Peanut Butter

If there is one staple we couldn’t live without in our house, it would be peanut butter.  We are a peanut butter lovin’ family! 

This weekend I went to Mahaffey Camp in Pennsylvania.  While we were there, we stopped at a restaurant called Feed Store Restaurant, where I had a deee-licious slice of peanut butter pie.  (Half-eaten picture shown below…I inhaled half of it before I remembered to take a picture for you).

So, in the spirit of peanut butter love, I want to share a recipe with you from my friend, Amanda.  I have not tried this recipe yet, but I love just about everything Amanda makes, unless it has mushrooms.  (We are NOT a mushroom lovin’ family). 

Peanut Butter Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese
• 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 peanut butter
• 2 Tbsp milk

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients together.
2. Beat until smooth and creamy.
3. Fold in 1 – 8 oz. tub of Cool Whip.
4. Place in prepared graham cracker crust.
5. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours, if you can wait that long. 
6. Before serving, drizzle chocolate syrup over top.  Yum! 

Feel free to share any peanut butter recipes you have. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Heather

Really Good Waffles!

Hi, All. I just made breakfast for my family. We haven't had waffles in a while, so I decided it was time. I found a recipe on the internet that would work with our waffle maker. I tweaked a few things, and the results were delicious! The texture was good, flavor was good....they were just really good. I wanted to share the recipe with you, if you're looking for a waffle recipe. I have to say, this is not a low-fat recipe. It's got white flour, sugar AND real butter *gasp*. So if you're looking for something healthy, you'll have to look elsewhere. Or you can try and tweak it into something healthier.

Enjoy!

2 c. flour

1 1/2 c. milk

2 eggs

2 tbsp. sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

6 tbsp. butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla

Throw it all into your mixer or mixing bowl. Mix until smooth. Pour into a greased waffle iron. Close the lid. Wait patiently. Open. Put on your plate. Slather with real maple syrup. Enjoy.

At first, I thought the mixture looked a little runny, but I gave it a shot anyway. They turned out great.

Stop reading now and go have breakfast with your family!

Thanks for stopping by,

Heather

Do I Need a Bra?

I was sharing this story with a friend today and it makes me laugh, so I thought I'd share it with the world as well...the world being all five people that actually look at this blog.

Let me set the stage for you: three seventh-grade girls, on the brink of womanhood, struggling to fit in with the busty eight-grade girls, pondering the same question that many girls that age do: "Is my chest big enough for a real bra?"

Needless to say, I was one of those girls. My friends and I would call each other every night to ask, "What are you wearing tomorrow? Are you wearing a bra?" "I don't know, are you? I will if you will" was the response. The daily torture was killing us. We had to find out once and for all if it was really time.

One of my friends read in a teen magazine that the best way to tell if you need a bra is to stick a pencil under one of your breasts. If it stays, you need a bra. If it doesn't, you don't. This news was exciting to us. Finally, we would have the long-awaited, much-anticipated answer! After all, this was a big decision. Apparently, one we didn't think could be reversed. It wasn't a tattoo for goodness sake, it was a bra. But I was in seventh grade. What did I know?

The next day, the three of us showed up at school, pencils in our backpacks. We met at our homeroom door and walked together to the bathroom. We walked in, checked to make sure we were alone, and headed into our own stalls. There was brief commotion as we all got situated, pencils ready. I called out, "Ok, ready? One, two, three." A half-second of silence, and then..."drop, drop, drop." No one said a word. We quickly gathered our things, and walked quietly out of the bathroom, no one admitting that our pencils dropped like lead to the ground. We never spoke of it again. Never called to ask if we were wearing bras. We just pretended the whole thing never happened.

Sometimes those memories just stick with you. They get tucked away in your mind, only to come out one day and make you laugh. I'll never forget that pencil test.

As I shared that with my friend today, she laughed and said, "Ha! If we stuck pencils there now, we'd forget about them and find them three months later!" Yeah, kids, life, and an extra 20 pounds can do that to a person.

I could share my first bra buying experience with you, but I'll spare you the embarassing details. Let's just say that a nervous 12-year old and a clueless, male, store clerk is not a good mix for buying your first bra. If you have daughters and will have to someday buy a bra with them, please make it as painless as possible!

