Up at the crack of dawn

Daddy’s already gone

Breakfast ready, coffee’s on

Wakes up her sleepy heads

hard gettin em outta bed

Three little boys

Fed dressed out the door

lunches packed the night before

Waiting at the end of the drive

They get on the bus

give a wave goodbye

Every morning starts the same

Some things never change

Now it’s quiet she’s all alone

Everyones left home

someday soon the time will come

they’ll be all grown

Out on their own.

facts of life

time passes by

Before your eyes

they leave home

raise a family of their own

an empty house as they grow

Oh where does the time go

standing at the back of the church

he walks his mother down the aisle

only a few feet but to her a thousand miles

a new woman will take her place

All beautiful and dressed in lace

But a mother’s love no one can replace

She has a tear in her eye

Holding back, trying not to cry

he kisses his new bride

they wave goodbye

Now a sound of little feet on the floor

Sounds familiar from a time ago

It’s different from before

It’s the crack of dawn

there’s no breakfast, no coffee on

loud noises down the hall

And she hears “grandma”

The best words of all

~Allison Jacobson

Beef Enchilada Casserole

Here's another great make ahead meal or we often take this to friends when bringing meals to help them out...

Beef enchilada casserole

1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion diced
Handful of black olives diced
chili powder (to taste)
salt and pepper
1 can 8 ounce tomato sauce
2 cans of enchilada sauce
1 egg
1 cup cottage cheese
9 flour tortilla shells
colby jack shredded or mexican shredded cheese

brown hamburger with onions. add chili powder,salt, and pepper, black olives.  Stir in sauces. simmer a little.

In another bowl mix together egg and cottage cheese mixture. set aside.

grease 9x13 pan. spread a little of meat mixture down. lay 3 tortillas on top (they will overlap). then shredded cheese then all of the egg/cottage cheese mix, then meat. Layer another layer of 3 shells shredded cheese then meat then last 3 shells and shredded cheese then meat and then the last of the shredded cheese...
Bake uncovered at 350. I can't remember how long probably half hour to 45 minutes...

Ten Things for Mom to Remember!

I had this hanging on my fridge for quite awhile!
I think it is a great reminder now that summer is here and the kids are home!

10 things for MOM to remember!

1. Give yourself a break—you don't need to be so hard on yourself.
2. Just say no! What are your real priorities?
3. Take time to write it down. Journaling will bring clarity to your life.
4. Slow down and savor living in the moment.
5. Plug into your kids so you can really connect with them.
6. Don't forget about your husband—intimacy is life-affirming!
7. Reach out beyond your family. It will enrich everyone.
8. Make your physical and mental health a priority.
9. Is more always better?  Simplify everything.
10. Be a little selfish—you deserve it, and it will make you a better mother.

Black and White Summer Bean Salad

Got this recipe from a friend it is so good and have had lots of compliments on it. So I thought I would share. It is from Weight Watchers. It is nice and light for summer.

Ingredients:
1 can of white beans, (great northern), drained and rinsed
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 package of grape tomatoes
1 small onion, diced
few sticks of celery, diced
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp parsley, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Prep:
In large bowl combine beans, tomatoes (don't have to use whole package), onion, celery. Gently stir in vinegar and sprinkle parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

My kind of salsa!

This is so easy and always have the stuff in the pantry. Great salsa for parties! It is usually gone. I have double it one time thinking I needed to. One batch is plenty!

Ingredients:
1 can of black beans
1 can of corn
1 can of rotel with green chilies
a handful of chopped cilantro

prep:
in a large colander dump in black beans, rinse. dump in corn, rinse then dump in rotel and rinse. This will make it so it doesn't get juicy...and tomatoes don't get icky. let sit and drain while chopping up cilantro. I usually do about a handful. Throw in and mix together and put in large bowl. It is better if you let it sit in fridge for couple hours or more before serving. Serve with Tortilla chips!

Yummy Ravioli Recipe

Made this recipe for a girlfriend who just had a baby. I made a double batch so we'd have supper too.
It was delicious! So I thought I would put the recipe out there for you...It was super easy and can be made ahead!

