i am mommy

Dont forget to stop by my new blog, i am baker.  But dont come hungry! ;)

What a Precious Person You've Become

I had to share this picture for a couple of reasons...

...I really miss sand in your toes weather

and

... the owner of these toes is celebrating a birthday this week!

Got me to thinking... is the first birthday the best?  or the worst?  (for the parents that is)

 And just why is that first birthday so bittersweet?

This Saturday is Audrey's big day... so I am busy making plans and menu's (only appetizers, we are going casual) and cleaning my poor, sad, laundry ridden house.

What are your plans for the last weekend before Christmas?  Is it crunch time or are you totally organized and right on schedule?

What Happened to Christmas?

This holiday season started out odd for me... with the berserk weather we've had in the mid-west, we never really had a fall, much less decorated for one. 

Didn't put up any of our blanched corn husks, nor put out the pumpkins that we grew or were given... I didn't begin fall with the energized stride it normally inspires in me.

And now Christmas is almost upon us, and there is no home adorned with beautiful seasonal cheer... just a hasty meager tree that I felt forced to put up so the kids would have something.  A trivial little tree that I let the kids decorate from top to bottom.  That Audrey has pulled over on herself twice. (It weighs next to nothing)

 

 
Yeah, that should be fun to untangle. ;)

It just doesn't feel like Christmas.

It seems like its just me.

I think one of the reasons I have grown to love this season is the excitement that is in the air.  You can just feel the energy.

Everywhere I look people are bustling around, preparing and anticipating.

Anticipating entertaining and giving gifts and receiving gifts and eating wonderful meals and sitting in front  of a tree sipping cocoa or egg nog or a nice Pinot Grigio.

I have yet to feel that.  We decided not to do any gifts this year... not even for our kids.  And although I know that is not what Christmas is about, I realized how caught up I am in that aspect of it.

I have been trying to teach my kids about the true meaning of Christmas since they were born, but I have to admit, part of me really looked forward to lavishing others with the perfect gift!  And of course,  its always fun to get presents!  

The truth is, I have forgotten Christ in Christmas. 

I came across this acronym from Hank Hanegraaff of the Christian Research Institute and wanted to share it, as it is really speaking to my heart. To read the full acronym, please click here.

The first line alone inspires hope in me.

                                                                                                                                                        

C, the first letter in Christmas, stands for the person who alone gives any day eternal significance: Christ our Lord. It is easy to shove Christ aside on this holiday, but we should celebrate the birth of Jesus, whose very name means “the Lord is salvation” and whose title, “Christ,” points to His role as the Redeemer of humankind. If Jesus is not Christ in your life, celebrating the birth of an obscure Jewish carpenter’s son is meaningless to you.

H stands for history. The birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are not myths or fantasy, but are historical realities.

R stands for rejoice, an appropriate response in recognition of what Christ has done.

I stands for the Incarnation, describing that glorious event in which God became man.

S stands for St. Nicholas, the fourth century bishop of Myra, a Christian whose story — embellished by years of telling — nevertheless exemplifies Christian faithfulness and charity. Christmas should remind us of the faithfulness of God, without which we have no hope of redemption through His greatest gift, His Son (John 3:16). 

T stands for tradition, the stories and customs associated with Christmas.

M stands for the magi, or wise men, directed by God to find and worship Christ. We shouldn’t forget that no one is wealthy enough, powerful enough, or far enough away that he or she should not bow before Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Tim. 6:15).

A stands for advent, a word referring to Christ's coming. Christ came once in Bethlehem — as an infant who grew to manhood, died for our sins, and rose again the third day. Christians eagerly look forward to His Second Coming — “the blessed hope” (Titus 2:13).

S stands for salvation, made possible by the coming of Christ. The gospel story is so simple we often forget it, but so profound it affects every individual. We are all sinners, separated from God, with absolutely no way to reach God except He reached down to us through His Son. With the coming of Christmas comes recognition that because He came, He died, and because He died and lives again, we also may live (Rom. 6:8; 8:11).

Christmas is not primarily a celebration of human life, although each human life is valuable; not primarily a celebration of peace and love, although peace and love are noble. The center and circumference of Christmas should be the celebration of the birth of our Lord: “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).

This meant a lot to me... I hope it will resonate with you as well.

