Water Balloons

I try and find something special for us to do as a family each weekend. Some weekends are better than others and I am not sure what factors contribute to the failure or success of my ideas.  The water balloons made everyone SMILE!!!  I did not use regular water balloons because honestly I can’t stand them!  They are tiny, hard to stretch over the faucet and are near impossible to tie. I bought regular balloons that are meant to be filled with air or helium.  Fill those babies with water and not only are they GIANT, but they will produce a lot of laughs and cold water once that bad boy explodes.  I filled the balloons inside and loaded them into a laundry basket.  Here are some pictures. The one of Jackson is my favorite. Look at the balloon sailing through theair ready to SPLAT! Look at the smile on his face. 

The fun lasted about 10 minutes and then they were bored again.

What is your family doing to enjoy the summer?  I am attempting to generate ideas, but I am asking, ‘hey help me think of some things to do!’ 

Now THAT'S True Love

We love out doggie, it's not a big secret. He's as much a part of this family as the children (who as I type are arguing back and forth and being stinky).  To express her love for this beloved puppy, Meredith has spread peanut butter on her forehead and allowed Buddy to lick it off. Here are some pictures to enjoy.

As you can probably tell the area that Buddy inhabits is definitely dogified. He's a digger and a hider.  It's like the instructions in shampoo..lather, rinse, repeat.  For him it's bury it, dig it up, repeat. 

 Annnnnnnd you can certainly tell. 

A Summer of Classic Reads

I've added a new series to compliment all the reading I plan to do this summer....or..uh..er..INTEND to do this summer.  I hpe you enjoy the list and share with me your lists! I am always interested in reading something someone else enjoyed.  My tastes vary widely so the doors are wide open.  Chime in anytime with your thoughts as I accept all feedback.  As long as you are kind. 

Grateful for my Gifts

In reading ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ I am reminded of a picture I saw a few months back that captures the essence of the Depression Era during the late 1920’s and 1930’s.  This picture helped define thatgeneration.  I am drawn to this time period particularly because of the suffering endured.  The poverty, starvation and general hopelessness. HOW did they do it? Was it not knowing anything different? Was it your lot in life? What did you have to say to yourselfto get from one day to the next, from one period of pennilessness to the next?  My admiration and pity for them is bone deep. 

This lady amazes me.  7 kids.  I have 2 and I know today is MUCH more fast paced than it was in the 30s but I struggle with the juggling act. I’d never imagine doing a similar juggle ~day in and day out~ with 7 little ones and frozen vegies, zero income. She’s 32. Look at her face!!!  She’s worn, dirty and tired looking.  She’s also looking hopeless to me.  Her kids are hurting and she’s at a loss to help them. What are some things they ask of her? Do they play? Does she have the luxury and desire to play withthem?  I wish I could ask her.  She makes me thankful for the life I had.  Even with all its pitfalls I am more than blessed to have the life I have. I have fallen into every wonderful thing I have in front of me and can’t express my gratitude enough.  WhenI was 32, I moved to a brand-new freshly built home. I had to clean, healthy children.  I drove a newer van and was making upward movement in my job. I loved my job.  I struggled with motherhood with a special needs 6 year old and a 4 year old and the expenseof daycare.  WOW, what problems I have….blah blah blah in comparison. No to say my struggles were not what they were but this perspective helps me stiffen up a little bit. I thank this nameless woman for that. She’s given me the gift of perspective. 

The explanation for her story is captured below; here is my source:  http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/128_migm.html

   


Here is her story:

I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her, but I do remember sheasked me no questions. I made five exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was thirty-two. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetablesfrom the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food. There she sat in that lean- to tent with her children huddled around her, and seemed to know that my pictures might help her, and so she helpedme. There was a sort of equality about it. (From: Popular Photography, Feb. 1960).

Share how God is working in your life on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog,be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for! Please read through the Gratituesday Guidelinesso that you understand what kinds of posts you can link up to share here. Posts that are linked but do not fit our Gratituesday theme will be deleted.

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Jackson's Sunshine

I am not sure who Elizabeth Stone is.  I googled her and she’s an author and apparently well received by those who love her.  All I know is she said this:

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone

How profound.  Little league baseball has taught me how true this is.  It’s AGONIZING to watch your child strike out, not fit in and wonder why all of it happens to him.  I am at a loss to explain. Sometimes things just happen. Mean kids hit home runs…the sweet kids strike out.  What is that!? I recall as a kid noticing these injustices and pondering a similar question. 

The boy being who he is accepts my answer without argument. Sometimes things just happen.  God has a plan for everyone and everything. Mean kids win because as some point there loss may be so profound it will change who they are; which is what they need.  Or perhaps nice kids are built with an awareness and a resilience that they are groomed to one day help the mean kids find their kinder side.  One never knows and I could go on forever and never find THE answer. I don’t believe there is a definite answer.

