Simple Mothers Day Card for Nursery

For any of you that don't know Nursery, it's the kids ages 18 months to 3 years old who get to have a class together for two hours during meetings for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons or LDS Church). We get asked to take turns helping with the little people and doing a short lesson, some singing, a snack, playtime, and little activity things.

Since we're big on families Nursery can be quite the group, especially here in Utah. I personally get a kick out of working in there but I know some find it overwhelming.

Anyway, I did the Mothers Day activity for the kids this year and thought I would share how it turned out. I've got two kids in the Nursery right now so I got to keep two of the cards we made. These are half sheets of paper but a full size works better if doing a poem and the prints.

Step 1- Pre-print cards (I used a poem about footprints a few years back and that was way cute but handprints are easier).
Step 2- Get materials all set up in a corner so crowd control is easier. You need pre-printed cards on card stock, a clipboard, a non-toxic stamp pad/ink pad, a LOT of baby wipes, a pen for signatures.
Step 3- Demonstrate what you're going to do by rubbing your own hand or a willing participants hand lightly over the stamp pad and then having them "high five" the card stuck to the clipboard. Quickly set aside the card and scrub the ink off the hand with the baby wipe. Then have them sign the card putting a translation next to the signature as needed. Put finished cards on display out of reach.
Most kids will then just go for the idea. Work with the reluctant few or grab their dad out of his class for just a minute to encourage them. Include a piece of candy or a flower or something and you've got a great little gift from a little person. If all goes well, consider the footprint card for Fathers Day ;o) .

No pajama goal

Well, I made it to yesterday with the goal to get up and get myself presentable first thing in the morning. I even put on lipstick and eye-liner every day. That's pretty big for me because I don't wear makeup most of the time. I actually kind of enjoyed having the goal and doing pretty well at it but the part where I go into the closet and select something from the over-size shirts and panel pants for pregnancy was a bit of a downer.

Yesterday I was just too miserable to make it out of the pj's. By the time I went to bed last night I had heartburn so bad I felt like a dull spoon was digging into my chest. I tried naps, snacks, TUMS, and just waiting it out but the tummy problems of the morning just got worse all day. So, I didn't make it into real clothes until late afternoon when I had to take Kylie to dance class. No makeup.

Today I got up, got dressed, and got going but since I didn't get a single thing done around the house yesterday I was confronted with the depressing amount of housework that can pile up in a single day around here. I'd like to hire someone to come in once or twice a week and help me out (one of my under-employed siblings or a teenager on the block) but having anyone see this mess is so embarrassing and I'm too far gone to do the crazy-clean-before-company-arrives thing at this point. SIGH

Sorry about the pajamas

I find myself still in my pajamas later and later every day. I got to 4 pm today (time to drive Kylie to dance class) before changing. This is becoming something of a problem and I'm having some serious guilt. I've got lots of good reasons, the pajamas just fit my distorted pregnant figure better being the main one but it's kind of making me feel all frumpy.
The problem starts in the morning when I have a good chance of waking up feeling crummy and often nauseous. I grab some breakfast, take care of any immediate kid issues (their breakfast, clean diapers, etc.) then I tend to curl up in a ball on the couch or the bed for a little while while the kids watch something on TV and I wait for my stomach to settle. Pajamas are nicely conducive to curling and settling.
With all the kids awake it is almost dangerous to get in the shower for even the 10 minutes I have learned to live with. There will be faintly heard shrieking over the sound of the water and I don't dare shut the door all the way or it's just asking for trouble, kind of a Murphy's Law thing. So no shower, no real reason to change clothes...
I get some housework done, chase the kids, then it's time to fix lunch. With my belly sticking out in this awkward shelf there's like a 80% chance I'm going to spill something down my front. So I don't want to be wearing the good maternity blouses because I hate buying maternity clothes. Pajama top with some slight staining seems like a much less bothersome laundry issue than expensive maternity tops made of fabric that always seems to stain more easily and then show stains so much more prominently across stretchy belly fabric...
After lunch I can drive Kylie to kindergarten without being seen outside of the car so I sometimes don't bother changing out of the pj's for that one either. Nap time for Andrew and April comes next and that's about when I can sneak in a shower, handle a few things and sometimes even take a bit of a nap myself. More and more often I just can't get up the energy to do more than flop down and watch Sesame Street with April until we both pass out on the couch and then I wake up to the sound of the school age people returning and demanding snacks, help with homework, and the usual other stuff.
It's getting kind of pathetic. I don't really have a reason to get dressed until just before Jared comes home. It's kind of nice to know I still at least want to be out of my pajamas for my husband but it's also discouraging in that on the days when I have really been miserable, sick, tired, and uncomfortable all day to the point where I didn't bother getting out of the pj's he doesn't notice.
So yeah, frumpy mom is settling in more and more. I've never been a big primper and high-maintenance type but when even the jeans are too much effort I know I'm on the wrong end of a slippery slope. I'm starting to need one of those "mommy makeovers" they give to the women like me.

Mothers Day

Here we are. Andrew on my lap, April in the blue shirt, Kylie in the pink shirt, Krista in the white shirt. We played outside for a while in the afternoon while Jared made dinner for my mom and I and the rest of the family. It was a pretty good day. I got flowers and chocolate and a couple of nice cards.

Banana Bread

Cream together:
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar

Beat in:
4 eggs

Add:
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
6 mashed up bananas
1 cup nuts (optional)

Pour into greased loaf pans filling as many as it takes half way up the side. Bake at 350 for 50 min or until golden brown on top and a clean knife stuck into the center comes out without banana goo on it.

Just made two loaves and the whole house smells so nice. My kids love this stuff and it's the same recipe my mom made for our family so it's got comfort food appeal written all over it. I've seen my sister use applesauce for part or all of the shortening and it comes out pretty good but I don't know the conversion for it. Oh, just a note, those are 6 normal size bananas, if you put in 6 Costco size bananas it makes a mess of banana pudding/bread.