Things Making Me Happy

I have been smiling at Marcia's "Things Making Me Happy" blog post for 24 hours now.  I popped over to [finally] write a response, and I decided instead I'd blog about it.

These days I still feel like I'm running like a nut...the summer is zipping by...but all in all, everything is good.  So what's making me happy these days???

Off the top of my head:

1) My girls taking swimming lessons.  I love seeing them working so hard and having success...and of course, having fun.  I love their teacher, and I'm so thankful we found her!

2) Fresh fruit.  We've picked cherries and blueberries over the past couple of weeks, and we've been able to buy tons of yummy grapes, strawberries, and melons at incredible prices, too.  We've been eating fruit four or five times a day (instead of our usual three)...there's just so much goodness to pack into the day!  We'll be heading to the orchard this week, as their peaches are just beginning to come in.  I can't wait!!!

3) Miss Jenny.  I am so thankful for such a wonderful friend to our family.  The girls get so excited every Friday morning when I remind them, "It's Friday!  Do you know what that means?" 

4) Eating out for breakfast.  Hubby and I used to love to eat out for breakfast once upon a time.  Once the girls were born we did it only a couple of times until they were close to four.  It's such an easy meal to make at home, I always rationalized I'd rather just cook and "save" that eating out for another meal.  We've recently found a nice little mom-and-pop diner, and we've been out for breakfast every couple of weeks.  It's such an awesome treat to eat hot pancakes and have someone bring me coffee!

5) Pictures of my girls blowing bubbles.  I have taken a TON of those this summer...and I can't seem to choose my favorites.  I love them all!!!

6) Crafting.  I don't get to do it as often as I'd like, but it's always good for my soul.  I'm due some craft time one of these evenings soon!

7) Being *relatively* caught up on pictures.  They'd go a lot faster if I'd quit taking pictures of the girls blowing bubbles...but I can't do that.  :)

There are many more things, of course, but that's a super-quick list.

Thanks to Marcia for the inspiration (as always!!!)!

Something New for Breakfast

When the girls were about a year old, I introduced scrambled eggs to them.  It didn’t go over well the first time or two, but it wasn’t long before that became a breakfast staple.  I added it to our grain rotation, and we had a pretty balanced breakfast.

For a long, long time, their breakfasts consisted of...

·         oatmeal OR cream of wheat

·         scrambled eggs

·         a banana

At some point, a friend mentioned that her girls like cottage cheese.  Finally!  A protein alternative!

So, for an even longer time, the girls’ breakfasts have been...

·         oatmeal OR cream of wheat

·         scrambled eggs OR cottage cheese

·         a banana…OR sometimes I’d get all crazy and give them blueberries or sliced strawberries

I think this is a pretty hearty breakfast, and most days, the girls clean their plates.  My girlfriend says her kiddos eat a “farmer’s breakfast”…important to fuel the work of the day…and I think our girls fall into that category, as well.  There’s no farming going on here in our corner of the ‘burbs, but I guess they need energy for all their book reading, puzzle solving, train building, and baby doll tending.

As the girls have gotten older, I’ve introduced an occasional grain alternative once or twice a week…a toasted whole wheat bagel…French toast from whole grain bread…or sometimes I get industrious and make muffins.

Still, I felt like we needed another protein to throw in the mix.

I read a post from Melissa at Bumblebee Grace, sharing her granola recipe.

VIOLA!  A light bulb moment for me!

I know it’s not rocket science, but I hadn’t thought about yogurt as a breakfast food for the girls.  (We had a challenging experience with yogurt a year and a half ago, and I have shied away from it since.)

Our girls are in serious love with Greek yogurt.  I drizzle a tiny bit of honey to sweeten it.  Sometimes I dice up some berries or peaches to top it; and on Sunday the girls helped me make Melissa’s granola recipe [we added sliced almonds and cinnamon - YUM!], which is another great topping.

