Getting creative

I am not the most creative person out there so when Samantha got a jewelry kit for her birthday I was just as excited as she was when she opened it. Um why was I excited when I am clearly not the creative type, well because you can't go wrong with making beaded bracelets and necklaces!
So while Shawn napped earlier I pulled out the little kit and we got to work. Jr saw what were were doing and immediately ran over asking to make some too. My kids are very creative and I try to let them express it in a way I can so those of you who scoff at a boy making bracelets and necklaces can leave.
Now onto the best part, the pictures.

The goodies! Accidentally took a picture of the instructions in another language LOL

Let the fun begin

Jr man showing me his completed bracelet

I love how she just completely dives in to any projects she does

Showing me her finished bracelet

My happy little man :)

And of course I had to join in the fun and make myself a bracelet. I will call it pretty and I shall wear my pretty every day

As I was putting away the beads Shawn woke up and came running out heading straight for them. Perfect timing on our part.

My little princess

I wanted to write this yesterday but it was such a busy day I didn't get a chance to do it. Yesterday was my daughters fourth birthday. The day before I was very emotional and worried that I would cry but turns out I didn't need to worry about that. I kept myself so busy I completely forgot all about being the sappy mommy LOL We had a small party for her. Very last minute but it turned out great. Family and friends, what else can you ask for. 

I just love when she sticks her tongue out like this

I think she was excited for her boots

My birthday princess 

Now for my mushy mommy part.

Dear Samantha,

Four years ago you came into this world kicking and screaming and putting on the cutest little pouty face I've ever seen. I knew from the time I found out I was pregnant that I was going to have my little girl and I knew from the first time I felt you kick and every time I tried to get you to kick and you flat out refused which resulted in many trips to the Dr and eventually being sent to the hospital and finally getting to go back home after. I knew right then and there you were going to be stubborn a strong independent person who liked to do things her way and in her own time. You continued to prove my theory right when you refused to crawl and then refused to walk. You made up your own little way of getting around that was just hilarious to watch. You are still the same way and I love that about you. You are an individual and even though you are only four I know you are strong willed and strong hearted and wont bend to others demands. It is a great quality to have.
You have so much love for your family. Of course for Mommy and Daddy but for your brothers too. And yes while we all know they tend to drive you nuts you also love to take care of them if they aren't feeling well or if they have a boo boo. You are a mini mommy. You also have so much love for your extended family and they can see it radiating from you when you see them.
In these past four years I have watched you turn from an itty bitty newborn to my chunky monkey/rolly polly baby girl to my little princess/tomboy who is just the best daughter that I could have ever asked for. I love you so much baby girl (yes I will ALWAYS call you that) and I feel so blessed that you are my daughter. I look forward to watching you grow throughout the years.

I love you princess,

Mommy

p.s. when I say chunky monkey I mean it in the cutest way possible! I LOVED your baby rolls, sooooo cute!

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Is this what you deem as acceptable now adays?

Yesterday my son started singing a song. Not one that's on the radio but one I'm sure you've all heard of. It goes "I love you, you love me, were a happy family, with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, wont you say you love me too" except that wasn't the version he was singing. His went something like this "I hate you, you hate me, everybody ............". I don't know the rest of it because he was mumbling and I really don't care to hear it but it shocked me to hear him saying such things.

Now I know every mother always wants to think the best of the child(ren) but when it comes to Jr I know my child and he is not one that is violent or full or hate or anything like that. He is actually a very kind soul. So imagine my shock when I heard him say that. I talked to him about saying such things and how hate is a very strong word and we don't use it in this house. He apologized said he wont sing it again.

And now I'm sitting here thinking how popular the word hate has become. Anytime any dislikes something/anything their first response is to say they hate it. I will admit that when I was growing up it was a word I used frequently for the exact reasons I named above. I don't want my kids following in my footsteps with using that word.

According to Urban Dictionary the first definition to come up when you search hate is " a special kind of love given to people who suck". The second one is "when you dislike someone so much that if you and the other person were in an empty room with a knife in the middle, one or both would be dead". The only thing I can say is wow and are you serious! This is what our children, the future generations feel hate is?

Now the definition on Dictionary.com in my opinion is more accurate "to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest: to hate the enemy; to hate bigotry".

