Family Musings

Does anyone else ever have a hard time trying to figure out how much dry spaghetti to make per person? We never seem to get it right at our house. I usually make too much and Bruce usually makes too little. And those times when I measure it to get exactly one serving (like when I was on Weight Watchers), I always laugh at the portion size. It is about half of what I really want to give myself. A long time ago Bruce asked me to buy him that gadget with the holes in it that suggest how much pasta you need for a certain amount of people. I do try to be frugal so when I found this one at the local thrift store for only 25 cents, I just scooped it into my basket... without even really looking too close. I seriously doubt it is going to solve MY portion size problem though... at least Bruce and teenagers will be eating well.

Fortunately, it isn't me! Actually, I just thought I'd share the video that has my 4 year old giggling up a storm today. It is Judy Collins singing I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Spider  on the Muppets. She gets a little help from the old men in the balcony. (I can't remember their names!)   This is a fun song for toddlers and preschoolers for a couple of reasons. First, it's totally absurd. The mental images conjured up by an old lady eating a goat are super silly. Second, it's full of repetition so it doesn't take long for the kiddos to learn the words and join in on the absurdity! What song is tickling your child's funny bone right now?

Over the summer I began swapping childcare with a mom who lived nearby. One of the swaps we do is for a date night, about once a month. The first few months it was enough to just have a meal together and hang out... but now that we've been doing this consistently for several months, we need to mix things up and make them more interesting for both of us. It is just too easy to let all of the conversation be about things that we need  to talk about, like the children, budgets, or our schedule for the coming week. Inspired by a good price on Arts Cow  playing cards, I decided to create a set that we'd be able to use for playing games on our date nights. The first date night we use them might be the most fun though, because I designed these cards with room to write on the back of them. The plan is for each of us to get 2 suits of cards and then write out one thing on the back of each card that we love about the other person. I think fine tipped permanent markers would work be...

I've never met a kid that didn't like building with blocks. And apart from stepping on those tiny plastic ones in the middle of the night, I've never met a mom who didn't like having the blocks in her home. Mega Bloks allow children to be creative and just use their imagination. Sometimes though, if they need a kick start, it's nice to have a set of blocks with a theme, like the large Tubtown Farm themed Mega Bloks set we were able to play with at our MommyParties Mega Bloks play date. We love most any excuse to have our friends come over to play. But we like it even better when someone gives us the party favors and games to play. Mary was very excited about being able to give all of her friends their very own bag of Mega Bloks. Each of our guests was able to leave with one of these bags so they could take the Mega Bloks fun home with them. One of our guests was even lucky enough to win a large tub of their own. Before I got all type-A on the kids, we let t...

Have you seen the movie Elf , starring Will Ferrel? I haven't. But some friends of mine love the movie and have shared this quote with me: It is catchy and stuck in my head. (You can thank me later that it is now stuck in your head.) Well, today, while I was in line at the local dollar store, Mary ran off behind a rack. When she didn't come back within 10 seconds, I left my basket on the ground in line, told the lady behind me I'd be right back, and went to get her. In the 20 seconds I was gone, the lady behind me changed lines and New Lady  took her place. The store was crowded today and we ended up waiting in line several minutes. About 3 minutes into the wait, New Lady turned to me and said, "Do you really think you are in front of me?" I was a bit taken aback and found it in myself to say, "No, that's fine," and waved her in front of us. It kind of shocked me that she was so forward and condescending towards me. I'm not prone to p...

I have so many things to be thankful for and have spent the last few weeks listing them on the Family Musings Facebook page. And as I've been known to do in the past, I want to record those status updates here so they will have a better chance of surviving the years. (1) I'm thankful for my amazing friends who support me in many ways. (2) MOPS at Kathleen Baptist Church (3) My beautiful family ! ‎(4) The food in my pantry and refrigerator. Our family has plenty of nutritious choices and will not go hungry. ‎(5) I was thankful for beautiful Fall weather for our family's mini vacation .  (6) I was thankful for a husband who let me take a vacation with the family, instead of asking me to do everything I normally do [dishes, laundry, cooking, cleaning] somewhere else. (7) Today I am thankful for the reminder of how much I love  Zumba Fitness and the opportunity to host a House Party this month. ‎(8) Today I am thankful that my girls love books. We ...

Due to my love of Pinterest , I find all sorts of great things to do with my girls. Of course, I also find all sorts of things for myself as well. Imagine my delight when I found something on Pinterest that worked for them and for me all at the same time. It's called Cloud Dough . And my girls and I both loved it. I altered the inspiration recipe a little and this is how I made it: Cloud Dough 4 cups flour 1/2 cup olive oil a few drops of orange extract I combined it all together in a ziploc bag until it was thoroughly mashed up. It was a nice bit of stress relief for the few minutes it took me to combine. The extract is optional and you could use other scents. So, how does this help out all the ladies in my house?   Well, the girls like the texture of it and seeing how it can hold lots of different shapes. We got to see what the inside of our fists look like, make impressions of our hands, and even pretended to build a miniature Great Wall of C...

I did something a little uncharacteristic the other night. I let the girls run around outside for about 10 minutes just before bedtime. No toys. No shoes. Just one another to enjoy and cherish. I should be more uncharacteristic more often. At least my girls think so!