We haven’t had many eggs or much cottage cheese in the past few days…the girls keep asking for more yogurt! 

It’s definitely in the breakfast rotation, and one day we even had it for snack, topped with granola.

I promise our girlies have more variety for lunch and supper, but maybe I’m just a creature of habit at the breakfast table.  In any case, I’m glad to have picked up a new “habit”.

Super 8 on Saturday

...not the motel chain! No, just thankful for lots of super fabulousness over this past week!

1) We enjoyed an extremely rare treat on Saturday, eating out for breakfast. It was such an awesome family-filled morning…breakfast, a walk to the post office, making pictures as we walked around downtown, capped off with a trip to the grocery store. It was nothing fancy, but the wholesome family goodness certainly abounded.

2) The girls have been giving me huge, full-body hugs as I’m putting them to bed at night. They wrap their legs around me so tightly, and hold on with their arms around my neck for all they’re worth. Even though bedtime can sometimes be a little daunting, it’s truly the sweetest ending to the day.

3) Baby B has been particularly affectionate with her words lately. It’s so very sweet to hear her say, “I love you, Mommy!” or “I love you, Sissy!” for no reason at all. One day, out of the blue, she said, “You’re sweet, Mommy!”

4) I had my belated birthday massage on Monday. The girls asked where I’d been, and I tried to explain to them. After bath, I gave them a “massage” with lotion. They loved it! And since then, every time I’ve applied sunscreen, they’ve asked, “Are you going to give me a massage?” Um, no, not here in the garage, Honey.

5) On Wednesday, I had a couple of errands to run at the mall. I loaded the girls in their stroller, and off we went. Whereas we walked in the mall a lot last year, we hadn’t been there in quite a while. The girls were excited to wave to the carousel horses, and they were SO patient while I shopped for dresses for them. When we finished, we put the stroller in the car and walked across the parking lot to the dollar store. The girls each got to pick a new puzzle, and they were so tickled. It was such a smooth morning, all the way around!

6) We’ve enjoyed more beautiful weather this week, and lots of time outside. The girls are just getting the hang of waving the bubble wand (sometimes), and they’re trying to learn to blow bubbles themselves. They have been asking to play with chalk all winter. I kept saying, “When it gets warmer.” I finally let them pull out their buckets of chalk on Friday, and they had so much fun.

7) One very windy afternoon, I was blowing bubbles for them to chase. It was the picture of pure joy to see them running like mad, only to spin around and yell, “More, Mommy!” At one point, Baby B almost ran straight into a bubble, and the surprise on her face was priceless!

8) One night as I was making supper, Baby A was playing Match with Daddy. I had fun listening to them play…especially hearing Daddy’s amazement at A’ prowess. A couple of times, she beat him, fair and square!

And I enjoyed some super “me” time this week, too…a massage on Monday…an impromptu catch-up with Aunt Karen on Tuesday night over chips and salsa…and coffee and dessert with a couple of twin mama friends on Thursday, on Demara’s back porch, nonetheless…bliss!

Hope you had a super-fabulous week, too!

Super Stuff on a Saturday

I had a fabulously super week with my baby girls!

1) As we ate our traditional Sunday morning breakfast, Baby B said, “It’s nice to be together.” We eat supper together all but one or two nights a month, but I love that the girls recognize our family breakfasts are a special treat.

2) On Tuesday we hosted our sweet friends K&S for a play date, which included the assembly of ice cream cone Christmas trees, decorated with M&Ms. It truly warms my heart to see my girls playing with K&S, having known their sweet mama since we were both pregnant. It’s amazing to think back to our first play date, when the kiddos had just celebrated their first birthdays. I love that our girls will grow up having such precious friends, right from the start.

3) The girls have so enjoyed checking out my small collection of nutcrackers, displayed on the mantle for the holidays. One morning I dialed up a short Russian ballet performance on youtube, and then we listened to the entire suite on CD. The girls were quite intent on trying out some new dance moves. And I couldn’t believe they correctly remembered “Tchaikovsky” as the composer when we recounted our day to Daddy before bedtime.

