nobody likes a complainer...

....but today I don't care. I'm going to complain for the next few paragraphs and I don't care what anyone thinks. So feel free to read along as I wallow in self-pity for a few moments. Or just skip this post. Whatevs.

   Today didn't start off so bad. I got to stay in bed while Graham got the boys up and playing. I'm not exactly sure at what point the day went south really....all I know is, that it has gone totally downhill since then. Did anyone else ever read that children's book, 'Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day'? Well, that's how I feel today...So after the point at which everything started to go downhill, Lincoln decides it's a good idea to just start hitting and pushing Quinn. For no reason at all. Just simply because he feels like it. And he decided that today of all days would be the day that he didn't care about being disciplined, either. Usually, my levelheaded child, Lincoln, will give up the error of his ways with one quick glare and stern 'No, sir' from me. But like I said, something weird was in the stars today that made that child all of a sudden invincible of my eye-gazing wrath. Perfect.
   So whilst dealing with the hitting and pushing, I'm trying to get these children dressed for the errands we have to get done today. I am supposed to head over to Hobby Lobby to hopefully sign up for some Cake Decorating Classes. (which I've been planning on and saving for weeks now) It seems like forever that it takes me to get everyone ready and in the car and what do you know, I turn the car on and I have no gas. Zero. Sitting completely on empty with the gas light gleaming at me. So I drive carefully (trying not to have to brake too much) to the gas station where I pull up to the pump. I hop out of the car and what do you know this time? I forgot my debit card at the house and I have no cash on me. Of course. So I proceed to drive even more carefully back to the apartment, pick up my card and some cash (you can never be too careful), and head back to the gas station knowing that it is only a miracle that we made it there and back again.
   So once my car is full of gas and I've bought myself a coke (I feel like I've earned at least that) we head to Hobby Lobby. Lincoln is super excited, because this is one of his favorite store's so I'm sure that he will be on his best behavior from now on. (which for the most part, he surprisingly was)
   Upon arrival at Hobby Lobby everything seems fine and normal, I see the signs for the Cake Classes and am eager to go put my name on the list. Well, come to find out, they started their last class of the month yesterday and have no idea when the next class will start. Awesome. But more than likely it will run from middle of March to middle of April. Perfect, that's exactly when I'll be busy having a baby. So with my head hung a little low I choose to head over to the fabric department to pick up some fabric for these pants I've been wanting to make for the boys. Now, let me ask you....do you think with all the spring fabrics coming out now that it would be difficult to locate a seersucker fabric? The answer to that my friends should of course be, no, however this day is destined to fail me. They only have one seersucker fabric and it's white on white. For two toddler boys? No, thanks. So with my head hung a little lower, I head over to the knobs section determined to get one project done before Cora comes and pick out some cute knobs for a piece of furniture I want to repurpose. With cute knobs in hand (that were 50% off - finally I catch a break!) I head over to the spray paint section feeling a little more confident. Now I know what you're thinking....I shouldn't be spray painting at a time like this. However, I've read that if you do it outside and with a mask on, it should be no problem at all, so determined to make this errand productive I head over to the spray paint section. While standing in the aisle with two cans in my hand, trying to decipher the differences between all the brands and finishes, a Hobby Lobby employee walks into the same aisle as me and just sort of...hovers. She's about 20 or 21 and I don't really pay her much attention until she says, "Umm...I don't know if you know this, but you probably shouldn't be spray painting while you're pregnant." It takes me a second to read her facial expression and figure out she's not joking, she's actually quite serious about this. So I just smile the best I can and say, "Thanks." as unsarcastically as I am capable of at the time. Apparently my response isn't urgent enough for her, so she says, "And you know, if you decided you want to buy spray paint, and have someone else do it for you of course, it's only like a dollar at Walmart."....And what do our mothers always say....if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. So that's exactly what I did. I stayed engrossed in my spray paint can reading and completely ignored this comment. But of course I'm thinking to myself, "Ok, hobby lobby girl,  any mother of two youngins would know it is totally worth the extra $2.47 to not have to make another trip and just get the dang spray paint while I'm here. At the store that you work at, Genius. So then apparently hobby lobby girl thinks I ACTUALLY didn't hear her, that a person was incapable of simply ignoring her and must have some sort of hearing problem. So she completely ignores all the 'leave me alone' body language I'm throwing her direction and she dares to come closer to me. She's about a foot from me when she says, "Again, I don't think you should be spray painting unless someone does it for you." Had hobby lobby girl not walked away immediately, I'm about 99% sure I would've clocked her. Completely aggravated and frustrated I decide to just leave. I buy my knobs and leave the spray paint for another day (I'm sure hobby lobby girl thinks she's converted me because I saw her eyeing me around the corner while I was checking out) and get out as fast as I can.
   Upon arrival at home, both the boys lose all reason. They cannot contain themselves while I make lunch, so it's the loudest 15 minutes anyone has ever heard while I make a sandwich for Lincoln and myself and some eggs for Quinn. Meal time is uneventful enough and then the real drama hits. Quinn decides to throw a fit when I tell him it's time for night night and that gets Lincoln up and screaming again, too. I proceed to change Quinn, and put him down with some milk and what do you know, when I turn the corner back into the kitchen Lincoln is standing in the middle of the floor with throw up everywhere. Yup, you read that right. Puke. All over the floor and himself and the trashcan. He tried to spit some out in there, but wasn't too successful. So as I'm cleaning this up and trying to console him and keep Roxy from not eating the throw up, Quinn is screaming and my downstairs neighbors are banging on my floor (their ceiling).  My screaming children are just more than the 22 year old college student can handle at 12 in the afternoon.
   Promptly after cleaning up Lincoln and the kitchen he thankfully goes down for a nap easily. I think all the puking and screaming wore him out. So with both the boys down and the kitchen overly sanitized, I try to lay down on the couch also, but am immediately woken by all the sudden banging and clanging going on downstairs. I literally think my neighbors are trying to kill me. They play rock band at all hours of the night, move furniture all day and then bang on my floors during daylight hours when my toddlers make a peep. WHO DOES THAT? Someone with intentions to drive me insane, that's who. And I'm pretty sure if I can hear all of their noise from upstairs, I can't be over-exaggerating....(am I right or am I right??) And of course if I'm hearing all the banging and clanging, surely so is Quinny. He's immediately awake also and screaming. So I try to let him cry it out because he's only been asleep for an hour (he normally sleeps 2 to 3 hours), but at this point it's hopeless.
   So here we are at 4 o'clock...Quinn's completely gone bananas, I'm exhausted, and I can hear Linc waking up. How is this day not over? How am I still functioning? I pray for my sanity that this is the worst it's going to get today....not holding my breath though.
   Thanks for letting me vent and ramble. Hopefully you all had much better days than I. Sigh....

