Tuesday in Etna

Those of you who know me, know I hate to get up early. I love sleeping, and therefore I love sleeping LATE. I'm not sure what is so much better about sleeping late in the mornings as opposed to sleeping earlier in the night, but there you go. So, I have made a mid-November resolution. I need to start getting up earlier, so that I can be showered and dressed and going before The Kids get up. And I need to start doing this NOW so that when (if? when? if?) I start working, and when we move to our own house, I will be used to it and it won't be such a shock to my poor system. So, I got up at 6:15 this morning. Actually, the alarm went off at 6:01, and I sorta' fell back to sleep, but I did get out of bed at 6:15. I was out of the shower and dressed when The Girl got up at 6:45. Got her some breakfast at around 7-ish, since she was "SOOO HUNGRY!!!" Got myself some hot cider and a banana. And then came back and got on the computer, hoping to get some stuff looked at before The Boy wakes up.

Well, he is up now. He heard The Hubster in the garbage truck outside. The Boy was yelling for me and when I went into his room he goes "Daddy here. I want go see him!" So, we hustled to the backdoor to wave to Daddy The Garbage Man.

As for the rest of the day, we have MOPS in about an hour. We are taking pictures of the kids today as our craft. It should be interesting. Hope The Boy is in a good mood. When we get home I've got a couple loads of laundry to throw in. I should probably change the sheets on our bed and put the flannel ones on, 'cause it is getting COLD here at night (and during the day, too!). The kids' sheets could probably use a washing too, so I'll have to do sheets first before nap time. The poor Boy only has one sheet for his crib. GG and Papa have a potluck for their bible study tonight, so I'm in charge of dinner. The Girl wanted spaghetti, so maybe I'll make some meatballs (she doesn't like meat sauce, but the rest of us like meat). We have salad stuff and some french bread. So, that's dinner for the day. Not sure what I'll do between the laundry and dinner, but I'm sure I can find some chore that needs to be done. Funny thing is, I find that when I get up and going early in the morning, I tend to be more driven to do chores, or house-y things, throughout the day. Maybe I'll bake something while the kids are napping.

Anyway. Enough rambling about my day. I'm enjoying myself right now. The kids and I are back in my room. I'm on the computer and The Girl is playing with Legos on the floor next to me. She has discovered a passion for Legos since The Boy's birthday party, where he got a tub of them. The Boy was watching TV, but now both kids are digging through the box of shoes trying to find The Girl's high heels. That's going to be a fun clean-up job for them.

Some of you know I read this website called The Family Homestead. Well, the other day we ran out of chocolate syrup, and didn't have money to go buy more. And my kids love chocolate milk. So, I decided to make my own from a recipe on that website. It was good. Not as sweet as the store bought stuff, and I actually know what went into it, which is nice. I'll post the recipe down below. This website is great. A lot of good recipes and tips for homemaking. On days when I feel lazy I go and read some of her articles in the "Homemaking and Home Management" section, and it gives me the motivation to get up and do something. It also helps me to remember what the main goal is, taking care of my family, and that it's not all just drudgery. I urge you all to check out this website. I look at it everyday. So, here is the recipe:

Chocolate Syrup
Crystal Miller

This syrup works great for topping vanilla pudding or for using to make chocolate milk. My kids love it!

½ C dry cocoa powder
1 C cane juice crystals (you can use white sugar here)
1 C water
1 tsp vanilla

In a sauce pan mix cocoa powder, cane juice crystal’s and water. Bring to a boil and make sure all the chocolate powder is broken up and the cane juice crystals are dissolved. Remove from heat and add vanilla and stir. Let cool and use or store in a canning jar in the fridge.

To use for chocolate milk simply mix in the desired amount of chocolate syrup to 1 glass of cold milk and enjoy!

Okay, there it is. I need to get going so that I can get the kids dressed and ready for MOPS. Hope you all have a good day!