Chocolate Waffles Two Ways

My Uncle Eddie was my dad's oldest brother.  He was a farmer and a great cook, besides an all around loving and kind man.  I remember a summer tractor ride up and down rows of melons, with him picking one and cutting it up right there for us to sample.  His watermelons were so delicious.  We loved jumping on his and Aunt Jean's trampoline, running around their yard with cousins, and sitting and listening to him and the other adults tell stories of their days growing up on a farm.  When we would be in the Gila Valley for a visit, we loved going over to his home, especially on Sundays.  Uncle Eddie started a yummy tradition of baking chocolate waffles, especially on Sunday evenings.  Nothing was better than those waffles, topped with a scoop of ice cream, except for his famous pizza, but that's another story.


These waffles are a perfect summer treat.  Warm, without having to use your oven, with a cold scoop of ice cream to cool everything down.

Uncle Eddie's Chocolate Waffles

1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup buttermilk

Melt butter or margarine.  Add cocoa, sugar and anil.  Add buttermilk, flour, cream of tartar.  Blend.  Add eggs.  Mix.  Spray waffle iron with cooking spray and fill as directed.

These are extra yummy with a scoop of vanilla (or mint chocolate chip) ice cream on top.  Eat warm.

Now, my uncle's recipe really is the best, but I have also discovered an easy alternative if you are short on time or ingredients.  I kept seeing this idea on pinterest and I was skeptical, but I decided to give it a try.  I was happily surprised.

Just take a boxed cake mix and mix as directed with eggs water and oil.  Then, just pour batter into your waffle maker and bake like normal breakfast waffles.  Yummy and simple.  I will say that they spread and rise more than a typical waffle, so don't fill your iron too full or you'll end up with a chocolatey mess.  Take my word for it :) 

My boys had fun helping to make these, and you can freeze either version of these chocolate waffles to reheat and enjoy later.  Happy eating!

Water Play

In Arizona, there are two types of activities that you can enjoy in the summer heat:  outside activities that involve water or inside activities that involve air conditioning!  We are taking advantage of both this summer.  Here are some of our favorite indoor and outdoor water activities.

Outside:

The boys really love the water table.  Pouring, squirting and splashing themselves, the patio and each other.

I added some ocean objects to the water table (plastic sea animals, shells, plastic jewels, fish puppets, squirt puffer fish) and they loved playing outside even more. 

 

 

An added bonus was the fact that more water seemed to stay in the table with the extra toys to play with, so they could stay out longer. 

Now, if I could just find a way to keep Mr. Three away from the water spigot.  Wow, that boy loves the water!

Popsicles.  Who doesn't love a popsicle on a hot day?  This has become an almost daily ritual:  run errands/do cleaning around house, then go outside for a treat!

More science with colored water in plastic bottles (for more details, see this post).

We have plans to visit a few splash pads and community pools this summer as well.  Sorry no pics yet.  Maybe we should blow up the kiddie pool I bought last year and let them play at Grammie and Grandpa's house this summer, too...

Inside:

Glow sticks in the bathtub.  Thanks to my sister-in-law Eva for this fun idea.  I couldn't drag Mr. Three out of the tub, he loved this so much!  Adding bubbles made this even more fun, as the light diffused through the bubbles.

Water beads.  I ordered several packages of them through Amazon, but they are everywhere now.   My boys love playing with them.  Mr. Two was especially interested in watching them grow in the water.  The clear ones are really interesting, as they are basically invisible in the water. The kids have had fun squishing them, pouring and spooning them into different containers, sorting them and observing their changes as the absorb water and dry out.

Ok, so this one's not technically an activity with water, but vinegar's wet.  I colored vinegar in bowls, gave them medicine droppers and let them go to town with a tray full of baking soda.  This was great fizzy fun for my three oldest.  Then we had to mix the remaining sludge into something even messier after the fizz ended.  Good, messy fun for the kids.