Baby Girl Update!

   Just wanting to give an update since the last time I announced that we were having a girl! We are about 31 weeks along so we've only got about 10 weeks to go! Yay! Both Linc and Quinny were a week or two late so we try not to depend too much on the "due date" that's given us. Just everyone keep us in your prayers because our due date is April 13 and Graham's finals week for school starts April 26. Eeek!! We aren't too worried about it, but it would definitely be nice to all have your prayers and good thoughts and vibes sent our way (and we thank you ahead of time)! :)
    I had written that we were planning on (at the time) naming her Ruby and while we weren't 100% sure, that's what we were more than likely going with....Well....we have changed our minds! I know, I know...but trust me, we've been calling her this new name for months now and really feel like this is it. It's to the point now, where if I even think about other names it feels weird. Like how it would feel to rename Lincoln or Quinn...so without further ado, our baby girl's name will be.....(drum roll please)....Cora Fayne Lutz. (gasp and applause!) We kept the middle and last names the same (obviously), but switched Ruby out for Cora. Ruby had gained a little more popularity than we were comfortable with and while we still very much like the name, when we read Cora we knew it was it! We had actually been looking online at a baby names website and we looked up Graham's grandmother's name which is Corinne. Under that it said that a common variation of that name is Cora. And we fell in love. (awwww....) So we hope you like it! And even if you don't that's ok because we do! :) Alright, so that's our update, hope you all have been well. Ciao!

