My sweet life

Hello, Friends!  Once again, it has been a really long time since I last posted. I have a topic that I want to post about, but it will be for a later time.  It's one of those very opinion-laden topics, and I want to make sure I'm posting it with a clear head.  But, for now, I have several precious pics I'd like to share with you from the last few weeks.  I'm also including a super yummy recipe!

Bubble baths are the best!

Sweet Lynnie

Bry at his last awards ceremony at school

Notice how tall my kid is?!  I'm trying to teach him to be proud of the things that make him unique.

So proud of my smart boy!

Lynnie and Bry playing with their cousin Justin at my MIL's family reunion

Seriously cute kids.  I mean, seriously cute.

Silly boys!

My hubby is super handsome!

I asked Bry to keep an eye on Lynnie so I could get some cleaning done.  Look what I found when I sneaked in to check on them!  :-)

Sweet girl after bath time

 See the bruise on her bottom lip and under her chin?  She was in a shopping cart that flipped over on top of her.  She was sitting perfectly normally, but the cart flipped.  So weird!

We had a super fun morning at the beach!

She's a total Daddy's girl

Ready for the water!

Bry loves the ocean

My loves

Sweet sleepy girl

Doing a great job boogie boarding!

Go, Bry, GO!

And now on to the super yummy, super easy recipe.  Remember when I made the apricot jam awhile back? I mentioned that I wanted to try it in this glazed meatballs recipe.  It was great!  This is one of very few recipes in my arsenal that I did not alter at all.  I don't remember where I got the original recipe, but I've been using it for almost a decade now.  I memorized it early on because it's just so stinking easy.

Glazed Meatballs

1 cup apricot jam or preserves

1 cup salsa (I use medium, but you could use whatever spice level you'd like)

1 dash cinnamon

1 package frozen meatballs (Italian or regular, about 30 meatballs)

cooked rice 

Cook jam, salsa, and cinnamon in pan over medium heat.

Mix until well blended and jelly is melted.

Add frozen meatballs and coat each one well with jam/salsa mixture

Cover and cook over medium heat until meatballs are heated through, about 10 minutes.

Serve over cooked rice.

Seriously!  Could it get any easier???  And it's so yummy!

OK, it's becoming a habit to just recap my last several days since I'm not being a consistent blogger.  Today is no different.  Here ya go!

Frustrating:  This past Wednesday, I took my kids and a girl from church to Wal-Mart.  The girl is 11, and she is an amazing mother's helper.  That morning, she played with the kids which allowed me to get a TON of laundry done.  In fact, I had every article of clothing in my house washed, dried, and put away!  Well, we went to Wally World, and something crazy happened.  The cart that my daughter was in flipped.  Lynnie was sitting normally and not goofing off.  We think one of the wheels locked up and caused it to happen.  Talk about a fluke accident!  Lynnie landed directly on her chin, and the cart was on top of her.  There was so much blood.  Her lower teeth went almost all the way through her lip.  You can sort of see that bruise on her bottom lip in the pictures above.  I took her immediately to her doctor to see if she needed stitches.  She did not, thank God.  Her doctor did a full neurological work up to make sure there was no damage done since she landed on her face.  She was fine neurologically, and amazingly her jaw and teeth did not shift.  She's swollen still, and her lip is still healing, but she's doing amazingly well.  And my perfectly clean laundry room didn't last, of course.  I thought about making my family just wear the same clothes for a week so I could keep it up, but I figured that wasn't actually the best idea.  ;-)

Awesome:  Today was one of the best days I've had in a while.  Mike was off work so we had a great family day.  We took the kids to the beach this morning and had a blast.  Then we came home, and Rissa and her daughter Addison came over for dinner.  I don't see Rissa nearly enough, so it was fantastic to spend time catching up with her.  Lynnie said the funniest thing.  It's amazing how smart she is...doesn't miss a beat. Well, I was shucking corn to get ready to make it for dinner.  She came in and saw it and really wanted it.  She kept saying, "Corn!  Corn!"  I told her she couldn't have it yet because I had to cook it.  So she said, "Well then cook it!"  Hahaha!  Keep in mind she's not quite 18 months old!  Little sassy pants.  :-)  I love my family, even though Lynnie spends most of her time being a little diva!  :-)