I couldn't resist adding a cute pic of Mr. Four.  He likes to drool, so we can count him in the category of water fun, too, I guess.  Oh how this baby makes us happy!

Hope you are having a fun, wet summer as well.  Splash away!


 

Summer So Far...

So our summer has started out with a bang... literally.  Here's a brief update for all who are interested.

I spent the last few days of school in bed with a horrible infection that completely knocked me out.  Thank goodness for a mom close by who let me sleep, offered liquids, and watched my darling little ones so that I could recover and my handsome husband could stay at work.  Luckily, I recovered before the last day of school so I could attend the end of year festivities in preschool.

Memorial Day weekend was spent in the mountains relaxing in Heber with my family in my sis-in-law's aunt's cabin.  The men had fun playing paintball.  The women crafted (burlap wreaths with felt flowers).  The little boys loved playing indoors and out.  We took a late night walk, tucked boys into bunk beds on the sleeping porch, letting them giggle and talk while the adults enjoyed time together.  We played games, laughed, visited, and ate lots of good food.  Oh, the weather was perfect.  The lovely smells of pine and the gentle wind blowing.  Watching the squirrels chase each other up the trees.  Playing Fruit Ninja for the first time.  OK, so that one doesn't really fit in with camping, but still fun nonetheless. 

It was the perfect calm before the storm.

Thursday brought a fever and chills for Mr. One.  After lots of Gatorade and fever reducer, he was recovered by Friday afternoon.

Mr. Four was to be blessed in our church on Sunday, so we had several members of Mike's family in town, coming Friday and Saturday.  We looked forward to another good, relaxing weekend of food and visiting and all that good stuff.

Saturday we spent the late afternoon at a great aquatic center in Chandler.  The boys loved playing in the water and splashing their aunts and uncles and cousins.  We decided to head home at 6:00pm and get cleaned up for dinner.  As Mike drove our family to Sweet Tomatoes (a family favorite), close to 8:00, nearly there, we were suddenly T-boned by a large truck.  It happened so fast, I didn't really understand what was going on.  The airbags went off, turning our car into a sulfurous, smoke-filled scene of confusion.  The boys were screaming, the doors on the passenger side jammed shut.

Have you ever been in an accident with loved ones in your car?  Do you understand the agonizing moment after you quickly assess yourself and need to look back to make sure everyone else is alright?  I am so so so lucky that both times we have had our cars in a large wreck, we have all walked away with little more than bruises and headaches.  Thank goodness all were fine.  Mike's hand was singed, my right arm bruised and scratched from the airbags, but that's about it.  The boys were scared, wide-eyed and trapped in their car seats, but safe.  We had family right behind us, so they were able to park and come right away to help us, other family members close by at the restaurant came soon after.  What a relief to have your family literally surround you in a crazy moment like that.  Well, we spent the next hour on the grassy hill-like side of the road as the police came and got things sorted out, and we watched yet another minivan get towed off.

Needless to say, our car is totaled.

At least Sweet Tomatoes was open until 10:00, so we could still eat.  Wow, were we hungry by the time we all finally got there!  We actually had a nice time eating and visiting despite the earlier drama.

Sunday, we managed to all get to church on time to bless sweet Mr. Four.  It was a beautiful blessing, and I felt the love and protection of Heavenly Father as Mike prayed and our priesthood-holding family held that babe in their arms.  There, in that moment, was a little piece of heaven, a reminder of what is really important.

 As we returned home after our meeting, I realized that our house was warm.  Too warm.  Our A/C was not working.  Sigh.  Another snag.  Luckily, we had already planned on eating dinner all together at my parents' house and not our house!

Monday brought a fever and sore throat to Mr. Two and fussiness for Mr. Four after his 2 month immunizations.  Here we go again...

My brother and sister in law and daughter stayed for a few extra days for a little mini vacation.  They were so sweet to offer us their car and help.  I think if they had any desire to live in Arizona, we pretty much squashed that after spending an evening in our really warm house, witnessing our car crash, and being around sick children.  So sorry Joe and Jenny!

It is now Friday and things are finally looking up.  Our A/C is fixed.  No one is running a fever.  We have a rental car.  We are very close to getting the check for the van.  Bruises are healing.  We have decided that good things are around the corner for us.  I am looking forward to some nice, quiet summer days!  I've had enough drama, thanks. (Oh and yes, that is a butterfly bandage on Mr. Two's forehead.  He ran into the corner of the table yesterday, but he's just fine.)  Bring on the mid-afternoon naps and the popsicles!

Need a Lift?

Did anyone else feel a little inadequate this Mother's Day? I appreciated all of the kind words spoken, the sweet handmade gifts from my boys, and my husband making breakfast, the flowers, the encouraging words spoken in church.  I am a lucky mom, but I admit, I have been feeling a bit low lately.  Raising young children is hard work.

My mom sent me a link to this video for Mother's Day and it changed my perspective. 

Watch it, especially if you need a little lift. 

I know I did.  

I still do.  

 

To all who mother young children, whether you've given birth to them or not (because all women are indeed mothers), hang in there.  

We are not in this alone.

P.S.- Notice the family with the little boys trying to pray?  I can totally relate!

Mr. Three's Second Birthday

Mr. Three turned two on General Conference weekend.  Since we were with my family that weekend watching conference, we celebrated his birthday together.  One of our traditions is making the birthday person's favorite meal.  This proved a challenge for Mr. Three.  He is a picky eater.  However there are a few things he will always eat:  strawberries, candy and bacon.  Yes, bacon.  We made sure to have lots of bacon on his special day, but the silly little guy wouldn't even touch it.  Well, we tried!  He did eat the strawberries, though.

We also decided that he would really like Nutella cupcakes, too.  (Ahem, maybe Mom decided he wanted them...)  They were delicious, but again, Mr. Two hardly touched his.

So the food didn't go over terribly well, but we sure hit the bulls-eye with his presents.

He was so cute opening up his presents all by himself, and exclaiming, "Oh!" after opening each one.

Four days a week, we walk Mr. Two across the elementary school campus to take him to preschool.  Mr. Three has watched with envy as his older brothers put on their backpacks and fill up their water bottles to go to school.  He will take their old backpacks and wear them all around the house.  I knew that he'd love to have his own water bottle and backpack.  Auntie Carla found a perfect little Toy Story pack for him.  We also found a Cars water bottle for him.  He wears his pack to take his brother to school most days, with his water bottle and other random items stuffed inside.  It's so cute!

Mr. Three also has a stuffed puppy that he sleeps with every night, and Aunt Sarah found a soft Snoopy for him to love on as well.  He snuggles up with his two dogs every night (well, when he actually decides to stay in his bed at night, but that's another post.).

I made him his own superhero cape, like his big brothers.  He wanted to put it on right away.  So cute!

Grammy and Grandpa also found him a little talking laptop.  He loves electronics, so this was a natural hit.  He especially likes to play with it during bedtime and nap time, any time he's supposed to be quiet.  Gotta love toddlers!

The last gift we found was a water activity table.  He loves playing in the water.  Remember this post?  This was the perfect gift for him, and Aunt Jenny's gift of water/sand toys was the perfect compliment.  He and his brothers can play happily outside in the water table for long periods of time.  I'm the one that has to stop the fun because, either they have started to make a large mud mess with all the spilled water, or Mr. Three has dumped most of the water out of the table onto the ground, himself and/or his brothers.

Mr. Three is such a happy addition to our family.  We love his fun-loving, independent spirit.  It has been especially exciting to have him start talking in sentences now.  He loves to parrot family members and likes to talk in the car.  We don't always understand all that he is saying, but he enjoys being part of the conversation.  His cheeks are totally kissable and I will take any hugs and kisses he decides to send my way!  Even with all of the mischief he can get into, we love having him in our home.

Little Mister Four

Introducing Little Mr. 4.

He arrived on April 2nd, weighing 8 lbs. 14 oz.  I think that a large portion of that weight was in those chubby cheeks.

We love his plump little face, long legs and that heavenly baby smell.  He is sweet and we love having him here in our home.

He is keeping us really busy.  Too busy to blog.

I will try and update more often, but if you're wondering what we are up to at our house, here's a little peek.

Mr. One is usually face-first in a book these days, loving the Magic Treehouse chapter books and anything to do with Legos.  He's getting ready for his piano recital and will speed-play his song every day.

Mr. Two is busy building, drawing and playing.  He is enjoying preschool and making friends.  Both he and Mr. One love holding Mr. Four and are generally helpful.

Mr. Three is asserting himself as an independent, curious two year old.  He started this by launching himself out of the crib one day after Mr. Four and I came home from the hospital.  That meant a toddler bed for him pronto.  He loves to take advantage of baby feeding time.  If Mom is feeding the baby, then he knows he has opportunity to get into things he knows he shouldn't (the sink, his brothers' toy bins, the garbage, scissors, pens, etc.).  He also has decided that he doesn't want to sleep any more.  Not cool, but we're handling it.  It's a good thing he's so adorable.




Mike has been extremely helpful and jumps in to do what he can to keep our home in one piece and give attention to whoever needs it the most when he is home.  I don't know what I'd do without him! 

I have lots of help from family, especially my mom.  I am so spoiled with all she does to help during the day, like watching Mr. Three so I can take a nap when Mr. Four is slumbering.  It means so much just to have someone to talk to during the day as well!

Even with help, I've been really overwhelmed and tired.  Our together time at home consists of movies, playing Wii games, lots of story books and independent play.  Not a lot of structured activities.  Let's face it, I'm in survival mode right now, and that's just fine with me. I hope to plan out some fun activities for the summer to keep my kids busy and happy.  But that can wait for another day...



Excuse me now, while I pick up my hungry little baby and take the dental floss away from Mr. Three, oh, and I think we all need a nap!

Church Cleaning, Doughnuts and Puffins

We have started a little tradition in our home that my children hold dear:  After we help clean the church building as a family (we sign up to help every three months), we head to our nearby Safeway and get doughnuts.  Then, to ease my conscience from this sugar-and-fat-laden breakfast, we make "Jamba Juice" to go with them.  This means I dump whatever fruit I have on hand, juice and a carton of yogurt into the blender with ice and call it a Jamba Juice.  My kids love it.

Mr. Two was at Safeway a few weeks ago and commented, "Mom, I really want to go and clean the church.  When do we get to go clean?"  I told him we'd have a turn in April and asked him why he was so eager to clean.  He replied, "I want to get doughnuts for breakfast."

I figure if my kids are excited about doing work and service, even if it's for the doughnuts, it's a good start.  Hopefully, we are instilling good work habits and a love for our church as well.  They really are pretty good little cleaners.

Now for the problem:  One of Mike's responsibilities with his church calling is to oversee the building cleaning.  Consequently, we clean the building more often.  While we are happy to help, all of those doughnut runs add up.  Luckily, I have another sweet breakfast treat that my family loves that I can cook up on those extra cleaning days.  They're called puffins and they are like a sugary doughnut muffin.  Light and buttery, with no frying involved.  The recipe came from a church cookbook, given to me several years ago from a friend.

Puffins

4 Tablespoons AND 2 teaspoons shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk

Mix shortening, sugar,egg, salt, and nutmeg.  Sift together flour and baking powder.  Add dry ingredients alternately with 1 cup of milk.  Bake in muffin pan at 350 degrees for 16 to 18 minutes, until done in center and lightly browning on edges.  When baked, first roll in melted butter and then cinnamon/sugar mixture.  Serve warm.  Best when eaten the first day.  Makes 12 puffins.

You really have to eat these soon after making them, they just don't keep well.  Luckily, they're so good, you probably won't have any left over anyways!