Free Range on Fairview

Life passes too quickly. We may put off doing something because it would just be easier to do it tomorrow. What if tomorrow doesn't come? We may curse the long nights with an infant, but they suddenly aren't babies anymore and we can never get that time back. The last few days I have really been thinking about this and looking around my house for a few quick examples.  I may not feel like sitting next to the baby and force feeding him carrots is fun, but soon enough he won't need me to help him any more. He is already on the road to independence so I should savor the time it takes to wipe his chubby little face clean and enjoy the fact that vegetables still make him so happy.  I may not enjoy my counters being covered in science experiments or other bulky boy products but some day the kids are going to be out of the house and I won't have any good excuses to have these types of cool things around. Magic growing crab and octopus, yes please. Dinosaurs at

So I am no professional anything but the other day I realized that the mantle over our wood stove was in a very sad state. The picture hung there had been changed over time and it was awkwardly to one side without any character. All of the nicknacks were the same size in a line and the extra remotes had landed there. Just not pretty or inspiring. So I had enough and go to work on a no cost, little effort mantle makeover.  First I threw on a coat and slippers and went out under the deck to get the board my hubby had cut to size a few summers ago to frame the painting I did. It was supposed to be part of my present, but unfortunately the cutting had happened and nothing else so there they sat for a year and a half. I had to pry them off of the frozen ground and clean them up a little so this took a little longer than anticipated but I kept at it. After washing and we used L brackets to attach the boards around the canvas. See how the size of the painting now looks much more like i

You want to know something funny? One day you think your youngest will just stay small and never really learn how to crawl like a real baby and then all the sudden he learns... and within a 24 hour period he is climbing on little boxes and the fire place hearth. And then another day goes by and he can pull himself you to a standing position at the couch. He is definitely getting into everything and just loves to play with his brothers. Pretty soon he will be the one becoming a karate master. 

 Shel Silverstein had been one of my favorite childhood poets and I have been relishing the fact that I get to pass his work on to my kids. One of my most favorite poems he wrote is below: Somehow I feel like this is our bathtub when all of the boys are in there together. In a good way though. For years I have imagined drawing the image and printing the poem on a canvas and putting it in the kids' bathroom. Because I don't happen to have any canvases or much random free time on my hands I just copied the page from his book A Light in the Attic. I found an old frame and took out the picture that was in there (unfortunately it had been in there so long it was stuck to the glass so I had to toss both). I found a piece of scrapbook paper I had lying around and then I cut it down the copy to the right size. I taped the copy to the scrapbook paper and put the backing cardboard back in the frame and hung on an existing nail in the bathroom. Now there is a little bit of free w

I haven't posted a menu plan in a while, since last year actually (ha ha get that new year joke!) but we obviously have been eating and I still plan a month of menus. With the holidays, then trying to recoup from the holidays and Shane's long hours, and sickness of everyone and so many other things my menu planning changed often, but we still pretty much ate what I had planned. There were also some near disasters , some crafty leftovers , some cheapies and some so healthy I can't believe the boys ate all of it types of dinners. Here is a quick recap:  Tuna Pot Pie Chicken pot pie is a yummy, comforting dish familiar in so many kitchens, but I'm not sure why it took me so long to think of this inexpensive idea, swap the chicken for tuna and get a whole new dish. I had some soupy left overs from a tune noodle casserole that Shane and I thought might make an ok pot pie filling. *Word to the wise, don't use egg noodles in the crock pot, just doesn't kee

Ah so sweet. These are the first pictures of the boys playing together in a fort. The Leap Pad was just to intriguing to get them all looking at the camera at the same time unfortunately... but still adorable. Now that Warner is crawling (if you can call it that) he can get himself into some situations but this was so cute to see them all in one place. He is also starting to get interested in what they are playing with and will go see what they are up to. I have a feeling this is the first of many three-on-one days where things might start to get just a little easier.

You can't even tell that I got like 3 hours of sleep and have been puked on countless times this weekend, right. Right? Oh bangs... it's the one love/hate relationship in my life. I love them because my face is a little long an boring without them. The also make a hairstyle more fun. I hate them because they get greasy fast and I have a widow's peak so they get a little funky easily and then you have to pin them out of the way if you don't want them hanging in your eyes. I had been growing them out for months (ok almost a year) and they were pretty much gone but the love finally returned when I chopped them this morning. I am happy to have them back. Will I regret it and grow them out again in the future, probably. But for now they are back. The only thing I wasn't expecting was for them to be brown ! Yikes. My hair dye has grown out so much that there wasn't any blonde in my bangs... I didn't get too much sun this summer with the new baby and haven'

You are my candy girl... I had to put that song on youtube to listen to while writing this post. I don't think the Archies would make it in today's pop market, but I love the song none the less :) After dinner the boys were running through the house and I didn't want them watching another episode of Jesse or Honey Boo Boo so I got out my trusty roasting pan, poured about 1/4 of a cup into it and let them play in the sugar. -Make sure not to put too much sugar in or you won't be able to see what you are writing- I told them they could draw whatever they wanted. Dylan drew a dice and Lincoln made a bunch of swirls. He also made an alien and a spaceship and told a whole story. Unlike crayons or paint, when drawing in sugar, the picture can easily evolve, or be erased by a gentle shake of the pan. It might also be fun to put a drop of food coloring in for a slight change to relate to whatever holiday or season it might be.  They boys have had so much fun over the las

In my quest to become a more playful family I have stumbled across something. It's not so much remembering to play, it's remembering how to play in my case. The boys know what playing is. Sometimes they just need reminders on how to do it. I need reminders on how to not take myself so seriously and that letting a task sit for 5 minutes while I go do something with them isn't going to ruin the whole day. In fact, it will probably make it better. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3 Not only are we supposed to have a child-like faith, I believe this is also saying that it is ok to play like a child. In reading that verse I have thought about it over the course of the last week. When we were at my dad's house I took the boys into his backyard to run off some energy before heading to my nephew's first birthday. Normally I would encourage them to ru

When you have no teeth and your gums are sore it's pretty easy to look like an old man baby. Good morning all!

