These are Our Children

Rhyle and Livia are playing with her dog. Rhyle came to me with the dog neatly swaddled in a blanket, laying in a basket. "See my infant?" he asks me.

"Yes." I answer, but he barely hears me as he continues, proudly, "He's a JuicePlus baby."

Owen, at breakfast, wonders, "Mom, what does it mean: go about our routine?"

I think he knows what the word means, but to clarify, I ask him to use the word in a sentence. There is a LONG pause, much longer than I expected. Then, his sentence: "What does it mean to go about our ROUTINE?"

My Secret Thought:

"I JUST NEED a Dove Rich Dark Chocolate. . . to make it through this afternoon."

I was so glad to see one of my favorite blog friend's confession that she feels addicted to these little chocolates. I do, too. They are my superpower morsels- and even as I type that, I acknowledge what a joke it is. Only GOD can give me the strength I need to make it through a minute or an hour or an afternoon. (but the chocolate IS delicious!) So my new resolve is to pray while enjoying my Dove; that should be like a double power-punch!

How Do You Spell. . .

Rhyle, to me: "Mom, what does L-I-V-I-A spell?"
Before I can answer, he guesses- "spank?"

Random, Two/Too

Familiar Territory?
1)I feel like crying, maybe for no other reason than sheer exhaustion, or maybe because sometimes basic life still feels challenging.
2)Nearly a week has passed since Rhyle's birthday, and no post yet!
3)My neighbor kindly stops to tell me that the van door is still open (since we returned from the library 2 hours prior).
4)I realize that last night my longest stretch of continuous sleep was slightly over 1 hour. (It's been a rough week with Livia and Tate!)

A Random Note

I know we are headed back into familiar territory:
1)Braden is up late working on school.
2)I am up with him, working on many other things.
3)While I have kids in the bath I remove stickers (that came with them, in June) from the toilet and sink. . . and consider it an excellent use of my time.

What's Cookin' This Week

For Breakfast:
Wholly Granola
4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 ½ cups sliced or slivered almonds
½ cup packed light brown sugar (optional)
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ cup expeller pressed oil
¼ cup honey (increase if no sugar)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ cups raisins or dried cranberries

(I usually sprinkle in wheat germ and flax seeds, and sometimes add coconut or vary the nuts I use. If I add a lot of other goodies, I increase the oil and honey to 2/3 and 2/3.)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. In a saucepan, heat the honey and oil until warm. Stir in the vanilla. Pour the liquid mixture over the oats. Stir gently.Spread granola in a jelly roll pan (I prefer the large stoneware bar pan). Bake for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes (or not at all if you use the stone!). Transfer pan to a cooling rack and stir in raisins or cranberries. Allow to cool completely and then store in an air-tight container. Can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Makes approximately 9 cups. Enjoy!


Baked Oatmeal
3 cups oatmeal
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup applesauce
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
1 cup raisins, nuts, apples, etc. (free choice!)

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour into an 8 by 8 pan (or round baking dish). Again, I LOVE stones for this. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, until turning brown on top. Serve with warm milk. Yum!


For Lunch:
1) Quesadillas or Homemade Bean and Cheese Nachos
2) Whole wheat Pita Pizzas
3) Tomato Soup and Toasted Cheese
4) Baked Macaroni and Cheese
1 and 1/2 cups uncooked whole grain macaroni
2 Tbl. butter
4 Tbl. flour
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
1 small onion, finely chopped (optional)
2 and 1/2 cups milk
1 cup to 1 and 1/2 cups cheese (all kinds are good!)
salt and pepper, dry mustard to taste
topping: wheat germ mixed with a scant tsp of butter and/or cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Cook macaroni. Meanwhile, melt butter and whisk in flour over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the dry milk and chopped onion and seasonings. Whisk in milk gradually until mixture is smooth. Cook over medium heat until it bubbles and thickens, about 6 minutes. Reduce heat to low and stir in the cheese until it is melted through. Drain macaroni and add it to the cheese sauce. Pour into a prepared casserole dish and top with dry mixure. Bake, uncovered, for about 20 minutes, or until very hot and bubbly. (though sometimes we have ours straight from the stove and it's good, too!)

5)Tuna Quiche
1 deep dish pie crust (thaw and bake 5 minutes at 400)
6 oz. tuna
1 cup Swiss cheese
Mix:
1 Tbl. lemon juice
salt and pepper
1 cup evaporated milk (I use dry milk to make 1 cup of thick milk)
chives or scallions
3 eggs

In baked crust, layer tuna and cheese. Pour liquid ingredients over this and bake at 425 for 15 minutes and then turn oven to 350 and bake another 20 minutes. Yum!

11 Weeks. . . Or is it 12?

Tonight's confession is that I honestly do not remember how old Tate is. He is looking really big to me and I am shocked that there are now babies around me who are younger than he is. (Wasn't he JUST born?!) Oh, but life is sweeter with him in it.