Spinach-Ravioli Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 package of fresh baby spinach, thoroughly washed..(I get the bag spinach in produce) chopped.
1/3 cup of pesto sauce (store bought jar)
1 (15 oz.) jar Alfredo sauce
1/4 cup of chicken broth
1 (25 oz.) package frozen cheese  filled ravioli ( do not thaw) (walmart you can buy one bag) (harris teeter -you will have to buy two of the smaller bags) (Harris Teeter's were better)
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Italian six cheese blend
can garnish with fresh basil (I have never)

Prep:
Preheat oven to 375. Chop spinach, and toss with pesto bowl in a medium bowl. set aside.
combine Alfredo sauce and chicken broth, mix together.
Spoon one third of alfredo sauce mixture (about 1/2 cup) into a lightly greased baking dish.
Top with half spinach mixture. Arrange half of ravioli in a single layer over spinach mixture. Repeat layers once. Top with remaining Alfredo sauce.
Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle cheese. Bake for 5 more minutes or until hot and bubbly.

I have never seen two boys so excited and talkative before. They talked about baseball camp from the time I picked them up until the time I put them to bed.
1. Cooper is so excited to be there and having so much fun
2. Sharing it with his brother and they have something to talk about and not argue about
Just love it.
Can't imagine whats it's going to be like if they actually were on the same team together one day.

Cooper's revelation

He yells to me from the bathroom...it's usually "Mom I'm done, wipe my butt".
But no, this time it was "Mom I think you should sign me up for baseball, I really like it"!
He is having so much fun at camp and it has been a great experience for him to really see if he liked baseball. It wouldn't be much fun to go through a whole season to try it and not like it.
I make the boys finish out what they sign up for, they can't quit half way through if they decide they don't like it. They just won't do it again or try it later.
So looks like next spring we'll have to find him a team...
Fall and winter is taken up by hockey.

Need Back to School Shoes

The boys need back to school shoes and unfortunately they need them now and back to school shoe sales don't usually happen in June! Omega Sports (kind of like Dick's but local and WAY smaller) in Durham had a great BOGO sale-anything was buy one get one 50 percent off and some shoes were already marked down so I thought I better take advantage of it before it is over tomorrow.  So we went to the store after baseball camp today.
A trip to get new shoes with three boys can be an interesting experience especially at a sporting goods store. When people say "like a kid in a candy store" this has to run a very close second in our household! They knew we had to get shoes but seemed to forget as we walked in.
The sales person helped us out and sized them since I really have no clue what size they wear now...They are the same size! Of course, Braedyn and Cooper picked out the ones that were out of their sizes. Braedyn continued to like ones that they didn't have his size. He finally found some he liked and had to get funky shoelaces to go with them. Of course, he couldn't get the same ones as Coop and that would have been to confusing in the mornings.
While of this was going on, I glanced over at Jordan, he had emptied out the whole 3 bins of soccer balls and decided he would play soccer through out the store and instead of dodging "players" he was dodging sales racks. The kid likes soccer. I think I should probably sign him up. I thought, oh well, what harm could that do. So we continued on with picking out shoes while he played soccer.
Finally, after what seemed like a half hour, I told Jordan to pick up the soccer balls and he did. The boys wanted to pick up some other things they had wanted for baseball. Then Jordan saw the ping pong table when we walked to the other side of the store and he figured out how to play that. So I let him play since the sales people didn't mind,  (keep in mind this is a very small store-I don't just let my kids wander around stores) I heard "Bring it On", The store sales person told Jordan she would play with him and he was getting ready to serve and he said "Bring it On". The people working there busted out laughing. I just shook my head....
FUN TIMES!
I thought I am never going to get out of here under 100$. I am amazed to say I did and got two new pairs of shoes, 4 under armour wristbands, and 2 pairs of shoelaces.... I love sales!

Yet another stage passed!

