The Real Life of a Military Wife

Guide to a perfect Thanksgiving

2012-11-30T15:14:00.000-08:00

I know this is out of order, but a lot of people wanted to know what we were making for Thanksgiving. So even though it is already past, I wanted to include a post with pictures and recipes I used.

I always brine our Thanksgiving turkey. Always. Brine. I have been doing Thanksgiving on my own (aka without family) for five years now and have brined it from the beginning. It all started with a trip to Williams-Sonoma and I am sure you can guess the rest from there... My turkey has always turned out fantastically juicy and tasty and I highly recommend brining a turkey to anyone, but especially if you are a little gun-shy. It is a crowd favorite and a sure fire win.

Like I said, I have used the Williams-Sonoma Apple and Spices Turkey Brine almost every year. Last year I had to follow another recipe because I wasn't close enough to a store and didn't want to order it. This year, I used Pioneer Woman's My Favorite Turkey Brine and it was divine. Next year I might not add the oranges because it gave it a little bit of a citrus taste to the skin of the turkey. Either way, they are both wonderful. I am sure you can find lots more recipes online. The key really is the salt and brown sugar, which locks in the moisture and flavor of the turkey. Also, you really need heavy duty bags to hold all the liquid and the turkey. You can buy brining bags from Williams-Sonoma but I opted to try different (cheaper) bags this year and went with the Ziploc Heavy Duty XL bags. These bags are designed to hold 10 gallons of "stuff" and worked perfectly for our 22 lb turkey and 2.5 gallons of brine.

The only downside to brining a turkey is the process. You can't really start it on Thanksgiving day. I usually start planning my Thanksgiving menu at least a week in advance.

My calendar goes like this:

Monday - Grocery shopping

Tuesday- Boil the brine and cool it overnight

Wednesday - Put thawed turkey and cooled brine into bag and into fridge to soak overnight
(picture from last year)

Thursday - Dump out turkey and brine, rinse off turkey and put it in the oven

Roasted at 350 degrees covered with foil for three hours, basted with butter every hour and last hour uncovered

Maybe it seems like a lot of extra work, but I feel like it is totally worth it. The turkey always turned out perfectly and that really makes up for the process.


Super deliciousness

Williams-Sonoma doesn't recommend using the drippings from the turkey in the gravy because of the concentrated salt content, but I have used it before and just diluted it with milk to balance the salt from the brine.

For the sides, I used mostly the basic recipes off the cans - Campbell's green bean casserole, Stove Top stuffing, mashed potatoes with butter and milk, mashed sweet potatoes with butter and my canned bread and butter pickles.

After the dust settled and the counters were cleaned off, everyone made room for the pies and cookies. Desserts were made in multiples and all four pies and three dozen cookies didn't make it past the second day.

Paula Deen's Apple Pie

Bobby Flay's Throwdown Pumpkin Pie


Nigella Lawson's Maple Pecan cookies

All in all, it was a delicious and exhausting day. It was full of family on both sides, full of love and laughter and memories made. Thanks to everyone that came and mostly those that helped prepare, clean and entertain the kids!

Lastly, I forgot to add that as our Thanksgiving miracle, Calla took seven steps by herself! Ever since Thanksgiving, she has slowly gotten more comfortable walking unaided, but hasn't repeated that many steps in a row since.

Christmas lesson

2012-11-30T11:26:00.001-08:00

Before I lose my chance, I wanted to quick share a short story from Gabe. If I get a chance, I will include an update on our Thanksgiving.

In an effort to save money and also teach the kids a lesson in moderation and the true meaning of Christmas, we told the boys they were only allowed to ask Santa for two things this Christmas season - a 'want' and a 'need'.

We explained the difference between the two - that a 'want' is usually fun and unnecessary and a 'need' is something necessary, not always fun.

Gabe thought about it for a while and said, "Mom, I am going to ask for three things. My 'want' is for a Nintendo DS. My 'need' is for AA batteries. And for last, I am going to ask Santa to buy you flowers, because you never ask for things for yourself."

I instantly became blubbery and had to control myself before I tried to talk. I told Gabe thank you for thinking of me and that I appreciated and loved his idea of giving to others. I went on to talk about the true meaning of Christmas is about the birth of Jesus and how we should think of others at this time of the year and how he gave me the perfect example of thinking about someone else.

On the outside, I remained composed and collected, telling my oldest son that his heart is in the right place and how proud I am of him. On the inside, I was a mess! What a boy! I can't believe those words came out of his mouth! I feel like I was staring at a boy much older than six years old, which makes me thankful that we are raising him right but also sad that he is growing so fast. Sigh.

Look for my Thanksgiving recap and Christmas tree decoration update soon. Sorry for jumping out of order.

Thankful Trees tutorial and freebies

2012-11-15T14:54:00.002-08:00

This time of year is the time to be thankful. I keep seeing lots of different ideas for making big Thankful trees on Pinterest, but I found these 3D trees at Target on the clearance racks (marked down to $1!). I like that they are on heavy cardboard and can stand up by themselves. They came with leaf stickers to put on the branches and we have been writing our daily "thankful" and sticking it on. I decided to trace the two pieces and make them available to download for everyone!

Below each picture of the tree is a link where you can download your copy of the tree. To download them, open the link. Then click on the button that says "Options" and click "Download". This is the first time I have included a download in my blog post, so if it doesn't work out let me know! I highly suggest printing them out on either heavy card stock or on paper and then tracing them on to cardboard.

Thankful Tree side 1

Thankful Tree side 2

Here are the cutting details. You want to cut out the little rectangles but leave the line attached. Then to put them together, you slide the top of one into the bottom of the other and turn it so the cut outs match up with the holes. They should lock into place and keep the tree standing up.

