Wordless Wednesday

Last day of KINDERGARTEN!  I am officially the Mama of a 1st Grader….gulp!

I am so proud.

Mixing together two favorites

 

Every once in awhile a light bulb goes off on the baking side of my brain.  And sometimes that light bulb ends up with awesome results like this one…..

I was having a pretty crappy day yesterday, but this is not the time or place for those issues….so when I have a crappy day I try to think of things that make me happy.  I will also say it was a little gloomy yesterday too, and I was missing all the sunshine we had last week.  So I decided to create some of my own sunshine, in the form of LEMON CURD.    And even though I would be happy just eating said lemon curd out of the jar with a spoon….I figured the family would rather something else yummy for snack/dessert.  And since this pound cake recipe turned out SO well, I decided to combine the two. 

I bring you….Vanilla Bean Pound Cake, with Lemon Curd swirled inside.  It is TO DIE FOR.   Basically I just layered the pound cake batter with the Lemon Curd in between….and the curd stayed nice and soft.  Just perfect.

If you are every having a bad day I strongly suggest you make some of this….you can’t help but smile at a bowl of bright yellow lemony goodness.  Trust me.  It worked for me. 

Look at this cake:

Old Fashioned Recipes

I love recipes that get handed down from other generations.  I have several that I have been lucky enough to receive from my mother and Omi.  But this one isn’t from my family.  My amazing friend, Laurie (aka @SuperSlush) was kind enough to share her Grandmother’s Pound Cake recipe with me….and told me it would be ok if I posted it here to share with you all.   This recipe is very basic, but absolutely delicious.  There are so many different things you can add to this recipe to make it even more delicious depending on your mood….on my first attempt to make this recipe I was in the mood for a Cherry Lemonade….a la Sonic.  So I added these…

Maraschino Cherries!! Oh, and some lemon.  I love these cherries…I really don’t care how they are made, or what goes in them…they are yummy. 

Old Fashioned Pound Cake   Recipe Graciously Given by Laurie

Preheat to 350. Grease a 10 inch bundt or tube pan.

Ingredients:
3 cups sugar
2 sticks butter
1/2 cup shortening
6 eggs
3 cups flour
1 cup milk

Cream sugar, butter and shortening until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping sides in between additions. Alternate flour and milk, starting and ending with flour. Pour into greased bundt/tube pan. Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

To make this a Cherry Lemonade Pound Cake zest and juice two lemons and add to the sugar, shortening and butter while creaming.  Drain a jar of maraschino cherries (save the juice to make a powdered sugar glaze), and fold in cherries before putting batter in pan.

To make the cherry glaze mix the juice from the jar of cherries with powdered sugar until you achieve the desired consistency.  Pour over cooled pound cake.

Look at this cake….but look quick, it wont last long….

Thank you, Laurie for sharing your Grandmother’s recipe with me…and for letting me pass it on to all of you.

xo

Thoughtful Thursday

It’s not them, it’s me…

I realized this morning that the escalation in naughty behaviour by my precious little boys isn’t actually so, and that the problem has been with the way that I have been reacting to said behaviour.  I have lost my Zen Mama Groove.  I am usually a much more mellow, easy going Mama.  Not letting the small things get to me.  Something changed.  Since the move here I have been saying that they boys behaviour has deteriorated to the point of disaster, and that I am at my wits end.  But maybe it is me.  Have I just given up trying?  Have I just lost the ability to handle them?  To have fun with them and enjoy their craziness and go with the flow?  I think so.  And this makes me sad. 

I need to lighten up.  Find my place again.  I have started taking the steps to get back into the groove that I enjoy.  Playing with my boys, baking, creating, getting involved in volunteering, learning.  Do what makes me happy.  Tired of worrying what people think or perceive as reality and get back to what really matters.  My boys.  All three of them.  Be kinder.  Talk sweeter. And stop being so hard on myself. 

Gone in 21 hours….

