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4 Moments from Our 4th – July 2009

July 9, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

Just 4 moments I loved from our 4th of July, 2009.

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First, of course, is our kids.  Yes, they do huddle frequently for a shot together, because I ask them to, and they oblige me. However…they put themselves in this order most every time. The triplets always scramble around each other saying “Birth order, birth order!”.  And then {A} jumps on at the end. lol  Being the orderly person that I am, I don’t argue. : )  It rather pleases me, actually.

I can’t tell you how much I LOVE this next photo of {O}?…..

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“I LOVE THIS PHOTO OF {O}!”

Yes, she actually is that cool.  Those are my shades she has on. But she’s cool without them, too.

She has also lost that last front tooth, since this photo was taken.  PRAISE THE LORD!  The last of the trio’s top front teeth are all out.

Speaking of teeth…..here’s one to throw you…….

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molars

This is {A}.  I can’t tell you how happy I was that this dang molar finally came out!!  It’s been bugging her for, I don’t know…months.   Is it any wonder why it bothered her so, now that we can see?  Look at the tooth that was already up underneath it.  All I can say is….Amen.

I have to mention…..we actually lost yet ANOTHER tooth in the house since these 2.   Yes…that would be 3 teeth in 5 days.  I think we’ve been losing a tooth every other day since winter, or something.  With triplet 6 year-olds and a pre-teen, that’s where we’re at in life right now.  I won’t freak you out, and tell you how we have to keep them all.

Just to help you get those disturbing images out of your head, I will leave you with what might be one of the sweetest American moments there ever was…….

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Can you see what it going on there?  Need a closer look?  Ok…..

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My sweet, sweet, thoughtful boy, is feeding the grasshopper… a blade of grass.  It was taking bites, too!

<shaking head> If that’s not what America is all about, I don’t know what is.

Hope your 4th was full of moments to remember, too!

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Filed Under: Celebrations, Holidays, The Big Picture Tagged With: 4th of July, grasshopper, grasshopper-photos, kids-losing-teeth, triplets

Our Baker’s Dozenth Birthday – Our Oldest Kiddo

July 7, 2009 By Laura 3 Comments

{A} turned 12 years old on Sunday. She’s our oldest kiddo. And our baker.
We thought we’d share with you a bit about her day, while more importantly, documenting this special day for her, when she’s older. aspancakewishduo Her birthday morning started out as all birthday mornings do around here…..with the birthday pancakes, of course.  Daddy always makes birthday number pancakes, usually by cutting out the numbers.   But this time he surprised us all, with yet another twist of his pancake creativity.

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If you’d like to use this idea for a special birthday celebration in your own family sometime, how he did this is too easy to believe.  He just took a sharp razor, and very gently cut the numbers through just the very, very top of the pancake, and peeled off the surface of the numbers.  That’s it!! Easy.

If you’re wondering, once in awhile our kids do have butter and syrup on their pancakes. But most times they love just eating them with strawberry yogurt.

I remember the night of laboring with {A} very clearly.  Getting to the hospital, through the fireworks traffic was no small task.  Of course, being a first time mother, panting through what sure felt like intense contractions to me, I was sure she was coming out any second. I always laugh at that memory, as I learned with the passing of time, that I wasn’t feeling much of anything yet, compared to what was coming! One LONG night of labor, with contractions that intensified and multiplied by the hour! A pure, natural, drug-free labor rewarded me well at 10:08 a.m. , with the most beautiful and sweetest little face I had ever seen in my life.

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She truly kick-started our journey of parenthood that day, and we could never have imagined the ride she would take us on.  The transformation of watching her grow, learn, grow, shine, grow, create, grow, give, grow, dream, grow, plan….and grow some more, has been amazing to witness.  She’s a tad taller than I am already!

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{A} truly is a dreamer.  She plans out her life, in detail, cultivates her skills almost daily, and those dreams and plans grow all of the time.

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She loves to bake. She is baking in our kitchen way too often, and I’m telling you,  it’s not jiving with my clothing sizes!  But oohhhh….. she is such a wonderful baker! She loves to research recipes, experiment with them and put her own twist on them to make it more her own. She has been collecting recipes and writing a cookbook in her laptop computer for probably a year now.  She is also a HUGE fan of Bakerella.….and asks if there is a new post on a daily basis.

