Finger Licking Good!

I have this CD that Gonzo and I bought the first year we were married.  It's a Texas Country artist who was really a nobody at the time and we loved his music.  When I was packing up my classroom in Kaufman to move to Arlington I played that CD on my computer over and over.  Now, anytime I hear a song from that CD on the radio it takes me back to my classroom.  I can almost smell the room!  It always blows my mind how vivid those memories are when the music hits my ears.  I think to myself why are those memories so impressed in my mind.  Was it the music?  Was it the excitement of moving to a new town?

What about looking at pictures?  Do you have some of those same experiences when you look at pictures from a certain time in your life?  Every year my sister in law and I make a photo album for my parents. When the album came in the mail and I looked at it I was overwhelmed with emotions from the last few months of 2013.  I saw certain pictures and could remember even the emotions I was feeling on the days the pictures were taken.  I remember conversations that I had on those days.  I remember prayers I prayed on those days.  I have no doubt that the reason those memories are sooooo vivid in my mind are because of the weight of life that was on our back at that time.

My favorite thing that brings back memories is food!!!!  I mean let's be real here!  I LOVE food!  I love to cook!  I love to bake!  I love to try new restaurants!  I love to try new food!  I think food brings back memories more than anything else.  The recipe I am fixing to tell you about has many memories behind it.  It's a family recipe and from generation to generation the memories have continued with it!

It started with my Granny who got the recipe from a friend of hers when my dad was a little boy.  They were hooked and started fixing it every Saturday morning for breakfast while my dad and his sisters would watch cartoons on their black and white tv.  My dad was in second grade when he remembered these special Saturday morning treats.  He talked about times when his friend Steve would come stay the weekend on the farm and she would fix it to pour over Texas French Toast before he and Steve would spend the day hiking the farm.

My memories of this syrup are from summers at my Aunt Sam's house (my Dad's little sister).  When I taste it I think about wading pools that we swam in on the back porch, pallets on my cousins bedroom floor, coke floats every night, and bike rides after dinner.  Everything comes back when I taste this syrup.  For me the syrup is Aunt Sam's Syrup.  For my Dad and Aunt Sammye it's Mom's syrup (aka Granny's Syrup).  With each generation there are memories!  Good, deep, and sweet memories! 

Here it is
Granny's Maple Syrup
1 stick of margarine (I use salted butter)
1 Tbsp. of flour
1 cup of water
2 cups of sugar
1 tsp. maple flavoring (Mapleine is what we use)

In a saucepan, melt butter.  Add the flour and mix until it's smooth.  Add water and stir.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  The mixture will be smooth and thick.  Turn off the burner and add the sugar.  Stir to combine and continue stirring until  the sugar dissolves.  Add the maple flavoring and stir to combine.

 In a saucepan melt one stick of butter and add the flour.

Stir until smooth and the flour is mixed in.

 Pour in the water and stir to combine.

 Bring to a boil and cook on medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken.

 Turn off the heat and add the sugar.

 Continue stirring until the sugar has dissolved.

 Add the maple flavoring

 Stir to combine

 We had breakfast for dinner tonight and decided on waffles!

It's good on anything...waffles, pancakes, french toast, ice cream, bread pudding, on a spoon, in a straw!!!!  No seriously it's delicious!

Here is a warning for anyone brave enough to introduce this to your family!

I warned you!!!!!

Now go eat and make memories!!!

Night of Worship

Last Friday night we drove to Plano to Prestonwood (aka Prestonworld) Baptist Church for The Village Church's Night of Worship.  If you have ever driven by this church you would understand the nickname Prestonworld.  It is huge!  This is the only worship place that will hold all four Village Church campus's.  We have never been before, so we were pretty excited for a few hours of awesome worship.  Everyone says that it's one of their favorite nights of the year.  You might be wondering why I am blogging about this.  Well...what started as a well thought out plan to get there ended with Gonzo and I laying on the living room floor laughing about that "well" thought out plan!

It started at 7:00 in Plano.  Childcare was first come first serve.  Gonzo had another coach close the weight room and was home by 4:15.  We had plans to leave no later than 5:30.  I had the kids up and dressed and eating dinner when he came in.  He got ready real quick and we were pulling out of the driveway by 5:15.  We stopped at a Wendy's to get some dinner for him to eat on the road.  I sat in the back and fed the babies on the way.  Traffic was horrible.  I mean horrible, and we were both watching the minutes ticking away on the clock.  The thought of going to all the trouble of getting us across the metroplex in Friday traffic and childcare being full was a sad thought.  We didn't mind worshiping with the babies but sitting through it all with four kids was not going to be great, at all!  As we approached the exit that we needed to get off on we missed it because of traffic and had to go way too far up the road to turn around.  As the clock was ticking away we both were getting dark hearts thinking about how much of a beating this trip had already been.