Don't Let This Happen To You.

 

Its ok, its ok, I know. 

I have been there.  When I was first married I did not even know how to turn on the oven.  But a little youtube and hunger go a long way in the teaching department.

So, in honor of everyone out there who burns toast and forgets at add cheese to lasagna and says that scrambled eggs are their favorite only because that's the only way they can make them... this is for you.

I want YOU to shine this holiday season.

I am going to share my favorite sugar cookie recipes of all time.  I have made lots.  I know what works and trust me on this one, this is by far the best sugar cookie recipe ever. 

If you make this, people will be asking you for your recipe and they will be trying to sneak just one more.

I will also share my no fail sugar cookie icing recipe. 

BONUS: I am also going to give you a secret tip in how to make beautifully decorated cookies.

Amanda's Amazing Sugar Cookies

• 1-½ cup Butter (I Use Unsalted)
• 2 cups Sugar
• 2 whole Eggs
• 2 whole Eggs Yolks
• 4 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 2 teaspoons Almond Extract
• 4 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder

In a mixer, beat butter and sugar until well combined, about 2 minutes.

Add in 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks and mix until combined.

Add in vanilla and almond extract; mix until combined.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Slowly (about a cup at a time) add flour to butter mixture and combine. You can use a mixer or not, just depends on how strong you are.

I usually just mix ingredients until they are combined, as I have heard that if you over-mix this dough it will get tough.

Put dough in some Saran wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. When you are ready to bake, heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough out, cut out cookies, and bake for 6-8 minutes.

Amanda's Awesome Icing

• 1 cup Confectioners Sugar (powder Sugar)
• 1 Tablespoon Milk
• 1 drop Lemon Juice (fresh Or Processed)
• 1 Tablespoon Light Corn Syrup

Combine powder sugar, corn syrup, and lemon juice in a bowl.

******This next step is important!******If you need a thicker frosting, say for outlining your cookies, add LESS milk.

Just a drop at a time. If you have already outlined your cookies and need a to fill in or ’spill’ your cookies, you can add more milk (as much as you would need) to make your frosting very runny.

If you are using food coloring, be sure to use LESS milk. Most food colorings are liquid and can make your frosting more runny. If you are using a gel food coloring, your milk quantity can remain the same.

If you want to add different flavors, you can add drops of vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon, etc. to flavor your frosting.

If you want more SHINE, use more corn syrup and less milk. This frosting will stay good for days in the fridge.

Now... would you like to do this?

or this?

Its easy. 

(please say the next sentence in your head without pausing just to get the full effect) Really and truly I cannot tell a lie I promise you from the bottom of my heart you can do this and you can do this well it really is easy. 

Its just dots. 

Get a zip lock bag, put some icing into it, cut off the tiniest tip possible from the corner of the bag and just put some dots on your cookie.

Do any design you want... I promise it will look good.  Do a cross or a tree or a word or just outline the cookie in dots.

That is one of my favorite tricks!  Dots.  Lots and lots of dots.

Click here for some ideas or inspiration.

Go forth and conquer!

Why Comment on Blogs?

Cause you get to meet awesome ladies like this thats why.  Read on dear friend.

***

I want to talk about four really neat ladies (I just wanted to feature four at a time) who have made such a positive impact on not only my blog, but in my life.

Their encouragement and support is to be commended, because I certainly do not make it easy for people to be in constant support of my crazy ideas and antics and off the wall humor.

I mean really, its not easy finding new ways to say, "Your kids are so cute"...

They find a way. So, not only am I going to feature them, I want to highlight a post of theirs that has either got me laughing hysterically, ripped my heart out only to mend it back together with the threads of hope and faith, or that I think was just plain super neat.

***

Meet Michelle from 3 Boys and a Girl.

When I read this post of Michelle's I tried to convince myself that it would never happen to my boys.  But apparently there is a gene for this.  Or something.  

And I love how at the end of a very long day, Michelle knows who the give the praise to.

***

I've had a great time getting to know Kristin from Bits and Pieces From My Life.

 

She was one of the first bloggers I met who did not have Word Verification and I vowed from that moment on to be her faithful follower.  Man I get annoyed by word verification.  Just sayin.

This page of Kristins blog is perfection.  She writes SO beautifully, and the way this page is designed, the beautiful colors and fonts and peeks into her life... I DROOL over this page.  Seriously.  Perfection. 

