Going Through the Motions

This past week was Holy Week. My thoughts should've been consumed by what Jesus did for me when he died on the cross. My hope was that I would spend time in the Word everyday and that I would be diligent about my quiet time, giving myself time to reflect on my faith, my actions, and my heart. I had every intention of talking with God each day and being reverent towards Holy Week. So, what happened you ask? Well, the simple answer is: I overbooked myself, and my husband was out of town for four days. Here's the long answer:

I had an activity booked every morning of last week, which meant that I was racing to get myself ready along with the kids each morning before we left to drop the first one at kindergarten at 7:45am. Now, that is no small feat, my friends. This means that I was not only getting three children fed, dressed, and convinced to brush their hair and teeth, I was also getting myself showered and looking presentable most of those mornings. Yeah, yeah, we all have to do it, and maybe I'm just not as good at it as some of you all are, but, whoa, my mornings certainly did not start out with calmness, prayer, and quiet last week.

I committed myself to making some food to show appreciation for our teachers...I did this partly because I think that teachers have the hardest job in the entire world, but I also did this because I thought that people probably expected me to sign up for something. Here's the problem...I wrote it down for the wrong day, so rather than planning something super special for the teachers, I found myself scurrying around at the last minute to find something in my pantry to get together for these awesome folks. I landed on Deviled Eggs. I LOVE deviled eggs, so I'm not upset at my choice, but I am upset that I was not prepared and that my heart was not in the right place while preparing these eggs for some of the most important people my kids see everyday.

Moving on to the kindergarten musical...we ended up racing home from swim practice and throwing the kids in their clothes and tossing the baby off to the babysitter before racing to the PTA meeting that would be followed by the musical. I honestly couldn't tell you one thing that happened at that PTA meeting. It probably wouldn't have mattered what they asked me to vote for or against because I was distracted by my four year old who was hungry, squirmy, and trying to sit still for the half hour meeting before watching his brother perform. The musical was adorable and totally worth sitting through the meeting for; but, again, my heart and my head were removed from where they needed to be, which was listening to the PTA leaders speak about our school's future. 

Then there was the preschool Easter egg hunt. The kids had so much fun...well, at least the older two had fun...the baby was too busy pulling her straw out of her juicebox and screaming when she tried to put it back in to hunt any eggs. Honestly, the whole event was not fun for me because the "screamer" just makes things difficult when she starts one of her tantrums (she's 18 months old, so it's fine, and it will end, but it's really ear piercing and brutal). Egg hunts never last long, so the effort to get kids there and make sure they get their correct number of eggs, are good sports during the hunt, and put their eggs back together at the end is just a lot. I know, I sound like a spoilsport, and I truly wish that I could've seen this afternoon through my children's eyes; unfortunately, this tired mama couldn't get my head there that day.

Also, my hubby left for the Boston Marathon to cheer on his dad (who finished in 3:53 at 65 years old BTW!!)...his second marathon ever (for those of y'all who don't know, that means he qualified for Boston during his first attempt which is just amazing). Day one flying solo was good. The kids were little angels all day, which was key since I had a lot of cooking/baking to do for Easter brunch. They played sweetly together, they were kind, they were polite, and they were blowing me away with how easy they were all being. I was able to finish a Squash Casserole, some Peanut Butter Chocolate Bites, and some Mini Lemon Tarts all in one swoop. This day qualifies as the great success of the week. We were set for an awesome Easter filled with church, friends, more egg hunts, and family.

Easter morning approached. I was a disaster, my kids were a disaster, and I was by myself trying to get us all to church and in our seats by 9am. One child didn't want to wear the coat that went to his seersucker suit, my daughter's dress needed the hem let out and needed to be pressed, one child got peanut butter on his shirt, and my zipper got stuck on my dress all before 8:30am. We got to church, got the baby settled in the nursery, and I took my older two to the contemporary service. I sincerely tried to get my heart in the right place and to pay attention amidst the wiggling, the "I'm THIRSTY"'s, and the "Can I have a blue crayon?" during the prayer, but alas my mind was focused on my two little boys. I left feeling accomplished in having gotten my kids all dressed, looking cute, and to church on time, but I also left feeling sad that I completely missed the message of Easter amidst my own distractions.

The rest of the day was spent at another egg hunt and at a super fun family brunch complete with its own egg hunt, followed by some fun play time outside at home and then a triple meltdown at 6pm and then a swift triple bedtime by 7pm. My Easter dinner consisted of saltine crackers with cheddar cheese and a glass of wine. My sister commented, "That made me so sad. You could've at least had some water crackers and brie."  No, no I couldn't. In the first place, I did not have anything resembling those items in my kitchen; and, secondly, the cheese was already cut and the crackers were on the counter. I was exhausted, and that cheese and those crackers (and that wine) were good enough that night.