If you can't find stickers to write your "thankful" on, you can download free tags to hand on the tree from Jones Design Company. Emily is the blogger there and she always has the cutest and coolest printables!


free printable tags courtesy of Jones Design Company

In search of more free Thanksgiving decorations? Check this out - a free Thanksgiving banner!

courtesy of shanty2chic.com

our banner in our dining room

Enjoy the freebies and let me know how the tree-making goes!

Pocketbooth app

2012-11-10T19:33:00.003-08:00

I know I have been neglecting my blog and I apologize. We have had a lot going on recently and I have kind of signed off of "social media" altogether. I am trying to work out getting myself more organized regarding setting limits on myself, not expecting so much out of me and basically just letting go of ridiculous time lines I set for myself. This is the time of year to sit back and enjoy yourself and your family and all you have and I have been running myself around crazy, trying to make a million things happen instead. So. I am going to lay off myself for a little bit. Which might mean less entries, less updates and less pictures. And I apologize. But I need to give myself a little leeway before I have a nervous breakdown.

In other news, I always take the free app cards at Starbucks. Anyone else? We have so many apps and songs and videos from those little suckers. Zander and Calla love to hold on to them and pretend they are credit cards.

We recently snagged the Pocketbooth app and it is so much fun!

Available here

This isn't what the app looks like. iTunes wouldn't let me copy the app image, but this gives you an idea of what it's like. Imagine the old school photo booths, where it takes a picture, pauses and then takes another one. That's the concept. What I love about this app, other than having the sequential pictures, is that it is completely customizable. You can pick how many pictures, what photo filters and how long a delay you want between shots. I also love that you can email it, post it on Facebook, Twitter or even order it to be printed!

When we got it at Starbucks, it was free but regularly the app is $.99. You can buy more filters and expand the use of this app if you want. I think the basic version is pretty cool. Here are some shots of us messing around with Pocketbooth on my iPad:

The kids love it! They didn't really understand the concept of moving or posing for the next shot at first, but they quickly caught on. You can tell I got in a posing slump and kind of make the same poses in each sequence. I am a photo booth bore, I guess. But seriously, how fun! I love the idea of taking something that is kind of non-existent anymore and updating it for the next generation. Check it out!

October Recap

2012-11-01T21:22:00.004-07:00

Pumpkin Patch

Leaf Jumping

Pumpkin Carving

Calla's birthday

Trunk or Treating with cousins

Painting Pumpkins

Trick or Treating

Calla stealing candy from Zander

Fun Halloween extras

It was a great month full of outdoor fun and indoor crafts!

Our newest favorite recipe is for baked pumpkin spice donut holes. I made them the morning after Calla's birthday party and they were a hit with the kids as well as the adults. They were super easy to throw together and ended up making a full four dozen. Next time, I am going to try substituting the pumpkin for applesauce. Try them for yourself and let me know how they go!

baked pumpkin spice donut holes

My dearest daughter

2012-10-31T20:42:00.001-07:00

It's been a year already, little girl. I was not ready for it to pass as quickly as it did. I will be honest with you, even if it is blunt and perhaps hurtful, I promise to always be honest - and truthfully, I was not ready to have a girl. I was not ready to have a third baby, let alone a girl. I was flat out scared.

How can I have a baby girl? I know nothing about girls! I know football and basketball, not tutu's and tea parties. I wear black and grey and white and stripes. And pants. I am going to mess up a girl. I don't know how to braid hair or clean ear piercings. I will let my girl down and she will wish for a "cool Mom" instead of me.

And then it happened. And you were born. You came three days early and 18 hours faster than your brothers. And from then on, I knew you were your own person complete with character and personality - a person to be reckoned with. Someone the world had never seen.

And you are. You are a bowl full of laughter and smiles - the ray of sunshine that brightens any cold day. When your hand rests on my cheek, I know that life is precious and fleeting and moments like these are to be treasured.

You have changed me, Cal. You have filled parts of me that I never knew where empty, but would always feel like I was missing something. Your body is too small for the size of your heart and the strength and determination and guts and love you have for everything you do astonishes me. I strive to be a better mother for you, a better female role model for you and I pray for the ability to demonstrate how much joy you bring to my life.

Calla's birthday party

2012-10-29T07:34:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, we celebrated Calla's first birthday with a family party. It was a long awaited event and the first birthday party we have had in Michigan (for any of the kids) since Gabe turned one (back in 2006).

It was a great day - full of love, laughter and celebration of our not-so-little girl. She had lots of fun with her cousins and thoroughly enjoyed all of her new clothes.

We chose a ladybug theme for Calla's first birthday party and decorated the house in all red and black. Besides the standard crepe paper streamers, we had a birthday sign made out of scrapbook paper triangles and hung them with clothespins on ribbon. My sister filled red and white balloons with black paper confetti and then took them to be filled with helium - giving them a spotted look. I hung a picture of Calla from each month she has been alive on a ribbon and it is amazing to see the growth and change in her every month. For our food, I put out two crock pots of spaghetti sauce (one veggie and one with meatballs), noodles, garlic bread and garden salad. It was so nice to offer a real meal and it was minimally fussy. Instead of cake and ice cream separately, I made ice cream cupcakes. I layered chocolate cupcakes with vanilla ice cream and piped red whipped cream on the top.

Apple orchard and recipes

2012-10-19T07:14:00.000-07:00

At the end of September, we went to a local apple orchard to stock up on some Michigan apples. My kids LOVE apples and apple products. I was really hoping we would be able to go out into the orchard and pick the apples, but because of the weather this year apple crops didn't do as well as previously. The apples were already picked and sectioned into types and sizes. The orchard also had a pumpkin patch and Halloween decorations and a playground, so it was still a lot of fun!

We have been making apple foods like crazy since getting our 1/2 bushel (about 20 lbs) of McIntosh apples. What I love about apples is the natural sweetness. Depending on the type of apple, sugar is not necessary especially when they are baked or cooked. Apples go with so many other foods to create a salty-sweet combination. They are the perfect blank canvas for any flavor profile and can be used in almost unlimited ways.

