Guest Mom: Hilary Fuller

I'm so happy to have one of my great friends, Hilary Fuller on DOH today!  I am excited to be kicking off a guest post series with mothers that are willing to give us a peek into their daily lives.  We all run our homes differently and I figure we can all learn and be inspired from one another.  Enjoy!!

Thank you, Deb, for letting me guest post about my family and our daily way of life! I am a stay at home mom to two young kids; Quinn, age 3, and Kellen, 16 months. I didn’t set out to be a stay at home mom but after two layoffs in a row, the second of which when I was 8 months pregnant with Quinn, it became a logical choice for our family.


These photos sum us up pretty well. Taken on New Year’s Eve, my husband would prefer I showed the nice, normal family picture. But the other one really is more us.

What do you love about motherhood?
I love being home with my children and watching them grow. Of course, some days are easier than others. And many days I wish I had a job just so I could get a break. It can be relentless, staying home. My mind runs all the time. Not even when I worked 70 hour work weeks did I work this mentally hard.  Of course it’s physically taxing but the mental work I find much more exhausting. Besides, running up and down the stairs to attend to my children all day and most of many nights keeps me in my pre-pregnancy jeans. So at least there is that.

Describe a "typical" day at your house.
Our typical day is pretty low key. Many parents find comfort in constant activity. I’m not like that. We try to run one errand or go at least one place outside the home each day. I find the kids do better if they have different scenery, even if it’s only the grocery store (which it usually is). We are blessed to have a home with a playroom and backyard suitable for the kids to run around in. Last summer a neighbor wanted to get rid of their playset so we offered to take it down and haul it off. It took us weeks to reassemble and rebuild in our own backyard but the kids now have a slide, swings and fort. Not bad for free (other than the cost to buy some new lumber and stain to spruce it up)!

Twice a week Quinn attends a mommy’s day out preschool. It’s only five hours each day but she gets to interact with peers, learn to take direction from other adults, and learn her preschool curriculum that I haven’t been as good about teaching her. And that is where my guilt lies, being a teacher to my children. I’m not good at it. I think I should be. But I’ve never been the teaching type. I hear what other parents are doing for their children and it gives me mini panic attacks that I’m not doing enough. What comforts me is knowing they will learn what they need to, in spite of me. Plus, my children will grow up knowing a strong foundation with a loving mother. So I’m off the hook, right? Well, okay, not off the hook. But lets thank our lucky stars for blogs, Pinterest and all the mothering help out there for parents like me!

What are activities you & your children enjoy?
Some of our favorite activities around here include coloring, play-doh, dancing, visiting the park, and make believe. It’s not original but it’s tried and true. My husband and I are both pretty goofy, and I’m afraid it’s rubbed off on our daughter if not our son. Time will tell on him. My kids love to be tickled and chased. We do a lot of that. I’m usually asked to be some sort of animal and then chase them around while making animal noises. I wonder what the fly on the wall thinks of us?

Here is Kellen dressing up as a chef while making Quinn & mommy dinner

Every now and then I find a craft or activity online that I know Quinn will get a kick out of. But more often than not, it results in a mess. I don’t much care for messes. I clean up after everyone enough as it is. When I bake I usually include them.  But I keep a close watch and only let them do the parts that aren’t too messy. Sorry, that’s just me. I’m sure it’s stunting their learning or something equally devastating. Did you see that video on YouTube of the two kids who got into the flour? Not having it! I don’t care how much money you can make on YouTube just from posting it. What I want to know is if the flour company sent over a cleaning crew as a thank you for all the free publicity.
Quinn & Hilary making cookies

What tips do you have for days that aren't going so well?
You know the baking I let the kids help with? Well, when they’re climbing the walls and throwing tantrums and it doesn’t seem like the day is going to end, I let them eat what we baked. I find bribery to be highly effective. Hear me out.  My children eat pretty healthy. The food items are pretty bland and it’s the same things over and over, but overall pretty healthy. So having a few cookies here and there when it results in sanity seems like a win-win to me! And if all else fails, we go on lots of walks in the red Radio Flyer wagon.