This week I think I have really seen an improvement- in our routine, in the way life feels. It has only been this week that I haven't felt so snowballed under, that I have felt that I am actually accomplishing a few of the things that I am setting out to. The contractor finally cleaned up (mostly) his things and left us (I hope!). We vacuumed every day, dusted the house, did school, unpacked some boxes, and managed most of the other household chores decently. Plus, the kids and I spent chilly afternoons outside playing and raking leaves, visiting neighbors and taking short walks. We had soup for dinner and fresh bread and lots of salads and even homemade cookies. Aaaaah. This feels like my life. A little bit more familiar to me, and comfortable, and oh, so nice.

Super Man

On Tuesday night my friend came to pick me up for Bible study. I think she was amused (but probably not surprised) to see all three of my bigger children wearing dishtowels as capes, clipped on with PamperedChef chip clips.

Rhyle had declared himself "SuperMan." Owen suggested that Livia could then be "SuperWoman," but Rhyle disagreed because she "isn't a woman yet." SuperGirl apparently didn't quite cut it, either. Instead, Rhyle called Livia his wife, which made her "SuperWife."

At one point Rhyle and Livia were running through the kitchen and I heard Rhyle say to her, "Wifey! Don't run off!"

And Livia sweetly responded, "Okay, SuperMan."

Peace

Thanks to my friend Jessica for encouraging me with this:

"Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace menas to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart."

Yesterday was good for my heart. Worshipping always is. The Holy Spirit gently pointed out that I have been spending more of my time trying to figure out "how to make my life work" than on how to please and honor God. In essence, I have been focused on my idol of control and the elusive feel-good state of "having my act together." I have been wanting that (nirvana of a clean home, well-fed, well-behaved children, intimate marriage, thriving business, etc.) MORE than I have been wanting WHATEVER it is that God has for me. No wonder I have been struggling and discontent!

Today God had for me: wet pants (including mine!) three spilled drinks (at one meal!) and crying, less sleep than I would like (Rhyle said, "Mom! I'm too tired [for discipline]"), and many of my other plans foiled. But He also gave me the sweetness of kissing a baby's soft head, of coos and baby talk, of off-the-cuff knock-knock jokes, and genuine hugs, and His word aptly meeting me (in the 5 minutes I had to myself).

There is peace for me admist the noise because the peace is within, and it passes understanding.

Daylight Savings Time

Let me just say that it was not a MOM who came up with the idea of "daylight savings time." A mom would know that the hours of daylight are the same, no matter what time we SAY they begin and end. Is it really worth it to spend an entire week reprogramming- staying up later at night only to wake each morning at 5:30 or so with the children?! Hmmm. Need I say more?

Whole-Wheat OJ Muffins

These are great for breakfast! (I usually vary the flour to favor more whole wheat, and they turn out fine for me. I also use apples or regular raisins in place of the golden raisins. This recipe doubles beautifully, too.) I originally got this recipe from Cooking Light magazine.

WHOLE WHEAT ORANGE JUICE MUFFINS
1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup OJ
1/4 cup oil
1 and 1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 Tbl. sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour through cinnamon in a medium bowl; stir well with a whisk. Make a well in the center of mixture.
3. Combine juice, oil, rind, and egg; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Stir in raisins.
4. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with 1 Tbl. of sugar.
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when lightly touched in center. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

Maybe I'm Just Tired?

Oh, how good it was to read Life With Littles today! Kimm has four children that are nearly all the ages of mine. I have been wanting to post lately, but have not been able to run my thoughts together in my head into anything decent or coherent. Kimm expressed my thoughts (much better than I could!)when she talked about having a reset button and needing to stop her day and go to the Lord.

I want to post about how blessed I am to have four children and how wonderful life is. I want to be able to say that even though I have four children, things are just clicking right along. I want to shrug and say "it's no big deal" to have a new baby, a husband in law school, to homeschool and cook and clean and have a business and be a mom and wife and daughter and sister and friend. . .

Some days DO go wonderfully. Okay, that's an exaggeration. (See how I catch myself now?!) Some MOMENTS are wonderful. It doesn't last because my kids and I are just too sinful and selfish and desperately in need of our Saviour. I spend time trying to figure out if there are ways that I can make life work better, if there are strategies to coping with all of these things. . . But we are slow in the application. Maybe it's because I am tired. Maybe I can't get much school done because I am changing the 2 year old's sheets EVERY day when she wets them. Maybe I have to spend extra time scrubbing the kitchen counters because the contractor came back to caulk or grout.

My husband says, "MAYBE you are tired?" Then he tries to quote me from the dark hours of last night. It went something like this:

me: Tate's crying. I don't know why he's crying. I don't remember when I fed him. I fell asleep when I fed him last. I don't know what time that was. But he's crying. Maybe he is hungry again. He could be hungry because I don't remember when I last fed him. I think it's time to feed him again. He's still crying, so he must need to eat. But I don't think he should need to eat again yet. Maybe he needs to burp. Maybe he lost his pacifier. I think I should just get him. I can't remember when I fed him last because I fell asleep. I'm so tired. I guess I need to feed him again, because I can't remember when he nursed last, but I'm so tired. . . I guess I'll get him.