Saturday was Opening Day for our local Little League.  It started with all of the teams walking in a parade and all of the teams and players being announced, followed by Bo’s first game.  All things considered, he did very well.  Sure, when he was playing second he decided to lay down on his stomach and the girls spent as much time in the dugout as he did – but he seemed to have fun which is all that really matters.  I think his favorite part was the pre-game huddle.

On Saturday evening, we had two families over for dinner.  Amazing how adding only two families to our house means we are feeding a total of fifteen people!  Luckily, everyone pitches in and brings a few items to supplement the menu.  This week, Laura brought this delicious banana cake that I loved.  All nine of the kiddos devoured it in record time.  I knew this was a recipe that I’d be making in the future – both because it tastes great and because it seems like I’m always trying to find new ways to use up overripe bananas. 

The cake is very moist and flavorful and the creamy topping makes it a great spring dessert.  I’ll even admit to eating a piece for breakfast the last two mornings. It tastes great with coffee too. 

Laura gave me permission to photograph her cake and share the recipe on the blog.  Thanks, Laura!!

Banana Cake

Cake:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups cold water

Topping:

• 8 oz Cool Whip (lite is fine)
• 1 cup cold milk
• 1 small instant vanilla pudding
• Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together the cake mix, bananas, baking soda, eggs, and water.  Spread into a 9×13 pan sprayed with non-stick spray.  Bake for 35 minutes and cool completely.  For the topping, whip together the Cool Whip, milk, and instant pudding.  Spread on top of the cooled cake.  Refrigerate.  Laura said that this is the type of cake that becomes even better after it’s aged a few days and having just had another piece this morning, I will say that I agree!

I’m hoping my food photography starts to improve soon.  My Mother’s Day gift was two books I’ve been eyeing on Amazon regarding Food Photography.  Looks like I’m going to have to invest a bit for the proper lighting, etc. but hopefully I can figure out the trick to making the food look extra yummy – and the plates look less blue – in the near future!

Each Monday, I’ll showcase a family and kid-friendly recipe to share with your family. Please let me know if you try one of my recipes! Enjoy!

I’m also making peace with the fact that writing is a process.  I’ve been blogging for six years now, and the evolution of my blog, myself, and my writing stops me in my tracks – daily.  Putting so much of myself and my life into writing allows me to go back and read from different points in my life.  And often, I find that I’m chuckling at who I was in that moment.  I’m sure the same thing will happen one day when I re-read this post too. 

I’ve slowly started to freelance over the last few months, but it has been a slow process.  Mostly due to lack of time -  after caring for my kids and my teaching work is complete, I often don’t have the desire to put forth the effort necessary -  but it could be said that those are only excuses.  I set a goal to have 10 published clips outside of my personal blog by June 1, and I did manage to accomplish that – but only because I started contributing regularly to another blog — and I’ve been writing web-based articles for pennies.  It’s not much, but it’s a beginning. 

I have lofty goals for the summer and especially for fall once the kiddos are in preschool full-time…

Recently, I was reading Stephen King’s “On Writing” and found several passages that spoke to me. 

“I wasn’t having much success with my own writing, either… The bigger deal was that, for the first time in my life, writing was hard.  The problem was the teaching.  I liked my coworkers and loved the kids, but by most Friday afternoons I felt as if I’d spent the week with jumper cables clamped to my brain.” 

Yes.  Exactly.  Between my teaching and my own children, by the time I actually carve a few moments out to write, my brain is fried.  King wrote “Carrie” while teaching high school full-time and with two young children at home.  Granted, he gives his wife credit for shouldering much of the responsibility for their children, but still.  That’s impressive.

“Put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn’t in the middle of the room.  Life isn’t a support-system for art.  It’s the other way around.”

In my mind, I have big plans for turning our back porch into an office.  This lofty idea includes a big desk where I can sit and write early in the morning and while the kids are in school.  I’ve caught myself, more than I’d like to admit, thinking that I’ll suddenly have more time or be more of a writer once I have this desk.  It’s nice to know I’m not alone in these dreams and also to have a reminder that it’s not really about the desk at all.

“If I had a nickel for every person who ever told me he/she wanted to become a writer but “didn’t have time to read,” I could buy myself a pretty good steak dinner.  Can I be blunt on this subject?  If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.  Simple as that.”