***

Someone fairly new to the mix is Denise.  She is  mommy, wife, dreamer, writer, just to name a few.

She has a daughter named Sea and a son named Story.  How cool is that?  Denise is on a mission to blog every single day of the year.

She hangs out with Bono.  With guys who write TV series, like "White Color".  But mostly, and often most importantly, with her kids.

***

Listen.  I've sorta been reading a lot of food blogs lately.  It's mainly because I have sorta been eating a lot lately.  And when I say "lately" I mean always. 

But Sweet Jessica's blog has made my life so much sweeter with her wonderful recipes and 'I'm totally gonna laugh some calories off' sense of humor.

Bacon Wrapped Scallops.

Cookie Dough Truffles.

Pizza Dip.

Nuff said.

Oh wait.  One more thing.  Jessica posts recipe after recipe of mouth watering, succulent, savory, and sweet creations... and she looks like this.

Yeah.  

***

So if you are in the mood to laugh or cry or reflect or be inspired or make new friends or just make something fabulous, stop by and say to a couple of my favorite people.

Its All About You You Know

I got to look at these sweet faces all day long today.

This picture was taken a few minutes before Hannah and Lukes mom arrived... he had been sitting by the Christmas tree and looking out the window, contemplating the complexities of life.

Either that or just missing his mommy.

***

My little Audrey is learning how to walk, and is really good at pulling herself up.  She usually uses my jeans or the couch or the wall, but today I threw on some shorts while we were hanging out playing at home.  I think Audrey must have 'de-pantsed' me like 5 times.

Usually I was frosting a cookie for holding baby Luke or pouring some milk so I would be standing there au' natural for a few moments. 

Getting 'de-pantsed' by your almost one year old is a humbling thing.

***

Just gotta say thanks for all the great comments lately... you ladies are keeping me sane!!  And your similar stories and always appreciated advice usually has me laughing out loud at my computer or nodding my head in agreement!

So thank you.

And be on the lookout this week for a "Commenters Appreciation" post!  I cant wait any longer... you all are just too precious to me! 

Oh, and of course be on the lookout for cookies.  Lots and lots of cookies. ;)

Seriously.

I was compiling some random facts about myself in my head (doesn't everyone do that?) and realized that after each thought, I had added the word seriously on the end.  Apparently I needed to reiterate, to myself, that I was not kidding.

Seriously.

So, if you would indulge me... after each of these thoughts, just imagine me looking at you sweet blogging buddies with a deadpan expression and saying, "Seriously."   For the IRL  (In Real Life) folks, I am sure once you saw the title, no explanation was needed.

***

I will turn 40 in eight short years.  For some reason that fact is totally freaking me out.

***

Having changed roughly 10,000 diapers in the last four years (yes, I actually sat down and tried to figure it out) why is it that every single diaper seems to behold a new challenge?

***

If I could dress anyway I wanted, I would get Jennifer Lopez's wardrobe from the movie Wedding Planner.  

***

I used to think I was calm under pressure.  I am the mom of toddler boys.  Its sorta a requirement.

Until this happened.

That is a bump the size of an egg.  I freaked out.  Thank goodness hubby was home. 

I had no place to vent my fear and annoyance that I let something like this happen to my baby so I sat and yelled at my husband for letting something like this happen to my baby.

(It was no ones 'fault'... Parker was pretending to be ghost and had a blanket over himself and ran head first into the corner of a wall.)

That bump was gone within two hours and he doesn't even have a bruise from it. 

I, however, am still completely traumatized from the incident... but I have feeling it is not going to be my last encounter with head injuries. 

***

I am a fan of Sarah Palin on facebook. Seriously. ;)

We Have Winner!!

This was a close race ALL day long!!  There were over 500 votes... and man it was tough!!  You all have some gorgeous kiddies... so please know... you are all winners cause you get to see those cute mugs everyday!

The winner is BJ Mama of For What Its Worth!

Congrats girl!  Please send me an email so I can get you your prize!

I am going to leave the polls open one more day so you can see the numbers, but at the official contest end time of 10:00 pm, picture number 13 (BJ Mama's) had the most votes with 69 out of 543 which totaled about %12.

Awesome turnout!! 

Thanks for all who entered! 

