Easter Egg Tree

Ok I know. It's kind of cheesy. And hokey. I don't even have small children any more. Well, 1 out of 3, but even he doesn't care much about crafty things. But there is a creative side to me that doesn't get to express itself at work. (Creative accounting......nuh unh)

So I decided to become seasonal and festive and make an Easter egg tree! This is the first time I've ever done one. I also have to admit, I kind of stole the idea from one of my neighbors. I mean, not really, since the idea has been around for ages, but a house on another street has one and it's so pretty! So I thought I'd make my own.

Supplies:
plastic Easter eggs
string
small phillips head screwdriver
toothpick
tree in front yard

Step 1:
Locate hole in top of plastic egg. Ok, I really had no idea if these eggs would have holes in them. I was prepared to make my own, but thankfully I didn't have to do that.

Step 2:
Poke phillips head screwdriver into hole to make it slightly bigger for the string to go through.

Step 3:
Cut off a length of string about 6-10 inches long. Depending, of course, on where you are going to hang your eggs. 

Step 4:
Fold string in half. Put looped end into top of egg. Using a toothpick, push the string through the hole until it is long enough to grab on the outside. Pull it through.

Step 5:
Tie a knot in the string on the inside of the egg. I kept both ends of the string together and just tied a knot onto itself rather than tying the two pieces together. Kind of like you do when you are sewing. 

Step 6:
Stand back and admire your work!

Step 7:
Repeat as necessary for the remaining eggs. 

Step 8:
 Loop the string around a tree branch so it will be secure if the wind blows too hard. I have to admit I didn't realize I should do this until I got outside. Some of my strings weren't long enough for the egg to go through. Those eggs are hung on very long branches and positioned closer to the trunk of the tree. (Because I was too lazy to go inside and redo them!)

 

Step 9:

Take pictures of all your hard work!

I apologize for the lack of sunshine. It was about to rain so I had to hurry back inside. 

Bonus pic:
My daffodils are blooming! Due to our harsh winter this year, the daffodils have been a little sleepy. They finally woke up and are putting on a wonderful display! These are my favorite flowers. When I was little, my grandmother had daffodils planted in a circle around the big oak tree in her front yard. I've loved them ever since. I have planted some at each house we've lived in. 

Fondue Foray

Tonight I made my first ever fondue! Not only was it my first time to make it, it was my first time to eat it. I was born in the 1970's when fondue was hot (ba dum dum). But for the first part of the decade, I pretty much stuck with milk, peanut butter sandwiches, and chocolate chip cookies. So I had never had fondue before. There were no Melting Pot restaurants around here either. Or if there were, my parents didn't take us there.

This week is Spring Break around these parts. Since it's tax season, though, I not only don't get a day off, I work LONGER hours since I don't have to pick the kids up from school. Sounds fun, right? Yea, well, you know......(insert joke about it being "taxing"....)

Anyhoo, last week I was trying to plan our meals for this week. I wanted to do something FUN being spring break and all....So I asked Alpha what we should do. Like maybe pick a theme. She immediately launched on to her favorite subject: American Girl. She said we should do a "doll a day" theme and fix a meal from one of the historical characters each night.

Well, for many, various reasons, it didn't exactly work out like that. Except for tonight! Tonight was the 1970's doll Julie! What did people eat in the 70's? Fondue!

The Recipe
Being that we're no longer in the 1970's, when I wanted a fondue recipe, I turned to Google. I used this recipe for the ingredients. I first looked for a recipe that didn't use wine, but the ones I found just didn't look that good. So I broke down and bought some cheap white wine. It called for cooking wine, but I've always read that you shouldn't cook with any wine you wouldn't drink. Since I don't drink wine at all, well, it's just really confusing picking out some wine....Here's what my local Walmart had:

Yep. Good old Post. And I don't know if this is a good thing or not, but I did NOT get carded when I purchased it. You know, they used to say they'd ID anybody who looked younger than 40, but I'm hoping they stopped that....Really hoping.....

So next, I had to chop up my cheese. I bought swiss and gruyere. I almost pulled out my mandolin or my Pampered Chef cheese grater. But then I remembered the BIG present from Christmas! My Magimix food processor! Shown here by my friend, Amy James. (sorry I didn't get a picture of it....and I would take one now but it's either still dirty or still drying.) Here is the end result:

I tossed the shredded cheese with the flour, like the reviews of the recipe suggested.

Next, I switched over to this recipe which shows you how to make fondue without a fondue pot. It's really quite simple. You just put one pan on top of another having filled the bottom one with water. Then you get the water in the bottom pan to simmer while the stuff in the top pan heats up. It's what a double boiler does, but I don't have one of those either. 

Result
 Lastly, here is the finished product! Thick, rich, creamy cheese fondue! I think I got my cheese proportions off because it got really thick really quick. I had to add more wine! LOL! I ended up with half of the grated cheese left over. I've also got half the wine left over so we may have this meal again before the week is up.

