laborofwonder

Rocking Chair Bliss

by motherofwonder

Thankful Friday… today I am both thankful in general, and thankful it’s Friday. We are expecting some snow, starting this morning, this weekend and I’m looking forward to a weekend of snuggling in with my honeys and maybe some fun time outside. we haven’t had enough snow to really enjoy winter activities and my biggest boy has been so sad about that. Today he decided he misses warm weather since there’s nothing fun to do outside right now. Can’t say I blame him. We were looking forward to snowball fights, snowmen, sledding, and snowshoeing…but there just hasn’t been the snow for it. Hopefully this weekend will turn that around. So today, I am thankful for weather that feels like winter, and hoping it brings snow to make it look like winter as well.

I am also thankful for something else. Those that know me in real life, and probably those that have read along with me for a while now, know that I am a breastfeeding advocate (the daughter of a lactation consultant, I can’t help it!). Now if you know my feelings on breastfeeding and it’s importance you probably just think that I’m not one of the masses who has struggled with it. Unfortunately, that is simply not true. Now I am a go to person for questions, and have never minded the late at night phone calls fielding questions that I sometimes get. Sometimes my hubby even gets phone calls about breastfeeding to have him run by me. I don’t mind one bit. The truth is, a lot of the answers I have, is because I’ve been there. I’ve had a baby who only wanted to nurse all the time (and by all the time, I mean all the time. Truly.), I’ve had to figure out how to get newborns to latch correctly, I’ve had to figure out how to deal with nursing strikes and growth spurts, cluster feedings, thrush, and teething. With my oldest I lost my supply when he was only 9 months- when I was pregnant with his sister. With MissE she and I both battled a long, painful battle with thrush when she was 12 months old. And now with my youngest, after we passed the year mark I was thrilled. No major bumps (or bites). I thought that finally I might have one child that I could wean naturally, in our own time. And it seemed as if we were going rather smoothly along that road. Unfortunately, as his eye teeth have come in, he has developed some bad habits in his latch. My oldest was so adamant about nursing that even very, very little I could coach him in how to hold his mouth and he would do whatever it took to continue nursing. My youngest is more stubborn about doing things the way he wants. These teeth have been slowly easing their way in for months. Seriously- they first poked through about 2 months ago and they’re still maybe half in. Try as I may, and try with all my might I did, but have ended with pain and lots of tears. After the battle we went through with MissE, hubbyman was adamant that I not let it progress to infection and the battle that becomes. While it seems we may be headed down that road anyways, we’ve certainly been trying everything in our power. I pumped and pumped and pumped some more. I was not getting enough milk and my body was not healing fast enough to actually nurse him. Last week he and I were both sick, which made pumping more difficult. I mean, not only did I not feel well, but he didn’t either, therefore was always in arms. Pumping and holding a wiggly baby toddler is not so easy. Today is my 5th day of not pumping. It’s kind of heartbreaking and I feel disappointed and sad.Littlest is now 18 months old, and I know that I have gone above and beyond what a lot of moms do, but it was not how I had envisioned things. You’d think with 3 kids, at least one of them would be easy! (But I guess it just adds to my frame of reference for more breastfeeding questions.) Now I know this doesn’t sound like it fits into a thankfulness post, and if I’m honest, I’ll tell you- I am not thankful for this. At all. But what I am thankful for is the support I have always been given by my husband. He came to my defense when I called the failings of my body into question (between his pregnancy, his birth, and now this…). He has become a staunch advocate himself, and I find that something to be so thankful for.

We recently acquired a rocking chair that my parents had in the house I grew up in, which was wonderful because we didn’t have any furniture that rocked. And everyone with kids needs something that rocks! Between sick times and cuddle times- it’s just a necessity. At least to me. And over the holiday sales I found some suede microfiber fabric on major clearance that I snatched up to reupholster it with. I just about lived in this chair while we were all sick, rocking Littlest to sleep. And it became a miracle for while we were transitioning to bottles and milk not from the tap. We’d always nursed for nap time and bed time, and it was becoming a challenge to put him down without. In came the rocking chair. I mentioned to hubbyman how thankful I was for the rocking chair to rock and snuggle him in close, and how still having that time was helping to alleviate some of my disappointment. And so this week he took it upon himself and took apart the chair. He took the old upholstery off, he did some upkeep to the chair itself, and he spent a couple evenings in a row doing the actual reupholstering. I really missed being able to use it while it was a work in progress. But when I took Littlest upstairs to rock after an hour of unsuccessful bedtime attempts, I was overwhelmed with thankfulness. He put his chubby little hand around my neck, gave me a kiss (along with the sound- his kisses always include the sound mmmwah!), nestled in, and went right to sleep. It may not be the way I’d hoped, or the way I’d envisioned, but as I sat and rocked my sleeping baby, the disappointment and frustrations subsided and all I felt was thankful. For this old rocking chair turned into new and my sweet hubbyman who always seems to know my heart.

