New projects for the Spring

There are so many projects that I want to do before D leaves. We have started two of them, one is a sandbox for P and the other is a raised vegetable garden for me. We went to Menard's the other night and got the lumber to make both.

D cut the frame for the sandbox this past week and got some sand to fill it with. P loves his new sandbox so much! We have played in it the past 3 days. We are still working on keeping the sand in the sandbox and not in the yard, but so far so good.
I also bribed D into building the frame for my garden tonight by ordering some Chinese (his favorite meal) and waking him up a bit early. :) It worked and he built the frame tonight before he left for work. I think we are going to put it on the side of the back yard where it is most level and not a low spot where water collects. Now my job is to get all the grass out of the framed area so that D can till up the dirt. I plan to make it an all organic veggie garden. I have also started some veggies in a little greenhouse. So far we have started cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, cilantro, rosemary, green onions, and lettuce. However, some little fingers have made their way into my greenhouse and now I'm not sure what I have coming up in the first flat of veggies. I guess we'll find out later.

I also got some more flowers from Menard's today. I got some Lily's, garden mums, and some extra tomato plants in case those are one of the plants that the fingers got into. I planted the Lily's in the back of the house framing the fireplace chimney and I planted half of the mum's in the front of the house. Part in a hanging basket and the other part in a planter that sits on our front porch. The rest will go in the back of the house. I just didn't have time to plant them today before the kids got cranky and D had to leave for work. I guess there is always tomorrow, if it doesn't rain. :)

"Nutragrain" bars

P is completely in love with nutragrain bars, he will try to convince me to let him eat 4 for breakfast. Well, too much of a good thing isn't really a good thing anymore, now is it?

So, I love this recipe site called Recipezaar and I happened to stumble across a recipe for nutragrain bars that are homemade. I decided it would be worth a shot to see how they taste, not to mention a heck of a lot cheaper than buying them at the store.

They just came out of the oven and they have made my whole house smell so darn fabulous! Of course the recipe says to let them cool completely, but really, who has time for that? :) So, I just had to dig into one to try them out. The verdict.....they are super delicious! Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 (18 ounce) box yellow cake mix
• 2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (use only quick-cooking)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (use 3/4 cup for a sweeter crust and topping)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup melted butter, plus
• 2 tablespoons melted butter (can use vegetable oil)
• 1 large egg, slightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups strawberry preserves or raspberry preserves (can use a little more, or use your favorite preserves)

Directions

1. Set oven to 375 degrees (oven rack to second-bottom position).
2. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
3. In a large bowl combine cake mix, oatmeal, cinnamon and brown sugar; mix with a spatula or a large wooden spoon.
4. In a small cup whisk egg with lemon juice and vanilla until combined; add to the crumb mixture along with 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons melted butter.
5. Using a large wooden spoon toss to combine then use your fingers to finish the mixing.
6. Mix until the mixture clumps together.
7. Sprinkle a litle more than half of the crumb mixture into the pan then spread out evenly pressing firmly to cover bottom.
8. Spoon the jam carefully over the crust in the pan and spread evenly.
9. Cover with remaining crumb mixture over top of the jam then gently pat the mixture down slightly.
10. Bake for 20 minutes (the top should be very light brown).
11. Cool completely, or semi-freeze before cutting into bars (this will make cutting the bars easier).

Of course I made a few changes of my own. Instead of using the yellow cake mix, I used 2cups flour, 2tsp of baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 cup sugar. Also, instead of using 1/4 cup melted butter, I used 3/4 cup ground flax meal (for added fiber of course!). I did use the 2tbsp butter that it called for on top of the 1/4 cup. I also used Polaner All fruit strawbe rry jelly with no added sugar. They are definitely sweet enough and thats even after I cut the sugar way back. I put these together all while the boys took a nap. They are easy to make and you can freeze them once you cut them into bars. Here are some pics of the finished product:

Raw milk

I have been interested in raw milk for quite some time now. I thought about switching to it back when P was a baby, but we decided that we would just stick to organic milk instead. Well, P and B both have eczema and P's is pretty bad. We have recently had to take him to the dermatologist in order to get it under control. I have read that eczema is caused by a reaction to something and if you can figure out what is causing the reaction, you can pretty much clear up the eczema.