I know Jackson played ball last night and he hit 3 times.  He is so excited that he hit the ball he just sort of stood there stunned watching the ball sore overhead.  This resulted in an out at first. He was sad. He makes a face that tells me he wantsto cry but is working to NOT and that pains me more than anything.  Watching your child suffer a heartbreak even if it’s just little league is gut wrenching.  So we stole from the wonderful Carol Burnett and use the ear tug as a symbol of my love and affection for both of the kids especially during tough times.  I used my ear tug last night.  He tried to smile and shook his head.  Later in the car on the way home he said ‘I saw our secret language mom…thank you!’ and I was like YES!!!! He remembered, my timing was dead on and it helped! WOO HOO!!!!

Jackson went on to hit 2 more times scoring one 1 and a little guy struck out making the 3rd out so Jackson had to leave base and come on back to the dugout.  He didn’t care becausehe got on base.  That’s all he wants. He’s so simple and easy to please. I just love that child! I am not sure how I got so lucky as to get to spend a life with him.  But I won't question for too long.  I'd rather enjoy it.



Do you have any secret symbols or means of communication with your kiddos you’d like to share? Consider creating something with them if they are receptive.  My kids feel special because of this.  They have a tie to me that’s unique to just us 3.  It’s love disguised as an innocent gesture but speaks to your heart when used.  Provide me your thoughts ladies! Happy Tuesday!

Karen

Silly String Tag

For Father’s day we did things up a little, not a ton but a little.  Daddy got to sleep in which in the Brunner house is HUGE. I think in those early years if you could purchase time to sleep in, we’d have done it.  Jackson was not a sleeper at all andonly this summer has he started sleeping past 5 – 5:30 am…every single day.  God Bless Baseball.

Anyway, I digress…..

My kids and I went out a few weeks ago and bought daddy some clothes…badly needed clothes.  Boyfriend is wearing shirts with holes and stains and just gross.  In a way he’s my business card..he looks bad and it doesn’t fair to well for me. So we boughtlike 6 shirts. I had the kids put on the shirts and it was funny..they looked like really tiny people in very big clothes.They ran to him and attacked him…it was comical. It all happened so fast, I forgot to grab my camera. 

We grilled steak for dinner with green beans and grilled texas toast.  It was terrific.  After that we celebrated with a game of silly string tag.  Object of the game was to unload your can of silly string on the poor person who can’t run faster than hispursuer.  Unfortunately Meredith was at the short end of that stick.  It was SO HOT this weekend and the string that landed in her hair was hard to get out.  She was covered.  I tried to grab the camera before everyone pulled off their evidence of loss, butI was not fast enough.  Meredith was our proud looser. 

The rules!?  You have 60 seconds to find a hiding spot. No spraying cars, no spraying in the garage and no spraying Buddy.  He’d be really cute covered in silly string through.  It was a good time. 

Karen

Pots and Pans

I've learned many over the years of cooking for the family and the marathon cooking I've been doing of late because of that blessed deep freeze.  Here's a list because I love lists. 

• You need a plan!! That's why I include my menu plan fo the next 2 weeks including 'extras' to make so we're good and stocked up. 
• Make sure you have all the ingredients on hand that you will  need. I know I make my menu plan with extras and then grab the notebook and make my list based on that.  It's a cumbersome task to start with but planning a wedding is costly time wise and $ wise, but you wouldn't have one without careful planning.  To me this is no different. 
• Have all your supplies. I fyou have to invest in more utinsels or pans or whatever, go for it.  This is a long term plan for me to cook lots and lots until my kids leave the house. The rate at which they are eating and the time I invest in just the food maintenance, I need to work smarter, not harder.

This last bullet leads me to the purpose of this post.  I GOT 2 NEW PANS.  Yeah, exciting for me; others, perhaps not so much.  It cost me $20 for these 2 pans but I save myself time and effort when I can cook 4 things at one time instead of 1 item at a time, washing everything after use so I can use it again. I have been working with 1 big pan and 2 sauce pans, 2 skillets and 1 set of measuring cups.  I bought more measuring cups and THE PANS!!  I am so excited.  At the same time today I am going to prepare chili to freeze and mashed potatoes to freeze. I found a BIG bag of tatoes at a good price so them in the car.

In addition to the chili and potatoes I've made breakfast burritos, pudding pops, pizza pockets (2 cheese and 2 with pepperoni, sausage, mushroom and green pepper) and 4 dozen pigs in a blanket.  My freezer is smiling because it's fulfilling its freezer destiny and my feet hurt.  Hopefully I can talk my sweet youngin' into a food rub later.

Happy cooking! What did you cook today or over the hot weekend!?