So it was easy to figure out the kinds of things I knew she would be thrilled with to receive as surprises on her birthday…..

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Baking cookbooks…….

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and most anything……

…and everything…..

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…to do with BAKING!!

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She was really excited to see the cake decorating tips set!  That’ll take some practicing for sure!  (Oh darn….what ever will we do with all of those cupcakes!!  We just love cupcakes. And her Daddy really-(really)-loves-cake!)

I found some really fabulous baking cookbooks at the book store, on the discount shelves!  I was thrilled with that!  I actually went in to see if I could find a copy of Black Beauty, and {O} spotted and suggested the cookbooks!  What a great idea that little one had! Just beautiful books.

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This one, above,  has a great section in the beginning on all kinds of bake ware information.  Photos of what various pans or tools look like, what they are called, and what they are used for.  Then there is also photo-illustrated examples  of various baked goods on ‘what went wrong’.  These display common mistakes with baking, what they look like, and how to avoid them next time.  Very educational for the baker enthusiast!

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This is a great book too!!

She has just been pouring over these cookbooks since Sunday, and has even let the little ones join her in reading about them, deciding which ones look extra good, and which items to try and bake first.

Despite all of the baking that goes on, we are a pretty health-conscious family.  (It’s true!) Even {A} is always checking the amounts and kinds of fat involved, and how many grams of sugar.  We don’t eat much processed food at all, and really attempt to have a healthy daily diet.  Thankfully, the kids are all great eaters, and have never been especially picky.  But I must admit.  The more {A} has gotten into baking, the more goodies we’ve all been eating.  Not every day by any means.  But, more than we ever used to.

We all always choose what kind of cake we want on our birthday, and she did the same this year.  So it’s probably no surprise, she insisted on baking her own cake, herself.

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For once, it wasn’t actually from scratch, but I was pleased with what she chose:  Duncan Hines Blueberry Streusel cake.  Made with whole wheat!  It actually tasted wholesome and healthy.  It was very good.  And as of today, it’s GONE.

There’s no doubt that this girl is really passionate about anything she is interested in.  She goes above and beyond delving into anything that tickles her fancy.   Whatever she decided to do, we know she’ll succeed, and we know she’ll be happy  She just has a light about her, that I can’t imagine will ever go out.  I think part of it comes from her deep, spiritual faith, that is pretty astounding at her age.  It’s certainly the core of who she is, and maybe that’s where that light comes from.  Whatever it is, I just pray she keeps on shining.  And may that light ALWAYS be BRIGHT and HOT enough, to keep baking  some goodies  for us now and then!    : )   That would be SWEEEEET!

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Happy Birthday, Darlin’!   Shine On!!

So on birthdays in our family, no one ever works or has school, and we spend the day together doing something fun together, per request of the birthday person (or people, in the case of the triplets. lol).  This birthday just happened to land on a Sunday.  We also always have (number) pancakes, and cake of choice.

So our question to you is:  Do you have any birthday traditions in your family?  If so, what are they?

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Filed Under: Baking, Celebrations, Recipes, The Big Picture Tagged With: Baking, birthday pancakes, family-birthday-ideas, gifts-for-someone-who-loves-to-bake, kids-baking, sibling-love, siblings, triplets

A 6 Star Date – A Discipline System -Parenting

June 29, 2009 By Laura 7 Comments

In parenting, we’re always looking for new ideas to keep encouraging good character trait development in our children.  Quite a few weeks ago, I came up with this star discipline system, and so far, it has been going quite well for our children.  (Ages triplets 6, 6, 6 and old child 11.) We thought we’d share the concept of our idea with all of you other parents out there, today.  And then give you a peak into some of the most special moments, that came from the success of this system.

parenting positive discipline systems

I put all of the kids names on this chalk board, giving them each a few sections in vertical columns.   When any one or more of the kids has an exceptional day, we give them a star on the chalkboard under their name, after they’ve gone to bed.  Now, an exceptional day equates a day full of good and wise behavioral choices, exercising compassion and/or sacrifice for others, and overall behavior that exemplifies that which we expect of our children.

