Thursday, December 8, 2011

Art

I might be a little crazy for letting my kids do this but they love it.




Yes, I let my kids color the kitchen door. I don't think I can say how much they LOVE to do it.

I found these great markers that use can use on blackboards, whiteboards and glass. I wish they had more colors but I have yet to find ones that works well. And, we discovered last night that the white does not wash off so well. Lesson learned.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

It's ready to go


3 boys kitchen is ready to meet your jam needs. Or other baking needs you might have.

All jams are made with organic fruit. They are currently packaged in 8 ounce jars but available in other sizes upon request.

Available flavors:
Raspberry
Peach
Cherry
Strawberry
Blackberry
Triple Berry

8 oz jars are $6.50

Please contact me at 3boyskitchen@comcast.net if you are interested. We can also discuss other flavors, sizes and shipping at that time.

Thank you for considering 3 boys kitchen for your jam needs.


Monday, November 7, 2011

birthday treats

I am a firm believer that birthdays should be celebrated to the fullest. And, since I love to bake, we ended up with more than a few desserts for Rollie's first birthday.  I promise that I will do a full birthday post tomorrow but for now, the desserts will have to suffice.


Marble cake with buttercream frosting



Devils food cake with Milk chocolate frosting
(This is just for Rollie)


And no party is complete with out Cakepops!
This is just a small showing of them since I ended up with over 120.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Milestones

There have certainly been a lot of first around here lately. I feel like I should probably write them down lest I forget, which is often the case. Life seems to fly by most days. I usually feel like I am just trying to stay above the waves but am recently feeling like we are riding the waves and starting to enjoy it.

Life is full of adventure and growth.
Every moment is new.
Every breath is a gift.
Every smile should be cherished.
Every "I love you" said often and with a full heart, never taken for granted.
Every kiss should be precious.
Every hug given tightly with enthusiasm.
Every prayer never ceasing spoken in earnest.

Corbin started preschool. He was a little nervous the first morning walking into class but now is so excited to go and hates to leave at the end of the day. He goes three days a week and would probably go every day if we let him. He loves it. Mrs. Plaep and Mrs. Stromberg told me that he loves to explore and try new things. He is adventurous and outgoing. I can't wait to see what they think of Si next year. Boy are they going to have their hands full with the two of them!


Si is learning new words everyday. A month ago he was barely talking. Now it is non-stop. I wonder if Rollie will take after Casey is the talking area, certainly the other two don't. His current favorite phrases are: "I wanna go to Gamma's house", "I don know", "huggie", "I wanna hot-doggie", "thank you, honey". Yes, he calls me honey. I love it.


My sweet Rollie is finally getting his first tooth, well, two actually. He has these two cute little teeth coming in on the bottom. It is so fun to see his new little smile. I makes him seem so much older. He is walking along the furniture and starting to let go. Is it bad that I want to push him down? I just don't want him to be this big already.



Those are the new things for this week. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.


Friday, September 23, 2011

How about another one.....


Casey called me the other day, during work. This is rare. He doesn't call very often and almost never during work.

Oddly enough, I didn't have my phone on me. If you ask him, it's almost always glued to my hand or in-use, although I am trying much harder not to use it when the kids are awake. Not the point. I asked him later why he called and this was our conversation.

Me: So, why did you call earlier?

C: I just wanted to know what happened to Rollie?

Me: (extremely confused) What do you mean? He's right there on the floor reading a book.

C: I just don't remember him being a baby. Now he's almost a year. What happened?

Me: I know. I'm already forgetting. How about we have another one???

C: (turns and walks away)

As I already know, we can't have anymore biological children. I'm not sad about that. While I loved being pregnant with our boys, my body did not love it.

So, this is hard. Having them grow up is hard. Parenting them is hard. Teaching them to love the Lord is hard. Being a good example is hard. I want our kids to find joy in self-sacrificing love towards others, that is what we as Christians are called to do.

