Making Motherhood (just a touch) Easier

***Stamp found at Etsy Shop: Altered Attic

Most mothers, at some point, feel like they aren't doing a good job at being a mom. Oh sure, they're still alive, but you're pretty sure that you're doing something to screw them up in one way or another. 

As The Hubs jokingly asks  "which one do you think will need therapy?" 

When we were in the final months before K3 was born, I realized that I needed to teach my older two to be a little more independent. I was going to be nursing and knew that, for at least the first two months, I was going to be a little tied to the rocking chair! 

That's not to say they aren't independent at all. They both are quite headstrong most of the time! But, they often needed me to help them with little things, wipe their bottoms, reach the soap, turn on the water on to the correct temp for hand washing, fill their sippies etc.. 

Realistically, they knew how to do most of those things, but weren't great at it. Bathroom help especially with K2, who decided she was ready to potty train one month before K3 was born. And yes, I was thrilled! 

So, I've had to improvise with how they do some things, but by George, they do it themselves! 

A few of my tricks:

~ Diaper wipes in the bathroom for them to use on themselves. Let's face it, they aren't going to be great at getting totally clean, but wipes are probably better than toilet paper!

~ Have them learn to turn on the tub faucet, and not burn themselves! They wash their hands in the tub faucet, fill their own sippies, get their own washcloth wet to wipe up their spills etc.. While they could have gotten a chair to do it all at the sink, I wasn't sure I wanted a chair screeching across the kitchen floor while trying to keep a newborn asleep. 

~ I taught them the steps to do certain thing, and key phrases so that I could tell them what to be doing, and stay hands off. For example, when getting dressed. I taught them to lay their pants and/or panties on the floor, with the words/tag on the bottom, then sit down behind it and pull it on. This eliminated two legs going into one pant leg, them falling over and getting upset or hurt. 

~ When I go grocery shopping, or a shipment comes in with snacks, I immediately separate snacks out and put them into a basket in the pantry. I sort cookies, crackers, and pretzels into snack size ziplock bags. Granola bars and other individually wrapped things all come out of their boxes. The girls know that if I tell them to get a snack, they get to choose out of that baskets. If it's breakfast time or I want them to have something 'healthy', I'll tell them to get something specific, and they know were to find it. At some point I plan to get a few more baskets and color code them with ribbons:

Yellow=Breakfast items

Blue=Salty Snacks

Red=Sweet Snacks

Purple=Candy 

Etc. 

Is it bad parenting that I don't have the time to be at their side every minute to help them do everything? No, I don't think so. I choose to see it as helping them develop their independence. 

What are some tricks you've established to get through your busy day? Leave yours in the comments!

A Little Mom Money

I've almost always had 2 jobs at a time. I like to have that financial security! I've held several different types of jobs, and have loved them all.

Then I went to just one job: Mother (and I love this one too!)

Once I took on one job, the job of being a mom, I found that I felt a little on the useless side. Now, realistically, I knew I wasn't useless, but I hated not helping financially. And even though The Hubs made enough for us to live on, I didn't feel like I should be spending anything on myself, or any extra treats. There was also no way for me to surprise The Hubs with any gifts or treats. He knew exactly how much was going into the bank account, since he was the one putting it there!

So, I started to do little things on the computer, to earn just a little extra 'mad money'. I've actually been able to bank a decent amount of cash in the short time I've been doing it. I also had a few total misses. So, take my advice (if you'd like) and save yourself the trouble of sorting the good from the annoying!

Treasure Troopers (for me) was a total bust. Way too many bells and whistles to keep track of! I don't even remember my account information for that one anymore!

Mypoints is working ok for me, but there is a pretty high cash out volume, and you can only get gift cards. I prefer cash! If you'd like an invite to Mypoints, please contact me!

Swagbucks is where I've landed and it's really working well for me. I've found several little tips and tricks to get the most bang for my (swag)buck! 

