The Lord answered many of my prayers throughout my life.  From health issues to employments, He's always been faithful !  In time, I've come to see and acknowledged that His plans always are better than my plans and expectations.

Some prayers take a while for us to come to the realization and understanding what His answers are to our prayers.  I thank God often for His long term and wide view plan for me.  He listened to my prayers, acknowledged them and worked out His plan to get me there.  He rarely give me what I originally asked for, but always replaced them with something better.  He held me in higher regard and credited me more than I do to myself.  Always the best for me.  It is always always like that with me and Jesus.

The few times He answered my prayer right away are ones that made me smile every time.  They are not grand requests but trivial ones, but nonetheless, I must have felt they are important enough for me to plea to the Man Up there.  The very first incident that I remember, is that I bought a very expensive item and lost the receipt.  I searched our house everywhere and it was no where to be found.  I got mad at myself for buying things when I'm not 100% sold on it.  I don't want to keep this ! I need to find that stupid receipt.

While getting ready to leave our house, I pleaded with God desperately to help me find the receipt.  I went over to the shoes closet to grab a pair of shoes.  I thought I should wear my brown boots as I haven't worn them for a while.  I reached far back in the closet for the boots and for some reason put my hand inside.  Lo and behold, out came the receipt.  I freaked out and can't thank Him enough.

Staying on this theme of lost/missing items :-)  the second time I remember I needed His help was when we were rushing to Alpha class.  When I got up off the sofa to leave, the button from my overall popped off!!!!  Grrrrrr !  Why now and why right on my shaggy carpet ????  I frantically ran my hand all over the carpet and I couldn't find it.  I don't want to change !!!  I move my fingers inch by inch over the carpet hoping to cover all possible area.  Then I remembered my shoes' receipt prayer and started to pray for help.  Right then, right after I opened my eyes, I reached out into the shaggy rug and my fingers got hold the button.  Just like that.

Today is another one of those.  Nolan lost 1 cute sock shoes.  I searched for it this whole week and it's no where to be found.  It's a baby sock, meaning it's small and can easily be lost.  I lost the girls' and my socks all the time.  I never bother to look for them but this time is different.  I want Nolan to wear it to an up coming event and don't want to buy new one.  I thought I might suck it up while vacuuming.  I love vacuuming and sometime I just let the machine suck up anything in its path.  I used 2 vacuums, one is the clear bag-less and one is with bag.  I looked into the clear bin and checked the hose, nothing.   I opened the bagged one, dumped out all the garbage inside, no sock shoes but did recover Anna's shirt, the one no one missed.

I search the house again this morning.  Maybe it got stuck inside a piece of clothing ?  I search the girls' dressers and found a big nothing.  I have searched every nooks, flipped up the rug, looked under the bed, under all tables, moved the sofa and dressers, opened everything that can be opened and still, not a sight of it.  I hate loosing things.  The shoes socks are so cute on Nolan and now there's one lying in his dresser missing it's partner.

I sat in the home office.  I've been in here 4 times already.  C was holding Nolan with those socks the day one went missing.  The office and the living room is where he frequented so if it fell off, these 2 rooms has the highest probably of concealing the lone sad sock.  I searched the living room like 10 times already so thought I try the office again today. There's not much in here to search.  I moved the computer tower, the paper cutter and the AC and all are cleared.  I sat and stare into space.  Where can it be God ?  Can you please help me find it ?  He always so good with finding things for me.  I smiled inside, hoping He would go "poof" and placed the socks in front of me !  I sat down looking under the table, it's a normal height table so if it's there you would see it.  I thought it was silly of me to expect God just to put it there.  I gave up hope and when I was about to stand up, right there, right about a foot to the right side of me, lie the sock.  I freaked out momentary because that's just freaky, in the awesome kind of way.  Thank you Jesus !  My heart leaped for joy.  I found the sock.  It was caught into the hidden wheels of the AC.  No wonder I didn't see it until I sat down on the floor.  

I feel the need to write this down.  This is a reminder to me that every prayer sent upward is being listened and heard.  Even the trivial stuff mattered to Him.  If He cares about those, imagine how He is when it comes to stuff that are consequential to us.  When it comes to prayer like this, when things are lost, He answered my prayer right the moment I finished to let me know, "Yeah, I heard you !" and to bring an awe and a sense of wonder back to into me.  I forgot how marvelous and wonderful He is.  He's reminding me He's still here, still walking with me, so don't loose sight of Him.  He understood my feeling.  Loosing stuff sucks.  He doesn't like to loose anything either, this I'm sure, especially people.  