Here are links to recipes I have tried and/or are planning on making:


apple fruit leather

apples and peanut butter

Does your family have any favorite apple recipes?

Soup week

2012-10-15T11:14:00.002-07:00

Welcome Brong family to fall in Michigan. All week our days were filled with cold rain, high winds and freezing temperatures. I officially declared last week soup week. I have made many soups over the years, but they usually revolve around the ever classic Chicken Noodle (or with rice) and French Onion. So this past week, we branched out of our comfort zone and experimented with five different soups.


lasagna soup

lentil vegetable soup


cream of mushroom soup

crock pot zuppa toscana

italian meatball soup

It was a good week - warm and comforting like the tasty broths and creams we digested. By the end of the week, we had our fill of soups and sandwiches and I made chicken fried rice with cheese rangoons. If I made any changes to the recipes, it was mostly doubling the size and/or adding meat (for my meatitarian husband).

I can't take credit for these gorgeous pictures, as they are from the original websites. Links to the recipes are in the captions.

Fun with Halloween costumes

2012-10-14T12:31:00.001-07:00

I am not the biggest fan of Halloween, but I always tell my kids that if we are going to dress up I want them to be similarly themed and that we have to go all out for the costume. I guess I don't really feel that badly about paying the extra money for the accessories and nicer costume as my kids play 'dress up' year round. Since the appearance of the Avengers in movies and toys, the boys have become obsessed. Last year, they were Captain America and Thor so we thought it only appropriate if they suit up as the other half of the super hero team this year.

I give you Zander aka The Hulk -

Gabriel as Iron Man -

They both play their roles surprisingly well. Gabe is arrogant and struts around aiming his repulsor at random objects. Zander runs around, throwing his plastic fists and yelling "Hulk SMASH!"

If there were ever two characters that fit my boys.

Calla has gone in another direction entirely. She picked out her lady bug costume. I promise, she did. Her face lights up whenever she sees it and tries to wear it constantly. I am going to have a hard time telling her "No" when she gets older. Have you ever seen a lady bug so cute? Me either.

I didn't even orchestrate this make shift photo shoot. Surprising, I know!

Making pumpkin puree

2012-10-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

I have been reading all kinds of books about eating healthy, natural unprocessed foods - how to make and store food instead of buying it. I will make a post with links to the books I have been reading, so thankful for the library and internet resources to educate me! Anyway, one of the things Matt loves most is pumpkin pie. Instead of a cake this year, he wanted a pumpkin pie for his birthday. So instead of buying the canned pumpkin pie puree or mix, I decided this was the year I would make it from scratch.

When I was looking up ways to cook pie pumpkins, I stumbled on this link - Pioneer Woman makes pumpkin puree. I love the Pioneer Woman. And I love how easy this is. At the Farmer's Market, I bought two pie pumpkins (smaller than normal carving pumpkins). After cutting them in half, scooping out the gunk and cutting them further, I roasted them on cookie sheets.

The second time I did this, I noticed that adding a small amount of water to the bottom of the pan helped keep the pumpkin flesh moist - almost like steaming it in the oven. If you choose to do this, only add water until it's about half way up the edge of your pan.

After peeling the skin off the flesh of the pumpkin, I cut it into chunks and blended the meat into a thicker consistency. From my two small pumpkins, I ended up with ten cups of pumpkin puree. I froze six of the cups and used four in Matt's birthday pumpkin pie (recipe below). I can't believe how much it made. I have done this twice now (and have two pumpkins on stand by) and am still astounded by how easy the process is. If you have any one that is a pumpkin fiend, like my husband, I highly suggest you give this a try!

Matt's Birthday Pumpkin Pie
(originally from Bobby Flay's Pumpkin Pie Throwdown episode on Food Network)

Let me just say that this was delicious! I doubled the recipe and made three pies. Also, I used a regular frozen pie crust and it was still very tasty. I am definitely going to make this for our Thanksgiving pumpkin pie.

Still alive! No worries...

2012-10-11T20:13:00.000-07:00

We are still alive, I promise! Despite being out of rotation for months now, we are finally getting settled into our new house, city, state, lifestyle. A lot has happened since we left Texas. We spent a fantastic summer at my family's cottage, enjoying lazy days in the sun and lake. I caught up on lots of reading. Gabe learned to swim under water. Calla started crawling (is already almost walking!) and Zander is talking more than ever. It really is amazing how much a few months, a drastic change in environment and being so close to the ones we love can affect a family. We are loving Michigan more than ever - cold weather and all. There are lots and lots of changes in the future for us (Matt starting a new job, Gabe starting Boy Scouts, hopefully buying a house) but I really think that getting out of the Army was the best decision for us and our children.

Below is a small photo recap of our summer adventures - please bear with me regarding the pictures, I don't have my Photoshop completely reinstalled, so I haven't gotten any of my pictures editted.

Last bit of business - now that I am no longer a military wife, I have to brainstorm a new blog title and web address. Suggestions? I have a couple of ideas but if you have any, feel free to throw them out here. When I get four or five candidates I will post a poll!

Huge list of reviewed recipes!

2012-06-19T14:41:00.001-07:00

Alright, here it is! My giant list of recipes I have used (some more than others) within the last couple months. I am sorry to put them all in one post, but I keep forgetting to take pictures every time I cook something or don't get a chance to create a single post after every delicious meal. Anyway, I hope you find some new favorites. This will, undoubtedly, be the last blog posting before we leave for Michigan. I apologize in advance for the hiatus, but I will resume blogging as soon as I get a chance. I am sure you are all anxious to hear about our road trip. In the future, if you want to keep track of recipes I have tried, you can always check my Pinterest board - Recipes - tried and true. Here I keep all the recipes we like and I try to include any edits I have made to the recipe.

