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Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Forever Yours


When your most delicate, precious, tiny hand reaches up and grabs mine....

When your little fingers beckon to be held and they intertwine with my own....

I can feel my heart swell. 

I am all consumed. 

I am reminded of how I am forever yours.

You chose me to be your Mama. 

I am humbled. 

I am grateful.

I am in love.

I am in awe. 

Of all the Mamas in the World who could be holding that sweet little hand I love so much....

You chose me. 

Me. 

And you lead me....

With that most delicate, tiny, precious hand. 

With those little fingers that are intertwined with my own. 

You lead me. 

You lead me to the snacks.

To the swings. 

And to the person I want to be.

If you could only feel what my heart feels when your hand takes mine....




With love,
Mama Hauck


Monday, March 24, 2014

Hello, Spring!

You know Spring is finally here when Sammy and I spend close to an hour putting our trampoline back up after Winter! Anthony and Molly were pretty stoked to have it back up and wasted no time getting their bounce on while Timothy napped.


Other exciting news....we broke ground for our future garden with the help of our neighbor! We've got to do raised beds here since our soil is crap. Within the next 2-3 weeks, we will hopefully be doing the concrete for our corner posts and putting our chain link fence up.  Deer proofing is a must around here. After that we will need to build a door and plan out where our raised beds will go. We will be making those with pallet sides. We are in no rush, as we won't be doing any gardening until next year, I don't think, but it sure is fun to finally be starting something we've wanted since we moved here!


Nik's corral got a spruce up too with some good 'ol poop scooping and sand drag out. A cleaned water trough and cleaned tack room topped off our barn duties and made for a happy horse. My mom also took all the kids on a short horse ride and that was super fun!


There was also some park play with Grandma while Sammy and I went to a very important meeting in town.....but I'll talk about that later. :) 



I love sunny productive weekends! We got so much done, inside and out. And while we were sad to see my Mom head home to CA after her week long visit with us, being able to get outside and enjoy the nice weather made us a little less sad. 


Hello, Spring!! We are so glad you are here.

With love,
Mama Hauck

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Replacing the Boxed and Canned: Homemade Stove Top Mac and Cheese

Two weeks ago I told the kids when we ate our last box of mac and cheese and our last can of spaghettio's, then that was that. I wasn't going to buy that stuff anymore. 

A few groans and gasps escaped the kids' lips....but I promised them I would make them a healthier and tastier spaghettio and mac and cheese. I would know what was in it, I would get the satisfaction out of making it myself, and I wouldn't be spending the money on the boxed stuff anymore.


I hopped on the good 'ol google and worked my world wide interweb search skills and found a stove top mac and cheese recipe I thought looked promising. I wanted to be sure what I found would be quick and easy. I have a few yummy homemade mac and cheese recipes, but those are dinner style...not quick and easy lunch style. And I am not a master of the kitchen....so quick and EASY is imperative. I wanted to be sure the kids could still request mac and cheese for lunch and I would still happily make it for them without complaining that it would take forever and force another PBJ at them instead. 




This is what I found: http://www.thekitchn.com/weeknight-recipe-easy-homemade-82588


I will post the recipe below, but if you follow this link, it shows some wonderful photos of each step.


Creamy No-Roux Stove Top Macaroni and Cheese

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

1 pound pasta, any shape
1 1/2 cups whole or 2% milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2-3 cups shredded cheese, like cheddar, monterey jack, or colby
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon powdered mustard
Optional extras (cook before adding): Ham, bacon, onions, peas, mushrooms, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower


Instructions:

1. Boil the Pasta: Bring about 4 quarts of water to a boil over high heat in the pasta pot. Add the pasta and a tablespoon of salt. Cook until the pasta is al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Warm the Milk: When the pasta has finished cooking, prepare the cheese sauce. Begin warming 1 cup of the milk in the saucepan over medium heat. Whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup of milk and the flour until there are no lumps. When you just start to see tendrils of steam rising from the warming milk, whisk in the milk-and-flour mixture. Continue whisking gently until the milk thickens slightly to the consistency of heavy cream, 3-4 minutes.
3. Make the Cheese Sauce: Turn the heat to low and begin mixing handfuls of cheese into the milk. Stir in the salt and mustard. Stir until all the cheese has melted and the sauce is creamy. Taste and adjust the seasonings as desired. Remove the sauce from heat.
4. Combine the Pasta and Cheese Sauce: In a large serving bowl, combine the pasta and 1/2 of the cheese sauce. Stir to coat the pasta evenly. Add the second half of the sauce and any extra add-ins.

