If you’ve never used Etsy.com for just about anything your heart desires – you’re missing out.  I’ve used it for almost every invitation for anything I’ve ever hosted.  So it was no different when I began to plan my son Everett’s 4^th birthday.  He asked for Minions, so Minions he will have!  I worked with an outstanding artist from Australia and she designed thee of the most perfect invites I’ve ever seen.  She sent me the JPEG, so all I needed to do was get these gorgeous invites printed. 

I decided to the printing with a company called Zazzle.  It was a week after placing my order that I realized those should probably be on their way.  I clicked on ‘check order status’ and ‘ORDER CANCELED’ came up.  So I sent an email asking for an explanation.  Four ‘form’ emails later and no real customer service person with a name, I ran out of my kitchen screaming.  This was ridiculous.  Now it turns out that they don’t have the license to print anything Minion – which is a fine explanation -THAT NEEDED TO BE RELAYED TO ME IN A PHONE CALL THE SAME DAY OF THE ORDER.  I tell you this story for two reasons.  One: as a busy person, don’t waste your time on this horrible company.  Two: to remind all of us that customer service is SO important.  And not just customer service, but in everyday life.  Go above and beyond to make the person you’re dealing with feel appreciated and recognize them as important.  It seriously won’t take any of your time and hardly any effort, but the outcome will be fantastic for everyone involved.  I’m hoping the printing department at Office Depot will be able to help me out – or I may have to eat a cheesecake tonight.  Grrrrrr.

Holidays with kids is a much different experience than when childless.  Now of course, your entire life is when you’ve got a kid.  I think one of the first things you think of when you’re told you’re going to be a mom is the holidays.  You romanticize about the costumes for Halloween and how much fun it will be to go tricl-or-treating.  You dream about your Christmas decorations and fantasize about sipping on a cup of coffee while your sweet bambinos open their presents from Santa.  I love that those dreams exist because they are truly what the holidays are about … the spirit.  But when reality sets in, I just don’t want you to be disappointed.  I am here to serve as a public service announcement for those darn holidays. 

Let’s start with Halloween: my favorite holiday.  What adult in their right mind thought of this holiday?  If your kids are young, you want them so bad to go trick-or-treating so the evening turns into a small wresting match as you try to get them into their costume that they absolutely do not want to wear.  No one eats dinner.  You head from stranger’s house to stranger’s house collecting candy … PURE SUGAR … in a bag.  Then try to tell them they can’t eat all of it at once?  Oh my, this holiday is officially the worst.  At least it only lasts one day. 

Christmas can go on for days!  The food, the parties, the non-bath, no bedtime family get-togethers that have you eyeing up the  bulk-sized bottle of red wine left on the table sitting next to your cold dinner.  (One kid had a meltdown and the other hit their cousin, so you were tending to those wonderful issues.)  The good news is that the cheesecake is served cold so you won’t be quite so annoyed when an hour goes by that you don’t get to eating that. 
 
Now I’ve been told I’m a bit sarcastic and after rereading this blog, I believe that to be true.  In all honesty, I had a blast for Halloween watching my three year-old run around in his Minion costume with his neighbor friends smiling from ear to ear.  My one year old decided to strip down to his diaper and socks and sit on the toy box that sits in the big ‘ol front window.  He loved watching the kids while chowing on his turkey and cheese for dinner, squealing when all the fun costumes came to the door.  The holidays are still fun … just a different kind of fun you thought you’d be having.  Enjoy them now because I’m told we’ll miss them so much in just a few years. 

It may be sunny and 70 degrees today … but technically, it’s fall.  Which means comfy food meals.  I have found a couple new favorites that I wanted to share with you.  First – White Chicken Chili.  It’s outstanding.   Two things about this recipe: it calls for four (yes four!) cans of white northern beans. That’s a lot of beans.  I was ready to change the recipe to three or maybe even two after the first time I did it thinking the beans would take over the entire recipe.  Nope.  Four cans of beans works amazing.  Also, I used plain Greek Yogurt instead of the sour cream and it was awesome.

 
Here’s one for your crock pot: Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili.  I had it as a meal in itself one night, and the next I dipped blue corn tortilla chips in it for the Packer game.  So easy and so yummy.

 My last one is a true discovery of love.  Oatmeal in the morning is a great choice, but who has time to watch the microwave to make sure it doesn’t blow up.  Or better yet, get some steel cut oats going on the stove top.  Not me!  (For the record, I don’t have time to do the dishes with that gooey, gross oatmeal residue all over it, either.)  So, when I found this website for a whole bunch of overnight oat recipes, I was thrilled.  I’ve tried a couple of them, added peanut butter to two of them (holy yum Batman!) and am thoroughly amazed at how easy this is.  Eat up!
 

My husband Marc has been traveling for work.  As you well know, doing bedtime alone with multiple kiddos is comparable to juggling seven balls, three bowling pins and a chainsaw.  It's been fun to say the least.  But last night, Marc didn't have a work dinner so he was able to Facetime with Everett from his hotel.  That gave me time to rock Roman to sleep in his room without Everett coming upstairs every few minutes asking if Roman was sleeping yet … and because he'd hear his brother's voice and would perk back up every time, the answer was always "no", making this process last much longer than usual. 