Breakfast Foods:

Honey Quinoa Flax Granola
I found it to be tasty but a little bland. If I made it again, I would add more cinnamon. Also it took a little longer to cook for me to get it crunchy (about ten minutes). I didn't have any flax seeds so I used chia seeds as a replacement.

Refrigerator Oatmeal
I love the idea of this for a fast easy breakfast. It didn't seem like it made a lot, but it was very filling! I love the raspberry vanilla version and am anxious to try the others. I added chopped walnuts right before I ate it to add some more crunch.

Non-Vegetarian Meal:

Bacon Risotto
This was the first risotto I had ever made and it was phenomenal. I added frozen peas and extra cheese (mozzarella) at the very end. It was surprisingly easy to make and gave me (perhaps a false) sense of confidence. I definitely plan on making risotto again.

Vegetarian Meals:

Veggie and Cheese Quinoa Casserole
Made this and used chicken broth instead of water. Also added peas, carrots and mushrooms and mozzerella cheese. Sooo good, have to double it next time. Tastes like a veggie mac and cheese.

Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash
This was my first time using quinoa and started my obsession. I really loved this recipe, but the boys weren't too keen on the squash. I might use a spaghetti squash instead next time.

Quinoa and Black Bean Taco Salad
So so so good! I combined the quinoa and black beans and seasoned them together with a taco seasoning mix. I love how light it is and versatile - I ate it as a salad with lettuce, avocado and cheese and the boys liked it with crunched up chips, cheese and sour cream. It is even good left over. The only problem I had was that it made a TON! We have leftovers and also I froze about half of it.

Miso Soup with Rice and Egg
Made this with half chicken broth stock and water instead of dashi and omitted the scallions because I didn't have any. Was BY FAR the best Miso soup I ever had. The rice added a crunch and texture and the egg added richness. I have used noodles in it too, instead of rice. I added them immediately after adding the tofu and they didn't take long to cook. So completely and udderly delicious. The miso paste I found was Cold Mountain brand.

Snacks:

Raw Cookie Dough bites
I couldn't get the oats and nuts ground down enough to where they looked like the picture. Maybe it was just my food processor. I wasn't too fond of the flavors, I think I will stick with my energy bar recipe.

Roasted Chickpeas
Delicious snack! I have made this recipe twice now - the first time, they were gone within 15 minutes. The second time, I made it with two cans of chickpeas and stored the extra in a zip loc bag.

Crunchy Cereal Trail Mix
I have made this a couple times, mostly when we have multiple almost empty boxes of cereal, and it has always turned out delicious! Also, I almost always double the recipe because it gets eaten so fast and it really is easy to make. The kids love it as a snack or as a granola-ish cereal. Today, I used 3 cups Kix, 3 cups Rice Krispies, 3 cups Multi-Grain Cheerios, 1 cup raisins, 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. I kept the wet ingredients the same. Because I doubled the recipe, I used two cookie sheets and roasted the dry mixture for five minutes, churned the mixture around and roasted for another five minutes. After adding the wet ingredients, I did the same thing as before - roasted for five minutes on one size, flipped it over and roasted another five minutes. Then after it cools, break it down into chunks and store in a ziploc bag.

Carbs:

Easiest White Bread recipe ever
It really is easy! I have made it multiple times now and have never had problems with it. If four loaves of bread are too much for you, I have cut the recipe in half and had no problems. Also, I have frozen the loaves before in vaccum seal bags, left them on the counter to thaw and they tasted just as good as when they were first baked. Not dried out, not crunchy in spots, just delicious. I have made this recipe with regular white flour, with bread flour and with whole wheat flour and all the loaves have been good. It says in the recipe that you use 7 cups to 9 cups of flour, depending on how much the dough needs. I have almost always used between 9 and 10 with white/bread flour and I used 9 today with whole wheat. I start the kneading process in my KitchenAid until I hit cup 7 of flour and then take the dough out and add the last two by hand on my counter top.

Pizza Dough
Love love love this recipe! I am so glad I was pointed towards it by a friend on Pinterest. I have used other pizza dough recipes before, but this is by far the best when you are trying to match homemade pizza to delivery pizza. I do recommend that you use bread flour for this recipe, I have never tried it with regular. It makes two large pizza crusts. I have split the dough in half and froze it, thawed it out overnight in the fridge and it was just as delicious as freshly made. I love the bread stick recipe that she includes in this post. Also, if you are making this for kids, a friend recommended rolling the dough out and putting it inside a 8" cake pan - tastes and looks just like a personal pan pizza from other delivery restaurants.

Dessert:

Chocolate Caramel Cookies with Sea Salt
I love this recipe with and without the caramel in the center. When I made it with caramel, I used the squares you find around Halloween time and cut them in half. The batter looks a lot like a brownie batter, very moist, but works wonders for kids that have egg allergies. I have doubled the recipe every time I have made it.

Road Trip packing list

2012-06-18T22:50:00.000-07:00

I have been insanely busy preparing for our trip to Michigan and I apologize for the lack of updates. We are doing well. Calla is busy cutting her first two bottom teeth, Zander is cutting his two year old molars and Gabe is getting his six year old molars. Happy happy house! In other news, Matt will be home on Friday, just in time to help me pack and gather odds and ends before the kids and I leave with my brother (who is flying in next Monday) on next Tuesday. Whew! I am exhausted just thinking about it. Before Matt gets here, I am trying to do as much running around as possible so we can enjoy our 'Daddy' time. I do, really quickly, want to share with you my ideas for our survive-the-journey-to-Michigan car ride.

Do I need to repost 'Mayhem' as a reminder of my fear? I didn't think so.

Last time, I showed you how I made the magnetic faces with the cookie sheet and exposed the greatest entertainment secret of all time (plastic soldiers with magnets on the bottom).