 

It really has to be a great day for them, to get a star. If they have an ok day, but not really STAR behavior, naturally we discuss with them what better choices they should have made in the moment, but nothing happens on the board.  But if they make a big, bad choice…..one that they well KNOW is unacceptable, they get an immediate X on the board in that big middle section. X’s  mean a consequence for their poor choice. Trust me when I say, no one likes getting an X around here.  But they sure love striving for a star.

Let me tell you why I think this has been effective exercise for ALL of us….so far. : )    It saves us a whole lot of talking, to start. If they make a horrible choice, we put an X on the board right there and then.  They KNOW what they did was a poor choice, and I tend to talk their ear off in the heat of the moment, personally.  So really….the X says it all, and they know what it means. We may talk it over later when they apologize, just to solidify why we agree there were better choices to be made . Thankfully we haven’t had too many of those X’s. We don’t like giving them, and they surely don’t like getting them.

The great thing, is that they are really inspired by their stars.  The very first thing they do in the morning is check if they got a star for the day before.  We’ve even heard some of them get up very early to use the bathroom, but sneak in the kitchen first to take a peek.  It’s just so cute.  And it’s great to see that it matters to them!  If they see any, it really starts their day off with encouragement.  And that can only be a good thing. This discipline system is a constant visual reminder, right there in the kitchen all of the time, that speaks volumes about how they are doing.

The big goal for each of them is 6 stars.  6 is the magic number in our family, because of course, there are 6 of us in our family. It’s a sentimental number I guess. lol. So when they reach 6, they have earned something special.  We have never been big into rewarding the kids for every little thing, because there is just a level of expectation in terms of behavior from them, anyway. The reward is often no consequence! lol.  But this sort of reflects more what happens in life:  working hard and making good choices in the long run, will pay off. On the flip side:  Making poor choices only bring unpleasant natural consequences to oneself, whether immediately or eventually.

Well, {S} was the first one to reach 6 stars.  I decided to surprise him by taking him out, all by himself with me, for ice cream at Holy Cowz!  It was a date for just the two of us. But we thought we’d let you just peek in, anyway.

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Holy Cowz is a great little fun walk-in place to get ice cream cones or sundaes.  It has a small counter area, with a black and white checkered tile floor, and colors everywhere.

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{S} got a chocolate and vanilla swirl soft-serve cone.  We decided to head upstairs and sit while he had it,  since outside was not a real warm and nice day.

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He looked so excited with that cone in his hand, and just be on ‘a date’ with Mama.

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I told him he better get licking!!

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I decided I really didn’t need an ice cream cone myself.  So I settled for a bag of BBQ chips.

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Somehow, it seemed like a better choice at the time.  Maybe because, <clearing throat>, I had 4 cookies before I left the house.  Not that chips is a healthy choice. But it’s not so much of more sugar.

As I was sitting there, fiddling with my camera, the shutter went off accidentally……and I got this shot!…..

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I had to keep it because I was rather impressed at how well (and artsy!) this accidental shot came out!
At the same time, it made me question all of my supposed photography skills. lol

{S} was just so cute sitting across from me, smiling and so content with his cone.  He wanted the window seat so he could watch the cars and trucks go by out on the street.  But eventually, he invited me over to sit right beside him.  After all, we were on a date.  <melt>

So I slid in beside him, with my heart all a-flutter, and we giggled.  Then we decided it would be fun to try and get a shot of us together, via the automatic timer……

parenting positive discipline

After a few tries to get IN the shot, we managed.  Once again, I was rather impressed, and wondered if my camera ever needed me behind it at all.

Once we were done with our treats, we went up the street to browse an antique store that we both love looking around in.   I contemplated taking my camera in just to take some fun shots, but all I did was take this one….

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…and no sooner did I take it, did the owner come out and asked me if I just took a picture of her place.  Oh brother.  I decided she was going to be a funny one I didn’t want to deal with so….I left the camera in the van.  Saw a ton of stuff in there I wanted to buy though!!  But I didn’t because it was a poor choice that day to spend money, and poor choices have natural consequences.  Right, Kids?!

So this was all weeks ago, and the chart system still seems to be going quite well.  Getting stars is still just as exciting, and getting an X is still just as upsetting.
That’s the goal!

