Busy Weekend Adventures

When I asked number 2 what kind of cake he responded, "farm,". Of course he would want a cake that I couldn't just pick up from costco. One morning I woke up early and not wanting to get out of bed, I did a google image search of farm cakes. After looking through a few options of cakes, I felt like I could attempt a farm cake and not ruin it to much. Here is the cake adventure...

I made three cakes. Two chocolate and one vanilla (husband is a chocolate hater). Two round cakes and one square. The round cakes would form the base and I would make a couple cuts to the square cake to form a barn.

The three cakes ready to be decorated at 6:30am

   The cake recipes I used can be found here : http://allrecipes.com/recipe/simple-white-cake/  and  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/one-bowl-chocolate-cake-iii/  I have used the white cake recipe a few times and I am never happy with it so I have no clue why I don't find a different one. Apparently, I just think "well, maybe this time it will be better even though I did not change a thing," (shakes head). The chocolate cake recipe was awesome! Moist and chocolaty.

   I used a buttercream frosting to ice and decorate the cake. Here is the recipe:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/quick-vanilla-buttercream-frosting-recipe/index.html This recipe was a delight to make and to eat (and I ate a lot. Seriously, it was my breakfast). It was quick, smooth, and super tasty. I divided up the frosting in a few different bowls so I could make a variety of farm colors. I made green to ice the round cakes, inside and out.

Green cake (looks like grass...kinda)

   The next step was the hard one. Are you ready for it? Take your square cake and cut two corners off to make a slanted roof. Boom! Barn! Mind blowing right? Next I made some brownish color frosting for the roof. I borrowed a friend's cake decorating kit (.http://www.proverbialhomemaker.com/) She had 1,494,098,974 different types tips for the icing bags. After thoroughly examining each tip I found the one that would make the most "plank" like look. I could have probably gone fancy and made individual shingles but it was like 7am at this time and the more complex I want the higher the chance I would mess it up. It is always good to just keep it simple. 

   I made red frosting for the barn and used the same "plank" icing tip.

   Added a few details to give it that real barn like feel.

   I was super impressed with this cake. For a novice cake decorator, I think I nailed it. You look at it and see a barn which is what I was going for. I was so stoked about this cake that I skipped into the bedroom to awaken the sleeping husband so that he could admire the perfection that was my barn cake. And he did. Cause my cake was awesome.
   Saturday was also number 1's first football game. He was very excited despite the trauma of the night before when we had to fit his mouth guard which included a lot of tears, gagging, and an accidental bitten finger. I am happy to report that number 1 made a touchdown! It is hilarious to watch five year old's play football. Essentially, the kid who got the ball from the quarter back would run it in for a touchdown. Very little flags were pulled. A lot of kids raced passed the kid with the ball like they were racing, many kids would start to run for the end zone and then turn around and run the opposite way. The best would be when a kid with the ball would fall down and the rest of the kids would flock around the poor kid and rip his flags off, like a pack of hyenas taking apart an injured zebra. Apparently, taking 1 flag is just not enough...
 

I like this picture because it shows you how large number 1 is compared to the other kids

   After football came number 2's birthday party at Plumper Pumpkin Patch. This is hands down the best pumpkin patch in the Portland metro area. They have so many fun activities to do (hay rides, corn maze, hay maze, multiple slides, pumpkin bowling, playground, animals, Animals, and ANIMALS! The price is great and every year we spend almost the whole day. The party started at 1pm and we left when it closed at 5:30. Here are a few of the hightlights...

The kids running to explore the activities

MOO! I love cows

Hay slide

Pumpkin bowling

Number 2 feeding a cow. This was his favorite activity. A close second was being suckled by a 3 week old baby cow

Me waiting at the end of the slide for husband to come down

Getting suckled by baby cows. SQUEAL! 

Hayride

Birthday Boy

View from hay ride

Lisa and her family

Cow tractor ride 

Hay maze

Shasta and I like pigs...bacon...

At the top of hay tower

Surrounded by team pink.

   One of my bestest best friend's and her son, Tanner spent the night Saturday night. I love mama sleep overs. Lots of beer was consumed, food eaten, and stories exchanged. Spending that time with Shasta reminded me of the importance of making time for me and my friends. So much of my time revolves around my kids, husband, and house-making duties, that my friend time is hard to get in. But it is necessary to recharge your battery and not lose you.
   Ok, I totally have more to write about the importance of friend time but took a break from staring the the computer screen to look at number 2 sitting next to me and discovered he has been playing with my knitting and took the scarf I am making for someone off the needles. AHHHH! BYE!