I love my boys. I am thankful for them. I am learning how to love the every day of parenting and being a mom. In concept, it's easy and fun. In reality, it's hard hard work.

I have always longed to adopt. It has been a part of my heart for a very long time. Casey isn't in the same mindset as me. That doesn't make him wrong. It means I need to be on my knees in prayer that Gods will for us will be done. That he will work in the hearts of both of us. That we will be of one mind. If that means that my mind needs to be changed, I'm ok with that. Not that it is easy.



Sunday, September 4, 2011

Date night

Grabbing the bull by the horns......literally.








Chocolate Ox
Sitting by the lake at The Wharf
Picking out shingles
Mini-golf(which we got a free game at the end because someone(me!) got a hole-in-one on the 18th hole)
Grabbing a bull by the horns
Movie and apple crisp

A wonderful night out with the love of my life. Priceless.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

A Conversation

The following conversation happened last night in bed.

Corbin: you know what is really good mom?

Me: what's that honey?

Corbin: marshmallows that are warm and gooey from the fire with graham crackers and chocolate.

Me: those are good.

Corbin: I love you Mama.

Me: I love you too, baby.

Corbin: I love daddy too........and the park.


A few minutes later

Corbin: I have an idea mom.

Me: hmmm?

Corbin: How about if I keep my pull-up dry all night I can have a doughnut in the morning?

Me: I thought you got a dollar if you stay in bed all night long.

Corbin: How about if I keep my pull-up dry and stay in bed all night I get 2 doughnuts and 2 dollars??


After another minute or so


Corbin: :::mumbling::::

Me: What honey? I can't hear you?

Corbin: Nothing Mom. I'm just talking to myself.

Thankfulness

Tonight, right now, I am thankful for this moment.

I am sitting in a dark room, sound machine and fan on. I am rocking my baby to sleep.

I am thankful for this time. This moment of solitude with him. For the quiet in the house.

I am thankful for a little boy to snuggle. For footie jammies resting on my leg. For a hot little head in the crook of my arm.

I am thankful for my husband giving me this moment. For taking the big boys outside to wrestle and have a camp fire. For the love he shows all of us.

I am thankful for the little fingers that are wrapped around my ring finger. For the wonderful surprise my baby has been.

Rollie, I never knew how much I wanted you until you were here, in my arms. You are part of Gods great plan for my life, even when I didn't know it. I have no idea of what you will be as a little boy, a young man, a husband and father but my prayer is that you will be a strong man of God. With unwavering faith, steadfast love, a kind spirit, and a generous heart. I am blessed to call you mine for this moment, but you will always be His.




Thursday, September 1, 2011

Space Helmets

Just a quick story from my day.....

This morning was a bit hectic. We were up early(5:30), like normal. I had to workout this morning or I just wouldn't get it done. I've been exceptionally lazy lately and hadn't worked out for a whole week.

Next, we were out the door. Had to drop paperwork off at the doctors office so Corbin can go to school in two weeks. Went to a meeting, which we had to leave early because the boys were a bit(a lot) unruly. And off to the salon we went. This is where the story begins.

I made a deal with the boys that if they stood still and quiet while I got my eyebrows done they would get a sucker at the end. I don't look at this as bribing per se but more like a reward for good behavior. They were doing a great job and it helped that the salon was mostly empty.

After a few minutes the boys asked if they could go sit in the chairs next to the magazines. I guess they didn't realize that the chairs were part of the blow dryers. I let them go sit since they wouldn't be in the way.

All of a sudden I heard squeals from the other side of the room. And the exclamation "Look mom, space helmets!" I guess they found the dryer.




Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Thursday, August 25, 2011

More Muffins Please

I came a cross a recipe a while ago for smore muffins, and was shocked that I hadn't thought of this before. While the concept is great, I think this recipe needs a little tweaking. I have not quite figured out how I would do it differently. Although I will say that I was not on top of my baking game the day I made these and did things a little backwards. I should know better. I have been trained to make muffins. It was not my "first day on the job". They were slightly dry and chewy, probably over mixing on my part.