Life According To Me Marriage Thankful Fridays

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Kidtastic!

by motherofwonder

Ok, so some of you may remember this year’s Christmas cookies, or my first Gluten Free Christmas cookie experiment. Thankfully there were only a couple of batches that went to the birds (literally). If you are gluten free, then you know sometimes cooking gluten free is a bit of an experiment. Especially if you’re like me and tend to make up your own recipes. Thankfully, in the last year, there’s only been one meal that I would consider inedible. And hubbyman still ate it. After the first cookie flop and my heart sinking to my toes (it’s a yearly tradition that I have done since being a little girl.). I mean like real disappointment. Not only are Christmas sugar cookies a tradition, but the kids and I love to make them during other times of the year. Dinosaurs and trains are not just for Christmas! So I needed to figure out how to make them work! I opened a million and two windows of baking gluten free tips and read and read and read… and picked a couple things and decided to go from there. Thankfully, the next batch turned out perfect. I’m not sure what exactly made them go from flop to perfection, but I am so glad they did! So, if you’ve been looking for a fun cooking expedition to go on with your kids- this is it my friends! If your household does wheat/gluten then by all means use any old sugar cookie recipe! If you’ve been looking for a good gluten free recipe- here you go!

trains, turtles, strawberries, bears, snowflakes... there were some actual Christmasy ones in there too

Ok, let me preface this by saying that these do take up some time, say an afternoon, or an evening. That said, they are not difficult to make. Really, the kids have so much fun with the cut outs and decorating… we made three batches this year!

SUGAR COOKIES

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 large egg

2 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cream of tartar

Beat powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, almond, and the egg. (With an electric mixer or by hand) And then stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. I wrapped it in saran wrap and put it in the freezer for an hour. I put away all the ingredients and did kitchen clean up, by the time I was done and the oven was hot, it’d been an hour!
Heat oven to 375. Lightly grease cookie sheet. (I used a spray)
Divide dough into sections. I just grabbed a size that looked like a snowball to me (apparently I really am a northern girl). I kept the rest of the dough in the freezer. Roll out until the dough is about 1/4 inch thick, on a lightly floured surface. And then cookie cutter time! Sprinkle with granulated sugar or leave plain to frost and decorate!
Bake 7 minutes, or until edges are light brown. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool. (They must cool before frosting!)
Repeat!

Note: It really seemed to make a difference that I kept the dough in the freezer in between batches. Especially after being rolled out and cut, the dough then gets really soft and squishy and you don’t want the flat sheets of flop that I made- so keep ’em cold!

soooo many cookies

If you’re needing a frosting recipe, all I do is take about a cup of powdered sugar and add one tablespoon of milk. (That was really technical, I know.) Mix. Add more powdered sugar if it’s too runny and more milk if it’s too thick. You can always add food coloring as well. And then decorate with sprinkles or whatever your heart desires- before the frosting sets!

*Sorry the pictures are not terrific… my lens was dirty and I didn’t know until it was too late! Hubbyman cleaned it, so here’s hoping for some better pictures in 2012!

Dessert Gluten Free Impressively Simple Recipes

I Make Donuts. Call Me WonderMom.

by motherofwonder

So…. I’m pretty behind in posts in general, I know. And food posts, I’m sure I’m behind by like a month. Whoops. I have another confession- this is not going to be one either. Well, not completely. Even though I haven’t been doing posts about food, we still have been cooking, and even eating. Shocking, right? Really, there’s been lots of foodie stuff going on here… for Christmas I got a pasta extruder (you have no idea how happy this made me!).

