Happy Halloween!

This year, we had a ninja, a policeman, and a unicorn for Halloween!  It was the first year that Avery has really grasped the concept of dressing up and saying "Trick or Treat!" Each year, we only go to grandparent houses & our associate pastor's house to get candy so we were able to keep our standard routine this year which was a blessing.  We spent our week preparing by watching "Donald Duck: Trick or Treat" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" (on DVD) and reading themed books like "Room on the Broom," "Pick a Pumpkin," "Curious George, Happy Halloween!," "Llama Llama Trick or Treat," and "Happy Halloween, Biscuit!" Tonight we had mummy dogs for dinner (crescent rolls cut into strips & wrapped around hot dogs) and "monster cookies" (peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with m&m's), then headed out to trick or treat. Our fall weather arrived on Thursday mid-day just in time for the weekend so it was a fabulous day!  With each Halloween, I always feel like the holiday season officially kicks off and my hope for 2020 is that we really take the time & presence to enjoy each moment. 

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Pumpkin Carving

About a week after we picked our pumpkins, we spent time on a Sunday afternoon carving them. The weather was really nice for the occasion! Each kid got to use a Sharpie marker to outline their design idea. 

Aaron and I cut out the top part by the stem and let the kids choose whether or not they wanted to help scoop out the insides. Noah & Avery were all about it! Michael decided to let me handle it. :) Each kid got to help carve their actual design a little bit. 

I heard Noah say "Hey watch how far I can throw this!" and before I knew what actually occurred, he had tossed his pumpkin lid into the woods of our backyard. So we let it be and he was fine with no lid. "It lets more light out that way," he confidently said and I cannot disagree. :) 

We displayed our pumpkins on our front walkway but I forgot to spray them with a vinegar solution until about the third day outside. Coupled with our very warm October weather, the pumpkins didn't last a week once carved. I didn't even actually get around to buying any lights to put inside of them before they rotted. Oh well. Better luck next time. 

I told the kids I'd make my pumpkin a scene from one of our favorite fall books, "Room on the Broom," and I kept my word. 

Michael wanted his pumpkin to have triangle eyes and a very sharp mouth. Mission accomplished. 

Avery, in true "Avery" fashion, carried her pumpkin around so much that it ended up breaking, and she was totally fine with that. She also added extra Sharpie marks while I was carving mine. She'd say "Don't look at me" when she was about to make extra markings-- so I was always aware of what she was doing. :) 

Noah wanted his pumpkin's eyes and nose drawn on but not carved out. His pumpkin mouth was to be very pointy. 

Aaron actually never got around to finishing his. He cut the back square out and scooped out the insides, and planned to come back when his Dremel was charged but didn't get around to it and his pumpkin rotted in the mean time. It just wasn't our year. :) 

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Pumpkin Patch

 One Saturday a couple weekends ago, we had some heavy rain from a hurricane but the skies cleared in the late afternoon so we took advantage of the break in the weather & picked up my mom and headed to the pumpkin patch. This totally worked in our favor because we were one of two families there and were able to socially distance the whole time. It was a bit muddy but that's okay. Mud washes off. Memories were made and we got some good pumpkins which we carved a week later (that blog post will come later!)  

Here's a photo compilation of our time. Towards the end, Avery refused to participate in our family photo but she was still present (just out of the frame).  That little afternoon trip was so special!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Sayings of My Children

 Even as my kiddos get older, I still find them saying the funniest things!  It's also so much fun to read back through these posts later on. Michael & I especially love doing this from time to time! 

Here's our latest collection. 

Me:You're a bully
Avery: No. I a big girl

Noah: I want a mayo pickle sandwich.
Me: Okay
Noah: With ham & cheese inside it

Noah: Why am I not winning?
Michael: Because you chose a kiddie car
Noah: So what? Cats are fast!

Michael: What's a draft?
Me: A cold blow of wind
Noah: And if you don't add the "t" it's draf-- an animal

Backstory: we let Akuna outside & didn't realize it began to rain (heavily) while he was out. He was soaking & I had to dry him off with a towel after I got him in the laundry room. Michael asked to mop the floor with the Swiffer Wet Jet so I let him. A few minutes pass by after he's done mopping...
Michael: What are you doing, Noah?
Noah: Walking in the water and then stepping on the (couch) pillows to make them smell better.
Me: WHAT are you doing?! Please stop!