I'll have to try them again and see how they turn out if I do it the right way. Either way, they looked great and the kids thoroughly enjoyed them.









Let me just say that the warm chocolate chips, gooey marshmallows and crunchy graham crackers make an excellent muffin. It is inspiring me to try again and try new combinations.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A Delicious Little Bite

Over them past few months we have fallen in love with a fun and adorable dessert. It is one of the few words that Silas says clear as day,"Cakepops".

The first time I made them was for Corbins third birthday party. I wanted to try something new and didn't want to deal with the mess of cake. So, the cakepop was born(at least at our house, I do realize they have been on the scene for a while). Needless to say, they were a big hit. And virtually mess-free!

I have been making them for all sorts of events since then. People have said that I should sell them. Although I'm not entirely sure about that. I have seen them in some specialty shops for any where from $1.50-$3.50 a piece. I would love to make some money making them, but would people really pay me that much???

At any rate, I love making them. They are slightly time consuming but I love it. It's almost therapeutic for me. Since having kids, I haven't spent as much time cooking and baking. I'm thankful that I now get to do it on my terms and for fun but I wish I had more time to do it. I love being in the kitchen.

We were on vacation over Casey and Silas birthday and I knew that Si really wanted cakepops for his birthday. Any time you asked him what he wanted for his present he would only reply, "cakepop". I thought ahead and brought most of my supplies with us and was able to buy what I didn't bring. So, we had cakepops in Colorado. Even my non-dessert eating sister in law ate one, and perhaps liked it. Gasp!





Also, if anyone is interested in ordering cakepops, let me know.

Love

I don't know if I have other words to say. I love this boy. He brings me great joy.

He now claps for himself when he does something funny or likes something. He claps for his brothers, which they love and are constantly trying to amuse him(when they are sitting on him or pushing him down).

I realize I might be a bit bias but I think he is truly a stunning baby. And those dimples will melt you every time. We might be headed for trouble as he gets older.





Monday, August 22, 2011

Men At Work

For a long time, as long as we have lived here, we have only had half of a fenced in yard. In the beginning this was not an issue. Then slowly it seemed as though life would be easier with a fully fenced in yard.


We have had a few issues with a pitbull jumping the fence a few doors down and showing up in the yard. He might be a perfectly nice dog but I am not willing to risk it with my kids. Their safety and security is way more important than any dog.

Also, we now have three little boys that love to run around and need to be outside. They have so much energy to burn off, its exhausting. They could spend all day outside if I let them. It still astounds me how quickly they get dirty out there, it seems as if they are covered in dirt the moment their feet hit the ground. Needless to say, they get a lot of baths.

Now, back to the fence issue. My parents very generously gave us a fence for Christmas this year. Ok, well the materials, Casey still had to build it.

So, we have had men at work in our yard for about two weeks. They built us the most beautiful fence I could have ever imagined. I am thankful beyond words. I can let the boys play outside while I make dinner, do the dishes, feed Rollie, do laundry, and just about anything else(except sleep).

Here a just a few pictures of the men that did all this hard work.








Friday, August 5, 2011

$12.00


I was reminded today how far $12.00 can go. Not that I was really all that surprised, but some people are a bit unreasonable and some people just want to get rid of stuff.

My finds for the day....






A metal tonka dump truck, a bin full of duplos, and a small box of matchbox cars - $1.00







4 baseballs - $2.00







A target for Casey and 2 ammunition cases for decorating - $9.00




AND- a dehumidifier for free(and it works)

Today seems like a nice success to me. And I am especially grateful that my little ones were well behaved and patient.

Monday, August 1, 2011

It's So Scary....


Ok, so I might be a little protective of my kids. And frankly, it is usually about random things. I try my hardest to let them be the full of energy little boys they are. I let them run and jump, be loud(sometimes), make messes and enjoy life(all of this is true unless I'm in a cranky mood).

