Parenting After Infertility & Loss Ministries (PAI)

Protein pancakes!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 18:09:00 +0000

I must admit that my "famous" made from scratch pancakes are actually a recipe I "stole" from Melissa years ago when I visited her house and we had breakfast for lunch. That was about 10 years ago. My family loves them.

However, I have developed the need for protein because of blood sugar issues. I make them for the family, but rarely eat them now a days.

I was browsing through a magazine this morning and saw this:

I was intrigued...and hungry...so I tried them for breakfast.

I used 1 c Greek yogurt and a splash of milk, 1 c rolled oats, and 2 eggs.

Yum! Pancakes I can have! They had a bit of a different taste because of the plain Greek yogurt, but I just love Greek yogurt, so it made no nevermind to me. I'm full. Serves two medium to small stacks of 3 pancakes.

How do you decorate?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 22 Feb 2016 19:13:00 +0000

I used to be all about decorating and HGTV.

Then I had kids.

Then life happened.

My decorating style has changed.

The other day, Terry reminded me that "love" is a verb.

I've been thinking on that a lot. I realized that one way we show love in our home is we decorate with "love".

Instead of works of art recognized by the world, we are surrounded by works of art that say "I love you".

Artwork by my daughters:

Artwork by present and former PAI sisters:

(Sorry for the reflection of my dehydrator in the glass)

Purity Promise Rings

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 19:52:00 +0000

My husband, bless his heart, will shoot daggers with his eyes at me every time I bring this up. He doesn't want his baby girl to grow up. He takes a few days, but eventually I get him to talk with me. This is just hard on him.

For our children's 13th birthdays, we have decided to take them on a special mommy&daddy date and give them a special ring. They must promise to do everything within their power to be pure in front of God and their husbands/wife. We have had a long talk. I'm quite candid about sex with them. I always have been. It is probably the science teacher in me.

My oldest daughter has chosen a silver ring with a cross and a heart, plus two little cubic zirconia stones. I'll put the Amazon link here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SO0FFLW/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_img?_encoding=UTF8&colid=37G3PLJ9WFSU&coliid=ID879FV6034DM&psc=1

Corn dog muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 02:09:00 +0000

Hot lunch... My goofy kids say that is their fav part of being homeschooled.

Today I was knee deep in Algebra with my oldest. I only had the time it would take her to work her next problem to throw lunch in the oven.

I cheated. I needed to.

I know good and well how to cook from scratch. Wouldn't it be lovely if I had time?

I digress. A busy mom does what she has to do.

We live in nowhere AK. Many days I have to rely on my freezer and pantry unless I want to bundle up and schlep 4 kids to the store.

Lunch was fast.

Mix two packages of corn muffin mix....made according to package directions.

Add 1 can cream corn.

Prepare A pack of Lil Smokies (I didn't have hot dogs)

In a prepared muffin tin with papers, fill the muffin cup 3/4 the way with batter. Poke one Lil Smokie in the center of each. Bake according to the package directions.

Marmalade Sandwiches

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 00:58:00 +0000

It is totally up to you to decide what to watch and/or if your family does family movie night. Several months back, we watched the new Paddington movie. It was clean, and my entire crew enjoyed it. One thing we like to be silly about now is marmalade sandwiches....really just almond (we can't have peanut) butter and orange marmalade on bread... It really isn't a great big deal, and quite cheap as far as lunches go, but we find such silly joy when we have marmalade sandwiches for lunch.

Your go to "delivery" meal.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 00:19:00 +0000

My church has had an explosion of people needing meals delivered because of new babies and surgeries.

My go to "delivery" meals are chili and breakfast casserole. I gotta go to the store for more ingredients.

What are your delivery meals for those in need?

Parenting Goals for the New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 04:32:00 +0000

What goals have you set parenting wise for the new year? Mine is to spend more one on one time with each kid. We operate so much as a herd. We do everything, including homeschool, as a group. Yet, each kid is so very different on their own. My kids were recently in a Christmas play. The director has watched them grow up for 4.5 yrs, and nailed their personalities with the parts they played. I want to make myself see them more as unique people, not just my herd.

-Kendra

Toilet papers

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 05:09:00 +0000

We all need t.p.

It drives me batty that no one in my home posses the "super power" needed to remove the old tube and replace the roll.

Recently I found a brand that has no paper roll....nothing left to change.

I also purchased one of these free standing toilet paper stands.

Now, no guarantees that they will actually put the new roll on the top, but at least I'm not chasing paper rolls around the house.

