Bring on the New Year!

Go for a bike ride in 2012!!!

I am ready for 2012! I never got use to writing "2011". So why not just get right into 2012? This past year I didn't have any resolutions. So, this year I'm going to set a few goals for myself to work towards. I don't like the idea of giving up things as a New Years Resolution. People will promise to stop smoking. They'll join a gym and give up sweets or vow to change their ways, give up cussing. But, I think you should work toward gaining something. Pick up a good habit instead of getting rid of a bad one. For me, it's easier to start doing something instead of stop doing something! Make sense?

I've made a lot of promises to myself in the past few years and I am proud to say I've kept the promises I've made......for the most part. I always have room to improve! And now that I have proved to myself that I can to it, I might as well keep going. So, in 2012, these are a few of my goals:

Start my childrens book......I've always wanted to write a childrens book.

Have a girls night out!........Me, the girls, dinner which I will not be cooking, a glass of wine and a movie or a trip to the karaoke bar. NO kids! Home after 10 pm.

A date night with my husband!!! We haven't been to dinner alone in a year or more! Gasp! We didn't even have a honeymoon!

Start a quilt. Notice I say "Start". I am not handy with a sewing machine. This is something I will be needing assistance with. Or maybe I should just do it my way, learn as I go!

Exercise more. And at this point, walking to the mailbox each day would be more activity than what I have going on now. Sad but true.

Start a garden! I'd save a fortune on my grocery bill!

Get a[nother] tattoo. Nothing major just 2 words to remind me of where I've been.

Avoid a guest spot on "What Not To Wear" on TLC........I am one pair of yoga pants away from being on that show, I swear I need to step up my game! My Mom bought me make up when I got married. I think it's time to start wearing it. I use to never leave the house without earrings. Time to revive that habit! Act like I give a crap!

Start the cookbook my Mom and I plan on working on.....In a way, I've kind of started already! I've been stockpiling the recipes that she has passed down to me. They are safely tucked away in my dresser drawer, the dresser drawer that I can't open. It's stuck!  

So, there it is. I have 12 months to accomplish these things. I don't think any of the things I've listed are out of my reach! Tomorrow is New Years Eve. I'll be playing Jenga with the kids and the husband, eating a spaghetti dinner and reminiscing over all of the things we've overcome in the past year or two. In other words, I will be playing it safe, staying off the roads and away from the drunk drivers! Hope you have a safe but memorable start to the new year! And remember to set realistic goals!

You are my Sunshine

My Aunt & Sister

I've been lucky enough in my lifetime to know some truly amazing women. Two of which, I call my sisters even though we do not share the same parents. We have a sisterly bond that has been tried and tested over the years. We don't always see eye to eye but we support each other. I can always count on my sisters to hear my gripe and bring a new light to the situation. I thank God for them each and every day.

Recently, in craft class, the teenagers and I were discussing women who inspire us. Over the last few weeks the girls have been exploring their options after graduation. It's hard to know at that age what you want to be when you grow up so I suggested that they look to someone who they are inspired by. A sister..... Maybe a friend who has made it through college, followed a dream and found a great job or someone who is going in the direction they could possibly see themselves going in.Or someone who has overcome major obstacles like my sisters. Ask a teenage girl to name a woman who inspires them and you will most likely hear something like "Beyonce or Oprah!" and that's great! Both women are strong, independent women who have made great strides. But I wanted  them to find someone a little closer to home who they could interview. Someone local. This got my wheels turning. I had to ask myself.......

Who inspires me?

Sisters

I'm inspired by the people who follow their dreams, overcome obstacles to achieve their goals. I'm inspired by people who don't stop, never give up! Live the dream! The single Mom who busted ass to raise a family and make it through college to get that degree and run with the big boys! The Mom who single handedly put her kids through college! The young artist who kept focused and followed a dream to be a photographer after she blew the boys out of the water with her tattoo skills. Yeah! I love these women. They are ROCK STARS! They jump lifes hurdles like Wonder Woman! When my day looks like it's turning to gloom these women bring out the sunshine and I can see clearly! They make me want to keep going. They are showing me everyday that it is possible! Dreams do come true. You just have to work for it! So, ladies and gentlemen......Don't give up!

Hazelnut Mocha Bundt Cake

I swore that the crinkle cookies I posted before Christmas would be the last sweet recipe I would post til at least February! Well, I guess I lied. Because here I am, posting this recipe and it's not even January yet!

I was blessed with 2 amazing sister-in-laws! Thank you God! And this Christmas they both helped make the holiday a little better for my children and one of them gave me a gift I've always wanted..........a fancy bundt pan! I'm serious. I have wanted a bundt pan for a very long time. I don't know what it is about a bundt cake. Maybe it's the fact that they don't need fancy frosting or decorative flowers. The shape alone is fancy enough (to me).

Look at that Hazelnut Chocolate Ganache topping! Mmmmm

So, anyway, I made this bundt cake today with the help of my son. I've hurt my back and actually couldn't lift the bowl of cake mix to pour into the pan let alone whisk the ingredients together. He's a life saver! But, this is an easy cake to make. I have been staying away from packaged cake mixes lately, devoting myself to made from scratch cakes and I'm finding that it's actually fun to measure things and follow a recipe. Speaking of recipe.....here it is!