I’ve made lots of yummy pastas, some new pasta sauces (including a pink garlic sauce- so good), sugar cookie cut outs galore, and donuts. I bought a specialty cookbook (for gluten free) specifically because it had a donut recipe in it. And I’ve been looking longingly at the donut making machines over the holidays… and then, during some post-holiday shopping, I found a set that had two donut trays. One for your regular circle donuts, and one for long john style donuts!! I was practically giddy. Ok, there’s no practically, I was giddy. You see, January marks one year of us being gluten free. It feels like it’s been much longer, but a year it’s definitely been. And we have come a long way since those first weeks. We were given a lot of discouraging advice, encouraging advice, and a lot of mixed signals. Thankfully, we were able to weed out the good and the bad and trudge on through. We did have some things going for us already. We already ate little to no processed foods, and I was already making/cooking most things… so I ordered some all-purpose GF flour on-line (because you can get it WAY cheaper and in bigger quantities) and just kept on cooking as usual. I really lucked out. This all-purpose mix is still by far my favorite. We thought it might be a fluke that the first brand we tried was so awesome, but I have not been impressed with any other brand we’ve tried. While we still have our areas that we could improve upon (I need to make and freeze more pasta sheets on a regular basis, so they’re always available in a pinch. I also need to get back into making bread on a regular basis.), but we have certainly come a long way. We now know so much more about the little changes we can make to keep gluten out of the house and home and tummies. We have found new family favorites and ventured into foods we never otherwise would have. Plus, we feel better! We made “Mexican pizzas” (tostadas), we have sandwiches made out of waffles (the kids’ absolute favorite), we make our own pasta, we make our own sauces, we double our recipes so that we can freeze half for an easy/quick meal another night, and we do lots of experiments!

You know what the best part is? Knowing that one year ago, we were trying everything we could think of to help our sweet little girl. Who had awful tummy issues from midnight exorcism-style vomiting, to much less pleasant potty issues that I’ll save you from the details, to hives attacking her face with each and every meal. We’d gone a year trying to figure out what was causing the hives, we’d thrown out processed foods, stayed away from anything with preservatives or food coloring, gave up tomatoes and anything with citric acid… to no avail. In fact, her hives were getting worse. They were no longer just showing up around her mouth with a meal, they were staying on her sweet little face all the time, and spreading to her neck with meals. Now I know there is some controversy in the needing to be tested. But in order to do that she’d have to continue eating gluten for 2 solid months and then undergo a big-deal time of invasion to her body, which is is teeny-tiny. And the test often comes out with a false negative. Yeah, I’m not down for that. Especially, when after being gluten free for only a month, her hives went away. And they haven’t been back. And we’ve been able to add back in some of the foods that we avoided previously. Like tomatoes. Hello, ketchup! She was so excited to be able to have the ketchup that her brother shovels onto just about every food. (Except rice, because apparently that’s gross. But ketchup and anything else is totally acceptable. And I mean anything else.) Really, to me, my daughter feeling better (you know it’s a big deal when you could tell a 3 year old that she can’t have the cookie being offered because it’s one that will make her tummy hurt, and she just says, so what can I have? without getting upset at all. Or when offered something she’ll ask, will this make my tummy hurt? She feels that much better, and that’s sayin’ something.) And the diet change has caused us to look more closely into the things we’re eating and to become more intentional with the things we eat along with where they come from. Plus, now I make my own donuts. My life is now complete.

See that, a real, homemade (by me!) donut... Gluten free, and it's vegan too!

Family Gluten Free Impressively Simple Life According To Me Things Kids Say

The Ways of The (My) Man

by motherofwonder

My hubbyman is one of those “man’s man” kinda guys. You know, the kind that will invent a huge project filled with lumber and tools just to avoid any kind of mall or store. Now, I’m not really complaining about that, I prefer the mall without my husband, usually. I’m a wanderer, and he’s a complainer. Those things just don’t mix. And I thoroughly appreciate the fact that he can take care of pretty much any need that should arise in the home, be it plumbing, painting, or any form of carpentry. (Remember the Thomas bed? sidenote: I thought I had a post with the kids in it, in all it’s finished glory…but I couldn’t seem to find it. Hmm. Although I do think I have it in an album on facebook- go ahead, “like” me on facebook and see!) Anyhow, he’s more than a jack of all trades, he’s one of those people who is just good at everything. Or at least anything that you can turn into a project.