Bee is home for spring break.  I was looking forward to take her on mini outings but Peanut is sick so home we stayed.  Luckily I was prepared with a few activities to keep her and Love busy this week.

We painted bird houses, painted egg carton flowers, built a tree house for owls out of foams, did 2 egg hunts, play dress up, baked banana breads, went to the playground twice, drank slurpee, danced, went swimming, picked names for our stuffed dogs ( Charlie and Tucker) and caterpillar (Apple), played in indoor playground, painted our nails (7 free Pacifica), and did a lot of Lego and role playing !  

Not sure what's in plan for next week but there're 2 parties and a play date scheduled!  For now I survive the first week keeping 2 bodies busy while caring for a sick baby.

BANANA BREAD RECIPE

Prep time: 10 minutes  :  Cook time: 55 minutes  :  Yield: Makes one loaf or 12 muffins

Super easy to mix and clean up !  The best bananas to use for banana bread are those that are over-ripe.  The yellow peels should be all dotted with brown spots ! and the bananas inside soft and squishy.

INGREDIENTS

2-3 ripe bananas, peeled (depending on the size, if around 6-7" long then use 2 bananas, use 3 bananas if smaller size)
1/3 cup melted butter or vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar (use 1/2 cup if you would like it less sweet, use up to 1 cup if want more sweet, I used organic cane sugar)
1 egg, beaten (I like to add one additional egg or 1 egg white for more moist bread)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (substitution:  I used 1/2 cup of oatmeal (blended in blender to almost powder) and 1 cup of whole wheat flour.  This is the more healthy route :-)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C), and butter or oil a 4x8-inch loaf pan or muffin pan. (I have a convection toaster oven so I used it instead of oven, 325 high for 1 hour)
• In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork or potato masher until completely smooth. Stir the melted butter (OR vegetable oil) into the mashed bananas.
• Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. 
• Add in the mix baking soda and salt and flour.
• Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour at 350°F (175°C), or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.  ***If making muffin, baking time is a lot less, about 20 min.
• Remove from oven and cool completely on a rack. Remove the banana bread from the pan. Slice and serve. (A bread knife helps to make slices that aren't crumbly.)

First thing first, I don't think there is such thing as completely natural non toxic nail polish !  To have a liquid colour adheres to your nails and dry within seconds require some sort of chemicals mixing.  I think the level of toxic can be low but not completely free.  Buy with that info. in mind.

My girls like to have their nails painted.  I am pretty sure they saw it on ad some where as I don't paint my nails.  Being a mom who's always finding stuff to do with her girls, I thought it would be fun to do this together.  I did some research on it and found a few brands that promises no harmful ingredients.  I must say these past few years has been great for those who are after a non-toxic, natural and organic life style.  Because there are many choices available.  5 years ago I would be lucky to find just one non-toxic nail polish.

The brand we are trying out are Pacifica, Suncoat and Piggy Paint.  They are all around $10 each. 

PACIFICA 7-FREE
7 FREE is formulated without parabens, phthalates (dibutyl phthalate), toluene, xylene, camphor, formaldehyde, resin, and animals.

Pro:  Goes on smoothly, color is nice and coverage is good. Dry fast and last for a week +.  Has beautiful and bold colors.  More for adult than kids.
Con:  Smells really strong, typical nail polish smell.  Once open it takes over the room.  I don't know how I feel about buying this again because if it smell so intense, something isn't natural there :-/

SUNCOAT
Water-based nail polish for children. Odourless and VOC free (free of chemical solvents). Peels off. No remover needed! Not only free of toluene, formaldehyde, phthalate plasticizers (BDP etc) and alcohol, but also free of acetates and toxic preservatives such as parabens and methylisothiazolinone (Neolone 950).  Coloured with mineral pigments and natural colorants.

Pro:  Goes on nicely, a little on the thick side (no little ball inside to mix up the paint), and little to no smell.  Takes less than a min. to dry. Peels off in a day or two.  

Con:  Not too many color to pick from as it catered more for kids.  Peels off too fast.  It comes off when the kids soak in a bubble bath.  