I want to try the raw milk for so many reasons. First of all, it's supporting a local farmer and the milk is in its most natural state. Basically, they milk the cow and put it in a bottle for you. Second, the health benefits are great. The milk still has the natural bacteria in it which can aide in digestion. It also has all of the natural probiotics still left and alot of people that cannot drink regular pasteurized milk, are able to drink raw milk. I have also heard that it can help clear up allergies and asthma.

Selling raw milk in Indiana is illegal, however, it is not illegal to drink the raw milk from a cow that you own. So, the smart farmers in Indiana have a way of getting around this law. Basically, this is how it works. The farmer boards and feeds the cows. The consumer (myself) buys a share of the cow and pays a monthly fee which covers the cost of boarding and feeding the cow. So, technically I own the cow and therefore I can drink the milk that comes from it. See how that works?! :)

I have found a farm not too farm from here where I can get into the cow share and also they have natural pork and free range eggs as well. We plan to take the kids to the farm this weekend to check out our cow and sign up for the program. I am so excited to try raw milk and to see if it will help clear up the eczema that my boys suffer from.

Easter fun

We headed over to my mom's for Easter with the boys. She had Easter eggs hid all around the house for P to find. He is a very smart kid and discovered them before the Easter egg hunt even started. He also discovered the tricycle that my mom had in the spare bedroom waiting for him to get big enough to ride it. So, Nana got out the helmet that she got for him and he rode around her house all afternoon on the tricycle. Although, his legs still are not quite long enough to reach the peddles from the seat, so he found his own way to ride it.

We also stopped by the hospital so that my sister could weigh B for his 5 month weigh in. The little beefer weighs in at 15lbs 12oz! What can I say, my kids loooove to eat! :) Did I mention he is already wearing 6-9 month clothes at 5 months old? Here are some cute photos of him on Easter.
And one very long, but funny video of P opening up his Easter eggs.

First food

I have given in to the urge to start Bennett on solids. I don't really consider it "starting" on the solids, more like I made some peas one night and I gave him some. I'm not ready to fully dive in to feeding him solids everyday. I did try some cereal with him once and he gave me the nastiest face and spit it right back at me, so I gave up on that. Here are some pics of the little man feasting on his yummy peas that his mommy made for him.

I also think that he may be teething, unfortunately. He has been the crankiest baby today and he has slept a lot. He has also been constantly chewing on his fist, so I gave in and gave him some tylenol before he went to bed. I really hope that he isn't getting any teeth yet. P didn't get any teeth until he was 8 months old, and my breasts really thanked him for that. But it was kind of entertaining that I could make him laugh one minute and then he would be cranky in the next. He just couldn't make up his mind, cranky or laughing.

It's Birthday Time!

P had his 2nd birthday at the end of March. I cannot believe that he is 2 already and he is changing so much everyday. He has started to talk more and his favorite phrases lately are "oohh what's that?" "wow!" and "want some." We have also been getting "all done" and "bye bye."

He has also taken a very strong liking to trains, especially Thomas. He got so many cool trains for his birthday and yesterday I found a train table on sale at TRU, so I bought it for him to set up his tracks on.

He had an awesome party for his birthday. So many family and friends came to help us celebrate, although P was attached to daddy for most it. We have also started the potty training journey with him. Right now we are trying to work on him recognizing when he might have to go and heading to the potty to try. He is pretty good at telling us after he has gone already, so we are trying to get him to recognize when he has to go and telling us. He picked out a Cars potty seat which fits over the big potty.

We also got him a big boy bed for his birthday. He now has the most comfortable full sized bed, I could fall asleep on it at anytime. So far, he has done very well with it. He sleeps through the night most nights in it and he gets up and comes to our room when he gets up in the morning. He is also napping in it very well.

I will upload some pics soon!

First things first

Gosh it has been so long since I last updated this thing. So, what's new in our lives? Well, we are about to go through a huge change in our family. D is set to deploy in early May and I have put in my resignation at work in order to stay home with the boys.

I am really sad that D is leaving and also to leave my job. I really enjoy working with the people that I do. But, after much discussion, we have made the decision for me to stay home with the boys. We just don't feel that it is very fair to them to lose one parent and have another work full time and not be with them very much. I am so happy that I will get to spend this time with them.

I hope to update the blog more frequently so that D can check up on the boys while he is away.