Family | laborofwonder

Stranger Happenings

by motherofwonder

So we have lots of things going on right now… hubby’s brother (and his family) are moving to China and are here to visit before they leave. Which also overlaps with my brother getting married, and so we’re gearing up for that (as all but littlest E is a part of the festivities) and anticipating the arrival of a host of other out of town family members that we don’t normally get to see. So when I say we’re busy, I mean, things are insane and I’m going a little crazy!! But we are enjoying the family time and hopefully we are able to really make the most of it! So if you’re wondering why I’ve suddenly become so boring or why my posts are no longer adding spice to your life… now you know.

So with all of the busyness of these weeks… I have some kids that seem to be a little wound, as well as myself. And Hubby/Daddy, he’s just plain tired. My normally, I-don’t-know-how-to-be-unhappy baby is crying, whining, and basically clinging to my legs all day long. Which does leave me a little big on the frayed side. Thankfully, Hubs came home early yesterday and so I was able to jump in the truck and go to the grocery store. I know it’s lame that most of my “down time” (read: kid free time) is spent at the grocery store, but they’re only little for a very short time. I’m never going to look back and say, “Man, I wish I would have spent more time away from the kids when they were little.” (I don’t see myself saying that about missing any point of their lives, but especially now.) Anyhow, I tend to dawdle at the store, because it’s my de-stress time, lame as it may be.

Usually my hour long grocery trip is uneventful, and the cashier is the only person to talk to me, and I’m just fine with that. And it’s enough time that I get home and the kids are like, “Yay! Mom’s home!” and I’m glad to see them. Yesterday was pretty much the same except for one minor detail. I say minor, because it really was no big deal. To look in, you’d never think of it as anything substantial. But for me, after the day I’d had with the kids, it was. Let me preface this by saying that we spent the weekend out of town and that I didn’t know until a day or two before that we were even going out of town. Then we got home past bedtime on Sunday and had company coming the next day. Starting to get the picture? And if I haven’t mentioned this before, I do not like disorder, and I like it even less when visible to people who don’t live with me. So I’m scrambling and trying to get things done as quickly as I can, while the children run behind me undoing just about every thing I do… and then add the fussing baby (do to teething and the busy weekend). So I was about to merge onto the meltdown lane. And then I went to the store.

I’m at the checkout, and the lady behind me starts making small talk as we wait. Why do they stick those order separator things so far out of your reach anyways? I smile and agree it’s ridiculous. And then this stranger showed me kindness. She looked at me and said, “You must have small children.” I quickly look myself over trying to find the stamp (or hand print) that screamed, “I’m a mom.” I didn’t see any. Unless the state of my hair, my sweatpants, and the exhaustion in my eyes count. I smiled and said 3 and asked how she could tell.. She just smiled and said she’d recognized the look of exhaustion the can only be caused by 2 types of parenting: the under 3 crowd or the teenage crowd. And since I didn’t look old enough to have teenagers, it must be the former. I smiled and nodded, then asked her, “Teenagers?” She smiled, and I saw the exhaustion in her eyes as well as she nodded. And that was the the long and the short of our “conversation.” But somehow, afterwards I felt a little bit more refreshed. I think that it offered some sense of community. A moment of “I’ve been there before.” combined with “we’ve all got our own struggles,” that made me feel a sense of the bigger picture as well. They’re not little for long, we all have different struggles, each as unique, and as hard, and as scary, and as sad as anyone else’s, because they are our own. But for a brief moment in time, I felt like I wasn’t alone in my struggle after all. So the next time you’re at the grocery store, the gas station, walking down the road… offer a little support to those you meet. Even if it’s only in the form of a smile. You never know how life changing (even if momentarily) it can be.

Family Life According To Me

Shameless

by motherofwonder

So when I see contests, I usually just skip over them. But lately, I have found myself inundated with requests to “vote for me for this,” “vote for my kid for that,” “like my facebook page so I can hit 555,” etc. And I do it! If it’s for someone I know (whether in real life or in the internet world), I always do it! I am a big fan and supporter of community. Of being a pillar of support for those we are in contact with, no matter how trivial it may seem. Which is why, I’m a little ashamed of how shamless this plea is…or maybe to say I’m a little ashamed of how unashamed I am, would be more accurate. Either way.