And 10 of those Aiden was sleeping!  Aiden has devoured 75% of this yummy cake:

Aiden is my baked goods fiend.  He will try my creations and ask for them over and over again.  Jakob likes certain things I make; chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, sugar cookies, and chocolate cake.  But when it comes to new things like scones, biscuits, or this ah-mazing Strawberry Cake, he hesitates.  Not sure if he will like it he immediately says “No, Thank You” rather than taking a bite to see if he likes it.  Quite frustrating as this goes with ALL food, if he isn’t sure he will like it he refuses to try it.  Makes for a very limited diet for him.   But I digress.

Aiden makes it easy for me to consider if a recipe is a success or not, usually by how quickly he devours it.  And I will guarantee that this recipe from Maria, Two Peas and Their Pod, is a KEEPER.  With strawberries about to come into season here, I can picture this being made many times over.  And will make it with other berries as the seasonal fruit comes in. I look forward to making it again and adding a little bit of lime to it….maybe a glaze?  Not that it needs it.  It is light, a delicate crumb, with the burst of berry slices peeking out.  It is called a cake, but I had no problem serving and eating this for breakfast….Aiden inhaled his piece! (I also recommend eating this with a little dollop of whipped cream….just saying!)

You can find the recipe HERE.  And while you are there, check out Maria’s recipes for cookies….she always has great cookies going on!

Happy Birthday, Jakob!

 

Today Jakob is six years old.  Holy Smokes, we managed to keep him safe and sound (minus a few bumps and bruises) for six whole years.  That is an accomplishment.  Seriously, it is.

Last night I was trying to remember what I ate for dinner the night before Jakob was born, and I was sad that I couldn’t remember.  Probably not the most important thing to have to remember, not like his birth weight, the hours (minimal) of labour….etc.  Jason looked at me like I was crazy. Guess he didn’t think it was so important to remember either.

I cannot believe that this little babe is now six.

And that he is now this big.

I cannot wait to see what he will look like in another six years.  I wonder (probably too much) about what my boys will be like when they are older.  I should probably slow down and enjoy them as they are now instead of wondering what they will become.

Well….Happy Birthday Jakob!  We love you will all our hearts.

ps….this is one of my fav Jakob’s Birth pics.  It is Grandpa with Jakob in the hospital.  I miss him every day and know that if he was still with us, he and Jakob would be the best of friends.

Thoughtful Thursday

Well, the Mama Guilt is on overload today.  My buttons are like a brand new touch mouse pad….so sensitive.  I am not sure what is going on, but Jakob and I have been battling for weeks.   We have our good days, and good moments, but for the most part we are not liking each other very much.  There are just a few behaviours that drive me up the wall, WHINING and BACK TALKING are at the top of that list.  Jakob has always been a whiner….he thinks that if he whines he will get what he wants. Not so much.  For some strange reason he has now decided that back talking is the way to go as well.  Again, not so much.  There are days that my tolerance for his behaviours is pretty high, but these last few days that is not the case.  I have spent more time yelling and arguing with him (I know, arguing with him is not the way to go), than I have loving on him.  This makes me feel so guilty.  I understand that this is just a few days out of a (hopefully) long life together, and that I shouldn’t let it get to me, that we all have these days….but it kills me.   

I want to have fun with my boys.  But it is hard for me to have fun with them when I don’t feel that they deserve it for acting poorly.  I am in a catch 22 position.  And here we are thinking about driving to the Jacksonville Zoo on Saturday….and Jakob has been misbehaving in school and he and I had a huge blow out this morning walking to school.  Do we still go?  Will he consider it a reward for his bad behaviour?  Or do we suffer for it too and stay home, knowing that it will be a rough day of whining that we didn’t get to go?