This is a touchy subject for me.  Friends say to me all the time that they don’t have time to read and don’t understand how I manage to find time to read with everything else that I do.  Sometimes it feels like they think I’m neglecting my children, my house, my husband, or my jobs because I find time to read.  And I find myself feeling guilty for reading, which is ridiculous.  I read before bed.  I read while my kids are watching Oso before bed.  I read whenever I can find the time.  I love to read.  And I don’t find that it takes away from my life, I find that it adds to my life.  Truly, it’s all about priorities and for me – reading is a priority .  King makes me feel like I have permission.  I can say that I’m reading to advance my career. 

I’m not sure what the point of this post is.  I guess just to acknowledge that I’m still here.  Still trying.  I may not be a “real” writer yet – but I’m aspiring.  I’m also an aspiring runner (just signed up for a local running clinic this summer – determined to run the whole Turkey Trot this year!) and and aspiring yogi.  And an aspiring chef.  And about a million other things.  One day, the kids will be grown, and I’ll have nothing but time.  Then, instead of dreaming about all of the things I want to do, I’ll be remembering all we did do.

Last Thursday, the girls and I were out running errands while Bo was at preschool.  We ran through Starbucks, went to Target, and then headed over to the mall.  Sounds indulgent, doesn’t it?  Apparently, I was feeling brave and took them to the nail salon to have their nails done.  Oh my!  Of course, they loved picking the color (Anna pink, Clara purple – shock!) and enjoyed having it done – but sitting still while it dried was excruciating.  I won’t be taking them back for awhile, as Clara’s nail polish didn’t even last until lunch time (somehow, she managed to pick it off!) but Anna’s toes are still looking good! 

I was recently asked about how I plan our meals so I thought I would share here – both for my friend that asked – and for anyone else who is interested.  First, a disclaimer:  we do not always eat all of the meals I plan for the week.  Life happens.  T-ball practice gets cancelled so we decide to eat after the kids.  Mike comes home and suggests we take the kids to Delaney’s.  Whatever I have planned just doesn’t sound good.  You get the idea… 

Each week, usually on Saturday or Sunday morning, I look over our schedule for the week and send Mike an email that outlines everything we have going on that week – for both sanity and so I don’t have to repeat myself a million times throughout the week.  Once I know what our schedule looks like, I make the meal plan for the week.  Crockpot and easy meals when I suspect Mike will be home late or there is an afternoon activity on the schedule such as a playdate, t-ball, etc.  Usually, I take whatever meals we didn’t manage to eat the previous week and automatically assume we will eat them the following week. 

We keep a running grocery list of items needed on the counter next to the stove.  As we run out of staple items, I put them on the list.  There is always something on the list – usually within minutes of returning from the store!  I don’t plan out specific breakfasts or lunches for the week.  For breakfast, the kids typically choose some combo of leftover waffles from the freezer, cinnamon bread toasted, bananas or other fruit, smoothies, cereal, eggs, or oatmeal.  We always have these items on hand.  For lunches, it’s basically another short list – fruit, yogurt, string cheese, peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter crackers, cheese and crackers, grilled cheese, leftovers, and just basics that we have on hand.  I will need to be more organized for lunches next year as all three kiddos will be taking their lunch to preschool. Today, they had half of a kiwi, carrot shreds, a piece of string cheese, fresh banana bread with butter, and milk.

The meal plan above is for this week and I went to the store yesterday afternoon to pick up the items needed (Mike usually goes at least once during the week too).  Tonight, after the kiddos go to bed, Mike and I will have cashew chicken, rice, and a veggie (probably broccoli).  The kiddos are having pasta, yogurt, watermelon, and a veggie.  On Tuesday, we’ll eat together early since Bo has t-ball.  On the agenda is crockpot pizza, breadsticks, and salad.  And so it goes.  We are having friends over on Saturday night, so I have a few extra items on the list and Sunday has become our pizza and movie night, so that evening stays pretty consistent.  Typically we have pizza and strawberries. 