1 (12 oz) bag semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup Nutella plus 3 tablespoons
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1 lg egg
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 table spoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup very strong coffee
1 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray your fancy Bundt pan with non stick spray. I was generous with my spray.
2. In a small sauce pan, melt about 1/4 cup of your chocolate chips over low heat. Stir constantly! Adding your 3 tablespoons of nutella as you go. Once your chocolate is melted pour into a mixing bowl to cool slightly. Make sure you scrape the sides of the pan and get all of the tastey goodness out!
3. Meanwhile, sift your flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a separate bowl. Or you can whisk it all together. I like to use my sifter.
4. Now, back to your melted chocolate......whisk in the oil and sugar into your chocolate mixture until smooth. Then add in your egg. Once you have that all mixed add half of your flour mixture and half of the buttermilk and coffee. Mix until smooth and add in the rest of the flour mixture and buttermilk and coffee.
5. Pour your beautiful batter into your bundt pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Once the cake is done, place it on a wire rack to cool for about 8-10 minutes. Do not flip your pan yet!

6. While your cake is cooling enough to flip.......place the remainder of your chocolate chips in your saucepan, melt on low heat. Make sure to stir constantly! As it's melting add your 1/2 cup of Nutella. You can also add a tablespoon of canola oil to the chocolate mixture if you need to loosen it up a bit. When your chocolate is all melted, remove from heat and allow to thicken up a bit. While this is happening, you can flip your cake out of the pan onto your cake plate or whatever you plan on serving the cake on.

Now that you have your cake out of the pan you can pour your chocolate ganache onto your cake! There's no wrong way to do this! Just let it drizzle all over your cake! No need to smear it around. Just let it slide down the sides and look beautiful!

I used very strong coffee for my recipe! You don't have to use strong coffee if you don't want to! It will taste wonderful either way! And I would also like to say that if you're not a Nutella fan, you don't have to use the Nutella at all! You don't even have to substitute anything, just don't use it! But if you didn't know it was in there, you probably wouldn't be able to pick out the taste! The outer edges of this cake has a nice crunch to it while the inside was super moist! I am not ashamed to say that I ate 2 chunks of this cake! Tomorrow when I get up I'll have a small slab with a steaming hot cup of coffee! Breakfast of champions!

The BIG one.

Well, folks! I've hit my 100th post! This is it! I started this venture a little bit over a year ago and said "I'll try it for a year, if I don't enjoy doing it, I'll stop". I'm still going. Not because anybody likes it......I think the jury is still out on that matter. I am going to keep going because it feels like a purpose. One day, long in the future, when I can't remember a thing....I can look this up and say "Oh! I made that and it was cool!".....or "Oh! I do know how to cook".....Or "Wow! Did I really get on the roof with an airsoft gun to hunt down a rogue squirrel?"....."Did I really read 100 books in less than 2 years?".....Why yes I did!

100 posts about absolutely everything I can squeeze out of me....well, maybe not everything because this is somewhat censored! I cook, I craft and I parent with pure passion and slight touch of  motivation. And I do it because it makes ME happy. 
I want to thank every single one of you who have put up with me, followed me, took the time to read what I put out there and laughed with me. You were with me when I faced my fear of teenage girls and became a mentor to them. I am in love with these girls by the way. In the time that I have been doing my craft class with them, one of my lovely young ladies has found a forever home with a wonderful family. Another has moved on to college to become something great. I've learned so much from them. The thing I bring away from them is tolerance. I try to practice it each day...somedays it's a struggle.

I hope you stick around to see what I can get up to next. We read together, craft together and lately we cook together. In the future we'll review a movie or two together! I personally cannot wait to see "One for the Money" and "The Hunger Games". So, here's to the next 100 posts! Feel free to leave a line or two. Say hello! I do like to hear from you! Thanks again for your support! :)

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

You know I'm on pinterest every chance I get. I think it's a wonderful thing. Do I waste my time by browsing on pinterest? Heck NO! I gather a wealth of inspiration from pinterest! It gets my wheels spinning. Lately, I've been drooling over all of the yummy cookie recipes that everyone has been sharing. Thanks, by the way! If you follow my food board you probably noticed that it wasn't gathering many meal pins lately.....mostly tastey sweets! I'm trying to balance that out but before I do I want to post one more cookie/sweet recipe that I have recently toyed with.

My husband and I married back in August! Ahhhhh! Good times! He didn't have a whole lot to say about the wedding itself. He was more than happy to let me take the reigns and just run away with things. As long as I didn't ask for a lot of money. But, one thing he did say he wanted was a red velvet cake! I had no problem with that! As a matter of fact, there's a local Bakery called Sandra Kay's that makes the best Red Velvet Cake! My mouth is watering just thinking about it! So, I paid her a visit she loaded me up with a couple pieces of her tastey creation to take home to the hubby and believe it or not I managed to save him a bite or two. He fell in love with the cake and gave the thumbs up. So, I ordered our cake! It was small and beautiful. The best part, besides the tastey goodness of it.......It was very affordable! Thank you to my Mother-in-law for paying for it! I love her!

So, anyhooooooo, I keep seeing these wonderful crinkle cookies everywhere on pinterest! What is it about these cookies? I mean, they look so fun! Can cookies look so simple yet fun at the same time because when I look at these cookies I feel happy and knowing that they are somewhat easy to make, well that really makes me happy! I wanted to try to make Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies in honour of my recent nuptials! And this is how I did it:

5 ingredients

You'll need:

A box of Red Velvet Cake Mix

2eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 cups powdered sugar


Preheat your oven .....350. Spray your cookie sheet with no-stick spray!

In a mixing bowl, mix the cake mix and baking powder together. I used a fork to make sure all of the lumps of cake mix were eliminated. Otherwise when you finish the next step you'll find it hard to mix it all thoroughly. Now add the eggs and the oil, mix til well blended.

