Easy pumpkin bars

This recipe is courtesy my mother-in-law.

1 box of spice cake
1 fifteen oz can of pumpkin
3/4 cup of miracle whip
3 eggs

Mix ingredients with mixer until well blended.

Spread in a jelly roll pan that is greased.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes...check with a fork...it should come out clean. Bake for an additional 5 minutes if needed.

Let cool then frost or my favorite...dust with powdered sugar!

50 Years

I had the honor of attending a beautiful celebration honoring 50 years of marriage this weekend. Mr. Man's aunt and uncle have been married for 50 years. They raised three wonderful children and have six beautiful granddaughters. They are the epitome of hospitality. In fact I'm pretty sure if I looked up the word hospitality in the dictionary it would have a list of everything Salmer (that's my husband's nickname for them) does. I'm always amazed by their kindness and generosity. They want to make sure that their guests feel as though their house is their guests home. I remember stories from Mr. Man about spontaneously popping in on Salmer at their flower shop or their home with a group of friends on their way camping. Salmer always made sure their bellies and hearts were full. While Salmer might joke with each other and give each other a hard time but it was always with a light heart. Anyone sitting in the room knew they were just teasing each other which isn't always the case with married couples. They love each other and everyone they encounter.

As I was sitting there watching both of them tear up at certain memories I said a prayer that Mr. Man and I stick through everything to get to that point and that everyone around us will know how much we love each other. I prayed that we would get back to showing each other love in every possible thing we do. I can't wait to celebrate more 50 year wedding anniversaries with people that we love. I hope everyone I know makes it that far at least!

You Sleep when Baby Sleeps

The most valuable advice I've ever been given when it comes to having a child is to sleep every time the baby is asleep.  Don't worry about getting laundry done (give it to your mom, friend, or church members because they truly do understand and want to help).  Don't worry about cooking food because again, your mother, friends, and any other woman who has ever had a baby will be more than happy to provide you meals for weeks.  It is vital that while you are recovering emotionally and physically from no longer growing a child in your body that you rest at every possible minute.  This allows your body to heal and allows you to spend more happy time with your new bundle of joy.  My question this morning though is when do you stop sleeping when your baby sleeps?

I woke up this morning at the usual time for waking up with my now 22 month old daughter.  I listened for the cries that usually happen a few minutes after I wake up.  I kept listening and listening and that sweet, screaming "Momma" never came.  So the old advice, "sleep when baby sleeps" popped into my head.  I laid in bed and went back to sleep. When I woke up I realized that I had gone to sleep at 8 when my kids went to sleep and woke up at 7 when Little Miss woke up.  I counted up the 11 hours I had slept and then remembered that adults only need 6-8 hours off sleep.  This begged the question when is it that you stop sleeping when the baby sleeps.  Is it when they start sleeping through the night?  Is it when they turn 1 or 2? 

I've decided that probably, I should stop sleeping for the entire amount of time that my kids are sleeping.  For one thing, I have piles of laundry that need to get done.  For another thing, I think I'm making myself more tired by sleeping so much.  Especially because I don't really feel tired, I'm just enjoying the squishiness of my bed.  I've got to get up each morning.  Blah!

I Need More of Me

I arrive at work only to find a line of people needing my attention when all I really want to do is go put my food in the refrigerator and get my SMARTboard up and running with my newest awesome lesson.  I go through the day being extraordinarily patient and kind and loving when what I really want to do sometimes is scream, "I'm sick and tired of you never having your homework."  I have begun to feel like by the time I get home, I'm just plain, flat out done. 

I absolutely love my job as a teacher.  I think it's the best thing in the world and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world except maybe teaching my own kids.  Lately though I feel like I've been so tolerant of everything that I can't tolerate my husband or my children.  I have caught myself snapping at them for little small things and what made me think even more about it is that my son is getting the tone I recognize as my own and I don't like it.

I need to be even more patient with my children.  They can't be the benefits of my pent up frustration with a lack of timeliness in turning in assignments, or too many meetings in one week, or too many kids not understanding what I teach them the first time I teach a lesson.  I have to get better at shutting that all down and starting new with the people that truly mean the most to me.

Chivalry

Every book I read or movie I watched as a young girl started off with "once upon a time," and ended with "and they lived happily ever after."  I dreamed of prince charming taking me off into the sunset on his white horse.  When I thought about my future I knew I would find a man who would open doors for me, cherish my every move, and treat me like a queen.

 As I began dating I found a person who opened my doors most of the time, sent me flowers on random days, went and got the car if it was raining, and walked on the side of the road closest to the traffic and offered to help me out of the car, or help me climb up a mountain.  I dated that man and I married that man and I'm proud to say that my husband still does most of these things, some of the time.

In doing some research for this blog post I came across a website that stated he would perform 5 acts of chivalry until he got married.  "Chivalry is only good for the chase.  Once you've caught them, it doesn't matter how you treat them."  I know this isn't the case with my why my husband has slacked off slightly since getting married and I think some of the reason is that I've proven to myself and my husband that I don't need him to do these things for me.  The expectation is that I'll just take care of myself because I shouldn't have to ask for help.  We all know that we live in the time of the independent woman and we all know that if forced, we could live by ourselves and take care of ourselves. I think though that the true act of chivalry is knowing that whether a woman can take care of herself or not, she really wants you to be her knight in shining armor.

Now that I have a son, I realize that it's more important now that I raise a man of chivalry.  I heard a story the other day of a man who literally laid down his coat over a puddle so his wife didn't have to walk through it.  As I listened to the story I thought not wow I wish my husband would do that for me but instead I thought how do I teach my son to be the man that will do that for his wife.

So for the past few days, I've been telling my son what he should do for other people and the realization that I've come to is that I have to model that and my husband has to model that.  We have to as parents make sure that no matter what is going on with our jobs, or how tired we are that we are constantly modeling the type of behavior we want our children to internalize.  If I want my son to learn that you open doors for women, then my husband has to model that.  If I want my children to talk when they get angry, then I need to model that.   If I want my children to have healthy marriages in their future, then I have to model that.  I cannot become lax even for one day.

I've become the kind of teacher that I can't stand when it comes to teaching my children.  I'm all talk and no hands-on, modeling, or investigating.  I have to change my approach because I want my son to be chivalrous.  I want my son to hold the doors open for women.  I want my son to understand that sometimes making someone happy is the best feeling in the world.  All of these things I have to model for my little man.  My little man will be a prize for some lucky lady in the far away future.  My Little Man will be some lady's prince charming.  I have to start now because unlearning a habit takes a long time and sometimes comes with a lot of anguish.  Chivalry will make a return to my household.