You’ll notice on my menu plan there is also an area I labeled “Other”.  If I know I’m making a snack for a playdate, baking something, or trying something new, those usually go in the “other” column.  Mostly so I won’t forget to make them after I’ve picked up the ingredients.  I made banana bread with some older bananas this morning.  I’m also planning to make avocado fries this week (probably with regular fries as well on Wednesday with our tuna bunwiches) that I found on Pinterest.  Where else?  Last week, I baked several times for playdates.  These extras vary each week.  If I know I need to make a batch of waffles for breakfast one morning, I usually add that here too.

I’m not sure if this is really helpful or not.  Mostly, I just try to keep a running list of items we need and at least have a plan of some type so it isn’t 5:30 and I have no idea what to cook.  Having the list on the wall in the kitchen (inspired by Pinterest, of course) also helps me to remember to put meat out, start crockpot meals, etc. in the morning. 

How do you meal plan for your family?  Do you write out all meals or just plan dinner?  Any tips or tricks to share?

Sunday nights have morphed into pizza and movie nights.  Some weeks I make homemade pizza, but last Sunday we ordered from our favorite local pizza place – Lil Bella’s.  It’s not Joe’s, but it’s still pretty tasty.  We’ve attempted a few movies without success (Cinderella lasted about five minutes before they demanded Berenstain Bears!) but this week we managed to watch the entire Smurfs movie.  I’m really enjoying the chance to slow down at the end of our weekend and I’m hoping this is a routine that sticks around for awhile!

******

As the kids were eating dinner earlier this week, Anna was in her room throwing a fit.  I can’t remember what she was upset about – probably that I made her come in to eat dinner – but she was being overly dramatic and managed to get sent to her room.  As we listened to her yelling, Bo piped up with, “I think Anna has the blues.” 

******

Bo has become the resident weather forecaster.  Ms. Vicki commented during his conference that he always seems to know what the weather is supposed to be for the day and I had to admit that it was due to an unnatural addiction (by all of us) to the Weather Channel app on our iPhones/iPads.  We check the weather every morning to see what we should wear (and still end up getting it wrong sometimes!) but Bo is highly interested.  We’ve had a few gray days recently and when I dropped Bo off for school on Tuesday morning he remarked, “It sure is dreary.  I hope the sun comes out before lunch.” 

******

Monday morning, the kids were all dressed and situating themselves in the kitchen before breakfast.  Bo was pestering the girls and trying to sit in the chairs he knew they wanted to sit in which meant everyone was upset.  I told Bo he couldn’t sit in the girls’ chairs and he starting with his typical dramatics.  I told him if he wanted to argue, he could go to his room, which he did.  When he immerged a few minutes later, he still had tear streaks down his face and said, “Mama, you failed me.”  I thought I had heard him wrong so I responded, “What?” but he repeated it.  “You failed me!”  I tried to explain that those were the girls’ chairs, he needed to listen, etc. but he was just devastated I hadn’t taken his side.  Oh, the drama.

******

Our family went to Rips Chicken in Ladd for the first time on Monday evening.  Bo’s school was hosting a fundraiser so we headed over early.  Clara, Anna, and Bo were all excited to see “Miss Mickey” – as Anna calls her – Bo’s teacher.  Bo’s principal was working at the door and then eventually sat in the dining room to eat.  Bo was telling me all about her and said, “Mrs. J is the police.”  I questioned him a bit and told him that she isn’t the police but she is the principal.  He couldn’t wrap his head around that one so I explained, “She’s the big boss at school.”   That one must have clicked but the next morning we were talking again and he said, “Wives come in the day to take over for the husbands.  At night, the husband’s the boss.”  I couldn’t help it, I started laughing at that one. 

******

I asked Bo the other day what he wants to be when he grows up and he said he wants to be a firefighter.  He then went into a long dialogue – “There hasn’t been a fire in years and years.  And our house is safe.  It’s made of brick and bricks don’t burn.”

******

Bo is quite the joker.  He makes up the craziest jokes.  One of his recent ones that I enjoyed was “Why did the red light want to be mixed with blue?  <Brief pause> Because it wanted to be purple!” 

******

I’m light on Clara and Anna quips this time.  Probably because most of my interactions with them these days involve some combination of “I’ll do it myself” or “No!!  Not that one!”  I wrote about our morning routine over on Liberating Working Mom’s this week – there are a few funnies from the girls within the post.  Pretty much, they have reached the terrible twos and every interaction is a battle. 

