Can you have both?

So in Relief Society several weeks ago we had a lesson on work. Ironically, the discussion turned to you don't have to have a clean house because you need to be a good mother and not neglect your children. Which I agree is a valid point; however, that is where the discussion stayed and comment after comment was about how it was OK if your house is a mess as long as you are taking care of your family. So how did I feel coming out of the lesson? That I must be a bad mom because my house is clean!

I'm not saying that my house is 100% dust free all of the time and that things are always put away. I promise it's not. But I like my house clean. I can't go to bed at night if there are things laying out in the living room. I take 5 minutes and pick them up. I have a rotation every week that I try to do so that I'm not spending one full day cleaning. For example, I do laundry on Monday and clean the bathrooms on Friday rather than try to do it all in one day. It's not a perfect system but it seems to be working out for us so far.

One other thing that I am trying to do is to DEEP clean my house room by room, month by month. (It's one of my New Year's resolutions.) In January, I took the kitchen and went through every cupboard, drawer and closet and wiped everything down and threw out things I don't need. I cleaned all of the windows and blinds and washed walls and floors. And I have done it to two other rooms. (Well, I'm in the midst of the third room.) It has been so nice to take the whole month to do it so I don't get overwhelmed with how much there is to do. So far I have stayed on track and plan to the rest of the year. Hopefully by the end of the year every square inch of my house will have been deep cleaned and dejunked. I kind of got the idea from the Fly Lady but changed things so it will work for me and my house. But I really like the idea of focusing on one room (in addition to my other regularly scheduled chores) at a time and going through stuff. Just an idea maybe someone out there will appreciate.

Brockston loves to "help" me clean. Isn't that what work should be about? Teaching your kids to work with you. He helps me unload the dishwasher, scrub the toilets, "mop" the floor, etc. He's my helper. But I guess I'm a bad mom because I'm not devoting 100% of my attention to teaching him a second language and having him reading at the age of 2. (Although he does know the majority of his letters and his vocabulary is amazing. I have full on conversations with the kid.)

I'm not sure why the lesson bothered me but it really did. It seemed to me like a lot of justification for dirty houses. If I remember correctly: Cleanliness is next to godliness, right? Or am I wrong? Can you have both a clean house and well attended to children? Maybe it's different for me because I only have one kid right now, but I hope that it doesn't get that much worse.

Brockston Turns 2!!

Brockston turned two years old this January! I cannot believe it! My baby is not a baby any more. We had a pretty low key day. Nate had to work so B and I just hung out. That night the three of us went to Chuck E Cheese to ride the rides and play some games. We made sure to eat dinner before we went. We had a good time - especially B.

I felt bad that he didn't have candles to blow out on his actual birthday so we stopped at the grocery store and grabbed some cupcakes so he could officially blow out candles ON his birthday. He got one of the two candles out on his own.

Here he is cruising in his new car that he got for his birthday. He loves to play in it and it is so fun to watch his little imagination go.

On Sunday we had a family dinner with the Morley's to celebrate. Aunt Maegan made this awesome McQueen cake for their shared birthday. Cute apron she has on, right? :0)

Here they are both blowing out the candles. This time Brockston blew out 2 of the 5 candles that were on his side. I guess he knew how many he needed to get to make his wish come true.

As if two "parties" weren't enough - we went ahead and had three! This time with the Green's and another joint party for Brockston and his cousin Tori. I made these Lego cakes for them because they both love building towers together at Grandma's house.

Once again blowing out candles - you'd think this time around he would be a pro; however, things didn't work out so well and B had to have help to get his two candles out. He sure did try hard to do it though. Maybe by next year he'll be a pro.

Happy Birthday to my sweet little man! Life just wouldn't be the same without you!

I love my Hubby

Hiding

So apparently my child loves dark enclosed spaces that are difficult to get in and out of. He loves pulling stuff out of my cupboards and climbing in. The first time he did this I was convinced there was no way he could get himself out, but he has no problems. Silly kid!

Aebleskivers

This year we are on the 1-4 church schedule. It has not been easy on ANY of us. The worst part is that it is right in the middle of nap time. I'm sure we'll adjust eventually...

We are trying to make the most of things by having a nice Sunday breakfast together - seeing as how we have plenty of time in the morning now. This Sunday we started off with a Green Family favorite - Aebleskivers. They are Danish pancakes in the shape of a ball. We had them quite often growing up. I remember having them especially on Sundays when our church was later. Also, my mom would sometimes make them in the mornings if we had friends sleepover. Now we usually have them on Christmas morning.

My mom gave me a pan when I got married but I was a little bit too scared to make them. Sometimes things are just better when Mom makes them. :) But they seem to turn out alright when I've made them - at least my boys seem to think so. So I thought I would share the recipe...

Aebleskivers

4 eggs separated

1 Tbs sugar (Mom puts more)

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup melted butter

2 cups milk (scant)

Beat egg yolks until light. Add sugar and beat until thickened. Sift together dry ingredients. Add alternating with butter and milk. Beat egg whits until stiff and fold into batter. Cook in Aebleskiver pan.

Here's how the pan looks/works. You put a little bit of butter into each cup. Then pour the batter in. The batter bubbles (like pancakes) and then you use a fork (you can also use a knitting needle) to flip them over. It takes a little bit of practice to get them to flip successfully without making too much of a mess. I'm still working on that.

When they're finished you can dip them in whipped cream, jam, syrup, honey, powdered sugar... whatever you prefer. My favorite is whipped cream, raspberry jam and a little bit of powdered sugar.


They are a finger food and tend to get a little bit messy but Brockston doesn't mind. He packed them away!



My pan is a cast iron Lodge Pro-Logic. I did find some at Macey's (the grocery store) this summer in their seasonal section and it was a Sante Cabin brand. Both can be found on Amazon - I believe.

Stuck!

Brockston was playing in the other room one morning and all of a sudden we heard some crying. This is where we found him. We're not sure exactly how it happened but he was climbing around in the bathroom and found himself stuck in the garbage can. Poor kid had to wait while I ran and got the camera.

Handsome Boys

Here are my two handsome boys modeling their new Christmas ties. I just can't get enough of them!