Since then, I have been busy making activity books for each of the boys:

Absolutely, ridiculously easy to make and incredibly cheap and cost effective.

I bought two soft binders (from Target - $.79 each), the portfolio ones, two sets of 25 sheet protectors (PX - $5.99 each - most expensive part and you could probably find them elsewhere cheaper), and three coloring books from the Dollar Store ($3 total) to create these.

To assemble, rip the coloring book pages out of the book and put them back to back inside the sheet protectors and then inside the portfolio. The kids can color on them (with any kind of crayons) and they will wipe off with a rag. I have seen this idea before with dry erase markers, but there was no way I would give Zander a marker in the back seat of my van unsupervised. Crayons work just as effectively!

I chose to buy coloring books because they have activities other than just coloring in them to keep the kids busy, and I didn't want to waste a bunch of printer paper or ink. To use the whole coloring book, I ended up sticking multiple pieces of paper in each sleeve. Then when the kids get bored of whatever pictures are in front, we can switch them out with new pictures.

I did print some educational coloring pages and letter writing ones from this site Mr. Printables. I love this website. Very very cool stuff for all ages.

At Easter time, I ordered these (picture below) for the boys. They are chalkboard mats that roll up and can be taken anywhere you want. I love them. The part you write on is vinyl (I think) and works perfectly for writing and cleaning up after. These were a part of a Very Jane deal, but you can order them anytime from Crafty Momma's etsy page.

I always talk about how great the Dollar Tree is (and it is pretty awesome for bargains), but I really love Target's Dollar Spot. I found these two wooden puzzles there. Both boys really enjoy them, but they weren't travel ready. So I bought some velcro patches and adhered it to each puzzle piece and space they belong in. Now they can take all the pieces off, put them back on and they will stay on (even if the puzzle falls on the floor). I don't know why they didn't come with velcro, I think it should be mandatory.

Also, I feel obligated to share this super cool deal with you. I had no idea that Barnes and Noble sells audio books for kids in the mp3 form. Did you? They are only the sound file of the book being read (no book included) but only cost between $1 - 2.50 a book. My kids LOVE listening to books on tape. We have many books already, but I always love to surprise them with new books to listen to. The best part is that you can download these instantly to iTunes and sync them with any device. I currently have an 'Audio Books' playlist on both the iPad and iPod just in case. Barnes and Noble has MANY different books to choose from, but here is the list of ones I have purchased for our trip - note all the Jamie Lee Curtis books (I absolutely love her). Also, the Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman) book for kids!

I expanded my arsenal of reading books today when I got an email from Amazon about their "Big Deal" sale on Kindle books. Having an iPad has really come in handy in that I can order books for the nook (from B&N) and for the Kindle (from Amazon) and read them from their apps. In their "Big Deal" sale, they have ebooks for all readers at a super discounted price. For the kids, I bought three books for $2 each and one for $1. They are fully illustrated and will work perfectly. As much as I ADORE the act of holding a book and reading to my child, when we travel like this (packing as light as possible) I am glad I can still read to my kids without having to tote our library with us.

You can't see the titles as well as I thought, so I will list them for you:
"Little Pea" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
"Little Hoot" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
"Little Oink" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
"Chicken Big" by Keith Graves
and for me, I bought:
"Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat" by: Temra Costa
"Fifteen Minutes Outside" by: Rebecca Cohen
I am excited - both were $2 each. That's $11 for 6 books. I think it's a steal.

Lastly, I have two exciting food finds from Target today.

You read it right, applesauce on the go! It is applesauce in pouches that have twist off resealable lids, perfect for traveling. I would rather stock my car (and take up precious cargo space) with wholesome food than have my kids eating fast food for the three days we will be on our way. This 12 pack cost $6.49 at Target, equaling less than $.50 a pouch. Baby food costs more than that. They have different flavors (cinnamon apple and strawberry apple), but I stuck with original because I am planning on feeding it to Calla too. This is genius.

That's right, peanut butter in to go cups! I love this idea for multiple reasons. It is pre-portioned for my kids. I can give them one of these and some crackers and apple slices and say "Go to town! Enjoy!" and that can be a lunch meal. Also, it cost $2.19 at Target - less than a box of Uncrustables ($2.49 for 6).

Originally, I was planning on packing sandwiches, but that came with lots of negatives:

Gabe only likes PB and honey sandwiches - no honey in my van.
Zander picks the sandwich apart and eats each half individually.
Sandwiches always get crushed in a cooler, then you have sandwich guts all over the inside of the bag.

Instead, by going with the pre-portioned peanut butter cups, I have less mess and less worry. Although, I am a little nervous about Zander. That kid was made to keep me on my toes. This might be a snack they eat when we are pulled over for gas or at a rest stop. Even then, it is still something they can eat on their own and that makes me happy.

In the end, you can see I have put a mountain's worth of thought into this trip. I am, and will always be a planner at heart, and I am just hoping that all this planning pays off! If you have any tried and true methods of entertaining kids while road tripping across the country (other than watching DVD's, trust me I have that set up as a fail-safe), please share! I know I am not the only one making a trip this summer and we all benefit from collective ideas.

Otherwise, this could be the last you hear from me before we embark on our journey! I do have one other blog post I have been working on, a huge list of recipes we have been using, and will hopefully get that posted before we leave. If not, I can post it from my iPad (it just might be sans pictures).

Make Your Own: magnet faces for car trips

2012-06-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

I have been scouring Pinterest for road trip activities for the kids for our three day trip to Michigan. I always anticipate the worst. But seriously, the drive time by itself is 27 hours. This is hard road time, not including a hundred pit stops for bath room breaks, gas fill ups and whatever else we end up stopping for. While I am anxious to be back 'home', I am not looking forward to this car trip.

This is what I envision. Brace yourself.

So, in an effort to minimize the screaming, cup and snack throwing I have been brainstorming ideas of time wasters.