******

I’ve been nominated again for the Circle of Moms best Mom of Multiples blog again this year.  Last year, I didn’t make the final list by just a few votes.  This year, I don’t plan to post daily about the voting, but if you’d like to take a minute to vote, I’d appreciate it.  Each computer can vote once every 24 hours.

Look at these little divas!  It just goes to show that even though I’m not a high heel wearing, purse carrying, girly-girl, doesn’t mean my girls won’t be… A few weeks ago when we were up at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, Grandma pulled out dress up boxes for all three of them.  The girls loved all of it but the shoes and bags were the biggest hit.  Heaven help me when they are teenagers. 

On Friday evening, we had friends over for dinner.  We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and had mac-n-cheese, watermelon, and yummy cheesesticks, courtesy of Farm Rich.  Since I figure you’ve seen my children eating all too often, I used some new models guinea-pigs to try the cheesesticks.  Liv and Riley were eager and willing to participate.  I took a picture of their mom, Jen, too, but I think she’s probably kill me if I posted it here. 

The cheesesticks were good and all five of the kids ate them up and asked for seconds.  The adults tried a few too.  Jen said they reminded her a bit of fish sticks and I would say that the breading is similar.  I served them with a bit of pizza sauce and Liv had hers with Ranch dressing.  Overall, the taste is quite good for something that goes from freezer to oven in just a few minutes. 

Farm Rich has supplied two coupons for me to giveaway to two lucky readers.  The coupons are good for any Farm Rich product including their mozzerella bites, meatballs, pretzel bites, etc.  So if you don’t like cheesesticks, you can still participate in the giveaway!  But really, who doesn’t like cheesesticks? 

To enter, leave a comment on this post telling me which product you’d use the coupon to purchase.  You can earn extra entries by utilizing the rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

“I’ve been reading your blog since you were newly pregnant with your girls and we were gearing up for the IVF attempt that resulted in my son, who’ll be 2 in July. I’ve since asked your advice about various things, sleep I think, and still love checking in with your family.

We did another IVF in March and I’m 8 weeks pregnant with twins. And freaking OUT! Partly I’m struggling because I’ve been really, really sick so far with this pregnancy while I wasn’t at all with my first, and the thought of living like this for another month or two (if I’m lucky) is very overwhelming. And then, at the end of that, is the reality of twins and a toddler. I knew this was a possibility of course, we transferred two embryos and hoped they’d both make it, but I find myself now beyond terrified of so many things.

You have pulled this off so well, and continue to do so, and I wondered if you had any calming words of wisdom for me?? Ack!

Right now it seems impossible, insurmountable. I’m so angry that infertility is dictating how my family takes shape. I’m open to 3 kids, but I don’t want to do it this way. All I think, every day, is that I don’t want to do this. I don’t know if I can do this.

I feel tremendous guilt for how much this will compromise my son’s life (he’ll be 2y5m when they’re born). All the fun stuff we were looking forward to next fall – gymnastics and art class and stuff like that – none of that can happen now. He’s going to have to stay home every day and play alone while I try to make it through with two infants – and that’s best case scenario if the pregnancy is healthy and the babies are born ok. We never stay home now, we do so many fun things together. He’s such a sweet boy and he has no idea how much things are going to change for him.

I am for sure totally and completely overwhelmed. I’m dreading it. I know this will sound crazy but I wish I could take back this spring, I wish I could go back and be happy with one amazing child, just be grateful for what I had.

I am really, really struggling right now.”

When I emailed Lea to ask if I could use her email for a post, the first thing I said was “Deep breath!” 

It amazes me that people seem to think I have any idea what I’m doing, but hey, let’s run with that…   The truth is, twins and toddler is HARD.  Half the time I feel like all I do is complain about how hard it is – but I find myself complaining and explaining more because I truly don’t feel like many people really “get” what this experience is like – and really, how can they unless they’ve been there.  Luckily, I have been there.  And while my advice and words of wisdom may not be the best, I at least hope that Lea can feel like someone else understands and “gets” what she is going through.

