Sleepy Little Loves

Funnies

Little Noah (15 months) saw Kate settled in on my lap. He came over all stern and demanding. "Kitty down! Kitty down!" he repeated while pointing his little finger to the ground.

Isaac (age 6) and I were playing the board game "Sorry" when he decided he needed to take a little break. "Mom, will you pause the game?"

Etsy

I bought this lovely tablecloth off of Etsy. I've always enjoyed the website, but this is my first purchase. It's kind of like antique shopping for busy mommies! There is also a perk to shopping for vintage linens online: you get the measurements and a complete description regarding the condition. This is nice because it won't leave you unfolding all the linens in the antique store to find the right size and looking for holes and stains. I also bought a vintage Christmas tablecloth with little elves all over it. I don't know about your Christmas traditions, but we have a little elf that comes out at the beginning of the season to keep an eye on our children. This tablecloth will go perfectly with the celebration of our little elf's arrival.

Decorating

This picture is from Iris's cottage in the movie "The Holiday" (from the blog Hookedonhouses.net). I'm lovin' all the textures and fabric and I LOVE that soft, velvet ottoman! I can just see my kids all over that and because it's soft, there wouldn't be any accidents -- well, my kids would probably find out how to hurt themselves on the legs. But as reality would have it, this is my living room:

And in case you are wondering, this is what my living room looks like without all that laundry piled up. Now you know, and you'll probably never see it that way again:) Leather is what's functional, lending cleanliness and washable surfaces. I do love the upholstery, slip-covered look though, but that will have to wait until we are through with the sticky finger, booger wiping, puking phase . . . Hehehe.

Noey Conquers the Outdoors

Superhero

Storage Spaces

Dandy Little Man

While I was dropping Ike off at school on Wednesday morning, he held up his pointer finger signaling for me to wait. A few seconds later he came back and proudly handed me this beautiful flower and told me that he loved me;) He's so thoughtful and affectionate!

Ike loves to give gifts and this is what he made me for Mother's Day. He informed me on Thursday that he had a surprise for me in his backpack and it was for him to give me on Sunday. We Parramores have a hard time with waiting because not thirty seconds later he was fishing around in his backpack for my Sunday, Mother's Day surprise. And this beautiful Saturn is what he proudly pulled out and excitedly gave to me. It's beautiful and he asked if I would wear it for the next one hundred years. Of course I will!

This is the picture he took of me wearing my beautiful necklace:)

And this is a picture of my wonderful, considerate, and generous oldest son . . .

I love you, Ike!

Banana-Brown Sugar Muffins

Thought I'd share the recipe for these muffins as they are a favorite around here. Ike eats one and always asks for more. That's good reviews from my pickiest eater. Kitty doesn't eat much in the bread department, but she'll eat these. More good reviews. And Noey will eat these just as fast as he can, even if it means no hands!

Pure delight!

Here is the recipe from the Williams-Sonoma Family Meals recipe book. Like most of the Williams-Sonoma recipes we've tried, they are perfect! Don't change anything in this recipe and you won't be disappointed.

~Banana-Brown Sugar Muffins~

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups (about five) smashed bananas

1/4 cup whole milk

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

makes 12 standard muffins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter 12 standard muffin cups or 24 miniature muffin cups, then flower them, tapping out the excess.

In a small bowl, stir together the flours, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the bananas and milk.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat together the brown sugar and butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. On low speed, stir in the vanilla and the banana mixture, then stir in the flour mixture just until thoroughly incorporated. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them two-thirds full.

Bake until the tops are golden, 17-20 minutes for standard muffin cups and 12-15 minutes for the mini muffins. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a rack Serve warm or at room temperature.

Kitchen Help

With three little ones, I am never at a loss for kitchen help. Kitty is my hands on girl and pulls up a chair if she hears the pantry door squeak or a shuffling of spoons. Ike likes the smells and comes wondering in, but usually doesn't want to taste anything unless it's fragrant with cinnamon. Noey normally plops his plump little self at my feet and waits for something yummy to drop. If something doesn't land on the floor fast enough he'll resort to begging and pulling on my pant legs:)

Here is a sampling of what we concocted last week:

Banana and Brown Sugar Muffins

Hamburgers

Meatball Sandwich

Chicken Alfredo

Steak Fajitas

 

Cute kitchen cleanup help.

The Parramores

Here's to starting from scratch! I'm not sure what happened with our previous blog, but it isn't allowing me to add any new posts. Maybe I managed to overload it. Maybe it's just stubborn. Whatever the reason, we're back to square one with a fresh, clean start!

Waiting

We ordered new couches a few weeks ago since our last couches didn't survive the flu season.

We had them cleaned by the professional only to have the flu hit again:) We just couldn't seem to win with the upholstery and our little loves and their involuntary explosions of bodily who-knows-what. The new couches should survive flu season. Most likely we'll be able to just take them outside and hose them off if necessary.