I found how to make these magnet faces on a link from Pinterest.

I did a couple things differently than in this post. This blogger mod-podged the base face to a cookie sheet and then printed all the clip art face shapes on magnetic paper. I want the boys to be able to use the cookie sheets for multiple activities, so I cut everything out, laminated it with contact paper and attached magnetic stickers to the back of each piece.

My old nemesis - contact paper

There are a couple hair pieces that I skipped out on because my printer ran out of ink. Also, a couple of the pieces I traced and cut out of construction paper. These pieces are a lot more sturdy than the regular printer paper, but I didn't want to take the time to trace and cut every single piece. I ended up making three face bases (tongue twister) instead of just one because I know that they will end up fighting over it and there really are enough facial shapes to go to more than one face.

Once it was done, the fun began:

Side note - The blonde one looks surprisingly like my sister Rosie and her patented death stare. In fact, that just became the contact picture for her in my phone. I guess you'd have to see her to believe it. But trust me when I say that this is a perfect replica, and also that you never want to be on the receiving end of this face.

Cost of project::

Two cookie sheets from the Dollar Tree: $2

Magnet strips (from Walmart - only used half the pack) - $1.25

Contact paper - already had

Printer/construction paper - already had

In the end, it is super cheap to make this fun time waster, but it is a little time consuming to make. I think you can probably buy something like this, but I am not sure where or how much it would cost. If you have a free hour and want to make something to keep your kids entertained, I highly recommend this.

On the same post, the blogger has multiple other ideas for using a cookie sheet or pie pan to make car activities, but my Grandma actually gave me the most genius idea ever. It will blow your mind (especially if you have boys).

Put magnets on the bottom of the plastic Army guys.

Seriously? Where have you been all my parenting life? You mean my crazy-Army brat-fighting-battle kids can now play Army guys in the car on a cookie sheet without them falling all over the car when ever we hit a bump? Or have to stop? And they don't have to pick them up, just lay them on their seat when they get out?

You want to put Army guys climbing up the refrigerator? Sure. Up the dishwasher? Why not.

Mind completely blown.

Thanks Grandma.

You have no idea how much you just revolutionized our car trips.

First day of summer, Our plans (or lack there of) and Instagram

2012-06-07T22:41:00.001-07:00

And so... Gabe is officially done with Kindergarten. Despite his graduation being a couple weeks ago, the school year ended on Wednesday.

He cried. "I am going to miss my friends. I am going to miss my teacher."

A couple hours later, all was resolved with a community water gun fight, sprinkler session and sand/rock/weed cake-making.

And also static hair from playing in the tent. I love summer.
Today was the first day of no school and I kept thinking it was Saturday. All day, I couldn't figure out the lunch rush at Subway. Couldn't figure out why the gate was so backed up. What are all these people doing on base on a Satur- oh wait. When there are no school days and no work days, they all blend together in a complete, lazy lack of schedule.

The boys got haircuts today. Gabe has been begging for a mohawk.

So, as you can tell from the picture of my weekly calendar (that I so obviously ripped off Pinterest) we have very little planned. Not usually the way I like it, but it seems to be working for us right now. The countdown to the road trip to Michigan is now 19 days away. Eek! So many things to do still. So many things to purge. So many things to pack.

I know everyone wants to know our plans and everyone is going to want to see us. But I really look forward to a vacation time. I say that every time and invariably end up running all over Michigan to see everyone. This time, I am putting my foot down and determined to make this a vacation, not stress-induced, juggling circus act where I drag all three kids (and dog) all over the state. I have been making some plans, but for the most part, I want us to enjoy this summer. Very soon, we might be making some big changes and our family needs this down time for relaxation. Thank you for understanding.

On a sidenote, these pictures were all taken with the Instagram app (follow me!) just made available for the Android phones. I am brand new to the Instagram revolution and am conflicted. I love the instantness, being able to take pictures and edit them and post them withn a mater of a couple seconds. I love being able to develop a collection and have a social media following. I don't like the resolution and lack of quality that a regular camera offers. Maybe this is just my camera. I also don't like that I can't access my photos until after they are published. I am a control freak and for this reason I think I dislike Instagram the most.

Does this mean I will stop using this app? Of course not. But if any one has any tricks of the trade or can recommend anything about using this app, please let me know. Maybe the Apple system just works better with this. Until my phone is eligible for an upgrade next year, I guess I am stuck with my Android.

Double side note - Zander's potty training is going much better than expected. I plan a follow up post at a week's mark. Fair warning, if you don't want to read about my son's bodily functions, I suggest you don't read it.

Also, I have a ton of new recipes I am trying to push out. Many don't have pictures (I apologize) but that is what happens when you have to inhale your food while trying to entertain the baby and keep the two year old at the table, while bartering with the six years about how many more bites until he can get down and play.

For my kids... a letter from your Momma

2012-06-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy this past week. Worry about this or that. Trying to control things outside my reach. Cleaning. Working out. Forgetting to take time and enjoy my children.

On Saturday and Sunday, we took the time to have fun.

Saturday night, the boys and I had a water gun fight. It was the first time this summer we had played together, all together. It was so fun and such a release from the stress of life.

Sunday afternoon, I set up a sprinkler for Zander and Calla to play in and Gabe rode his bike. I just sat back and took pictures. Soaked up the fun and the joy from the simple things that entertained them. Sitting there reminded me of all the small things I love about my kids.

Dear Calla,

I love your smirky smile and your chubby cheeks. I love the way you wave your arms when you see me and need me to pick you up. I love the way your ears stick out, just like your older brother. You are your own person and won't bend to anyone's will. You know what you want and will scream (literally) until you get it. I am thankful for you every day. Thankful that (even though we didn't think we were ready) you came out knowing what was best for us. I can't imagine a minute without you in my life.

You make me smile.

