2012 May

Easy, Yummy, Pancake Muffins!

May 23, 2012 By cassielovespj Leave a Comment

I’m not a fan of cooking, so I’m always looking for easy, delicious, fast recipes. I don’t know where I first heard pancake muffins mentioned (Pinterest? Blog? Magazine? Who knows.), but I figured with our love of breakfast for dinner, I should give them a try.

Super easy recipe:

*Make pancake batter how you normally would for pancakes. (I use a mix In love )

*Add in maple syrup to taste.

Now, the fun part of this is that you can add whatever deliciousness you want into the muffins. The first time we put dried fruit in. Once we left out the syrup and put bacon in instead. (YUM!) Last time they had syrup and caramel bits inside and chopped walnuts on top. Tonight I mixed peanut butter in the batter, swirled honey into the top, and added crushed up Honey Nut Chex on top. They were pretty good! Chocolate chips, fresh berries, strawberry milk mix, candy bits, and so many other things would make wonderful mix-ins.

*Pre-heat oven to 350°

*Spray the muffin tin so the muffins don’t stick. This seems to work better than using cupcake papers.

*Fill each cup ¾ full and add toppings. It helps to push the toppings gently into the mix so that they bake in and won’t just fall off after you bake them.

*Bake until you can poke with a toothpick (for cupcakes) or wooden skewer (for muffins) and it comes out clean. This took approximately 12 minutes for cupcakes and 22 minutes for muffins.

I’ve fixed these a few times now. I’ve made cupcake sized ones and, a few times, jumbo muffin sized ones, and they are always great. Plus, the kids think they are getting a special treat. It’s a total win!

Have you tried these or something like them? What did you think? What would you put in to make the perfect pancake muffin?

Filed Under: I Cook (Sometimes), I Learn Tagged With: baking, dinner, muffins, pancake, recipes

They Say It’s Your Birthday

May 19, 2012 By cassielovespj 2 Comments

I don’t know if you know this, but I am the youngest (by far) of eight kids (combined families, dysfunction, blahblahblah). I was only 13 years old when my niece, Jessica, was born. My sister sent me a baby announcement with this picture in it:

Jessica was four days old in that picture, and already adorable.

A few years later, my sister sent a Christmas photo, and Jess was a sweet little toddler!

Jess even lived with us the summer she turned 14. Wouldn’t you know it, she had become a beautiful young lady. This is her with my older daughter in the summer of 2005.

The next thing I knew, PJ and I were headed to her high school graduation.

Today, Jessa turns 21. Who knew all those years ago that someday Jessica would be firmly planted in my heart and loved like my own daughter? I am so proud of the young woman she has become. She’s loving, funny, kind, and beautiful, inside and out. She brightens my day, and has become one of my best friends. (I’m only slightly hesitant when she talks about living with us forever.)

Happy Birthday, Jessa! I love you, and I can’t wait to see where you go from here.

Filed Under: I Love Tagged With: birthday, Jessica, photos

My Little Helpers

May 7, 2012 By cassielovespj Leave a Comment

One of my favorite stories to read as a kid was The Elves and the Shoemaker. I loved that the little elves came at night to help the shoemaker and his wife get all of their work done. I haven’t been able to track down any elves though, so I had kids. I don’t want you to think after reading my post yesterday that I’m trying to do everything by myself. I readily admit that I’m not SuperMom. That’s why I made each of my kids a list of their own to compliment my grown-up ones.

Since my children range in age from four to almost twelve, each of their lists is a little different. Here is one of them just to give you an idea:

Today I need to:

Wake up

Make my bed

Check the dogs’ food and water

Eat breakfast

Brush my teeth

Comb my hair

Get dressed

Finish my schoolwork in a timely manner

Find a way to be helpful for 20 minutes

Eat lunch

Spend 30 minutes reading

Clean up after myself for 20 minutes

Check the daily chart and be helpful

Check the dog’s food and water

Eat dinner

Help clean up the table

Put away my things from the basket upstairs

Take a shower or bath

Get pajamas on

Brush my teeth

Go to the bathroom

Put my retainers in

Go to bed when I’m told

Say my prayers

Each of the kids has their own list. They are laminated (easily done with clear, sticky contact paper) so that they can cross jobs off with a dry erase marker as they are completed. (Mine are laminated as well.) Plus, they earn an allowance each day they complete all of their tasks, and a bonus at the end of the week if they finish their lists every day.

So, you see, it all works out. I get help, and they earn money, learn about responsibility, and can take pride in a job well done..

Filed Under: I Live Tagged With: allowance, chores, homemaking, responsibility

Because Dust Bunnies Aren’t Reminder Enough

May 6, 2012 By cassielovespj Leave a Comment

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned that I had made a couple of charts (More like lists, really.) to help me stay on track with my housework. I thought I’d share them today so you’d all have an idea of what I’m doing, and maybe a little inspiration if you could use some help getting started.

