Road Trips

We decided last week that we were going to try and take the boys up to Chicago before D left. We headed up to my home town on Sunday and spent the day visiting with my family and we stayed overnight at my dad's house. Monday morning we woke up early (ha, as if I had the choice to sleep in!) and took the train into Chicago. We wanted to take P to the Science and Industry Museum to see the trains and the tractor exhibits they had.

It was quite the experience trying to get the double stroller and two children on the train and then find a seat to fit us all in. But we made it! P wasn't too fond of the train at first, but then he figured out that he could look out the window of the train and see more "choo choo's" going by, then he was fine. We made it to the museum just fine and I realized that I forgot my camera. I did take some pictures with my cell phone, but I have yet to upload them.

We drove back home on Monday afternoon and tried to get some laundry done and repack so that we could leave for Brown County on Tuesday. We made it to Brown County in the afternoon and they still did not have our room ready. Dad and P went exploring on a trail near the lodge while B and I stayed behind and roamed around to check things out. We used to vacation there a lot when I was growing up, but it has been years since I was there last. It was neat to see how much things have changed. After waiting for about 30 minutes, I went to check on the status of our room. (They said they could have it ready in about 20 minutes) The room still wasn't ready yet, so we opted for one of the rustic cabins. I thought it would be fun, like camping only with a bed and your own bathroom.

Once we got settled in the cabin, we took the boys up to the indoor water park they have at the lodge. P absolutely loved it and B could have cared less. :) Dad took P around the lazy river part and then they played some in the other pool. About 6:00pm we attempted to leave the pool and go eat some dinner at the lodge. P was not very happy about it, but eventually we got him away from the pool. Wednesday we ventured around downtown Nashville and ate breakfast at one of the restaurants that we used to go to when I was younger. It was so yummy! We walked around to all of the little shops and we also stopped at the winery tasting store. I love the Vista Red from Brown County Winery, so I knew that I wanted to get a bottle of that. I also tried some other wines and bought a bottle of the Vista Rose as well. The boys were starting to get cranky at this point, so we loaded them up in the car and headed to the outlet mall in Edinburgh. The boys slept the entire way there. We did a little more shopping and then headed to get some lunch. D knew of a BBQ place, so we headed there for lunch. It was so, so yummy!!!! I wish we had something like that around here.

We started to head back to the lodge and we decided to go ahead and head home. P was super cranky all day because nobody slept good the night before and we were exhausted. So, we packed up and headed home on Wednesday night. But we had a great time on our mini family vacation! Right before we left the Park, we took the boys to the highest lookout. It was so cool to see all of the trees and the hills. I remember this tower in the Fall and how pretty it is when all of the leaves are changing.

First pops of the year

P got his first popsicle of the year! I made some strawberry/banana smoothie pops for him and froze them in my popsicle molds. Since it was nice out today, he got his first popsicle and he devoured it while watching Thomas the train.

I have also given up on trying to start B on solids. He refuses them, basically I put a spoonful in and he raspberries it right back at me. So, not only is he wearing it, but so am I. I guess he just wants to nurse, which is fine with me!! Less hassle and less mess for a while longer, no complaints on my end. :) He are some cute pictures of him. He won't eat applesauce, but he'll eat his shirt!

*Don't talk about my man boobs!* :)

We got our milk!

We took the boys to visit the farm on Monday evening. P was soooo in love with the pigs, chickens, and cows. Oh, and the tractor and the mudd! :) He also got to see some baby chicks and 2 calves that were in the barn. He was so muddy by the time we left that we just stripped him down in the car and he rode home in his diaper.

We also got our first gallon of raw milk. The next morning I skimmed the cream off of the top and put it in a Ball jar and stuck it in the freezer. It will be great to use in my coffee in the mornings. I also froze the gallon of milk because we just bought 2 gallons of organic milk at the store the day before, not knowing if we would come home with milk on Monday or not. Of course I just had to taste it before I froze the milk. It was pretty good, it tasted like milk! :) I took some pictures of it before I put it in the freezer.

*The cream I skimmed off the top*

*The actual raw milk before I skimmed the cream off the top*

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.