Molly Piper

A couple weeks ago, Orison was doing a unit at school on the Presidents of the United States. Since it’s Kindergarten, they just focused on the four presidents of Mount Rushmore. They learned a few facts about each one, and Orison just loved it!

One morning he was getting ready for school, and he started “testing” Morrow. And much to our surprise, Morrow knew the answers!

The funny part is, Morrow doesn’t even know his colors reliably, but he can name the presidents on Mount Rushmore. I guess it’s all about exposure!

Another funny story about Orison and the presidents: one morning Abraham and Orison were talking about the subject of war. Abraham was telling him that wars happen, but they’re really terrible, and they should be avoided if possible, etc., etc. Orison looks up at him and says, “War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed.”

Abraham looks at him with mental-jaw dropped and asked, “Where’d you learn that? At school?”

Orison says, “No, I learned it in my presidents book.”

I’d gotten him a book of all the presidents from the library just so he could see the names and pictures of the other presidents, to satisfy his curiosity a bit. Little did I know he was reading their famous quotes (and memorizing them?). He couldn’t remember which president had said that particular quote, but he looked it up for us a little later and announced, “William McKinley said that!”

Ahhh…learning rocks.

Got any funny stories to share about your older kids teaching your younger kids things that seem advanced for their age? Other funny learning stories?

[Image via]

I don’t know about you, but as a mom I have a really hard time winding down during a busy day. Even if I get a chance to sit down (and sometimes that’s a really big if), I still feel like my inner mom-engine is idling faster than my husband’s old ’87 Chevy Cavalier that could accelerate to 40mph by itself.

But from time to time (and now it’s happening more frequently as the twins have a more normal schedule), all my kids are down for naps/resting time at the same time. And when that happens, in that sweet, magical hour, all I want to do is crash on the couch. (Usually I have to prep dinner if we want to eat, but what I want to do is crash.)

Some afternoons I decide “Hey everyone! It’s pancakes for dinner!” and I hit the couch. But I need help to relax. And since most people would question a glass of wine by myself at 1:30pm (myself included), I’ve had to think of other options. For me, the trick is earplugs!

When I get those precious few moments, earplugs help drown out the noise around me, and somehow that seems to help with the noise inside my head. I tell myself, “Welp, if one of the twins wakes up in the next 15-20 minutes, they’re gonna be just fine. They’re safe in their cribs and will do a little lung exercise for a few minutes.”

I’ve also used earplugs during what I call “The Witching Hour” (you know what I’m talking about, that last hour before your husband comes home?). If the big kids are doing something and are safely occupied, the twins are sleeping or playing safely (in the jumper or exersaucer or crib), I put them in and prep dinner for a few minutes of peace. If something happens to one of the big boys, they make enough commotion for me to hear them despite my earplugs, and one of them will inevitably come find me (those mobile ones are tricky).

Of course, a couple warnings/precautions:

• I do not endorse neglect. The needs of my children are important to me, and earplugs are used when their needs are met.
• I use them for maybe 20 minutes at a time, max. Just enough to feel a little more relaxed and sane and recharged.

But if you’re like me and need help unwinding when you get the time, I think earplugs might help. Give ‘em a try!

PS-I’ve also used earplugs whenever I go to the hospital for a delivery. Especially if you’re being induced and have to go in the night before, and you have to listen to monitors beeping all night (and for me, the fear’s  so intense at times), earplugs have helped me actually get a little bit of sleep. The nurses all laugh at me, because they have to come over and shake me awake to check my vitals, but it’s worth it!

I like gardening and playing in dirt. There are still mounds of icy snow all over the place here in The Frozen North, but Abraham and I are already dreaming of trips to our favorite garden store, even with four children in tow.

And one thing you should know about Abraham, is that he’s now offering t-shirts through his blog. I like this one:

There are a few gardeners out there I’d like to buy this for. Dreams of gardening are dancing in my head.

Buy one for your favorite gardener too!

Last week our church had a little Film Fest. What’s a Film Fest you ask? Well, let me tell you!

• We signed up in teams to make a 3-6 minute film.
• We had two weeks to do it.

These were our parameters:

• We were assigned a genre (the possibilities were action/adventure, comedy, music video, sci-fi, and mockumentary).
• All the teams had to use the same specified prop (this year it was a hula hoop).
• All the teams had to use the same specific line of dialogue somewhere in the film (“It’s like taking a drink from a fire hose.”).