4) I was upstairs one evening, shortly before bed, and Daddy was hanging out with the girls, reading books. I had such a fun time just listening…they were doing a lot more talking and explaining than he was, reading. In particular, Baby B is so emphatic when she explains things, and it cracks me up how she gets her hands going, too. I’ve heard her say this for a while, but it’s so funny when she says, “MY Mommy…” with emphasis on “MY”…as in, “MY Mommy said our bath water should be nice and warm, not hot, and not cold, because babies need to stay warm.”

5) I try really hard to model proper grammar for the girls. I couldn’t help but beam with pride when B said, “If Sasha were to eat this…”…conditional sentence structure at its finest!

6) Since we put the Christmas tree up last weekend, we’ve been sitting in the living room for a few minutes each night before bed. Many nights our kitty Sasha has joined us, rubbing on the lower branches. Because the girls hung so many ornaments at the bottom of the tree, Sasha frequently rings some of my jingle bell ornaments. The girls think she’s doing it just for them. “Ring the bell, Sasha!” and then, “Thank you, Sasha!” they exclaim.

7) After a few brutally early wake-ups this week, the girls both slept soundly until 6:30 on Friday (when Hubby had to start getting ready for work). I was so thankful for them to wake up well-rested...I just hope it continues!

8) On one of the mornings when we were up at the crack of dawn, I heard the girls “reading” to each other. “Don’t be sad, don’t be blue, you love me and I love you.” That definitely put a smile on my otherwise groggy face.

9) Several weeks ago, I bought a beautiful book about the true meaning of Christmas, thinking it would be a great bedtime read. I’d almost forgotten about it until this week, and we read it for the first time a couple of days ago. The artwork and the text is so beautiful…I’ll admit I was almost sobbing by the end.

10) The girls and I were out and about one afternoon, and I tooted the horn at a lady in front of me, who didn’t realize the light had turned green. From the backseat, almost in unison, the girls immediately belted out, “Honk, honk, rattle, rattle, rattle, crash, beep, beep!” HA!

Even amid the crazy...the crack-of-dawn wake-up calls...the spilled milk...there's always plenty of super fabulousness if we only stop to appreciate it.

Hope you had a great week, too!

Fab 5 Friday and ME!

Another fabulous week in A & B World!

1) We got a healthy report from our pediatrician during our two-year checkup on Friday. I know my babies are perfect, but it’s always nice to hear it from an expert. :)

2) The girls are doing SO WELL eating with utensils! KNOCK ON WOOD as I type this, they’re getting less food on their hands, which has resulted in less food in their hair! I’m thinking we can cut baths back to twice a month. (KIDDING!!! Although wouldn’t that be nice?!!!)

3) The girls' newfound proficiency with utensils has opened the door to a plethora of new dishes. It was so great to make a chicken pot pie one night, and split pea soup another…and have the four of us sit down, at the same time, and eat the same thing. Hallelujah!!!

4) Our kitty Sasha has gone into the den (which requires the hurdling of baby gates) a couple of times this week while the girls were in their high chairs in the kitchen. Both times, they said, “Share, Sasha,” and did the baby sign for share [as I once asked them if they’d be willing to share their toys with Sasha]. I don’t remember ever seeing them sign “share” in the context of sharing with each other, but I guess their furry sister prompts them to be much more generous!

5) I made a big family breakfast on Tuesday (yet another snow day for the hubs). I served up matching plates (but for the fact that ours weren’t neon plastic) of scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, and pigs-in-a-blanket. I froze for a moment, realizing I didn’t want to tell the girls what the sausage-filled balls of doughy goodness were called – lest I turn them into vegetarians for life – but they didn’t pause long enough to recognize my stutter. The dove straight in and enjoyed every.last.scrap. ‘Atta girls!