home (pre)schooling

   For those of you who know me well, you know I am an advocate of homeschooling. So why it didn't occur to me until this week to homeschool Lincoln for preschool is beyond me. I sat there on my computer just willing a new preschool program to pop up onto my google search, "Wonderful, Amazing new preschool in Decatur only $50 a month!" Yeah. Right. Like that's EVER going to happen. So then it dawns on me. I wonder what type of activities I could do with him at home that are preschool-ish enough so that he's learning the basics. Googled that, and Voila! TONS of online preschool resources. There was one website I found to be particularly awesome and wanted to share it with you. A wonderful person named Katrina Lybbert has posted a website called: www.letteroftheweek.com. Here she has three stages or steps that will prepare your preschooler for reading. So Monday Linc and I start the Preparatory Curriculum for Brightly Beaming Steps to Reading, and I am SO excited!! You have no idea how excited I am. This program is legit. It has lesson plans and themes of the week and songs and poems and shapes, colors, numbers, you name it. I feel like he's finally going to get the preschool experience I've so been longing for him to have. And the best part is, I don't really have to pay much at all. So far with supplies I've spent about $15. Yup, fifteen buckaroos, that's it.
    And I know what you're thinking....Heather you could have been teaching him poems and songs and letters all this time ya know...and here's what I have to say to that. I know. But I am the most indecisive person ever. Plus I have a hard time with follow through. So to make a decision on which song to teach Linc and then have the memory to keep singing it to him, doesn't often happen. Direction is what I needed. And direction is what I've found. Like I mentioned before this program has weekly lesson plans all laid out for you and a suggested daily schedule. It's simple things and the whole lesson probably won't last more than 30 minutes, but at least it's something. And I'm so ecstatic about it.
   I also happened upon a blog that I found very encouraging ...http://mommylife.net/archives/2009/03/why_homeschool.html...if you don't want to read the four part post (which is understandable) here it is in a nutshell. Why NOT homeschool your preschooler? You have cared for and raised this child so far...who better to teach them too? A degree isn't what always makes a great teacher. The desire to teach can also make a great teacher. So if you're a mom and have the desire to teach your child, there should be nothing nor anyone stopping you. Geeze, that makes me feel invincible! :) I know that I will be winging it for the first few weeks and probably not as organized-minded or patient as someone with lots of experience teaching, but I like to think that I'll get the hang of it and hopefully learn a lot about myself, my child and education in general in the process.
   So if you haven't been able to send your little one to preschool because of your budget like me, or you just want to homeschool period, I highly recommend this. Of course we'll see how it goes the first week, but she makes the actual days so flexible I can't see this not going well. Here's a few pictures of the things I've prepared for the week...sorry about the quality, I had to use my phone! :) I'll try to update with some more pictures once we start coloring and cutting and things like that. Thanks for letting me share this! :)

These are all the "cow" books we checked out from the library.

I used clear contact paper to "laminate" all of our weekly letters/numbers/etc. I just folded it over on itself then cut around the edges. This way they last through the next few children. :)

Every week we will use a counting folder to help us learn our numbers.
You add stickers counting up to the number on the page.
Ex: the number one would have one sticker. :)

We also have a Review Folder that we will go over every Friday.

It contains the number, letter and shape/color for each corresponding week.

And here's the finished product! She has you make a poster board for reference when teaching your munchkin. I've taped things on with tape that can easily come off, so next week these come down and go into a folder and the new letter/number/color/etc. goes up! Simple as that.

tasty tuesday's

In honor of my brother-in-law, Sam, I am posting Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Cake today. His birthday is on Thursday and he's requested his favorite dessert! Happy Birthday, Sambo!

   Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Cake
This is originally a Paula Deen recipe. Enjoy!