I need help.  I need a way to hold back my anger and not let this take over.  I need to figure out how to explain to Jakob that this behaviour wont be tolerated and that it is just disrespectful to talk to us like that.  I need to get back to parenting with love, not a raised voice and punishment.  I am taking any advice you may have for me.  Lay it on me, books, strategies, things that have worked for you, bribes, anything….please.  I feel desperate at this point.

AboutOne Twitter Chat….Raising Kids

I have recently discovered AboutOne.  It is an online website to “Safely Store and Manage Your Household Information”.  A great site to record memories, scan and keep important documents, and health info about the whole family. And now I am going to be a blogger for them, check it out.  (scroll down and you will see me!) I am going to write bi-monthly posts about Military Life….the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Today’s twitter chat was about raising kids.  Some great questions, some interesting answers.

Question #1: What are your tips for traveling with children? Do you travel a lot with your family?

We use to travel quite a bit.  When we were living in Connecticut we were only about 8 hours from my parents and I would make the drive with Jakob (and then Aiden too) about every three months.  It was a long day of driving, but worth it.  Most visits it would be just me driving, leaving Jason at home, so I had to make sure I was prepared.  Snacks, drinks and toys all within reach.  I made sure that all the snacks were portioned out, and easy to open.  Drinks were either juice boxes or premade sippy cups.  And when Jakob and Aiden were infants I made sure to have water from home, or bottled water, for their bottles so that there wasn’t anything in the water that their tummies weren’t use to.

The other side of travelling with children is entertainment….keeping them occupied = happy children!  DVD players in the car was key for us….the perfect distraction.  Now it takes a bit more.  Both Aiden and Jakob are obsessed with my iTouch.  They love the games (the free apps are awesome), and the videos and sometimes the music.   I have a feeling it will be a lifesaver for our cross country trip to Washington.  8 days on the road…help me!

Question #2:  How much TV do you let your kids watch? Do you limit? What are their favourite shows?

I am guilty of my boys watching a lot of TV.  I know it isn’t right, I know it isn’t good for them….I know.  Enough said.

Shows…..Phineas and Ferb, Team Umizoomi, Magic School Bus, most of the shows on PBSKids, and the Food Network!!  LOL

Question #3: Has your child ever been bullied? Have you talked to them about this issue?

Jakob has not been bullied at school.  And Aiden isn’t in school.  Jakob is a pretty popular kid, bit of a teacher’s pet too.  But there have been days that he has come home and said others were mean to a friend, which strikes a convo about how it isn’t nice to be mean to someone.  He knows what is good and bad behaviour, what is nice and what is mean.  He’s a good egg.

Question #4: How do you give your children quality time?

Jason and I try our best to spend some one on one time with each of the boys.  Jakob is old enough to sit through a movie, but Aiden isn’t quite there yet, so Jakob gets some one on one time going to the occasional movie.  Aiden gets special treats like trips to the ice cream shop.  We also do things like taking one out to run errands while the other stays home. 

We also swap out bedtime.  We each take a boy, read or talk, and tuck in.  That way they are getting equal attention from us.

It’s important. We make it a priority.

Question #5: How do you treat yourself?

I am happy to say that I am pretty good at treating myself.  I work dinners out into our budget so that there are days that I don’t have to cook.  I take time with my friends to get our nails done, go out for lunch, or even go to the bookstore for a coffee and poke at some books.  I am lucky.  I have a great husband who understands that “if Mama ain’t happy, no one is happy”.  Jason is great at hanging with the boys so that Mama can have some me time.

I also find a few minutes at the end of the day to reflect.  I keep a gratitude journal and write the highlights of the day.  Things I am thankful for.   AboutOne has a section on their site for keeping track of memories and I am looking forward to adding to that part of my account as well.

Whew….Those are some great questions, and long answers.  It was a great opportunity to hear what some other mother’s are going through, and realizing that I am not alone, that we all have similar things going on, choices to make, and love for our children. I will definitely be participating in the AboutOne chats on twitter.  You can too!  Wednesday mornings, 10 am EST, #AOChat  See you there?