Dear Zander,

I love your fearlessness. You enjoy every second of life and embrace each day with a happy, upbeat attitude. I love how much you talk and when you get frustrated with me trying to understand your made up language. You stand up for your brother when he gets in trouble. You try to make Calla laugh when she is upset. Your smile and sweet voice reminds me that you are only two years old. And will only be two years old for a blink of an eye. I would keep you small if I could, but the world needs the man you will become.

You make me laugh.

Dear Gabe,

I am so proud of you. I love your sensitive nature, how deeply you care about your friends and family and believe the best in everyone. I love that you are starting to become your own person. This week is your last week as a Kindergartener and I am so thankful that you love school and learning. You are my constant shadow and reminder to hold my tongue and cool my temper. With you, I became a parent and I am blessed to have you for a son.

You make me happy.

First day of potty training Zander

2012-06-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

This is an update from my iPad. I am trying to get used to doing this since in 23 days we will be leaving all our worldly possessions (minus what I can fit in the van) and road tripping it back to Michigan for the summer. That means the desktop stays here, along with my PSE 8 and other awesome photo editting software. It also means that my updates will probably be sparse and mostly pictures. I am not sure how many recipes or projects I will be accomplishing. But we are extremely excited to be headed out of El Paso for an extended amount of time.

Looking forward to fresh, breathable air with no sand storms.

Green grass to frolick and run around with bare feet.

Relaxing days are in our future.

But I digress, I started this post with the intention of talking about our first successful day of potty training Zander.

This morning, after waking up and stripping off his diaper, he decided to start potty training himself. He used his potty chair and refused to wear a diaper. Put one on and he would immediately take it off.

So. I guess it is time to start. I was planning on waiting a little longer for him to be able to communicate more effectively, but if he is ready, who am I to make him wear a diaper? He got to wear Gabe's underwear (since I hadn't planned this out very well and don't have any for him yet) which just made his day.

Summary of the first day:

One used diaper (put on while we ran errands).
Two accidents (was too busy playing with Gabe).

Success!

Side note - I found that if I set a timer for a minute and had him sit there until the timer went off or until he got tired of messing with the buttons, it helped keep his attention away from getting up and he went more often. We will see if he continues to be entertained by this method. I got the timer at the Dollar Tree (score!). Also, he likes looking at the pictures of the Sesame Street characters on the seat and at books we have for tub time.

Future black mail picture

Memorial Day birthday party

2012-05-31T10:07:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to a birthday party at a friend's house. It was a blast! We played in the bounce house and water slide and the pool. Everyone loved the water and it was such a fun way to kick off the summer. The pinata was gigantic and full of toys and candy. It was so fun to see the kids all dash for the candy. But the water slide was the main attraction. I had to try it out. I'm glad we were able to celebrate with our Army family here and that I was able to capture so many great moments.

Calla loves playing in the pool.

Zander takes his turn to swing at the pinata.

Gabe takes his turn trying to break open the pinata.

My favorite part of any birthday party. The candy shuffle.

Kindergarten Graduation with Gabe

2012-05-28T16:28:00.004-07:00

Last Thursday was Gabe's Kindergarten graduation program. Hard to believe my first born is already old enough to be graduating Kindergarten. I knew it was coming, he's been singing the songs at home for a couple weeks already, but it is another thing to see your baby in a cap and semi-gown. Really tugs on your heart strings. I recorded it all to share with you.

The class sang numerous songs, they were all very cute. I don't know why the preview makes them all look like they are ghostly white, I assure you the actual video footage is not like that. In fact, it really is worth it to wait for the HD version to load. One resounding trend you will notice with Gabe throughout all the videos is that he is always doing his own thing. Rarely are his moves in time with the song or the rest of the kids. He's just off in his world. Doing what he wants. And that is Gabe at his finest and the best description I can give for his personality.

I don't know the actual name of this song, but I do know it's the opening credits to the movie "Lilo and Stitch" (one of my all time favorites). I love that the majority of the kids don't know the words.

Here is the same song, but the teacher says "Show us your surf board moves boys!"

Of course, Gabe does his own thing. What a goon.

Singing the ABC's backwards. Naturally.

"Yellow Submarine" made so popular by the Beatles. Excuse the shakiness of the camera in the beginning, Matt was transferring me the camera and then I handed Calla off to him. Also about halfway through, there's a pause in the singing and Gabe debuts as "The Captain" (I'm so proud!).

He even gets lines ("At your stations!" "A life of ease.")!

And then the ceremony.

Gabe's teacher put together a slideshow of pictures from throughout the year and put it to super sappy music and forced (okay we WILLINGLY watched) us to watch it while the kids got on their caps and semi-gowns. After the slideshow, the pomp and circumstance started and the kids slowly walked back in.

I personally love the board shorts with the cap and semi-gown.

I feel like it's a look I'll be seeing again, like maybe at his high school graduation.

Kids names were called and one by one, they received their "diplomas".

And then the last song was sung - "New York, New York", but the words were changed to "First Grade, First Grade." "Start spreading the news. We're leaving today. We're going to be a part of it: First grade, first grade."

Not a dry eye in the house.

Make Your Own: sight word practice cards

2012-05-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

This idea hatched from numerous other ideas put together. As you know, I am a tad obsessed with using contact paper and glass frames as dry erase boards. Also, every week at school Gabe is given a list of sight words for him to write on a flash card and to practice writing and reading. I decided to combine the two ideas and make sight word practice cards that he can write on.

I took the wide lined paper (the one with a solid line on top and bottom and the dotted line in the middle) you can get for kids to learn to write with and wrote out the Kindergarten and half of the First Grade sight word list (list is included below). Then I cut them out, making sure to leave an extra line of space below the word I wrote (so Gabe had a space to copy it). The hardest part was covering the whole thing (front and back) in contact paper and leaving enough room around the edges so the contact paper would adhere to itself and create a seal.

