Author Archives: raisingourquadsquad

EASTER_rific BREAKFAST

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The morning started off like most mornings where I head downstairs to make breakfast without any idea what I’m making but I often whip up something good 🙂  Naturally panny-cakes would be part of it though 🙂

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I was saddened by our failing Easter Egg Hunt plans but that all changed quickly. Before I knew it I was in the attic pulling out last year’s easter decorations combining them with a few items I picked up two days prior (I’m a huge procrastinor, don’t judge me.)

Today I would be tackling this
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I’m nervous

I made one bunny pannycake but it didn’t seem fair to leave out the twinsies so as my daughter and hubby impatiently waited for breakfast I made the twinsies pannycakes too.

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My oldest was digging into her bunny-cakes when my MIL said “let the twins take a bite” I gave in and instantly my son grabbed the bunny ear and took a bite….then I PANICKED!! THE PANCAKES HAD WALNUTS!!

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I quickly tried to get it out of his mouth but it was too late. IS HE ALLERGIC?!!!!As the clock SLOWLY TICKed and TOCKed, on the inside I was having several little heart attacks. I am notorious for 911 calls and I feared this would be one more incident for my family to tease me about.

Luckily he was not allergic.

We laughed about the incident as we enjoyed  breakfast.  Crisis averted…WHEW.

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Kisses for the chef 🙂
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Happy Easter from our table to yours!

Toodles Stacey

Now That’s A LAYOVER

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Look at that camera!!

Before Anthony Bourdain started The Layover Show, we had a 23 hour layover of our own in London, England.  I sure wish we had some recommendations from him but what’s done is done.

When you think of London, you think of dreary-wet days; well, the day of our layover was definitely the exception. We couldn’t have dreamed of a better day if we tried.

We landed at Heathrow, hopped on a bus to the train station, checked into our hotel dropped off our bags and we were off to explore. It wouldn’t be the same without riding the double-decker bus.

It was National Remembrance Day. We had no idea what was going on when we saw the crowd. We missed The Queen and the changing of the Guards, which was a bit disappointing, but there was so much to see and so little time and we were determined to see it all.

There’s so much more to experience, but for now I live through these pictures and wait for our second trip.

WithLove

One Tooth, Two Teeth…

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So his twin sister has been kicking his tush on all fronts. She rolled over, she sat up, she spoke before him. You get the picture.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned a little bit. I know kids grow at their own pace and they say boys grow at a slower rate but I still compare. I’m human…might be super at times according to my two year old, but human nonetheless.

 

One can only take so much and I guess he had enough of us talking about him. When his first tooth emerged last month I was one proud mama. My fave little guy was finally in the lead! Yaaay!! Take THAT, little sis.

So as of today, Sunday, March 29th, he has TWO teeth.  His second tooth broke the gum. I wonder how long before Mr. Chompers takes over.  His little sister gives him a hard time.  Perhaps if he bites her just once, the world would be in balance 🙂

Is that so bad?

BATMAN SAYS….

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Baby’s babbles are just the sweetest thing.

Couple of weeks back, Batman (as his big sister affectionately calls him) started talking.  Can you take a guess what his first word was?  If you said BABA you are absolutely correct!!! Considering his relationship with food, it was very befitting; besides, Batman needs his energy to fight those villains (mainly his twin sister). hehe

 

Hubby and I lost the race; we were both hoping his next word would be DADA and MAMA, respectively.  Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights says “If you’re not first, you’re last.” With first place taken, second is best. lol  So, Can you guess who won?

Yes, ME!!!!

I was at the mall with all three kids in Old Navy Store the very first time he said MAMA.

He’s been saying MAMA, MAMA, MAMA since and I know I will regret it soon, much like Louis on Family Guy, but for now I’m enjoying every single time my Batman says MAMA 🙂

XO One Happy MAMA

Swinging Into SPRING

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It was the warmest day of the year, thus far; too nice to be indoors; so what better way to finish the day other than heading to the park?

Finally, I could try out the new stroller Grandma picked up.  Just my luck, the wheels were a little flat, but I needed it to shuttle the kids to the park so I buckled them in and we carefully cruised on over.

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She hopped off as we approach a father-son duo fishing at the lake.  She told him she was walking to the park with her mommy 🙂

The twins relaxed while watching big sister play.

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After a while, they wanted in on the fun so I decided let’s try the swings and they loved it!!

Twins first swing

Seems like only yesterday my oldest was testing out this very swing.

Not one to be outdone, my little dare-devil climbed the biggest slide, giving me a slight heart attack with every step she took.  She lit up when she made her way to the top.

Another surprise was seeing her being comfortable with a dog.

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My baby girl is growing up 😥

 

I live for these days!

It’s SPRING At Last!

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Puddles

I woke up dreaming of a few moments to myself.  Mommy time (true mommy time..no baby monitors, not hearing the sweet sounds of their babbles, their screams,  their laughter) is rare these days, so I decided to leave the house, BUT, I took my oldest with me; so there goes mommy time.

It rained overnight. As we walked to the car she wanted to jump in the puddles. Normally I would be yelling let’s go, but I stopped and enjoyed watching her delight.

Our first stop was the library. It’s been a while since I took her there.  As we walked in the library there were no kids running around…can you believe that?  We visited space on the computer for a while before a family arrived and she abandoned me.  She played for a while, then we left for lunch.

The sun was now shining much like my mood that had been lifted.  It was the lunch rush at Panera Bread.  No seats available except a single chair by the fireplace.  A little old man was kind enough to offer his spare chair.  Later, the gentleman asked her if her sandwich was good to which she replied “I’m having a good time with my mommy” and I smiled.   We cozied by the fire with her wrapped in my arms reading one of the books we checked out at the library.