-Kendra

Sick tummies and homemade soda crackers

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 03:56:00 +0000

I discovered something cool. Three of us had sick tummies. Homemade crackers REALLY did a wonderful job settling them. Even the non sick folks chowed down. The difference between store bought and homemade was amazing as far as how they worked. They tasted about the same.

Here is the back story:

I must be just plain dumb. I had an emergency box of crackers for sick tummies. I found the empty box, no crackers... Nobody ate them though. I just must have bought an empty box a the grocery store... I digress...

So, with a sick kid, sick hubby, and my own tummy in protest (precluding a trip to the store) I decided to look up a recipe online for old fashioned soda crackers.

I think I can call this a happy accident. These crackers were super simple, and really helped our sick tummies.

The recipe:

Mind you, I used my convection oven at 395 F, but 425 F in a regular oven works too.

1-Preheat oven

2-Mix in a big bowl- 4 1/2 c AP (unbleached) flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp baking soda.

4- cut in 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter

5- Add 11/2 c water, mix

6-on a lightly floured surface, kneed until a smooth ball

7- roll out to thin sheets. Cut into squares with a pizza cutter.

8- brush tops with a egg wash (1 tbs water mixed with one egg) and sprinkle with salt as desired

8- bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 20 or so min. I like to use parchment paper.

Kid friendly, quick quinoa salad

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 22:06:00 +0000

I prefer red quinoa. I like the flavor better.

I admit freely to cheating in the kitchen when this mom gets busy...

One box (12 oz) quinoa cooked... 1 1/2 c quinoa plus 3 c water, in my rice cooker on white rice setting....or bring to boil, cover, let simmer about 20 min.

Plus

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

1 can diced tomatos, drained

About 1 c crumbled Feta

2 tablespoons Greek season blend

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Toss together.

It tastes good warm or cold.

Christmas Kisses and Reindeer Noses

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 20:59:00 +0000

Aren't these cute?

They are fun, yummy, and very very easy.

I blame Terry!

I was contemplating making these with the kids. She "pushed" me over the edge.

Lay the square pretzels out on a cookie sheet.

Place one kiss in the center of each.

Heat the oven to 275F,

Stand there. Don't leave.

Watch 3-5 min until kisses are shiny.

Remove and push your desired candy into the kiss.

Let cool and eat.

Have fun. Try different candies and different kisses.

Christmas craft with tweens-candy cane wreath

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 18:24:00 +0000

My daughter and I worked together on this. She will be 13 in April. It was a rare "cool mom, this is fun" moment. It does take a lot of hot glue, so make sure you have a lot.

I made this one

1- glue sides of candy canes together back to back....like a double hook/ staff

- you need 11, depending of course on the candy canes. Buy two boxes.

2-arrange the pieces hook to hook to look like hearts in a circle

3- I put a cut paper plate on the back to secure it

4- use a flat ornament on the front to secure it

5- decorate as you wish

No creative craftiness needed.

Trash free Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 21:12:00 +0000

I kinda stumbled into this...

We found huge felt gift bags at Michael's. In our house, each child gets three gifts. I just put all three unwrapped in the big bag (this bag has grandma gifts). I have one big bag per kid. The thing I despise about Christmas morning is trash pickup. This eliminates that. The bags are reusable.

Postal Address

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 21:27:00 +0000

Please Note:

PAI has a new postal address

P.O. Box 29
Bangor
Maine 04402

:)

Busy Mommy Ranch Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 26 Nov 2015 03:47:00 +0000

There are days...

Sometimes, way tooooo many in a row.

I love to cook from scratch. In fact, I'd say my family is rather spoiled. However, today was a day that the herd needed food, but I was loathe to cook it. Luckily, I had the wherewithal to start dinner at 2.

It wasn't fancy. I like "slow food", as in food that is easy to prepare but cooks and makes my house smell yummy for hours. There is nothing like opening the door to a blast of yummy scents wafting from the kitchen.

You can adapt this recipe easily to a crock pot. I happen to be convinced that my enamel coated cast iron Dutch ovens are "magic"....no I don't believe in magic, but a girl must be silly sometimes lest she become a grump.

This is another process more than a recipe:

1) pick a type of chicken....enough for your family

2) pick a dressing...this time I picked Peppercorn Ranch made from Greek yogurt

3)Does anything go good with it?...bacon goes good with almost everything

4) season and brown your chicken. Salt and pepper work fine. I grab a MSG free quick season when I'm in a hurry.

5) put your chicken in a cast iron Dutch oven or a crock pot

6) add bacon crumbles, or whatever you choose

7) dump on a bottle of your fav salad dressing

8) cook about 4 hrs at 350-375 or on high in the crock pot

9) leave it in the sauce, I used a wooden spoon to mix and bust it up

10) serve over rice or noodles. I have a rice maker. You should buy one. No thought involved! My almost 10 yr old is in charge of it.