From there, the cards are done! Gabe can take a dry erase marker and pull out a card (I store them in an empty oatmeal container) and practice sounding out the sight word and then spelling it out below the word that is already written. Once he has them "memorized", I will read the sight word to him and he sounds it out for himself and writes the word on the back of the paper. When he is done, he flips the card over to see if he spelled it correctly.

This is one of the easiest projects I have done and is more time consuming (all the 'laminating' of the words) than anything.

The link below is to PDF files you can download that have the 1000 most frequently used words in the English language. I only made flashcards for the first fifty for Gabe. This is just a good resource to have in general and the website itself (www.k12reader.com) is a good source of information and education to help make sure your child is on track. There are lots of printables and free worksheets too!

Fry Word List - 1000 high frequency words

Submitted!

2012-05-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone for voting on which photos I should submit! The pictures have been submitted and you can view my profile and entries here! Tomorrow aday.org will be launching a website completely devoted to displaying all of the photo submissions. On May 30th, they will announce which pictures have been chosen to be published in a book entitled, A Day in the World, to be released in October 2012.

aday.org Photo Submissions

2012-05-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

I signed up to be a photo submitter for a project called "ADAY.org - Picture Today Inspire Tomorrow". They asked the photographers take pictures of a day in their life and then catagorize them based on three criteria - Home, Work and Connections.

"On this one single day we ask you to pick up your camera and help us photograph daily life. What is close to you? What matters to you? We will connect your images to images from all around the world, creating a unique online experience where photographs will be shared, compared and explored. Your view on life will be preserved to inspire generations to come."

As always, I shot pictures of my kids in different activities at different times of the day. I haven't completely decided which catagory to place them under, but I think I need to narrow down my submissions first.

I am allowed to submit up to 10 pictures, but am conflicted about which ones to upload. That's where I need help. I have set up a poll at the bottom of this post. If you could look through all 24 possibilities and click the ten that you like the best, I will submit them on the last day - the 22nd. Please vote! It will help me decision immensely! Thanks!

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Pick ten pictures for the aday.org photo submission:

My version of vegetarian lettuce wraps

2012-05-09T10:26:00.000-07:00

My kids love fruits and vegetables. I am lucky that way. When we fight over eating food, it is almost always over eating meat. There's just something about it they don't like. So instead of constantly fighting with them, I decided to start including vegetarian meals into our weekly rotation. Also, I watched the documentaries Forks over Knives and Food Inc. If you haven't heard about them, check 'em out.

I won't go off on a tangent about how our food production has been taken over by big businesses and thus the quality of our meats and dairies have been driven down to create a higher profit margin.

I won't, I promise.

Anyway, I have now decreed (and I can do that because I am the household chef) that we will have three vegetarian dinners a week (to start). I began this effort last week and this was one of the first recipes I made. I was inspired by Pioneer Woman - Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps and really just upped the vegetable count (because I lucked out and have kids that like veggies) and added rice.

My recipe for Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps:

1 head of Romaine hearts

1 package extra firm Tofu

1 can water chestnuts

1/2 can of baby corn (or 1/2 cup of frozen or fresh corn kernels)

1/2 cup of frozen or fresh peas (you could definitely use pea pods)

1/4 cup of soy sauce

1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar

1 cup of white rice (optional)

1 cup of shredded or matchstick carrots (to top at the end)

Add garlic and ginger to taste

I started by cooking my tofu to get a good color and flavor out of it. Put it in a non stick pan and crank up the heat. I added peanut oil to keep it from sticking to the pan. Try to break the tofu into as small pieces as possible (they will resemble scrambled eggs), I ended up using a potato masher to smash it. The tofu is done when all the water has cooked out and it has turned a golden brown color.

While waiting for the tofu to cook, I cut the water chestnuts and baby corn in a small bite size dice (they give a good crunch factor). Then I dumped all the veggies (minus the carrots) in with the tofu to cook a little but remain crunchy. Add in the soy sauce, garlic and ginger to season the mixture and continue cooking until the liquid has been absorbed.

Turn off the heat and stir in the balsamic vinegar. I layered the wraps, putting white rice on the bottom, tofu filling in the middle and added a sprinkling of shredded carrots on the top (the picture below is sans carrots, we ran out). You can add or take away as much or as little of this recipe as you want. I love how easy and light this recipe is. You can eat as much as you want without feeling guilty about inhaling all the good food. If you wanted to incorporate meat, any of them would work with this recipe (shredded chicken, shrimp or finely cut beef).

Gabe ate two lettuce wraps and then more lettuce by itself. Zander ate about a cup of the tofu and rice mixture and I had three or four lettuce wraps (sans rice) and we had plenty left over. I ended up using the tofu mixture with fried rice later in the week. It wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. The kids actually ate more than they normally do and there were no power struggles over food. It was very liberating and inspiring and reinforced this effort as the right thing to do.

Side note:

Did you know you can freeze plain rice? I didn't until I read that you could on one of the blogs I follow. It's easy and makes meal preparation much faster if the rice is already cooked! I cook a double batch of rice (2 cups of rice and 4 cups of water), take out about a cup and a half (about half of what was made) and put the rest in a freezer safe bag. Leave the bag open and cooling on the counter. Once it's cool, seal it and make sure to get all the air out of the bag. Put it in the freezer until you need it.

To use your frozen rice, take it out of the fridge roughly 4 hours before you need to use it. I leave mine on the counter (it's already cooked and won't go bad) to thaw. Once it is thawed, pour it into a microwave safe bowl and add about a tablespoon of water or oil to help reconstitute it. Cover it (so it can steam) and place in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes. The time really depends on your microwave. I have done this twice now and love the result. It makes cooking so much faster!

Zander's 2nd Birthday recap

2012-05-08T09:06:00.000-07:00