(This is where I assembly line it, if you have an extra pair of hands.) Using a tablespoon, scoop out dough and form into balls. Then drop your dough-balls into a bowl of powdered sugar. Generously coat the balls with the powdered sugar. My son, scooped and formed the balls and I took care of the powdered sugar, making sure the majority of the powdered sugar stays on the balls.

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

Place the coated dough balls on your cookie sheet. Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Allow 3-4 minutes for cooling time on the pan. Then remove to a cooling rack. This recipe made just over 3 dozen cookies!

These are the best! Seriously! The powdered sugar gives these the right amount of sweetness. I love sweets but I don't want the sweet taste to overpower the flavor of the cookie and you will certainly not have that issue with these cookies! I hope this inspires you to make cookies. You could make these with any flavor of cake mix. I wouldn't mind trying carrot cake mix! Ooooh!

*Note: After I made these I had a thought. Instead of spraying the cookie sheet with cooking spray, it would be best to use parchment paper since the powdered sugar will soak up the spray! I didn't have parchement paper on hand when I made this batch! But when I made a chocolate version, I did use parchement paper and they turned out so much better!

Patience, My Child.

I don't know what I was thinking! My Mom recently sent a box of gifts for me to wrap! I have always wrapped my own gifts, for as long as I can remember! I don't mind! I like to wrap presents. So, anyway, she sent a box of gifts from Arkansas for the kids. I wrapped them while the toddler was napping. She is starting to understand what this Christmas business is all about. But she doesn't realize that what you give is suppose to be a secret. I didn't want her to tell the boys what I wrapped. And they would ask her to tell them. She wouldn't know any better. I wrapped the presents, placed them under the tree just so I could see how pretty it looked with gifts under it. Ahhhh! So beautiful. Then I got sidetracked by something. Could've been the dryer or something shiny! I'm easily distracted. Anyway, the gifts got left under the tree instead of hidden in a cabinet where they were safe from the toddler.

When the toddler, Miss E, woke up she discovered the presents and was so happy! Instant forehead slap! I explained to her that we had to wait for Santa to come and bring her a gift before we could open the ones under the tree! She seemed to be Ok with that. Whew! Well, not for long! I tromped off to the bedroom to put away laundry and while I was doing that the brothers tag teamed her and put the idea in her head to "tell Mama you want to open a present!". I love my boys but I think the influence they have over this child is criminal. That was the beginning of a horrible evening! For hours she could not be persuaded to wait! I wouldn't back down. I decided to leave the gifts under the tree instead of hiding them away the first chance I got. I'm trying to teach her that "No" means "Ain't happening! No matter how hard you scream! So get over it!"........Eventually, she calmed down and stopped screaming "Mama Mean!". Bedtime rolled around, I fell asleep, she stayed awake and the next thing I knew I woke up to "Thank you Santa Claus!"....................



Apparently she got into the snacks too!



Oh! NO! I forgot about the gifts under the tree! She got up and decided to open them! She ran into the bedroom, flipped on the light and said "Mama, look! My hat! Owl!"..........My Mom has a thing about owls lately! You'll see what I mean in an upcoming post. She buys Miss E pajamas with owls, shirts with owls etc. For Christmas she bought her this adorable Owl hat! It really is the cutest! Miss E loves it! I let her keep the hat but explained to her that Nana bought her the hat, not Santa. And we really should wait til Christmas day when Santa brings her a gift. She wasn't buying what I was selling so for a couple more hours I had to sweet talk her and coax her back to sleep.

So, my question......Do you wait til Christmas Eve to display presents or do you set yourself up for punishment by putting them out as soon as they are wrapped? I think for this household, we'll hide the presents from now on and I'll just chalk this one up to another Lesson Learned!

Best Pork Chops Ever!

I have recently started using my crock pot again. I bought a new one a few years ago when I was pregnant and craving bean soup, used it once and then hid it away in the cupboard, never to be seen again. Then I got busy.  Making a good meal was becoming difficult to squeeze in to the schedule. Plus, I have days where the little bit of motivation I have goes into laundry and straightening my hair. So, I don't want to cook. For some reason though I don't see cooking in the crock pot as putting out a lot of effort! Maybe it's just me.

I put the word out that I was looking for some tastey crock pot recipes. A friend of mine messaged me that she had the best pork chop recipe that I should try. She told me it was called Ranch house pork chops. I looked it up on pinterest and indeed.....the tastey pork chops were everywhere! It seems she isn't the only one that thinks the recipe is worth sharing. I changed her recipe up a bit though. Hers calls for real potatoes that you place in the crock pot with the chops. My family is more of a fake mashed tater family. So, I buy the pouches of mashed potatoes where you just add water! That's pretty simple.

I actually had 3 ingredients to throw in the crock pot:

Yes! I'm the frugal Mom who buys the clearance meat.....

Pork Chops.....I used 8! Boneless because I don't like the bones....Duh!  

1 10oz can Cream of CELERY soup

1 packet Ranch Dip mix

I tossed the pork chops in the crock pot, mixed the soup and Ranch mix together in a bowl. Then poured the soup mix over the chops. Place the lid on the pot, set at low and at my 4 hour mark I tested the chops. They were done. Practically falling apart! The gravy this made was absolutely wonderful! I turned the crock pot off and left the lid off while I made my cheater mashed potatoes and a side of broccoli. You won't see any broccoli on the plate in the picture because by the time I got around to making a plate to photograph the green trees were all gone! I'm considering growing my own next year! We go through a lot of broccoli!

I can tell you right now that I will be making this recipe often. Maybe playing around with it a little. I'm thinking that brussel sprouts would be darn tastey cooked in the soup and ranch mix! You could even make this with chicken instead of pork if you wanted! What is your favorite crock pot recipe!? Please share!

