Bare Necessities

photo credit here.

As I've shared, I had a goal at the beginning of the year to clean our house more often. That has yet to happen, so I've decided on a better one. One that relates to a major something that happened 3 1/2 years ago...


our move back to Cache Valley.


I know overall I've been pretty positive about this place, but growing up as a city girl, there have been times many occasions when I've longed for more restaurant choices, clothing stores, museums, theater, you know, big city stuff. When I was a college student here, I never really minded hopping in my car and cruising home for all of that but now as a mother of two, or even when I was pregnant with our first, it became easier to cut down on the road trips. Now I know to many, 1 1/2 hrs. isn't long, but for me it's extra. Extra worry, extra planning, extra stuff to bring along. So, we got smart about maximizing the most out of our stays there. But, now with two kids on two different napping, eating, and sleeping schedules (not complaining, we love being parents to them), we find we leave Logan much less, and when we do go, do more day trips. We also shop online a lot. I thought I would just get used to this way of life, but recently I've felt a bit withdrawn from the city of Salt Lake City and often wish our families were closer too.


A little something my mom said helped me re-frame my thinking. She pointed out how regardless if we lived in SLC, with these two young kids, I still wouldn't have time for all that big city stuff and it would just be even more tempting (ex. H&M). So, I should be thankful that I'm so far removed from it all because at least now I have an excuse! I quickly said, "You're right mom, I never thought about it like that!" Aren't moms the best at putting things back into perspective?


So thanks to her, and this fun little jingle from Jungle Book, I'm back on the Logan Lovin' Wagon. So we don't have a Target. So our entire mall can be shopped in 20-minutes (30 max.). So Main Street can take for.ev.er. on a Saturday. It's friendly, safe, and conveniently provides us with all of the bare necessities within 15-minutes (reminds me of the movie Clueless where Cher's dad yells at her in that gas station parking lot about how everywhere in LA takes 15 minutes). I also found about this new breakfast restaurant, Herm's Inn that I just confirmed today is now OPEN! Click here for cool interior pics. Hope it's good 'cause we do like to support the local spots. Oh, and while on the topic of embracing things Logan...I have a small confession to make. A couple of weeks ago...my husband's college hosted a party at the Pizza Pie Cafe and...


I liked it.


Maybe it was the fact that dinner was solved for that night, or the ingenious combo of macaroni on pizza (don't knock it 'till you try it!), or their delicious raspberry dessert pie, but it was all surprisingly good. Maybe after this confession I no longer belong in a big city after all! Ha ha. That was a joke. I'd definitely still prefer fresh clay oven baked pizza and homemade gelato from Vinto any day. But until then, our family of four is going to continue to do fine here. Just look at the picture above....doesn't it look almost majestic? Ahhhh, just like home to us.

I know, I know...

I know, I know, I'm probably the hundredth blog to write about the movie We Bought a Zoo, and yes, I realize that it came out in theaters at least a couple of months ago, but I still cannot not share how absolutely wonderful this film is. 


For some reason, (the title maybe?) this movie wasn't on our MUST SEE list (with two kids we have to be pretty selective about what we do with our free time), but with not very many no other good movies out right now, and my mother-in-law up to watch the boys, we decided to go. Yes, it was at the cheap-o theater, and yes, many, many people brought their kids (this isn't a kid movie, pre-teen, yes, but kids- no), but this quality of movie was definitely deserving of a movie theater. Why? Two words: Cameron Crowe. You most likely already know him from other great films such as, Say Anything...,Jerry Maguire, and Almost Famous. To me, he's truly a master at turning a simple story into a breathtaking, emotion getting, tear jerking, wow moment. And in this movie there are many. There is happiness too, but what I liked most was the development of characters, and the how the true essence of them was so perfectly and uniquely captured. The whole cast is excellent too. It really reminded me of the movie Good Will Hunting (also starring Matt Damon), which is on my top 5 movie list.


Without giving anything away~ here's a few of my favorite quotes from the movie...


"It's Benjamin. Not Ben."
"I really want to talk to her about getting over her"
"All you need is 20 seconds of courage"
"Anything from here on out would just be a bonus"
"IF YOU LOVE ME SHOW ME"


So hopefully this message of: DROP EVERYTHING AND GO AND SEE THIS MOVIE* is clear. It really is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time (even my husband REALLY liked it!) and one that I think a variety of people could relate to.


Oh, and I know, I know, I just did a Latest Loves post, but I have one more. One more REALLY, REALLY good one. Like, you HAVE TO click here right now good. Mine just arrived this weekend and I have yet to take them off. They truly are my new favorite...perfect in every way...soft, comfortable, slimming, goes with anything and everything, did I already mention incredibly slimming? You really should BUY NOW!* 




*I know, I know, I'm bordering on being a really pushy salesperson in this post but to me, only certain things are this cool and therefore worth raving about so strongly.