 

I should also show you the french bread I cut up into cubes and served in a bowl. But this had taken about an hour to make and we were starving so I forgot to get a picture of it. We also didn't have the correct fondue forks, but the cocktail forks that came with my Oneida flatware are perfect for this sort of thing! Finally! A use for the little forks! 

Final Analysis: it was good! It had a different kind of flavor to it, but I don't know if that was from the wine or from the gruyere cheese. Now I need to find a restaurant that does it (if any are still around) and go taste some to see how I did. 

If you know what fondue is supposed to taste like, let me know! Haha!

Pinterest and Me

Pinterest is the devil!

I would claim to have a love/hate relationship with that site, but it's more like a despise/detest relationship. If you truly need ideas for something, it's a GREAT resource. If you just browse it, you will leave feeling terribly guilty and horribly inadequate as a mom/woman/teacher/wife/friend/housekeeper etc.

I have read many, many blog posts and facebook status updates about how guilty women feel because they are not able to produce Pinterest-worthy holiday celebrations and Bento lunchboxes.  I agree with these women who denounce Pinterest. I like and repost their stuff.

And then I went and tried some of it on my own.......

So with that in mind, I post the following pictures only to show you a realist-mom's Pinterest attempts. I do NOT want to make anyone feel guilty or inadequate. Of course, after you see the pictures and read the explanations, you may just laugh. Which is perfectly alright. :)

 My first crafty attempt this month was painting miniature pumpkins. Aren't they cute? Well, in the spirit of "good enough", take a look at them again. The two orange pumpkins were supposed to be painted by my daughters. They never got around to it. The two green ones and one black one were painted by me and my 3 year old son. Precariously. Have you ever handed a 3 year old a paintbrush in your kitchen? Yikes! So some of the orange shows through. Definitely not Pinterest-worthy. I was also going to "bling" all 5 of the pumpkins. You see I only made it happen for one.

 Next up we have the Halloween-sleepover breakfast! The original picture can be found here. So the bananas worked out just fine. The oranges....well, do you really want to peel all of them? Who has the time? So I made our guests do it. :) Yep. I'm the perfect hostess!

 This next example is creativity at its finest! I should "pin" this photo to Pinterest and title it "Candy Corn Pumpkins!" Which makes it sound like I really put a lot of thought into it when all I did was go to our local nursery and notice that they had yellow and white pumpkins. Aha, those look like candy corn! I thought. See? I don't think Martha Stewart is going to have me on her show any time soon....

Our first ever CARVED pumpkins! Mine is supposed to say "Boo" but the B was kind of difficult. So I think it says, "Doo." Or "200." I can't decide. Beta carved the one with the face and did a really good job! So was I bested by a 9 year old? I'll let you decide......

 Now these.....THESE are true Pinterest Masterpieces! The ubiquitous toilet paper tube filled with.......

 GLOW STICKS!!!!!!!

As I sat there during J4's naptime yesterday holding an exacto knife and carefully cutting eye holes out of the tubes, I thought, "wow, this is tedious." That's why I only did 6 instead of the 9 I had tubes for. (on a side note, you wouldn't believe how many rolls of toilet paper a family of 5 goes through in a week and a half.....)

 And if you look at this picture, it seems like they turned out pretty good! The thing was, you couldn't really see them from the street. You had to be right there nearly on top of them. Plus, Beta helped me get the glow sticks in by taping them. We didn't count on the unequal distribution of the weight of the glow stick so some of the eyes were looking towards the sky. But this one green one, and this one picture, make it look pretty cool.

My last Pinterest attempt was a total fail. But I don't have a picture of it. And I'm too lazy to go make one and upload it. It was the niblet ear of corn made out of a marshmallow and candy corn. I tried it. Really. The problem with it was that the candy corns kept sliding out of the marshmallow! I have no idea how they actually did it. I'm guessing they cut slits in the marshmallow and then "glued" the candy corns in with white almond bark. It certainly didn't work just by "sticking" them in. It was tasty, though!

So there you have it. A look at my guilt-free Pinterest-filled October! I've never tried this many Pinterest things at one time before, if ever in my life even. But I think in the spirit of "good enough" and "hey, at least the kids got fed and laundry got done," that everything turned out ok.

Now to start focusing on Christmas......Ugh.

Maymay Made It!

Hey, y'all! Check out this new blog and Youtube channel I found.

It's Maymay Made It!

This girl does crafting of all sorts. I watched her videos while I was making my latest deco mesh wreath today.

I Resolve.....

I don't make New Year's Resolutions. Hate 'em. See last year's post for a whole rant on those.

So this year, I took some pictures. Hope you enjoy them!

Picture #1
Wal-mart has these huge bins full of toiletries in the middle of the store near the non-food section

Tonight, I read what it said on the side. 

"We're making resolutions easier to keep."