Ok, I'm done talking about breasts. Just one last thing: don't forget to do your monthly breast self exam. Here's a link (with pics) if you're not sure how to do it:

http://breastcancer.about.com/od/risk/tp/bse_illustrated.htm

Check back soon. I'll be posting my story, how I met my hubby, and stories about my little girls. Thanks for stopping by!

Heather

Nasty Neti

Well, I tackled one thing from my list of things I'd like to do. I used a Neti Pot for the first time last night. I debated taking pictures, as many blogs do, but decided that there probably were very few people who would actually want to see those images, and those that do would not be looking at my blog anyway.

I stopped off at CVS before meeting a friend for coffee. I grabbed my Neti Pot, paid the $12.00 and headed out. Later that night, I grabbed my CVS bag and headed for the bathroom. Of course, being the responsible woman that I am, read all of the directions and proceeded to make the mixture that I would soon be shoving up my nose.

Away I went. I stuck the end of the Neti Pot into my nostril to make a tight fit, as the directions said. I did not find this part too comfortable. My husband describes it as, "shoving a gorilla finger up your nose." How he knows that, I have no clue. But if I had to imagine what a gorilla finger up the nose felt like, the Neti Pot would be it. The directions said to tip your head to the side and make sure your forehead was leaning forward farther than your chin...I agree. The second it's not, you'll know it and quickly move your head to the correct position. Before I knew it, things I never knew existed up my nose started pouring out... well, it was a combination of trickling and pouring really. My nose was pretty clogged, so this didn't allow the solution to flow too freely through my nose. The directions said to use one pot-full per side but I couldn't stick it out that long. My arm got tired and I was tired of standing with my head leaning over the sink.

My favorite part about this process (not really) is the light "farmers blow" you have to do afterwards. The directions didn't say "farmers blow" but that's exactly what it is. You have to lightly blow the solution out of your nose into the sink. And then you can blow the rest into the tissue. I'm not sure it matters if you use a tissue first or not, but what comes out is quite watery and would probably dissolve your tissue. After that, it's on to the next nostril. Follow the same directions for the other side.

Now I have to say, this was not the most comfortable process I've ever experienced, and it was certainly NOT my most beautiful moment, but afterwards, I felt great! Not only could I breathe, but I felt refreshed. It was a strange sensation. I can't really explain it with words. The stuffiness in my head did come back after a while, but the Neti Pot is not a miracle worker, it's a process. So I woke up this morning and did it all over again and will probably do it more over the course of the day. So all in all, it was a messy, but good experience.

Two things I would suggest NOT doing are:

1. Do not do this on a date because you think it would be fun to experience together. This is a "one-person-at-a-time-alone-in-a-bathroom" type of deal.

2. Do not do this when you have your hair and makeup all pretty. Your eyes can water, snot dripping everywhere, maybe some drooling. In fact, those are the exact reasons NOT to do this on a date as well. You almost feel like you need a good face washing or shower afterwards. Just keep those moments to yourself.

Below is a picture of the Neti Pot I purchased.




I would probably not get this kind again.





I'd probably get one more like this:




I don't think this one would be such a "gorilla finger". But I'm not sure. If anyone has any Neti Pot stories or suggestions, feel free to comment.

Now, I know I said I wouldn't post my pictures, I didn't say I wouldn't post other photos I found on the internet. While I was browsing for pictures of the Neti Pots, I found pictures of these brave souls. Please note: none of these pictures are me. And while these pictures look like nice, flowing water coming out of their nostrils, that is not always the case. Particularly when you have a head full of snot. In that situation, it looks NOTHING like the streams of water you see in these pics.

Enjoy!

The Fruit of Your Labor

It's 8 a.m. on a Monday morning and I just got my kids off to school. It always amazes me how fast time goes. I know it doesn't feel like that in the midst of changing diapers and middle of the night feedings, but it goes fast. Before you know it, your little ones will be turning 7 and 8 like mine and you'll miss the moments you had when they were still completely dependent on you. If I'm feeling that way now, I can't imagine what it will be like when they're going off to college.