Let’s start with the Daily Details. These are things, organized by each room, that need to have some attention every day. My list looks like this:

Daily Details

Living Room- toys, clothes, books picked up and put away

Dining Room- table cleared after each meal/activity and wiped down as necessary, nothing left on floor under the table

Kitchen- dishes put away (in cupboards or dishwasher), counters/stove cleaned off and wiped down,

sink empty and clean

Entry/Stairs/Landing- everything picked up and put away that doesn’t belong, shoes organized

Family Room/Hall- toys/books/games picked up and put away, furniture clear and put together correctly

Downstairs Bathroom- personal items removed after use, towels hung up, messes cleaned up as soon as they are made

Kids Rooms- toys/clothes picked up and put away, clothes put neatly in closet or dresser, beds made neatly

Parents Room- clothes put away, dressers cleaned off, bed made

Parents Bathroom- towels hung up/dirty clothes picked up, counter cleared off and wiped down

Outside- toys/bikes/etc. picked up and put away, dog poop cleaned up

As you can see, it’s general tidying that, if done consistently, will make maintaining a neat living space so much easier.

I also have a list that breaks down bigger jobs to be done once a week on certain days. It looks like this:

Duties by the Day

Monday- dust bookshelves/blinds/desks/ceiling fans/etc.

Tuesday- Girls’ laundry, ½ bath cleaned, sweep and Swiffer entry

Wednesday- Boys’ laundry, Swiffer dining room and kitchen floors

Thursday-sweep and Swiffer family room/hall, clean downstairs bathroom

Friday- clean and vacuum master bedroom, clean master bathroom, vacuum living room

Saturday- Mom and Dad Laundry, wipe down walls as needed

Sunday- vacuum kids’ rooms/stairs/landing/family room rug

Again, it’s just a few things each day to help keep this place looking like a home we’d be happy to let unexpected visitors into. I am praying that by combining the two, I will have the formula to my success as a homemaker. (Or at least an uncluttered living space.)

Laundry and floors are my hardest chores to keep up on. What chores do you find most challenging? I’m relying on my lists as tangible reminders of what needs to be done. What would help you in your quest to make your home more inviting?

Filed Under: I Learn, I Live Tagged With: cleaning, homemaking, lists, schedule

Mundane in May…With a Smile

May 5, 2012 By cassielovespj 4 Comments

I’m not going to quote scripture or talk about the Proverbs 31 wife. I won’t talk about helpmeets or submitting to your husband. This one is all about me and my ill feelings toward the mundane, everyday tasks that I should be doing as a wife and mother.

If you notice, I said things I should be doing. I’m currently not doing the things you’d expect. I haven’t made any attempt to actually follow through on the daily household charts I made almost a year ago to help me be more organized and keep our house in order. Instead, I will have one marathon cleaning session that gets the house looking decent, spend a few days relaxing and reading or working on a crochet project, and watch it all fall apart again. If I would just follow my own directions, the house would be easily maintained.

It’s amazing how quickly I get overwhelmed because I don’t just keep up with the things that need to be done. Once the feeling of being overwhelmed pours in, I am consumed by failure and do even less than I was doing before. (Is that possible?)

I’m also not making school with our kids a top priority. I make sure they do pages in their workbooks on a daily basis, but I just don’t want to be bothered with anything hands-on because I know it will be time-consuming and probably messy.

Call me lazy. Call me a failure. Call me what you will. I can guarantee I’ve thought worse of myself than anything you can come up with. But I’m done.

This month, I’m going to concentrate more on making this house the home we want to live in, and being the mom that my kids deserve to spend time with. I’m going to implement the charts I’ve already made and try to get into a routine that works for all of us. I’m going to leave less to my husband to do, because, Lord knows, that man works hard, and he deserves to come home to a clean house and clean clothes in his dresser. We will all be able to relax more if I will just put in the time to get things done every day instead of all at once.

This month, I am going to embrace the mundane. I will cheerfully vacuum the living room daily because the dogs are shedding their winter coats. I will keep the counters cleaned off and the garbage from overflowing. I will take more time to sit with my kids, talk about important things, like dragons, and play outside with them because we could all use a dose of sunshine. And I will make my bed because I know that makes a big difference to my husband.

You will probably see me less on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, but I’m still here. Please don’t hesitate to call or text me if you want to talk because I want to do a better job of keeping in touch with all of you, too.

What can you do to be more cheerful in your everyday tasks? Do you have suggestions for me?

Filed Under: I Live Tagged With: attitude, charts, housework, mundane, schedule, school

Writing Love

May 4, 2012 By cassielovespj 1 Comment

While trolling on Pinterest the other day, I saw a photo of a tattoo that I fell in love with. All it said was, “Love you, Dad”. The great part? It was written in her dad’s handwriting.

My dad passed away almost seven years ago, and we weren’t really close, but I still feel his absence in my life. When I saw the tattoo, I thought how wonderful it would be to do the same with my dad’s handwriting on my wrist where I could see it every day.

Since then, I have dug through boxes, drawers, my closet… Can I find anything from my dad that he signed? Of course not. Did I throw away any cards he sent me out of anger? It’s possible. Am I mad at myself for not being less angry and more organized? Absolutely.

I will keep looking, because I can see him, left arm curved at an unnatural angle, wrapped around a piece of paper, writing in his own unique way…very slanted to the right. And I always want to be able to picture that.

Filed Under: I Hurt, I Live, I Love Tagged With: dad, love, memory, tattoo

God Makes Beautiful Things

May 3, 2012 By cassielovespj 4 Comments

I just realized I only told you about the hard part of our trip to Florida, so I want to take a minute to share some of the beautiful things we saw while we were there.

These pictures were taken at Discovery Cove. The flowers are everywhere you look, and the birds are in an aviary you can walk through. You can touch and feed them if you choose to. (I chose not to. I must have forgotten to tell the bird who landed on my back and wouldn’t let go.)