Otis Sidekicks

John to Mark: What do you think the best part of the new house is? Mark: Well, my bed is really comfortable. John: I think it is the same bed you already had. Mark: Oh, good point. I guess that we are all here together. Nate: Ya, the best part is we didn't loose anyone in the move. Mickey: Like loose a kid? Nate: I don't know (giggling) I guess it doesn't matter where we are as long as we have the 10 of us. Daisy: We have the bestest family. James: Best, and we could use an xbox to be the best. Daisy: I SAID best Annie: OK everyone, lets leave it as we are super lucky, for this house, for everything, ok? Mark: I think we should live in a cabin next. Nate: Ok, but all together. A picture Mickey announced they might need future therapy after taking, dressed up at the farm building at the MN State fair. They all went in for Lucy, who consequently loved it! An actually conversation, I guess they are not as impressed by the beautiful woodwork, floors, paint and...

That post coffee crash can turn a great morning into a lousy one fast. My solution to this is....have a second cup. August seems to be a very strong black brew and we all miss our tennis routine. We did 7 weeks of Urban Tennis, essentially daily lessons for the kids in one hour shifts by age group. Those not playing tennis would be at the park or doing summer workbooks. I pre packed snacks and we had a wonderful system. August has descended like a wonderful deep brew. The intoxicating possibility of sleeping in and having no structure is upon us. Kids all think this is going to be uber cool until week two and they are at each other. Feet stick out just slightly in the hopes of tripping another, bikes are taken without asking the owner (a sibling of course) and snacks roll listlessly into meal times. To add to the crash we are in the final push of finishing a home build, getting our house ready to sell, starting new schools and potty training L. She actually did number two in the ...

I have been trying to be more creative with having our kids have less processed snacks, things like gold fish and pretzels that seem to "take over" our snacking. Some friends reminded me we do a lot of creative snacks already and I thought I would share those! I am always looking for more ideas. We also do beef sticks, cheese sticks and veggies with dip but these are some fun ones.  Zucchini Muffins 1 shredded zucchini, I shredded and squeezed out water from the day before. If frozen drain. Then microwave to get soft, about 2 min if raw, 4 if frozen then drain and put aside to mix with: 1 ripe banana 3 eggs whole teaspoon corn starch cinnamon & sugar teaspoon or plain cinnamon, or add savory spices Spray a muffin tin, 12 openings. Bake about 12 min or so until brown edges.   33 Calories per "Muffin"  Simple Otis Cucumbers   4 cucumbers peeled and sliced (even the youngest kids love peeling these!) regular vinegar, 1 cup ...

“We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell Simple Mom blog today spoke to the question of purpose as mothers. Are we doing what we had planned on doing, are we in fact doing enough? What would my younger self wish to add to the life I have now? These questions make me turn to gratitude for the moment I am in. This has been one of the best summers we have had in ages. We are doing daily tennis lessons for the kids, James has had the opportunity to go to camp up north and Annie to do horseback riding. Nate and Mark have been solidifying their creative bond with the production of family plays. Daisy has started sports! She loves tennis and newly discovered soccer like her big sister. John and Mickey have had the best season of Travel baseball because they have a pretty phenomenal coach (Dad)! Sheff is coaching along with a good family friend, and having a blast. They both are so pumped up and excite...

I am phasing out a bit from blogging and attempting to sit down and write in, yes how Great Gatsby of me, a novel each day. Am I succeeding? Well, no not really but the thought is there and bits are forming. I want to figure out how to print the blogs I have done and make a book (shoot me a note if you have done this!) and take time to get a romance novel written before Lucy is out of elementary school. Once when I had a baby and 3 toddlers I remember standing at our kitchen counter back when we lived in Saint Paul and reading a biography on Nora Roberts. She wrote when she had two young boys in order to escape. I still can feel the tug of small chubby hand on my leg, the crusted over lasagna pan in the sink and baby I was juggling on my hip. As much as I adore my job 87% of the time escaping into a book is pure bliss. What housewife does not want to ride off to Saudi Arabia or sail the emerald isle? I have always had a stack of books by by bed, in my purse, dog eared next to the ...

I have been away from my post a bit this spring. In part, how could anyone call this spring! And in part, it has been a more intense few months than we have had in a while. I am feeling the stress lift  bit after trying some new ideas around our abode. Sometimes treats are OK to brake up the winter blues!  We have gone back to the great goal of weekly dates with mom or dad, hot cocoa , a meal or the fav Freestyle Frozen Yogurt:) Sheff and I both love goals, life goals, family goals and fitness goals. We have goals to read books that teach us something new once a month, goals to try a new ethnic dish, goals to read a section of prayer together and discuss and of course goals to be better and more balanced parents each day. The cool thing for both of us is we very often reach these goals with the other person cheering us on. M & M in Florida, such a family bonding vacation for our family The early part of this year we both stunk at setting goals, a few pounds c...

OK spring we are ready and waiting! As a mom who has about 20 million boots to put away and hats in every direction it is time for some sunshine and fresh air. I have been filling my kindle with books about the south and pacific, we have a coconut candle on the counter and mango smoothies for a snack today after school. We are calling for the sunshine to come out and play! As a fun activity we looked through albums last night and here are some great spring pictures from years past. It is fun to play "Do you know that Otis?" Now that they are getting bigger some of the photos are getting harder to identify (not for mom...yet:) Hope to get out there and snap some for this years album SOON! Melt ice, melt snow lets go out and play!