Adventures in Mommyhood

Brrrr.... it's January and it's COLD!  I love it-- this is the way things are supposed to be this time of year.  I was much more uneasy last year when  it was 60 degrees in January! This afternoon I tried a new recipe for hot cocoa.  I used the high-fat dutch process cocoa that I recently bought from Penzey's Spices.  I used  their recipe  and it was the best homemade hot cocoa I've had.  I loved the vanilla and touch of cinnamon. This little girl decided to have hers while wearing a bathing suit.

Here's one of my favorite recipes this year: Breakfast cookies.  A perfect substitution for the store-bought variety.  These are a huge hit with my kids and I like to keep them frozen and enjoy them that way too. They have been especially great for sending to school for mid-morning snacks for my big kids. Breakfast Cookies : makes 24 adapted from once-a-month mom Ingredients: 4 cups wheat flakes (such as Total or Wheaties) 1 cup flour (I used 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat) .5 cup wheat germ 1 cup brown sugar 1.5 cups yogurt (plain or vanilla work well)  (If you use sweetened yogurt, you could cut back on the sugar) .5 cup oil 2 eggs 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda 2 tsp. vanilla 1.5 cup dried cranberries 1 cup mini chocolate chips Directions: Preheat oven to 375F. Crush wheat flakes with a rolling pin. In a bowl, mix yogurt, egg, oil, and vanilla. Add crushed wheat flakes, flour, sugar, wheat germ, salt, and baking soda. Mix well then add dried cranberrie

We welcomed a new addition to our family last week... Crookshanks the kitten!    His name comes from Harry Potter, of course!  Ever since Fisher has started reading the books with us, we've fallen in love with the series all over again.  When we found this orange Tom kitten at the shelter, of course there was only one name that seemed right. Crookshanks is very easy to love.  He is 7 months old and came from our local animal shelter as a stray.  He gets along great with the dog, and is very social, usually tolerating all sorts of little girl nonsense. In other news, Holland is closing out the last week of her life spent sleeping in a crib.  She will be 3 in 2 weeks and I think we've delayed the big girl bed as long as we can.  Lance is putting the first coat of paint on the loft he built for Claire and hopefully we'll be tucking in to their respective "big girl" beds in a couple days. Holland has been a little difficult the last week or so at bedtim