At this point of the night, I'm usually at my wits' end, but I promised you a 'Heart Warming Story.'  Here's the 'Heart Warming' part:  I was rocking Roman to sleep and I got a text from Marc.  It said, 'I think Everett may have fallen asleep. I can't see his face anymore.'  I came downstairs to a softly snoring 3 year-old on the floor with his head on a Boppy pillow, propped up perfectly so he could see his dad and listen to him read a Julius Jr. book.  The iPad was propped up on the ottoman and Marc was staring at his phone laughing because all he could see was Everett's belly moving up and down – obviously drifting away into a deep sleep.  All the chaos of the last couple days disappeared with one deep breath.  I gave my son a kiss and carried him to his bed.  (Then I scooped a very well-deserved mouthful of peanut butter.)  

Whoa – time is flying by!  I apologize for turning into quite the slacker with updating my blog.  Roman turned one year old and Everett had his first day of Pre-school all in one week.  Now that I've had time to chew on this and fully digest it, my brain will hopefully become less foggy.  I have to give props to all parents who have successfully sent kids off to school.  My husband Marc and I are obviously doing this for the first time.  And we're a mess.  

The first day, we sent Everett to school in flip flops – and got an email from the teachers asking us to send him in something more suitable for school and the playground.  The second day, we got another email because it was a hot and sticky day and Everett required help pulling up his shorts after using the potty – so we need to send him in shorts/pants that are nice and stretchy.  The third day of school … yes, we got another email.  This time is was because Everett had a hard time keeping his hands to himself.  (I was oddly overjoyed that it wasn't something we as parents did wrong this time.  I'm not proud of that.) ?  The last three days of school, we haven't gotten any emails, so I'm hoping we're on an upswing.  

There are so many rules and requirements and procedures … so much to remember.  And the last thing you want to do is be that parent who never seems to know what they're doing.  Funny how we send our kids off to school to learn, yet we as parents seem to learn just as much.  We'll have all of it down by the end of the school year. 

The fact that a year has gone by since I got to hold and kiss my sweet Roman for the first time is mind-blowing.  Life with two kids under three began with the realization that I needed to cut myself some slack.  If you're headed down this path, or right in the middle of it, please for the love of all things good, let yourself off the hook.  So what if kids go to bed in a pajama shirt, no bottoms and might not have gotten a bath in three days?  On the grand scheme of things, it's okay.  Granted, at the present moment when one spills his strawberry blueberry smoothie on himself (and the carpet) and the little one just blew out of his third diaper and subsequent outfit, and you haven't had anything with a substantial amount of protein or even calories (three cups of coffee don't count as sustenance.) in the last two days, then you're right - life seems rather nutso.  Wait, life IS nutso.  

I'm here to tell you it gets better.  You start to get some sleep.  You start to get in a rhythm.  You start to not want to kill your spouse. (You thought you were the only one?)  And what I'm about to say is something you know. I mean you genuinely know and feel in your soul.  You just forget and need to be reminded:  It's all worth it.  

Try to remember the sound of the quiet house, rocking your sweet babe back to sleep, hearing your other little one snoring next door.  Remember the gorgeous art project he so proudly brought to you, and the first time your mini-me looked at you and said, 'mama.'  Because here I am just a year into it trying to figure out a way to make it all slow down.  Not to a hault ... just to a slow-mo video so I can make sure to catch everything and rewind it every once in a while.  Happy birthday, Roman!  What an honor it is to get to know you, watch you grow and be your mom.

If you haven't tried Wildtree, you're missing out.  I've been a customer for years.  Their spices, drinks, meals, marinades, crock pot sauces, cinnamon rolls, mixes … you name it, I've tried it.  Everyhting is preservative free and organic.  You can pronounce every single thing on the ingredients list.  And now I'm lucky because my sister Karin started selling it!  

Last weekend we did a freezer meal workshop and this is how it worked:  She sends you a grocery list.  You prepare the meat and veggies and put them into big ol' Ziploc baggies labeled 1 through 10.  Then you get to the workshop and season them with all of the Wildtree stuff, plus add things like fresh lemon juice, red wine and tomato paste depending on the recipe.  You put a label on the bags, double bag them and toss them in your freezer.  Now you have TEN meals ready to throw on the grill on any given night – everything from Chipotle Lime shrimp to steak with Bleu cheese butter or Lemon Pepper and Balsamic Chicken.  You pay for the Wildtree products you use at the workshop and then get to take them home with you.  Having ten meals ready to go after a busy day at work is absolutely priceless.  Next month we're going to do a crock pot workshop.  After that, a soup workshop. 

Thank you Wildtree from every busy mom … everywhere.  If you'd like to try some of this fabulous stuff, come to a workshop, or host one at your home.  I happen to know someone who can help.  Here's my sister's website.