One of the biggest things I've been able to see over this past year is how all of our work is paying off. When they're young and you're working hard to establish good morals and discipline in your children, you think they'll never get it. And sometimes you'll feel like it's all for nothing. You'll feel exhausted, wondering if they are retaining anything or if they're just doing what you say to avoid punishment. But it's in the moments when they don't know you're watching and they do something amazing, without you telling them to, you breathe a sigh of relief and realize, "They get it! My work is paying off! It's not for nothing!"

I have two daughters. Emma, who will be turning 8 in June. And Avery, who will turn 7 in August. (Yes, 14 months apart. That was God's idea, not mine.) It's been a blessing to see them grow into these little girls who are thoughtful, caring, and generous... most of the time. Sometimes they act like aliens have invaded their bodies, but mostly, they are great girls. Emma is a sweet, emotional girl who is observant and takes everything in. Avery is my creative, live in the moment, let's get things messy, girl. Night and day. But I love that about them. They are so unique and bring so much color to my life. However, it didn't always feel like that. As you may know, those creative types keep you on your toes. The quiet, observant ones always keep you guessing because you don't always know what they're thinking. There have been times when I wanted to cry out in frustration, feeling like I was failing as a mom. But then one of them comes in at 6 a.m. and says, "Mama, can I snuggle?" and I know that they know they are loved and find comfort in their Mama's arms. I don't always get it right, and that's ok. My girls know they are loved and we have a good, solid family.

If you're at home with babies or toddlers and most days just getting them fed and changed is all you can do, that's ok! Don't feel like it's not good enough. We can be our own worst enemies when it comes to judging ourselves. Three things that helped me make it through those younger days were: 1. My Faith 2. My friends and 3. Making sure I had a shower every day. If I was clean, I felt I could conquer the world :) Oh yeah, and taking time for myself. Don't feel bad for needing some time to yourself, even if it is to grab a cup of coffee, read a book, or shower without a child in the bouncy seat next to the tub. Don't stay secluded in your house. Make friends if you don't have any, and spend time with the ones you do have. Stay connected.

Remember that what you're doing is making a lasting impression, even if you don't see the fruits of your labor right now. Someday you will.

Live in the moment... they pass quickly.

Heather

Let me explain...

First, I want to say something right off the bat. I use the term "Disciplined Mom" loosely. This is more like a dream I wish to turn into a reality. I must admit, I am the mom who often runs around like a chicken with its head cut off. I am generally organized, but when it comes to my household, it's not even something I can call organized chaos. It's just chaos.

I am the mom who sometimes has to dig through the fridge to find the origin of a suspicious smell that has taken over the kitchen. I am the mom that usually puts off thinking about dinner until 5:15 p.m. and then comes up with the brilliant idea of breakfast for dinner. I am the mom that sometimes shoves a piece of gum in my kids' mouths on the way to school in lieu of brushing teeth (oh, come one. Am I really the only parent who's done that?!) But I'm also the mom who loves her kids fiercely and would move heaven and earth to protect them. I am the wife that strives to be the best I can be for my husband. I want to have and provide the best life I can for my family. Hence, the reason for this blog.

Sooo, this blog. Why am I starting it? What do I hope to accomplish with it? Good questions! This is what I've come up with. I was thinking that there are many other moms out there who want to try things they've never tried, or attempt things they think they may not be good at but want to try anyway. I am that mom, too. So why not try it out together?

Below is a list of things I'd like to try over the next few months (which I already know will turn into a year - but that's ok). If you're interested in any of these things, let's muddle through it together. Share advice. Share failures. Share successes. Sound good? Here it goes:

1. Plant a garden this spring. I tried a few years ago but didn't follow through. The rabbits ate well that summer :)

2. Make my own cleaning supplies. Not only is it cheaper but it's healthier for you.

3. Make food from scratch.

4. Exercise regularly.

5. Meal Plan.

6. Try a Neti Pot. Come on, aren't you the least bit curious?

7. Play with my kids more.

8. Be more patient with my husband and kids.

9. Be more disciplined... in everything.

10. Keep this blog updated :)

Some of these things may seem like "been there, done that" to you but I'm just getting started. Feel free to share what you're hoping to accomplish. Share your experiences, recipes, advice, etc. I love to talk (and to listen). I love giving and getting advice. So share!

I'll keep you posted as I try the things on this list.