I joined my hubbyman for a happy hour with his coworkers last night and they joked about when the last time they saw him smile was. The last time I’d joined them for happy hour, they joked about how one of their goals is to get hubbyman to show more than one emotion in a day. If this isn’t starting to paint a picture, let me tell you about a joke that we have shared for most of our marriage. When apologizing, I tell him that I am sorry I hurt his feeling. Feeling. Singular. As in he only has one. While this is, of course, in jest. And he really is a kind-hearted, loving man, and father… he is just a very focused one. A very focused, man’s man, kind of one. The kind of man who’s always thinking about the big picture, so he’s always working harder, finding another project, and doing something. He is always thinking about and trying to make our lives better. He is a hard worker and an excellent provider, but (admittedly) not the greatest of communicators. He’s not the kind of guy who does big romantic gestures, or gives romantic speeches in prose. And if I’m needing to hear something, I generally have to tell him. But when he does do (or say) something without my prodding, it is always heartfelt and better than anything I could have come up with on my own. He knows I am a card person (I love giving and receiving them, always have.), and my favorites are when he has made me very elaborate cards, and due to his artistic capabilities (Truly!), they are always works of art. I don’t mean he took a blank piece of paper, folded it in half and wrote I love you on the inside and called it good. I mean he spent more than an hour on it, and it really is a work of art.

I recently was reading a post from the lovely Karyl, at ilovethishusbandandwifestuff. She was talking about how her hubby tells her she’s beautiful and how hard it is to receive that compliment sometimes, and I commented on the post and have been thinking about it ever since. Even though my hubbyman may not be the most sensitive of men, when he does go there, it’s always memorable. Here is part of my comment in response to her post. (And what gets me through in between all the manly man stuff to remind me that even when he’s wrapped up in a project, I am what he loves.)

I’ve known my husband since I was 14 and sometimes I wonder what he thinks as he watches me growing older. But even in our early 20s he told me he had a dream where he saw us sitting on our porch together, little old grandparents watching over the lives we’d built. And he saw me with grey hair. And he always smiles when he talks of this dream and tells me he can’t wait to see me at that age, and that he thinks that’s the most beautiful I’ll ever be. Where the lines on my face and the grey of my hair are symbols of the life and the time we’ve lived together.There’s just something so sweet about a man who sees his spouse through eyes of life. Where even though you’re so tired or you’re in your sweatpants, or you’ll never look like Heidi Klum, it doesn’t matter because when he looks at you he doesn’t just see the beauty in your face, he sees your heart, and your lives, and all that you’ve put into it. And that’s always the best compliment.

And really, could it get any better than that? When it comes down to all his man’s man projects, and thinking, and feeling… I’d take his random, heart-felt, and heart-melting words, cards, and moments over weekly flowers any day. (But I’d still accept and love the flowers.)

Life According To Me Marriage

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15 Things

by motherofwonder

These are just a few of my plans, hopes, dreams, expectations for 2012:

taking a trip to see family (my dad’s mom and sisters all live a few states away and while I’ve taken the “bigger 2,” hubbyman has never been and Littlest has never been. So that’s our big plan for the summer and what hubby is saving his PTO for.)
beginning the process towards becoming a doula
supporting my sister-in-law, and brother, during the birth of my nephew!
finding ways to bring some sort of order to the chaos of this house
celebrate my biggest boy turning 5….and planning his party (this is less than 2 weeks away… it may need to happen after his birthday!)
make more time for me and my honey * other than our anniversary (*my children refer to anyone’s significant other, as their honey. Example: Who is your honey? Where is your honey? Do you have a honey?)
start some craft projects- do more craft projects- and finish them!
Get a(nother) tattoo. I have one all planned out commemorating my children with the “birth flower” of the month they were born. It’ll be cool, trust me.
Continue organizing my house, until it’s all organized (I know, it’s a never ending process, but hey, a girl can dream)
Make a “tshirt blanket” out of my favorite onesies, shirts, blankets, etc. of the babies’. A good way to commemorate my memories without just putting them all in a box!
When hubbyman was told of my idea for the babyy tshirt blanket, he requested we make a tshirt blanket for him (he has a ridiculous number of tshirts that he can’t bear to part with, but never actually wears anymore, we thought this would be a good compromise.)
Make more meals on the weekends to freeze for the week
Enroll Miss E in ballet. Her enrollment in Tae Kwon Do is about to expire and while she does well, she really wants to be in ballet (which happens to be just next door to the TKD class)… plus I think Daddy is ready for it to be just him and biggest E in the class rather than him taking on the two of them.
more skype dates to keep up with friends! (just after I typed this, I skyped with a friend… and it was coincidental! Score one for the new year!)
more family time! Where it’s intentional and quality and not just where we all happen to be in the same house at the same time!