How is it that a word so full of negativity can be used in daily life as if it were something normal, and being used to describe another person. It makes me sad that this is the reality today and I know that I am only one person and that I cannot change the way society as a whole thinks, but my goal for my family is to not let my children be influenced by others into thinking that hate is an acceptable word to use unless it is used sincerely and NOT about about person or simply don't use it at all. It is fine to dislike someone but hate is such a strong word and I would hope and pray that my children never feel extreme hostility towards another human being.

Cookies!!!!

I know I say all the time that I don't bake but I did today. I made some chocolate chip cookies, actually I made about three dozen of them! And I've made up my mind, from now on if I am to bake anything it's going to be from scratch. It just tastes so much better and half the fun is making it with my kids.
I used the classic recipe on the back of the Nestles chocolate chip bag. You can find it here. Oh and I used milk chocolate morsels instead of semi sweet chocolate morsels and being a peanut allergy household I left out the nuts.. So here is what you need.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12oz. pkg.) Chocolate Morsels

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 

First put the flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl and set aside. 

Next beat butter until soft

Then add in your sugar.

Once that's mixed well add in your brown sugar and then the vanilla extract. Mix those ingredients until nice and creamy.

Add in your eggs one at a time. Make sure to mix it well after each egg is added in.

Slowly mix in your flour mixture. I do about half a cup at a time just to make sure it's all mixed together.

Once that is done stir in chocolate chip morsels.

Spoon about a tablespoon worth of cookie dough onto an un-greased baking sheet.

Cook for 9-11 minutes. I set my timer for 9 minutes and they were perfect. 

For my first time making cookies from scratch they couldn't have been any easier or any more mmm mmm good! The dough was just a tiny bit soft while crunchy around the edges and you get the chocolate and this tiny butter taste. Seriously just melt in your mouth good. 

Here are the instructions not broken up by the pictures.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 

First put the flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl and set aside. 

Next beat butter until soft then add in your sugar. Once that's mixed well add in your brown sugar and then the vanilla extract. Mix those ingredients until mice and creamy. 

Then add in your eggs one at a time. Make sure to mix it well after each egg is added in.

Slowly mix in your flour mixture. I do about half a cup at a time just to make sure it's all mixed together. Once that is done stir in chocolate chip morsels. 

Spoon about a tablespoon worth of cookie dough onto an ungreased baking sheet. 

Cook for 9-11 minutes. I set my timer for 9 minutes and they were perfect. 

Thankfullness

As the year is coming to an end (I can't believe it's mid November already!) I wanted to share a few many things I am thankful for. I say many because I just can't talk about a few, what can I say I like to talk.

Here is my list

My family- every single one of them. Of course my Mom for giving me life, my Dad for being the BEST father I could have ever asked for even while I was growing and was a complete angel terror.My sisters, even though we don't always see things eye to eye. My husband who I met when I was a mere 15 years old. We have been through a lot and through it all he has loved me and been there for me. He also helped provide me with the three most beautiful, amazing, healthy and loving children. My three babies are the biggest part of my life. Without them I don't know what kind of person I would be.

My friends-I may not have many friends but the one's I do have are very special to me. One in particular has let me tell her anything without judging me or getting mad at me. Heck we've never disagreed on anything to date. It's like were two peas in a crazy pod LOL. I am also thankful for my many friendships that I have made online. It's funny I never would expected to meet so many people through the internet but being a part of many online boards has allowed me to form close bonds with other women. I love you all!

My health-I am a little over weight and I am lazy. Yes I will admit that but even though I am those two things I am still overall healthy. Without my health I wouldn't be here to watch my babies grow up.

My home-Well it's not technically ours since we lease but it is were we have lived for over two years now, which by the way is a record for us. It may not be huge, or have more then two rooms, or have new carpet that isn't stained and pieces of counter top that are falling apart BUT it is our home for the time being and I am grateful to have it over my head. And I am thankful that it does have two rooms as opposed to one so the kids can have a room for themselves.

My husbands job-I am a stay at home mom and living on a single income has it's rough times, lets face it, most of the time but I am thankful that he has a job at all. With the economy the way it is so many families are struggling worse off then I am because they have lost their jobs. I am thankful that my husbands job is stable.

My husband-I know I already mentioned him earlier but there is just so much thankfulness I have for him. I touched on his job and I wanted to elaborate on that a little bit. He works 40 hours a week. Typical right. But on his days off he goes to school full time. He is furthering his education so he can pursue his dream job in meteorological science. He spends a total of 20 hours in school on his days off. I am so thankful for such a wonderful husband that even though he works full time and attends school full time he still prefers me to be at home raising our children instead of out of the house and having them in someone elses care.