And what did I do, just for 'lil ol' me???

My hubby has been out of school most of the week due to snow. During naptime last Friday, I got out to run a few errands. Although it meant I had to speed-shop for my groceries, I stopped in a new bead store that I’d been eyeing for months. I got to chat with the owner, and we shared our love for “buy local”. I only bought a couple of beads for two specific projects I’ve been thinking about, but I’m inspired to stop back in – soon, I hope – and try my hand at a new project.



And…one more fabulous note...

Thank you so much to Rebecca of Unexplained x2 for awarding me the Trendy Blogger award!!! I don’t know how “trendy” I am (particularly if you could see me typing this in my Christmas-sock-monkey fleece pants and bumblebee socks…ahem…), but I appreciate the shout-out.

Rebecca is most certainly one of the bloggers I never miss…when I see a new blog post, I drop everything [except a baby] so I can check her out. Gotta love her honesty, and the way she writes about it is heee-larious. And I think she's a pretty smart mama, too. Check out some of her other picks here.

Backdoor Friends are Best

On Sunday morning, as I was preparing to make our special weekly French toast breakfast, I exchanged a few quick lines with one of my BFFs. Her hubby was out of town for the weekend, and she was enjoying a lazy morning, as her boys – 8 and 11 years old – had yet to rouse.

“’Bout to make French toast for the fam…come on over!”

We messaged back and forth for another minute, before I said, “Seriously, why don’t you guys come over? If, of course, you don’t mind to see me pre-shower, in glasses and PJs!”

I sliced up the remainder of the loaf of French bread, got out the full-size coffee pot, stacked up the newspaper from the kitchen table, and unlocked the backdoor.

I don’t have a large family, but I’m blessed to have a handful of awesome friends…those that know me and love me, even pre-shower and wearing kooky PJs…those that know the backdoor will be open for them to come in, take their shoes off, and make themselves at home.

Auntie Shanda and her boys arrived, also in their PJs (although I think she coerced her children into taking showers before they left the house).

I cranked up the Christmas music and lit the tree. We enjoyed a big spread of French toast with maple syrup and powdered sugar, coffee (for the big kids), boiled custard with fresh-grated cinnamon [thanks to Shanda] (for the boys), and ever-so-slightly warm whole milk (for the girlies).

After breakfast, we moved the party into the den. The boys practiced some indoor soccer skills with my hubs (which was as invigorating for him as it was for them). The girls were mesmerized watching the boys play. And the boys were so sweet to include them every few minutes, inviting them to kick the ball, or pausing to admire one of their toys.

Auntie Shanda and I got in a little girl time amid refereeing the soccer match and giving cuddles to the girls.

Here is Baby A, loving Auntie Shanda and her hat.

And here are A and B, cuddled with their “cousins” A-Man and Ri-Guy.

As the saying goes, backdoor friends are best…and I’d like to edit that to add that friends who’ll literally come over in their PJs are even better.

Breakfast Traditions

Growing up, I remember my mom making big breakfasts on the weekends.

One of the combinations that sticks in my mind is her homemade biscuits, homemade pear preserves, and smoked sausage. It makes my mouth water to think about those the thick, syrupy preserves contrasted against the salty, smoky sausage.

When I spent the night with one grandmother, I remember her always making pancakes or cinnamon rolls, which I would enjoy along with the Sunday Funnies.

My great aunt always made the best scrambled eggs with cheese – lots of cheese – and bacon.

And my other grandmother always had powdered sugar donuts and chocolate milk, just for me.

I am so excited that the girls are finally old enough to begin to enjoy big weekend breakfasts. Pancakes and French toast are in regular Sunday rotation at our house.

I just love cooking breakfast at leisure, while hubby plays with the girls. And how nice it is to sit down to a big yummy breakfast…one that reminds me of my childhood…and know that the Big Family Breakfast Tradition continues.