We recently went to get out family pictures taken (I have a blog post planned out to tell you all about this event!) and when we went back to view the pictures, we were asked to sign a waiver so they could use our children’s photos in their in-studio (along with their world-wide combined studios) photo contest. I’d looked at their site a few days ago and didn’t see any pictures of my kids, but didn’t think anything of it. Well, last night I looked and saw their beautiful faces!! Unfortunately, before I had a chance to really look into the contest, littlest E woke up and made it apparent that he was only going to sleep if I was also going to sleep.

The unfortunate part of this contest is that you can only vote once, period. So now I’m stuck feeling like I’ve chosen one kid over the other, even unknowingly. Boo! Although, it turns out that if you have more than one browser then you can vote more times (three cheers for loopholes!!) So here it is, my shameless (of shameful, depending on your point of view) …please go and vote!!

You can vote by clicking on the photo of choice or by going here. (Please vote for one of my kids) Thank you!!

Family Life According To Me

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Good Thing They’re Cute

by motherofwonder

Last night I hit a wall. There is so much stress in ~~this house~~ it’s palpable. Ok, maybe in me is more accurate. My hardworking husband has been working a lot of overtime for over a month now. I don’t mean to complain about his job, because I’m so thankful he has one! Let alone one he enjoys, cares about, and (even better!) one he hardly ever even complains about. It is by far the best job he’s ever had, and probably the least amount of overtime as well. So why am I complaining? Because he pretty much stopped working overtime after Littlest E was born. I’m not sure if it was just so I would survive those beginning days as a new parent of three, or just the scare of it all, but I am ever so thankful for it! Really there is only a couple hours in the day where things are a little unbearable, and thankfully it’s not every day. Unfortunately it falls when Daddy “should be” home until he actually gets home. And then the magic switch is flipped back over and my sweet children return.

And truly, knowledge is power. Because while a meltdown might ensue when it’s me vs. them… just knowing that hubbyman’s home, even if he’s doing a project or something, is enough. Seriously. It’s maddening. There’s just something about knowing that I am not quite so outnumbered. Like last night, we were all bordering on the brink of disaster while I made dinner. And wouldn’t you know it, they didn’t like it/want it. Or the second meal I created out of sheer desperation. And then Daddy walks in, they want to eat what he’s eating, and they all (truly, all 3) are in his lap and eating! (*insert growl and eye roll*) Whatever, I’m just glad they ate.

While doing dinner cleanup, we notice that the big E’s have gone mysteriously quiet. And we know the gate is up (for littlest E’s sake), so they haven’t gone down to their rooms to play, which only means one thing- they’re in the bathroom. And that’s never good. Fortunately, I probably wear make up about once a month, maybe twice…maybe not at all. Yes, it’s that often. Therefore the kids aren’t really sure what’s it’s all about, because they’re not seeing it demonstrated on a daily basis. Unfortunately, I keep “the basics” in the bathroom they were in. (The basics being lipstick, foundation, blush, eyeshadow, and mascara) I wasn’t shocked to see my MissE in some make up, what I was shocked by was the fact that the biggest E had only been an observer and not a participant.

So she had mascara all over her eyes and eyebrows, foundation on her mouth, and eye shadow on her cheeks. It took a half an hour to wash MOST of it off. Thankfully at this point it was 9:00! Bedtime!! And littlest E had just been put down for the night. So I did what any normal mom would do after an evening like this… I poured a glass of wine, grabbed my favorite magazine that I’ve been meaning to read for months, and took a nice, hot, uninterrupted bath! (Which is very rare! The previous night I tried to take a shower after they went to bed, because that’s pretty much the only time I can fit on in… only to be scared half to death by the sudden movement of the curtain and the little hands that were grabbing at my legs. I’m surprised I didn’t scream, truly.)

I love my children, I love my life with them, I love being their mom, I really love it all… but when I lose myself in them, that’s when troubles arise. Sometimes something so simple as an hour in warmth of the tub, consoled by all my own thoughts and feelings about my own things, that I can reconnect with the person I am, as an individual. And today the person I am is a refreshed, albeit tired, mommy to three sweet little kids.

And I just found where she “stashed” my makeup… it’s in the bag, just completely filled with spilled foundation, unscrewed mascara, squeezed out lipgloss, and open cases of what I think used to be eye shadow. Did I mention how sweet they are? Good thing they’re cute. *sigh*

Family Life According To Me

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Faith Of A Boy

by motherofwonder

Life with children can be a crazy thing. It’s so easy to get lost in the day to day that we forget to see the big picture. And I am certainly guilty of failing to see things from their point of view, and not realizing just how much they take it and are aware of. Today I had a moment of clarity in a discussion with the biggest E.