Seriously delicious, seriously simple tiramisu

My beautiful and talented friend Lindsey made a yummy tiramisu for a Memorial Day cookout last weekend.  She told me how easy it was to make, but I didn't believe her.  See, Lindsey is one of those ridiculously talented crafty types who thinks it's "easy" to create and sew a brand new outfit on a whim.  I didn't believe her when she told me it was easy.  Well, fast forward to this past Friday when my church's youth minister asked me for a dessert idea for the graduation party.  They were serving Italian from a local restaurant, so I figured tiramisu would be the perfect dessert to go along with the meal.  I told him I'd make it, and Lindsey sent me the recipe she used.  Click HERE to check out the original recipe.  Well, remember how I told you that my psyche just would not allow me to use a recipe unaltered?  This is no exception.  I've looked into it, and various sites differ on whether I can call the updated recipe "mine."  I altered the amounts on almost every ingredient and even added some, but the "secret" ingredient is completely from the original recipe, so I feel most comfortable if I give her the credit she is due.

That being said, I'd love to share my version with you.  I really think I nailed it. My picky husband even really likes it, and he's not one who compliments just to compliment.  As yummy as it is, you should know that it is nowhere near a traditional tiramisu, but that's why I like it.  It doesn't have raw eggs or expensive mascarpone cheese, but it still has amazing flavor.  Here ya go:

Deliciously Simple Tiramisu

Syrup ingredients:

1 cup STRONG brewed coffee, cooled to room temperature

1/2 cup REAL maple syrup (I use grade B amber syrup because it has a very strong flavor)

Tiramisu Ingredients:

1 pkg Lady Fingers cookies (approx 24 cookies)

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup real maple syrup

1 8-oz pkg Extra Creamy Cool Whip

1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (for dusting)

1/2 tsp nutmeg (for dusting)

Directions:

Line the bottom of a large lasagna pan with lady fingers.

Sprinkle the cookies with the 1 tsp nutmeg and 1 tsp cinnamon.

In a measuring cup, combine the 1 cup of coffee and 1/2 cup of real maple syrup.  Carefully pour syrup mixture over lady fingers, making sure to coat each one.

In a medium sized bowl, beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup real maple syrup, and sour cream with an electric beater (or mix in food processor) until creamy.  Fold in the Cool Whip until well mixed.

Carefully spread the Cool Whip mixture over the lady fingers.  It's easiest if you "plop" little amounts of the mix all over the cookies and then spread it all out.

Refrigerate dish for at least 1 hour.  The longer it is in the fridge, the longer the flavors have to get absorbed into the cookies.

Sprinkle with 1 tbsp cocoa powder and 1/2 tsp nutmeg right before serving.  An easy way to do this is to put the cocoa powder into a small sieve and tap it against your hand over the dish.

And there you have it!  Truly easy (every recipe I give you is!) and truly yummy.  I hope you try it!

Here's a little about my day:

Frustrating:  I did something really stupid.  Lynnie had fallen asleep in her booster chair while she was eating lunch.  That has NEVER happened before.  Her little head kept nodding up and down because she didn't have anything to rest it on.  I thought she looked uncomfortable, so I decided to try to move her to the recliner.  Well, of course she woke up immediately and didn't go back to sleep until we went to get Bryant from school at around 2:00.  She even stayed asleep the entire time I was in Publix picking up a few last minute tiramisu ingredients.  I carried her around, bought my items, and got her back in the car seat without her waking up.  Go figure!