What you need:
  - 1 box yellow cake mix
  - 4 eggs
  - 2 sticks of butter
  - 1 box of cream cheese (8 oz; softened)
  - 1 can of pumpkin (15oz)
  - 1 teaspoon vanilla
  - 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  - 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  - 1 box of confectioner's/powdered sugar (16oz)

What you do: (Preheat oven to 350 degrees)
   For the crust, mix the cake mix, 1 egg and 1 stick of butter and pat it into the bottom of a sprayed 13x9 pan. *note: Don't follow the cake box instructions, just use the dry mix, 1 egg and butter. That's it. You'll have to work with it to get it to cover the bottom of the pan.
   For the filling, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin together until smooth. Then add the remaining eggs, butter and vanilla and beat together. Next, add the cinnamon, nutmeg and powdered sugar. (I find it less messy if you add in the powdered sugar in small increments. It'll fly all over your kitchen if you pour the whole box in!) Make sure it's mixed really well then pour into your pan overtop your crust. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Make sure you don't over bake this...it's supposed to be Ooey and Gooey remember? Now, dig in!

Just for fun: delicious variations of this same recipe!
   - Ooey Gooey Pineapple Cake. Just use a 20oz can of crushed pineapple instead of pumpkin. Make sure you drain it.
   - Ooey Gooey Banana Cake. Use two bananas instead of pumpkin.
   - Ooey Gooey Peanut Butter Cake. My personal favorite. Use chocolate cake mix instead of yellow for the crust, and use 1 cup creamy peanut butter instead of pumpkin. Delicious!!!

tasty tuesdays's

Hello, All! I am bringing a new recipe to you today that was even new to me until yesterday! Fun! Graham and I have recently read and started the 4 Hour Body, Slow-Carb diet and I wanted to share this recipe and a little bit of info from the book with you...So the great thing about this "diet"(I hate calling it that...I think it's more a new food regimen) is that you don't cut calories or food groups. You cut out some foods, but replace them with healthier ones instead in the same category (mostly being white, processed carbs for spinach and the like). Here are the five rules of the Slow Carb Diet:
1. Avoid white carbohydrates. (pasta, breading, milk, etc. with the exception of kidney beans and cauliflower.)
2. Eat the same few meals over and over again. (We do this anyway if you really think about it.)
3. Don't drink calories. (You are still allowed coffee, wine, and some "diet" sodas in moderation.)
4. Don't eat fruit. (Our ancestors didn't eat fruit year round, every day...why should we?)
5. Take one day off per week. (He calls this "Dieter's Gone Wild", the day you can literally eat anything and everything you want, no holding back, no feeling guilty. My favorite part. :) )

So I decided to make somewhat of a chili/stew/veggie-free-for-all and it turned out pretty darn tasty! I was worried to make any of the chili recipes I was already familiar with because I usually put sour cream and cheese in it and didn't want to feel like I was having the same thing, but without the delicious part....so I literally threw all these ingredients in a pot and ate it later with nothing added to it. So good! I encourage you all to check out his website and blog (www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog) and read up on this for yourselves, so far it's been hard, but I feel so much better (no more food comas) and don't really feel deprived because I know I can have whatever I want come Saturday. :) Totally worth it! Enjoy!

Healthy "Chili" 
 This makes 6 hearty helpings.
   What you need:
         1lb ground beef (we used yummy grass-fed beef from Trader Joe's)
         1 can diced tomatoes (or freshly diced tomatoes)
         1 small can tomato paste
         1 can whole kernel corn
         1/2 a green pepper chopped
         1/2 onion chopped
         2 cloves garlic
         garlic salt (lots of this stuff made it delicious!)
         onion powder
         kosher salt
         pepper

   What you do:
     Throw it in the crock pot and cook for 4-6 hours. I did about 3 hours on high and the last hour on low. It tasted great for lunch, too! :)

things you only say if you're a parent...