We try and teach out children about God and His love for us, but we don’t always know how much of it “soaks in”, let alone how much they understand. I am here to tell you it is far greater than we think. We incorporate Biblical principals and stories throughout their days along with prayers, hoping that things will take hold. I’m not sure there’s an exact science to it or an exact age where things suddenly “make sense.” What I do know is that their faith is an amazing thing to behold. Something we should all strive after, just as the Scriptures say.

I was busy trying to reestablish some sense of organization to their bedrooms and playroom when I heard biggest E singing, “I promise God, I promise God, I promise God…” over and over. I asked him what it was that he was promising to God. He said, it’s that song we heard all those people singing about. At church last Sunday they did a snippet from their Easter play, with Jesus entering into Jerusalem, for Palm Sunday. It was very moving and through all the people and all the singing, you could feel the excitement and anticipation people must’ve felt, waiting for Jesus to arrive and bring the prophecy to fruition. It was so moving, it brought me to tears. It was also filled with (real!) animals- goats, a donkey, chickens, rabbits, so I was surprised that he had captured anything other than a petting zoo. But that wasn’t even the best part of the conversation!

He then asked me, “Does Daddy know that Jesus is bigger than him?” Yes, Daddy knows. “Well, why does Daddy always pray for God to come to the places we are?” Well, sometimes we need God’s help and so we ask Him to come and help us. “But God always just stays with us because we always just need help. Just like when I pick up my toys. But I never have seen Him much putting away my toys.”

And it’s just as simple, and complex as that.

Family Life According To Me

Something Fishy Is Going On

by motherofwonder

This year’s April Fool’s pranks have become the never-ending-prank! Since that fateful day hubby tied the hose down with a string, the hose now likes to “stick” as if being held down. About once a week you turn on the faucet and the hose starts spraying… all of these times it happened to me! Never to him! And a couple of times there’s been witnesses to these water drenching attacks! Now I hadn’t told hubby about it, because (obviously!) I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction that would go along with it! Until yesterday- he witnessed it. Boo! Hiss! But, he was nice enough to make dinner and do clean up so I guess I won’t hold it against him. At least not today.

We know lots of fisher-people (both men and women) and so we have lots of potential for (free!!) fish, especially over the summer! While we previously haven’t taken full advantage of this, this year we definitely plan to! Anyhow, I had a walleye in the freezer, just awaiting the hubs to skin and bone (I just can’t)… and he went ahead and did it all! Yeah hubby! Ok, I did make the batter… just so you know I wasn’t laying out, drinking mimosas in the sunshine while he slaves away or anything.

Anyway, this fish is so good, the kids love it, we love it… and if you’re starting to know me and my cooking at all, you know I always make enough for a)hubby to take to work tomorrow and b)at least one lunch for the kids (I try and only really cook one meal a day), so when I say there were NO leftovers– that’s a big deal.

Finger lickin’ Fish Bites Batter

1/2 cup flour (I used GF all-purpose)

2/3 cup corn starch

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

3/4 cup water

Stir the flour, starch, sugar, salt, and pepper together. If you especially like a certain seasoning- add it in! I added extra salt, pepper, and some Lowry’s seasoning to the mix as well. Because we like it (obviously!) plus the all-purpose flour we have has garbanzo beans as a main ingredient and I wanted to help hide some of the “vegetable-y-ness” of it. (*note: could not taste it -the beans- at all! The best batch we’ve probably ever had!) Add in the water stirring thoroughly. I had to add in a little extra water to mine because it just seemed a little thicker than normal, but I normally make it with all the gluten-free flours and not the all purpose, so I’m thinking that may be the difference. Anyhow, if you find it to be too thick, just add in water by the tbs.

I’m a new fan of grape seed oil. It’s pretty flavorless, but much better for you. You can, of course, fry it in whatever your oil of choice is. If you do use something like grape seed oil, you can always drizzle some olive oil over afterwards for the taste.

side note: this was enough batter for a whole walley plus two chicken breasts cut into strips. I wish I would have done another two chicken breasts so we would have had leftovers!

