Improvising

So often I have a plan or idea and when I go to execute it, I realize I don't have what I need. Here are some examples:

1. Hattie has been sick and she requested pancakes for supper. Everyone in our house loves pancakes. I have a great, wholesome recipe...I sneak flax seed and oat bran and other goodies into the batter. But I realized I had COMPLETELY ran out of butter! I do not like pancakes without butter! Besides my kids need all the fat they can get! I thought I'd change to chili and then Hattie said something about pancakes. My improvision? Blackberry "syrup". I froze LOTS of blackberries this summer. I just blended them up and added a little 1/2 and 1/2 and a little sugar. It was a HIT!
2. When I'm bathing the kids and there is no more soap in that bathroom I use shampoo. I'm not going to leave them unattended! And its soap, right?? No one cares, as long as it is the "non-stingy kind".
3. Our kids go to bed pretty early on a regular basis. And we always read books before bedtime. We also live quite far from everything, like our church and restaurants...so on those occasions when we are running late for bedtime on the way home we have story time in the car. Jody has an ongoing series called "Ephraim the Squirrel" that he makes up or one of us tell a story from our childhood.
4. Sometimes when we run out of toilet paper..................just kidding! Did you really think I would go there? Its not like we are living in Uganda anymore! :)