Awesome:  I am constantly amazed at how Lynnie is growing.  She is starting to put words together to form simple sentences, and she really seems to understand different personalities and concepts.  She'll say "Brother silly" if Bry is making faces at her or "Mickey Mouse sad" if Mickey Mouse is acting sad on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  It's really incredible.  She was also really good during Bryant's awards ceremony at school AND during produce packing, even though the produce truck was nearly 2 hours late.  She should have been really beastly, but she was awesome.  And that brings me to another really awesome part of my day - Bry's awards ceremony!  It was for the 4th nine weeks awards AND the end of the year awards.  He received every award he could, except the perfect attendance award.  He IS my kid, after all.  :-)  I'm so proud of him.  He's so so so smart and so sweet.  He received a certificate for having all Es in citizenship for the entire year, for exceeding his book goal for the year, and for having all Es for the entire year.  I thought my heart would burst out of my chest every time his teacher called his name!

The day ended with Bry's t-ball team winning another tournament game tonight.  All of the kids had a lot of playing time and played really well AND behaved incredibly well in the dugout.  And Mike's parents and sister were able to join us.  They took care of Lynnie for us so Mike and I could work in the dugout.  The day couldn't have ended any better, for sure!

I make my own laundry soap and fabric softener?!

Wow.  It has been a really long time since I last posted.  Several of you told me you miss reading my posts, and that is really encouraging to me!  Remember when I introduced myself and talked about how I am amazed and dumbfounded that perfect moms not only have time to be perfect but also find time to blog about it?  Well, I am realistically imperfect, and it was impossible to find time to blog this past week.  If you ever happen to notice the time stamp on my posts, they're almost always after the kids' bedtimes.  Sometimes my hubby goes to bed early, and since the computer is in our bedroom, my typing disturbs him.  So combine those time limitations with t-ball tournament games, Wednesday night dinner ministry, Monday night small groups, a tropical storm that hit us last weekend, and my high maintenance daughter, and you understand why I haven't posted in so long.  But I've missed it!  And I've been wanting to post on my homemade laundry supplies for quite some time, so here ya go!

I made a promise to myself and to you when I started this blog.  I promised to be honest about things I try and things I do that work and don't work.  I also mentioned to you that if I can do something, ANYONE can do it.  A brainless monkey with no arms can do any homemaking skill I can. Well, my friend Lindsay convinced me to try homemade laundry soap a few months ago.  I posted about it awhile back, but now I have pictures to go with it!  This stuff works.  It really works.  I'm not going to claim that it gets out every stain or anything like that, but I wouldn't have claimed that with any of the store-bought laundry soaps I ever used, either.  I tried it because it would save me money.  As I have mentioned before, I'm not a "green" mom.  Store-bought detergents don't bother me.  I don't worry about the chemicals or anything like that.  But I do worry about saving money.  I can make VERY simple homemade detergent that is at least as effective as store-bought and pay about half the amount as I was spending, even buying my detergent from Sam's.  When I make my own, I get about 20 loads worth of detergent for right around $1.  That's crazy cheap!  Here's how to do it:


You need 3 ingredients: Borax, Washing Soda, and Ivory Soap. You can get all of these ingredients from Publix, and it will cost you about $10 total.

Grate 1 bar of the soap with a cheese grater.


Add the grated soap, one cup of borax, and one cup of washing soda to a food processor. 


Mix the ingredients in the food processor until mixed well.


And there you have it!  I use 2 tbsp of detergent for each load of laundry.  It's inexpensive yet very effective.  And it takes almost no time at all to make it.  Total time, from set up of the food processor and grating the soap through cleaning it all up, takes less than 15 minutes.  