During the summer, Gogurt had a promotion where if you buy so many boxes you can enter the codes online and get a free child's movie ticket. Since the GoGurts were the same price as the store brand yogurts in a tube I took advantage and got two free movie tickets. However I had a fairly young baby who didn't like to be at home and a babysitter I didn't want to take advantage of for date nights with my husband so they sat unused. I also found some random movie theather gift cards that we had accumulated. I wasn't even sure how much money was on them but I figured even a few extra dollars would help out. Since the printed tickets had an expiration of the end of January I finally convinced Shane to watch Warner and the two older boys and I headed out the door on our special "date" planning on spending a bit of money the boys had recieved as a gift or foot the rest. Of course I stopped by the grocery store to pick up something else and let the boys pick out a sp

Because I didn't download any pictures for a while, and then it was after Christmas and things got wild for a while I kind of skipped over the actual holiday so several weeks late, here is how we spent our Christmas. I didn't get any pictures when we were over at Shane's family's house but we spent lots of time over there too.  All four kids in one picture together! Warner kind of blends into the tree skirt but his little baldish head stands out. Luckily the matching pajamas I bought for the boys last year still fit too.  Head lamps for spying on Santa. Opening presents was a daunting task for Lincoln. I think this was when he realized asking only for a "princess and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich" wasn't the best of ideas. Don't worry he got plenty spoiled. The messy aftermath. Lincoln playing in his new tiny little kitchen. My brother and dad at our house. My mom and brother decorating a giant gingerbread

Look at this smiley little guy! Yes teething has been taking it's toll on him (all of us?) but he is still quite a happy and content little guy. He actually only got up twice last night. Yes I know he is 8 months and should have been sleeping through the night like 25 weeks ago, but he has his own plan. Still no teeth but I swear he has now said "dada" and "mama" but mainly dada.  He sort of has Eddie Munster hair. He has really long hair on top and it usually goes to a point now since it is too long to put into a little faux hawk. Oh well he's still cute. He is interested in everything and spent about 10 minutes investigating the little plastic bin the mushrooms came in today while I was trying to make dinner. He wants to eat our food, play with anything in my hands and likes to try to get over to the fire place poker. He is crawling in the most unconventional way possible. He does little baby push ups, lunges forward and then pulls himself wit

Dylan loves bringing cold lunch to school! I don't work outside of the home, so generally speaking my mornings aren't usually a rush to get to the office. But my mornings are still mornings. Dylan still has to get to school. I am still tired because the baby isn't sleeping. Any MOPS mornings are early and out the door mornings. Sometimes Shane has to work super early and I like to see him out the door (only during peak Christmas season from now on). See I have plenty of reasons why I need my mornings to run smoothly. I have finally, finally given in to the idea that if I want to keep my sanity, I am going to have to get up early. I don't like the idea but I can't really sleep in easily these days anyway. Plus in order to achieve my resolutions this year I need to be prepared, I need to plan to be more playful, and I need to be in the right frame of mind. Here are the things I can plan out ahead of time to make sure I am out the door on time, or not feeling be

Lincoln is finally old enough to have a fascination with snow, and luckily we've had plenty around lately to explore. Unfortunately, I'm such a buzzkill because I won't let him play in it all day every day. Oh the bundling up, keeping the baby warm, keeping Lincoln from getting stuck in piles, bundling down, cleaning up drippy footprints all over the floor idea just makes me sigh. So what's a mom to do? Bring the snow inside for a little cold exploration. I got out my trusty roasting pan and scooped up several cups from outside the front door. I also gather some sand toys and Lincoln picked out a car and he went to town. Scooping, shaping, eating, driving, smashing, enjoying it all. We also made a "cat hat" snowman because apparently the only snow man he could think of was from The Cat in the Hat show on PBS. The regular sized snow man outside didn't stand a chance since he kept kicking it down but this one hung out in the corner the whole time. I did r

I love me some chicken divan . Oh wee baby how I do. But it feels like it takes me forever to make. And the kitchen ends up in a tornado mess. And it really isn't that healthy for you. But that's why it is a birthday and special occasion kind of dinner, right? So on my quest of making life easier while trying to reach our goals I decided to try a crock pot, freezer friendly version of chicken divan... and it's a one pot meal. Those are pretty handy to have around too. So cozy up to a creamy, steamy bowl of goodness. Or serve it on a plate with a salad if you're fancy like that. One Pot Chicken Divan or Crock Pot Chicken, Brown Rice and Broccoli Casserole 1 lb. chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces 1 lb. broccoli, cut into bite size pieces (or 1 package of broccoli flowerets) 2 medium carrots, dices 2 cups brown rice 4 cups chicken stock 1 can cream of chicken soup (or make your own homemade and healthier version) 1/2 cup milk 2 Tbs. mayo (omit if des

I'm so glad I am not teething because it apparently must suck. Poor Warner is just a mess lately. We are finally getting over a hacky, coughy cold and now he is teething like there is no tomorrow. He jams his fists into his mouth when the pacifier isn't in. He chews on everything else. Poor kiddo. I'm doing all I can for him, even trying the amber teething necklace. He didn't sleep as well last night as he did the night before so maybe I need to keep it on him all night long (they say you can double wrap around an ankle to prevent around the neck tangling) so I guess I will do that tonight. What works best for your baby in times of teething tragedy? His funny old man face. My little hunk with his naturally faux hawk hair.