Totally Rockin’ Tartar Sauce

1/2 cup mayo (homemade or otherwise)

2 big, juicy pickles (or 2 tbs relish)

2 good squirts of lemon juice (or 1 tsp if you need specifics)

Mix it all up and enjoy! It is so yummy! There was enough to cover all the food plus have a little left over! I know I’ve said this a couple of times already, but I can’t emphasize this enough…I wish we were having it for lunch today, and as Erik’s probably currently scarfing down the yogurt he got instead, he’s probably thinking the same thing!

Family Gluten Free Recipes

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Spring Meltdown

by motherofwonder

When you live in the frozen tundra, as my family does, by the time Spring has sprung I’m left in a permafrost funk. Thankfully sunshine helps. But after months of being stuck in the house with three small children… I’m a little bit antsy. Thankfully the warm up has officially started and the snow is FINALLY gone! Unfortunately, for my children, that want to spend every last moment of this new found warm weather OUTSIDE… I have got the organizational munchies. I love organization. And before children I was known to go as far as to refold towels my husband had folded, because they weren’t quite right. 6 years and three kids later, I’m just thankful if any towels have been cleaned and are in need of folding, let alone getting folded- by anyone!

Because of littlest E’s birth last July, we didn’t get things as unpacked and organized as we otherwise would have, so we’re dusting off the cobwebs and picking up the slack now! We’ve filled our whole big trash bin with things we’re tossing and it’s not even trash day (we never do that!). Declutter!! I just can’t stand that “little bit everywhere”…in fact, it makes me a little crazy. And let’s face it, I’m already headed down that lane, so you can see why this would be a problem. So for me the first couple weeks of warmer weathers- they motivate me! I have to force myself to stop and let the kids run and play outside because I just want to keep going!

And since Monday has been dubbed, “Monday Funday” (I’m still trying to work out the rest of the days… if you have suggestions- let me know), it is our “electronic free day.” At least for the kids, and I try to at least keep mine minimized for their sake. Since it means no TV, no movies, no computer games…. we play. Outside, inside… wherever! We play. So things don’t really get done around the house on Mondays, but happiness occurs anyhow. Since we’re over that hump, today I’m attempting to get going on the re-organizing business full force! Today I have become Operative Mother of All Organization. Ok, maybe not that extreme, because I still have baby to nurse, kids to feed, dinners to make (hmm… my days often seem to focus on feeding people…). I seem to be having trouble staying focused on one subject here, so I should make this quick. Go. Do. Organize.

Another goal of this mass organization is to find my stinkin’ camera adapter so that I can actually post pictures! Other than my phone’s pictures! I have some fun spring/Easter crafts and really tasty meals that I would like you to see!

Want to know what I’m having for dinner tonight? A family favorite! I usually just make this quick on the stovetop (takes the same amount of time as making a box of Hamburger Helper!) but in honor of being reunited with my crockpot, I may just throw it in there! This truly is a family favorite, and is also spouse-friendly! One of the first meals I made after throwing out all the boxed, packaged kinds! I didn’t know what I was doing, but threw things together…and voila! It was proclaimed delicious! Since then (I’m hoping!) it has been honed and tweaked just enough to make me feel like it’s no longer in the experiment stage.

Burgers a la Pasta!

4 servings of pasta (any kind- my kinds prefer “the noodles that look like phones” aka elbow)
*Homemade tomato sauce (I’m all out of the stuff I made and frozen in serving-size packages last fall, so I use plain tomato sauce and make it my own… adding in whatever tomatoes I have laying around, oregano, garlic, thyme, pepper, salt, pinch of sugar, and a pinch of whatever flour/starch I have on hand to thicken it just a bit. Don’t worry if you end up with more than you need with this recipe! Save it to use later this week or freeze it and use it next time!) You can of course use any kind of tomato/spaghetti sauce
1 lb hamburger, browned (I add whatever I would add when making normal hamburgers. So I add some Montreal Steak Seasoning, Garlic Salt, Pepper, Lowry’s, and salt… just pinches of each. And if I have any, I’ll mince just enough onion to taste like it’s got a little bit of onion in it, but not enough to be seen)
3/4 cup shredded cheddar (or whatever kind you like on your burgers) cheese
Parmesan cheese (if you don’t have this, don’t worry. I keep the grated kind and the real, aged, parmigiana reggianna shredded kind on hand, so I always throw in a little of each.)
Splash of milk (maybe 1/4 cup if I had to guess)