PS. This post was apart of the Simply Creations Friday Link Up (http://www.mysimplehomelife.com/)

We are a crunchy, chunky, granola family

     I haven't been to the grocery store for a few weeks. The thought of going to the grocery store sends waves of panic down my spine. Don't get me wrong, I like grocery shopping when it is an individual event, not a group effort. Yesterday, I noticed that our snack supply is getting dangerously low. It is never ok to run out of snack in our house and I find the more selection you have, the happier the young monsters are. A quick scan of our almost bare cupboards let me know we could throw together some granola. 

   I did a google search for granola and found this one that seemed promising: http://franticallysimple.com/2011/08/how-to-make-healthy-and-clumpy-granola/ 
It claimed to be clumpy which makes for easier snacking. We also had basically all the ingredients. After a few tweaks, this was what my recipe looked like.

   Ingredients
-4 cups rolled oats
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 1/2-2 cups trail mix, random nuts, and sad and lonely little left over bits of dried fruit that had been forgotten to be eaten (sorry golden raisins)
-5 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp vanilla
-1/2 cup honey
-2 egg whites, lighten beaten

Directions
-Preheat oven to 300
-Mix dry ingredients 
-Whisk wet ingredients in separate bowl
-Pour wet into dry and get dry nice and wet (I have a way with words, don't I?)
-Properly lube two cookie sheets and spread granola evenly between them, press it flat into a donut shape (apparently this prevents an uncooked middle)
-Bake for 25-30 minutes or until you start to get a little anxious that it is getting a wee bit too brown around the edges
-Do not stir while baking. Let cook for 15 minutes before breaking into clusters
-Eat

Easy and Yummy! I took a few pictures of our granola making adventure for you to enjoy. While I have a big fancy camera that takes amazing pictures, I always seem to forget to use it and instead use my phone. I think it gives my pictures a nice charming effect, right? (This is where you smile and nod, ok? Good job!)

Boys mixing up the granola

the dry got all wet

Granola donut

Monster having a granola and green tea snack time

P.S This blog post was a part of Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways which can be found here http://frugallysustainable.com/

Family is a team sport

   It is barely 8 am. I am in bed, mickey mouse and a chatty number 2 in the background. I am sipping some adequate coffee and coming up with today's game plan. It looks something like this:

Jealous about how perky I am in the morning? It is ok to admit...
   Yesterday, number 1 and I had a conflict (conflict is a nice way of saying number 1 made a bad choice and I got really, really angry). I told both kids that the next day, we would need to pick out three toys to donate to others (the boys have a nauseating amount of toys and number 2 is having a birthday party this weekend. The time to purge had come).
    Anywho, cue attitude, nasty comments, and defiance from number 1. Introduce irrational anger from me and BOOM! We spent the next few hours going through EVERY toy holder in their room to find things to donate. It worked. We donated a huge box of toys and some of my clothes. While we worked, I explained how lucky our family was to have food, a house, and toys. I explained how there are kids who don't have those things and it is our job to help out other people. Did it sink in and make a difference? Probably not yet but then I had a brainstorm!
    One random act of kindness a day program! Everyone was to do one random act of kindness for others everyday but after marinating on this idea for a few hours, I downsized the idea into a once a month thing. I decided I wanted to make the random act of kindness bigger and have it take a whole day to complete. For example, bring pumpkins from the pumpkin patch to a retirement center or children's hospital with markers to decorate, sing Christmas carols to the neighbors, pass out thank you cards to our police officers, firefighters (meow!), etc. I think starting big like this will help them understand the importance of helping others and I am hoping for a trickle down effect.
    So September was donate old toys. Next month will be Halloween themed cause I love Halloween. And I dig the delivering pumpkin idea. I like pumpkins.
    It has been a while since I have posted a family update and I know you all have been anxiously awaiting for one....
    Number 3 moved out the beginning of September. His contract was up. Was he stable? No, far from it BUT the violence was not occurring at the same alarming rate (yay!) and he was starting to utilize the coping skills we had talked hours, and hours, and hours about so he is moving in the right direction. I hope it continues.
    Number 1 started football. He loves it. When we went to the first practice husband said to me, "It looks like we brought the ringer" as he is inches taller than all the other 5 year old kids on the team. He wants to practice all the time. We are no longer a homeschool family with football on the side. We are a football family with homeschool on the side. The kid is good. I am talking perfect spirals 90% of the time. Husband and number 1 love having this hobby to share. They are constantly throwing the ball around and talking football rules. I am starting to feel a little left out (insert pity party). Number 1 doesn't want to play football with me as much as I don't do it the EXACT same way as husband.
    I started number 1 on kindergarten work a few weeks ago (we are talking workbooks, gag. But I wanted to gauge where he was). He could do that work in his sleep so I got him a first grade workbook and he enjoys it more than the kindergarten work. We have also started working on our epic popsical kingdom and he is writing a book.