However, I tend to be more protective about what they watch. They love to watch Nemo. But they have never seen the opening scene with the eel and the loss of Nemo's mom. I don't know if I think it is because it is scary or sad, perhaps both.

This all changed while we were on the road this past week. The boys were begging to watch Nemo and I was happy to oblige them. As I was about to skip over the opening, my sweet husband told me that I was going to have to let them see the whole movie at some point. So, I let them.

I was watching them in the rearview mirror and this is what I saw....




Peeking our from under his blanket, he whispered to me "it's so sad, Nemo lost his mommy."

Saturday, July 30, 2011

One of those moments


Do you ever have those moments where you wish you could take a picture but know you can't? I'm having one of them right now.

I'm laying in our hotel room. We arrived not long ago, all three boys sleeping in the car. Only one made it to the room still asleep, Corbin. One wanted to eat and one wanted to play. Now, they are all tucked in for the night.

Rollie is playing with the edge of the garbage can through the rungs of his crib(yes, I probably should get up and move it). I can hardly blame him for not laying still, he's been in his carseat most of the day.

The other two, well, they are sleeping. In the same bed, side by side and snuggling. Oh, how I wish I could take a picture of it. They are so sweet and peaceful. I am praying these are the attitudes that will remain tomorrow. But right now I'm soaking in every moment of this in an almost pitch-black room.

These really are the moments I don't want to forget. It's hard being a mom. The days are hard and long and often thankless. They are routine and sometime mundane. And at the same time, it goes so quickly.

Silas will be two tomorrow. I vividly remember the night before this birth, we were celebrating Casey's 30th birthday with friends. It was hot and fun and exhausting. And a big surprise to wake up the next morning and have a tiny, beautiful, premature baby less than 4 hours later.

I am grateful for these moments. I want to capture them. I don't want to forget. I want them seared into my brain and heart.

Friday, July 29, 2011

The View from Here

It is 6:30 in the morning. Most people would that is early, very early. But not around here.

I'm not really a morning person, although I am even less of a mid-afternoon person. I love naps! And when you wake up early to three bright-eyed energetic little boys you need a nap just as badly as they do by the afternoon.

Needless to say, this was my view this morning.....my sweet little ones playing together.



Thursday, June 30, 2011

Sleep, Glorious Sleep

Growing up I was a child who loved to sleep and I slept hard. Maybe I should correct that statement a bit, I loved to sleep when I wanted to but not when my parents wanted me to. I have always been a night-owl and still have that tendency. I am trying to go to bed earlier these days but usually find myself going to bed closer to midnight.

And that would be fine except I have children that wake up early. Lately, my little one has been waking up just after 5. Oh boy!

This is the same little one who will occasionally fight to go to sleep. Last night was the first time he went to bed unswaddled, wide awake and in his own bed. Generally he falls asleep while nursing and sleeps in our room until we go to bed and move him to his room.

But today we are off to a completely different start. He slept in. And now......



He fell asleep playing with toys. I don't dare move him at this point and let's all hope that Si will leave him alone for a few moments longer.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica

On Tuesday it was going to 100*F, we don't have air conditioning at our house. I have realized that heat and little ones don't mix very well. I'm not talking about health, I'm talking about attitude. Three little ones with cranky attitudes leads to one mama with a cranky attitude. Pretty much, not fun for anyone involved.

I woke up, already hot, on Tuesday morning and knew we needed to get out of the house. Thankfully we had some errands to run. We had a birthday present to buy for the cutest little girl we know and Corbin was super excited.

I decided to brave the Mall of America, with three little one, all by myself! Ok, so in all seriousness, it's really not hard to take them all there. They love it since there is so much to look at and I love it because, well, because I love to shop.

It just happened to be Toddler Tuesday at the mall, which is amazing. As a parent, it is a wonderful way to entertain your kids with things that interest them. You are able to give them experiences that you otherwise might not be able to.

