Pancakes

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Ava wanted to make smoothies and pancakes for breakfast. We started with pancakes and ended with pancakes because well, this happened. 🙂 Ava wanted to make Hyrum look like a polar bear. I think she did a pretty good job.

She was a great helper too. Thanks to her, all the pancakes had plenty of chocolate chips!

(Recipe is at the bottom.)

Here’s the recipe in case you want it. Jake got it from a co-worker a few years back. These pancakes are a little more dense, so if you like really light and fluffy ones, this is probably not the recipe for you. But we sure like them!

1 1/2 cups full cream milk
2 teaspoons lemon juice or white vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted

Chocolate chips, banana, whatever you’d like to drop on top!
Melted or softened butter, for greasing skillet

Place milk, lemon juice and sugar in a medium bowl. Stir to combine, and then set aside for five minutes. During this time the mixture should develop a slightly curdled appearance.

Stir or whisk flour, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl until combined.

Add egg, vanilla, & melted butter to the milk mixture. Whisk.

Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until almost smooth: the batter should still have a few small lumps. Don’t overmix the batter as this may make the pancakes tough.

Enjoy!

Mothering Me

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The other day I showed my young neighbor how to take pictures with my “big camera”. I love what she captured. No make-up, patched knee-d, farmers tanned, mothering me. This is totally me. And I couldn’t be happier.

Mama Notes

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Wrote a few mamanotes from the other day…

By the time the afternoon rolled around yesterday, I was beat. Fortunately the storm rolled in along with it, and Ava was tired too. She liked the idea of chocolate chips and storm watching just as much as I did. So she laid her head on my lap right there on the kitchen floor by the back screen door as the clouds deepened and the breeze thickened with rain. And that was just what we both needed. #mamanotes

I walked into our bedroom after I checked on the kids and turned off the hall light. Jake was in bed laughing to himself. “What’s so funny?” I asked. “I’m just replaying in my head our race with Ava to eat our salads.” Our four year old might have a strong will, but she is always up for a race. Whether it’s a race to brush her teeth, get into bed, or eat her spinach salad, for some reason it works every time! So when she was adamant that she didn’t want to finish her spinach leaves and ranch dip, Jake said to her, “Let’s see who can finish their salads the fastest!” Without hesitation, she grabbed a green leaf, dipped it in the ranch, and threw it into her mouth.
And then the part Jake was laughing about– she looked at us, then with both hands like a bull dozer, wiped her whole pile of spinach through the dip in one swipe and stuffed it all into her mouth.

Jake and I stopped mid-chewing our second bite to see her smiling as best she could with her cheeks stuffed and her lips lined in dressing. Within a minute it was chewed and swallowed, and that little girl creamed us, flat. 😂👏 #mamanotes

Yesterday while Hyrum napped Ava said to me, “I want to play with you Mom.” So play we did. She giggled as she trotted straight towards me hiding behind that trash can. I was sure she peeked while she counted. When she came up to me laughing I said, “Hey, did you peek?” to which she replied with equal laughter, “No I could see your bum sticking out!” 😂👏 I carried her back to the house on my shoulders after a few games of crack the egg and follow the leader on the trampoline. I felt that if there was one good, important thing I needed to do that day, it was that. I feel like we grow closer in these moments than most any other time. And we need it. We will always need it. #mamanotes

And just a few from the day Jake found a little baby bird on our front lawn and we spent part of our family home evening finding worms for it. How did I never know that hose trick?!

Apples Together

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My dear Hyrum, you are so gentle and loving. Today I needed that. I needed your squeals and your hugs, and the yellow flowers you picked for me in the grass. It was kind of a rough morning, so after we dropped Ava off at school, we sat in the backyard under that big clear sky and ate apples together. You had yours and I had mine and you just sat there in my lap in the grass while we watched the neighborhood cat chase butterflies. After you finished you’d go off to pick flowers or pet the kitty, and then return with your arms wide and your smile beaming and run into my lap. Other times you’d lean over, put your arm around my back and your head on my shoulder and hug me. And when I lay down, you lay down too. That was our time, our quiet, simple, perfect time, and it was just what I needed. Oh my dear Hyrum, you most certainly have my heart. I love you so much. #mamanotes

To the grocery store and back

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I’m sitting here finishing off a jar of peanut butter, resting my legs, and laughing (kind of incredulously) at myself and how I thought strollering my baby over five miles and across town to the grocery store and back while Ava rides her little bike alongside us was a good idea. Not my smartest move there. I guess I got carried away with all this good weather! Now I know. Sometimes being cooped up all winter makes you think you can do crazy things when the weather is nice. I’ve got the tan lines and pink cheeks to prove it. 😂😬🙈

About a quarter of a mile to the store, Ava said that her legs were tired and she wanted a break. I thought, “Oh man, we are not going to make it all the way there,” so I told her we should turn around and go back home. To which she replied, “I can do it mom, I know I can!” For this girl who lies sprawled out on the floor explaining that she’s too tired to walk upstairs to bed, this was a pretty big statement. And she stuck to it! A few times along the way I told her, “Maybe we should go back, are you sure you can go all that way?” Then Ava would say, “Mom we can make it! We can do this!”

And we did. ☺️

…ALSO as you can probably tell from the pictures… I joined snapchat. 😁 my username is tamaraelises (I think). It’s a strange kind of thing. I feel so awkward at it and the swiping is so confusing to me. But it’s kind of fun to just post random unpolished moments.

This walk just happened to be the first thing I posted about and I just laugh thinking how foolish I must seem! We’ll see if I can keep up this thing.