Finally we pulled into Prestonwood parking lot.  Which is like a mall parking lot.  We had to park in the boonies and had to take the double stroller in because it was too far to carry the carseats.  So, I took Adda and Ella and started walking as fast as I could to try and make it before childcare was full.  I was carrying Ella because she takes her sweet little time when she walks, and Adda was running next to me with the backpack on.  Gonzo was behind us pushing the double stroller over grassy knolls and jumping curbs trying to keep up with us.  I can only imagine what people thought when they saw us!  They were probably all younger college age kids who weren't in a hurry to get there because they didn't have kids.  They were probably thinking we should have stayed home, or why are they running, or why are they taking that huge stroller in, or maybe even thinking they might want to wait to have kids for a while!

We made it in the building and it was packed.  I wasn't sure which way to go.  I did notice one thing right away...I didn't see any other strollers!  Oh, gosh!  I didn't even want to turn around and see the look on Gonzo's face.  My heart was getting darker.  I started praying for Gonzo's heart!  I'm pretty sure he was praying for my heart too!  We had made it this far, right?!?!  I found the desk to check the kids in and...you guessed it, childcare was full!  So we turned around and walked back to Gonzo and the huge double stroller. Our only option now was to find a place for all of us to sit.

We found a place on the far right side where we could park the stroller off to the side.  It wasn't horrible, but it was a beating.  Nobody was bothered by all our kids because there were plenty of kids in there.  We would start to get into the worship and then have to switch kids.  Adda loved it!  Ella was busy! Claire slept for a whopping 5 minutes while Gonzo was holding her!  Chloe was like holding a wild pig!  I was sweating because I wore my Uggs!  At one point I took them off and was standing in socks because I thought I was going to pass out while wrestling Chloe!  I randomly looked over at Gonzo to see if he was about to explode, all while continuing to pray for both of our dark hearts!

This was a picture taken and posted to The Village Instagram.  I described it to my mom like this, "It was good, but a beating!  It was like taking 4 kids under four years of age to a rock concert with lights and fog.  All with a huge double stroller, two backpacks, and two carseats!"

We decided to leave at 9:00 because the twins both looked like they might start bellowing any second.  Ella's diaper was about to explode with tee tee, and Adda was at her quota of swallowing gum for the night!  Gonzo had to go the long way across the whole crowd with the huge stroller to leave and we went out the side up the stairs.  As we walked out there were tables set up with cookies so we stopped to give the girls their prize for not getting to go to childcare!  Gonzo went to get the car so we didn't have to walk a mile with all the kids.      

Here we are waiting on Dad to bring the van and eating cookies!

We got loaded up in the car and there was some weeping and gnashing of teeth from all four children but mostly the twins.  I climbed in the back and did what I could to keep them happy.  45 minutes later we were pulling in our garage.  All children went to bed with no bath!  If you know us that doesn't happen very often, but we needed to get them to bed and catch our breath.  After they were all in bed, we both laughed and I think I said something like, our life is freaking crazy!  There was nothing fun about that!  

Sooooo, next Night of Worship we will either leave EARLIER or get a babysitter!  You live and you learn!!!

Our life is crazy!  Now you see why I LOVE my sit and do nothing time of day when I eat sweets!  For the record, we were glad we went!  Now we know what to expect!!!!!

First Breather...6 Months!

If you talk to anyone who has had twins they will say, "6 months is your first goal!".  I feel like my actual first breather was the end of football season.  The day my mom left to go back to Lovington was also the day Gonzo started trainings for the Fort Worth school district.  From that point on I had all four by myself from 5:00 AM until 8 or 9:00 PM.  Although I wanted Dunbar to go further in the playoffs I can't begin to tell you how good it felt to know that I was going to have a huge increase in HELP!  Now we are at the famous 6 month mark and I can see why people talk about it as if it's a turning point.  When they first turned 6 months I didn't feel this way.  I felt like they all of the sudden became much more needy because they were more active and needed help trying new things.  Now we have kinda worked through that kink.

I blogged about our daily schedule when the babies were 3 months old.  Things have changed a bit but our house is still muy loco.  Here is a run down of what our days look like with the babies being 6 months:

Routine On Adda's School Days
6:00 I get up and get ready (my version of ready)
6:45 Pump
7:00 I get the older girls up and ready
7:30 I get the babies up, changed, and fed
8:30 Pulling out of the driveway to take Adda to school
9:15 We are usually home by this time
9:30 Playtime with the girls and try to fold (and put away, wink wink) a load of laundry
11:00 Start lunch for Ella and I
11:30 Put Ella down for a nap and change babies
11:45 Feed babies and put them down for a nap
12:00 Wash bottles and empty and fill dishwasher
12:30 Get things situated for dinner
12:35 Pump
1:00 Sit and do nothing (usually I am eating some sort of sweet treat now)
2:00 Get Ell and the babies up
2:10 Leave to go get Adda
2:45 or 3:00 Home from picking Adda up
3:30 Try to go outside for a little bit
4:30 Feed the babies
4:50 Pump
5:00 Start dinner
5:30 Daddy is HOME!!!!
6:30 Eat dinner, do dishes, family time
8:00 Bathtime
9:00 Older girls in bed
9:20 Feed the babies
9:45 Babies to bed
10:00 Wash bottles and pumping stuff, fill bottles for the next day
10:30 Pump
10:50 Shower and bed for Gonzo and I

