Thanksgiving Festivities

Thanksgiving was wonderful and low-key and relaxing and most importantly, YUMMY.  And we were so glad that Tommy and Courtney were able to come down and hang out with us, too!

Lily loves to help out however she can...

Setting the table

 

Raking leaves...

Monitoring  the situation....

 

Dad had quite the pile of leaves--it helps to have a ditch running through the back--makes for awesome running and jumping!

 

Legos.  And seriously, I can't get a smile from him anymore.

 

It takes two to make a turkey--and boy was it delicious!

 

He was hungrily watching the process...

 

All I can say to this is, "Get a ROOM!"  :-)

And here is a video of Oliver DIVING into a pile of leaves.  AWESOME.

Brahm is TWO!!!

 

This week, my littlest one turned 2.  Oh what a sweet little boy he is!  

He is by far my cuddliest kid....and often asks me to hold him and sit on the couch.  He loves sucking his two fingers while rubbing his "bee-bo" (bellybutton).  

He adores his sister and brother--asking often, "Hey mom?  Owie doh?"  or "Hey mom, Wi-wee doh?"  (Ollie go?  Lily go?) ...(sometimes they're sitting at the table WITH us....)

He is a very happy, smiley little boy.  He wakes up happy usually, and is content most of the day.  He does have his clingy moods....but they don't last long.  

Brahm has been giving us a taste of the terrible two's that I don't quite remember with the other two!  He will get so upset at something and yell, "Hit Mommy!"  And then try to run over to me and hit me.  Usually, all I have to do is ask "what happens if you hit?"  and he'll answer "pack 'n play" and then calm down....but occasionally, he just goes for it.  :-)   I think it must be hard to be the youngest and have 4 parents...

(birthday donuts!)

Brahm is a talker.  He loves to hum and sing "Jesus Loves Me", he copies most of what he hears, and is asking questions all day long.  I love having "conversations" with him--it's hilarious to see what they understand!

A few weeks before he turned 2, we started talking about his birthday with him.  We talked about having a "train party", with a cake, blowing out candles, and who he wanted to come over.  He kept saying, "Gavin come?"  'Yes, he can come', we'd tell him.  Then we'd continue:  "Can Taylor come?"  No.  "Can Mason come?"  No.  "Can Dave come?"  No.  "Can Amanda come?"  No.  "Can Gavin come?"  Yes.  He was very specific and didn't change his story at all!  We have yet to have Gavin over for a party...but here is a super-cute picture of the two boys with their bling:

Here is a little "interview" we did with him the night before his birthday:

Favorite drink?  "Milk"

Favorite food?  "Pizza-food!"

Favorite book?  "Sam I am"  (Green Eggs and Ham)

Favorite TV show?  "Football!"

What do you like to play with Oliver?  "Football!"

What do you like to play with daddy?  "Football!"  

What do you like to do with Lily?  "Football!" 

....Okay, I think he got sidetracked by this point, but it was accurate until the last couple! :-)

 

We celebrated his birthday last weekend with my family, and it was so fun to see him opening gifts-he actually was able to do that this year!  He loved opening trains, trucks, and a pirate suit!  

He even smiled when we sang "happy birthday" to him, which is a huge improvement over his first birthday.  :-)  

We are so thankful for Brahm!  He brings lots of smiles and laughs to ALL of us every day, and we look forward to another year together!

September 2013 (originally titled "every month that goes by I know less and less about this parenting thing")

(I think calling this post "September 2013" was a much less intimidating title, don't you?)  But really, I feel like that is a caption behind everything I do lately.  I think we must be moving into that phase of parenting (at least with Lily and Oliver) where it is less physically demanding (usually they aren't hanging off our legs anymore, we're not chasing them out of the street, we're not carrying them around, etc.) and heading into that stage where it's more mentally draining.  We have good kids.  GREAT kids even.  They are at such a fun stage where we can just really enjoy them, laugh with them, and marvel at some of the things they say and do.  And by "marvel", I mean, "freak-out-and-assume-they'll-become-psychopaths".  Actually, I should remove Joel from that....it's mainly just me.  