I also decided to try to make my own fabric softener.  I actually tried to use just straight white vinegar first.  I read that it is a very effective softener, and that it makes clothes very soft and static-free.  Boy was that right!  It made my clothes feel INCREDIBLE.  They were so soft, and my towels were so fluffy.  All of the blogs I read insisted that the vinegar smell would vanish from the clothes by the time they dried.  That was incorrect.  Even using a Bounce dryer bar, my dry clothes smelled like vinegar.  I was not about to have my family smell like pickle juice all the time, even if our clothes were super soft.  So after further research, I learned about a couple of techniques to help.  I could either mix in hair conditioner or essential oils.  Well, since you can get super cheap conditioner for less than $1, I decided to try that first.  Wow.  It worked like a charm.  The vinegar works its magic, and the conditioner makes the clothes smell fresh.  And, again, it's SUPER easy to do (I wouldn't even attempt it if it wasn't super easy)!


Mix a half gallon of vinegar with a bottle of any conditioner (about 2 cups) and fill the gallon jug near the top with water.  Leave a little room to be able to shake it well.  It will be a little lumpy at first, but it will become about the same consistency as regular softener after it is left for awhile.  I still shake it a little before I pour it into my Downy ball, but I don't know that it's necessary.  And you use the same amount as you would regular fabric softener.  I haven't worked out a price per load, but it is around $5 for ingredients that will make 2 gallons of softener.





So, since I haven't posted in forever, I'll just tell you some ups and downs of my week.


Frustrating: We had a tropical storm hit our area last weekend.  It was particularly bad timing for a storm because it was Memorial Day weekend, so it affected a lot of barbecues!  Well, the bad weather also affected my son's t-ball schedule.  We should have finished his tournament last week, but several of the games were pushed to this week which really affects my schedule.  Mike and I will be missing small group tomorrow night.  Another frustrating thing is that I tried again to get my daughter to take a nap on her own.  Right now she takes great naps, but it's only if I'm holding her or she's in the van.  She knows immediately if I put her down and wakes up screaming.  A friend of mine recommended a product called Chamomile Calm. It's an all natural homeopathic remedy that worked wonders for her sons.  Well, I gave her the oil, rocked with her and sang to her (which is our routine for night time), prayed with her, and laid her down in her crib.  She screamed for about 45 minutes when I finally gave in and got her out.  She fell asleep on me before I made it to sit down in my recliner, so I know she was tired when I put her in the crib.  That is probably one of the most frustrating things about her. I could get so much done if she'd just nap on her own.  If she doesn't nap, she's a total beast.  It's a lose/lose situation.


On to awesome things:  First, Bry played really well in his game yesterday.  Sometimes it's really funny to watch him because he dances around in the outfield instead of paying attention.  But yesterday he did a great job paying attention and had a great attitude during the game, even though it felt like it was about 400 degrees.  And today was fantastic.  I had a super busy productive day.  I love days Mike is off work.  I am able to get so much done since he plays with the kids.  I also tried out a very easy tiramisu recipe, and it went over really well.  I'm going to make it again soon and take pics so I can post it for you.  :-)  Also, Mike and I got to play with our kids in the sprinkler in the back yard.  We made memories today, and it was so much fun!  Mike and Bry have really great tomato plants growing in the back yard.  Lynnie LOVES tomatoes.  She saw a red one, picked it, and started eating it like an apple.  She almost finished the entire thing!  I thought that was too funny!  


Thanks for reading!  Hopefully it won't take me another week and a half to post again!

So glad Mike was off work today!

Today was a crazy day!  My sweet boy has been sick for the past couple of days, and he woke up with a fever again today so I decided it was time to get him in to see a doctor.  I called as soon as the office was open, and we got an appointment for 11:20.  Thank God Mike was off work today so he could take care of Lynnie, which left me able to concentrate on caring for Bry.

Well, we had a few hours to kill, so I decided to make some carrot bread.  It turned out amazing!!!  The recipe calls for grated carrots.  I thought about using my mandolin, and as I was getting it out of my cabinet, I found my mom's VERY old Saladmaster grater thingy.  Yes, that is the technical term.  I had forgotten it was there!  It worked like a charm.

Here's the finished product.  So YUMMY!!!!