Puddin' Pops

It's like 90 degrees here and I am not a fan of the heat. So not only are we trying to be createive in how/where we spend our time so as not to vanish into a pool of sweat, we are looking for tasty yummy COOLING summer treats. 

Bill Cosby spoke to me as if from beyond.


I'm kidding.  I love Bill but we did not buy jello brand pudding pops, we made our own. 

Found the little pop-gadget at the dollar store so guess what I learned:

1. The gadget, 2 c of milk and pudding equals about maybe $3 on the generous side and this made 8 pops with pudding left over.  CHEAP CHEAP!!!!
2. I KNOW what's in them so it's a goodness-treat.
3. I still love Bill but he's better in his standup-getup 'Himself'.

Happy Hot Saturday!
Karen

Dinner Menu June 17 - 29

I menu plan 2 weeks at a time. I do this because it’s the way the $ comes to the family and I shop for 2 weeks AND I don’t plan breakfast, lunch or snacks. So it’s relatively easy for me to pull off 2 weeks and some extras for the freezer.  To start with, I made a spreadsheet of dinner items that 3 of 4 Brunner’s will eat.  If you are the 4th man out who won’t eat the la-la-la-la-la-sagna, you can fend for yourself. I thing bowls of cerealare wonderful dinner options. J  I try and peruse through recipes on a regular basis and try new things so I can add to the list, but June has been an excessively busy month and I’m lucky to get diner on the table, kitchen cleaned,coffee made for the AM and games out of the way much before 11 at night.  Sooooooo…..I got some catch up to do but that is what July is for. 

Anyhoo I’ll include links when I can because the wonderful women of the internet have helped to groom to be this crazy  planning freezing busy mom.  I love them all dearly.  Copy off me who’s copied off of them.  Tweek as you go, you’d be surprised howit becomes easier over time.

I still need help getting my freezer organized so if you have ideas HOLLER!!!!!!  A * next to the item says it’s frozen or part of it is frozen shaving loads of time. 

Sunday June 17
Grilled Steak*, baked potatoes, salad
Monday June 18
Crock Pot Ham*, cubed/parslied potatoes (fries for Jackson), green beans
Tuesday June 19
Pork chops*, corn, applesauce, bread and butter
Wednesday June 20
 Breakfast for Dinner (probably waffles* or French toast, a meat and fruit)
Thursday June 21
Meatloaf*, mashed potatoes*, green beans
Friday June 22
Grilled burgers* and dogs*,  bbq beans, salad
Saturday June 23
Frozen pizza* night with Bread Sticks
Sunday June 24
Grilled chicken*,  noodles, corn
Monday June 25
Breakfast for Dinner (probably biscuits and gravy, eggs and fruit)
Tuesday June 26
Chicken and Rice Casserole*
Wednesday June 27
Spaghetti* Night with Garlic Bread
Thursday June 28
Fried Chicken*, mashed potatoes*, green beans
Friday June 29
Frozen Pizza* night with Bread Sticks

Extras to make and nibble on throughout the week OR freeze for later use
Pigs in a Blanket               Mashed Potatoes
Veggie mac-n-cheese             Pizza pockets
Chicken fried steak             Chicken and rice casserole
Ham and corn chowder            Hamburger patties
Breakfast burritos              Taco soup

Continuously available Breakfast Foods
Waffles*
Pancakes
Cereal
Poptarts
Smoothies (frozen fruit and juice and blend)
Applesauce bread*
Lemon poppy seed bread*
Strawberry Banana Muffins*
 
Karen

Monster Sauce Update

Okay the best NEWS ever arrived today! I ran off without my lunch today. It’s a bummer because it was already paid for BUT it was also really, really good.  Yummy treats captured inside he spotted pack-it.  So I walk myself downstairs here at work to thecafé to get the usual, well-priced burger and fries…and the  monster sauce.  I am about to indulge in the first bite and what do I notice?? THEY CHANGED THE MAYO!  I think it’s miracle whip! It’s gross! I don’t like it even little bit!

The moral of the story here is:  A loss can sometimes be a gain.  This particular loss will help me NOT gain!  :-)