    

 ~ Get the Swagbucks App for your phone. You can't do everything from the app, but you can grab a few points a day while you're waiting in line or stuck under a baby at naptime!

 

    ~ Get the Swagbucks TV App... this is a big swagbuck earner for me for mobile! I turn it on and just let it play! You will earn 2 swagbucks for every 5 videos that play on your phone. (secret tip: you don't have to watch them, just let them keep playing!) I actually find some of the videos really interesting! You can only earn swagbucks for a video once a day, but there are a couple of hundred videos throughout several different categories, so it's not hard to get the variety you need. You can earn 70 Swagbucks a day, just by letting these play through on your phone. You can click individual videos on your computer on the Swagbucks site and earn even more! They don't count towards the same total!

 

     ~Shopping... yes, I know, this is the one that everyone hate to hear... "I have to spend money to get money?"... I get it, trust me, I do. I don't do a ton of online shopping (save for Etsy), but I've found a way to increase my online shopping, without spending a penny more than I normally would at the store! I buy my essentials from Walmart (have to click from the Swagbucks link to get your points) online. Diapers, Wipes, Toilet Paper, Napkins, Paper Plates, Food (dry goods or non-perishable food is all you can get online), Dishwasher Soap, etc. If you spend a certain dollar amount (right now it is $35, normally it is $50), shipping is free! So, not only do you save yourself a trip to the store and the gas to get there, but now you are also earning Swagbucks for your shopping! 2,500 Swagbucks=$25 in Paypal cash! There are plenty of gift cards available for smaller amounts of swagbucks, but the Paypal cash is the one I always want! I can use it to shop online, or put it into our bank account!

Fry Bread for Breakfast

Last night, I posted about making some Fry Bread to have with our dinner. You can find our method to make it here:

Fry Bread

So, surprisingly, we had a few of them left over. I'd put them in a ziplock tub, but really wasn't sure how they would keep. I'd guessed they'd get soggy some how, but they were pretty much just as perfect as they were last night!

I needed something quick for breakfast since G3 would soon be awake and hungry herself! I grabbed a piece of fry bread and spread a good dose of cream cheese on it. Wow! It was delicious! 

Not super sweet, so in the future, either a flavored cream cheese or some jam on top of the cream cheese might be an option!

Fry Bread

Tonight The Hubs asked if I thought frozen bread dough would make into a pita pocket if fried. Well, no, it won't. Pita pockets are dry and not something I particularly care for, and I didn't really think that they were something he'd love either.  Aside from that, pita pockets aren't fried.  

He wanted to make something to use as a 'bun' for a shredded roast beef sandwich. I suggested that I make hoagie buns out of frozen bread dough, but he really wanted to try frying. 

So, I decided to try to figure out what he was going for. 

Out came a loaf of my trusted frozen bread dough. 

I let a loaf of frozen bread dough rise in a bread pan till it was about half way up the pan. Then I cut it into 3 strips. 

I cut each of those strips into 3-4 pieces. 

I sort of squeezed them flat with my fingers, didn't need them to be perfectly rolled out. Let them sit and rise a bit longer, 30 minutes or so. This isn't mandatory, but your final product will not be as light of a bread if you skip the rising part!

The Hubs took over with the frying because I had to nurse G3. 

He pulled each chunk into a larger flatter piece of dough. He made each piece separately, frying them in a pan with a few inches of hot oil. He flipped them over to brown both sides. 

I was a little worried that they might end up either really dense or crispy like pita chips. But they weren't!

They were fluffy and soft and had big air pockets in them. Oh they were yummy!!! If I had to compare them to something, I'd say a soft funnel cake!

However... They were NOT ideal to hold the shredded roast! The Hubs put some meat on his piece of 'fry bread' and it instantly got soggy! 

I put my meat on the side, used a fork and put meat onto the bread as I went. I tore off a piece of bread, put the meat on top, and popped it in my mouth! 