I love that Oliver and Lily are in great schools and are THRIVING.  Really.  Maybe I should, but I really don't worry about them while they're gone.  They LOVE school.  But every once in a while, I get freaked out when I think how quickly those first years went by--no longer are they "safe" under my loving control all the time.  (okay, I realize that was only a false impression too, I had the illusion of control at best!) 

I tend to get wrapped up in planning and controlling and worrying....and that can be all-consuming.  I can miss out on the really fun things that are going on, and the really great people they are becoming.  There are so many things I want to remember:

*How Brahm says, "thank you!" all the time.  Even when I change his diaper, or help him off the chair.
*How loving Lily is with Brahm, and how, when I'm not there, Brahm cries for her--he wants HER to hold him.
*How Oliver spends hours creating:  writing songs, stories, books, building a wooden sled to carry his adventure gear, building weapons, drawing pictures of a beer-drinking man.....(hence the worrying...)

There is a lot I could be worrying about.  And some days, I'm not very good at resisting that.  But I recently read this in a book, and have found that I frequently go back to it.  It reminds me that ultimately, God is the one at work in their lives--and my biggest contribution will be to love them (albeit imperfectly!) and pray for them. 

"The sooner we realize that it is not about what we do but about what God does, the sooner we will stop focusing on ourselves and our shortcomings, and begin focusing on God and his power.  Likewise, the sooner we quit worrying about doing our part, the sooner we can start rejoicing in the fact that God is doing his part.  And the sooner we recognize that God is at work, the sooner we can jump in and join him."

(from Praying the Scriptures for your Children, by Jodie Berndt)

It's a lot easier to see how God is working in and through my children when I'm not worrying and fretting and harping and trying to control every waking moment.  Good reminders for me, for sure.  

Here is a more light-hearted look at our September:

Joel celebrated a birthday!  The kids gave him a bead, a quarter, and a paper knife they made.  :-)

Brahm coloring with his bear and monkey.  This kid LOVES to color!

And here he is sitting on his favorite chair with Ernie, monkey and bear.  

 

One evening, we celebrated our animal's birthdays with cupcakes.  We got this idea from my sister-in-law, Erin--and we had to do it, too!  The kids had fun decorating hats for their animals, and then eating the cupcakes for them! 

Here they are, from left to right:  Lily and Cupcake, Brahm and Bear-y, Oliver and Fluff.  (Except that he insists the name is spelled 'Flufe'.  Okay, fine.)

 

Another picture of Brahm coloring.  Often times, he'll pretend to write letters while saying his whole name.  It sounds like, "Baum....ah-uh (arthur)....mit".  SO cute!

 

We added an art table in our kitchen, and we spend a LOT of time there.  It is so fun.  

One Saturday morning, we brought our photobooth to the ALS Walk in Wichita.  The kids came with since they had bounce houses, games, food, and a clown there for entertainment.  Brahm spent much of his time hiding under my table....

While Lily and Oliver got tats.  (Okay, it's face paint.  But "tats" sounds cooler.)

 And one more birthday picture. 

Oh, and this one.  I recently read in a book about the youngest children, "prepare to be manipulated".  :-)  Yeah, I could see how that could happen...I'm pretty tight with this little guy!

September is over.  So here's to worrying less, praying for my kids more, and trusting God to work in their lives in much more powerful ways than I ever could! 

Making Greek Yogurt

My kids eat a lot.  No really, A LOT.  The other night, I pulled out a package of hot dogs for them, and some chicken for us....between the three of them, they ate all 10 hotdogs in the package.  Brahm won with FOUR.  

We got hooked on Greek yogurt a year or so ago, and started buying it to eat for lunch.  Don't get me wrong--I rationed the yogurt--we'd share two 6 oz. Chobani's between the 5 of us.  But we were still spending anywhere from $6-10 a week on it!  One day, my friend told me how she makes her own yogurt--and she even flavors it with coffee!  I was intrigued.  That day, we bought a $40 yogurt maker on Amazon.  We'd easily pay it off in a month or two!

