Thursday, September 30, 2010

Wonderful Cake

My mom told me how to make an old, plain cake mix into a wonderful, moist, too-delicious-to-resist cake! First, substitute sour cream for the oil (I used low-fat sour cream and it was awesome!) Then add in a box of instant pudding. Just dump the powder in; I used vanilla (they used to put pudding in the cake mix but don't anymore so this really makes it moist!) Then add 1/3 c. more water than the box recipe calls for. Keep everything else the same. Then mix it really well. Bake as directed on the box. It will be so moist and delicious!

Then, for a fun change with your frosting, just substitute peanut butter for butter in your favorite butter cream frosting recipe and your mouth will love you!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

I Wonder...

Tonight I was watching Sami eat her dinner and I couldn't help but wonder what she thinks about her little life.  She spent a lot of time in time out this afternoon. Once for chasing Janie around, trying to get her snack (that was actually comical-imagine Janie running screaming holding her snack with Sami right behind her, arms out reaching), once for yelling "no" when I told her it was time to go potty, and once for something else...can't remember because it's after 8 pm.

Truth be told, she spends some time in time out almost every day. Sometimes multiple times a day. When we have a hard day, like today, I tend to take it personal, like "if I was teaching her better, she wouldn't act this way." But then Jonathan reminds me that she is two, and she is just testing me. And I have to consistent and it will all be okay. But consistency is hard.


Some moms think I'm strict. And I agree with them.  I like to think it's better to fight the little battle than wait until it's a big battle later on. So I try to teach and reinforce the positive and discourage the negative. But some battles aren't worth fighting at all, and that's where it can get tricky for me. And sometimes I just don't want the fight. Some days I do better than others. But what I really want, more than anything, is for the girls to know how loved they are. Sami came up to me the other day and said "Sami good girl. Sami make good choices." I hope she knows that I am so proud of her, and that I will love her no matter what her choices are. She's my little sweetie, my angel girl.  I know she doesn't know anything other than her life with us, but I hope the cookie baking and yard sale memories will stand out more than the time-outs.  I hope that the one thing she never, ever questions is how loved she is.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Girly Stuff

I love having girls. I've been known to say that I want four girls. But I wouldn't mind having a little boy, not at all. In fact, I hope we do have a little boy some day. But he will probably play with dress up, polly pockets, and have afternoon tea parties with us.  For now, I just love all these girly things.


I am so glad they have each other.  When I get Sami up in the morning, I ask her what she wants to do fun that day.  Sometimes I get "yard sales," or "church," or "make brownies with Daddy," (she has extremely good taste, if I do say so myself) but when I have to tell her it's not the day to yard sale, go to church, or Daddy can't make brownies today, she usually settles for "dress up, with Sissy."  I love that they are friends.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Gaining Balance

We have found a new balance for our family.  Jonathan has found that in order for him to have balance in his very unbalanced schedule, he has to give things up.  He has given up running, for now. When he's home, he's playing with the girls or sleeping. Or talking to me ☺.  

And I have found that I need to do more things around the house. I find myself taking the trash and recycling to the curb, pulling weeds, and hanging up pictures-things I always took for granted that J would do. But I am okay with it, mostly because I know that Jonathan wants to do those things but if I do them, it helps him out. He feels bad that a lot of times he has to sleep when he wants to stay up and play, but that is a reality.  So we do the best we can, get through the hard days, and look forward to the good days.  I love it when the girls hear the garage door open and they run to Jonathan yelling "Daddy, Daddy! Oh, hi Daddy!"  He loves it too.  

Monday, September 6, 2010

Piano Dancing

We are still listening to Jon Schmidt's love story.  Only now we want to be Jon.  And how can I blame them-he's amazing on the piano!  I just love the little body shake the girls throw in the middle of their concert.


Happy Labor Day!