Our day was coming to an end and though I wished it wouldn’t, mommy world beckoned.  Until next time…

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XOXO Stacey

YOU MEAN THERE ARE COLORS OTHER THAN BLUE?

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My daughter is two going on twenty. SERIOUSLY.  She can hold a conversation with the best of them.  Over the past few weeks it’s been such a joy watching her little brain evolve.  She’s been doing more imaginative play, making dinosaurs with her food, or drawing circles and saying they’re airplanes.  It is such a delight watching her discover new things.  That joy in her big pretty eyes!

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She hasn’t spent a day in daycare, so I try to teach her every chance I get.  She has mastered many things, but colors…that is a whole other story.  You mean there are colors other than blue?  It doesn’t matter if I’ve just finished telling her what color something is; when I ask what color is this…the answer….BLUE!!

 

We spent a majority of the day playing with blocks.  She made sand castles and princess towers, knocking them over and saying “Oh no, what am I going to do?”IMG_9949

During play, I kept asking her to grab certain colors.  She would grab the blue with such ease. Occasionally she would get a yellow or a green ONE correct, but it is frustrating.  Please share any ideas to help master colors. Thanks

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~Frustrated Mama

PS: I was getting ready to comb her hair when she asked to wear it like this. I know she was scheming me but I was going to ask her if she wanted to rock her afro…so we both won 🙂

Where’s My Pannycake Mommy?!!!

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Yes, yet another pancake post because my pancakes are awesome 🙂

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You probably think I enjoy making breakfast, but I don’t (well, I didn’t used to).  Being an island girl, breakfast is like a three course meal (saving that for a future post). I only made breakfast on Sunday’s, but since hubby isn’t always home to make breakfast, mommy has become the breakfast queen.

Oh yeah, after a rough Saturday night (the kids kept waking up what seemed like every 30 minutes) I decided to make breakfast (yes, pancakes) but we were out of eggs. So off to the store hubby went.  By the time he got back (almost noon) I was STARVING. I decided to make a smaller amount than I normally do because I was ready to eat NOW.  Time was of essence.

A few minutes later and breakfast was ready.

My 2 yr old daughter didn’t finish her pancakes so I ate them (I don’t like throwing food away, plus I was still hungry).  Fast forward to about 6 hours later- I’m washing the twins’ bottles when she asked for her pancake, to which I replied, “I ate it because you didn’t want it”, to which she replied, “You don’t eat people’s things” and playfully smacked my legs.  Who knew she would remember?

So I learned my lesson and made her pancakes the very next day and I didn’t eat them.  I left them on the counter and she took a bite every few hours until they were finally gone at bed time.  Yes, she literally ate pancakes ALL day.  I told you my pancakes are delish 🙂

There is no secret to my pancake.  Just grab a box of Log Cabin (all natural mix) and add chopped walnuts or pecans or blueberries or blackberries. You get the idea 🙂 I can’t eat plain pancakes, they have to be jazzed up.

I don’t like plain eggs either 🙂 I just added some spinach because a little spinach never hurt no body 🙂

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Enjoy

Hubby’s Brussel Sprouts

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Brusselsprouts

Brussel sprouts…..usually a negative connotation is associated with them but they have quite a bit of nutritional elements such as iron, potassium, antioxidants and other health factors.   Ready to try them yet?

Prior to my daughter’s first birthday party, I didn’t even know what brussel sprouts were nor was I willing to try it, but as the saying goes, don’t judge a book by its cover and boy were we wrong.  We now have brussel sprouts at least twice a week and I’m so lucky my hubby has perfected it 🙂

What you will need:-

  • Olive oil
  • Old Bay
  • Lemon juice

It’s quite simple but very delish; even our two year old agrees 🙂

Here you go:-

  1. Remove outer layers and cut in half
  2. Soak spouts in bowl of water and a little lemon juice for 10 minutes
  3. Drain and drizzle with olive oil
  4. Apply generous amount of Old Bay
  5. Place on baking tray
  6. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes and voila!

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Once you try, please let me know what you think.

Enjoy 🙂

~Stacey

Come On Spring!!!

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Did I mention how much I hate winter? I’ve been awaiting spring’s arrival since winter began.  Spring is here, but for me it hasn’t sprung yet. Spring is supposed to be when I resume running and change out the twins’ cars seats and begin exploring, not dealing with a cold.

I really could just cry. You see, when you’re mommy you think not of yourself but that of your little ones because you know it’s just a matter of time before they are miserable just like you and the worst part is knowing you are the reason they’re sick.

Yesterday was supposed to be filled with Easter Egg hunts and zumba by the National Monument and hunting for cherry blossom blooms.   Instead, the day was spent on the floor watching kid movies and me hunched over walking my daughter and her pretend kitty. Yes, the upside is we spent time together, but not how I wanted.

It’s now Sunday, a brand new day.

It was around 5 a.m when I heard my son. He normally takes his bink (pacifier) and goes back to bed this early. Today he didn’t; he was congested and had a runny nose. I put him in our bed and gave him a bottle. As he drifted off to sleep his other half woke up, literally!  It wasn’t so easy for her, she drank two ounces and wouldn’t go back to sleep, so I turned on cartoons.

As I walked by big sister’s room. I heard her sneezing. It was just a few minutes after 8 a.m, an entire hour early and just like that, my trisanity began.

Me:- Good Morning, how do you feel?

J:- Morning mommy, sick.

All I heard was that one little word “sick” and it made me a little teary-eyed. She sounded horrible. I cleaned her up, brushed her teeth, gave her meds, then a glass of milk.

I decided to make breakfast when I remembered we were out of eggs. So, off to the store hubby goes while I tend to our babies.

I hope your Sunday started better than ours.

XO Stacey