Me: This is your official 5 minute warning before we turn this off and read stories unless you want to have 10 minutes of this & no story.
Michael: 10 minutes
Noah: 5 minutes
Avery: 2 minutes

Avery: I like your shirt
Me: Thank you! I like your Minnie Mouse shirt! It's so cute!
Avery: Thank you! Do you like my ears?

Noah: The ice cream melted in my stomach and I'm hungry. 

(Finishing up Frozen 2)
Avery: turn up that sound.
Me: (turns up volume)
Avery: (near the end of the song) I don't want to hear it in my ears.
(That's code for "turn it off").

(Playing Mario kart)
Noah: Oh wow mom you're in 3rd! You'll win if you stay in 3rd!

(On her birthday. I'm letting her use kid scissors to cut apart coloring book pages.)
Avery: (stares at my face a very long time while holding scissors, or "hand cuts.") I don't want to cut your hair.
Me: I'm glad!

Noah: What's Uncle Andrew's name?
Me: Andrew Petersen
Noah: (gasps) He lives in our family?!?

Michael: I have a dream to go to your former home. Hawaii.
Me: What a great dream!
Michael: Except in my dream, everybody there speaks English

Me: Is it Friday?
Avery: No. It's dark.

(I open Avery's door in the morning & she's standing there holding her overnight diaper)
Me: Did you pee pee in your bed?
Avery: No. I "tee tee'd" in my bed

Noah: It's way past bedtime. It's pit black out there

Anytime someone asks another family member a question, Avery always say "tell me!" (Meaning "ask me!") She loves to be included.

Avery: (looking at a palm tree) Look mom! It's a beach tree!

(After eating apple slices)
Avery: I have heart eyes!

(After hearing a radio dj talk about coronavirus)
Avery: (gasps) Mama! They said cone virus!
Me: Yes. They did.
Avery: I don't want to get cone virus!

Michael: (looking at his breakfast choice) I think this looks like it's from...how do you say it? It looks like its from Britainy...I mean, England. That's it!

Avery: (sees my peanut butter toast) (gasps) Peanut butter! And jelly! And peanut butter. Then jelly. A pb and.... j.j.

Avery: (wearing silky pants) my feet have panties!

(Watching Shrek)
A: Hey, have you seen Wreck?


Avery: I made Baby PatPat's bed! Its soft, and sparkly, and soft and glittery! Its not blue. It's pink!

(Looking at a toy catalog.... on the Lego page)
A: Ugh! Who one cares about that?!

Michael: It's a waxy gibbous moon tonight 

I hope you've enjoyed this little peek into our lives!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Eye Make-up Routine

I hesitate actually calling this a "routine" because it's so simple.  The gist behind this focus on eye make-up is that this is one of the only places on my face that shows up when I'm wearing a mask.  I wear very minimal make-up these days to prohibit break-outs from the mask constantly resting on my skin and pushing make-up into my pores.  I'll dust on some powder foundation on my forehead, and I'll wear a light lip stain (so it doesn't rub off inside my mask), but I leave my cheeks and nose alone and make-up free. 

I decided to start focusing on my eyes more, especially because I'm wearing my glasses nearly everyday and the eyes are one of the few features I can accentuate these days.  I grabbed this Nudes of New York eye shadow palette from Target a few weeks ago and I've enjoyed playing around with the shades and I like that I'll have lots of options to keep experimenting with.  Currently, I use "Artist," "Self Starter," and "Inspirer" each day. 

I also use my Maybelline mascara that I got from Amazon in August.  The wand on this mascara separates my lashes and fans them out.   

I brush on "Artist" as the base color on my entire eye-lid and underneath my eyes. Then I use "Self-Starter" on my whole lower lid until I hit the crease. I then brush on the glittery "Inspirer" in the crease and blend it together with Self-Starter (just a bit).  Then I glide on the mascara (very rarely, I'll use eyeliner too). 