PIGGY PAINT

Non-toxic, Virtually Odorless, Water-based formula, Hypoallergenic, Dries to a hard, durable finish

Cruelty-free, Does not peel, Kid-friendly, Safe for use during Pregnancy!  

Pro:  Lots of colors to pick from ! bold/bright adult and kids friendly colors.  Fast drying and little to no smell.  Paint has good thickness/coverage.  Last for about 3 days. 

Con:  Streaky, I can see the paint strokes. 

After trying them all out, I like Piggy Paint for the kids the best as it last a little longer than Suncoat and have many fun color.  If I am buying for me I would stick with Piggy Paint too for everyday kind of fun thing to do with the girls.  But if I'm going out I would buy Pacifica just because it has more classy grown up colors and less toxic ingredients than popular brands in stores.
   

Peanut is sick.  He must have gotten it from Bee, who is glue to him, every waking moment of his life !  She kisses him, hugs him, pets him, touches his head and holds his hand.  When she was sick we kept her at arms length but the minute our eyes are off him, she is found next to the bassinet touching his head and cheeks and would sneak in a kiss.

For Nolan it started off with a couple of sneezes and one single cough at night.  I thought something just irritated him.  The next morning, more cough follows and they sounded worst as the day tolls on.  When Nolan is sleeping he doesn't cough and isn't mucusy.  He sleeps perfectly well and fine.  However when he's awake, he would cough and cough and after his breathing sounds sticky and wet.  Thank god he's at the stage where he sleeps 75% of the time.

Nolan's cough sounds painful and hoarse.  He has no fever, not congested, not fussy, eat (breastfeed) and sleep ok.  On sick day #2, his cough would bring up a whole whack of white milk, super thick sticky stuff, which I think is milk mixed with phlegm.  He would do that 2-3 times in the day and about 3-4 at night.  Every time he cough I would go into panic mode as it sounds like he's in pain.  But he looks fine and isn't bothered by it.  Whenever I put him down and he happened to cough, I'm terrified !  afraid he might choke on his spit up.  I would hold him up in sitting position to make the coughing easier.

To help loosen his mucus, we ran a humidifier all through the night.  Before night sleep, I would run a hot shower to steam up the bathroom, sat in there with him.  Whenever he coughs I would cupped my hand and pat them on his back, not too gently nor too hard, just a good pat to loosen up the mucus.  Sometime he would spat up a chunk of white sticky stuff (which I assumed is milk with phlegm, I can be wrong).  But he feels better after hacking it out.  Then we both would have a bath and I handed him over to C to rock him to sleep.

Taking care of Nolan wouldn't be so much work if it's just C and I and him.  However with 2 girls added to the equation, it isn't all that simple.  Keeping the bathroom door closed was a challenge as the girls keep coming in to check up on us, letting all the steam out.  Whenever he's cough and spat up they would hover over him and ask what's happening.  Even after like the 10th time, it still a new thing for them !!!  When baby sleep they would kiss him or talk loudly to him, to wake him up to play with them (despite us telling them he can't play with them yet because he can't even sit up).  Arggghhhh !

It's spring break so Bee is home with us !  I am in the company of 3 kids day and night !!!  In order to keep the day manageable and liveable, I try setting up games and craft projects to keep them busy.  I admit there were some low moments where I threatened to send them away because they're so mischievous!  Thank God for my mom for being around to help and give me a break, physical and mental break, here and there.

Day 2 & 3 of his cold I would hold him through all his waking and sleeping.  I never been through this before.  The girls were rarely sick when they were babies.  At night I held Nolan and sleep in a sitting position with him sleeping on me.  I had few shut eyes, about 2 hours total for the night.  My arms are super tired and feel like I no longer have control over them. When he's up for feed mid night I can see him and hear him but I can't move.  I feel paralyzed for a few minutes.  C would take hold of him and soothe him before I gather myself up and feed the hungry little boy.  Then after feed, he would cough and much of the meal would come up and I would nurse him again.  C and I feel so helpless when he cough.  We want to help but there isn't much we can do.  We already took him to see the doctor (on day 3) and he told me to keep on breastfeeding him.  If he get a fever then straight to ER he goes.  Baby under 3 months, with a fever, get direct access to emergency at hospital.

