Getting Domestic

I'm not shy about telling people that I do not enjoy crafting. Mostly it's because I am in some ways a perfectionist and the things I make are far from perfect. I get very frustrated, and making things is not that fun when you have an idea in your head and the end product does not live up to that idea. Plus I just don't have the patience (or time) it takes to make things look the way I think they should look. This is one huge reason I did not stay in the Interior Design program at BYU-I, but that's another story. 

I actually do know how to sew. My mom sews very well (she made my wedding dress), and she has spent hours helping and teaching me to sew. When we lived in Ohio I would save my sewing projects for trips to her house and then we (she) would make the ideas I had in my head. 

Like these super hero capes. 

 The aprons.

 And Halloween costumes (She made Leia's dress and the cloak without a pattern out of old sheets).

Joe bought me a sewing machine for Christmas because now it's not so easy to bring projects over to my mom for help. I have ideas in my head, but I have been afraid to actually pull the machine out and learn how to thread it. I told a friend (Kristy) I wanted to make pillows for the sofas and beds, but I was afraid to start. She called me up a few weeks ago and said, "Let's make pillows." It turns out the machine has numbers to remind me how to thread it and the pillows were pretty easy to make. I did "break" my machine the first time I tried to use it away from Kristy, and she had to come to my house to help me figure out that I was not threading it right. :) 

Anyway, I have pillows. Turns out it was a silly thing to want because the kids think they are personal trampolines. They throw them on the floor, jump on them, line them up on the floor and lay on them. But when they go to bed I put them back on the furniture and it looks nice. Just don't look too closely. 

Another thing I don't love to do is cook and bake. I think I have gotten lazier about this over the years. I don't mind the cooking so much as I mind the cleaning up. My goal is to use as few dishes as possible. We eat a lot of casseroles and crockpot meals. I also am not a food-lover. I think that might make a difference as far as my enjoyment of cooking. I eat because I get hungry and I need to eat, but eating does not bring me pleasure. When we go out to eat I am almost always disappointed that we spent so much on a meal that didn't even taste that good to me. I know, I'm crazy. 

One thing that I do love is breakfast. And I hate cold cereal. As a result, I DO make a hot breakfast almost every day. It is unfortunate that the norm is to invite people over for dinner instead of breakfast, because this is the meal I would feel most comfortable making for others. My breakfasts are good. :) 

Unfortunately, good breakfasts often mean unhealthy. At least for me. Lots of sugar. We also do breakfast burritos and biscuits and gravy often. But I love the sugary breakfasts. 

I have recently rediscovered a pancake recipe that is actually very, very healthy. The syrup will never be healthy--but at least I can feel like I am putting something yummy AND healthy into our bodies.

It is from a Good Housekeeping magazine (mom subscribed it) a few years ago. So easy, fast, healthy, and delicious. This is a recipe for 12 pancakes (they must be tiny), but I double it for my family of 6. Some people add the wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls--not me! You do the wet first and then the dry with the baking powder very last. One dirty dish. 

Whole-Grain Pancakes

mix:

1 egg

1 1/4 c milk

1 T veg. oil

add on top: 

1 c. wheat flour (use white wheat. if you don't do half white flour)

1/2 c. oatmeal (I use old-fashioned, not quick)

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

blend until wet and make pancakes! 

I usually add some vanilla and cinnamon, and because I use the bigger oats I let it sit for about 5 minutes to let them get a little more wet. I often throw in some blueberries. Yum!

The kids LOVE them! Today Logan ate 5, Madi 4, Grant 3, and Ammon 2. And I feel good about it! Sometimes I mix some berries and a little bit of sugar to make a berry syrup. We also make our own lite-syrup with Mapeline. (I double the recipe on the bottle but use about half the sugar it calls for and add vanilla and cinnamon). Once you try it you will never go back to store-bought syrup. And if you want to keep it all healthy, don't do syrup at all! We also like our pancakes with yogurt (homemade is best!) or applesauce.  

So my point is: I'm pretty undomestic. If I can do these things, anyone can. :) 

Hello Summer!

Summer is:

Swimming

Friends

Homework

Naps

Wii (sometimes)

Reading

Cleaning

Movies (sometimes)

Library

Cooking 

Eating

Siblings

Fighting

Singing

Dancing

Computer (sometimes) 

Working

Playing

Late nights

Ice Cream

Traveling

Sleeping in (I wish)

Writing

Chores

Creating

Piano 

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What I've been thinking about:

I recently watched a home video of a one year old who could dance! It was very cute, but made me feel like I was a bad mom because my kids don't know how to dance=we aren't doing enough dancing at home. Silly? A little? I know. But nonetheless, it has made me think about how as mothers there are some things we are really great at teaching our kids and somethings that we struggle to teach. For me, I think I am good at getting the kids to read, play on their own, and we do a lot outside. We don't watch t.v. or movies (seriously, maybe 3 hours a week--and that is including our Friday family movie). I wish I was more dedicated at teaching the kids piano (we've had one lesson in the last 2 weeks). I feel like I am constantly cleaning, but yet my house is never completely clean! I wish we danced more! I wish we did science projects and crafts (ok--I wish the kids had that experience, but it's not something I really enjoy, so we don't do a lot of that stuff). How do you balance it all and find time for everything?

Along with this, I read something about a mom who decided not to stress so much about making her kids clean their rooms. They had an hour on Saturday where they tidied it up for the week. I thought it sounded interesting, and I was going to give it a try, but it lasted ONE day! It does something to my stomach when I walk into their bedrooms and the floor is covered in clothes, papers, and toys. I don't know how to find balance as far as that goes. I don't want everyone to spend hours every day cleaning, but I start to feel frantic when there is a mess--and it's hard for me to be happy, which means I'm grouching at everyone to "hurry and clean" and "why can't you just pick up your stuff?" then they aren't having a good time either. Ideas on how you find balance would be appreciated. :)

Balance.