What Your Kids Can Learn from "Goonies"

1. Stranger Danger.

2. Sometimes the "cool kid" really isn't that cool.

3. You never know when those piano lessons will pay off. 

4. It's okay to be nice to your younger brother.

5. All the bad words that in real life are not okay to say.

6. Always carry your inhaler, you never know when you'll be stuck in a pirate ship and need it.

7. Spanish is a handy second language to know.

8. Everyone should know how to swim.

9. Even though you might meet a friend that's a little different, they can be one of your truest friends.

10. Always carry a bag of marbles.

The Munchkins

Here they are. For privacy purposes I'm calling them by their favorite fictional characters. Hermione is 10. She is one of the biggest Harry Potter fans I know. She loves drawing, swimming and reading. She has attended five schools in her life (we've moved a lot) but she's very outgoing and makes friends wherever she goes. And yes, she's very tall for her age. ;)

Iron Man is nearly 7. He just finished first grade and is totally into the Avengers. He also loves Garfield comics, soccer, Legos and bike riding. He's an impressive reader. He just finished reading the first Harry Potter book and breezes through books like Magic Treehouse or Captain Underpants. I think he's a genius. :) 

Strawberry (Shortcake) is 3 1/2. She is a fireball, to say the least! I blame it on her strawberry hair color. Ironically, she is my mini-clone. She looks exactly like I did at her age. She's also extremely social. Whenever we go to the park she introduces me to other moms there that she's just met. It's kind of embarrassing sometimes. Haha! 

Minnie (Mouse) is nearly 2. She is fearless. It's amazing. She loves to jump from the coffee table to the couch (not that that's allowed at our house!). She loves it when she gets tossed up in the air by her Daddy or uncle. She loves the tallest slides. She loves jumping in the pool. And it scares me to death! She seriously should be wearing a helmet most of the day! She's also my easiest going kid. Which is nice for being the last of four kids. She loves all things Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and of course, being a girl, she is in love with shoes!

So there are the munchkins that keep me on my toes 24/7.

Blast Modern Technology & a Cool Summer "Shake"

I wanted to introduce my family today, complete with pics, but alas, I'm having photo and computer issues.  So no photos until that gets resolved...or I get a new computer...crossing fingers!  Instead here's something else for you to enjoy...

The munchkins are home all summer and feeding them is seriously a full time job in itself.  Anyway, I'm always on the lookout as well as experimenting in my kitchen for new snack ideas.  Yesterday the kids wanted a milkshake, but I didn't want them to have all the sugar and fat.  Here's what we came up with:

Chocolate, PB, Banana & Oats "Shake"

3/4 cup oats, blended to a fine powder
2 cups ice
2 TBSP Creamy Peanut Butter
3/4 cup Greek Yogurt
1 or 2 Bananas
2 TBSP Nesquik Chocolate powder (optional), it would have been plenty sweet without it
2 cups Milk

Blend and serve!

My kids totally thought it was a milkshake.  Score.

Welcome!

I used to blog.  A lot.  Then Facebook took over my blogosphere as we welcomed new kids into our family and my hubby started grad school.  Life only left me with 2 seconds to post status updates in between feeding kids, changing diapers, running kids here and there, cleaning messes, laundry (oh, the laundry!), etc., etc.  Now I'm trying to make a blog comeback.  But this time to contribute to society.  Life with four kids is hard.  My hubby finished grad school last August so we're still trying to get on our feet financially.  It's hard.  But I've learned a lot in our 11 1/2 years of marriage.  I'd like to share that with the world.  Hopefully this'll work, for as I'm typing my 6-year-old is hovering over me, trying to cover up the screen with a magnet and pressing the CAPS key every single time I pause to ponder what to write next.  Yes, that is my life.  Welcome to it!