On day 4 of his sickness, I feel like a zombie.  2 nights of very little sleep does that to you.  On top of that my arms are achy and want to fall off me.  I have to ask my mom to hold Nolan while I take a short nap.  I napped for 2 hours and feel alive again !

We're on day 5 of his sickness.  He's a lot better today.  He cough only once.  No more spit up to stress over either.  The girls have been praying for him, asking Jesus to make him feel better.  Their prayer go like this: "dear Jesus, thank you for our sins.  Please help Nolan feel better drinking milk from mommy's ti ti (breast) so we can play Lego and go to the beach".  It's freezing cold here still, I don't think we'll go to the beach anytime soon :-)  the beach will have to wait ! thank you Jesus for helping Nolan feel better though !  I miss sleep and look forward to some shut eyes tonight.

Bee has a slight cold again (remnant from last week) so she's home this week.  Early morning and she's already asking me to do craft with her.  I don't feel so well myself to I told her later.  While resting I try to think up something for us to do as I am low on craft materials.  I think I'm just going to get her to do water coloring. 

Then while separating our recycling bin I came upon an empty egg carton and it reminded me of all the egg carton projects I saw.  I took it and dug out all the paint I had left.  Mostly pink colours but they'll do !

I really like Craft Smart acrylic paint from Michaels.  They sell for something like $1.50 each colour (59ml) and they come in an array of colours.  The paint is non-toxic, permanent, water based and the best part is that it cleans up with a little soap and water.  Knowing my girls, they often paint themselves and the table :)

I used an exacto knife to cut up each egg cup then used a scissor to trim the top of each cup.  We're making flowers so I cut a variety of shapes.  Then off we go painting them !  Easy right ?  

Our finished flowers were glued onto a piece of card stock paper.  Bee asked me to cut her some green leaves from construction paper.  The girls had a lot of fun and so was I !  We will do this again for sure.

Painting is messy business !  Good thing it's water friendly.  Our hands, hairs, clothes, paint brushes and table all got a water bath after and all came out clean !!!

Bee is home sick so for the 2 days she's home we baked each day !  She asked to do craft but I was busy with a cranky baby that likes to spit up, so we opted for baking.  It's not too time consuming and I don't have to participate full on.  After whipping up the ingredients, the kids get to do the cutting or pouring, then we let it cook in oven (no need to monitor).  Once done the kids get to decorate and eat their creations.  This keeps them busy, while I can still feed baby or take a shower to clean myself from the spit up !  

I also get to decorate a few cookies and cupcakes and eat them !  So yummy !  Recipes below.

CUTOUT SUGAR COOKIES RECIPE BY Kelly Senyei 

Prep Time: 90 min (includes refrigeration)

Cook Time: 11 min

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Store-bought or homemade frosting
• Assorted sprinkles
• Equipment: Assorted cookie cutters

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition, then add the vanilla.

3. Turn the mixer off. Add the flour and then beat just until combined.
4. Remove the dough, shape it into a disk about 6 inches wide and wrap it securely in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for a minimum of 1 hour. (See Kelly's Notes.)
5. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350ºF and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut it in half. Roll half the dough between two pieces of wax paper until it's about 1/4-inch-thick. Using cookie cutters, cut out your desired shapes and place them roughly 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the remaining dough. (Leftover scraps can be re-rolled.)
7. Refrigerate the cut-out cookies for 15 minutes. (This helps them keep their shape when baking.)
8. Bake the cookies for 9 to 11 minutes until pale golden, and then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Frost and decorate as desired.
9. Kelly's Notes:
10. The dough can be refrigerated overnight, however when you remove it from the fridge, you will likely need to let it rest at room temperature for some time before it's soft enough to roll.
11. When in doubt, remove the cookies from the oven just prior to them turning pale golden. The cookies will crisp slightly as they cool, so removing them while slightly underbaked guarantees your cookies will remain soft. For crispier sugar cookies, bake them the full time.

EASY CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

1 1⁄2cups flour

1cup sugar

1teaspoon baking soda

1teaspoon salt

1⁄2cup cocoa powder

1cup water

1⁄2cup vegetable oil

1teaspoon vinegar

DIRECTIONS

Mix all of the dry ingredients well with a mixer or wooden spoon first then add in all your liquid ingredients. It should be brown and smooth, free of lumps.

Bake at 350 F for 15-17 minutes if you are baking cupcakes for a cake I'd say 17-25 minutes.