And that's it!  I feel like it gives some dimension to my eyes and accentuates the dark blue shade of them. 

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

 

Maple Apple Blondies

 Over the weekend, my mom's sister drove into town from Michigan and she brought a bounty of awesome fall treats!  She gifted us with apples, real maple syrup, and apple cider!  No joke, I had been browsing Pinterest the night before she came (not knowing what she was bringing) and I pinned this fall recipe from "A Latte Food." It involves apples and maple syrup so it was the perfect recipe to try out this weekend!  I whipped up these "Maple Apple Blondies" on Sunday morning and I'm not that ashamed to say that the pan is almost gone!

Find Recipe here. 

Maple Apple Blondies (originally from A Latte Food).  My tweaks to the recipe are shown in italics below.

Ingredients

Blondies

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Apple Filling

• 2 large apples chopped finely
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Maple Glaze

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line an 11x7 pan with tin foil (or spray with pan with cooking spray). **(I used a 13x9 inch pan)

Apple Filling

1. On med-low heat, cook apple filling mixture for about 3-4 minutes. Pull off heat and allow to cool.

Blondies

1. Cream butter until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add in brown sugar and granulated sugar, and mix until well combined.
2. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Add in salt and vanilla extract. Mix until combined. (I accidentally added the salt to the dry ingredients, and it didn't seem to hinder anything). 
4. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and cinnamon together. Add to the wet ingredients and stir until combined.
5. In the bottom of the pan, spread half the blondie batter evenly, using a spatula (or your hands--batter is very thick, so I prefer to spread with my hands).
6. Spread apple filling all over the layer.
7. Top with remaining blondie batter and spread evenly.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. (The cake tester (toothpick) was key because they don't completely look done at that point, but the toothpick indicated they were ready.)

Maple Glaze

1. Melt butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and cinnamon over low heat. Once melted together, pull off the heat. Sift in powdered sugar, and whisk until fully combined. Allow to cool for 8-10 minutes so the glaze can thicken.
2. Allow bars to cool for about 10 minutes, then pour the glaze over the bars and allow it to set.
3. Slice into squares and enjoy!

This is how the pan of blondies looked after the maple glaze was spread on the warm bars. 

How perfectly fall is this dessert?!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Mommin' Ain't Easy

 Oh my goodness, sometimes I get overwhelmed by the sheer load of responsibilities that fall onto the shoulders of moms!  At times, I really feel like I'm using up all of my energy to tread water and keep my head above the waves.  Translated, this means that sometimes I'm simply surviving through that day and making it to the next day and repeating.  Lots of times, this means that my wants are put on hold and I have to solely focus on what's right in front of me: being a mom, being a wife, being a housekeeper, being a full-time employee, handling finances, handling medical equipment refills, etc. etc. etc. AH! Sometimes it's just so much!

I believe every mom has a similar load.  I don't really think any mother has it "easy."  Even if you're not burdened with constant medical needs, you probably have some other major life event that takes up the majority of your time and you know what?  Your particular needs are just as important as mine.  Our needs may not be the same, but they still require our own individual levels of attention and as long as those needs matter to you and cause you to exert emotional energy on them, then that's all that counts-- they matter.  

I love blogging and I love leisure reading and I love photography and I love drawing, but I've had to prioritize these "wants" so that I know where I'd actually like to spend the majority of my time once I am finished with my actual responsibilities.  Sometimes, though, this means that none of these things actually occur since my day-to-day responsibilities can certainly take up the entire day (after day after day, and so on and so forth).  

Today was an eLearning Day at home which meant that every student in the county was conducting their schoolwork at home to practice doing their assignments virtually.  Some students in the county are virtual learners for the first 9 weeks (like my sons) and some students come to school traditionally 5 days a week and only get a few random days to practice logging into the virtual system.  These days are designed to make sure all students know the basics of logging in and completing coursework just in case any of those students have to be quarantined and become virtual learners during that time frame.  These eLearning Days mean I get to be home with my kiddos and be their teacher and mom and keep up with all things household and school at the same time.  It's busy but I love it.  I absolutely love being home and find the blessing in every chance I get to be here. 