Inspired by a friend's FB status update, I wrote my own, short version of the popular "If you give a" series by Laura Numeroff. For better or for worse, here it is: If you give a toddler a chocolate croissant, he'll want some milk to go with it. And as you go to the kitchen to find a clean sippy cup, you'll remember that all the cups are still in the car. On your way to the car for a clean sippy cup, your neighbor will want to chat with you. While you are chatting, the neighbor will not be able to keep her eyes off your clothes. You think you must be pretty stylish today. Once you get back into the house, you'll need to go into the bathroom to rinse the cup out (because the sink is still full of last night's dishes). You'll walk into the bathroom and then stare in horror at the mirror as you realize why your neighbor was checking out your clothes. As you trudge upstairs to change out of your now chocolate stained clothing, you'll remember that you...

I'll admit it. I'm kind of a geek in that I like to watch documentaries. My favorite so far this year has been Helvetica , a documentary devoted to the famous font. It really was quite fascinating. Trust me. I was searching for Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead based on the recommendation of a couple of friends who had seen in and within 2 minutes, I'd added 13 documentaries to my Netflix instant streaming queue. It is almost certain that I won't agree with the perspective of all of the film makers, but it will be interesting to compare all the different viewpoints and perspectives. So, here is a list of the documentaries I've added. There is a definite theme here and you'll see that they all deal with food or water as it relates to our health or how we treat it as a resource. Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead Deconstructing Supper Ingredients Broken Limbs The Future of Food Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution What's On Your Plate The Real Dirt on Far...

It's true... when the details of daily life increase, the journaling and recording of that life decreases. Summer is racing past me with out me having taken the time to note as much of the fun things we've done as a family as I would have liked. I know we are making great memories each week and at least want to mark a few moments of this jam-packed summer! There have been impromptu field trips to new candy shops in town... Hospital visits to see my mom (who is staying with my brother now and working on the recovery process)... Fun sparkler parties with sweet friends... Playing in the pool with cousins... One on one time for Mommy with each of the girls... Mary and Mommy at Explorations V Children's Museum together... Charlotte and Mommy watching fireworks in a parking lot on our way home... Late nights trying to find out who hit the gate in my neighborhood (a fun treat reserved for the HOA president, moi!) Welcoming Daddy home from...

At this point in the photo challenge, I'd like to share with you some pictures of something I've already done, but that I want to do again before I die. I'd love nothing more than to take my family to China and share with them all of the beautiful and amazing things I was able to see. Plus, I know there is so much still left to explore that we could discover together as a family. Click here to view these pictures larger What do you want to do before you die? Do you have a bucket list?

Today's photo is of a picture of someone I could never imagine my life without. It's almost impossible to decide on just one person. But, in honor of a recent birthday, I'm going to show you some pictures of my mom.  She's not really a fan of the camera, so these are almost a year old. But my friend Abby (a central FL photographer) did a great job capturing one of my favorite things about my mom - how much she loves her family. I think each of these photos shows that she truly enjoys the company of her grandchildren. And that we enjoy her company too! Happy birthday G-ma!

I'm onto day 13 of the 30 day photo challenge and one reason it's taken me so long to get this post up is because I am supposed to post a picture of my favorite band or artist. And the truth is, I'm not much of a fan. I like lots of songs. And I've even been heard saying, "oh! that's my favorite song!" when one comes on the radio or the opening chords are strung by the Praise Band at my church. Instead of narrowing it down to just one, I'll just share some of my favorites. This is not even close to an exhaustive list and the challenge might have been more revealing had they asked for a favorite song... but then again, it's kind of hard to take a picture of a song, isn't it? Josh Wilson (who we met in person thanks to Joy FM) Third Day (the one band I've seen in concert more than any other) (Image courtesy: Music Babylon ) Sara McLachlan (the best outdoor concert experience I ever had) (Image courtesy: Spinner.com ) Who is ...

Tomorrow is the day I prove once again how crazy I am. :) Tomorrow I will walk 13.1 miles with my friends Alisa and Kelly in the Disney Princess Half Marathon. I have my bib. I have my tag on my shoe. I have my tutu made. And my pink plastic tiara is sitting on top of my head as I type this. Though I may wear this pink cowboy hat instead. It lights up! You can always leave me a supportive message using the Runtastic app on the left side of my page. Or you can go here ( http://live.activeresult.com/msg/MSG-signup.tcl?event_id=50 ) and sign up to receive emails or text messages with details about my progress or finish times. So, which hat do you think I should wear???

Today I am going to show you a picture of something I love - a house full of teenagers! Something I haven't shared with my blog readers yet is that we have opened our home to host a Chinese exchange student for this school year. She has been with us since August and will be staying until late June. Her name is Yanfei and she is definitely a part of our family. (She was even on our family's photo Christmas card !) For Chinese New Year earlier this month, she decided to throw a party for her new American friends and give them a taste of her food and culture. We have loved having her in our home and the night of this party was one of my favorite nights in a long, long time. We served dumplings, steamed buns, spring rolls, and a great citrus punch. It was great to see her friends willing to try all of these new to them foods. I was channeling my own mom all night long - cooking, listening into their teenage conversations, occasionally interjecting to clarify a point about the...