I can say we have mastered potty training for Jordan! It is about the same time Cooper acheived this goal. He just turned 3 and I was bound and determined it was going to happen now. It has been a week tomorrow and he has not worn a diaper during the day. The days that even include errands, running, or the park. He was ready probably a couple months ago but we were never home long enough to accomplish it and do it consistantly. I also would forget he didn't have a diaper on and that just was not fun to deal with.
After Charlie's family left we were consistant in being home for a couple days and that is all it took!
He has not figured out the night yet so he goes potty right before bed and I put on a nighttime pullup. If I forget then he's wet and so is his bed. One stage at a time. He woke up one night and said he had to go potty but I don't know if that was a ploy to come and sleep in our bed or to wake up and go potty. He did go but then Charlie took him back to bed. That has only happend one night.  He's been waking up at night telling us he had a bad dream...yeah right, does he even know what that term means yet....
I was impressed yesterday when we were at baseball camp watching the boys and he said he had to go potty and so we found it and he did.  Later on that day, when he was swimming he said he had to go poopy and he got out and did. So I think we've got it figured out and I know to expect a couple accidents but that is fine with me. He loves his "new" big boy underwear...(Cooper's underwear). Yes, Cooper is almost 6 and Jordan just turned 3 and they can wear the same underwear. Jordan is kind of a tank too.
I am so happy about this! I don't have to worry about leaving with a diaper or having to clean a stinky one when we are out somewhere that is not a convenient surface to be laying a child down. We can just go. Traveling is going to be so much easier. He's officially a big boy.
Going back to the crib issue...
We decided not to take the front off and let it be since I watched him get out one time and it seems he is not going to hurt himself. I am not taking it off because at night when it is time to go to bed he does not try to climb out and if we switch to a real big boy bed it might be a struggle to get him to stay in bed while I am putting the others to bed and he likes to sneak downstairs lately. So that is the next thing to be done and accomplished. One thing at a time.
He is getting to be a little boy not a toddler anymore!!

Brothers at UNC Baseball Camp

Braedyn and Cooper had a very fun and exhausting day at camp. Jordan and I stayed to watch for a couple hours because Jordan said "I want to watch Braedyn hit a homerun".  I thought that was too cute. He loves watching his brothers play ball. I could tell Cooper was getting very hot. I was thinking at that time maybe hockey camp would have been a better choice for him. He's not a big fan of the heat and probably prefers sitting in an ice rink all day. But he was having a great time! They were all smiles when I left.
Jordan and I left and ran 6 miles but it was getting very steamy, so we came home and hopped in the pool and relaxed until it was time to go back and pick them up. Jordan had his mommy time back in the afternoon and he was pretty happy about that.
I went to pick them up early so we could watch a little bit and I had to laugh. It was Cooper's turn and he was up to bat. He can switch hit, or at least that is what he wants to be able to do, and has never played a baseball game but only with his brother and his friends. He was hitting right when I left in the morning and he got up to bat when I got back and he hit left and hit it in the air over first base line in fair play. He had a grin from ear to ear and looked at me to make sure I was watching. Braedyn had a great time to. They talked about it all the way home with red faces and sweat dripping down their face with this look of exhaustion in their eyes. I had planned on them getting in the pool to cool off when we got home but I knew they were tired when they turned that down. Well, at least I thought they were tired. They got home and played some more catch together and did some hitting while I was getting dinner ready.  If you are on facebook I posted a video there. I can't figure out how to do this on the blog yet...still learning the blog tricks! They ate dinner, watched some more baseball on TV and fell asleep very early ready for the next day. I hope they realize how lucky they are to be able to do such fun things and have the experiences they get to have. Charlie and I didn't have those type of experiences at their age.
A brother shares childhood memories and grown-up dreams.
As their mom, I feel lucky I get to see them in action and that they are always looking for me in the stands in whatever activity they are doing. They look to make sure mom is watching and is near by. Their biggest fan!
They woke up this morning and hopped right out of bed. I wished they could get that excited for school mornings! Today, I was just going to go through the drop off circle but Braedyn asked if I could walk them in and give them hugs and kisses and then leave. How could I turn that request down! So we did walk in together and they of course didn't give me a hug and kiss when all the coaches were there to greet them but it was the thought that counts! They just waved and said goodbye and turned and walked side by side into the stadium. Jordan and I headed for the trail and park again. Jordan wasn't to thrilled to leave, he wanted to stay and watch baseball. It won't be long and he will be joining them!