I am thankful for everything listed above and so much more but it's time for me to run and pick up my baby little man up from school. Please feel free to share some of the things you are thankful for.

Clean up clean up

EVERYBODY clean up. I try singing this song when it's time for the kids to clean up their toys. Sometimes it helps other times my kids just flat out refuse to clean. This has been an ongoing struggle for quite some time now. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice or ideas on how to get the kids interested in cleaning up being as it is a daily routine and I want them to get out of the habit of depending on me to do it. Typically it goes like this:

Me: Jr mantha Shawn, please go clean up the toys in your room.
Kids: Okay
An hour later the room looks worse then when I sent them in there.

I turn music on when I clean so sometimes I will do this for the kids. Still nothing. Most of the time they just drag their feet and move stuff around in attempts to make me think they're cleaning. I've done the whole threatening to throw the toys away, I've even thrown some away. Samantha, the little stinker gets excited when I tell them I will throw the toys away that they don't clean up and she asks me if she can pick out the one's that will go in the trash. Now I know that's not supposed to happen LOL I used to hate when my parents threatened with that.
So usually I end up getting frustrated after an hour and go in and put all the toys away myself. Now I know my younger two may be a little young to understand the concept of cleaning, well at least the baby is but my daughter should understand by now and I know my oldest knows. So what am I doing wrong? Besides the obvious of doing it myself eventually. Is there a trick of the trade to getting kids to clean their own rooms? I am ALL ears for any ideas!

Last game of the season

Today was Jr's last soccer game. Kind of bittersweet. He loved playing soccer but at the same time didn't. He wasn't very interested in the games and tended to go off into lala land and play during the games but other times he did great. As long as he had fun that's all that matters. 
He did great today, even went after the ball a few times! He paid attention to most of the game until the end LOL. I think he might look forward to the snacks more then he does playing. He's been asking a lot about baseball and football so I'm thinking next year we will try one of those. He loves to be active but he also gets bored very easily. Anyways, here are a few pictures from this morning.

She looks so grown up here :::sniff sniff:::

He's so cute, anytime he saw me with the camera he would make sure to smile or wave at me <3

I just love his expressions. This was him reacting to one of his team mates getting hit by the ball.

Go Jr! Way to get the ball!

Sitting out at halftime enjoying his grapes

My little curly haired boy drinking his brothers water, shhh don't tell Jr.

So proud of him for getting in there and getting the ball.

I'm thinking they were enjoying Papa picking them up LOL

Nothing new to report

I have been trying to be more active in my blog but I have just been lacking any type of writing thoughts. I will come up with a great post and as soon as I sit down to write it it's out of my head and I stare at the screen wondering what the heck happened.
So since I seem to have some writers block going on I figured I would share some recent pictures of my babies.

The kids asked the other night if they could "camp out" on the floor so here they all are, fast asleep camping out together.

This picture was taken at 6am. Yes you read that right. And by that time I had already given him a bath and breakfast. I don't know where he got being a morning person from, certainly not me LOL

I know I've already shared this picture but I just love it. The face he is making is a classic Jr face. He is such a goober.

My pretty little princess playing in the leaves the other day. Her hair is getting so long, I love it!

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Never take allergies lightly

I have been with my husband for 13 years now and one of the very first things I learned about him was that he is allergic to nuts. I have never been with him when he has had a severe reaction. He did have a reaction to a dish I made a few years back. It was one of those premade dishes and I was unaware it had walnuts in it. How was a I to know a pesto marinara had nuts. Ever since then I have been more careful on premade dishes that I buy. Thankfully he caught it right away and headed to the hospital and got it stopped.

I had always expected at least one of our children to come down with the same allergy and I knew once my daughter was born that it would be her. Since an infant she has had severe eczema and since eczema is very often linked with allergies it was no surprise that when I had her tested at two years of age that she was in fact severely allergic to nuts. I have always played the safe route and didn't give any of my kids any type of nut until after they were allergy tested. It's kind of funny that my almost seven year old refuses to eat nuts because he remembers me telling him he might be allergic to them when he was younger. But I go with better safe then sorry so that is fine with me.

While my daughter was at my parents house this weekend she ended up with her first reaction. It was a simple accident that could have happened to anyone. My niece wanted to share with her so she gave her some cashews and Samantha not fully understand that they were nuts ate them. She immediately walked over to my Dad and told him that her throat hurts. My Dad called me and asked if she was allergic, I was like um yes why. He told me what happened, I grabbed the two boys (half dressed) and the benedryl and ran over there.