  So for a while now I've been compiling an ongoing list in my head of things that myself or Graham has said that if not for being a parent really wouldn't be said otherwise. When you have barbarians running around in your house it's not uncommon to find yourself explaining the most simplest of things or asking this young person questions that seem completely ridiculous. This is in fact why I call my children barbarians. They can't feed themselves, bathe themselves, speak (clear) english, they resort to violence and thievery when they feel it's necessary ("you take my toy, I push you down") and so forth and so on....So you can imagine that situations arise throughout the day that need explaining or questioning. Here are some of my favorites, only naming a few:
  "Chapstick doesn't go IN your mouth...it goes ON it."
  "Don't drink the bath water, your brother just peed in it."
  "We don't play in or around the trash."
  "Please don't sit on or stand on or in any way squash your brother."
  "Just because he put his finger in your mouth doesn't mean you HAVE to bite it."
Also I find it amusing that we have to differentiate our Thomas the trains now that we have multiple ones...there's huge Thomas, big Thomas, Quinny's Thomas and my favorite...poop Thomas. Yup, you heard that right. We have a Thomas strictly as a reward for pooping.
   We've been somewhat potty training Linc since his second birthday. Peeing in the potty was no problem for him, but pooping in the potty is an entirely different story. I don't know when or how, but he somehow associated pooping in the potty with pain, so for the longest time he would just hold it until nap or night time and just wait to be changed until after. For months we have had a Thomas the Train (the real one: wood and metal, the right colors in the right places, the right size, etc.) sitting up high in the bathroom just waiting to be collected when Lincoln went poop on the potty. Just this past week I'm not exactly sure what clicked, but all of a sudden he tells me he has to poop. So of course, I bring him to the potty and voila! he's done it! We jump and clap and rejoice! We immediately give him Thomas as well as m&m's and two tokens on his chart for doing so well. (We have a chart to encourage him to share, stay in his bed, clean up, etc...do all things less barbarically if you will) He's ecstatic! So we tell him (just like we've said a million times before) the only way to KEEP poop Thomas is to KEEP going poop in the potty. If you poop in your pants again, we will have to take poop Thomas away.
   So after the rejoicing we are all sitting around in the living room and I'm watching Lincoln very intently. It's almost as if I can see the little wheels turning in his head and I can't wait to hear what he's come up with. So I sit and wait patiently until he looks up at me and asks, "Lincoln poop potty?" To which I reply, "Yes, Lincoln pooped in the potty! Great job!" Then he asks, "Lincoln poop on couch?" To which I reply, "No, Lincoln shouldn't poop on the couch. Poop only in the potty." And he proceeds to ask me about every object in the room...the lamp, the table, the floor, the wall...then he gets this smirk on his face and asks, "Lincoln, poop on Daddy?" And of course, Graham and I bust out laughing...I mean come on, to explain that one is pretty hilarious...so I say, "No, Lincoln should definitely NOT poop on Daddy!"
   I think it started out him actually wondering if the poop needs to always be in the potty or just not poop in his pants. But once he figured it out I loved that he played a joke on us! Needless to say....I never thought I would have to explain to someone. "No, you shouldn't poop on your father."

Ahhh....the joys of parenthood. And I apologize for all the "poop" talk for all the non-parents out there...this just so happens to be my reality right now. :)

tasty tuesdays's

Today I bring you a new recipe I tried out this week that ended up being delicious! And the great thing about it is you probably have most of the ingredients already in your kitchen...so here we go!

     Honey Mustard Chicken
 What you need:
    - 4 to 6 chicken breasts
    - honey mustard sauce (I made mine from "scratch" I'll post directions for that below)
    - bread crumbs of any kind
    - parmesan cheese (or any other shredded cheese you have on hand would probably be good)

 What you do:
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dip the chicken into the honey mustard, then cover it in the bread crumbs. I found it most efficient for the sauce to be in a bowl and the bread crumbs on a plate. Then place the chicken in a 2 1/2qt or 13x9 baking dish. Sprinkle the tops with the shredded parmesan and cook for about half an hour or until the outside is a little crispy, cheese is melted and juices run clear. Enjoy!

In case you don't have any honey mustard on hand....here's instructions on how to make your own.
  What you need:
     - about 1 cup of mayonnaise
     - about 1/2 cup of yellow mustard
     - honey
     - cayenne pepper
 
   What you do:
   Combine the mayo and mustard in a bowl and then add the honey and pepper until you like how it tastes....simple as that! :)