When I first found out I was expecting twins, I was scared beyond belief too. It is totally OKAY and NORMAL to have these feelings.  A lot of people don’t admit it — and when I tried to, people always wanted to tell me to be grateful, blah, blah, blah — but you wouldn’t be normal if you weren’t worried and scared.  There is so much fear associated with a twin pregnancy – so much that is unknown and it makes it all that much more stressful.  It will be a lot — but it can be done. It felt like everyone on earth was so beyond excited that I was having twins that when I tried to tell others that I was scared they usually gave me platitudes like “God won’t give you more than you can handle” or “You are beyond blessed.”  And while those statements may very well be true, the fact is I was the only one who was really going to have deal with the realities of parenting three very small children, including twin infants. 

I also worried that maybe I’d messed everything up by choosing to get pregnant again.  Here we were with this perfect little boy and now we were going to add twins and how was he going to react and how were we going to do it and oh my Lord!  Three kids!  To be honest, I still feel that way sometimes.  I feel like our life would have been soooo EASY if we only had one.  But at the same time, it would be boring and Bo wouldn’t be the same little guy he is.  Even though taking care of three is definitely more challenging than one, I love seeing the three of them together.  Giving them each other is the best gift I could have ever given them.  I talked about this a bit over at Liberating Working Moms this week. Bo was young enough that he doesn’t really remember what life was like before the girls came along — and while it was an adjustment, I think he took pretty well to being a big brother and I am sure that your little guy will too.  I found that I could read to him while I nursed one of the babies (with the other in a bouncy seat at my feet).  Bo would sit on an ottoman in front of me in the girls room.  I also found that I had to give him more independence — before the girls were born I never let him out of my sight – but soon I was asking him to fetch items from other rooms and trusting him to sit on my bed and watch a show while I showered and the babies napped. 

Mike is works a lot, so that made everything more difficult.  We hired a “nanny” who was part-time and worked 20 hours a week.  We really couldn’t afford it and I spent every dime I made working online that year paying her, but I would still say it was worth it.  Financially, it was kind of a disaster that we are still recovering from, but it was necessary at the time.  I would definitely recommend that you find a few good sitters to have on-call.  I would try to schedule specific times each week when you know you will have a break — a 3-4 hour stretch when you can go out with your little guy solo, a 3-4 hour stretch when you can leave the house on your own, and a “date night” at least once a month with your hubby.  Having those blocks of time set aside will help your sanity SOOO much.  I didn’t wise up to all of this until my girls were nearly a year old — but I wish I would have done the date nights much sooner.  

Things will change for your little guy, but you do have enough love in your heart for three of them.  I remember thinking there was no way I could love two more children the same way that I loved Bo – and well, that just isn’t the case.  Are there any preschool or “Just for 2′s” programs that he could be in next year?  Having something that he could do on his own would be great for him.  Bo starting preschool was wonderful — but that was after the girls were a year old.  I think you will truly find that all of this doesn’t end up compromising your little guys life but enhancing it.  Sure, you might not be able to do as many activities outside of the home (getting out, especially those first six months is a chore) but he will benefit in numerous other ways.  I worried about this a lot too (I’m sure I wrote about it at some point but I can’t find it currently) but really, I think having twin sisters has been great for Bo. 

The best advice that was given to me was to take any and all help that is offered or you can find.  Mike’s aunt offered to come stay with us for a few weeks and that was a huge help.  If your parents or your husband’s parents can manage to scrape together a few weeks or a month to stay with you and help – let them!  If your friends want to bring you dinner or clean your house – let them!  If a neighbor can take your little guy for an hour or two to play with her daughter – let her!  This was huge for me, as I am not big on asking for help, but it is crucial – especially during those early months! 

I also found camaraderie in the blogosphere with other moms of twins plus one.  There are a few moms that have children with similar spacing and ages to mine that I’ve followed religiously.  Having someone else who “gets” it – helps so much.  Carrie, Sunny – Pregnant with #4!!, Rebecca, and MissMVK have all been there.

Fellow twin moms (and moms in general) what advice or words of wisdom do you have to help Lea?

Last weekend, we attended the Touch-A-Tractor event located by Mike’s parents.  This is our second time attending the event and it’s amazing how much the kiddos have grown since last year.  They all had fun exploring the tractors, seeing the baby chicks, and looking at the animals.  Such a neat event.  And next year, Anna isn’t going to fit in that wheel-well.