Blue Christmas

I know for many people the holidays are an emotional time. Carrying on holiday traditions without a loved one we've lost can be difficult. I lost an aunt who I was very close to  years ago and her favorite time of the year, besides her birthday, was Christmas. The whole month of December actually! She was our  family Santa! She was the most giving person I had ever known. Each year she wanted to be the one to give you the best present ever and every year we always figured out what she was getting us before Christmas day rolled around. She always gave it away! It was so much fun though, to see how giving to other  people brought her so much joy! It was one of her best qualities. Her last Christmas was the best. She was finally able to surprise someone! She bought my Mom a very nice camera. I couldn't believe she was able to keep it a secret. It made her so happy! I can still hear her squealing with delight over it! She passed away a short time later. I guess God wanted her to have that moment before she left us.

I had a hard time finding any joy in Christmas after that. But I realized that she would want us to carry on with the celebration. So, I got involved with the Angel tree at the local mall and gave to Toys for Tots. No child should go without at Christmas. My aunt would be happy knowing that we were giving to others this time of year. But with the economy it's hard to do now. I've talked to a few folks lately that have found themselves on the other side of the Angel tree this year. It's sad. One year you're dropping off presents to a charity and the next year you're picking up presents.  Christmas isn't always a joyful time of year for everyone. It's hard enough to pay the bills. Putting presents under the tree is a struggle. I know it's less than a week til Christmas day and times are tough. But if you find yourself in the position to give to a stranger this year, find your local Angel tree or Toys for Tots, and do what you can. Please. If you know an adult who is struggling to put food on the table please donate food. A good meal can mean the world to some folks. With heating bills climbing and the price of gas......it's hard for some to stay with their head above water. Can you imagine going to the grocery store, gathering the things on your list which is the bare minimum and finding out you miscalculated and don't have enough money to cover your bill. You have to choose what to put back on the shelf! Do you put back the toilet paper, the Milk or the generic laundry soap? One look at your hungry children tells you it won't be the milk. It's a tough spot to be in. Please. Help a family out this year if you can. Every little bit helps! You never know when you're going to be in that same position, in need of holiday cheer.

3 yrs. 1 month 2 weeks 3 days

The toddler is officially 3 years 1 month 2 weeks and 3 days old. If I was a lotto player I would play those numbers. My sweet little baby girl is not a baby anymore. But you know your kids will always be your baby! Right? I am amazed at the things she knows now! She loves to sing and gets most of the words right! She counts! She knows the difference between a circle, a triangle and a square! She knows that McDonald's does not close! So, I can't use the excuse that McDonald's is closed when we drive by and she voices her need for nuggets! She knows that Nana bought her the RIO dvd that she loves so much, her owl jammies, her princess jammies and she also knows Nanas ring tone on my phone! Carrie Underwood starts singing "Jesus take the wheel" and she says "Mama, Nana calling!". She's so smart!

When she was 2 we noticed that she wasn't speaking as much as other children her age. She would say "Dad" and "dog" and a few other short words but she had never said the one word I was longing to hear.....Mama!  I was worried that she might not have full function of her ears. I don't know why. We always used the excuse that she was never around kids her age or she didn't need to speak because she has 2 older brothers that speak for her. She never had to verbalize her wants or needs because everyone was so attentive and she never had to ask for anything since we were always one step ahead. Or could've been because she was very attached to her pacifier......I'm not proud of that.  But, I knew I needed a second opinion. Her pediatrician was no help at all. She always told me to give her time. Be patient. It didn't make me feel any better. I wanted to feel proactive. So, I called an old teacher of my sons who knew a thing or two about toddlers with delays since she is the mother of a son who had serious delays. She heard my story and pointed me in the right direction, telling me that I should always go with my gut when it comes to my kids. That is advice I fully believe in!

I called the Berrien RESA, a local educational service agency. Again, I told my story and the woman I talked to set up an appointment in my home with a speech therapist. She came out and evaluated my daughter. And just as I thought, she was not up to speed. She did show a significant delay in speech but excelled in other areas. So, every other week the speech therapist came to the house to work with my daughter and give me tips on how to help her. In the beginning it made me feel totally inadequate as a parent because the games the speech therapist would play with her were kind of common sense things that I should've came up with on my own, or so I thought. But then she explained to me that as a Mom with a full house and a full schedule it isn't always easy to see the things that are as plain as day to others, even when it has to do with our own children. SO, I swallowed my pride, got over it and got proactive with the situation.

The whole family had to get involved in this program. My daughters main problem was that she refused to verbalize what she wanted or what was bothering her. She did a lot of pointing and grunting. Most of the time everyone would give in and give her what she wanted because she would become so agitated and outraged. That had to stop! She had to start using her words and stop screaming when she didn't get her way. I won't lie! It was awful! She is a persistent little booger! Very stubborn! Many times, it ended in her screaming and me crying because I just couldn't  take the stress of her breakdown. But, I learned to stand  my ground! After a while I would just calmly explain to her that she needed to start using her words and help Mama figure out what she wanted. Oh! She would still scream but after a while my calmness won her over and she began to verbalize what she wanted. Positive re-inforcement and patience were our best tools. 