I will definitely be finding more ways to use this Fry Bread!!

A1-OK Shredded Beef

We had a nice beef roast in the freezer. The Hubs decidde it was the perfect thing to have in the crockpot all day while we were snowed in.

He was right. 

It smelled delicious all day, and boy was it yummy that night for supper!

He made it using:

3-4lb Roast

3 Tbsp of A1 Steak Sauce

2 sticks of Butter (or margarine)

3 whole Banana Peppers

Toss them all in the crock pot and turn it on high. Let it sit all day, and enjoy!!

We served it on the side of some Fry Bread... Holy smokes... very yummy!

Oh... And good luck keeping from snacking on it during the day!

Homemade Pizza Pockets

I love easy meals... And cheap meals ;). I really love it if my little girls actually want to eat a meal. 

All three? I'm in cooking heaven!!

I'd posted before (Big Pigs in Bigger Blankets) about my growing love for frozen bread dough.  I told you that I'd be making more with it! And I have! 

Of course you can figure out all of the possibilities yourselves, but why not give you some ideas as a jumping off point?! 

This time we went for pizza wraps. 

Start with a loaf of frozen bread dough

Cut it into 8 pieces and roll each piece fairly thin. Make sure to flour your surface and rolling pin, and make the dough thin. (just a little thicker than the Big Pigs post linked above)

Have 1lb of ground beef browned. Mix it with just enough pizza sauce to coat it. You don't want it swimming in sauce or your bread will never cook through.  If you like lots if sauce, use it as dip for your wrap! 

Put a scoop (1/4 cup or so) on your rolled dough. Lay a few pepperoni slices on top, then sprinkle with cheese. Close it by folding the sides up and pinching it together on top. 

Brush with melted butter and sprinkle garlic salt on top. 

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes!

The girls loved them! They even asked for more and told me that they'd like me to make them again soon!

Winter Storm Cleon

I've found conflicting reports as to when the first 'officially named' storm was. Some sources state 1945, but another says 1876 is the first.  I believe that in some way, because of different countries and cultures, both numbers are correct, but the names may have come long after the actual storm. Not during, or even before, as hurricanes named now. 

I find it interesting that we have now started to name other types of storms. Now it's hurricanes and tropical storms, and as of the last few years, winter storms as well. 

That's where I find myself today. Smack dab in the middle of Winter Storm Cleon. 

It hit us yesterday late morning, when tiny ice pellets started to fall, making quite the racket I'll add! The ice pelted us for hours, filling in pockets on the ground, looking like we'd had a light snowfall instead of hours of ice. 

In the earlier parts of the evening, the plinking ice was mixed with rain, making a slick slushy mess. Where was I? Walmart. No, I was not panicking, stocking up on batteries, bread, and milk like so many were. We just needed to grab a few groceries. :) 

My husband ran in for us, and I entertained the girls out in the car. 

Check out how thick the ice got on the windshield! This was after just 30 minutes or so of sitting in the parking lot. 

Around 7-8 it finally turned to snow. 

Now here I sit. 12 hours later and the snow is still falling heavily. There is a good 6 or more inches of snow on top of the layer of ice. 

It even blew an inch or two onto our covered porch. 

And it is beautiful. 

It is expected to continue to fall for another 12 hours.

Box O' Fun

Entertaining 2 little girls so close in age definitely has it's trying days. Even more so in the winter when it's cold and damp outside. Add a newborn to the mix and I'm really limited to activities!

I happened to get a two big boxes with deliveries in the past few days. I knew they'd be good for something, and they were! This morning I let them each crawl into their own box with 10 markers. They happily spent almost an hour in their little box worlds, coloring away! 

The only rule was that the markers stayed in the box! 

Of course, markers staying in the box didn't keep everything clean... Just the walls and floor! They still managed to get quite a few marks on themselves! I did my best to salvage their clothes though, they were only wearing some old shorts for this project!