*Like Ranch burgers? Stay away from tomatoes? I have to for my girl’s sake, and so I either A)omit the sauce for her and just make hers extra cheesy or b)make a ranch sauce (plain white sauce: 2 tbs butter, 2 tbs. flour, 1 cup milk. Boil 2 minutes and add whatever seasoning sounds good to you. I use a buttermilk ranch seasoning.) Don’t want dairy? Skip the cheese all together. Still very good!

side note: You can do this all in one pot, but I had hungry people so I boiled the water, then put the noodles in as I browned the ground beef (so they’d be done simultaneously).

After hamburger is browned (and drained! PS. if you cook it at a high heat, it gets more of the fat out!), add in the noodles. Add the cheese slowly, while stirring, so that it melts and doesn’t turn into one big clump. If needed, adding in milk. (my kids like it just like this! no sauce needed!) Add in tomato sauce (about 2 cups. I always use more because my family likes things “saucy.”). Stir so noodles are coated and in the sauce. Once boiling (med-high heat) turn heat down and simmer (with a lid!) until noodles are thoroughly cooked, stirring occasionally. About 15 minutes (but that will depend on the kind of noodles you use, so keep an eye on them). Let sit about 2 minutes (will thicken up some). And eat! Enjoy!

I was starting to think my crock pot has long gone since I haven’t seen it since we moved, last summer. I came home from an outing with the kids to it sitting on the counter! My husband had found it! He walked in the door just in time to see me discover it! I literally jumped in his arms! (He threatened to hide it again based on my enthusiasm! But he also found my food puree-er that I’ve been searching for to make baby food with, so I was doubly excited!) In honor of that, I think tonight I will attempt throwing all the ingredients in the crock pot and seeing how it turns out!

I am going to take pictures of tonight’s meal…hopefully the process and not just the end results. And will add them to this post as soon as I can! THE CAMERA ADAPTER WILL BE FOUND! Hopefully before I get a chance to go out and buy a new one and not momentarily afterwards, like the Wii remote I just replaced, and was found within minutes of me walking in the door with the new one. *eye roll*

Family Gluten Free Life According To Me Marriage Pasta Recipes

First Kiss

by motherofwonder

This morning as I was being used as a human jungle gym, my mind wandered…

This summer marks 14 years since my first kiss. And every summer I can’t help but think back to that day. And that boy. He was almost 16. Which as any teenager knows, is a big deal, because obviously you’re so close to adulthood at 16, because you can drive. He was one of those boys who might come across as a little full of himself. (And it might have been a little true.) Lots of friends and always sure of himself. The adult in me sees that most of that was probably a facade, but to the shy teenage girl, it was totally believable.

So I sit and think about what happened between us that summer, the letters, the phone calls… I consider the ways I grew and changed afterwards, and how he inevitably did too. I remember how weekly e-mails in high school turned to yearly birthday calls in college. I don’t remember any of it being particularly heart breaking (he may remember it differently, but I still see it with a bit of rose-colored glasses). Mostly, though, I think about the way time and circumstance changes people. The girl I was…how she became the woman she is. The boy he was and how he became the man he is… and I can’t help but wonder at the affects of that kiss. Now it may seem silly to for me to even think about considering where I’m at now, but I can’t help but wonder what life would look like if the inevitable too-young-love break-up hadn’t occurred.

So instead of the what-might-have-beens, I take a deep breath, let out a sigh, and smile. The roads that boy and I have taken since that fateful night so long ago… there’s been bends and twists, heartbreaks and tears, and even laughter… for both of us. But as my hair is being pulled by my youngest, my oldest launching himself off the couch and onto my stomach, while my middlest lays next to me laughing hysterically; I have no doubts, no second-guesses, no wish-we-would-haves. Only a silent acknowledgment that the roads that boy and I took, well, we needed to take them, as individuals. And I kind of think it makes the road we’re on, as adults, that much sweeter. After all, that boy turned into the most wonderful husband and the most amazing father that this 14-year-old-girl-turned-woman could ever have dreamed of. ♥ And sometimes it’s the sweetness of “our story” and the length of our friendship, love, and history that keep me from killing him (figuratively, of course), so I think he’s probably thankful for it too.

Family Love Dare Marriage

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