Sugar Bean Dreams!

I have made a a new blog for my religious posts. I will keep everything family, photography, and cooking related here.

sugarbeandreams.blogspot.com

Happy 2013

2012 was a crazy year. With the busy of our lives, we fell out of doing things together. These are our goals for 2013. We have decided to think of them less as "New Year Resolutions" and more as "family resolutions." We want to recreate habits for a happy family. What are your resolutions?

Fall Printable

I don't believe in subway art. It goes against everything designers believe in.

But there is no denying the popularity (and the cute factor).

We are hosting Thanksgiving for my family at our home this year. I wanted to start getting up some fall decor. I always have good intentions to be festive, but with my littles it always seems to be destroyed (mom's of boys: represent!). I thought I would put up a few printables in old frames. I couldn't find any I loved so I wanted to design my own. This is hard. My brain hates designing things that don't make sense. Hats off to all of the designers who can do this and be ok with it.

Here is what I came up with. Feel free to download and print. :)

Also, I've been absent for two months. Sorry, guys! I will post soon about what I have been up to. I hope all is well with all of you. Do any of you have ideas for decorating with indestructible decor? I would love to hear them. :)

1 Cup Dump Flaxseed Cookies

I have Celiac's Disease. You know what stinks? Avoiding wheat! I hate it. All of my favorite foods are light, fluffy and full of flour.

If you also have a gluten intolerance, I highly recommend http://www.momsplaceglutenfree.com
No joke. Most of their mixes taste like they were made with good old fashioned all purpose wheat flour. If you have to make a cake, this is your mix.

Enough of that gluten-free crap. Let me tell you about these dump cookies I invented. I needed (well, wanted) a flaxseed cookie recipe without oats. I added the coconut to keep my husband away (oh yeah. I'm selfishly tricky). I've been trying to eat more flaxseed because of the health benefits that can be found here. I recently found out that I am high risk for colon cancer, and I will do just about everything to avoid putting my family through that.

So here is my recipe:


One Cup Dump Flaxseed Cookies

1 Cup All-Purpose Flour (Gluten-Free? I like this one)
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Sweetened Shredded Coconut
2 Cups Ground Flaxseed
1 Cup Dried Cranberries
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter
3 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.  

1. Mix flaxseed, flour, sugar, salt, coconut, and cinnamon and set aside.
2. Melt butter. Cream together butter and eggs. Beat in Vanilla.
3. Combine wet and dry mixtures with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes.
4. Fold in Cranberries.
5. Drop about a TBS of dough onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges start to brown.
6. Eat and love.


Don't trick yourself into thinking these are healthy. Do you see all of that butter and sugar?! Treat yourself in moderation, and eat guilt-free by convincing yourself the flaxseed, cinnamon, and cranberries are good for your bod. :)


Did anyone else notice I blogged twice today?! That's like four months worth of blogging for me.

Logan Temple Printables

Does anyone else get tired of all of the cute printables being a picture of the Salt Lake Temple? I do. The Salt Lake Temple is great and all, but Logan is my temple. I saw a picture of the Temple in Salt Lake with these words, and reworked it a little bit so that I could frame it for our home. Feel free to download it, change the colors, whatever. I'm not going to be really picky about this because I mostly designed it for me.

Enjoy.

The First Born is 3!

On Tuesday, our first little one turned three. There was quite the excitement over his super hero themed party. My favorite part, hands down, was when he stripped in front of everyone to put on a new outfit. I was out of the room, and no one else bothered to stop him. AH! Who is supposed to be embarrassing who here? I will post pictures once I upload them from my camera.

A Two Year Old's Sick Day: Part 1

Yesterday, while happily driving to buy some tylenol for my little one's fever, I heard the dreadful sentence, "Mom, my tummy hurts." Oh. No. I know what's coming, and it's going to be all over my already-toddler-decorated car. "Mom, my tummy..."

And yep. There it is. All over my sweet little two year old, his car seat, my car... oh joy. My poor little bean feels awful, and all I want to do is help him to feel better (despite his older brother yelling, "B! You can't throw up. That is a no, no!). So we pull over, I wipe him down, my husband frantically tries to take my direction as I clean off our kiddo.

Once back in the car, my husband presses forward to the only store open in our little city: Wal Mart. I get on my phone and look for remedies for sick babies and toddlers. I didn't find much that I didn't already know: saltines, ginger ale, Pedialyte, and Jello. These are all dandy, but we've tried them all before with little success. I wanted a miracle.

I didn't get one. I did however, use a little creativity to make our lives a little easier last night. Here are the things that made our lives a little simple:

Sick Station:

 Next to B's bed, I placed a bucket. I placed a little tupperware (for throwing up), a sippy cup about 1/4 full of water and a bowl with a couple of Saltines. I explained to B before falling asleep what each piece of the station was for. I also placed blankets on his floor between the bed and the door (washing a blanket is easier than shampooing a carpet, right?) It worked like a charm. All of last night's vomit stayed right where it was supposed to, in the "barf bucket."

Mommy Bucket:

 I knew that I would be up all night, and I didn't want to have to leave B to run back and forth from the kitchen. So, in an ice cream bucket, I made myself a quick kit too. I had the thermometer, Tylenol, IBU profin, a notebook, a bottle of water (to refill B's sippy), some extra Saltines, my phone (to use as a clock), a hand towel, and a package of wipes.

Pedialyte Jello:

You know what is more disgusting than Pedialyte? Nothing. That stuff is gross. But, I used it to make strawberry Jello. And it tastes like strawberry Jello. This is how I did it:

1 Cup boiling water

1 Small packet of strawberry Jello

1 Cup strawberry Pedialyte.

I made the Jello like it said to on the package, replacing the cold water with the Pedialyte. Wooo hoo! Something my little can keep down a bite-full at a time.

Otter Pops:

I never opened them for him to eat, but they are easy for him to hold and suck on while he is feeling too hot. He snuggled with a couple at bed time, and it seemed to help bring down his fever.

I think the real key to sick kids is patience. You have to remember how miserable they are. Remember? Ok, now don't panic so you can think straight. Got it? Ok, so while considering how sick they are, and keeping your cool, now take care of them with out any sleep. That's it! Right? No. Now you need to take precautions for the rest of your family so they don't get sick as well. So, cuddle, disinfect, sympathize, stay calm, don't sleep, keep track of fevers, keep track of medecine, wash your hands, wash the vomit dishes, wash your hands, give little a bath, wash his bedding, feed him a bite of Jello or a TBS of water every 15 minutes, WASH YOUR HANDS, find a little bit of rest in between. Did you notice that I said to wash your hands? You don't want to be sick too.

But that's it. Piece of cake. I always remember how much I LOVE laundry when there is twice as much of it to do. Ok, not really, but at least it makes my house smell good.