It's nothing fancy, and it won't go on the walls, but they had fun!

Kindness Angels

I'd recently pinned an idea for 'Kindness Elves' here: http://theimaginationtree.com/2013/11/alternative-elf-on-shelf-tradition-kindness-elf.html

I have never done the 'Elf on the Shelf' and quite honestly, I didn't want to, even before reading that ^^ blog post, but for the same reasons as she posted about. Why would I want my kids to get so excited about a little friend who does such mischievous things? Things that they would most likely get in trouble for doing themselves! No thanks!

I love the idea of kindness elves, but would instead like to do 'Kindness Angels'. I've been searching Etsy for a few days, and think I've found the perfect little angels to use. 

Found here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/petalbelles

I haven't ordered them yet, but plan to soon. They are pretty adorable!! I probably won't have time to do much (if anything) with them this season, but should be in full swing next December! 

In my 'super mom' fantasies, I'd order one of these for each of the four seasons and have my little girls do a random kindness every day! Though realistically, I'm sure the novelty would wear off after a few months! But maybe I could make it work. 

I'll be sure to post our Kindness Angels once we get them!

Holiday Cards for Heroes

So, today I decided to try a little project with G1 and G2, making Christmas cards for troops. They love to color, so I figured it would be something that would occupy them for 30 minutes minimum.

G1 backed out though.  She said she was tired and needed a nap, which she did not end up taking. Instead, she 'read' in her bed. 

Although I was an art major in college, I am not a great doodler. I can draw and shade a portrait, but to just doodle a quick image, nope. So, please forgive the not so great pictures that I drew! 

G2 colored a little angel and a Merry Christmas reindeer. 

Clearly, I have a little artist on my hands... ;) 

I wrote a little note inside each card "from"  G2. We thanked the soldier for their sacrifice and our safety. Then I had her sign it. Really, her signature is that a doctor would be jealous of ;). 

We put them in one envelope (per the website) and mailed them to:

Holiday Mail for Heroes

P.o. Box 5456

Capitol Heights, MD  20791-5456

All of the details can be found at this website: http://www.redcross.org/support/get-involved/holiday-mail-for-heroes

They need to be postmarked by the 6th to make sure it gets to a soldier in time, so just a few days left!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread

I love sweet breads. Cinnamon, Amish Friendship, Zucchini, and even Banana Bread. That last one makes me laugh a little at myself, because I don't care for bananas much, or banana flavored anything at all. 

But, I do try to make sweet breads as often as I can. They aren't too hard, you can easily make several loaves at once, and, wrapped in a little plastic wrap and foil, they freeze great! 

So, in an effort for even more variety, I decided to sweeten the deal even more! 

I grabbed this tried and true recipe http://www.simplyrecipes.com/m/recipes/banana_bread/  and added my own twist. 

You will need:

3 or 4 ripe bananas (I always use 4)

1/3 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy

1/4 cup of cocoa powder

Mix all the ingredients together. Sometimes I really blend up the bananas. Sometimes I hand mash them, then hand mix the rest to leave big banana chunks. I find that the bread with the banana chunks tends to be a dryer bread, but it has nice little banana surprises (for the banana lovers) throughout. 

Spray a bread loaf pan with non-stick spray. I prefer the butter flavored spray for some added flavor to the crust. 

Pour your batter in till the loaf is 1/2-3/4 full. This batter rises quite a bit as it bakes, so make sure you have enough space above the pan. Too close to the top of the oven or another baking rack and you're in trouble! 

Bake for an hour at 350 degrees. 

When the top of the loaf has deep cracks in it, it should be done, but feel free to double check by sticking a knife in the center. 

I tip it out of the baking pan and put it on a cooling rack or cutting board right away to prevent over baking.... Plus, then I can taste test it! 

I love this with cream cheese, peanut butter or butter spread on it, but it's great plain too!!!