I will never forget the first time she said "Mama". I was laying in bed, with a horrible cold.  My daughter walked up to the side of the bed and put her hand on my face and said "Mama". Oh! I was so happy! I felt rejuvenated in my efforts with her. So, I kept on going, reading to her and playing word games with her until she was spouting out words left and right! One day she screamed dinasour in the middle of the store when she saw a T-Rex toy and I was so proud I did a dance! Dinasour is a big word!! Especially for a kid who just started to say words like "Cup, Mama, ball, car!"...... She still isn't at the same level as other kids her age  but she is making headway everyday and is  far beyond our expectations in other areas. I'm proud of her and I am also proud of our family for pulling together and tackling this issue. I'm so thankful to the speech therapist who worked so hard with us! I don't know what I would've done without her help!

Don't be afraid to ask for help! Ever! If you think that your child is lacking in some areas or feel that something isn't right, get help! Find it where you can! I know from first hand experience that doctors aren't always helpful, if you feel you need to do more........reach out! Let your family help you work through it. Put your heads together to figure it all out! Work together as a family. You don't always have to tackle things alone MOMS!

Dear Santa,

Dear Santa,

As always, my kids deserve whatever they asked for this year and more! They truly are awesome kids and I couldn't ask for better. There are times when my parenting interferes with their idea of a good time, but we agree to disagree on that and when they are parents we will discuss it further. Anyway, Santa, I would like to point out that this has definitely been my best year yet......as an adult! I know that I have been on the naughty list a time or two but this year I am really trying my hardest to be a good person. Not just because I want my name on the NICE list. I really want to be a better person for my kids. I can't give them laptops or iphones. So, I figure the best thing is to give them a fighting chance by setting a good example. This is really all I can give them this Christmas. But, if you do happen to come by my house this year and feel I am deserving, all I ask is that you put a little something in my stocking to help me keep my promise to my kids. Santa, please bring me duck tape!

                                                Sincerely, The Imperfectionist

Show me the MONEY!

My Mom bought the toddler this Fisher Price cash register a while back and she fell in love with it. Now, she is actually pretending that she has a store in our dining room. I think it's fun! She loads the table up with a variety of toys and then says "Come on Mama!" and hands me the one coin that she has left. The dog chewed up the rest of the coins that came with the cash register :( and I am currently on the hunt for more. I don't want to buy a new cash register. I know that someone in this world is selling just the coins! I visited the Fisher Price website and couldn't even find the cash register!! So, my next stop was eBay.....I couldn't believe my eyes! The
exact same cash register that my Mom bought for 20 bucks was listed on eBay for $49.99! It was brand new, still in the box and all of the coins were there. Of course, there were other listings for the cash register. Some of them were vintage, some missing coins and some were not Fisher Price at all. My next stop was bizrate since it popped up in the web search. They had plenty of toy cash registers but sadly not one of them were Fisher Price. Like I said, I don't want to buy a brand new toy just to get the coins. At this point I wouldn't spend over 5 bucks for the coins alone. If anyone has any of these coins laying around the house, collecting dust, please let me know if you'd like to find a new home for them!

Crafting with the Toddler

I craft with the toddler often. She starts the mornings off with crayons and a coloring book or paints! Occasionally, she'll dig the jar of buttons off of the shelf and arrange them on the table to make a pretty picture. She is very creative! Well, I was sitting on the couch folding laundry the other day and realized that I don't have one single kid-made ornament on my tree! That is an outrage! I use to have tons of ornaments that my boys made in school and at home! I had so many that I would hang them from garland above the door. But, sadly they were lost in the great basement flood of 2006! It was such a sad day! You can't replace them and now that the boys are teens they are not a fan of recreating them! Double sad! I miss my babies!

I wanted to fix the fact that my tree was lacking character. So I decided to trade the toddlers crayons and paint in for scrap book paper one morning. At first she wasn't happy about it. She loves her crayons! But, once I started to trace her hand on the back of this pretty paper things started to look up!

So, just a quick how-to, since I didn't have my camera when I made these and don't have pictures to follow along with it.......On the back of a patterned piece of scrapbook paper (the back was a solid color otherwise you could glue your cut out onto a solid or print and then cut that out), I traced her hand using a pencil. That way I could erase any lines that might show.

Then, I brought out the glue and lord help me. I am still cleaning glue off of my chair! Originally, I thought I would just let her dip her finger in the glue and finger paint the hand print with the glue but she wasn't having any of that mess! So, I grabbed a cotton swab and let her dip it instead. On the hand print in the picture, I helped! So of course it's all nice and neat. But she used a more artful approach when left to her own devices and she pretty much covered the entire hand print with glue. I had to make sure she didn't take too long with the glue since I didn't want it to dry. I wanted the glitter to stick!

Once the GLITTER came out she was all in! Loving this project to pieces! Yes she was! I'll be cleaning glitter up for a very long time. I don't care! So, she has everything in the dining area coated with glitter. There's no more glitter and  that's her cue to shove off. Leave Mama to do the dirty work once again. I left everything to dry on the table while I vacuumed the rest and swiffered what I could up. I used a hole punch to punch a hole in the cut out once it was dry, for my ribbon. But, on some of them I used fishing line. I don't know why.......I just thought I'd try it out, save some ribbon. You could also use yarn! Or embroidery thread. Maybe string some beads through to make it extra fancy!  You could even trace their hands on a recent picture if you wanted to make it more personalized. The possibilities are endless. On the back of our hand prints I wrote her name and the year so we could keep track. We'll see what it looks like next year! :)

Pizza Casserole

I would call it a success!

