Apple Juice Junkie

I believe that all parents of young children have a few family routines that they don't shout from the mountain tops. For us it is that Maisie drinks A LOT of apple juice. You see at age one, she proudly spit out her whole milk in my face and never again let her lips touch it's healthy countenance. Instead she has grown up on watered down 100% (mind you) apple juice. But when the American Pediatric Counsel suggests 4 oz a day of fruit juice, I know that we far exceed the recommendation.

Oh well, right. Maybe I would have done it different...but probably not????!!!! When a child is an early riser and a little sweetness in a cup allows me 1 more hour of delicious (no pun intended) sleep...who wouldn't have made that decision?

Now, however she is four. The "routine" probably needs to be changed. At present she gets a small sippy of her drink of choice at bedtime. Then when Mike and I are ready to go to bed, we fill another sippy of juice and place it by her bedside with a fresh pull-up. If and when she wakes up in the very early hours of the morning, she drinks her juice, changes her pull-up, and goes back to sleep. This tactic has kept her from waking us up in the am.

For lots of reasons I think she probably needs to be weaned a bit. One, I would like her to start sleeping in panties and two, sometimes she drinks her extra cup in the middle of the night and still wakes us up for MORE juice. (writing this down makes me realize the absurdity even more)

Last night at 3:45am was one of those lucky moments for me. She came aknockin at my bedside demanding more juice. I said no and then she went to her room crying loudly. I finally got out of bed and explained to her why she couldn't have more....laid with her for awhile hoping she would fall asleep again...didn't...I went and got her more juice...

BEST PART of POST:

When I handed her the cup, she said,

"Thank you mommy, this is the healthy drink in my world. Since it is made out of apples and all...And you know apple juice and apple pie are made out of apples."

Needless to say, I returned to bed with a smile on my face, knowing I had some work cut out for me, and began composing this blogpost right then and there.

Can you laugh with me now?

I Missed a Day!

Last night, after family movie night (a cute cute movie called Blizzard), Mike tucked the girls in bed and said he had 3 hrs of work to do in his office (our new routine). I kinda new that was coming, so earlier when I went out to buy the movie, I went into Safeway and purchased a Creme Brulee Latte in hopes that while Mike plugged away, I could too in the realm of laundry, dishes and dust. See we were thinking about getting our Christmas tree today, and I have qualms about decorating in a trash hole of a house.

So that was my plan - clean until late and be ready for the next day. But I guess the coffee didn't work, because instead of cleaning I decided to warm up with a crossword puzzle - and fell asleep on the couch.

Mike woke me up and dragged me to bed. As I lay there praising the Lord for flannel sheets, terror streaked through my body as I realized I hadn't posted yet. But, sorry there was no way I was getting out of bed at that point.

I did think about it, but I knew if I did, I would plunge myself into the world of one of those "If you give a mouse, moose, pig a _______, then you are going to have to..... children's books"

Eg - If you wake to go do your blog post, you might as well finish that online test you are taking for a new job, and once you finish that, you may as well, pull the clothes out of the laundry and fold them, and once you fold those clothes you might as well stumble into the kitchen and do the dinner dishes...etc.

My heart and soul weren't willing to play along. Thus no blog post - not the end of the world.

Dedicated to my husband

Today's Thanksgiving...don't forget your stretchy pants!

It's a great idea folks:)

I think I may have thought of a great idea for us parents of young kids! (although I imagine this has been done before, I just have never heard of anyone doing it:)

Today, Daphne came home with an envelope stapled to a piece of paper. The paper went on to explain that her school will be having a special event called "Little Shoppers" next week during lunch and afterschool. There will be a little store full of small gifts for their family members and volunteers helping the kids spend their money wisely.

At first I thought that sounded great - but she's not there at those times...so it's a little inconvenient, plus I would rather do it a little different. I think I am going to give them an envelope and either let them earn money to put in it during the next two weeks OR let them get money out of their piggy banks.

Then I am going to hire wise shopping and patient Grandmas to take Maisie and Daphne shopping for the people they want to buy for. I really think this will help them get excited about Christmas morning even more - the whole giving process AND will teach them a little bit about budgeting too.

I'm hoping the shopping trip will end with a wrapping activity too, so that their gifts can remain a secret.

What a great tradition to start with our kids!

Here's that envelope:

Let's "stuff" ourselves!

Here's a yummy stuffing recipe for your Thanksgiving meal:

1/2 cup butter or margerine

1 1/2 cups chopped celery (3 med stalks)

3/4 cup chopped onion (1 1/2 medium)

9 cups cubed (1/2 inch) cornbread or soft bread (I buy a bag of really soft rolls and cut those up!)
1 1/2 tsps chopped fresh or dried sage leaves, crushed

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1. In 10 inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add celery and onion; cook about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender. Remove from heat.

2. In large bowl, stir together celery mixture and remaining ingredients. Use to stuff one 12-pound turkey OR sppoon into greased 3-quart casserole. Cover; bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 minutes longer or until thoroughly heated.

10 servings (1/2 cup each)

Thanksgiving 2008 (warm inside, snow outside)

Picture of stuffing above.

BLESSED the sequel

Yesterday I got to boast about my mom to you. Today, I get to brag about my mother in law, Pam.

Her God given gifts are many, and her "chicks" as she refers to us, get spoiled in these areas again and again. You've seen the cakes, and the sewing creations, before...and once again she has outdone herself.

This is Maisie's quilt:

Is it not the cutest quilt ever, and resemble our Maisie so much?!! I got to pick out the material, which I believe is the funnest and easiest part of the project...and then Pam got to work. She is bound and determined to make all of her grandbabies a special quilt. So far Tobin, Daphne and Maisie are checked off her list.

These last two posts are just a testiment to me of God's strategic planning and blessings. I have two wonderful moms in my life who have different talents, that bless me in different ways. Together they make my life more fulfilled and above all make me a better woman, wife, mother, friend, and daughter.

Thank you Pam for this treasure and your presence in my life.

BLESSINGS

Those pictures tell a bit of the "Blessings Banner" story. It was really fun to put that together for "my girls". As always, it took me longer than expected...but I loved giving them this gift for their Thanksgiving holiday.

"My girls" know a lot more of the story and the blessing they were to me that day...but that's just for us to know. There was some prayin' going on that morning in the church kitchen:).

Most of all, I want to thank my wonderful mom. She IS my blessing again and again. Unceasing, she is the woman behind other people's glory. She came over TWICE last week, unasked, to watch my girls so that I could finish this project. She never once even saw the craft - but she was there downstairs playing "school" with my girls. I wouldn't have even cared if she turned on a movie, but no, they were in full pretend mode.

Her life is filled with service to others - all behind the scenes/very little acknowledgement/just honest to goodness Godly help.

This week, Thanksgiving week - I will be remembering my BLESSINGS - and I already know they are all the people in my life who show me LOVE.

Thanks Mom - you blessed my group!