Karen

Grateful for Healthy Kids

I grumble about my kids eating habits from time to time, maybe not here but my co-workers certainly hear about it and often share in the sentiment!  They like what they like. They don’t like what they don’t like, flecks of stuff like the horrid parsleybits or cheese that is slightly browned is ‘burnt’.  So they won’t eat it.  I say if you are hungry enough you’ll eat bout anything but not these ya-hoos.  They dig their heels in and go without before they’ll even consider stomaching the tomato soup made withmilk rather than water. 
Hang on….I’m switching to another story.
One of my first experiences with teaching children’s church included a visit from the father of 2 boys in the class.  He was sporting a backpack.  He says to me ‘the boy’s epi-pens are in there; if you need to use them please do. The needle will go throughthe jeans and then come get us. We’ve never had to use them but it’s better to be safe than sorry.’  I hate to think what my face said to the man but my brain was SO FREAKED OUT I was speechless. That doesn’t happen often so, it’s noted.  After the craft/activitywe have a snack. I’ve never been so afraid to feed  group of kids in all my life.  I kept searching the package for a peanut warning as peanuts were the major offender but cheese is also on the list. I am guessing the effects are not as instant or violent butI was shaking in my shoes I tell ya.  And this family has 2 boys in this position.
And the point to all this is……….
I’ve never been more grateful in my life for my allergy free, picky eaters!!!!!  I can’t imagine the anxiety you must tote around when you have a peanut allergy person in your home. Perhaps you get used to it but to sit back and imagine it gives me hives. Thank you GOD for my wonderful, healthy children who you blessed with very good health.  God does not give us sick kids but at this point, I refuse to split hairs. I’m eternally grateful. 

Share how God is working in your life on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for! Please read through the Gratituesday Guidelines so that you understand what kinds of posts you can link up to share here. Posts that are linked but do not fit our Gratituesday theme will be deleted.

If you are linking up a blog post for Gratituesday,
please copy and paste the following sentence into your post! Thanks!

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Karen  

I found a few favorite site today. I do a lot of research usually before I take the kids to see movies or let them pick out a rental. I found parentpreviews.com and it’s a wonderful source for all things movies. These guys are not critics…they are real people who dissect a film for all of the things I look for: drug and alcohol references, smoking references, curse words or heavily sexual innuendos. These guys look at all that and then rate based on the things said or done in the film. They don’t argue about plot of consistence or the use of characters. I know my kids and what they will tolerate and so far, this site has not failed to provide the information to help me make sure I choose wisely. 

Meredith is a sensitive soul so certain situations make her uncomfortable. Take Rango for example. As a 4^th grade class trip, the teacher organized a class family trip to the theater to see Rango. The teacher checked the reviews and indicated there were some scenes that might be bothersome for some children. I did not consult this site and I wish I would have because within the first 2 minutes of the film, the headless Barbie doll without clothing bothered my daughter and made my son think it was okay to discuss the ‘headless Barbie boobies’. Pardon my own personal reference but you can see how something fun ended up in a series of time outs for Jackson until he learned we won’t tolerate that in our house even if it was in a movie. 

Use this site; it’s a lifesaver for the parents of the world with young, impressionable children.

 Karen

What's With All the Complaining?

So all my moaning....check this out.  Look what the little girl did for me today. I told you she was scripty and pink!!!

WHAT A WEEKEND!!!!

So this weekend is going to be one of those weekends where it flies by and I round around like a crazy person and when Monday hits I am gonna feel like I got duped out of a weekend.

Here’s why (I can sum it up in 2 bullets since I ‘heart’ lists):

1. Tumbling Recital starring Meredith
2. My Mother and the hubby’s mother will be here; my mother camped out for 2 nights, 3 days

I am pooped already. I have so much to do. Here’s the list (yeah, I know):

1. Take a la-la-la-la-la-sagna meal to a church couple who just had their 3^rd kiddo.

1. Must be cooked and packaged
2. Garlic bread cooked and packaged
3. Dessert is done, just needs packaged
4. Load into car
5. Find their house with the junk instructions given to me by the sleep deprived father of the house

2. Finish the job on Meredith’s recital costume. It’s cute..CUTE but it’ s put my sewing-ish skills to the test

6. I glue, tie and staple. I do not sew. Until this.
7. The costume is wore for 2 years. So with the legs being a mile longer than they need to be, I have to find a way to tape them on the inside and careful to not cut too much off so she’s a tall girl in flood pants next year.
8. Costumes are $64…so don’t screw it up!!

3. Both of the mothers are going to be here for the event.

9. It’s wonderful news…really.
10. I just have to entertain, change the bedding, cook, clean, listen to the same stories over and over and over again, juggle the children, do my regular weekend chores and errands (because there are a few must-do’s that don’t stop for company), fix the costume, do her hair, do her makeup and have her to rehearsal by 8:45 tomorrow am.
11. We live 40 minutes from recital location making Saturday an EARLY AM!!! Ugh!

I whine and complain but really in the end it’s going to be a wonderful weekend. If this was my daughter’s blog, do you know what it would say?? Something like this (I choose pink, scripted font because she talks with a pink, scripted voice:

‘This weekend is my tumbling recital and I am so excited. Mom made my outfit look extra pretty and she’ll do my hair and make-up just as pretty.

Guess what?! Both of my grandmas will be here to watch me tumble and my mom will make yummy food for us the whole weekend!

It will be the best weekend ever!!’

So I am trumped. Bless that child for her perspective and kind heart.