Weekends are for Pinterest!

Every weekend I try to make at least one of my pinterest pins.  This weekend I made three!

I just had to try out the salted chocolate caramel pretzel bark!  Who doesn't LOVE salted caramel chocolate?

In an attempt to cut out all processed snacks and foods out of our diets, I wanted to give a whirl at making snacks for the kids lunches.  After all, I have to put something in their lunch boxes.   I found these homemade granola snack bars and just had to give them a try.

And I made my own dishwashing soap!   I looked around the web for recipes.  I was very nervous about using a recipe that used lye.  At least until I get comfortable with the whole soap making process. So I settled on this recipe.  It was quick and easy.  It takes a little bit to gather all the ingredients.  But once you have them on had you can make just about any homemade cleaner.  I not only made the homemade liquid dish soap from this site but I also made dishwasher detergent and citrus vinegar!

http://frugallysustainable.com is a very good resource for homemade cleaning supplies.  I found this one for baby recipes and am anxious to give those a try! 

Check out out my I Made This page for review on everything I made.

Physical Day

Today we killed 2 birds with one stone :-).  Anna Beth had her 9 month appointment and Jacob got his yearly physical.  2 kids, one room, back to back appointments.    Both are growing fast but I do say Jacob wins the award for this one.
He grew 8 inches in 1 1/2 years!  He is only 12!  At this rate he will be 7 ft.  Too bad he is too gangly and uncoordinated to play basketball or we may have a future NBAer on our hands.
Jacob's stats:  Height- 67.8 inches or 5'7  3/4"  The average height for a 15 year old. Did I say he is only 12!  Wearing mens smalls and size 18 (or 29x32) pants.
Marc is 5'8' and I'm a mere 5'1.5"  He obviously towers over me and is eye to eye with his dad.
As tall as Jacob is he is just as skinny.  9% body fat.  One can only dream of such numbers!  He barely broke 100 lbs!  Weighing in at 102.  You would think I never feed this kid!
I doubt there will be many kids as tall as Jacob in the 7th grade.  At least he will be easy to see at assemblies.

Anna Beth is growing too.  2 inches in 3 months and one pound.  She is now 28 inches long and 17.9lbs  Long and lean.  She is sprouting her top teeth and burning up as many calories as she consumes, cruising along furniture and crawling all around the house.  She never sits still, making diaper changes a real challenge these days.
And it just makes me so proud that no matter where we go, people just ooo and awe over Anna Beth. I can't tell you how many times I've been walking through Walmart or Target and a stranger stops to tell me she is beautiful.  Its not like the obligatory "your baby is so cute" that comes when people have nothing to say in a situation that clearly calls for a compliment.  People don't have to stop and talk to me in the store but they do.  I'm just so proud and amazed that I made something sooooooo beautiful! Marc played a small part in it too I guess ;-)
Thats my baby girl!  A real beauty!  If you don't believe me head over to My Crew page and take a look for yourself!

Museum day

Marc took Monday off work today to spend with me and the kids.  Nana was in town for the weekend so I planned a day of fun.  It was between the zoo, the NC aquarium or the Raleigh Museums.  I concluded that in the heat of day, walking through the zoo would be unbearable and the animals would probably all be hiding.  The aquarium would be a nice little drive and we would spend more time on the road.  So sticking close to home it was.
My plan was to visit  The NC Museum of Natural Sciences and finally see the new Research wing.  Since the NC Museum of History and the Raleigh Kids Museum are so close I figured we could hit them all.
Four floors and 5 hours later we finished up at the Natural Sciences Museum and headed out on foot for The Pitt.
We never made it to the History Museum or the Kids Museum.  That will have to be a trip for another day.

The kids loved it.  We saw Madagascan Hissing cockroaches, got to observe a rattle snake in surgery, look at bugs and snakes and electric cars.  The butterfly exhibit was closed.  (closed on Mondays) And never did make it back down to the 3D theatre.  But it was a great day nonetheless.  The new wing of the museum is awesome and I think we all had a good time.

These are the days that build memories.  We all need more days like this.

Me and my crazy house

Welcome to my Crazy House.  Its just me,  my four kids, husband, one dog and two cats.  It is one crazy house, no doubt about it.  With 2 t(w)eens, a second grader and  an eight month old I barely have more than 5 minutes, when I'm not sleeping, to do anything that requires the use of both hands.  

Our house wasn't always crazy.  Then we decided to start a family. 

Corey and Jacob arrived together in 2001.  Adopted from Kazakstan at two and one years of age.  I skipped right past the honeymoon period that most parents get to experience.  Instead I was thrust right into the toddler stage with 2 needy (understandable so) little boys.  Corey had special needs which in itself had its own challenges.  But we did the best we could and both boys have grown, and I mean GROWN, into very handsome and well manner young men.

Christopher shocked us with his existence in 2004, after almost 10 years of trying to conceive.  He was born in spring 2005.  He is one sharp witted, smart and creative little boy.  He also keeps me running, just trying to keep up with his energy.

Anna Beth arrived 7 years later, after I had sworn I was DONE.  Three was enough for me, or so I thought.  I guess when God has a plan for you there is no ignoring it.  Today, I say three is for quitters ;-).  She is such a joy.  Such a happy, calm natured child.   She adds just the right amount of sweetness to balance out the boys.

So now I have the four kids I always said I wanted.