About 4 Moms, including a complete list of all past topics

Well, God is teaching me patience today.

Did you see last week at the bottom of my 4 Moms post, where I said that this week we would talk about patience?

First, I lost a half-completed post on patience.  I understood that God was teaching me the very lesson at hand and acquiesced willingly to His supreme sense of Humor and Irony.  What else could I do?

Second, while I was composing a post on patience for the second time in the same day, Bethany pooped everywhere.  Well, not everywhere.  I think she missed one or two spots inside the house and one or two people.  Maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but my poop-o-meter has a very low tolerance (like, ZERO) and the alarm was going off like crazy.  Remember the scene in Daddy Daycare, when a little kid comes out of the bathroom and Eddie Murphy is looking at the aftermath?  Like all the best horror movies, you don’t actually see anything, but Psycho music is playing as he surveys the toilet, walls and ceiling.  That’s how I felt.  There was a lot of poo in a lot of places, and I was not very patient at all.  I read my post a few more times over the next hour and resolved to do better at practicing what I preached.

Third, I learned that the other 3 moms are not, in fact, blogging about patience today.  Since we’re a team, I reluctantly decided that it was my duty to go along with them.  I was not as cheerful as when God preempted my post earlier today.  Now I have to write about lunch and try to sound like a fun, creative mom when all I really want to do is throw my plate on the floor and jump up and down on it, wailing like a spoiled 2yo.  “BUT THIS ISN’T WHAT  I WANTED!!!”

Fourth, I can’t take solace in the fact that I am a week ahead on my 4 Moms post, because I’m not.  Since we already have big plans for the next 5 weeks, there is not a snowball’s chance in Texas that my patience post will see the light of day before September.

God is really working on me this week.

[cracks knuckles]

Think like a fun mom.  Be a fun mom.  Be fun patient mom.  Deep breath.

We live in Texas.  It’s summer, and it’s hot.  Lunch time comes in the middle of the day, when it’s hotter than hot.  What is our lunch of choice?

Smoothies!

Since we have these almost daily, we try to make them varied and healthy.  I can rationalize a koolaid slushy for lunch once in a great while, but my rationalization muscles get tired easily and I like it that way.  I’ll get worried if my rationalization muscles get big and buff.

My go-to summertime smoothie lunch is Peanut Butter Banana.  If you grew up on peanut butter banana sandwiches, you understand.  If not, maybe you’re looking at me like I’m crazy.  I assure you, it’s good.  If you ask around, some of your friends will back me up and tell you I’m not making this up.  Others will shake their head at the weird blogs you read and ask why you were surprised.

Peanut butter/banana smoothie

• 3 bananas (I peel ripe ones and pop them in the freezer in a gallon sized bag)
• 1/3 cup peanut butter (you’re not actually going to measure that, are you?)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tray ice cubes
• milk or kefir to fill blender pitcher

Blend til smooth and holler for the troops.

It usually takes 2-3 blender pitchers to feed the kids and me, so we often switch to fruit smoothies for the next round.

Fruit smoothie

• 3 bananas (add natural sweetness)
• 1 cup of other fruit – frozen strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, or anything else that sounds good.  A few tablespoons of very fruity jam is nice too.
• 1-2 trays of ice cubes
• milk or kefir to fill blender pitcher (the tang of kefir is much nicer than milk in fruit smoothies, even if your kids claim they don’t like kefir; do a blind taste test and you’ll prove them wrong)

Blend til smooth.  Since this is the second round, you won’t even have to call them.  They’ll all be at your elbow begging to push the buttons on the blender.

Later in the afternoon, while the little ones are napping, we sometimes have something a little more grown-up:

Starbucks-style frapps

• 1.5-2 trays ice cubes
• 1-2 Tbs. instant coffee
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cream if you have it on hand  
• milk to fill blender pitcher
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips, opt.

Give it a shot. I make mine decaf, but you might be man enough for the real stuff.  Vary the amount of coffee or try brewing extra strong coffee instead of the instant.  Freeze in an ice tray and use in place of regular ice in the recipe.  Add more sugar if you like it as sweet as the ones you buy.  However you make it, you’ll never pay $5 for a cold-froo-froo coffee drink again.

Want to share your favorite lunch recipe or tradition?  Link up with us!  When you join the linky at one of the 4 Mom’s, your link will show up on all 4!

Please remember the linky rules:

1. You must link to a specific relevant post on your blog.
2. Your post must include a link to at least one of the 4 Moms.
3. The post you link to must be completely family friendly.

If your link is deleted, you probably didn’t follow one of the rules above. Please feel free to add your link again once you have fixed the problem. If you don’t know why your link was deleted, please ask.

The other moms are talking about lunch too:

• Smockity Frocks – 4 Moms Discuss Lunch Menus {Linky}
• Raising Olives – Our Lunch Menu: 4 Moms
• Common Room – What’s for Lunch? Link up!

Upcoming topics for 4 Moms:

• July 28 – Q&A  (please leave your questions on my last Q&A post if you want me to find them)
• August 4 - Book blogging linky: Large Family Logistics, part 1
• August 11 – Book blogging linky: Large Family Logistics, part 2
• August 18 – Book blogging linky: Large Family Logistics, part 3
• August 25 – Book blogging linky: Large Family Logistics, part 4

Recent topics:

• July 14 - 4 Moms crack the whip: Teaching Children to be Diligent
• July 7 – 4 Moms giveaway: Large Family Logistics
• June 30 – 4 Moms have a picnic (linky!)
• June 23 - 4 Moms Q&A: homeschooling, meal times

About 4 Moms, including a complete list of all past topics