Serve the mac and cheese immediately while still warm. Leftovers will keep for up to a week and can be reheated in the microwave. If the sauce is a little dry after re-heating, mix in a splash of milk to make it creamy again.

Additional Notes:

• Baked Mac and Cheese: If you have a little extra time, you can bake the macaroni and cheese to give it a golden crust. Pour the prepared mac and cheese into a casserole dish, cover with a lid or foil, and bake at 350°F for 1/2 hour. Remove the covering, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and a few pats of butter, and bake uncovered for another 15-20 minutes until the top is golden and the interior is bubbly.



Looks pretty easy and do-able, yeah? It was. And it was delicious. Seriously. I used my most favorite cheese...Tillamook extra sharp white cheddar and I about died when I took my first bite. The kids loved it too, so I consider this a definite major win. I'm pretty stoked.


No more boxed mac and cheese for us. Homemade stove top from now on. Mmmmm yum. I have to try out the homemade spaghettio's recipe I found next.

With love,
Mama Hauck

Monday, March 17, 2014

Our 2nd Little Leprechaun

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today my little Miss Molly Lynn Elizabeth had her Learning Ladder Christian Preschool Leprechaun Parade! My mom is currently visiting us from CA, so together we dropped her off at Preschool and then went downtown and waited to see all those little leprechaun faces headed our way. Papa met up with us too and the look on Molly's face when she saw him was priceless. He had called this morning and told her he wasn't going to be able to make it, but to have a super fun morning. So when he was able to surprise us all in town, it was awesome!

All the little leprechauns were so adorable! It was cold and really windy out, and it made me laugh watching all the kids holding on to their hats so they wouldn't blow away. They all lined up and sang such sweet songs....gosh, Molly was just too cute for words.


Enjoy this video of my sweet little Leprechaun! 


After singing us a few songs, all the parents we were able to walk with their cutie pies around downtown before stopping one more time for another round of songs. At this point we said goodbye and watched as they headed back to school. What a special treat this parade was! 



Here's a flashback....this is 2 years ago, when Anthony did his LLCP Leprechaun Parade at the age of 4 1/2. 

My oh my he is too sweet....that face....I don't know how the time passes so quickly. 



In another couple of years I'm going to be attending Timothy's LLCP Leprechaun Parade. It seems so far off....yet I know it'll be here in a blink of an eye. 

With love,
Mama Hauck

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Timeless

There are some toys that are just timeless. Like blocks. And Legos. I love having toys that'll last a long time. I love seeing something that we got for Anthony when he was a baby, be played with by Molly and then by Timothy. It's definitely a sentimental thing for me and makes me smile a big 'ol cheeser. I'll probably keep certain toys forever....and maybe my grand-babies will play with them some day. 

Anthony:


Timothy:


Anthony:


Molly:


Timothy:


*sigh*
How awesome it is to see the same toys getting love from my sweet babies. 

With love,
Mama Hauck

Friday, March 14, 2014

We Love Dr. Seuss

In celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2nd, we've cracked open many of our favorites from him the past 2 weeks. I took a sweet video of Anthony reading his favorite Dr. Seuss book, "Green Eggs and Ham" to Molly the other day. 

Love it. 


With love,
Mama Hauck

Monday, March 10, 2014

High Five, Knucks, E-T, Handshake

I remember us teaching Anthony how to high five like it was just yesterday. We added in a knucks, then an ET for fun, then finished off with a handshake and a silly, "Hi! How are ya!?" at the end. I don't know why this was such a hit, but it was. Everyone loved it. No matter where we went, people about died from the cuteness. 

6 years and two more children later and our silly hand greetings are still a hit. Molly learned all the moves when she was little, and now most recently, Timothy. 

There are just some things that you do within your family that creates this sort of heart bursting, lump in your throat, I will love you till the end of time feeling. When we sing our made up "Goodmorning, Goodmorning" song or when we do our quirky hand greetings, I find myself praying that our children will one day do these things with their children.....because, well, because it's just our 'thing'.  


High-five, knucks, E-T, handshake....hi, how are ya!? 

With love,
Mama Hauck