Latest Loves of Winter

This meatless ground meat is a definite staple at our home. I think it tastes the same as the MorningStar kind, but for 1/2 the cost. It comes in a large box containing a 4-pack of 1/2 lb. increments for right around $10. Really great alternative to any of your dishes calling for meat, my husband who's a big meat eater even loves it! Important Note to Logan locals: I can only find in the organic section of the Smiths on 400 N.

Winter Wheat bread by Oroweat. It has a nice amount of healthy crunch (even has walnuts!) and stays moist for a good while after opened. Love the name too, how fitting to this post! 

We originally purchased this Cloud b Turtle to help out the let's-turn-out-the-lights-and-go-to-sleep part of bedtime, but now we just play with it whenever we want to go to outer space! We can do this with this toy because of its super cool star and moon light projection; it even comes with it's own little constellation book. It also changes to green or blue (including the amber color shown above) all giving off a very peaceful glow. This toy is SO much cooler than we ever thought it was going to be, and I just noticed that Storks Landing (local Logan baby store) now carries them! You can also buy here.

I don't know why, but I find the whole concept of dishwasher rinses very confusing. I mean, why is it necessary to add in something in addition to expensive dishwasher soap? Hmmm must be a consipiracy between dishwasher manufacturers and dishwasher rinse companies....anyway, after trying out a few different ones, we saw a remarkable difference after using this one. Just fill up that weird hole with in your dishwasher door once a month with this stuff, and you're all set! I found ours at Maceys, but just found here as well.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE having a monthly wipe board displayed on the wall of one our home's busy intersections. With our busy lives of classes, appointments, playgroup, story times, and errands, this calendar really helps keeps everyone afloat with what's going on. Originally saw here, then bought for way cheaper here! Great quality, perfect size, and the black frame makes it look really nice too.

Makin' It Through

illustration credit to Matt Wentworth

I must say that I think we've been makin' it through this too-cold-to-go-out-but-not-enough-snow-to-play-in weather pretty well. Things that have bringing smiles lately are....

• the fact that children WILL do SOMETHING in the day that brings a smile. Seriously! I dare you to spend an afternoon with a child and not smile at least once. I came to that certainty the other day and have been thinking about it often...how many other things can that be said about?

• curls sprouting up our youngest one's lil' head. Just when we thought he couldn't get any cuter!

• benjamin telling me that I'm Maid Marian from Robin Hood (i consider this quite the compliment, especially since yesterday I was Cowsie Cow). In case you're wondering, he's Robin Hood (of course), Grant is Lil' John (the Disney one) and Daddy is Friar Tuck (sorry Bart). 

• my wonderful husband cooking dinner many, many nights throughout the week and agreeing with my suggestions for take-out on all the other nights. (j/k...i really do cook....sometimes).

• our babysitter asking to interview my husband and I for her college child development class. "Of course!" I said. Later my husband said~ "Are we the examples of good parents or the bad ones?" "Ohhh...." I said. Turns out we were the good ones! Phew. ;)

• 25 check-out limit for library books. FINALLY a solution to my children's book obsession. 

• President's Day holiday + mother-in-law visiting = bart + kate date. Bad joke coming....Absolutely presidential! Ha ha.

• hearing benjamin sing his abc's. I don't care how many times I hear it, or if some of you take this as me bragging about him being a smarty pants, we think it's pretty dang cool.

• friends over tonight for a little party filled with sweets galore, sure-to-be laughter, leftover red, white and pink heart decor....who could ask for anything more?

Hope you all have a fun weekend. We're hoping to do some camera shopping...wanting to upgrade to something better for awhile....figure our rapidly growing kids are the perfect reason to act now!

Just go with it

Boys and I have been home (as in ALL DAY home) for the past couple of days. No, not sick from drinking strawberry Fanta, just colds, but I've come to realize this week~ runny noses x 3 = a ton of tissues and Boogie Wipes. This got me thinking WHAT IN THE WORLD moms did before genius inventions like Boogie Wipes and... 


Woah!


Mr. G just discovered the reverse side of our revolving bookshelf. That means my...STATIONERY!


Ok, I'm back.


nasal aspirators! Ok, pretty sure those have been around for awhile now....(my guess the 50's?) but still. 


Interruptions normal occurrences like the one above don't even phase me anymore. As I wrote about in my last post, my husband and I have surrendered our home and most of our personal belongings for the taking. It really is just easier that way. If you came to our house you'd see dashes of nice things here and there, but only on the tops of high spaces, or tucked away behind revolving bookshelves. We tell ourselves that one day we'll have nice things again, money to spend as we like, dinner dates for two, travel...