Hmmmm

You have to wonder just what resolution they are making easier to keep while selling soap, deodorant, and body wash. 

I resolve to shower more?

I resolve to shower EVERY DAY?

(I don't think I want to know.) 

You ESPECIALLY have to wonder what resolutions they are making easier to keep when you see these displays 5 deep in the front of the store:

Picture #2

Be still my sugar-filled heart.......

Giving Up On the Perfect Christmas

Wow. It's been awhile since I posted anything. My how time flies. Of course the helidaze have started. You know - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years. Pretty soon we'll be on to Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day and well, you know.

So I started out the Christmas season with my seemingly annual Bah Humbug attitude. Regular readers will remember my post last year about it. This attitude cropped up about 8 years ago, I think. I'm not really sure why. It probably has something to do with how much work goes in to getting everything ready for "The Holidays." As a mom, your to-do list is never ending. (as if it isn't long enough the rest of the year....)

So this year began like the past 8 years with me bemoaning all the commercialism, the decorations, the WORK.

And pretty much continued in that vein until last night.

I was watching NBC Nightly News as I always do. They featured a guy from somewhere (I looked for the link but it looks like there are only stories from Dec 19th. Not the 20th yet) who had started his own Christmas project. He and his wife started giving presents to those less fortunate. The next year, they got their friends involved. Then more friends began to help. Then more. Now they raise over $100,000 to buy food and gifts for the needy at Christmas!

Suddenly, it hit me!

Look at all the good things Christmas does. Look at all the needs that are met. All the wishes fulfilled. All the hopes and dreams that DO get to come true!

Is Christmas over-commercialized? Hell-to-the-YES. Does it focus on receiving instead of giving? You betcha. Does it cause people who can't afford mega gifts and elaborate Christmas displays to get depressed because they aren't able to "have Christmas" this year? Yeppers. Is that what God intended by sending His Son to earth? NO!

But Christmas does also bring out the good in people. People DO donate money and items to needy families. People DO help others. People who haven't warmed the back pew of a church in 6 months or more will suddenly come inside and see. They will hear the Good News. Yes, it would be nice if they'd come back in January. But you gotta start somewhere.

A couple of weeks ago, the Director of Lay Leadership and Missions at our church, Jody Farrell, published an article in our newsletter. Here is the part that really hit me,

 "Both church tradition and our American culture have created space for us to slow down and be reminded of the wonderful miracle of Christ coming into this world." 

The world gives us Christians so few things. Being a Christian in the world is hard. But at Christmas, the world actually GIVES US TIME to praise and worship our Saviour. How awesome is that? No other time during the year do we get that opportunity. Not even at Easter. 

When I thought of this newsletter article, and the NBC segment, I realized that while Christmas may not be "perfect" in my Pharisee-ical, "Christian" eyes, God still uses it. He takes the most imperfect of things, and uses it to HIS glory. 

Amazing Grace! How Sweet the Sound.
That saved a WRETCH like me!

We are all wretched, and what we try to give to God is wretched, too. But God still uses it. 

I may have given up on the "perfect" Christmas. But I haven't given up on God. 

The Wendy-vore's Dilemma: Or How Michael Pollan Has Ruined Me

As most of you know, I've been on Weight Watchers for a year now. Yay! My "anniversary" date was in September. I lost 28 pounds in 12 months. Which is pretty good. (Although, there's this one lady at my meetings who has lost 56 pounds since January!!) I've still got about 8 pounds to go before I reach my goal weight. And I'm working on it.

In order to lose that weight (and keep losing), I've had to totally change the way I think about food. In my attempts at a paradigm shift, I read the book, In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. 

That book has now ruined me. I will never think about food the same way again. 

Since I can't rehash the entire book in a blog post, here is Pollan's own synopsis of his work: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

By "food", he means real stuff. Like apples and blueberries. Not apple-cinnamon cheerios or Martha White "blueberry" muffins. He even goes so far as to list the ingredients on a loaf of Sara Lee's white bread and proclaim that it is not, in fact, bread, but a "bread product." He cautions against anything labelled with health claims. Real food doesn't need health claims and usually doesn't come with a label anyway.

I really can't do the book justice so you'll just have to go read it for yourself to see exactly what I'm talking about. 

So here is my own dilemma. In looking for "healthy" recipes for me and my family, I run across ones such as this frosting recipe from Hungry Girl. 

HG's Crazy-Amazing Cream-Cheese Frosting
1/8th of recipe (1 heaping tbsp.): 20 calories, PointsPlus® value 1*

This creamy frosting tastes good on almost everything... Sweet stuff, anyway! 

Ingredients: 
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. fat-free cream cheese, room temperature
2 tbsp. Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)
1/2 cup Cool Whip Free (thawed)

Directions: 
In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix cream cheese with Splenda. Add Cool Whip, and stir well. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.

Spread and enjoy!

********************************************************

Cream-cheese frosting for 1 PointsPlus???? Yes, please!!! 

But wait......fat free cream cheese? Fat free foods are made by removing the fat and then adding in sugar, gums, oil, and other things to make up for the lack of fat. 

Splenda? That's an artificial sweetener. They have a long history of controversy. Some people don't mind them and others avoid them like the plague. Personally, I refuse to eat them if I can help it. I think the jury is still out on their safety. Plus, isn't regular sugar (grown in a field, not a lab) better? 

Cool Whip Free? The same problem as the fat free cream cheese. This is no doubt made to taste the same as regular whipped cream by the addition of sugar and chemicals to mimic the fat that is usually found in cream. 

So which do I choose? I can make this version and only have to count 1 point for my daily points value. But it's filled with chemicals and "fake" food! But if I switch and use real cream cheese, real sugar, and real whipped cream, the nutritional statistics will be astronomical! 

What should I do??? 

At this point I am stumped. I try to strike a balance between processed food and whole food. I use low fat dairy products but nothing fat free. I avoid artificial sweeteners except for the trident gum and breath mints I munch on to keep myself from snacking all day long. I try to go for "real food" as much as possible, but some days, a Stouffer's lasagna in the microwave for 30 minutes gets dinner on the table when I'm tired and everyone around me is cranky. I haven't purchased Hamburger Helper or Homestyle Bakes at all since I read that book. 

In some ways, I am no wiser now than when I wrote this rant about food. I understand the objection to processed food now but I'm still lost as to which way is "better."

I would ask what anyone reading this thinks about my dilemma, but food philosophies are now almost as dangerous to discuss in polite company as religion and politics!

I think I'll just go have a glass of water. 

That moment when.....

You know you've made the right choice.

So I'm sitting at the table while J4 eats his lunch. I'm reading about the Northwest Arkansas Business Women's Conference they had yesterday. There were booths, and vendors, and key-note speakers. Business and professional women from all over Northwest Arkansas came, net-worked, got out of the office, and did general adult, working-women things.

I sighed. A part of me (sometimes a big part, sometimes a smaller part) wishes I were part of that world. I was Salutatorian of my high school graduating class. (That's 2nd in line behind Valedictorian.) I graduated from Hendrix with a degree in MATH! I'm smart, dad gumit! I could easily be one of those women.

Instead, I'm sitting here at my kitchen table wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Pouring small amounts of apple juice into a paper cup so J4 can learn to drink without the aid of a sippy cup. (and without copious amounts of paper towels...)

So then he's done and we start getting ready for his nap. He has to go potty first so I'm waiting in there with him when it starts.... I don't know if he, well, expelled gas, or just started it for fun, but he purses his lips and lets out a big pppbbblllttt! Then he laughs! I smile and decide to answer him back with my own pppbbbllllttttttt! He laughs louder! Then, it's on! We take turns making pooty noises with our mouths and laughing in between. I do think to myself that I may regret this when he does it in polite company. However, since his speech is lagging a bit, I figure any sounds we can get him to make with his mouth should help his development.

As I sit there, ppbbllttt-ing and laughing, I can't help but smile inside. No, I don't get to attend the NWA Business Women's Conference. No, I don't get to dress up and talk to adults. But I get to BE here. With him. During these few short years where he loves me almost unconditionally. Before the distractions of school start occupying his thoughts. Before life steps in and forces each of us to chose our own way that ultimately leads us apart. Not too far apart, I hope, but not as close as we are now. Before I have to let him go and be his own person.

That's when I know. I KNOW this is where I'm supposed to be. For me and my family, this IS my job.

And I couldn't be happier. :)

It's Not (Necessarily) Your Fault that You're Fat

But it IS your fault if you don't do something about it!

This is the conclusion I've arrived at after nearly 11 months on Weight Watchers.

To be fat in the United States today is as American as (a BIG ole slice of) apple pie (with 3 scoops of ice cream on top of that....).

In our culture, food is EVERYWHERE. We are bombarded with radio commercials, tv commercials, billboards, and advertisements about food. We can't have a meeting, event, rehearsal, practice, open house, or even CHURCH without food. We have entire magazines, newspaper sections, and television channels devoted to FOOD!

So when you're trying to control how much food you eat, having all these messages about food surrounding you nearly 24/7 is almost too much for one person to handle. I know it has been for me. Limiting your food intake is like being told to not think about purple elephants for 10 minutes. Hey! It's been 7 minutes since I thought about d'oh! Purple elephants!

The near-constant barrage of messages telling us to EAT EAT EAT makes it very easy to OVER- OVER- OVER-eat!

So can you really blame the 2/3 of Americans who are overweight and/or obese? Is it really their (our) fault?

That's a rhetorical question....

HOWEVER, now that you know the situation and what you're up against, it's up to YOU to turn the tide.

YOU have to find a way to counteract the never-ending influences of advertising on your meal choices.
YOU have to decide to forego the fries at McDonald's. (Noooo! Say it isn't so!)
YOU have to decide to have a big bowl of fruit with breakfast. (But Poptarts are SO yummy!)
YOU have to decide to find a way to prepare vegetables every night. (and I'm not talking about potatoes.)
YOU have to find a way to eat less. WAY less. Portion sizes are out of control! (But an 8 oz steak with 2 cups of mashed potatoes and 2 rolls is a regular meal, isn't it? Isn't it???)
YOU have to find a way to get some exercise every day. (But the couch....it's so comfy!)

It all comes down to you and your own decision. You won't lose weight by doing nothing. You won't lose weight because your mother or husband wants you to. You won't lose weight if you keep listening to what "they" say and grabbing that burger on the way home or that milkshake in the afternoon. You have to decide that your health is worth the sacrifice of munching on fruit when everyone else has a fudge bar. (Because they need to change their habits, too.)

It's hard. But worth it. Good luck!

For Entertainment Purposes Only.....

I LOVE baking! Love it love it love it!

I've been baking a myriad of baked goods since I was probably 11 or 12. Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines, Pillsbury, you name it, I've done it! Well, except for one thing....

BAKING A CAKE FROM SCRATCH!!!!

Nope, I've never made a layer cake totally from scratch. I've made some recipes that were essentially cakes from scratch, but never just a plain ole white layer cake.

So today, I thought I'd change that. I went searching for my "Cake Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum. And it's lost! I'm afraid I may have donated it to the library in a fit of "anti-stuff-itis."

Being part of the modern world, though, I went and relied on Google. I found this recipe for simple white cake. It looked easy so I did it.

 Preheating the oven to 350 degrees. (and using the heat of the oven to soften the butter.....come on, I can't be the only one who doesn't set their butter out 30 minutes beforehand to let it come to room temperature!)

Mixing the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.

 Voila! Perfectly placed from-scratch cake! (This recipe was great because it only made one layer! Perfect for experimenting.)

I don't have a picture of how it looked right out of the oven, but I trust you've all seen a naked baked cake before.

Hmmm, now what should I frost it with? I was going to make some regular buttercream icing, which I've done countless times. But that seemed boring. AH HA!!! I've got it!

Marshmallow Fondant from Pinterest!

Bit 'o background: Fondant cakes are BEAUTIFUL! You can cover them and cut out shapes and make oh so cute stuff. It's the primary way that Duff from Charm City Cakes decorates his. I've tried using the Wilton Fondant but it doesn't taste very good. I even have a friend on facebook who is a chef. She says that professionally made fondant doesn't taste that good either. So I thought this marshmallow fondant would be a good idea. It's just marshmallows and powdered sugar! What's not to love?

Read on......

For this step, I had to run to the store down the street and buy an entire bag of mini marshmallows. I put them in my big Pampered Chef batter bowl, added a little bit of water and some almond extract. I then microwaved the whole thing maybe a minute and a half or two minutes total. (and forgot to take pictures. Hey, I'm not the Pioneer Woman....)

Next, I added some Wilton blue food coloring gel.

And finally, I turned it out onto a cookie sheet covered in powdered sugar. (and a silpat)

During this entire process, my hands were covered in white sugar and sticky, blue goo. So there are no pictures. I kneaded sugar into the marshmallows, coating my hands in cooking spray the entire time.

To no avail, I might add. That stuff is STICKY! It even stuck to the Silpat! Yes, the Silpat! (A silpat is a silicone mat that nothing sticks to. Or so their website claims. Unfortunately, I think I've found a way to defeat it...) Can you see the small spatula I had to use to remove the stuff from the silpat? This is some powerful stuff!

The blog showing how to make the fondant claims that after kneading in the sugar, you can roll it out with a rolling pin and use it to decorate your cakes and cookies. Well, I don't know if it was the weather (hot and dry), my technique (ok, ok, questionable....), or whatnot, but mine never was able to be rolled. Oh, I tried, but it stuck to the rolling pin. I added more sugar, like the website says, and then it was just white. I finally coated my hands in a ton of cooking spray and moved the lump over to the cake.

Using my palms, I spread it out as best I could. Leaving me with a beautifully smooth, satiny-sheen candy coating on my freshly baked from scratch cake!

 Or it would have been, had it stretched that far..... Try as I might, I could not get it to stretch any further. I think it had cooled so much by then that it wasn't going anywhere.

Since my beautiful cake was already, well, not ruined, but not near like I envisioned it, I decided to just experiment. Have you seen that wedding cake on Pinterest that's covered entirely with sprinkles?

 

Yes? Well, I made 4 small little sprinkle areas just to see. Yep, it's as hard to do as it looks. Whatever they paid for that cake was probably inadequate for how difficult it is to get sprinkles ON THE SIDES and everywhere! Not to mention how much sweeping and near-falling the lady did while walking on her floor afterwards....

Finally, I had to taste my cake. It was good! Not quite as moist as a mix cake, but definitely had a good flavor and it's definitely one I'll make again. Also, after trying ready made and now homemade fondant, I can honestly say I don't like the taste of either one. Plus, while this one tasted better than the store-bought kind, it still had the consistency of, say, a balloon. I took a bite or two with the fondant on my cake, and then just peeled it off and ate the cake. (Less points that way, too!)

Next time I'll make a really pretty icing creation and let y'all see it. I promise it'll be better than this stuff!

Eureka!

For the past 18 months, Jim and I have lead Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University course at our church. It's a fantastic course that teaches you how to handle money God's way. In leading this course, we've come across many different financial situations. Throughout it all, I've started to wonder just how much we should rely on ourselves to provide for our needs versus how much we should rely on God for the same.

I've been wrestling with this question for months now but I think I found a wonderful answer! I was reading the "Dave Says" newspaper column archives on Dave's website. Here is a wonderful question and answer that I'm going to print out and post somewhere in my home! Haha!

Here is the link to the original post. I have copied and pasted it here so you can read it immediately.

Impulsiveness is not faith

Dear Dave,
My husband and I would like for me to be able to quit my job and stay at home with our kids. We’ve got a little money saved up, but we’re not sure we could make it on just his salary. The money would be very tight. In your mind, how do we know the difference between being financially responsible and relying on God to provide?
Michelle
Dear Michelle,This is a great question! I admire the desire to be at home with your kids, and that you realize you can’t just act impulsively and call it faith. This is a concept that’s misused and misunderstood a lot.

If you can’t make it on just your husband’s salary, then you’ve got to develop a game plan that involves a written monthly budget and some lifestyle changes. If you do this with diligence and sacrifice, chances are you’ll be able to make this happen and not bankrupt your family. This could also mean that you start a small business on the side—something you could do from home—to offset the difference.

Having faith that God will provide requires study of the Scriptures. But God also tells us that you need the maturity and wisdom to plan your direction. The Bible says, “The diligent prosper. He who is impulsive exalts folly.” Folly is a fool in action. It’s kind of like the guy who closes his eyes, jumps in the pool, and hopes there’s water in there—and calls that faith.
I love the idea of you coming home to be with your kids, Michelle. Just make sure you develop an intelligent plan, and mix intellect with faith.
—Dave


I LOVE where he says "You can't just act impulsively and call it faith." Ah ha! This is what I've been wondering. Do you just close your eyes and jump and hope everything works out? Or do you do your homework, do your research, make your plan, and THEN rely on God for everything to fall into place?  God gave us brains. I think he expects us to use them. He didn't make us blind followers who are supposed to just blow with the wind and then claim that whatever happens was God's will. 

I think in the end, you plan as best as you can and THEN rely on God to provide the rest.  I'm so excited that I found this answer! This has been bothering me since at least early April. Now maybe I can use it to help other people understand the relationship between planning and faith.

All Creatures Great and Small

When we moved into this house in 2006, I hated it. Yes, I had agreed on the floor plan with Jim and we liked it. But the neighborhood was barren. No trees, no hills. Half of the houses weren't even built yet so we had a lot of land out here. My dream neighborhood has lots of large, mature trees with tons of shade. Squirrels, birds, and other little critters flitter and scamper by as I sit in my kitchen and gaze out the back window.

But not here. Here the sun shines all day long. There are no trees from which to shield its glare. It's like crossing the desert just to check the mail. (Because someone in their infinite wisdom decided to put all the mailboxes on ONE side of the street. So half of us have to cross the street to get our mail.....grrrrr) I miss our house in Little Rock that had a huge backyard filled with 3 large trees, infinite numbers of squirrels (owing to one of the trees being a large oak), birds of all kinds, and two chipmunks. I've even prayed that God would have two huge trees sprout up across the street and we'd be known all around for having a miracle occur! (yes, I really prayed that. No, it hasn't happened.....yet)

One day, a few months after we moved in, God surprised me!

A robin had made a nest underneath the eave of our house on the gutter downspout! We could watch from our front window as the mother bird fed her babies. The girls loved it! Oh who am I kidding? *I* loved it! Even in our vast expanse of flat, treeless land, God had blessed us! Nature was just outside our very front door.

Well, it's happened again. A couple of weeks ago, I saw a bird in our backyard gathering sticks. And it was heading towards the kids' playset!!! I wondered if I should shoo it away, but then decided that if I didn't give the bird a home, who would? There are no trees in this neighborhood.

Here is momma bird sitting on our fence. She's smack dab in the middle of the picture. 

Here she is walking across the playset beam. This is how she lands and enters the nest every time. 

Now she's sitting on the nest. You can see her tail feathers in this photo.









Then, just yesterday, I got brave enough to go up and look in. BABIES! I thought I had a picture of the eggs, but I can't find it on my camera or my phone. But they've hatched now! On a sad note, there were 4 babies but one is at the bottom of the nest not moving. :(  I don't know how that happens but I figure it's just nature taking its course.

My main goal now is to keep our pesky dog, Harper, away from the babies when they get pushed out of the nest and try to learn to fly. I'd feel horrible if she ended up killing one. Maybe I'll even be able to get some video of the little birds trying to fly. They always scare me when they're that little. Geez, now not only do I have 3 kids and a dog to worry about, but I have 3 birds as well! Once a mother, always a mother, I guess!

A Kindred Spirit!

Pinterest.

I've blogged about this before. Most of you have heard about it. I've even vented on facebook about the appalling stuff you can find "pinned" on there!

Well, it turns out I'm not the only one to notice those things.

Pinterest, You Are Drunk is a website that takes some of the more egregious pins and showcases them in all their gutsy, outrageous, who-would-think-of-that glory!

It's like Cake Wrecks for Pins.

AND, it fits in perfectly with my Board on Pinterest entitled "Things That Make Me Want to Cry or Run Screaming from the Room!"

Go check it out. Perfect for a relaxing summer day!

M.O.T.H.E.R.

M is for the many things I need
O is for obstinate children, of which I have three.
T is for temper tantrums, which happen day and night,
H is for hives...oh what a fright!
E is for everything else I forgot
R is for remembering the three blessings I got!

No, I'm not a poet who didn't know it. I just saw the wonderful irony in celebrating Mother's Day with three children, whom I dearly love and devote almost every waking moment to, who did almost nothing but fuss and fight for a good half of the morning. So I composed this little ditty in my head. (To keep me sane.....) LOL!

Oh Brother! Not the Mommy Wars Again!

So I heard on the news a few weeks ago that a Democratic "operative", (ok, show of hands...how many of you think of spies or Burn Notice when you hear that word?) said that Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, had not worked a day in her life because she was a stay-at-home mom.

Oh geez. As soon as I heard that, I thought "Hooo boy are some people gonna be MAAADDDD!" I have to admit, it bothered me a little bit, but I honestly don't judge my value based on some talking head's ill-spoken opinion. Besides, there were plenty of other women and moms who got mad for me. So why waste the energy?

It did bring me back, momentarily, to what is called the "Mommy Wars." This is the ongoing, modern struggle between what women should do after they have children. Should they put their child in childcare and keep working at the job they held before they gave birth? Or should they quit their job in order to stay home and keep said child.

As a mother for nearly 11 years now (yes, they go by way too fast), I've dealt with this issue since day 1. My own struggle has gone something like this:

BC (before children): Know there is no way I'm going to be a "housewife" when I grow up. I'm going to have a career, albeit one that is flexible and allows for me to take care of my children.

PG1 (pregnant with #1): Decide to stay home for "6 months tops!"

6 months postpartum: came and went

1 year postpartum: Tour daycares. Thought I'd get childcare before looking for a job so I'd have that taken care of. Come home distraught and hyperventilating at the thought of putting my daughter in day care. lol! (I can laugh at that now....)

2 years postpartum: Decide I'm either having another baby or going back to work.
2.9 years postpartum: Have 2nd baby.

2nd Baby at age 1: Work part-time doing finances at our church.
Year Later: Work tax season while both girls are in Mother's Day Out.

After we moved, I went to work 24 hours a week doing taxes and bookkeeping. I did that for a little over 3 years. I even upped it to 30 hours a week on a regular basis and 45+ hours per week during tax season.

3 years 3 months later: Had 3rd baby. Quit work to stay home.

As you can see, I've done both. I've worked. I've stayed home. I've worked part time and I've worked (more than) full time.

Which is better?

Well, for the first 3 years of my motherhood, staying home was better. After that, working some was better. Now, staying home is better again.

The thing is, the answer is different for everyone. I truly believe it depends on your family's financial situation, your temperament, and what your goals are.

I know moms that stay home. I know moms that work. I know moms that work and should probably stay home. AND, I know moms that stay home but should probably work!

I really wish that every mom could be supported no matter what her choice. In fact, I think that is the secret to reducing the amount of guilt the mom feels based on her choice.

Well, I could talk on about this subject, but it's late and I can't come up with an eloquent, thought-provoking, leave-em-wanting-more conclusion. So I'll leave you with this:

Call your mother. (She worries.)
Tell the moms you know that they are doing a good job and to hang in there. No matter where "there" is. :)

Cake Pop Fail

(This post is actually the second one about J4's birthday. Scroll down and read about his birthday first and then come back to this one. I know. I should have posted them in reverse order. Sorry!)


Ok so where was I? Hmmm, oh yes! The cake pop's for J4's birthday.

J4 LOVES big trucks. Diesels, 18-wheelers, delivery trucks, fuel trucks, cement mixers, the list goes on. So I thought that would be a great theme for his 2nd birthday.

And instead of a cake, I'll do cake pops! Now that I've perfected my technique, I figured it would be a piece of....um, yea.

I had some German chocolate cake already baked and in the freezer. I had planned to try making German chocolate cake pops for Valentine's Day with Xuan Huynh. Well, plans fell through and we never got to make them. So I thought I'd use the leftover cake for these cake pops. Bad idea.

I don't exactly know what went wrong. The cake was already VERY moist when it thawed. I don't know if it was wet from being frozen or if it was just that moist as a cake. Or if the German chocolate aspect had anything to do with it. But when I mixed the frosting with it, it came out looking more like thick batter than shape-able dough.

So I added some flour. Then some cocoa. Then some powdered sugar. Then more flour. I lost track of how many thickening agents I added to absorb some of the moisture! Nothing worked. Finally, with the clock ticking down and still no presentable "cake", I had to drop back and punt.

I baked an entire new cake. A yellow one this time. (it was all I had) I also discovered a secret that I'll use in the future. I didn't want to bake an entire cake because we were going out of town the next day. So I made 24 cupcakes instead. I would decorate 12 for our small party and then we'd just eat the rest plain.

Here's a picture:

So that's what I did. I then pulled out my old Wilton decorating tips and colored some icing black. (or tried to. Dark colors are hard.) I used yellow candy melts, which were already round, as the middle of the tires. I used the best "rope" technique I could remember and made the tires. I was actually kind of proud of myself! For the other cupcakes, I used chocolate frosting with the basket weave tip to make tracks in dirt. Or kinda like that anyway.

THEN, since I had 12 cupcakes left, I got brave. Going back to my original plan, I made cake pops! Now, yellow cake with chocolate frosting looked a little strange inside. Not bad, but not swirly or anything like that. (The white ones I made at Christmas were much prettier.) I used the small circle cutter I had bought to make them tire-shaped. They were huge! They almost wouldn't stay on the sticks. For reference, I smashed up 6 cupcakes to mix with the frosting and I got 6 cake pops out of it! I probably would have gotten 10-12 normal sized cake pops out of those 6 cupcakes.

I then dipped them in chocolate and used the yellow candy melts, still unmelted, as the middle of the tires.

Picture!

Honestly, I liked my cupcakes better. So all in all, I was happy that I had had to go to Plan B. Back to my future reference (haha!), I've decided that instead of making a cake and freezing it for cake pops, I'll make cupcakes. That way, I can only thaw 4-6 and not have to make 30-70 cake pops each time. I can just make 10 - 20. Also in the future, if I try tire cake pops again, I'm going to skip the cake altogether and use marshmallows! I'll cut them in half and insert the stick. That should make smaller tires that stay on the stick easier. So I was glad to have a Plan C as well!

I learned a lot that day. :)

Happy Birthday, J4!

TWO YEARS!!!!!

Has it really been two years since I gave birth to my precious little boy? How did that happen? WHERE does the time go? It all goes by TOO fast.

Since we now live 3 hours away from most of our family, our birthday celebrations have changed. In Little Rock, I'd let both sides of the family know and we'd have lots of family over for cake and ice cream on the Saturday closest to the child's real birthday.

Now, though, they are spread out. This is somewhat embarrassing to say, but my kids get approximately 3 birthday celebrations each. I know! #First world problem.....

For J4, his first celebration was on his actual birthday. We went to Fun City Pizza. All 3 kids love it there. Their pizza is good, too. They also have very good deals and it's very affordable. So mom and dad like it, too.

His second celebration was at Grandmary's house in Searcy. Grandmary is Jim's maternal grandmother. We had lots of family there and some that we haven't seen in 7 years!

His third celebration was at Grandmother's house (my mom) in North Little Rock. This time, we had even more family than we usually do. And there was family there that we haven't seen in 10 years! 15 years even!

So I'm pretty much done with birthday celebrations for awhile. At least until May when it's Alpha's turn.....

Pictures!!!! (I'm only going to post ones of his first birthday celebration. I've posted the others on facebook.)

J4 on a Tonka truck ride at Fun City. I promise he smiled AFTER every picture I took!
Playing more games. (ok, not really. Shhh! Don't tell him it's not really on!)
Sitting in Daddy's lap and playing racing games for real!
Plan B for the cake
They're truck tires and tire tracks in dirt, y'all! Can't you tell? (please tell me you can tell....) I'll write about my cake conundrum in another post.

My original idea that actually became Plan C.
These are supposed to be cake pops as truck tires.

Either way, I think he enjoyed them.

His balloon.
His plates and napkins.
Presents!
Mighty Machines! These videos were made back in the 90's. We found this one at Wal-Mart for $4.88! He LOVES them!
An awesome, steel Tonka dump truck!
And if you think GIRLS don't like trucks, I've got news for you.
Last but not least, Momma!