Number 2 is number 2. He is still an inflexible thinker who likes things his way. He is a chatter bug. He is still my little shadow. He is turning three in a week. THREE. I am in denial. He loves to build with magna-tiles which are magnet building blocks. He plays with them for hours a day. He like to build houses for his little toy animals. Number 2 continues to have no fear and do crazy stunts that strike fear in adult men. He likes to climb to high places like a little cat and then jump down. His dismount is never as graceful as a cat though.

Tales from Clackamas Lake pt. 1

So I have figured out how to upload pictures (though the process is slow and painful which leads me to believe that I must be doing something wrong)and decided to share a few of the highlights of our camping trip. Enjoy... We drove around the campsite for a while. Some would say we are picky campers but I prefer to say that we are...particular. We like a private site, near a bathroom, and that has enough space for our giant mansion of a tent. Number 2 has different ideas of the perfect site. It must include a "nest". Here is him in the perfect nest.

That last one is of him napping in his nest, a rock for a pillow. So relaxing... Once everyone was happy with our campsite, tent was set up, and we were settled, we decided to take a walk down to Clackamas Lake to check it out. Here is the meadow where the lake is located

Number 1 riding his bike down the lake "boardwalk"

The "lake" though really it was more of a fancy pond.

The "lake" was really clear. We learned later from the camp host that Clackamas Lake is a spring fed lake and there is a short hike right off the campground that would lead you to the spring. We were excited to check it out the next morning.... Next morning.... WATCH OUT! It is a bear! Look, even other campers were excited to check out a bear wearing snowflake pajamas.

Number 1 had quickly discovered that riding his bike down dirt trails littered with giant rocks and tree stumps was a lot of fun. He liked to force me to watch. I threw up a little in my mouth every time. I was convinced he would break his neck everythime he went down a hill. Marching up the hill (he would do this first thing in the morning. Notice he is still wearing his footy pajamas).

He was going so fast our fancy smancy camera couldn't get an unblurry picture of him. After I was able to convince him to stop flirting with death, we got dressed and headed out on a hike to discover the spring. Here is number 1 ready for adventure

1 and 2 in front of trail sign

Number 2 refused to take his hands out of his pocket pouch despite multiple warnings that if he fell, his hands wouldn't be be able to break his fall. He fell a lot...

After a short break, number 2 felt this was the safest mode of transportation.

Water break!

Once we reached the end of miller trail, which is where we thought the spring would be, we discovered....(are you getting anxious with excitment???)....

another meadow...bummer. Apparently we had missed the turn off. The boys really enjoyed this meadow. They were pretending to be lions. They would crouch down and hide and then pounce at us. Can you spot the two blond headed lions?

RAAAAAAAAAAARR!

Number 2 pouncing

Once we had enough African safari fun in the meadow, we headed back down the trail to try and find the spring.

And we found it...not far from the start of trail....of course....

Exploring the spring was homeschooling at its best. It was fun to watch the kids discover the water bubbling from the earth. Husband explained to the kids why this water was safe to drink (we were right at the source of the spring and the moss filters it, rendering it safe to drink). We emptied a water bottle and let them experience cold fresh spring water. I am also happy to report that they each only got minimally wet. SCORE. The downside was when number 1 slipped on a rock and hit his face. No parent wants to hear their child scream like that when you are miles and miles away from the closest hospital. Number 1's face broke his fall...on a rock. We are incredibly lucky that he did not crack his head open or break his nose. He scrapped by with a bloody, bruised nose and some scratches. Here is a picture of him a day after his fall.

Ouch. Keep your eyes opened for Tales from Clackamas Lake pt. 2! Coming to a computer near you tomorrow (ok, ok, more likely in the next 3-5 business days).

Not Back to School

Written September 8th, 2012
This week marked the beginning of school for the majority of school going kids in Oregon. A lot of my friend's were getting ready to send their kids of to kindergarten. Facebook was littered with first day pictures and sad status update about babies growing up.

   This week for us marked the beginning of not back to school. Our schedule didn't change, we are not waking up freakishly early, going on field trip ( we did the zoo this week) got a lot easier, and the best part about it (for me at least) is I am not sending my child off to be told how to learn. We can keep on learning the things my boys are interested in and in a manner that works best for them.

   The other day, number 1 asked me what the inside of rocks looked like and would they all look the same. This sparked a conversation about different types of rocks. I explained that rocks are similar to animals in the sense that there are different species but all still in the animal family. There are tons of rock species within the rock family. Number 1 decided that once we wrap up th middle ages, rocks are next on the list. I am throwing in volcanoes too. Cause volcanoes are rad

   Another reason I am thankful that we did not have to start school this week was come Friday at noon, we hit the road for another camping adventure (our campsite is across from the potty, thank goodness. Though this potty is a lot scarier than one from last week. All potties are not created equal). We decided to try our luck at Timothy lake but everyone else thought that was a good idea too.