Now where was I? Oh yes, sicky sickness. All throughout the house...


But being sick doesn't have to be a miserable experience. Being sick this week has actually made me slow down to a somewhat normal* pace. For instance yesterday I sat down with my son and watched a full episode of Octonauts. Now for those of you unfamiliar, Octonauts is a cute Disney show where little aquatic creatures (8 of course, hence the octo reference) explore the sea. They go to the Octoport, perform impressive rescue missions, and run very important Creature Reports complete with a marching style song and dance. Weird to admit I kinda like this show? Probably because it's not overly annoying like "Mischa-Mouscha...Mickey Mouse!" We also re-arranged the Playroom/Grant's room (pictures to come...). It now houses a puppet show theater (okay, the loveseat is now just turned to face the door and is a bit pulled out from the wall) and a little food/chef's station (thanks for the inspiration JeAnna). Really fun.


Other random bits of news is that our home no longer feels like there is a baby in it. Yep, we're officially raising two little men. Maybe it was the day we realized we could buy them both the same size diaper (which was about two months ago now that I think about it), or today when I dis-assembled the jumparoo (I think Grant only used for about a month. What a lot of $ and space that thing was!). 


The other day I was making comments reenacting a play-by-play of a Jazz game. My friend was staring at me like this wasn't normal and after hearing myself out loud, I realized I'm not quite normal, so I said that I should really take up sports writing. Bart was quick to correct me. "You don't watch sports though Kate. You just watch the Jazz." Tru dat. While on topic with my small Jazz obsession, I got to thinking how I hope our sons appreciate their love for the Jazz as much as I do from my family. Notice how I just typed "their love." I truly do think of this as something they'll just automatically inherit. No questions asked. If they do ask, our responses are already pre-rehearsed: "Mom and dad love the Jazz, all your grandparents love the Jazz, Uncle Chris, Katie, Aunt Jenna, [insert here anybody else they find cool] love the Jazz, anybody who knows anything about basketball love the Jazz." Okay, I'll stop there. Yes, I know this all sounds nutso.


I've thought about typing out a day in our life in a blog post. I've seen it done on other blogs. I think it would be interesting for us to look back on once the kids are older, as well as let people really know what being a full-time mom is like. But then I think about how I couldn't because each day is different. Sometimes VERY different (Benjamin taking NO nap) and sometimes just a little different (Benjamin and I falling asleep together in mommydaddy's bed). And how much I like a that unpredictability. Earlier this week though, my husband and I finally sat down (no idea why we didn't do years ago...) to divvy up evening responsibilities and I'm really happy with what we were able to come up with. I've seen many of those pre-made weekly menu charts and they honestly make me nervous. :O While I know we all enjoy a good home cooked meal, I'm running a household not a restaurant! Plus, I'm a vegetarian (so far the only one in our house), Grant is still tooth-less (for the most part), so it's totally normal* for multiple meals to be going on here all at once. 


Benjamin's creativity is already paying off (literally!). Remember this Playskool Walk-n-Ride I wrote about here? Well, boy has he gotten his use out of it. Since he is so creative, some days it is a firetruck, some days a car, and others a bulldozer! His ingenuity resulted in the following parenting tip: Buy a toy once, then encourage them to think it's anything and everything they want it to be! 


Okay, that's it for today's randomness. Oh, I almost forgot a delicious cake recipe that I want to share...it's from my Grandma Marie, although I think she got it from a commercial source. It's super good, super easy, and festive for the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday. Just remember my words of wisdom "just go with it" when you come to the part about pouring actual soda pop on it. :) Oh, and yes, this is where the image at the top finally comes in. 


Strawberry Pop Cake
Ingredients:
1 white cake mix
1 lg. pkg. instant strawberry jello
1 cup boiling water
1 cup Stawberry Fanta soda pop
1 container of Cool Whip
1 small instant vanilla pudding
1 container of fresh strawberries


Directions:
Prepare cake mix according to the box. Bake in a 9 x 13 pan. While still warm, puncture cake with a fork about every 2 inches.


Combine strawberry jello and boiling water. Stir to dissolve. Add strawberry soda pop to the strawberry jello and stir. Pour over cake while warm. Cool for 1 hr, or over night in the fridge. Make the vanilla pudding according to box directions and mix with Cool Whip. Spread over cake and let chill for 4 hrs. Add fresh cut strawberries to the top just before serving.

p.s. this is how you know it's a REALLY good cake. 

We couldn't even refrain ourselves long enough to take one photo before digging in! 

*all relative when you're a parent.