Pizza is a common meal in our house. Notice I don't say popular. We eat it more than anything else because it's quick and very easy since it's frozen and ready to pop in the oven..... and I'm sick of it! However, this Pizza Casserole looked very good! It's different! Noodles, sauce, meat, pepperoni and more importantly......Cheese! I found this recipe on a wonderful blog which I am going to share with you so you can check it out and get your own tastey inspiration!

 http://formamas.blogspot.com/2011/08/pizza-casserole.html

In the morning after breakfast I always have a little bit of quiet time on my hands. Yesterday  morning instead of hunkering down with a book while the toddler enjoyed her own quiet time I decided to brown the ground beef that I would be using. That way it would be less for me to do when dinner time rolled around. It seems like dinner time is the most chaotic hour in my house because everyone is trying to get into the kitchen and talk to me or look in the fridge for something to tide them over til it's time to dig in. One less pot to watch would certainly be helpful! So, I cooked the meat, drained it and put it in the fridge until I was ready to assemble the rest later that day.

I used 2 and a half cans of Hunt's spaghetti sauce (reserving the rest for a different meal), 1 bag of egg noodles (I could eat them cooked without sauce), 3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese, Pepperoni and  1 and a half lbs of ground beef.

Once the noodles were cooked and drained it was time to assemble. I poured a layer of sauce in the bottom of my 13x9 or 9x13 pan and added half of the noodles.......

Then half of the meat and topped that with cheese. Go ahead and Pour sauce on it........Then more noodles, more cheese. Then the rest of the meat......Then the rest of the sauce.......

Now the important part......A Generous amount of CHEESE and PEPPERONI!!!!

Before you pop this into your preheated oven (350) cover it with foil! Bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15. For a thorough how-to head on over to the for mamas blog! She's absolutely right! It is very tastey! My Husband had 3 helpings! I think it's very filling. We had leftovers which I am sure will be even tastier tomorrow! Can't wait!

Over all, I thought this was easy to make! There's a lot of layering involved but it's not that difficult. It looks a little soupy in the photo at the top but it really wasn't!  I think the next time I make it, I will cook up some chopped onion with the ground beef because I do enjoy onions. I just won't tell the rest of the family since they don't love them.........I was also thinking that you could most certainly try this with chicken and alfredo sauce and still top it off with pepperoni.....Maybe add a little broccoli.....Ooooh! My wheels are turning. Well, hope you take the leap and try this for yourself! :)

Show me the Yummy.

So, I'm in the cooking rutt that people find themselves in every once and a while. I find that this happens when I am running low on cash. Being creative with my dollars isn't always easy in a house full of picky eaters. But like my sister says "Picky eating is for rich folks!". And I swear I will make a sign for my kitchen that says just that! lol. It's true! We don't have the luxury to be picky! Take it or leave it for me to eat and get fat on!

Desserts is "Stressed" spelled backwards.

Lately, I have found that pinterest is not just for gazing at Hairstyle how-to's or DIY projects! There are tons of recipes on there! I think I spent an entire hour looking at recipes yesterday! I was so inspired by the time dinner rolled around! BUT I ended up making one of the good  old stand by meals that I know everyone will eat.....Dirty Rice! It was tastey! But not epic! I'm looking for that epic recipe that the whole family will go on and on about, begging me to make it every single day and not only making it each day but making a double batch! That would be great! I can't remember the last time I made that kind of meal! [exhale]

So, I've made a list of recipes that I want to make. These recipes all came from pinterest (but from different blogs)! I'm going to make a few and let you know how they faired! Here's a list of them!

1. Pizza Casserole: made with egg noodles, ground beef, ragu, mozzarella and pepperoni.
2. Chicken Enchiladas with Green sauce: it kinda speaks for itself!
3. Crockpot Ranch house Pork Chops: Dry Ranch Dressing Mix and Chops.....easy!
4. Tater Tot Casserole: Is probably not really a meal but it has ground beef so I'm going to say "MEAL"

Now keep in mind.......Even though those meals don't scream healthy I "veg" them up! Add a little broccoli here and there. Or perhaps you like green beans! My toddler has fallen in love with cooked carrots! I just boil up some baby carrots, add a pat of butter and salt and pepper. She loves them. Even dips them in ketchup! I've recently been on a black eyed pea kick.

Anyway, as soon as I test out these recipes I will let you know how they turn out! In the meantime, check out pinterest for some of your own tastey inspiration! But be careful! It's highly addictive! :) If you look to your right..... above the picture of the adorable kid in clown makeup....you'll see a link to my boards on pinterest!! Follow ME!

Crack 101

I have to admit. Making crack was easier than I thought it would be! Luckily, it's made using things that I have in my cupboard! Bonus! A friend of mine turned me onto it a short while ago and it's honestly all I can think about! Today I made it with the kids! They loved it!

If you have butter, chocolate chips, saltines and brown sugar you are good to go!  I found a wonderful how-to on pinterest! And have fallen in love with this blog. I'm posting a link here:

http://asoutherngrace.blogspot.com/2008/12/saltines-have-never-had-it-so-good.html?spref=fb

If I make this again, I will definately top it off with chopped pecans! I love pecans!

:)

Winning the rat race

I have to tell ya. Now that I'm older I am finding that I learn more lessons from my kids than any parenting advice I'll ever get from my best friend. Sorry Stripper! It's the truth.

Christmas at the in-laws a few yrs ago.

Recently, I've been back and forth with this stomach bug. It's wearing me down. And I'm finding that it's breaking my Christmas spirit a little. I told my 15 yr old yesterday that I wasn't sure how Christmas would go this year.....I wasn't sure if we would be doing gifts. During the summer my husband got jipped out of a very large paycheck from a shady character and it just seemed to snowball from there. Then on top of that child support stopped coming in. I went from only driving the kids to and from school every other week to now driving them back and forth every single week! I never realized how much money it cost to drive them til we didn't have it coming in!

