Monkey Monday….err….Tuesday

I totally meant to post this yesterday….oops.

After a brutal parenting week with the boys, we decided to put it all aside and try to have a wonderful day out together at the Jacksonville Zoo.  I told Jakob and Aiden in the car that I was going to try to not raise my voice (a.k.a yell) if they would try to not spend the whole day whining.  They both agreed, so we had a plan.  The whole family was on board for having a great day out.

I love the zoo.  I can remember going when I was young, seeing all the animals.  And the Jacksonville Zoo is beautiful.  We had a blast.  The carousel was fun, Aiden wouldn’t get on anything so Daddy held him.  Jakob grinned from ear to ear.  Aiden’s pleasure came from the train ride….there is a train that goes around the whole zoo – the boy loves his trains.   They also got to feed the giraffes.  SO cool.

They look like they are having fun right?

And this is my favourite picture.  It is very rare that I am in the pictures….isn’t that always the way for Mamas??  So this outing I gave the camera to Jason half way through and told him to make sure there were some pics of me and my favourite boys.  And this is what was taken…..we look pretty good.

It was a great day.  One that reminds me of how amazing these boys are, and how quickly they are growing up.  Time to not let the everyday get in the way of appreciating them.

Hope you all had as wonderful weekend….what kind of trouble did you get into?

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.

Happy Pistachio Day

 

Did you see these?  I tweeted and FB a sneak peek of their deliciousness…

No?  Well head over to She’s Becoming DoughMessTic or Food Holidays to see my guest post and get the recipe.

Make these….the recipe is simple, the end result ah-mazing.

 

Homemade Granola Bars

As I have said before, if there is a recipe I can make instead of buying snacks for my boys I try to make them.  Not that it is always cheaper, because sometimes it definitely isn’t, but because I like knowing what is going in them, and I like to be able to add that special ingredient….LOVE.

My boys love granola bars.  Aiden especially.  Plain old chocolate chip granola bars.  So I looked up simple recipes and found one.  It is pretty great, claims to be chewy, and they are chewy.  But they are rich, sweet, and delicious.  Aiden really enjoyed them. Jakob said they had a weird flavour, and I am thinking that the honey I used in the recipe must have been it…..it is a local honey, very fragrant and quite delicious, but definitely a strong flavour.  Aiden asked for milk with these, just like he does when we eat chocolate chip cookies.

Recipe: (Adapted from Allrecipes)

Chewy Granola Bars

4 1/2 cups of Rolled Oats

1 cup All Purpose Flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

2/3 cup  Softened Unsalted Butter

1/2 cup Honey

1/3 cup Packed Brown Sugar

2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (this is where we can mix it up….change it to raisins, nuts, peanut butter chips, dried cherries, etc…you get the idea!)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 deg.  Lightly grease one 9 x 12 inch pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, vanilla, butter, honey, and brown sugar.  Stir in the 2 cups of chocolate chips.

Lightly press mixture into the prepared pan.  Bake at 325 deg for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then cut into bars.  Allow the bars to cool completely before removing from the pan.

Store in a sealed container.   Yields about 18 bars – depending the size you want.

I will be making these again for sure….with a milder honey. 

Monkey Monday

Today Jakob’s class sang a song during this month’s PTSO meeting.  I think it is just a ploy to get parents at the meeting, but I could be wrong!  (not)

Here it is….he’s the one on the right, second row, the one that can’t stand still….

And don’t for get to “Brush your teeth…..”

Sunday Supper and a National FOOD holiday!

 

Happy National Pie Day!!  I know, holidays for food.  But did you know that each day of the year is a holiday for a different kind of food?  Check out my friend Susan’s blog for a daily round up for each special food’s holiday.  Incredible, right?

Pie Day!  I have many favourite kinds of pie.  I love a great lemon meringue, chocolate cream, strawberry, cherry….etc.  But nothing beats a really great APPLE pie.  It has to be really great.  This past Thanksgiving the Stenzel’s were invited over to the household of Team Wallace for dinner.  It was an honour to be included in their family celebrations.  And of course I wanted to contribute, I begged to be able to contribute.  To show up empty handed would have been awful for me.  Nikki was kind enough to oblige my desire to cook or bake and asked me to bring an apple pie. Just one??  Yup, just one.  So I was on the quest to make the BEST apple pie I could find.  And it would have to be tested before Turkey Day.  Poor Jason.  He a lot of pie that month (though didn’t complain once).  After several different crust and pie fillings, it was decided that The Pioneer Woman’s Dreamy Apple Pie would be what was served at Casa Wallace.  It is perfect.  It isn’t easy to describe this pie.  Just perfect.  I love a single crust apple pie. Don’t get me wrong, I love a flaky pie crust…but this pie doesn’t need that double crust. It has a crunchy nutty topping that is heaven….probably why she called it a Dreamy Apple Pie.

For National Pie Day, I decided to make mini versions of this pie.  I cut the recipe into thirds and baked them in these really cute mini pie plates I picked up at World Market (did you know I collect pie plates??).  A third fit perfectly….baked them for 45 minutes and they were done.  As all apple pie should be served, I scooped a perfect scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top. And then Jason suggested some caramel sauce….a decadent finish, but not necessary.  For Thanksgiving I made The Pioneer Woman’s Maple Whiskey Sauce, which later was named Pie Crack by a certain Wallace.

I recommend pie.  For any occasion. A simple Sunday Supper, a birthday, a more traditional holiday, but definitely for today….National Pie Day!

Did you make a pie today??  What kind?  Have a recipe to share?  Share a link!!

Frosting for the Cause

Have you seen this??  No?  You need to.  If you bake, if you don’t bake for that matter, you should sign up.  Do it.  Volunteer to bake, donate what you bake to your local Women’s Cancer Hospice, agree to donate $25.00 to the American Cancer Society or to a Women’s Cancer Research Project of your choice, and blog it. 

I was waiting to sign up.  I knew that Paula had people lined up until some time in March.  But March didn’t work for me.  I wanted to make sure we had time to settle into our new place before I had anything going on.  And today she tweeted that they were almost at the end of April with sign ups.  So I jumped.  I sent her my request to participate (which you can do by going HERE – DO IT!) and she emailed me back with the date of APRIL 25th.  Very Excited!

Now….what should I bake??