Well, looking in the fridge to get my carrots made me remember that I had made apricot jam last night.  I checked it out to see if it had set correctly, and it was perfect!!!  Really super yummy and exactly right!!!  I got the recipe from my friend Erica.  It's ridiculously easy and has exactly 2 ingredients: apricots and sugar.  Her original recipe was for peaches, but I used it for the apricots.  Check out her blog here.  I'll include the recipe and some pics of me making it at the end of this post.

Well, we went to Bry's appointment, and it wasn't great news.  He has a double ear infection and possible strep.  The Quick Strep test came back negative, but his doctor said it looked just like it so she was treating him as if it was strep.  She also tested him for mono, which came back negative.  She put him on an antibiotic that would work for strep and the ear infections and told me to keep him out of school through the end of the week.  She is also concerned that he could possibly have something called Kawasaki disease, too.  He has several of the symptoms, but two of the main symptoms don't show up for awhile, so she asked me to make another appointment for Friday.  If his fever is gone by Friday, we can cancel the appointment.  If it's not gone and she decides that it is definitely this disease, he could need to be hospitalized.  Apparently there is no other diagnostic tests to figure it out earlier than that.  Please be in prayer for my sweet boy.

Since today is Wednesday, Lindsay and I were responsible for cooking dinner for church tonight.  We usually have cooking teams set up, but we were the cooking team tonight.  I had really wanted to get up to the church this morning to start cooking, but that wasn't possible.  Thank goodness Mike was off to keep the kids home with him.  We made Shepherd's Pie, and it was so yummy!

I REALLY appreciated the fact that Mike was off when I got home, though. He had bathed Lynnie and put her in bed.  Bry had fallen asleep on the couch (poor kid!).  And Mike unloaded the dishwasher and got our dining room ready for produce tomorrow.  Whattaguy!

Since you already heard about my day, I'll just kind of recap the frustrating and awesome parts.  The most obvious frustrating thing is Bry being sick.  I HATE it when my kids are sick.  I would do anything to take it away from him.

Awesome:  Mike is such a great daddy.  I love watching him with the kids.  He did not complain once about having to spend his day off catering to my schedule and the kids being home.  And I snapped some cute pics of him playing with Lynnie.  That father/daughter bond is ridiculously strong and precious.  Any boy who tries to date her is going to be in big trouble!

Lynnie playing around

Lynnie and Daddy

Sweet Moments

My poor, pitiful, sick boy

As promised, here is the recipe I used for the apricot jam.  Thank you, Erica, for sharing the recipe and for being available to chat when I thought I had screwed it up!

I had about 12 apricots.  Erica's recipe calls for 8 peaches, but apricots are significantly smaller than peaches.  Several of my apricots were bruised, also, so I knew I'd be cutting off a few bad parts.

First, remove the skin from the apricots.  The easiest way to do this is to blanch them.  You submerge them in boiling water for about 30 seconds.

Then you move them to a ice water bath and submerge them for at least 30 seconds.

The peel slips right off!

Chop them up, and place in a pot.  I like chunky jam, so I didn't chop the apricots teeny tiny.

Add a cup and a quarter of sugar (Erica's recipe calls for just one cup, but apricots are WAY more tart than peaches) and cook over medium heat until it is 225 degrees.  If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can do the "cold plate" test.  Have a plate in the freezer while you're peeling the apricots. "After about 15 minutes, start testing the jam to see if it’s done. Place a tiny amount on the plate that you placed in the freezer earlier. Let it sit for a minute and then run your finger through it. If it immediately comes back together, you need to keep cooking. If you leave a trail, it’s done."  (That was a direct quote from Erica.)  

Carefully spoon the jam into a container and put in the fridge.

Enjoy!!!

I mean, seriously, can it get any easier?!?  I did need to call Erica because I was worried about how runny it was at first, and she explained the cold plate test to me.  I couldn't be happier with my jam, though.  I LOVE apricot jam.  I use it in my glazed meatball recipe, and this jam has a similar taste and consistency of the Publix jam that I usually use.  Maybe I'll share that later on.  :-)  Please let me know if you try it.  :-)