Pumpkin pancakes and Buttermilk Syrup

Last night I made breakfast for dinner and I've been wanting to try these Pumpkin Pancakes from Pioneer Woman. I changed the recipe just a little and made Buttermilk Syrup to go with them. Before we ate I didn't tell the kids they were pumpkin because I didn't know if they would think that was gross or what. But after the first bite all I heard from them was how yummy they were. I think Colin's words were, "I don't know if it's the pancakes or the syrup, but this is the best thing you've ever made." Really? Wow. To get a food compliment from that boy is HUGE. Logan loved them as well and ate a ton of them (5 or 6) and Trevor raved, like always since that boy will eat anything. This recipe is definitely a keeper and something that will be fun to make in the fall for special breakfasts or for a fun dinner. Here are the recipes:

Pumpkin Pancakes (this recipe made 30 silver dollar pancakes)
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin (or fresh pureed pumpkin)
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Mix dry ingredients and spices. In a separate bowl combine the wet ingredients and mix until well blended. Mix into dry and stir until moistened. (I added chocolate chips to half the batter).

Buttermilk Syrup (tastes like caramel)
In a sauce pan melt 1 stick of butter. Add 1 tablespoon corn syrup, 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/4 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup milk). Bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Immediately remove from heat and do not allow to come to a full boil or it will curdle. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. It will foam up, so make sure the pan is big enough. Serve while still warm.

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?

It always seems like as soon as fall is here people start thinking about Christmas. Forget Halloween or Thanksgiving, it's all about the shopping and gift-giving. In years past, my husband and I have done Christmas shopping in different ways. Sometimes (when the kids were too young to get it) there were just a few presents under the tree and we kept things simple. In more recent years we have wandered around the store trying to figure out what to put in the basket to make sure each kid was getting the same amount of stuff. Not a lot of thought went into the gifts and it was more about filling the space under the tree than anything else. But last year things changed. I read this blog post about how one family decided to change the way they did Christmas. I loved it. I wanted to do it. So Dave and I sat down and made a list, took some gifts back to the store and let the kids know that Christmas was going to be different. Instead of the pile of gifts under the tree everyone was going to get 4. Just 4 gifts. At first the kids were a little upset, but when we explained to them how we need to focus on what Christmas really was about and not so much on getting stuff they were okay. And they remember. Trevor keeps suggesting things he might want for his "read" gift this year or his "want" gift. The boys asked the other day if they needed to start making a list for their 4 gifts. Makes me happy that they are okay with getting just 4 things and that they don't mind when we keep it simple. I love that they don't expect to be showered with gifts or that they don't spend the whole year asking for things. We have made lots of mistakes as parents with our boys and have messed up a little here and there, but one of the things I think we did right was teaching our kids it's not all about them. They have never wanted for anything, but they also know they can't have whatever they want. So think about trying it this year. Before you start your shopping, maybe see if you can do the 4 gifts this year: something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read. It might mean for a smaller pile of presents under the tree, but they might be more thoughtful gifts, more meaningful. And just think of all the money you'll save :)

Homemade Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

I think in the 12 years I've been married I've made cinnamon rolls once, maybe twice. They never turn out very good. But I wanted some and so I decided to try again. I wanted them for breakfast this morning so I found a recipe you make the night before, put them in the fridge and in the morning you can bake them. Perfect. These came out so good. The dough was sticky so the rolls came out soft, the filling in the center was sweet and ooey-gooey and I had to top them with Cream Cheese Frosting. The kids gave them 11 out of 10 stars and we decided these were going to be our new "special occasion" breakfast. Or maybe just our "whenever we feel like cinnamon rolls" breakfast. Here's the recipe. It looks complicated, but they are easy! Make some tonight!

The dough:
1 package yeast or 1 tablespoon
1 cup warm milk (I just heat mine in the microwave)
2 eggs
1/3 cup melted butter
4 1/2 - 5 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar

Mix in order given. Dough should be sticky, not too stiff like bread dough. Place in a greased bowl to rise about 1 hour. I usually turn my oven on to warm for a minute, turn it off and then put the dough in the oven covered with a damp cloth. When double in size roll on a floured surface into a large rectangle. Spread with 1/3 cup softened butter. In a small bowl mix 1 cup brown sugar with 2 1/2 Tablespoons cinnamon. Sprinkled over buttered dough. Starting at the long end, roll the dough tightly. Pinch the seam to secure. Cut into 12 rolls and place rolls in a 9x13 greased pan. The rolls should be touching (I did 8 in a 9x13 pan and then 4 in an 8x8 pan). Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge overnight. In the morning, let the rolls sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes (do not over bake - you want your rolls soft and gooey). Frost with Cream Cheese frosting while still warm.

Frosting - beat until smooth the following:
1 package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla.

Our "summer" vacation

Two years ago we went to Lego Land during the summer for a day with some friends. It was a fun trip but because of the crowds we didn't get to do and see everything we wanted. The kids have been asking to go back since then and this year we got to go. We decided to wait until AFTER Labor Day to go to avoid the crowds and we went at the perfect time. We arrived on Friday afternoon and got into the park around one. The park closes at 5 so in the 4 hours we were there we were able to walk around the entire park, go on 12 rides (most of them 2 or 3 times) and still have time to look at EVERYTHING. Saturday was a bit more busy, but we still had plenty of time to go back on our favorite rides as well as visit the water park and spend a few hours there going on water slides and playing in the pool. Here are some of the highlights of our trip:

We got to stay at the Lego Land Hotel!