When I got there she had a little bit of a rash on her chin and throat area. I gave her some bendryl and she seemed ok so I let her play. About five minutes later she threw up. And five minutes after that she threw up two more times. By then she started to get some hives so I grabbed her, told my mom were going to the hospital and I left. I drove like a bat out of hell and when I got there I parked in the red zone and asked if they had epi pens, when they said yes why I told them and we were rushed right back in. She didn't have many hives but I could see the swelling under her chin area and all she wanted to do was sleep which bothered me. Finally we got sent over to peds and by then she started getting hives on her cheek and arms. They gave her an epi shot and a dose of prednisone. We stayed for about 30 min to make sure she was getting better and then went back to my parents.

About an hour later she just kept getting worse. By this time there were more hives and they started to get very red. So off we went, back to see the Dr. By the time we got there I wanted to cry just looking at my poor baby girl. I can't imagine the amount of pain she must of have been in. I had given her more benedryl right before we ran out the door the second time so the Dr's said there was nothing they could do for her since she's already had that along with the epi shot. Just to keep an eye on her and if she worsens to bring her back. Thank god that finally about an hour and a half after the second dose of benedryl she started to clear up and once it started it was fast and within an hour she was completely cleared of all hives and redness. It was such a relief when it was finally all gone I just can't express how relieved I was.

I am showing these pictures to help show that just because it seems non harmful when it comes to allergies things can go from fine to worse in a matter of minutes or hours. Never mess around when it comes to allergies to foods!

These first two were taken at our first trip to the Dr's.

 

This is what happened AFTER she had already received the epi shot

After the day was over I sat down and talked with my husband and he told me from his experience the best way for it to be treated is to go to the ER (not urgent care) and they will give an epi shot followed by a shot of benedryl. The epi stops the initial reaction and the benedryl keeps it under control. So now that we have unfortunately experienced this I am glad I know what to expect and how to handle it.

My poor Dad felt horrible that this happened while he was watching the kids. I told him over and over that accidents happen and really it was only a matter of time that we had to deal with her allergy and that I am just thankful it happened at their house as opposed to at a friends house who might have no idea how to handle allergies or at school. I think the only thing that helped him feel better was getting a big hug from Samantha.

Sisters rock

Today was a very hard day. I will explain in another post later on tonight but right now I wanted to share how awesome my sister is. She called earlier and said she was going out to take some pictures and wanted to know if Jr wanted to come. Of course he said yes, well it was more like Y.E.S. MOM!!!! So she came by and picked him up and off they went. Two hours later they came back and I stole the pictures off her camera. Well it's not really stealing since it's my kid right LOL
Anywho Jr got to run around and play and be the single subject behind the cameras focus. To say he needed alone time like this would be an understatement. I think others who have more then one child will agree with me that it can be hard to spend one on one time with each child every day so the fact that my sister took him out and just let him be him was just beyond awesome to me.
So here's a few of the pictures that she took and I edited. We both share a love of photography.

Green beans galore

I LOVE green beans. Like seriously I will snack on them in the middle of the night if I cooked some earlier that day which is exactly what I did when I made a big batch of them on Monday for dinner. The left overs didn't even last into the next day LOL
This is my tried and true recipe for green beans.



1-2 lbs of green beans, washed and stems trimmed off
1/2 red onion, chopped
4-5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp butter or olive oil (whichever you prefer)
Garlic Salt (to taste)

Warm up a pan and start to melt your butter. After it has melted and is slightly turning brown add in your onions and saute for 1-2 minutes. You don't want to get them too soft because they will just turn to mush later on.Warm up a pan and start to melt your butter. After it has melted and is slightly turning brown add in your onions and saute for 1-2 minutes. You don't want to get them too soft because they will just turn to mush later on.

Add in the garlic and saute for another 1-2 minutes until the garlic is lightly golden.

Then add in your raw green beans. I prefer my green beans with a slight crunch so I do not cook them before added them into the sauteed onion & garlic.

Cook for approximately 7-10 minutes stirring frequently so the garlic doesn't burn. The green beans should still have a slight crunch. Sprinkle with a little bit of garlic salt, stir and then pour into a serving bowl and enjoy :D

Just looking at the pictures is making me salivate. I'm thinking a trip top the grocery store later might be in store to buy more green beans.