This Tuesday was "Play Ball!"
There were games, coloring, exercises, face painting and pictures with TC Bear. I wasn't sure how the boys would respond to a man in big bear costume but it was LOVE! Corbin was bouncing up and down in line the whole time, he could hardly wait for his turn. And when it was our turn, Si got out of his stroller (faster than I've ever seen before), ran to TC and gave him a big bear hug. It was hard to tear them away. By the way, it was totally coincidence that Corbin had his Twins shirt on. He loves the twins, but I'll tell you about that another time.





After pictures we waited in another line for face painting. Corbin thought he got to paint his own face and was sadly disappointed when he found out that was not the case. Both boys sat very still during the face-painting. Hmmmm, maybe I need to start doing that at home.





So, that's the "bear" portion of this series. Maybe tomorrow I'll write the "beet" portion. I guess you'll have to wait and see!


Sunday, May 29, 2011

Exhausted

We have this little boy who loves to talk, I have no idea where he gets that from. He will drive for hours on end talking about everything he sees as we go on our way. But sometimes, he is just plain exhausted and can't make it 2 minutes down the road.




Today is that day. After a busy busy morning being a very cute salesman at the garage sale and playing at the park, he just could not last a moment longer.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Monster Good Time

Yesterday was a busy day. We had so much fun. Corbin was invited to take part of a toy council for creative kidstuff. We love that place. They have amazing toys, but are slightly expensive.

Corbin was asked to try out lots of different new toys over the evening. It was a bit of a challenge, he really wanted to play with every other toy except the ones he was asked to play with. Oh well, I guess that's what it's like when you are three. Thankfully, almost every other child was the same way.

I was able to get a few pictures of him playing with his favorite thing. It was so fun!









We had a roaring good time! And can hardly wait to do it again.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Sweeter Still

I have these three little boys. They love to snuggle. I love to snuggle them. Unless it's 80+ degrees like it has been the last two days.

Almost every morning I wake up to a little boy crawling into my bed. He sandwiches himself in between Casey and I. He flips and flops and almost never goes back to sleep. He talks and tickles and plays with cars in my hair. He is going a mile a minute from the moment he stumbles out of bed and down then hall. Moments like these can be sweet or tiring, depending on your mood and outlook. I am trying to see them as sweet, especially since they are fleeting moments.

So tonight, as I sit with my little boy watching Fireman Sam. He leans over, places his head on my shoulder, wraps his arms around my arm and says "I love you, honey." To which I reply "I love you too", only to be followed by his immediate response of "I love you too, honey."

All this is followed by a snotty nose being wiped down my arm.

These are the moments that make up a life of a mom. They make you forget or lessen the memory of the hard parts of your day, the screaming and crying and temper tantrum throwing, not to mention what attitudes the kids may have thrown in the mix. And now, we sleep because tomorrow we do it all over again.

Every day brings new joy amongst a sea of challenges. But this life of mine continues to be sweeter still.


Saturday, April 30, 2011

I Love to Read


We have books in this house. Many books. Books abound and can be found almost anywhere. We love to read.



While most of the books we read these days are about trucks or diggers, we also love Corduroy and Little Critters. Our current favorite is The Belly Button book. We read it multiple times a day and each boy wants to bring it to bed. The boys love to read about belly b's and throughly enjoy showing them off. In the book a little hippo affectionately refers to his belly b as a "bee bo", so now my little ones do the same. I find it very cute when my little Si says "bye-bye bee bo" to his belly button when we put his shirt on or zip up his jammies.

I am thankful for the love for books and reading that my boys have.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

My View

I love my view. I love this boy. I love this moment.


My little Rollie playing on my lap while his brothers run around with blanket capes pretending to be super hero's. Sidewalk Prophets playing on the radio in the background. Joyful squeals coming from the other room.