Then, after the deadline, an “academy” of people watches them and decides on winners for awards. There’s an awards ceremony at the church where they show all of the films on the big screen in the sanctuary, with popcorn & pop. People dress in their old prom dresses, bridesmaid dresses, suits, and even their wacky costumes.

Everyone walks the red carpet and gets interviewed by the Hoperazzi (our in-house version of paparazzi). It’s a total blast!

We had so much fun doing this, we might be hooked. Though it took a lot of time, it was a really fun thing to do as a family and group of friends!

Working very diligently for two weeks, this is the action/adventure movie our group came up with! (*NOTE: At 2:09 the audio cuts out for a couple seconds and I can’t figure out why.*)

Our team won for “Best Editing” thanks to the amazing Abraham, and for “Most Dramatic Moment.” Can you guess which one?

Hope you enjoyed watching it! We were pretty proud of how it turned out!

I think this one is so funny, because it looks like she’s striking a pose.

And here’s one of them hanging out together yesterday:

I can’t believe they’re 7+ months old already. Life is fun and VERY busy.

So we’re trying to eat healthier. We’re not unhealthy around here, we’re just trying to be healthier.

Like this week I made beef stroganoff (not so healthy), but I served over brown rice (in the past I’ve always done white rice).

Little changes, ya know?

I bought the mega jumbo bag of spinach at Costco this week and I’ve got to think of some creative ways to use it. I like spinach. I really am learning to be a big girl and eat it more often.

I was going to make a fancy new lasagna recipe tonight for dinner which incorporates spinach, but I’m feeling pretty thrashed by mothering four children this week. So the new revised dinner plan is BLTs.

[from travelingmcmahans on Flickr]

Ummm…make that BSTs. Doesn’t have the same ring, but we’re doing BaconSpinachTomato sandwiches tonight.

Anyone ever subbed in spinach for the lettuce? A friend of mine subs spinach in for lettuce when they do tacos, so I figure this is the same idea. It’s mostly just for crunch anyway, right?

And I suppose if I were really going healthy we’d be doing turkey BSTs. But I can’t go that far. My poor husband might cry.

What other suggestions do you have for using spinach?

I know this is probably something many moms rely on, but I’ve found it very necessary in this season of twin babies to

COOK MEAT BEFORE I NEED IT!

(Also, if you have twins, this doesn’t apply to you in the first 3 months. If you’re just eating a lot of frozen pizza or takeout, that’s okay!)

Here’s what I do:

CHICKEN

• I buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts when they’re on sale. I typically buy 2-3 large packages.
• I bake mine on 2 large pizza pans.
• Let them cool.
• Cube about half, shred about half.
• Bag it in 3 & 4 cup quantities in quart-sized freezer bags.
• Great for lots of different soups, fajitas, enchiladas, casseroles (or hot dish if you’re in Minnesota), chicken pot pie.

[from Kimberly Belle on Flickr]

*Last time I did this, I was just going to do shredded chicken, so I used my crock pot with a little bit of water in the bottom, and they were so tender, I was able to shred them with my (clean!) fingers. Super easy!

GROUND BEEF

• Buy a few large packages when they’re on sale.
• Typically I try to cook it with diced onion (I have a Pampered Chef chopper thingy and that makes onions easier). Since most recipes that call for ground beef typically call for sauteed onion as well, I just do them together from the get-go.
• Freeze in quart-sized freezer bags in 2 & 3 cup quantities.
• Great for spaghetti, tacos, taco soup, chili, shepherd’s pie, sloppy joe’s.

[from Mike on Flickr]

HAM

• Buy a half-ham when they’re on sale.
• Since they’re already cooked, you just slice it, cube it, whatever!
• Freeze in quart-sized freezer bags in 1-2 cup quantities.
• I use this for ham & bean soup, wild rice soup, egg bake.

[from Deb on Flickr]

Notes
*Make sure you write the quantity on the bag. Very helpful!
*I keep the kinds of meat separated in my deep freezer in plastic shopping bags. It’s just easier than rifling through the freezer when the time comes. And then you don’t lose any down in the abyss of the deep freeze!

Basically, if I didn’t do this, we wouldn’t eat. I know there are probably greener and/or cheaper ways to do it, but this is how it works for me right now.

This has really cut down on my cooking time. What other pre-cooking hacks have you found helpful with multiples or many young children?