Having my hands full, and loving it

Yesterday afternoon I took all three kids on a walk, by myself, for the first time. The twins were in their double stroller and I had Ana strapped into the Mei Tae Carrier. It was hard to keep from laughing as all the people driving by were gawking at us. I will admit, we were a sight. But I was used to getting looks from people when we had the twins. Mostly it was just a double take or a quick smile. We would sometimes get the usual comments, "oh, are they twins?" or "You sure have your hands full." But almost always people were polite and happy for us. Now that we have an infant as well, it seems we've passed over into "crazy" territory. When I was still pregnant with Juliana we were walking through the grocery store and a clerk stopped us. He looked at my belly and then at the twins and said, "They're twins? I'm so sorry." I've had similar reactions out shopping where people just say "wow" or stare with their eyes bulged out and shake their heads.

We are a counter-cultural family. I am (almost) 27 years old, have three children under the age of 2 1/2, stay at home with them, do not intend to go back to work and plan to homeschool them. That is enough to make some people scratch their heads or say, "I could never do that." Giving up their career to stay home with children (and several of them) appears to be too much of a sacrifice. What about their dreams? Their career? Their time to themselves? Isn't it boring? Don't you get lonely? I don't have the patience for that. I would go crazy cooped up all day.

My dreams are likely different from yours. I have always wanted a family more than anything else. When I look at the faces of my children I am overcome by how much I love them, by how much joy they bring into our home. At times I get teary-eyed watching my husband play with the kids, everyone laughing and happy, and our sweet baby cooing in my arms. It seems as though every child makes your heart grow bigger, allowing you to love more than you thought you could. How anyone can think more than one or two children is a bad thing is beyond me. Yes, it is hard sometimes. We don't get as much sleep as we would like. There are always dishes, laundry and cleaning to be done, diapers to change and time-outs to be given. Sometimes I lose my temper. Sometimes I just need a break. But never, ever will I regret my choice to have a family and be open to new life. Being at home with them allows me to share in their jokes and antics, take beautiful walks outside, watch their eyes light up as they experience museums and parks, hear their laughter as they play together, receive countless hugs and kisses and hear "I Love You" several times a day. I would miss seeing my children grow as individuals, sharing in their accomplishments and comforting them when they are sad. I would miss my children being children.

The fact that we don't use birth control (NFP only) and I have some 15 or so childbearing years left can be a little daunting. We are not setting out to have 10 children, but if that is what the Lord blesses us with we will be happy. If we don't have any more than our current three, we will know we are blessed abundantly. Children bring so much more to our lives than they could ever keep us from experiencing. Wherever our lives take us, God will be there, showering his graces and blessings down upon us. Seeing us through the hard times and rejoicing with us in the good.

Addie The Enforcer

We have known for a while now that Addie is... headstrong. She already has definite ideas about the way things are supposed to work and has no problem making them known. For instance, our kids are not allowed to touch the security system. Whenever one of them touches the buttons it's an automatic time-out. That doesn't stop them from trying though.
Yesterday afternoon I'm in the kitchen and hear the beeping of the alarm followed by, "No! no l'am. Tahm out! Tahm out!" I come around the corner and sure enough Gabe is standing on the chair looking guilty and Addie is next to him wagging her finger. Literally. I took Gabe over to the corner and sat him down for his two minutes. I stepped back and nearly tripped over Addie who decided to make it her job to be sure this time out was strictly followed. She initially came and sat right in front of him (I pulled her back to the stairs) and eyed him closely. He leaned forward to scoot and she jumped forward, wagged the finger, repeated "No, no. Tahm out. TAHM OUT!" and reached toward him to push him back on his rear. I was able to get her to go in the living room while he finished his sentence, but boy was it hard to keep from laughing. Of course she conveniently forgot her own rules when she touched the alarm 30 minutes later. Of course.

Easy Homemade Caramel

We had had two cans of sweetened condensed milk sitting in our pantry without a purpose for far too long. Yesterday afternoon we pulled out a stock pot and set about making our own caramel. It's really very easy: remove the labels from the cans, keep the cans fully submerged with roughly 2 inches of water over the tops (be sure to maintain this depth to prevent the cans from exploding) and maintain a low boil for 4 hours. Let the cans cool completely in the fridge then pop them open and enjoy the creamy result. Steve put some in his coffee and I made a small batch of caramel popcorn. That hasn't made a dent in our supply though, we're brainstorming ways to use the rest. Right now caramel apples and dunked chocolate pretzel rods are topping our list. Mmmmm.

A New Favorite

Last night we made Parmesan-ranch crusted chicken. We've made shake-and-bake before and tried a few other variations on breaded, baked chicken but this was by far the best we've made. There was plenty of the mixture left after preparing the chicken so I chopped a zucchini into circles and breaded them, too. I should have cut up two, even the kids scarfed them down.

For roughly 1 lb of chicken breasts, in a medium bowl mix the following:
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan
4 tsp dry ranch mix

Break and beat an egg in a separate bowl. Dip breasts into egg then transfer to crumb mixture and coat thoroughly. Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees 20-30 minutes.
To make the zucchini, cut the circles about 1/4 inch thick and follow the same procedure. Bake for around 12 minutes, flipping once.