Adventures in Mommyhood

Bagels with Blueberry Cream Cheese for Breakfast   One-On-One Playtime with Mommy A shot of fresh air before naptime Read The Bible Enjoy a fabulous birthday supper of  Pioneer Woman Lasagna, salad and garlic bread Cuddle with a Grandma Get ready to dig in... More Anticipation...   Blow Out The Candles... EAT!!! Enjoy.  

-Grocery shopping with Holland this morning, discussing produce (what is an onion, and what is not). -Shopping downtown with just my Claire-Bear.  We picked out Holland's birthday present together and then had a ice cream sundae together at the diner.  We played tic-tac-toe and discussed what kindergarten will be like.  She thanked me for taking her as we left.  Loved that. -After battling bedtime with Holland for an hour, it ended with me finding her standing up in her crib with tears running down her face.  Between hiccuping sobs, she sang "I ya you... you ya me..."  Then she sang "You ya me... you ya me..."  My heart was turned to mush as I marveled at how utterly adorable she is.  How is it possible that in two days, she will be two.  I never want her to get any bigger than two.  Two is definitely enough. I love my kids.  I loved today. Guess who helped her Mommy bake a birthday cake today??

 Tonight I made a big batch of one of my favorite little recipes.  I love it because they are pretty, tasty, and can be made ahead of time.  I tripled the batch and now I have plenty in my freezer for a brunch, birthday party,  meals and snacks in the months ahead. Frozen Fruit Cups 1 package lemon jello 1 cup boiling water 6oz orange juice concentrate 20oz can crushed pineapple 16oz frozen fruit (tonight I used only strawberries.  Basically any fruit will do) 3-4 teaspoons crystallized ginger, finely diced (optional) 12- 5oz punch cups (can be found at party stores) Dissolve jello in boiling water.  Stir in orange juice concentrate, crushed pineapple, frozen fruit and ginger.  Spoon into punch cups and freeze.  If you are going to have them in the freezer more than a day or two, you will want to cover them somehow.  You could do tinfoil over the tops, or place them in a storage container with lid.  Remove from the freezer 1.5 hours before serving to properly unthaw before

{this moment} {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Something I look forward to in January is taking down my Christmas decorations and rearranging my shelves in the living room.  I love these shelves!  Our simple 60's ranch had none of the built-in nooks and crannies for display our first home (a 1923 4-square) had.  Purchasing these shelves online from a guy in Pennsylvania that made knock-off Pottery Barn shelves was a very good solution for our living room.  They came unfinished and we were able to stain them as we wished. One of the best things about rearranging things in your home is that it gives you that "I just bought something new" feeling without actually spending any money. Here's what my shelves looked like when I was finished (too bad I don't have any before pictures)!  I think I have always had pretty good taste in home decorating, but I have a hard time knowing how to actually make my dream a reality.  I am learning.  When I decorate my shelves, I try to keep things symmetrical.  I tried to ad

Perfect Almond Poundcake I needed to make my favorite dessert for our belated family Christmas last weekend.  In order to do this, I needed to make an almond poundcake.  Usually, I have used tastefully simple's almond poundcake , but I didn't have a mix, so I had to fend for myself.  I searched my usual favorite recipe websites (allrecipes.com and epicurious.com) and didn't find anything that I wanted to use.  So I made up my own recipe- and it turned out to be just as good as the tastefully simple version. Ingredients 1 cup butter, softened 1 cup white sugar 8 ounces almond paste 6 eggs, room temperature 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoons almond extract Directions 1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. 2.In a large bowl, cream butter sugar and almond paste together until well mixed with an electric mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until mixture is light and fluffy. Blend in flou

Today, on January 5th, The temperature was 60 degrees. So we went outside and played in a field with rockets. And it was a beautiful thing.

When it is January in the Midwest... And there is no snow to be seen... And it is 50  degrees outside... You had better get out and play And enjoy the gift of a warm winter's day.

Take a look at this picture: This is a Christmas Miracle!  Take a look at them... all three of them looking at the camera with a genunine, natural smile on their faces!  This baby is going in a frame and coming out every Christmas forever and ever! I made two new things in my kitchen this weekend.  They both had kale in common.  Maybe it has something to do with New Years Resolution involving comfortably fitting into my jeans again, but I felt drawn towards kale this weekend. First I made "Crunchy Kale."  Not exactly equal to potato chips, but they were very cruchy, salty and somewhat addicting. Crunchy Kale 1 bunch Kale- washed and torn into bite sized pieces. Dry off the kale and place it on a baking sheet. Drizzle 1 Tbsp olive oil and sprinkle 1 tsp salt over the kale. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until crunchy. Tonight I made  Pioneer Woman's  Hoppin' John.  Apparantly, eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day brings good luck for the year.  I don&