I know this isn't what life is all about but it certainly brightens an otherwise dreary, cloudy, rainy day.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Jesus Paid it All

Jesus Paid It All

(lyrics for this song are written by Hillsong)


I hear the Savior say
Thy strength indeed is small
Child of weakness watch and pray
Find in me thine all in all

Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

Lord now indeed I find
Thy power and thine alone
Can change the lepers spots
And melt the heart of stone

Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

It's washed away! All my sin! And all my shame!

And when before the throne
I stand in him complete
Jesus died my soul to save
My lips shall still repeat

Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

Oh praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead (x6)

Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow




Thursday, April 21, 2011

What Is It?....... Continued




A few days ago a posted this picture and asked if anyone could guess what fun activity we did at our house. Well, you are about to find out. But first, a little side trip.




This sweet boy of mine shares one of my great passions in life, cooking! It is wonderful that he loves it so much.

However, I am rather neurotic in the kitchen and don't usually like to have others in there when I am working. In fact, I tend to be impatient, cranky and bossy when others are "in my way" in the kitchen. I am working on changing this and am slowly getting better. I want my boys to have a love for cooking that they can share. I want them to bless their future wives with this talent, in ways more than frozen pizza and macaroni and cheese.

All that being said, my boy shares one other of my slightly less than desirable passions, sweets. So, we decided to combine those to passions and make ICE CREAM!




We used our handy and easy to use Cuisinart ice cream maker.


And our Kitchen Aid hand mixer.



And the boy got to work mixing the ice cream base.



Poured the base into the duel ice cream maker, turn in on and 20 minutes later......



Wonderful, delicious homemade vanilla ice cream.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

What Is It?





Can anyone guess the fun project we did today? It may have to do with a very fun excursion we had the other day.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Today You Are.....

Today is a big day. Today my baby is six months old. I am so in love. He is a gift from God. Perhaps not part of my plan but always a part of Gods plan for me. I am so thankful that we are his parents.






Today, you weigh 15 pounds and are 27 inches long. You are a skinny, tall little boy. You are happy and smiley. You love your brothers and they LOVE you. You also love to be in your jumper. Last night you started cereal, you loved it. We'll see if you start to "chunk" up now that you are eating, and perhaps get back on a good sleep schedule. Dr. W says you are perfect. We certainly think so too, except when you decide 4 am is a good time to wake up.

Monday, April 11, 2011

A "Time Flies" Moment

Tomorrow morning at 6:30 on the dot my baby will be SIX months old. I can hardly believe that it has been that long since I was in the hospital with him.

Thankfully, bed rest and labor seem ages away. And usually at this point I am already a few months into my next pregnancy, but not this time. That time for us has passed and it is bittersweet. I'm not sure if I could physically handle another pregnancy. Each of my pregnancies was quite a bit harder than the previous one. Also, I'm not sure if I could mentally handle the extra noise. Yikes, boys sure are noisy!

But this moment is sad. There is a finality of this stage of our lives. I am trying to soak in each moment. Because now we are in a season of lasts with our littlest one. With each "first" there is a "last".

Today was the first time my little one ate cereal. His first taste of anything but milk. His last day of getting nourishment exclusively from me. He loved his cereal. And boy was he mad when the bowl was empty. I am thankful that is has never been a struggle with my boys to eat baby food. Now, the task of making baby food!



Wednesday, March 16, 2011

A Blast From The Past

Today we just needed to get out of the house. Too much indoor time makes for restless boys and disobedient behavior, and perhaps a cranky mom.

We went to Costco. We did need some blackberries and milk so it wasn't a frivolous trip just to stir longings for unneeded "things". Although it often gives me a case of the "I want's".

Corbin saw an amazing jungle gym with slide and started to beg to play on it. Obviously they had thought about this being a desire as it was raised off the ground and out of reach. But we decided to check it out and look at what we passed,











Can I just say that my heart skipped a beat? I loved watching these shows growing up and was just talking to Casey about them the other day.

We didn't buy them, even though I wanted to. Maybe someday I'll share these fun shows with my boys and they'll enjoy them as much as I did.

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