year. I am not sure what is wrong with me but I have this terrible habit of getting totally obsessed with something and donating 150% of my energy to it and then completely losing interest.  A perfect example of that is the Game of Thrones books. I read the first 3 books back to back completely devoted.  I made my husband read them so that I could talk to him about them, I made us watch the entire first season. Then I got 100 pages into book 4 and turned off. My husband has bow completed the book and is dying to talk to me about it and I have no interest in finishing the book. I am not sure what happened but I just got tired of reading about missing limbs and treachery.  Crazy, cause after months of calling my BFF and rehashing the previous nights pages I don’t even care what happened to the Starks of Winterfell.

So here I sit blogging instead of wrapping my kids in their coats and boots and shoving them in the car and going to the gym.  I have every excuse in the book: it’s too cold, my kids don’t cooperate, I don’t have a workout buddy,  I have too much to do, it’s too cold.  Oh did I mention it’s too cold??

It’s still January and my goal was to get to the gym 3 days a week and I am totally not achieving that goal. I really need Bob Harper to come over and whip my ass into shape.  Honestly I am totally feeling like the Biggest Loser and not the good kind! So today I might not make it to the gym but I am going to try really hard to get rid of the excuses and find some love for myself. I need to find my inner energy to carry me through this dry spell and stop blaming everyone and everything else for my lack of motivation. Maybe I should just curl up on the couch and finish that book!

A Raucous at Walmart

The other day I made a quick trip to my local Walmart store. My husband works from home so if I am doing a quick errand and he doesn’t have a conference call I can usually go without the kids. Luckily this was one of those times.  So I zipped into the store grabbed a cart and set off for the Dairy aisle. Without kids slowing me down I easily maneuvered around all the slow pokes and Sunday drivers. I had 4 things on my list and within 5 minutes I already had 3 of them and I was headed to aisle 9 to grab pizza sauce and then check out.  As I rounded the corner past the meat department I heard the sound of loud angry voices. I noticed that everyone was stopped in their tracks and staring down the aisle.

Can of Contadina

I slowed my pace as I approached my destination. As I peered down aisle 9 I located the noise! There were 7 maybe 9 angry adults with 4 or 5 carts clogging the aisle.  They were yelling and screaming and pushing each other into the shelves.  My first thought was “Crap I really need to get down that aisle.” My second thought was “I better get out of here before someone pulls a gun or throws a can of Contadina!”

 

I decided to make a B-line for the produce department so if a gun was pulled I could hide behind the potato cart. I clearly was not alone in this thought process as about 10 other woman were headed that way.  Of course there were still several on lookers with their small children gawking at the brawlers. Heading toward the potato safety zone I passed about 10 Walmart employees armed with walkie talkies running toward aisle 9.  I must note that the brawlers were all very large adult men and woman and the employees were all small woman and girls. I  had my doubts on any real resolution to the fight or my ability to get my pizza sauce and go home.

 

Somehow the 17 year old employees were able to make the crazies disburse, at which point I dashed in and grabbed the final item on my list. As I made my way to the check out you could hear little pockets of fighting breaking out all over the store. It seemed to me that as the brawlers disbursed through the store they would randomly run into each other and start fighting all over again. The young employees with their Walkie talkies for protection stood all around the store with their fingers on the triggers.  Ready at moments notice to call each other and say “They are fighting in aisle 5 now run away run away!” The girl at the check out said “Yeah we has fights here all the time, it ain’t no thang!”

 

As I left the building 4 police cars pulled up blocking the entrance of the store.  The cops rushed in to save the day. I am sure the lovely ladies in blue and beige were thrilled to know they could finally release the buttons on their walkie talkies.  They were now able to return to their registers where they can continue to not smile for the rest of the day.

 

I drove home through my middle class residential neighborhood which is less than 5 minutes from Walmart and wondered why fights break out all the time here. Why 2 minutes down the road at Target the employees are cheerful and clean and the shoppers are smiling and happy. What is the difference is it really as simple as trashy people go to Walmart? I mean the prices are about the same the merchandise is about the same. How can 2 stores in the same 4 block radius attract completely different employees and clientele? I can’t answer that question but I can say that I am grateful that my kids were not with me and I can guarantee you that I will not be shopping at Walmart any time soon.