Since {S}’s special date, all of the kids have had 6 star dates, a couple of times.  What they get always varies…..it depends on the kid.  Sometimes we let them choose something reasonable, sometimes we surprise them. But it is usually involves doing something fun, with one of us parents.  They love the one-on-one time with Mama or Daddy anyway, and we feel it’s important to have with them as well. One has gone fishing, another has gone bike riding, one even asked for a bath.   Yes, getting a bath is special around here.  We just can’t fill the tub over and over with clean hot water for each kid….and I don’t like the alternative either. So….showers it is.  Which they also love. But you can really PLAY in a bath.

Oh….and for every 6 stars each of them has gotten, they’ve gotten a tally in the upper section.  Those don’t add up to any special number where they get anything special.  They feel good just to see them up there.   And So. Do. We!

We hope you enjoyed this post, and perhaps gathered some inspiration, to either try this specific discipline system in your family, if your kids are about the right ages, or come up with your own creative system of positive parenting, that works for you.
Take care, and see you gain here soon.

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Filed Under: Celebrations, Life In General, Parenting, The Big Picture Tagged With: character-formation-ideas-for-parents, discipline-systems, disciplining-children, Parenting, parenting-one-on-one-dates, positive-parenting, raising-good-kids

A Simple Pentecost Sunday with Kids

June 6, 2009 By Laura 4 Comments

Our Pentecost Sunday this year was really quite simple. Not quite the more elaborate occasion we made it last year.  But it was nice anyway.  Acknowledging it was the most important thing to us, starting with Mass.  But the kids (6, 6, 6, 11) spent the morning, before leaving for Mass, trying to remember and name all 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit, the 12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit, and the 12 apostles.

But when we got home, we did decide to make some Holy Spirit cupcakes.

pentecost-for-kids_2

We added orange and yellow food coloring and attempted to make the frosting into peaks, to resemble the fire of the Holy Spirit that descended upon the apostles, of course.   Our technique and the outcome may have been a little lacking, but the kids had fun, and thought it all was awesome!


They wasted no time taste-testing one themselves, and you can bet Daddy and I joined them!  They were indeed delicious!   Such a light frosting that we whipped up.

We spent a good part of the day outdoors.  But later on in the day, as I came out from my computer cubby, I found {J} right there in his chair, intensely reading a Bible story.  Guess which one?

I just love these signs, that they truly are listening, and taking it all in.   : )   When we discuss a Bible story, or get home from Mass, one or other of the little ones often go grab one of their Bibles, knowing just where to find that story in the pages, to read again.  So, as if seeing him do this wasn’t enough to please a mother, I look up, and just look at what I see happening across the room……….

{O} giving {S} a foot rub!  He looked quite relaxed, reading some Bible stories himself.  It almost brought a tear to my eye.  Not only because it was an incredibly loving sight to see, but because I was jealous!!  ; )   I love foot rubs.  Or foot squeezes.  Probably much more than the average person, and my kids are really good at giving them.

I’m wondering: Are you actually still thinking about the cupcakes as you’ve been reading along here, wishing you could have one right now?  Be truthful now!! It’s o.k. – I understand!  I would be doing the same thing!

Well, your in luck!  Because we saved you one!!

ENJOY!!

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Filed Under: Baking, Celebrations, Drinks, Faith, Faith/ Catholic, Recipes, The Big Picture, Traditions, Treats Tagged With: Catholic, Catholic Pentecost, Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, Catholic-kids, Holy Spirit cupcakes, Pentecost, Pentecost-ideas-for-kids, triplets

My Mother’s Day in Photos

May 11, 2009 By Laura 4 Comments

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french-toast

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mine

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flowers

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We hope you had a lovely Mother’s Day too!

Please share with us a little about your special day!

Edited to Add:  It occurred to me, that not all husbands /children/families, may be thoughtful on such days as these.  Not every family does things the same way, either. So with that being said, I would just like to say that I hope & pray every one of you mothers felt the love and honor from your loved ones, on this Mother’s Day.  If your day was less than you hoped, know that you truly are worthy of all you wished it was, in your heart.

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Filed Under: Celebrations, The Big Picture Tagged With: celebrations, family, Mother's Day, ourhouseofjoyfulnoise.com

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