Two of a Kind

Don't you just love it when they dress themselves?

What Would Stacy London Say?

I've mentioned that I've been cleaning and tossing and organizing lately~ and hence, not blogging much. I've gone through every piece of my children's clothing that isn't stored in the crawlspace and making the kids put on little fashion shows while I decide what fits and what doesn't. Man does it feel nice to have all of the clothes put away coherently! I ushered out and stored all of the outgrown things, tossed the grubby looking things, brought in the next sizes up and assessed what was lacking in their wardrobes. Although I haven't been snapping pictures of our apparel adventures, here is my one piece of proof: my David~ who apparently has a fashion sense all his own and disagreed with half of the pile headed for the door. (And for the record it is: fuzzy sweater, short denim overalls, fuzzy sweatpants.)


And stay tuned! I hope to post our baby announcement prototype sometime early this week!

Banana Mega Muffins

So, I've begun the freezer stash. I'm slowly packing freezable food away in the large basement freezer for after baby arrives. On Saturday, on a trip to the grocery store, I came across bags and bags of bananas that weren't as yellow as the others for $0.35/ lb. Of course I grabbed a lot because we go through a ton of bananas and I had muffins on my mind. I used some for the recipe below and still had quite a few to keep in the freezer. Muffins are a great kid breakfast or snack food because after they're done baking, they require no heating or milk (unlike cereal) or spoons, etc. Toss them a good muffin and they're very happy. I made these mega muffins with my extra large muffin pan so they can split one and be satisfied. As almost always, I experimented with a few good banana muffin / bread recipes and put the best parts together for my recipe. I had my exceedingly honest test panel (Tim) give me the hard truth and the panel said that he was very impressed. So here you have it, my new favorite banana mega muffin recipe. (I doubled this recipe and it made 22 mega muffins.)

• 2+ cups mashed bananas
• 2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 C applesauce
  
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs, slightly beaten
  
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Combine the bananas, sour cream and applesauce. When combined, add in the the eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Combine the flour and baking soda and baking powder and salt with the wet ingredients and make sure it is well incorporated, but don't overmix. Pour into muffin cups and bake about 20 mins. Let them cool if you can, but these are great warm from the oven too.

Bits of Randomness

The Purge Continues...

It has been so great to be getting rid of all the things that have been cluttering up our home (and lives) lately. I've made a big list of all the areas in our home to go through and sort, purge and organize. I've found stuff all over the place that we don't need or use or want. It is so freeing to just let it go and step that inch closer to a simple organized life.

As you probably guessed from the last purging post, we are heading toward a garage sale in a few weeks now. However, we will be learning from our mistakes last time and doing a few things differently. First off, I'm inviting a few more families to take part. This makes for a bigger sale and really great company during the sale. The second thing is we will be advertising, advertising advertising. Two years ago we only used craigslist, but this time we will have signs and ads in the newspaper and craigslist, too.

Lately, I've been really in love with Craigslist. As you know, we got our free $90 stroller with their help, but also, I've been selling bigger things in a sort of a pre-garage-sale sale, just to get the big stuff out. I cannot even tell you what we've sold in the last few weeks! They include: a dining room table, a tv, a mini fridge, a few outside ride-on toys, a large hall tree, a small hutch- and much more. They were mostly things we bought right after we were married. And I've got more listings to go, ready to be posted tomorrow. With part of the money, we bought something that we've been wanting for a long time. Real bookcases. Pretty Bookcases. Now they hold all of our theology books and classic novels and lots more. Our hardbacks look so nice now! I'm even reserving a spot on the bottom shelf of each for a better looking container of toys. Maybe galvanized buckets, but we're not there yet. (And guess what is next on my list of things to sell? Yep~ the old laminated bookshelves. It's continuing the cycle!)



Also, I am now 27 weeks pregnant and you know what that means~ 3rd trimester. So apart from all of the nesting and sorting and cleaning and organizing and schooling, I am also making myriad lists for baby A's arrival. This week I'm working on food prep for the family while I am laid up. As I type, I have a 22lb turkey in the oven that I will carve and make into a few casseroles and other dinners and stick in the freezer for the baby adjustment period. I'm starting on the food now because gathering ingredients and all of the big batch cooking will take a while. It feels really great to be getting prepared!

Beautiful Provision

I am in love. I love this little guy who has yet to be seen. He's so active (he'll fit in well with his brothers), and even my OB called him a wild child because he wouldn't stay still during the last appointment. Dabney's infant car seat is about to expire at the end of the year so I've been checking out deals for new infant seats and found a great deal on this seat by Graco. (Do I ever pay retail for anything?) I love it. I love to carry it and I love all the features and I love the colors. I feel like I know so much more now about baby gear than I did when we were pregnant the first time. Anyway, I figured that we'd be ok with sticking the new car seat in the double stroller and going on our merry way without a "travel system". I've been trying for a long time to be content with what God gives us and not looking for "the next thing".

However, Tim and I like to check out the free section of Craigslist every now and then. So last Saturday night we were looking around online and found a family about 5 minutes from us giving away a free Graco stroller that had a broken wheel~ that just happened to be brand new and just happened to match and fit our new carseat. Coincidence? No way. I picked it up that night and set to work to fix the wheel. It took a bit of time and some Gorilla Glue to get it set just right, but the wheel is as good as new now and spins and turns just as it should. God is always faithful to provide and we are so thankful for what He has graciously given.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

We thought you'd like to see your furniture in it's current location. And, for the record, we love it so much! See that sheen on the chair in the second picture? Yep. I did that this weekend so that the kids don't ruin the chairs. The blue sideboard holds most of our homeschool books and tools. I can't believe how good God is to us sometimes, with these blessings unforeseen. As you can see from the pictures above, the kids love doing their schoolwork at the new table, and I feel like Mom in my seat closest to the hutch. We recently sprung for Math-U-See and Dabney's been zooming through the recent lessons. David, on the other hand, only wants to build things with the manipulatives, but that keeps him occupied while I'm teaching Dabney. Anyway, I have to get back to the kiddos and the household duties, which seem to be legion today. Love you, Mom and Dad! Thank you again!

A Faint Light at the End of the Tunnel!

(Before the baby comes, that is...)

Overheard

"Dabney, you make the macaroni and I'll get the mail."

This week I've been clearing out the clutter and spring cleaning~ so there's my excuse for not posting in a week. What a job! So much we don't need or don't use or have outgrown. Today, I'm listing things on Craigslist after spending most of yesterday in the basement and crawlspace. The thing the kids are playing with in the pictures above is on the list to find another home, but don't tell them just yet. I'll wait until naptime. It feels so wonderful to purge and clear out and get rid of the excess! I can't wait until it's all done.