Cute Kid Contest-Voting Starts NOW!

*I'm sorry for any inconvenience... but please wait for the poll to load on your screen.  Unfortunately I cant take any votes that are left in the comments!

Here we go!  Please look through all of the pictures and find which one strikes you as the Cutest Kid!  Scroll to the bottom to vote. 

Voting is open until 10:00pm Friday evening.  Winner announced immediately after!

My goodness... I do not envy you the choice... all of these kids are SO adorable!! 

Number One (girl with pigtails)

Number Two (baby with lights)

Number Three (red hair girl)

 

Number Four (boy in sled)

 

Number Five (baby in blue stripe)

 

Number Six (smiling siblings)

 

Number Seven (boy in discovery shirt)

 

Number Eight (boy in bathtub)

 

Number Nine (boy in white t-shirt)

Number Ten (girls singing)

 

Number Eleven (baby playing on carpet)

Number Twelve (boy near fence)

Number Thirteen (girl in park)

Number Fourteen (brown eyed baby)

Number Fifteen (boy in stripe monkey shirt)

Number Sixteen (boy pointing)

Number Seventeen (kitty cat baby)

Number Eighteen (girl playing in leaves)

 

Number Nineteen (girl in pink flower shirt)

 

Number Twenty (boy in green camo)

A Cute Kid Contest For Everyone UPDATED!

*I got all 20 spots filled... so be sure to check back on December 9th for voting!!

I love cute kids.

I love looking at cute kids.

And I get the feeling you do to.

Here's the thing...  I want to see more cute kids.  Your cute kids to be exact.

So I have decided to host a Cute Kid Contest.

Here's how it works. 

You email me one picture of your cute kid (lets keep this contest open to only parents and grandparents) and I will enter you in the contest.  I will be accepting 20 pictures total, and its first come first serve.

On Wed. December 9th, I will put up the 20 (or 2 or 7 or however many enter) pictures and you will get to vote. 

You can leave it to chance or you can blog about it and ask all your readers to vote or you can email all your relatives and ask them to click next to their favorite grandchilds/nieces/nephews/cousins picture.  (It will be one vote per IP address.)

If you win, not only can you claim bragging rights and say that you have the actual cutest kid, but you can win this...

The 30th Anniversary McDonalds Happy Meal Beanie Babies collection.  (The link is just an example, not the actual one I have sitting in my living room)  Here it is listed at about $65.00, but I have seen them go as high as $250.00.  I guess it just depends on how much you like beanie babies!

So here is the breakdown.  Email me ONE picture of the cutest kid you know.  Stop by on December 9th and vote. Win big prizes!

Sounds easy to me!  Here is my email: manda2177@aol.com. Please put Cute Kid in the subject line.

Remember!  It is first come first serve!

Thats a cute kid right? ;)

I Should Be Ashamed to Admit It

I just have to say.  Chad has been gone for  12 hours now and I have already let myself go.

He'll be home in a day or so.  But I am quite certain it will take me the full two days to fix the damages of this one lazy afternoon. 

Today I did not folded any clothes, wash any dishes, comb any hair (mine or my kids) nor make any meals.  I did not tidy up the kids room, make their beds, wash the pants and underwear that Parker peed in (potty training you know) defrost any chicken or dust the light in my kitchen that is slightly dimmer due to the accumulation of it.

 ***                          

I did sit on the floor and pretend to play catch with Audrey. 

I did help the kids make a welcome home picture for daddy that consisted of a squiggly circle and a line that the kids say represents a ghost and a train. 

I did begin a tutorial on how to make a faith cake. 

I did make one too many cups of hot cocoa just cause I love drinking it. 

I did feed my family crackers and day old bread and hard boiled eggs and blueberry apple smoothies at random moments today totally forsaking the typical meal times.

I did pray with my son and tell him how the Bible tells us over and over again "Be not afraid' because he said he was to scared to fulfill his timeout alone in his room.

I did read a magazine in the bathroom.

I did drool over some recipes at Refrigerator Soup.  Tomatillo Turkey Chili?  Yes please!

I did leave my bra on the dresser.

I did let the kids watch three episodes of Diego.  In a row.

And its only 7:00pm.

I still gotta give the kids a bath. 

In the living room with a warm wash cloth.  If they're lucky.