I am so thankful that they have each other and love each other so much. They really do have each other's backs. They take care of each other and I feel such joy watching their relationships develop with each other over time.

They each have qualities they both look up to in each other. They encourage each other and help each other. I hope that relationship continues to grow and they continue to be fond of one another. They build each other up. They will have so many memories together growing up so close. All of them have a special bond. Of course, there are those days where the helpful tip is not as appreciated but they are just trying and sometimes get turned down. 

There's no other love like the love for a brother. There's no other love like the love from a brother. ~Terri Guillemets

They are best friends for life and as a mother it is my responsibility to help foster that relationship.  In raising boys, I feel like they need to have that empathy for others but also be able to stand their own ground. Especially with the bullying that happens in schools these days. They know it's not right and mom has taught them to be put in that other person's shoes. Also, they know to stick up for what's right and also look out for each other. They need to love each other no matter what. I'm sorry is also a very common occurence in this house.

All for one and one for all
My brother and my friend
What fun we have
The time we share
Brothers 'til the end.
~Author Unknown

Excited Boys!

I have two very excited boys going to Lil Tar Heel Baseball camp this week which starts tomorrow morning. Cooper is so excited, he's been asking about it since they got out of school. This will be Braedyn's second time going. He went last year. This will be Cooper's first camp experience and "real" baseball experience. I am sure he will do great but they both will be EXHAUSTED!  I am thankful that the humidity is supposed to be down tomorrow!!
He wanted to do hockey camp and that probably would have made more sense but it didn't work out this year with his school calendar. Maybe next year he can do a hockey camp. At least he will have his brother there with him to look out for him and help him out. 
I will probably peek in on them a couple of the days and watch. Jordan and I will have all day! Goes from 8:30 to 5! We'll be out running in the mornings after drop off and go watch for awhile.
I will hopefully get some pictures posted....
I am praying all goes well. I am not so worried about Braedyn but for Coop.
Will keep you posted!

my little boys (working on)

Working on a lil something...still in works, in rough...


Three little boys
spent my life trippin over toys
They have the sweetest hugs and kisses
That's what a momma misses
when they grow up and move away
wishin we could go back to those days.
where
Superman's flying from the stairs
Catching Batman in the air
While Spiderman spins his web
for em all to share
Monster trucks, cars and trains
will they ever behave
and to think one day
I'll be puttin my baby on that plane
so he can make his way

Blink of an eye
the years gonna fly by
little fingers and little toes
a love deeper than they'll ever know
until they have one of their own
a love that never leaves you alone
it will follow you wherever you go
only that love of a parent will know.

my heart bursts with love
they hung the moon and stars above
they may fight like cats and dogs
but then turn around
and give each other hugs
he's your brother and your best friend
most of all your biggest fan.
Your his first love
and his first kiss
The first one he'll call when he will miss
momma's cookin, momma's hugs
most of all momma's love
A Momma's boy
he knows that term well
and he's not afraid to show it
and you will always know it
some boys just never out grow it.
respect, honor, and loyalty
because your momma taught you
that's what you need
If you want to succeed
I will be beside my bed on bended knees
when you leave me to see
what you want to see

No matter what you find out there
underneath those stars
remember one thing~God will meet you wherever you are.

Jordan's 3

Downloaded some photos as you can tell...here are a few from Jordan's birthday!

Happy Birthday to You!
Cameron and Jordan (our neighbor) came over to help celebrate

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Bode for the Fl stuff!

king for a day!

Thank you Braedyn!