Life According To Me

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A Good Tired

by motherofwonder

I had lots of plans for cleaning on Saturday, but the day came and went with only the bare minimum attended to. But we enjoyed a surprise visit from my parents (they were on the anniversary date that happened to include dinner in our area and couldn’t resist a quick visit with the grandkids!), lots of playtime and snuggles. This afternoon however, I got to it. And once I started the organizational process, I couldn’t stop myself! I started cleaning my bedroom (yes, dear, *our* bedroom) and ended up cleaning out and reorganizing our closet, cleaning out and organizing our storage space under the stairs, reorganizing the hall closet, and while those may not sound like huge feats, trust me when I say This was a huge feat. 2 goodwill bags, 2 trash bags, 3 bags of baby clothes intended for 3 different families, and it is such a good feeling! Oh, and I reorganized my gift wrapping box (it’s huge, I have everything). And I organized and put away all my sewing and crafting things. I’m pretty pleased with the way things turned out. Our storage space is usable and accessible, our closet is neat and orderly (and there are places for things and things in their places), and I have a laundry basket in our hall closet (linen closet) with hopes of dirty clothes no longer piling up on the bathroom floor. Have I ever mentioned I love organization and organizing? I do. I love finding ways to make things more efficient and simple. Love it.

The best part of all? I found my mother’s necklace (one of those ones that has the kids’ birthstones in it)!! I wanted to have Littlest’s added for Mother’s Day and have been searching (and I mean searching) since a week or so prior to Mother’s Day (you know, back in May). I thought I found the chain it was on in one of the kids’ bedrooms and was heartsick thinking that they must’ve gotten ahold of it, and that it was lost forever. I was so relieved I almost cried! In fact, I’m a little surprised I didn’t. I probably would have it I wasn’t so hopped up on organization.

I still have a full day ahead of me tomorrow (you know how sometimes on the way to clean things become messier?), but for now I am just pleased with the results so far. On that note, anyone want to entertain three little ~~monsters~~ sweethearts while I enjoy my organizing? I will pay you in organization. You name the room and I will organize it.

*Littlest is 18 months today! (*I admit it, I’m writing at midnight this ahead of time and setting it to post tomorrow morning, but it’s just after midnight, so technically I wrote this “today.”*) How on earth did that happen?! I’m pretty sure that yesterday I was just taking Biggest home from the Naval hospital. (Though those feelings may have been a bit of nostalgia due to going through all the baby clothes and preparing to say goodbye to the last of the baby clothes and toys! But seriously, time goes by so fast!) Hold them close, laugh with them often, and teach them the importance of organization and organizational skills.

(I know I’ve used this photo before, but I just don’t care! And seeing how I listened to a good 20 minutes of my children telling me about how far away they intend to live – Ireland!- it seems fitting)

Family Life According To Me

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Here We Go Again

by motherofwonder

I didn’t plan on posting today, mainly because my house is a huuuge disaster. Not only was this last month ridiculously busy, but as soon as people walked out our door, the plague walked in. Littlest has had a fever for a few days, and has been unwilling to spend any time out of my arms. And Big E came down with it yesterday and spent most of yesterday vying for a spot in my arms. This morning, for the first time in almost 5 days, I woke up to the sounds of all three of them in the playroom- playing! Unfortunately, it didn’t last for littlest E, he still spent the majority of the morning in my arms, but as the day goes on he’s a little more willing to venture forward. So U got ambitious and decided I’d attempt the dishes. What did I get for that? I got sprayed by the water hose. For those of you who’ve read this for a while, probably can guess my reaction to being sprayed, yet again, by that stinkin’ sticky handle on the sprayer. Turns out once it’s been tied down, it likes to remain stuck down, or randomly stick down on its own accord. If you are new to my ~~life~~ blog, then you may not know the story. And even if you aren’t- maybe a reread is in order. So here you go:

This morning I got up and it was freezing! I’d been cold all night too- even with Big E snuggled into our bed (I don’t even know when that happened?!), and that boy’s a heater. So turns out the heat never got turned up before bed (I turn it way down during the day depending on if we’re spending our day upstairs or downstairs… no point in heating an area we’re not in!). So I was cold and a little cranky. And then I go upstairs. I have Littlest E on my hip, because he’s been up for quite some time playing and is starting to get a little cranky. I get my favorite coffee cup -because of it’s size- and turn on the water (yes, I admit it, I was going to make instant coffee. Please don’t judge. I know it’s bad. I’m just that desperate for coffee immediately.)… and then it happens. I get sprayed with water. And it takes me a moment to realize what’s going on (hello?! no coffee yet!?!), and to realize that the baby on my hip is being sprayed directly in his face. Great. So I turn the water off and look at the hose, figuring something had to have gone wrong. And then it hits me. It’s APRIL FIRST. Crap. And there’s the string tied around the hose. So I do a little growling and muttering as I cut the string off. I wipe Ethan down, change shirts. ….it might also be helpful to know this about me: I HATE when my clothes get wet. Like hate, hate. So much that a small spill even, will send me back into the house to change, no matter where I was heading, or how late I already am. Hate. It’s weird, don’t question it- it’s just how it is. Then Miss E (the 2 1/2 year old, nicknamed the dEva) starts asking for some water and she’s whining… so I pick her up and we go get her water. Turns out, the hose had been tied down so long, it wanted to stay in that position. You should also know something about Miss E: She’s dramatic, and she hates getting her clothes wet at least as much as I do. And still no coffee yet.

Breathe in….breathe out. Make enough coffee to feed an army. Drink and watch Ellen. Breathe. Try not to mutter about killing my husband in front of the children… aaahhh, coffee kicks in. As I posted in my facebook status: [Husband]- apparently you’ve forgotten who cooks your meals, washes your clothes, and raises your children… because you’d think you would know better than to pull a prank on her. But don’t worry, I’ll make dinner extra special as a reminder!

If you want to read more about this ridiculous story, you can read the original post in it’s entirety, my revenge post, and the post where the prank never ends, and obviously it never does because that was almost a year ago!

So may your pranks be epic, your coffee pot full, and your face stay dry.

I can’t wait until April.

Life According To Me Marriage

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2012

by motherofwonder

After a much needed hiatus, I am back my dear friends. The holidays are over and life is beginning to go on as usual. They were wonderful, ridiculously busy, and filled. And I hope that yours were too.

Here are some of my favorite things from this last year:

Visits from far-flung family and friends.
Weekend getaway with a girlfriend. (and a stowaway in the form of sweet little(st) E
A summer completely filled to the top with some of my favorite people
Our best anniversary getaway to date. (That started with free champagne and chocolate covered strawberries and ended in a free hotel room.)
An empty hotel and pool fun with my sweet, little family
Cutting down our own little Christmas tree, no matter how Charlie Brown-esque it may have been
game nights with friends
quiet evenings with those I love most
late night Wii fests full of wins and defeats all around
laughter, tears, and everything in between that makes life as challenging and wonderful as it always is that leaves us grateful for everyone and everything in it.

I hope to continue my attitude of gratitude for many years to come, not just 2012. May you find lots of reasons to be thankful for the year passed (even if it’s just it’s passing), and in the years to come.

Family Life According To Me Marriage

Season of Thankfulness

by motherofwonder

I can hardly believe we’re just a couple short days away from Christmas! Seems like last week we were still waiting on Thanksgiving! But that’s how it goes every year, isn’t it? And sadly, I missed out on yesterday’s “Simple” post… I seem to have been doing that a lot lately. And if I’m honest, I’ll admit that I sat down to do it, loaded all the necessary photos, and just didn’t feel like it. So the kids and I made another round of sugar cookies instead. And I don’t regret it one bit! But I am hoping to start doing more recipes again! So that’s something you can be looking forward to (or not!). I have pictures and recipes just waiting to be shared! Everything from monkey bread pizza, sugar cookies!, and mug cakes (they take 2 minutes to make! seriously!). And more!! And they’re all gluten free! And soooo delicious! And since today is FRIDAY (duhn, duhn, duhn) and the fact that this is a season where we are bombarded by things to do, things to make, things to buy, things to give, things to get, and people to see… it’s easy to get lost in all of that and forget all the things that are really important during Christmas, and always. Along with being thankful. For friends, family, jobs, homes… here are some things I’m incredibly thankful for!