Non School Days
9:00 I get up and pump
9:30 Adda and Ella are up and eating breakfast, Babies are starting to stir around (they usually sleep till 10)
10:00 or 10:30 I am usually feeding the babies their first bottle
10:45 Get everyone dressed hair in a ponytail (maybe)
11:00 Playtime/laundry
12:30 Lunch for the girls and I
1:30 Put Ella down for a nap and Adda has rest time in the sunroom
1:35 Feed babies
1:45 Put babies down for nap
2:00 Wash bottles, unload and load the dishwasher, start dinner
2:30 Pump
2:50 Sit and do nothing (eat a treat)
4:00 or 4:30 Everyone starts waking from their naps
5:00 Feed babies
5:15 Pump
5:30 Daddy is HOME!!!
5:45 Finish up dinner
6:30 Eat dinner, do dishes, make lunches, family time
8:00 Baths
9:00 Big girls in bed
9:30 Feed babies
9:45 Babies down for the night
10:00 Wash bottles, wash pump stuff, fill bottles for the next day
10:30 Pump
10.50 Shower and bed for Gonzo and I

This is a pretty accurate schedule of our days.  On Wednesdays I try to clean the house! Ha Ha Ha Ha!  Those days I am like a tasmanian devil running through the house and popping in and out of rooms checking on kids!  My version of clean these days is probably not your version of clean!  On cleaning days I try to have everything in the house clean before lunch except my room and bathroom.  Then during sit and do nothing time I close my door and get that clean.  Sometimes I skip the afternoon pumping and then just pump longer that evening to empty all the milk.   This will change a bit in the next few weeks because Gonzo starts track practice. 

Here are a few pictures of the Twinny Twin Twins from the last month (and a few of the older girls too).

First time to all eat together at the table with the babies in the highchairs.

Claire and Ella

Sweet Claire Bear

Clo Clo

Super Star!!!

Sweet Twinny Twin Twins

Falling...

Their favorite toy is Sofie the Giraffe

Adda and I after her nap

One morning I couldn't get them right away so I put them together and when I came back in this is what I found.  SOOOO sweet!

Okay, I have been trying for weeks to get this picture of all four girls with the 6 Month sign.  I finally decided I had to take it today.  Adda is still in pj's, Ella is in I don't care if you pee your pants cloths!  Nobody's hair is fixed, but oh well!

Look at Claire and Ella!  Precious!

Belly blowing!

The Twins don't seem to mind at all!

The babies have two teeth and two more just about to pop through.  They are rolling and turning all over the place when they play on the floor.  They are sitting up with help.  I don't have as much time to work with them on this as I would like to, but I know they will get it soon enough.  We haven't started food yet because I haven't talked myself into it!  Oh gosh that's a whole new thing that makes me want to cry a little!  I feel like I have to get over one hurdle before I can think about the next!  I need time to coast at one stage before we rev up for the next  They drink 4 bottles a day.  All are 7oz. except the last one of the day which is 8oz.  I am still able to keep up with them with pumping.  I pump between 45 and 50oz. a day and then we do formula for their last bottle.  Every once and a while I pump close to 55oz and can put some in the freezer.  I still have a pretty good stash in the freezer even after the pump and dump during the mastitis bout.  I hear that our next breather will be 1 year!  Ready or not, here we come 1 year!!!!  

Happy New Year

We had a pretty eventful New Years Eve this year.  I came down with a wonderful case of mastitis.  I felt like death warmed over.  I was trying everything possible to clear it up without any success whatsoever.  Every time I would pump I would start shaking and my teeth would chatter with the chills.  I was taking hot showers and massaging and the knot was going nowhere.  It was miserable and soooo painful!  We always try to fix a really nice meal on New Years Eve including lobster.  We did get the meal cooked and on the table but of course eating it was not relaxing at all.  There was screaming, and crying, and talking over me, and up and down, and cold food, but it was still delicious.  Even if my right boob was as hard as a rock!  The other thing we do on New Years Eve is take a picture of our family with the timer on the camera.  It really has not ever been that big of a deal, but this year I think we took about 10 and maybe one was decent.  When I went back and looked at them I kept them all.  It was very funny to me the way they turned out.  Just a reminder of exactly how crazy our life really is at this point!

Testing the timer!  This is greatness!

Look at Gonzo!

And...I came running in with Claire!

The timer just kept taking pictures!  How funny are these!

Happy New Year Everyone!  We hope you have a blessed 2014!