Our room was Pirate-themed. The boys got their own area to sleep, their own TV and got to search the hotel for numbers to open the combination on the treasure chest in the room. Inside the treasure chest were some fun toys to bring home.

Lots of fun Lego characters and tons of things to play with and do at the hotel. 

They wanted to go see the Star Wars stuff first

This Star Wars ship took 5.2 million Legos to build!

The boys wanted to pose with everything

Logan wanted to touch and see everything made out of Legos. He wanted to get ideas so he could come home and start building.

They could not resist stopping and playing some Lego video games

Crybaby

I did not cry when Trevor went to school. He was ready and I was excited for all of the new things he was going to learn. And I still had Colin and Logan home with me so I was good. With Colin I was the same way. No crying on the first day of kindergarten. I didn't really get why some moms did cry. It seemed silly to me. But the weekend before Colin started first grade I cried, in the grocery store while talking to his teacher I had just met. Where the heck did that come from? I didn't even know why I was crying and I felt pretty stupid. But when the first day came I was fine and all was well. But this year is different. There are things going on that I wasn't expecting, things I was not prepared for. All summer I've been hearing rumors and seeing things that our school might have all day kindergarten this year. Not the tuition based all day kindergarten that some of the schools have, but free for every class - no choice for a half day. And when I started thinking about the possibility of all my kids being gone all day long it made me cry. Seriously. I was bawling some days thinking about being home alone. Dave thought I was a little crazy to be sad about being home alone. But he didn't get it. For the past 10 years I've been a mom with kids home with me. I've always had little people to take care of during the day and to do things with and to take places. And for the past 2 years, during school, it's been just Logan and me. He's been my buddy, my little friend. He's always been there and now he won't be. He didn't go to preschool last year because I wanted him home. I thought this year would be good for the both of us: half-day kindergarten to transition into him being gone all day. But now I don't even get that. I can't slowly get used to him being gone. I know there are lots of good things that can come from this and I want him to enjoy school and do well and be smart. I know I will enjoy having a clean house all day and getting to help in all the boys' classrooms and being able to start substitute teaching a year earlier than I had planned. But I also know that it's going to be hard to go from being a mom at home with kids to just being a mom at home. Things are changing and I wasn't all the way ready for this change. I know I need to enjoy the stages as they come and I think I will,  but for right now I am a little sad. I just hope I can hold it together on the first day and send Logan off to school without letting him see my cry.

Together Again

A while ago we gave Trevor his own room. Almost every night Trevor ends up sleeping on the floor in Colin's and Logan's room. At 4 this morning, after Logan had a bad dream, I came in their room to see Trevor squished in Colin's bed. He told me the floor was not comfortable but he did not want to sleep alone. So I asked, "Do you want your bed back in their room?" So the boys are together again. All sleeping in the same room. I love it. We put the desks in Trevor's old room so now they can draw and hang out in there. I told Trevor when he wants privacy he can still go in there, but now he doesn't have to sleep alone, or on the floor. I wonder how long it will last. Is it bad for me to wish that my boys will want to sleep in the same room forever? 

All the beds back in one room - I'm a happy mom

This will now be the "art room"

And the "I'm being lazy playing my DS all day" room

Colin is taking an art class this summer and the first class was all about good posture.

Typical 10 year old boy

Logan's favorite thing to do is build stuff with Legos. He wants to work at Lego Land someday

Logan's original creations

Book Review: If I Have to Tell You One More Time

This is a parenting book. I found it through Pinterest and I wish I would have read it years ago when I was just starting out having babies. I have read parenting books before, but most of them had things in them that I would never say to my kids ("Oh bummer! Looks like it's time for the Uh-Oh song". Never in a million years), or they were just not my style. But this book was completely different. And the thing I liked the best was that it taught me how to be a more calm, positive parent. This book is written in a way that the techniques can be used for kids from the age of 2 & 1/2 up to teenagers. I love that I can implement the same strategies for my 5 year old as I can for my husband 10 year old and everything will stay the same as they get older. I hate parenting books that have different things to use on different ages. Don't you want to do the same thing for every child at every age so you're not always having to change the way you parent? As I read this book, I took notes on the different "tools" and wrote down examples on how to use them so I could share it with my husband. I know he won't read it, but he might read one little section I typed up on the When/Then tool: WHEN your chores are done THEN you can watch one TV show. Or the Either/Or tool: EITHER you turn off the computer now OR you will lose your game time tomorrow. I have been using some these tools since I started reading the book and guess what? They work! For real. Some of them are totally common sense (if you ignore a temper tantrum, your child will stop throwing them), but there were lots of new things I learned (the reasons kids misbehave is because they want to have POWER or they want to feel SIGNIFICANT). I make lots of parenting mistakes. I yell a lot, lose my cool, say things to my kids I later regret. But this book has really taught me how to be more positive with my kids, how to stay calm when someone is kicking and screaming on the floor, and how to discipline in a way that teaches my children and helps them to learn how to be more responsible and feel better about who they are. So if you have kids, any age, check it out. It's on sale at Amazon right now, but I just got my copy from the library. And take notes...you'll want to have something to share with your husband so he can get on the same page as you.