Born a Tarheel (you'll have to click to enlarge to read it closely)

I love you dad!

he was so excited to get his own game now but dang it opened it and it was broken so I toke back and got a better one anyways which he LOVES and he finally has one of his own! He got a Leapster explorer and I can download games to it...like a Leap Pad but smaller...has downloadable apps that are learning games. That will keep him occupied this fall at baseball and hockey games!

Nice form!

Hopefully Jake doesn't get this beach ball!

Playing with Cameron in pool

Reading Braedyn's card

We love you! These three years have flew by! Can't believe how fast it goes....
I remember driving to the hospital that night June 9th around midnight in a thunderstorm and thinking could dad hit anymore potholes in the road! Then getting to Durham Regional and pulling up in Daddy's Hummer to what looked like a gang hanging out at the front door to see if one of their buddies was going to be okay! Geez....so I told Charlie go park the hummer and I'll be fine because he was going to leave it running and take me in but I said "No, your car might not be here when you get back". The nice police officer at the front door put me in the wheelchair and wheeled me in threw the metal detector (which at the time didn't seem as weird to me then. I don't think they had those in Shakopee!)  We got checked in and got my drugs around 2 am Jordan entered the world on June 10th at 4:43 am at 8 pounds 21 inches.  Yes, it was rather shortly after administering the drugs, they didn't have time to take full effect! I will never forget that pain!
Here is a picture of him on that day!

Love at first site!

photos from recent family visit

Recent photos from Jeana, Helen, and boys visit to North Carolina June 16-20th.

Grandma having fun with her grandkids!

JUMP

break time for coco puffs

make sure we got it all

Tired puppy!

bottoms up!

swimming tired him out!

Blue eyes!

Nice Dive!

But not always!

I wrote that post about feeling like a supermom but remember superman was not perfect and nor am I!
We all try and some days we will laugh, be silly, creative, fun and spontaneous. Some days we can be grouchy, tired, and stressed and we will cry,yell and scream...

Hmm was that "we" supposed to be about the parents or the children! They have their days too just like us adults. I have to try and remember that. Maybe more days like today we can all be on the same emotional calendar!

"God meets us where we are"

Feel like Supermom

Some days are just that great and some aren't but when they are ~ it feels so good! Must be what Superman feels like at the end of the day! I have only read about these days in magazines!
So it was a day spent with swimming with the boys having a great time, then doing crafts and studying in the afternoon, we went back out to the pool until dinner. They went back to creating more "art". I went to creating dinner! I knew the boys would never eat a casserole even if it was the last thing to eat in this house. So they had a frozen Uno's thin crust pizza (by the way are really good) (Sam's club). I needed to make something that had:

• 1. hamburger (cuz we thawed it a couple days ago) ( I should have no excuses for not making dinner when we have a deep freezer) (I just always forget to take stuff out).
• 2. cilantro (why do grocery stores sell cilantro in smaller bunches! really ~who uses that much!)
• 3. onions (cuz they go bad too quickly)
• 4. and anything else I can find in my pantry that might go good together...

So I came up with this...I will call it Enchilada Noodle Casserole.
So if you care to try it out, here is the fly by the seat of my pants recipe:
could make ahead too but cook an extra 30-40 mins longer!
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 onion
garlic powder
season salt
pepper
chili powder
1 can of enchilada sauce
1 can of black olives (chopped)
1 can of black beans (drained a little)
1 can of diced tomatoes with green chiles
1/2 box of mostocolli noodles (but you probably could use any)
shredded cheddar cheese

Grease 9x13 pan. preheat oven to 350.  boil water for noodles. boil noodles.
brown hamburger and onion together. Throw in spices. I never measure those -just eyeball it...(probably a hand full of chili powder). Stir that in. Pour in cans of sauce, olives, beans, diced tomatoes. simmer.
drain noodles and pour back into pot or a BIG bowl. I mixed the meat mixture and noodles together, then poured in pan. Added about 3 cups of Cheddar cheese on top of that and baked for 1/2 hour.
 serve with salsa and sour cream.
It was pretty good! Looks like we will be eating that for a couple days!