Christmas will be in our hearts this year. Where it should be.

 My son looked at me and said "I'm okay with that Mom". My kids.......the only thing I feel like I've done right sometimes. They teach me it isn't about what you get, it's not about what you put in a box and top with a bow. My kids, as teenagers know more than I did at 21. They know what is important. They know the importance of family. They make me feel like I'm winning this rat race this holiday season.  

Mothers & Daughters

My Mom was a single Mom with a wonderful
support group! She never gave up!

In my lifetime, so far anyway, I have known so many women who have grown up without a mother in their life.These women never had that bond between mother & daughter, whether it was an aunt who took on the role of mom or a step mom....It was never there.  Then recently when I took on the role of craft teacher/mentor to my lost girls I realized that it's an epidemic. I know so many people focus on absent fathers. But what about the mothers who walk out (figuratively & mentally). It happens. And for our young women it's a tragedy. You might not know anyone who has done it or lived with it. But it does happen. Why?

Well, I think one of the reasons is this...... Sometimes we, as women,  are lacking a few things. A support system. The ability to cope. And......The knowledge that we can do anything in the world if we set our minds to it. And do you know why I think we're missing these things? (Don't get upset with me! This is only my opinion).......We're not raising our SONS right!

If you're a mother who is raising a son, take a minute to think about how you're raising them. What are you teaching them? Will they respect their wife or life partner? Will they talk down to her? Will they honor the bond of marriage? Will they take responsibility for their actions? If you are married to a man who does not treat you with respect, is not accountable or maybe he constricts you and makes you feel inferior......well you're setting a bad example. You're raising a son that could very well grow up to marry a woman who can't withstand the treatment he throws at her. He cuts her off from her friends and family. Makes her feel inadequate, like a horrible mother. She will either leave or check out mentally. It happens. It is a vicious cycle. It has to stop!  

Don't get me wrong. I think fully functional men can come from unstable homes. But I also think that unstable homes can produce toxic relationships in the future. I haven't set a good example in the past for my boys. But I'm trying to make it right now. I have a 3 year old daughter that I want to have healthy relationships in the future.I want her to be a strong independant woman who is in a healthy relationship. And right now she has a wonderful example of how a man should treat a woman. I couldn't ask for a better husband. He doesn't always know how to fix things but he does everything in his power to try!  So, ladies, please don't ever feel like you deserve anything less than the best! Never let go of your support system!!! If your husband is your support system and he is truly supportive of your happiness as an individual.....hold on to him because he is a good man! But please for the love of Mothers and Daughters......teach your sons to be a better man! Sometimes that means walking away from the wrong one. Lead by example.  

The Hunger Games

So, you know that a while back I started volunteering with a group of girls, in their teens, teaching a craft class. The class has become a little more than crafts. I'm more of a mentor, as scary as that seems. When the class first started we had 8 girls between the ages of 13 and 18. All of them have been in and out of juvenile detention centers and all are currently in foster care. Most of them have had children of their own. How scary is that? But, 2 of the girls have moved on or found a forever home. I've grown to love these girls and respect them. They are teaching me as much as they say I'm teaching them. But recently we have started a little book club. (This could be a long post)

It all started when the girls arrived for class and I was reading my kindle. I was just finishing up "Persuasion" by Jane Austen. Teenagers are drawn to technology. So, of course they swarmed around me to check it out. I told them what I was reading and to my surprise every single one of them said that they have never read a book! I was flabbergasted! We spent the entire class discussing books I thought they might like. Then it was decided that I would bring a book and read to them. So, I brought the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I read the series and fell in love with it and figured they would love it too. And bonus! The movie will be in theatres in March!

The day of our next class came. I brought the book. I told the girls that I would start reading and then we would pass the kindle around for everyone to have a turn. They didn't like that idea! I remember how scared I was when I had to take a speech class in high school. But really, it's no different than standing up and speaking to a group of friends. Reading from a book is easier! You have the words right in front of you! You don't have to figure out what to say! I explained to the girls that nobody would judge them and that they should respect each others reading time by being quiet and most of all, pay attention to the story! I love to read aloud! Call me crazy but I use to read to the boys on long road trips! I read an entire Harry Potter book to them once and was hoarse when I was done! Good Times!

The reading went well. The girls payed attention and were very respectful and I could tell they were falling in love with this book! We read the first two chapters in class. Rose, my partner in this adventure surprised the girls by giving them the first book to take home. 

If you haven't heard of the book let me give you a little background..... The book takes place in the not too distant future. The US has been divided into 12 districts and has fallen to despair. People are starving! The Government has come up with a GAME where each district offers up 2 representatives between the ages of 12 and 18 to participate. It's like Survivor meets Gladiator! The reps are chosen via lottery. It's a horrible game where the players fight to the death! To me, this story is about bravery, honor, family and survival! It is amazing!

To one of my girls in class, it hit a little too close to home. She comes from a seriously broken home. Meals were non-existent but abuse was a plenty. Her Mom checked out and left her to care for her siblings. It was not a pretty picture. I never realized how close to home this book would hit for her. What was I thinking? I felt so bad when she called me to say she couldn't read the book. I thought she meant that it was too difficult, maybe she wasn't the best reader. I told her she could get an audio book and read along....But what she meant was the book hits a little too close to home..........ohhh. I keep telling these girls to leave the past in the past, right? So, how do you deal with this?

You hear songs on the radio, watch movies that hit close to home, bring on bad memories. do you stop watching the movie? You can! Or you can keep watching it and remind yourself that you're a survivor and that is the past! You've learned your lesson and you're moving on. Be proud of that! I love this girl to death for her courage and her siblings are the luckiest kids in the world to have such a great big sister. She taught them to overcome and to never give up! NEVER STOP TRYING!