It took a few weeks to perfect the yogurt, but we finally figured it out.  Here is how WE make it, but I'm guessing that it may be a bit different depending on the size and model of your maker.  Also, I know there is a way to do it without--just by using your oven, but we opted for the maker because we use our oven almost every day.  Anyway--here's the process:

1.  Heat up 4 cups (for MY maker, but there are larger ones available) of milk (you can use any kind, from skim to whole.  We have found that we like Braum's the best!  Also, the higher milk fat you use, the less you need to cook it....we usually use 1% or whole, because that's what we have on hand...).  Add 1 1/2 t. gelatin (again, bought ours on Amazon) to the milk and whisk every few minutes until it reaches a temperature between 160-170 degrees F.  Don't boil it.  

2.  After it has reached that temperature, remove from heat, and add flavorings.  We always just add about 1/4 c. honey and 1 tsp. pure vanilla, and that way it is a little sweet, and we can add fruit/granola later.  Whisk milk again and then set in fridge for 2-3 hours until it has cooled down to around 50 degrees.  (If it is too hot, it will kill the live culture that you'll be adding next).

 3.  Take milk out once it's cooled and add 1/4 c. (approximately) of plain yogurt WITH live cultures.  Sometimes I have to buy a container, but usually I just reserve a little bit of whatever is leftover from our previous batch and add it in.  Whisk together. 

4.  Pour into a container, and put into the yogurt maker.  (Our maker came with individual 6-oz glass jars, but I prefer to use a large crock, that way I can strain it to make it thick, like Greek yogurt.)  Cook for 18-24 hours.  (I usually shoot for about 21 hours.)

5.  Once it has cooked, dump the yogurt into a strainer covered in a tea towel or muslin cloth to strain it.  I have a large tea towel that I fold up so that there are several layers, then pour in the yogurt to strain out the whey.  I leave that in there for 20-30 minutes.  If you want it runnier, you don't have to strain it.  If you leave it in TOO long, it will be cheese.  :-)  Once you have strained it, pour into a container and refrigerate until you're ready to eat it.  I like to put it in the fridge for at least a couple hours, that way it sets up nicely.  

It seems complicated, I know.  But really, once you do it several times, it becomes easy and seriously, saves a LOT of money!  Once recipe costs me $1 at the most.  If I had to do anything differently, I would have bought an 8-cup maker, rather than a four....but oh well.  We love the yogurt--and the extra savings!

First Days of School {2013}

Well, we are off and running in our school year.  Oliver started a few weeks back, and Lily has been in school for 3 mornings now.  They were both so excited to start this year, which makes sending them that much easier.  

Oliver is in first grade in Mrs. Bartel's class this year, along with many of his friends from kindergarten.  We LOVE this school.  Everything is hands-on, they work with animals, chore, sell things, etc.  And this year--his teacher plays guitar!!!  :-)  

 At his request, we brought back the bus cake. 

 

  

 

  

 

(a funny side note on this picture:  we stopped here before school on that first day.  Then, when we picked Oliver up, Brahm walked right to the sign and turned around and smiled for a picture, then did the same thing the next morning!  So funny!)

And Oliver's interview for the year:

Two weeks after Oliver started, Lily got to have her first day of prekindergarten.  (If you call it preschool, she will correct you!)  She was SO ready to go back, and after day one, asked when she was going to start going full day....

She requested (at Daddy's prompting) bubble bread for the morning of...

 

Brahm wanted his picture taken in front of his bubble bread, too!

Lily sat down to take pictures and immediately turned around.  I asked what she was doing, she said, "Take a picture of my princesses!" 

 And Lily's favorites:

 

SHAVING CREAM FIGHT!!!!!

 We ended our summer here with a shaving cream fight.  One of the last days before school started, we brought out the big guns (shaving cream) and sprayed.  It was fun.  The kids loved it!  And I think we may have started a new tradition...