Tonight we had bacon ranch chicken:

12 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 bottle ranch dressing

6 strips bacon, crumbled

Seasoning to sprinkle on the chicken

Small bit of oil to brown the chicken

Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 01:30:00 +0000

Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 16:08:00 +0000

Another thought to share...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 05 Nov 2015 18:23:00 +0000

I ran across the NLT translation of this verse this morning, and I was reduced to tears. It touched me. Maybe it will say something to you too.

Proverbs 31:25

She is clothed in strength and dignity and laughs without fear of the future.

Time to Think Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 03 Nov 2015 22:15:00 +0000

I have a rather busy day tomorrow, as I did last Wednesday. I doubt I'll get time to post. So here is a picture by Terryl to ponder:

Pumpkin Dip

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 21:40:00 +0000

As promised...

Here is the batch I took to Bible study:

1 - In a mixer, dump softened cream cheese and about 1/3 can sweetened condensed milk. Blend.

2- Add 1/2 can pumpkin purée (reg size can). Blend.

3- Add your fav spices, I did about 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (fresh) and about 1 tsp cinnamon and a splash of vanilla extract. Blend. ...disclaimer....I never measure. I'm a sniff and dump cook, so those are estimates.

4- Fold in one medium tub cool whip.

5- refrigerate over night, or about 4 hours at least

6- Our fav dipper is chocolate graham crackers, but plain ones, fruit, and vanilla wafers work too...really any hard cookie . Ginger snaps are good too.

Not so wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 16:39:00 +0000

I just can't keep my mouth shut....

My favorite view in the world is to look up through trees on a sunny day. I don't know why it brings me peace to watch the leaves rustle in the wind. What kind of views bring you peace?

Written by Kendra

Photo by Terryl

Parenting Through Challenges

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 18:11:00 +0000

What is a parenting challenge? I submit that it can be anything, both serious and silly, that forces you to problem solve.

When a series of severe strokes threw my bootie into a wheelchair, parenting became an everyday challenge. One such challenge was rather silly, but a challenge to me none the less.

I can access every room of my house except the "kid's bathroom". The doorway and shape of the room make using my wheelchair a no go.

I have three daughters with medium to long hair. I also have medium to long hair. Call me crazy, but at least once a day, I like to brush my hair. Problem was, my hairbrush kept finding it's way onto the counter in the kid's bathroom beyond my reach.

I tried yelling. I tried punishments. They didn't work. My hairbrush got taken at rather regular intervals.

I'd had enough. I bought a brush with a hole at the bottom of the handle. I attached one end of a bungy cord to the brush, and the other to my dresser. I then had my husband squeeze the beegeebers out of the ends so that they would stay shut. I haven't lost my brush in a year!

Leftover rice - breakfast Fried Rice

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 18:20:00 +0000

I have a hatred for wasted leftovers, and my family is terrible about eating leftovers. This was born from waking up, opening the fridge, and thinking, "if I don't use this today, I have to throw it out".

We had:

Leftover rice....about two cups

Fancy smancy bacon end pieces

Eggs

Breakfast fried rice:

Please excuse the "abouts" as it was early, and measuring first thing in the morning is both annoying and near impossible to my tired body. I feel lucky I can cook :( . I'm definitely in splash and dash mode before noon!

About 1 cup diced bacon end pieces

About 2 cups leftover jasmine rice

About 1 tbs Soy Sauce

About 1/4 cup water

About 1 tbs chives (save a pinch for garnish)

About 1/2 tsp ground ginger

About 2 dashes Sesame Oil

8 eggs

Handful grated cheese

In a frying pan with deep sides- crisp up bacon end pieces

Toss in leftover rice, soy sauce, and I added a bit of water because the rice was dry

Stir about a min, until incorporated

Add in chives and ground ginger

Stir

Add in 8 scrambled eggs and two small dashes Sesame oil, cook stirring until eggs are done

Serve sprinkled with grated cheese and a few chives

Serves about 5

The kids raved and gobbled it up in 2 min flat....and back out to play in the snow....in September!

-Kendra

Orange Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 24 Sep 2015 02:11:00 +0000

I wrote this years ago, but we had this for dinner tonight and I thought I'd share:

Everyone knows about the take-out version of orange chicken...yummy orange scented fried sticky gooieness of chicken...but EVER so bad for you.

This is my version...and ever so good for you!

Around 4:30 this afternoon, my friend called.

"What ya doin?"

"I am staring at a package of frozen chicken waiting for it to talk to me."