For a hubby who will have TEN DAYS IN A ROW off!! I’m so excited about this I can hardly contain myself! And my mom said that they’ll take the kids for a day during Christmas break, so we’ll actually get a day together! That’s really something to be thankful for!
For my Christmas present. Yes, I know it’s just a thing, but it’s a wonderful, pasta extruding thing that I’ve been wanting! And hubby was thoughtful enough to think of it and get it for me! (And let me use it before Christmas even! I did have his permission to open it, but I’m not sure how he would’ve stopped me since I was home when the Williams-Sonoma box arrived!)
I take great joy in finding “perfect” gifts for people! I am thankful that I have wonderful, beautiful people in my life to love and appreciate!
I am thankful for my NEPHEW that’s a’growin’ in my sister-in-law’s growing belly!!
I am thankful for the sensitive side of hubbyman that who admitted he’d hoped it was a niece, because he thought it would be fun to have a cute, little niece! (But it will be fun that Littlest with have a cousin close enough to his age that they’ll be playmates!)
I am thankful for surprising the kiddos with the arrival of their cousin and aunt and uncle from China!
I am SO THANKFUL that we got a dusting of snow this week… and that there’s lots coming down now! (please, keep snowing! please, keep snowing!)
I am thankful for every person that stops by here! The ones who read it occasionally, the ones who read it regularly, and even the ones who just skim through. (*ahem*hubbyman*)

And I’m off to go decorate some gingerbread men, snowmen, Christmas trees, dinosaurs, monkeys, elephants, and strawberry-shaped cookies! What you don’t think dinosaurs or strawberry shortcake land berries are Christmasy? Well, you obviously haven’t seen our nativity then!

Merry Christmas, my dears! And may you accept all the love and hugs a little more graciously than my little ones!

Life According To Me

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My 12 Days of Christmas

by motherofwonder

The other night as I was counting down the hours until our house filled with guests, my hubbyman was out running around doing some Christmas shopping with his brother. (I should note that he did take Littlest with him and was doing so because we were trying to surprise the kids with the arrival of their cousin. Seeing their uncle seemed like it might give away that surprise, so hubby went out and about while I stayed home and finished preparations.) While I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I found myself singing my own version of “The 12 Days of Christmas.” And I’ve continuously had it in my head since, so I thought I would share. I hope you enjoy them, or at least can find the humor in it.

On the first day of Christmas my true love left with me…

a great big pile of laundry

On the second day of Christmas my true love left with me…

two dirty toilets

and a great big pile of laundry

On the third day of Christmas my true love left with me…

three cranky kids

two dirty toilets

and a great big pile of laundry

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love left with me…

four poopy diapers

three cranky kids

two dirty toilets

and a great big pile of laundry

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love left with me…

five huge meltdowns

four poopy diapers

three cranky kids

two dirty toilets

and a great big pile of laundry

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love left with me…

six hands a’clinging

five huge meltdowns

four poopy diapers

three cranky kids

two dirty toilets

and a great big pile of laundry

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love left with me…

seven movies skipping

six hands a’clinging

five huge meltdowns

four poopy diapers

three cranky kids

two dirty toilets

and a great big pile of laundry

On the eight day of Christmas my true love left with me…

eight dishes breaking

seven movies skipping

six hands a’clinging

five huge meltdowns

four poopy diapers

three cranky kids

two dirty toilets

and a great big pile of laundry

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love left with me…

Nine dozen cookies baking

eight dishes breaking

seven movies skipping

six hands a’clinging

five huge meltdowns

four poopy diapers

three cranky kids

two dirty toilets

and a great big pile of laundry

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love left with me…

ten guests a’eating

nine dozen cookies baking

eight dishes breaking

seven movies skipping

six hands a’clinging

five huge meltdowns

four poopy diapers

three cranky kids

two dirty toilets

and a great big pile of laundry

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love left with me…

eleven words a’cussing

ten guest a’eating

nine dozen cookies baking

eight dishes breaking

seven movies skipping

six hands a’clinging

five huge meltdowns

four poopy diapers

three cranky kids

two dirty toilets

and a great big pile of laundry

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love left with me…

twelve bouts of screaming

eleven words a’cussing

ten guest a’eating

nine dozen cookies baking

eight dishes breaking

seven movies skipping

six hands a’clinging

five huge meltowns

four poopy diapers

three cranky kids

two dirty toilets

and a great big pile of laundry

Go ahead and have this playing while you read through it again so you can really get the feel! And enjoy!

Family Life According To Me Marriage

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