   So we headed to clakamas lake, which isn't really a lake but a beautifully clear, spring fed pond in the middle of a meadow. I'm pretty sure this meadow was where Bambi's mom got shot. It is gorgeous.

  This campground also allows horses so we have been able to see and hear horses during our time here. When we were first checking out the campsite, this was a huge bonus. Horses? Yes, please!

   However at 6am this morning when all the horses started making screaming like noises follow by some huffy breathing. I was less than thrilled. One would do it (the horse right next to us, of course) which would then get another one to go. It was a freaking horse conversation. They would just keep going back and forth. I feel like they could have been more considerate and waited until at least 7am.

   Anyway, that is why I am here, writing this for you, at 6:43 am. I want coffee but do not feel ready to face the brisk air outside. My sleeping bag is so warm.  All the boys are asleep, husband to my left and the littlers on the left, their heads leaning into each other.  It is very cozy.

   Tomorrow, faithful readers, I will attempt to upload a few pictures and blog about our many adventures (some involve baby frogs! Squeal!)

   

Family: Under Construction

   I knew that when I was pregnant with number 2, that it would be my last pregnancy, my last biological child. I was not done having children.  It is no secret that I love kids. If it were up to me I would surround myself with an army of little people. Growing up, I told people I wanted six kids. Three biological and three adopted. I have a friend from kindergarten who remembers me telling her this when we were five.
   Husband is a different story. He would have be content with just one. Thank God, I won rock, paper, scissors so that we could have number 2 (yes, we played rock, paper, scissors to decide to have number 2). He nearly laughed out loud when I told him my dream of six kids. Husband is an only child and has very strong feelings about over population (please do not bring up the Duggar family).
   A year ago or so, I brought up adoption. We had always planned on adopting. Our dream family dynamic was two boys and a girl. I was ready to add a girl to our clan of boys. Husband told me at the time he was content with our family dynamic. He loved our biological boys and enjoys doing foster care. I accepted his answer, even though I was disappointed, and focused my attention on the children I had and tried to ignore my feelings of wanting another, a little pink in my sea of blue.
   The last month the feeling that our family was unfinished, that someone was missing became stronger. This morning my close friend sent me a picture of her positive pregnancy test and it hit me like a punch in the stomach. I am not done. My family is not complete. I closed my eyes and tried to keep the tears in.
   What do you do when one partner is done having children and the other isn't? I can do all the research I want on adoption, make a winning case for going for it, but that won't necessarily change husband's mind. This is not a situation where you can work out a compromise so both parties are happy. There will be a clear winner and a clear loser.
   I am not a good loser. But I am going to lose. I need to accept that. I cannot force husband to feel the same way I do, and want the same things I do (damn it!). A relationship is a bunch of give and take, compromise, and sometimes surrendering. It is respecting your partner and their ideas/choices/feelings/etc even if they don't mesh with yours.
   Does it hurt? Oh god, does it ever. I think it will be a long process for me to "get over" it. I had children really young and a lot of my friends are just starting to have kids which means I will be getting more punch in the stomach feelings every time a friend tells me they are having a baby. The punch will eventually turn into a slap, then a pinch, and then a slight poke like I am the pillsbury dough boy before eventually going away. Right ?
 

Little Tent in the Big Woods

Written September 2nd, 2012
 I'm having a Caroline Ingalls moment. We are camping this weekend. I am sitting by our campfire slowly, and awkwardly, writing this on my iPhone.  Ok, so maybe not a total Ingalls moment but I am feeling pretty old school right about now.

I do not have much camp experience. Growing up, my family's camping would be staying at the motel 6. Of course I would marry into an outdoorsy family. Husband and I have been together almost 13 years and I have only agreed to camp with him three times. Three times. I shake my head in wifely shame. I have always had, what I thought as very good and logical reasons to not camp: it's too cold, we don't have the right equipment, the kids are too young, I can't poop in the woods, or pee in the woods for that matter. 

My reasons finally fell on deaf words and the husband loaded up myself and the three kids and took us to the woods (which thankfully has a potty. Thank you, Jesus!). 

In the last 24 hours I have pitched a tent, cooked on a propane stove and a campfire, slept outside (shocked face!). Ok technically in a tent but it was still freaking cold, and wrangled three pretty well behaved wild beasts. 

All in all I am thankful to husband for finally taking control of the situation and getting me out here. I am thoroughly enjoying myself and getting out of my comfort level. The last month or so has been hard in our family. Number three has been struggling on an almost daily basis. It is good to break out of routine, take a break, refocus every once in a while to remember what is really important (like potty's and family).