She kept reading the book. She finished it and moved on to the second. This book is so inspiring. It made me think.......We live in a society that takes everything for granted. Sorry, there are people who know the value of things. But for the most part we blow things out of proportion. The holidays are upon us and I bet we're going overboard! Don't over do it!

Another birthday

My cousin~ Big Al~ Putting the  "Happy" in Birthday!

It's not my birthday.

Don't panic. You didn't forget.

It's my Granny's birthday. I can't tell you how old she is. It's not a secret. I just quit counting at 60! She probably did too. When you get to be a certain age you just don't keep track.....well, at least I don't. I stopped counting my own years at 29. That was a few years ago.......or so. I think when you become as socially inactive as I am, you stop keeping track because you don't really go out and celebrate it anymore.You're not presented with a cake and a million candles to remind you of your age.  When is the last time you blew out a candle on your own birthday cake?

The last time I had my very own birthday cake is probably one of my fondest memories of my ex husband. I don't mean any disrespect to my husband now. But, It's true. There's this local bakery that makes a delicious cake. My ex knew how much I loved their cake. So he ordered a cake for my birthday. It was beautifully decorated with the prettiest icing flowers and swirly vines. It had my name on it. It meant a lot to me. It tasted as good as it looked. I think I might've gained a few pounds that year. Anyway, I think as parents we tend to overlook our own birthdays and hope that someone else will take the initiative to plan a celebration. The kids usually don't take it upon themselves to plan a party. Or maybe you're not the celebrating type. I for one, do not like to go to a resteraunt and have the waiters show up and sing happy birthday to me. I try to pretend that they are singing to someone else at the table. I find nothing wrong with a tastey birthday cake shared with family at home. NO candles. Let's just cut the darn thing and eat it! I don't need you to sing to me! Just a high five will do! Maybe a "Congrats on making it another year".

I guess when you get to be my Grannys age and you've outlived some of your kids, it might be hard to celebrate. But, let's try to celebrate the good times and our many accomplishments. Carry those with us. Let the bad things stay where they are. Close that book, learn that lesson and just keep trucking. So, to my Granny, Happy Birthday young lady! I love you so very much! Thank you for teaching me the right way to vaccum and do dishes, even though I still do it my way! I know we don't always agree but we can at least agree on that! If I was there I would plan a party for you and the toddler would sing happy birthday. She's practicing! Although, I think she has come up with a mix of Happy Birthday and Jingle Bells.......but it works! And here's a little advice. If you're faced with a cake full of birthday candles this year and can't muster the wind to blow them out, excuse yourself, grab the blow dryer, plug it in and blow those suckers out before they drip all over the cake! :)

Kids dreams, parents nightmares

I am the Mom who says "I don't care what my kids want to be when they grow up as long as they are happy!". But apparently I am a big fat liar. Because I watched this movie trailer today and had a moment of panic when I imagined my youngest son, who dreams of joining the military, wearing the uniform, carrying the gun and dodging bullets. Suddenly I said "Over my dead body". I went from being the supportive parent to the selfish parent in a matter of 3 minutes. Wow! I think I have whiplash!


http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D6oLSBOIMX3o%26feature%3Dshare&h=LAQHObsERAQFT3N_saulG1E7R4uADLMSRrnQ_IZ1NytexnA

Act of Valor

I want my kids to follow their dreams. I really do. I don't want them to be afraid to try new things. But when I imagine them doing things that are dangerous it's always bungee jumping off of a really tall bridge in New Zealand or scaling the Castle at Disney world and being arrested for it! I guess when my son repeatedly voiced his desire to be a military man I never thought of the danger. I never realized that it could be my son saving a CIA agent from terrorists, putting his life on the line for a stranger. But, people do it everyday. GOD bless those people! GOD bless their families! [exhale]

When the time comes and my son signs the papers, packs a bag and drives away, I will have to be ready. I will have to stop being selfish and just be brave. I will be proud of him because he is all of the things I am not, brave and selfless. Or maybe he just wants to shoot people.....who knows. Well, actually, I do know. He wants to do what his dad did. Aircraft mechanic! Geez!  What am I worried about? He's not going to be hunting down terrorists! He'll be fixing the planes! Whew!

Kids with Guns

When I was a young Mom I didn't let my sons play with toy guns.

I'll let you have a minute to take that tidbit of info in and let it slosh around in your head. You can decide where you stand on the issue.

Ok. Well, obviously, I no longer tell my children that they can't play with toy guns because as you can see from the picture to the left....the other left....I let them run around the back yard, re-enacting scenes from the popular television show COPS! Get the theme song out of your head and pay attention. 

Now, you wouldn't believe the amount of people who thought I was making a bad choice by letting my kids play with guns in the yard. I posted pics to facebook! And as you know, that invites a slew of opinions on your parenting choices. To avoid total mayhem, I deleted the comments.

I thought the pictures were funny. I mean, have you ever googled "cats with guns!" Hello FUNNY! Kids with FAKE guns in a controlled environment are equally as funny in my opinion. But, how do you approach the situation where someone tells you how they think you could improve as a parent? It's an awkward situation for me. I've come up with a cookie cutter phrase to use the next time I am faced with this issue. Here it goes.

I respect your opinions. I don't always or ever agree with your opinions but I realize you are entitled to them. I have a parenting style all my own as I am sure you do too. My kids are stable individuals who have never held anyone hostage! Let's agree to disagree but keep it to ourselves in order to avoid world war 3.