"What?"

"I am totally uninspired tonight, and I want the chicken to tell me what it wants to be."

We both laughed at my ridiculous attempt at humor. The attempt being funnier than the humor. Oh well.

We hung up a few minutes later. I decided to go with a quick and easy family favorite. You can tell by the use of paper plates that it has been a long day. I needed something yummy, quick, and healthy.

Marinate boneless skinless chicken breasts in the following:

1 cup orange juice

1 tsp ground red pepper

1/4 cup soy sauce (if gluten free, get the "gluten free soy sauce")

1/4 cup canola oil

1 T ground ginger

1 T garlic powder

1 T onion powder

I like to cut my chicken into strips. It spreads the flavor out more, and cooks quicker.

Since the chicken was frozen, I did a two for one deal. By placing the marinade in a bag with the chicken, and the submerging the chicken in cool water, it defrosted and marinated at the same time. Cool trick ;)

Broil on low for about 12 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken and the power of your oven (mine is wimpy).

Serve over rice. I love Jasmine rice. Please, don't ever tell me if you eat that nasty plain long grain enriched stuff. It has no flavor.

PS I have to give credit to my mom for this one. It is a take off of her old standby. She is the one who taught me the quick marinade and broil trick for a fast meal.

Update (2-22-10): My Super Friend Sherie called with a suggestion. I LOVE that. When I make this, I don't always have fresh oranges around....so I didn't even think of her idea. I am so glad I have smart friends! She used her microplane to zest some fresh oranges. She put the zest, along with juice and soy sauce into the microwave, heated it up, and served it as a sauce to go over the chicken and soak up into the rice with all its yumminess. Smart girl!!

Update 3-19-14....I'm making this for dinner. I made a dipping sauce out of 1 part soy sauce, 2 parts orange juice, about a tsp each garlic and onion powder, and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper.

-Kendra

Our Children

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 22:28:00 +0000

By the time we started the fostering process we had been married 4 years and had lost 2 babies through miscarriage. We were involved in Children’s Ministry and working with kids all the time. Other people’s kids. We were heartbroken and wanted children in our family.

Soon after we were licensed my husband got a call on his cell phone asking if we would take a 3.5 week old baby girl. Then he called me at work and told we were going to get a little girl who needed a family. I cried…of course. How many husbands get to tell their wives they are going to be a mother?

We consulted caseworkers, case managers, Indian Child Welfare and doctors about any major decision we made for our daughter. We filed reports each week, we had home inspections each month and we filled out forms for each doctor visit and emergency room visit. We advocated for her.

She was ours, but not legally.

Three and a half years later we stood in the courthouse and vowed to take care of her and made her our own. It took all of 5 minutes. It was so quick that we even missed videoing it!

Our second foster daughter was 11 months old and came to us one late afternoon when a caseworker had to quickly find a home for her. It was the end of the day and he had been make calls searching for someone to take this little girl. She was supposed to stay a week and, well, obviously she stayed longer than that!

Her adoption went quicker, but we still had all the visits and reports like we did for our oldest girl.

One and a half years later we stood in a different courthouse in the judges’ chambers and promised to care for her no matter what.

A few things happened on the days the adoptions took place;

We gave each girl a new name including our last name
My husband and I were listed on their birth certificates as their mother and father – not adoptive mother or adoptive father –and with it all the rights that parenting entails
Our girls became our heirs – they are equal heirs our biological daughters

Society looks at our family and calls 2 of our daughters our “real kids”. They ask about their “real mother and father” like we are a fake family. We look at our daughters and see our children. And I would like to point out that we do real parenting. They are our real kids and we are a real family.

Adoption means choosing someone. Adoption means accepting someone. Adoption doesn’t mean that all the pain and trauma of the past goes away.

“Children born to another woman call me mom.

The magnitude of that tragedy and the depth of that privilege are not lost on me.”

Jody Landers

Many will say how lucky our daughters are to have been adopted by us. They haven’t been ‘lucky’ at all. Adoption is only necessary when a child has been or needed to be separated from her birth family;

Death of parents
Abandonment
Neglect
Abuse
Rape
Fear
Parents that are too young or mentally not able to care for a child
Parents are in prison

When adoption becomes necessary there is always pain involved. That pain follows into the adoptive family; we take on the pain and trauma that the child has. It becomes a part of us and our family. We work with our daughters and with the consequences of their parent’s decisions.

Adoption is about redemption and taking the broken pieces of many lives and making something good come out despite the pain and misfortune. It means working through those trials together.

Adoption changes lives…I know our was changed. It was changed for the better.

- Ankia