Then got the boys to calm down and watch the beginning of what will probably be the last NBA finals game. I predict the Miami Heat will win! Boo!
I decided to make breakfast. The boys love these mini muffins I make. Little do they know they aren't homemade! So easy!!! Here it is! Took me maybe 20-25 mins.
Lemon Poppy Seed Mini Muffins:
Two packets of Martha White Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin Mix
1 cup of Milk
Mix it up. fill mini muffin pan and makes about 3-4 regular size ones to use rest of batter...
cook them for 10-15 mins. let em cool.
dip them in what Braedyn call's "Mom's Secret frosting"
Milk and powdered sugar.
cool off and cover.
Breakfast done and ready for them to help themselves if mom is still in bed!!!

If you are thinking~ wow. Yes, I am tired and it is 11:15. Time to think of what tomorrow's agenda will be. Braedyn told me he wanted to go running but I am not so sure about the heat index for tomorrow!

pinterest inspired creations!

After we went swimming this morning, we came in so Jordan could take his nap. It was quiet time for the other two. The boys had to do their reading for 20 minutes and then we decided we would make a craft or a couple it turned out.
I have gotten a lot of neat ideas from pinterest and decided we would try a few of the handprint art crafts and a dvd journal. The dvd journal is still in the process of getting done because I didn't trust myself with a razor blade! I am not that great with cutting vegetables...

Lobster and Octopus

Here is the pictures of the kids crafts...Jordan joined in after his nap since they were still working on their projects.

Crab

goldfish

dvd Journal and pencil case (we are still working on this project)

We have turned our sun room into an art room! One day I will have a relaxing sun room/porch but this is a great way we connect and the boys love to do arts and crafty stuff with mom so why not have a place just for that! My pretty porch can wait! I am soaking up my kids enjoyment of doing fun stuff with mom right now!

Jacobson hitting tree

We had been talking about ordering the Joe Mauer Quickswing for the boys or something like it or Bryce Harper's swingaway. We hadn't done it yet but I knew if we had something like that, they would be out there all day hitting. They bounce tennis balls off the ground and hit them, that is, until one went into the road. I had this great idea and Braedyn and I discussed it on a trip to the store.  Leave it to mom:)!   a country girl would come up with this idea:) It was Charlie's job to engineer it and hey maybe we could even patent it!
In our garage Charlie has a tennis ball hanging down from a string with a drilled hole thru it so he knows how far to pull in all the way. Get where I am going with this....
My idea was to take that string, which I knew we had a lot of, and put it thru a baseball! He would need to drill thru the baseball and figure out how to string it thru and make it tough enough to withstand hits. Then take the tallest ladder we have to the front tree in the yard and hang the stringed baseball off the V of a branch and somehow make it stay put and withstand the boys hitting. This way they hit it and then they have to hit it again in motion as its coming back at them...He thought it was a great idea too and I knew he would be able to put something together. He did of course!
He did the above with a little trouble getting the string threaded thru the baseball so we used a shoestring to put thru it and tie that to the stonger stuff. He has created a "pulley" system with a really LONG nail and that is where it is harnessed to and this way if we need to adjust to a certain height of a hitter we can. There were a few hiccups as they were hitting it and it would get caught in some of the branches but now they have figured out which way to hit so that doesn't happen. Charlie climbed up the ladder to try and trim a few of those down but was afraid they would come back and hit the ladder sending him to the ground. Eventually they will hit them enough there won't be any branches to hit.
They love it and are out there for hours hitting away...I just sit on the front porch and watch:) I have to observe making sure Jordan doesn't get in the way...
All three of them like to get in on it. Before this they would pitch to each other and get frustrated and then of course if I tried to pitch to them, I never did it right, so this way they can go out there whenever they want.
So now all we need is that tire swing hanging down from another tree for them to practice throwing a football or baseball :) then we'll have all three sports covered out here from basketball, hitting, and throwing!

figured we'd use a ball that had seen better days!

all I heard that afternoon was "ting" "ting"

Jordan had to get in on the fun!