Shhhhh!

I have noticed recently that motherhood has made me a little quirky.  Okay, maybe a lot quirky and maybe it has been going on for quite some time and no one has bothered to tell me.

I don't know about every one's kiddos but mine are deep sleepers. Once I had a living room full of teenage girls banging hammers on cans and Jonah slept right through it!  BUT there are the few minutes right before they wake up that are crucial to the day.  If they sleep them out they are so sweet and wake up with a smile.  If they get startled from that precious sleep they are cranky, "hold-me-forever-until-your-arm-falls-off" little boys.  Sadly, the deep sleep that I can usually vacuum through vanishes during this time.  I sneak around like Santa hoping they won't hear me.

And so . . .

My Ten Quirks During The Magical Sleeping Time

1. Don't flush the toilet!  I don't care how you handle this, but the water through the pipes is sure to wake them.

2. Hurdle the safety gate at the top of the steps.  The squeak is another sure fire way to wake them up.  I realize there is a flight of steps on the other side and I might fall down them and break my neck, but at least I will have happy boys :)

3. Go all natural with the hair.  No blow dryer!!!

4. Leave the dishes in the sink.  The clanking and banging will sneak into their dreams and "BANG" they're up!

5. Skip the next to bottom step on the second flight of stairs.  It squeaks - enough said.

6. Stop the microwave on 1 second.  Our microwave sings a little song when the time runs out, but I am sure it would be just as bad with the beeping. Think of it like a bomb . . . don't let it go off!

7. Leave doors open the night before to rooms you might need to access before they wake up.  Minimal noise in case the door decides to squeak on that one occasion.

8. Do workout videos without any sound.  Who needs the big muscle man for motivation?  I better move it before it is time to make oatmeal and fill the sippy cups!

9. Feed the baby.  Yes, he might have eaten an hour ago.  Yes, he might be waking up for some other reason.  However, feeding him will make him be quiet until you can get him far away from the "quiet zone".

10. Use the quiet time to have a quiet time!  Okay, so this one is not so quirky, but it is just as essential to a smooth, pleasant day.  Once I have spent time with the Lord I know my day is going to be great even if the going gets a little rough because I can view it for what it is - a gift!  I can be the mom my kids need me to be, and I can rest easy knowing I have turned everything over to the Lord.

Ten quirks after only three years of being a mom!  I am sure to be extra weird once they are teenagers :D

Pumpkin Pie!

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin!  I feel like everyone goes pumpkin crazy this time of year.  Everything is pumpkin spice this and pumpkin flavored that.  I don't really see what is so wonderful about it.  I have a recipe for pumpkin spice muffins that is really good but that is about all the pumpkin we do.

Well, after visiting a local pumpkin farm we came home with EIGHT pie pumpkins. (They gave out free pumpkins to every hayride rider.)  Jonah got in his mind that we were going to make a pumpkin pie.  So, we did!  Jonah and I did a little nap time cooking that turned out to be delicious!

He is going to tell you all about it, so I am going to let him take it from here. . .

First, we had to get the seeds out and put the in a bowl.  It felt gooey!

I baked it.  It was brown.  I stirred it.

Then, we had to make the crust.  We mixed salt, sugar, and flour.

I stirred it.  Oh, and oil.

We pushed it.  We crushed it!

We mixed the pumpkin.  Then, I drank lemon juice.  We didn't put any egg because Eli can't have egg.

We poured it into the pie crust.  We baked it for ten minutes.

Mommy got it out because it was too hot.

It smelled like vanilla.

We ATE it!!!

Huck ate it from the top because he liked it.

I ate it!

It tasted like vanilla.  It was the best!

Well, off Jonah goes to play.  Blogging is not in his future.  Not too interested, but at least you have the idea of how we finally made his pumpkin pie!  Yum!