Cute Little Dessert

Thanks to my cute Demarle football shape tray, I just made the cutest dessert for my family. I coated the bottom of each shape with melted chocolate chips.

(Thanks for the great idea Carol! http://kerickcarol.blogspot.com/) Then I added vanilla ice cream that I had softened a bit. Next, I sprinkled the top with crumbled mint Oreo cookies. So cute! They came out looking like little boats. The kids thought they were fantastic. So did Mark and I, and we're very happy that we each get a second one after the kids go to bed. As I type Mark is wrangling the kids up, getting their jammies on etc. He's on a mission. I should make Demarle ice cream treats more often if he'll be so quick to jump-to and lend a hand at bedtime. For some reason 'Add Image' is not working. I'll have a cute picture to attach as soon as it decides it would like to respond.

Granola

I've been making homemade granola for my husband for years. He takes it to work every single day. Recently I went on a Girls Weekend and brought my granola along to share for breakfast. Several people asked where I got it from so I thought I'd share the recipe. You can of course put whatever you want in, but this is typically what goes in it at the Mullenbach house.

3c. rolled oats
1/4c. wheat germ
1/4c. powdered milk
1/4c. bran flakes
1/4c. rice krispies or cheerios
1/3c. oil
1/3c. honey
few Tbs. peanut butter

Bake rolled oats at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

While that's baking combine dry ingredients in a bowl.

Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl. (I like to microwave the peanut butter a bit to soften in and make it easier to mix.)
Add dry ingredients to rolled oats. Mix thoroughly.
Add wet ingredients. Mix thoroughly.
Bake for 15 minutes. (You can stir it half-way through but I like some of it to be a little crispy, so I don't stir it.)
After it's cooled, transfer to an airtight container.
That's it.

Anything that could go wrong . . .

Yesterday the big "serious" part of our remodel for the half-bath/laundry room got underway. When they started digging up the floor with the jack hammer a water line got nicked and they immediately had to turn off the water to the house. This was before we had even brushed our teeth. Then as they started to repair that little problem, they discovered that the base of one of the walls in the laundry room is being eaten by ants. So they pulled out a piece of a 2x6 that was completely chewed up and will need to be replaced. Fortunately Mark can do that without too much trouble. Soon after they got the water turned on, they discovered the water pressure in the house was next to nothing. I went away for 2 1/2 hours at that point and came back to see that they were still working on it. Eventually, debris in the kitchen faucet was located and found to be the culprit. (A few days before, our hot water heater had been replaced and the thought is that rust and junk on some of those pipes was knocked loose and eventually got logged at the kitchen sink.) But shortly before that was figured out, I went to use the severely-reduced-pressure kitchen sink and found my feet getting wet. I thought the plumbers had forgot to hook the pipes back up under the sink but that wasn't the case. The pipes had completely worn out from old age and just by simply getting bumped they had come apart! So with a 5 gallon bucket paced under the sink, the one remaining plumber left for the day. I left a message on Mark's cell phone saying, "Um honey . . . I've got a project for you tonight."
These are all minor, fixable things and I am grateful for that. I am fully aware that things will not go smoothly all the way through this project so I am keeping a joyful attitude (so far). Hey, I wasn't even the one who had to fix all the problems. I just smile and say, "Let's go out for dinner tonight, Honey!" I respect the hard work and frustration the guys went through yesterday and I think my husband is just a stud muffin for how quickly he can fix just about anything. I often call him My Jimmy-Rig Super Hero, but not everything he does is Jimmy-Rigging . . . most things are done right. I think I need an additional nickname for him! Any ideas? (My friend Jen Henderson http://allthingshenderson.blogspot.com/ has run polls on her blog to name things like her new sewing machine. I believe Opal was the winning name but she doesn't really like Opal so I noticed her calling it Opal Francis the other day. Jen's blog is great. She updates it all the time with funny stories about life and she does a weekly "column" on Praying for your Kids.) Maybe I should run a poll too and get some great ideas from you all for Mark's new Mr. Fix-It nickname.

Potty Training!!

The Joys of Parenting
Shawn has been in big boy underwear for a whole week now! Wahoo! It is so exciting every time he gets on the potty. I assume the novelty will wear off eventually, but for now it's a very big deal around here. A friend of mine (Jen Roth thank you!!!!) passed on a great insight from her pediatrician about potty training kiddos. There's a window of opportunity when they're about 24 -26 months where they might show some interest, and if you really stick to it, they will potty train. If not, you might have another year in diapers, especially for boys. Well Shawn is 26 months and showing some interest. So two days later I said, "Okay, this is it!" and in to underwear he went. He has done fantastic! In the last couple of days he has reached the point where he will tell us he needs to go and we're not having to annoy him every 20 minutes, "You gotta go potty? You gotta go potty? Want to try and go potty?" Yesterday he was playing on the back porch and actually had the where-with-all to STOP PLAYING and COME INSIDE! He ran to me with great excitement, "Potty Mommy! Potty!" Oh! I was filled with such joy and pride in my son.

Trip to Cleveland

Cleveland rocks! We had a fantastic vacation and I can't believe how glitch-free the whole experience was. Easy flights and connections. Kids who did well on the airplanes and traveling in cars. A city where the drivers don't scare us and getting around is pretty easy. Lots of fun stuff to do with the kids. Hotel room with a kitchenette. A little boy who took naps and went to sleep at night without any major battles (in fact, he loved the little bed we made for him on the floor of the closet. He'd go in there voluntarily and cuddle up with his blankie.) Time to hang out with the bride in the days leading up to the wedding. Patient, very well-behaved kiddos who didn't get cranky when we kept them up late learning to do a Greek dance at the wedding rehearsal dinner. Our beautiful Little Bug dressed up in her beautiful flower girl dress with curls all in her hair. A gorgeous Greek Orthodox wedding and a fun, fun reception later with dancing! A roller coaster called Top Thrill Dragster that apparently reaches 300 mph!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPjN7zArwiI

On the way home, a minor glitch made me so aware of God's presence with us. We were in the air, maybe 15 minutes into the first flight, when Mark discovered that something in the duffel bag leaked ALL OVER. It was seeping out of the bag even and covered everything inside. Wet, slippery . . . a 16oz. unopened, plastic wrap covered bottle of bubbles had lost all of it's contents. Gross! Normally that would be disastrous in an airplane because what do you do? You don't even have room to grab the magazine in front of you. This flight we were on was the only leg of the journey that I hadn't been able to chose seats when I booked them. We got on the airplane and discovered we had a bulk head row. What a gift! So in this case, God was totally looking out for us. I had tons of room to lay everything out to dry. I had the kids' pajamas that they had changed out of in the airport still in the other pack and used them as towels. I know it's a minor thing but I felt rather blessed at that moment.