Thank you so much, Hilary!!  I love how honest you are about your life.  It can be so easy for us to compare ourselves to others and how great of a job they are raising their children.  Thank you for sharing!!  If you'd like to be a guest mom, let me know.  You can email me at deb AT doseofhappy DOT com.

|Pictures taken by Hilary Fuller|

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The most comforting thing about the holidays are the traditions each of our families have.  Many memories are created around these traditions.  Do you have any holiday traditions?  You already know that we do an advent calendar and have a tradition giving gifts in a unique way to our children.  Another one we have is picking out an ornament each year that represents what the year means to us.  For instance, in 2007 when we were about to have Caden, we purchased "It's a Boy!" Ornament.  When we bought our first house, we purchased an ornament of a home with a key.  It's always fun to see what the Christmas tree is filled with and there are tons of stories and memories as we dress the tree.



My most favorite holiday tradition is being cozy in the house and baking. We crank up the Christmas music and the oven and bake, bake, bake.  Caden and I were busy this weekend making mint M&M dipped pretzels.  He chose Chipmunks as the Christmas tunes and helped me make these goodies look good!  Every time I bake goodies around the holidays, it makes me think back to when I was young.  It's been a family tradition to bake a lot of goodies for neighbors. One year, I think we maxed out at 24 varieties of treats.  It was insane!  I think we spent two solid weekends in the kitchen.



There are so many memories I have from being in the kitchen, but mostly, I just remember enjoying time with family in a wonderfully smelling kitchen.  My mom always had a little potpourri dish out that smelled so wonderful.  I have no idea what it's called, but the potpourri sat in water above a lit candle and it smelled so, so good.



Now I look forward to the memories with my own children in passing down and creating our own traditions. Caden loves helping me in the kitchen and we had lots of laughs this weekend.



I think I just noticed why most of the M&Ms in the pretzels are green.  Someone was eating all the red ones.  I wonder who??

What holiday traditions are your favorite?

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Easy Microwave Fudge

Need a quick and easy baking recipe for a last minute party or gift?  I promise this fudge will come out so delicious, and you only have to use one bowl in the microwave!  Making candy couldn't be easier!

Here's the recipe:

3 cups sugar

3/4 cup melted salted butter

5 oz. evaporated milk

12 oz. pkg. chocolate chips

1 -7 oz. jar marshmallow creme

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine sugar, butter, and milk in a 4 qt. microwavable bowl.  Cook on high 5 minutes, or until mixture begins to boil; stir after 3 minutes.  Mix well.  Microwave 4- 5 1/2 minutes; stir after 3 minutes.  Stir in chocolate chips until melted, being careful not to scrape the side of the bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Pour into greased 8" x 8" pan.  Don't scrape the sides, we don't want it to crystallize.  Let cool at room temperature and cut into squares.  Try really hard not to eat it all in one day!  Enjoy!

Baked Candy Roundup

I love spending time in the kitchen baking.  I could do it all day long if I was able too!  This is the perfect season for baking lots of little treats to giveaway (and snack on a few too).  Here are some of my favorite treats to bake:

Peppermint Meringues.

Chocolate Peppermint Bark.

Homemade Taffy.

Homemade Peppermint Patty.

Best Banana Bread Ever

I found that some of the best baking recipes for bread and cookies have sour cream in them.  Sour cream makes them amazingly soft.  Here is the best recipe for banana bread (or as my sister and I call it bow-na-na bread) that I've ever had.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter


• 1 1/2 cup sugar


• 3 eggs


• 1 1/2 cup bananas, mashed


• 4 cup flour (plus 2 tbsp.)


• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder


• 1 tsp. baking soda


• 1 1/2 cup sour cream

Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs and beat.  Add bananas and beat.  Mix dry ingredients together (baking powder, baking soda and flour).

Add the well-mixed dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream.  Beat until smooth.  Pour into 2 large greased and floured loaf pans and bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  To test for doneness, insert a sharp knife into center of bread.  If it comes out clean, bread is done.

FYI, this bread freezes well.  If you are baking mini loaves, bake for about 35 minutes.

Enjoy!!



Note: You can easily print this recipe by clicking the print icon below.