some thoughts on bacon…

The other day I realized, to my horror, that the bacon I bought was reduced fat. Reduced fat bacon? What, may I ask, is the point? Bacon is an indulgence. So if I’m going to indulge in something unhealthy I want to indulge. I want the fat in my bacon. I want all the fat. You hear that? All the fat!

heavenly bacon

I feel the same when it comes to soda. Why bother with diet soda? Unless you really just like the taste of it better (yuck! really?!)

And just in case you are ever in need of a guide to help you decide whether or not you should eat bacon…

bacon flow chart

You’re welcome. Now, go eat some bacon. And for goodness’ sake, make sure it’s not reduced fat.

just add water…

I’ve attempted the pool with all three boys by myself a few times and it just was not fun. There were tantrums, I’m still not sure what they were about, and I don’t have enough arms to carry out multiple toddlers with flailing limbs. As much as I want to take the boys out and do things with them, they’re just at difficult ages and when I’m outnumbered sometimes it’s just easier, and safer for the kids and my sanity, to stay home.

Well, yesterday Jacob was off with his cousins at the beach (picture below) so I decided to take Liam and Noah to the pool. It wasn’t going to be a long trip, just enough for us to cool off and burn off some energy. We ended up staying for nearly 3 1/2 hours. Much longer than I had intended. It was all due to some very friendly and helpful neighbors. People have always offered to help with the kids when we’re at the pool but out of some fear of being bothersome, I’ve always declined the help. But yesterday I gave in and accepted the help that they were so willing to offer, and it made all the difference.

The boys had so much fun and we were actually able to enjoy our time in the water! Imagine that! The fear of being a burden to someone or putting them out is so strong that a lot of times I end up making myself a martyr. Which is just plain silly. I have been feeling so isolated lately and have realized that some, not all of it, is my own doing. I came across this article a few days ago and when I read it I initially thought it sounded like a bunch of hooey. But after yesterday, it made more sense. Anyway, it’s an interesting read 🙂

So, the point of the story is, accept help when it’s offered 🙂

What do you do when your kid starts using his big blue eyes to beg a bagel chip from a neighbor? You run home for some snacks 🙂

satisfied with his goldfish and raisins, he no longer had to beg food from our neighbors

nom nom nom

Jacob at the beach

strawberry cake with honey buttercream frosting and strawberry filling

I made this for Noah’s birthday and it was just delicious. If you have a strawberry cake recipe that you like you can use that but I just used a box version. Make sure to make two rounds so you can layer 🙂

Honey Buttercream Frosting adapted** from CupCakeProject

1 1/2 sticks room temperature butter

3/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup honey

16 oz powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter on high speed until light and fluffy.

Mix in powdered sugar a little at a time until fully incorporated.

Add in honey and sour cream until combined.

** the original recipe was only enough for 12 small cupcakes. Obviously for a cake I needed to increase the amounts. However I found that the honey was so strong at 1/4 cup that I didn’t add any more. I would say that this is one of those recipes where you can really tailor it to your tastes. Maybe you’d like less powdered sugar and more honey, feel free to play around with the recipe… I slowly added the ingredients in increments until the frosting tasted the way I liked 🙂

Strawberry Cake Filling from AllRecipes.com

1 cup water

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 1/2 cups frozen strawberries, thawed and cut into bite size pieces

3/4 cup white sugar

Whisk water and cornstarch together in a large saucepan.

Stir strawberries and sugar into the water.

Cook mixture over medium heat until thick, at least 10 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before use.

Now for putting it all together!

Spread the strawberry filling on the bottom cake.

grab the frosting…. doesn’t it look heavenly?!

gently add the top layer of cake and start frosting away! don’t mind the messy job, frosting has never been my strong point.

fresh strawberries on top would really look beautiful!

Behold! An insanely delicious strawberry cake with honey buttercream frosting! Perfect for all those sweet summer strawberries. Oh, and an added bonus is you’ll be left with some strawberry filling. Warm it up a bit, spoon some over some vanilla ice cream and you now have an extra special treat! Nom nom nom.

i think i’m a banana tree…

My short break from blogging turned into a long break!

Trying to figure out what I wanted this blog to be was entirely too stressful for me. Who says this needs to be a peppy how-to guide or a something that shows only the functional side of my life or that there always has to be a happy ending or moral to the story? Oh, no one said that? It was just me putting all that pressure on myself to be some imaginary version of me? Hmm. Well, yeah. That sounds about right 🙂

Now that I’ve stopped stressing about making this into some wonderful blog I can go back to having fun with it.

In addition to taking a break from blogging, I have also been taking a break from exercising and eating right. Judging from how tight my pants are fitting, it’s probably best that I get back into working out, like now. Speaking of healthy habits, I have a cake and frosting recipe that I must share with you 😛 Trust me, it’s worth it. Look for it this weekend.

We have one more month of summer vacation. I can’t decide if I want to be excited about another month of no school or if I’m itching for everything and everyone to get back to normal. Or at least some form of normalcy! Maybe I’ll leave that decision for another day. Today I’m going to finish the laundry (don’t be jealous), make my new favorite dinner (zucchini pasta boats, it’s ok to be jealous about this one!) and meet my new counselor (because I’m going slightly mad). Maybe I’ll sneak in a vanilla soft serve with cherry dip from Dairy Queen on my way home tonight 🙂

Have a good night and see you again soon!

you were zero for a whole year, now you’re one!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Noah! My beautiful brown-eyed boy who loves to scoot on his bum and stick out his tongue when he’s going after his brothers’ toys. I’m sure you don’t remember, but you had a rough start with your never-ending jaundice, your insanely sensitive stomach and the pterodactyl cries that went on for hours on end every.single.night. Thankfully we made it through and you’ve turned into quite a happy little guy. We love you to pieces and are so very happy that you joined our not-so-little family 🙂

I had a hard time deciding which pictures from the last year I should share so please excuse the picture overload. While I was putting these together I realized that I take a lot of pictures of this kid while he’s either hanging out in my arms, nursing, sleeping or doing all three at the same time 🙂 I also noticed that my iPhone pictures far outnumber my fancy dslr-that-i’m-not-qualified-to-properly-use pictures. So I guess I know what I’ll be breaking out this weekend!

Here we go! A year of Noah!