It's nice to drink my coffee slowly and get another cup (or two) afterwards! :)  Today on my agenda was 

• helping out the boys with their schoolwork
• making sure Avery didn't get into too much mischief (she's been known to peel the top off of my coffee table when no one is looking)
• grading my students' assignments as they came in
• planning out the final lesson for next week (I've already done 2 out of 3-- I see each class 2 to 3 times a week, so I have roughly 5 lessons that have to be planned in a two week period)
• changing and washing all sheets 
• changing and washing all dish towels and bath hand towels
• sprinkling baking soda & essential oil mixture on living room rug, then vacuuming living room rug
• giving all hard floors a good sweep and possibly a dust-bustering
• unloading and reloading dishwasher
• folding clothes

So far, it's 3:15 and here's what I've accomplished:

• helped boys with schoolwork 
• kept Avery entertained by changing the show often (her picks were "Nursery Rhymes," "Vampirina," "Fancy Nancy," and "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.")
• graded students assignments as they came in (this was HUGE and now all I lack to grade is what students will turn in on Monday/Tuesday)
• changed and washed all sheets (except for my own, but I'll do that after this current load of sheets is washed)
• Changed and washed all dish towels and hand towels
• unloaded and reloaded dishwasher
• folded clothes (and bonus points for putting away Avery's clothes and stacking boys' clothes in their room for them to put away)

Tasks still left to do today/this weekend:

• planning out the final lesson for next week (I can do this in the evening or this weekend)
• sprinkling baking soda and essential oil on the living room rug and vacuuming (I plan to do this as soon as I'm done with this post!)
• sweeping all hard floors and possibly using dust buster (this will be done before vacuuming the rug in case I need extra vacuum help to grab all of the Akuna fur balls)

Overall, I think I did pretty well! 

I planned out our dinners this next week to be lots of crock pot meals or easy-to-put-together meals.  Tonight I'm choosing to make something that takes a little prep work since I have the time.  We'll be whipping up Mix and Match Mama's Apple Bacon Pancakes to welcome in October. 

I hope your Friday was fantastic and relaxing and everything necessary to boost yourself up for the end of the week!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Books in September

 Now that school has started back and I have to keep my gradebook current, I don't have tons of time to leisure read, but I knocked out two books before things got busy and I'm slowly working through a third. 

The first book this month was You've Been Volunteered: A Class Mom Novel.  It was SO GOOD!  I finished it in 24 hours.  It was a quick easy read that flowed well.  The main character, Jennifer, is the mom of a fifth grader and the book is all about her sarcastic take on being the "class mom" among other school volunteer jobs.  It was funny, quirky, and had me laughing out loud at times and connecting with the characters. 

The second book was American Dirt.  OH. MY. WORD.  This book is so fantastic.  It's raw and real and had me questioning some of my previously firm beliefs on topics like immigration and migration and the real lives that people live in countries other than our own.  This book took me a longer time to get through-- between one and two weeks.  It was really good and really intriguing and kept my interest the entire time.  It took me that long to get through it because it was packed full of details.  It was also really intense and took mental energy to get through because the author made the characters so REAL that I felt like I was right there with them in the scenarios that they travelled through and I had to give myself mental breaks from time to time and only read a few chapters at each sitting because it was so emotionally deep.  I highly highly recommend this book. 

I'm currently reading Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years by Julie Andrews.  I love love love Julie Andrews and I always have.  I'm only just barely into this book (like between page 30 and 50) and I'm trying to read it whenever I get a spare moment from grading papers and lesson planning, etc.  It's already so interesting to read about her experiences on the set of "Mary Poppins" etc.  I am excited to learn more behind-the-scenes things that went on during her career. I love that time era, and it's so neat to put together pieces of storylines of movies that I know and love. 

In the spring, I read a Christian suspense thriller called The Curse of Misty Wayfair. It's currently free for the kindle book edition, if you're looking for a little Halloween-esque story to read in this month.  It's Christian-based, so it doesn't delve deep into the paranormal, etc. (I wouldn't have ever read it if it did).  It offers enough suspense to keep you guessing which is just the level of "spooky" that some people are looking for in this time of year. 

What have you read lately?

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba