Birthday around the Holidays!

     Each year we have a small family “party” in November where we celebrate my daughters birthday. We do this because I want to make sure that my daughter, who’s birthday is on December 13^th, never feels that her birthday is overshadowed by the holiday season. Then on her actual birthday we have a cake and open her present from mommy, Daddy, and Big brother. But I still worried that as she gets older she will feel like her birthday isn’t as important since Christmas is celebrated all months long. This prompted me to alter our Christmas traditions for now on.

     We decided that Our Christmas tree and stockings will not go up until after her birthday. It actually works better this way since we get a real tree and this will make it last longer without pine needles all over the floor (my vacuum will thank me this year!). Our Book advent calendar is being shortened to 12 days, and will go up on her birthday. The first book will always be a non-Christmas book, and part of her birthday gift. 

     We will still have our two other Christmas countdowns that will start on December 1^st like normal. The first one is your typical Santa Beard Count down, with cotton balls. The second one is our Christmas banner countdown, that spells out We Wish You A Merry Christmas by the time Christmas eve arrives! This way each day the children can each get to do one of the calendars, alternating between the two.

     For Anjali’s Birthday this year we will start her birthday off with yummy ice cream cone cupcakes and then open our first Book of our advent calendar. This year it will be “Happy Birthday Biscuit”, perfect for a child who thinks she is a puppy! I’m hoping by making these small changes she will never think her birthday is less important. I believe that everyone deserves to feel special on and around their birthday, especially children.

Thanksgiving Day Parade float = major fail

     During the Thanksgiving day Parade I noticed a float called Castle of Dreams created by My Princess Academy. Along with their cute float they had Keri Hilson perform a song called “Pretty Girl Rock”. After hearing just a few sentences from her song…that seemed completely inappropriate for the float I had to look up the website. On their website they encourage the following beliefs: In order to be a My Princess Academy princess you must learn the 4 pillars of "Real Princesses" - Generosity, Intelligence, Beauty and Confidence.

     This is quoted directly from their website for the parents: “Girls have always dreamed of becoming Princesses...In the past, that meant they were shown a beautiful, idealized version of a Princess and told to go imitate her. But something was missing. Girls were never shown how to be their own kind of Princess their best selves, defined not only by physical beauty but by inner beauty.”

     So back to the song that was performed on the float. It was called “Pretty Girl Rock” by Keri Hilson and I’m going to highlight some of the lines that stood out to me.

My name is Keri, I’m so very
Fly, oh my, it’s a li’l bit scary
Boys wanna marry, looking at my derri-ere, you can stare but if you touch it ima bury

Pretty as a picture
Sweeter than a swisher
Mad cause I’m cuter than the girl that is with ya

I ain’t gotta talk about it baby you can see it
But if you want ill be happy to repeat it

All eyes on me when I walk in,
No question that this girl’s a 10 Don’t hate me cause I’m beautiful. Don’t hate me cause I’m beautiful. My walk my talk the way I dress It’s not my fault so please don’t trip
Don’t hate me cause I’m beautiful Don’t hate me cause I’m beautiful

Now were you at, If your looking for me you can catch me
Cameras flashing, daddies turned his head as soon as I passed him Girls think I’m conceded cause I think I’m attraction
Don’t worry about what I think why don’t you ask him

Get yourself together don’t hate(don't do it), jealous is the ugliest trait(ohh, don't do it)
I can talk about it cause I know that I’m pretty
If you know it too then ladies sing it with me



Now I have to admit the song was catchy and I would probably dance to it in the car if I heard it but as a mother I have to say that this was the wrong performance for this particular float…that was meant to encouraging “inner strength” in young girls.

You can watch it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vMY1UO8P48&feature=player_embedded

Growing older & Apple Pie

    

     I recently read an article written by a 90 year old women, giving her lessons that she has learned over the years. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Life isn’t tied with a bow but it is still a gift

2. No matter how you feel…get up, get dressed, and show up.

3. The best is yet to come

4. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back
.
5. Your children only get one childhood.

6. Growing old beats the alternative ~ dying young.

7. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

8. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

9. Don’t compare your life to others, you have no idea what their journey is all about.

10. Your job won’t take care of you when your sick, your friends and family will. Stay in touch.

11. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

12. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

     During the Holiday season its easy to forget the things that matter most. This is the time I like to stop and enjoy. I get my shopping done before Thanksgiving, schedule my bills to be paid through the New year, and complete my check lists. This way I can really just enjoy this time with the people that matter the most to me, my friends and family. I try to remember that I only have a certain number of years with my kids…as kids. These are times that you can not go back and repeat, so I want to make the most of it now.

I Wish all of you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and Most of all a Joyous and Memorable Holiday season. Here is one of my favorite holidays desserts...yummy!

Easy as Apple Pie

1 Pillsbury ready made pie crust (or homemade recipe of your choice)

1/2 cup unsalted butter 

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 

1/2 cup white sugar 

1/2 cup packed brown sugar 

1/4 cup water 

1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

¼ cup milk (for top crust)

Sugar ( for top crust)

Directions

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add white sugar, brown sugar and water; bring to a boil. Reduce temperature, and simmer 5 minutes. 

2. Take peeled, cored, sliced apples and mix 1tsp of cinnamon into them. (optional) then mix the sugar mixture into apples.

3. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Make slits into top crust (any design you choose) and put onto the top of your pie. Brush milk onto the top crust and then sprinkle with sugar.

4. Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees F. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes.

Homemade Ornaments & Chewy Molasses Cookies

     Every year while my son is at school and my husband is working I go out and pick a Christmas tree. I like taking my time to find the “one”, getting it home, letting the branches drop, making sure that it is all ready when everyone comes home that day. In fact in the 7 years that I’ve had my own family I only missed this tradition once…while on bed rest with my daughter. Growing up we usually went out together as a family and cut a tree down at a local tree farm. A tradition I will probably start with my family when my children get a bit older, but for now Mommy gets to surprise the family with a tree each year.

     My mothers tree is full of ornaments, old and new, many of them made by us as children and full of memories. It the one thing that I miss the most about the family Christmas tree. Our tree has the typical “Baby’s 1^st Christmas” ornaments and many store bought ones as well. It is very festive and beautiful but just isn’t the same. So I have started a new tradition with my children, each year they each make a Homemade ornament. So one day our Christmas tree will be filled with homemade ornaments and lots of memories.

Salt Dough Ornaments

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup table salt

1/2 cup warm water

cookie cutters

straw

paints/glitter/glue/beads/food coloring (to decorate)

ribbon (to hang)

Directions:

Mix ingredients in a bowl then knead on a floured surface, incorporating more flour as needed until the dough is pliable and not sticky. Roll out as you would do for cookies, about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out with cutters and place on baking tray. Make a hole at the top of the cookie with the straw. Bake in a 200 degree oven for 2 hours or until hard. When cool, paint & decorate, let dry. Hang ornaments with ribbon.

* I suggest painting a coat of clear polyurethane finish (you can get it at any Michaels or Wal-Mart) to your completed ornaments. It makes it extra shiny and will keep for years. You can make multiple batches and add food coloring to each for extra fun.

 

Chewy Molasses Cookies

3/4 cup butter, melted 

1 cup brown sugar 

1 egg 

1/4 cup molasses 

2 cups all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoons baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 

1/2 cup white sugar (for rolling)

Directions

In a medium bowl, mix together the melted margarine, 1 cup brown sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in the molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger; blend into the molasses mixture. Cover, and chill dough for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until tops are cracked. Cool on wire racks.

My Busy Books & Peanut Butter Cookies

     So we recently discovered My Busy Books made by Phidal publishing. We first purchased a My Little Pony - My Busy Book at Borders. My daughter was and still is in love with this book even after months of use. It came with 12 figurines and a play mat that fit nicely into the back of the book. Recently during another trip to Borders she found a Disney Pretty Princess - My Busy Book. It came with all of her favorite princesses and again the play mat. I am not kidding you when I say that she has not gone a day without these toys! 

     Knowing how much she loves them I picked up a Dora the Explorer one for Christmas and I plan on finding the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and My Friends Tigger and Pooh books also. At Borders and Barnes and Noble I paid under $10 for each one. They have many other choices like Toy Story, Cars, Thomas the Train, etc...that little boys can even enjoy. I would not recommend them for younger children because the figurines are small and could be a choking hazard. But if your little girl loves these characters like my daughter does, and has left the putting toys in my mouth stage then these books are perfect!

World’s Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients
2 cups peanut butter 
2 cups white sugar 
2 eggs

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). 
Combine ingredients and drop by teaspoonfuls on cookie sheet. I like to use my fork to make “plaid” pattern before baking. Bake for 8 minutes or until golden brown. Obviously the recipe is equal parts, 1-1-1 so its easy to make double or triple batches.

A Few of My Favorite Things...

     So with the Holidays approaching fast I wanted to take a minute to share some of the things that put a smile on my face. I guess you could say that this is a list of My Favorite Things.

~ Play-doh
~ Hot cup of tea
~ Catching the Ice Cream Truck
~ Hearing your babies heartbeat
~ When a baby falls asleep on you
~ Comfortable jeans
~ Warm fuzzy socks on a cold night
~ Getting the perfect picture
~ Taking my ponytail out 
~ When you open a book to the exact page you were looking for
~ Finally peeing after holding it forever 
~ When the phone rings and it’s someone you were just thinking about
~ Pouring a drink where the bubbles go right to the top but not over 
~ When there’s still time left in the parking meter when you pull up
~ When the public bathroom has paper towels instead of hand dryers
~ Getting in a line just before it gets really long
~ The perfect cup of coffee 
~ Taking your bra off after wearing it for hours 
~ Hot soup on a cold night
~ Snow falling on Christmas eve
~ The Perfect Egg Crack 
~ Finding money in your pocket from last year
~ Real-bearded Santa’s
~ Perfect parallel-parking on the first try
~ Christmas music
~ Finding a great deal
~ Smell of Hot Apple cider
~ Homemade apple pie
~ Your child’s face on Christmas morning
~ Miracle on 34^th street 
~ Fresh Banana but bread
~ Getting a good parking spot in the rain
~ Warm fireplace on a cold winter night
~ The perfect haircut
~ Baby toes 

     What are some of your favorite things…the things that can put a smile on your face even on a gloomy day?

My daughters Mullet & Iced Pumkin Cookies

    So yesterday while talking to my mother on the phone my daughter decided to cut off her hair! Yes ladies and gentleman...she butchered it! I know have a 3 1/2 year old daughter with a mullet, and I'm very upset. I know that I should have been more upset that she was playing with scissors, or thankful that she didn't cut herself but nope...I was so angry that her beautiful hair was gone. The hair that took us almost 4 years to actually grow...she now looks like a boy!



Last Month before the "incident"

     Looking back now I guess I could have handled my reaction better, but in the heat of the moment all I could do was yell. Not directly at her but to the world and anyone who could her me. Mostly "Oh my Goodness she looks like a boy" and "Its ruined, we can't fix that!". Me getting upset resulted in her getting upset. So I calmed myself down, ran to the store and bought as many headbands and clips as I could find. I told her that it was okay because she was going to look beautiful after we fixed it.

Directly after...patches of hair missing!

     So this morning we headed to the hair salon and the lady ensured me that they deal with this kind of thing all the time. She talked to Anjali about visiting the salon next time she wanted a haircut and showed me the best way to comb her hair to cover the bald patches. So after the salon we came home and baked Homemade pumpkin Pies...nothing better than a yummy homemade treat and a wonder smelling house! 

After the salon...and a combover!



Yummy Pumpkin Pies!

     I know in time I will look back and laugh about the whole thing but for now I just want to forget about it. Tomorrow's ballet class will be interesting! I do know that in the future when my daughter is crying to me that her baby cut off her beautiful hair....I can now say "That's what you get"! Tomorrow we will be lifting my spirits with yummy Iced Pumpkin cookies...enjoy!

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
1 teaspoon baking soda 
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1/2 cup butter, softened 
1 1/2 cups white sugar  
1 cup canned pumpkin puree 
1 egg 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Icing
2 cups confectioners' sugar 
3 tablespoons milk 
1 tablespoon melted butter 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside. 
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly. 
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork. 
4. To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

Things my Mom use to Say!

     As children we are in such a rush to grow up. You want to make your own rules without having to answer to anyone. Then you become an adult and can’t help but think back to the days when times and decisions were simpler. When I was a child I swore that my mother didn’t know what she was talking about. It wasn’t until I became a mother myself that I realized she was probably the smartest women I’ve ever known! These are the Top 10 saying that I swore I would never say to my own children…until I had my own children…now they are part of my daily routine!

1. As long as you live under my roof, you'll do as I say.

2. Money doesn’t grow on trees. 

3. Shut that door! I'm not heating (or air conditioning) the whole neighborhood! 

4. When I was a little girl...

5. When you have your own house then you can make the rules! 

6. I’m not feeding the whole neighborhood! 

7. Think of those poor starving children in Africa!

8. Do you think we own the electric company?

9. Your too young, ask me again in a few years.

10. Why? Because I said so, that's why!

My Detour

     Its happened to us all at least once, some of us more. Your heading to your destination and a wrong turn or missed sign results in being lost. Imagine if in that moment of frustration or fear there was a person that you could ask for directions and they knew exactly where you needed to go. Someone who with out judgment or questions could get you back on the right path.

     Earlier this year I was pregnant with our 3^rd child. It was an unplanned and surprising pregnancy. It took me a good 6 weeks to come to a final conclusion, that it must have been meant to be. I waited until I saw my baby’s heart beat on the ultrasound before planning out the next 18 years! Then right before 13 weeks I suffered a miscarriage. I felt completely lost and alone. 

     It was at that time in my life that I knew I had to make a very important decision. Was I going to let the sadness defeat me or was I going to defeat the sadness. I chose to move forward, becoming more thankful for the two healthy children I was already blessed with. I knew that one day if we did have a 3^rd child that I would be able to tell him/her that they were meant for no one else but me. Because if it wasn’t for the loss of that pregnancy we never would have had him/her. That sometimes it’s the prayers we think went unanswered that end up just being the door that was opened instead. 

     It was a detour that even the best of planning could not have seen coming. I found myself lost and confused but to my surprise not alone. I was thankfully able to stop and ask for directions and God knew exactly where I needed to be.



Footprints in the Sand (my favorite poem)



Goodbye October - Cowboy Cookies

     So another Halloween has come and gone. This year was different from the others. Conner and Andrew left around 9:30am to head to the Jets vs Patriots game. It was Conner's first Football game and he had a great time. He got to eat anything he wanted, drink any soda he wanted, and came home with plenty of souvenirs! Plus he won 2 Sanchez bobble heads that I had to pick up at PC Richards Monday morning :)

     While the boys had a football day together Anjali and I enjoyed a girls Halloween. We filled our candy bowl, cleaned the house, and got dressed for trick or treating. Anjali was a Princess and I even let her wear Mommy's make-up as a special treat. We went out trick or treating with our neighbors, who also happen to be my sons best friends. We got half a bag full of candy! 

     Conner and Andrew got home around 6:30pm, just in time to get dressed and go out for more candy. Conner was a SWAT member for Halloween. This time around Conner and Daddy went trick or treating. They came home with more than enough candy to last us until next year! 

     I went through the candy to make sure nothing was opened or suspicious and put it all into one large bag. I weighed it to see how much we got...12 pounds of candy! How a 7 year old and 3 year old could manage to get 12lbs of candy in one night is beyond me. 

     So another October has ended and my focus is now on Thanksgiving! My favorite time of year is between November 1 - January 1. No other time during the year makes you focus on the ones you love as much as this time does. So to say goodbye to October and hello to November we made yummy Cowboy Cookies, enjoy! 

Cowboy Cookies
Ingredients 
2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 cup butter, softened 
1 cup white sugar 
1 cup packed brown sugar 
2 eggs 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
2 cups rolled oats 
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease baking sheets. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Gradually stir in the sifted ingredients. Stir in the rolled oats and chocolate chips*. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. 

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing. 

* we also added crushed walnuts with the chocolate chips.