Soccer practice/game on the last night my hubby was away was the icing on the cake. It consisted of one child crying at the end because he missed his last goal...he was inconsolable when we got home. My other child was dog piling his other 4 year old teammates on the sidelines while they were waiting to be called in...he may or may not have jumped on another child with his cleats. And the "screamer" was all over the place and OVER IT...soccer practice ends 15 minutes after her bedtime. Another early night for us at the Lawson house. I did actually make a reasonable, delicious dinner that night (Chipotle Lime Chicken Tacos). This was not me trying to be super mom. This was simply me being selfish. I just didn't want to eat another sandwich or cheese and crackers. I certainly wasn't pouring my love for my children and my heart and soul into this meal like I do every other night.  ;)

All of that to say, I went through the motions last week.  I went through the motions everywhere I needed to be. I was dressed appropriately, but not perfectly; I had a smile on my face, but probably not as often as I usually do; I had my three precious kiddos dressed (sometimes with food all down their shirts) with teeth and hair brushed (not coiffed the way it normally is) and always in tow.  I went through the motions. That is it. I didn't change the world or make anyone else's day better.  I didn't strengthen my faith or minister to the hearts of my three little ones the way that I had planned to. I didn't have my laundry done or my house picked up. I didn't post five dinners on this blog. I didn't offer to host Easter brunch. I went through the motions. That was all I could muster last week. And, you know what? That was fine. We can't all be "on" all of the time. We would wear ourselves ragged. We can't all be perfect and polished and pouring out goodness at all times. We shouldn't try to be. Sometimes, we just survive. We go through the motions for our kids. We go through the motions for our families. We go through the motions for ourselves because what else are we going to do?

This week, I am back. My husband is back. My attitude is back. This week can be my Holy Week. This week can be my re-do. This week I can work on being my best rather than just getting through the day. This time it took me a week to get back on track, but that's not always the case. Sometimes, real "life" gets to you. You lose someone, you lose a job, you lose control, you lose yourself. Your children get sick, your parents get sick, you just get sick and tired. You can't seem to get it together. All you can do is go through the motions. The thing about going through the motions though is that, eventually, maybe a ways down the road, you'll get back on track. You'll be okay. We will all be okay. We don't have to be perfect, but we can't run away and hide. We have to go through the motions, make it through the day, through the week, through life. Some days are harder than others, but, through it all, we have to be true to ourselves, we have to show up for ourselves and the people we love, and we have to get through this crazy life together.

Happy Cooking!

"12 Layers Deep"

Well, as you can see, I've been a little more quiet than usual on the recipe front.  Last week we were met with yet another snow day (and a half) and three sick kiddos.  Thankfully, my in-laws were here the weekend before and had us STOCKED with all kinds of goodies.  So, we basically ate out of the fridge/freezer and enjoyed some pimento cheese sandwiches, chicken salad with crackers and grapes, macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets, and homemade lasagna. 

I have to tell y'all, though, that despite being hunkered down at home for a few days, I had some wonderful experiences this past week.  I got to work with Julia Chandler of Julia's Takeaway Gourmet in her commercial kitchen and be on the "tart line" as she prepared dinner for 100+ people for an event Friday night.   It was amazing to watch her in her element, and she was kind and patient with me as I needed instructions on even the simplest tasks of slicing tomatoes and adding cheese to the tarts.  If you'd like to see a picture of us in all of our tart line glory, check out Julia's post about it, HERE on her blog.

I got to enjoy Julia's wonderful meal on Friday night while having the privilege of eating dinner with an amazing group of women and hearing Glennon Doyle Melton speak on the 5 most asked questions that she gets from women on a daily basis.  After dinner, we headed to the sanctuary of our church to hear her speak again (to a much larger crowd) while raising money for H.O.P.E., which is a non-profit whose aim is to feed hungry children here in the Winston-Salem area.  The next day, I got to hear Glennon speak again at the women's retreat at our church.  My head was truly spinning after all of these events, and I learned so many things that I can start implementing right now.  Out of everything that I heard over the weekend, the two that rang the most true were (1) leaving margin in your life and (2) being your authentic self.

When she was talking about leaving margin, she basically was saying don't "reap" to the edges of your life with your time, your energy, your talents, because, if you do, there won't be anything left for you to give.  I think most of us can relate to this.  Our days are filled with what is mostly good stuff...children, jobs, families, volunteerism, bettering ourselves... BUT, too much "good stuff" can leave us weary and with nothing left to give.  What good does it do for us or for our family/friends/strangers who can benefit from our gifts and talents if we're left pushed to (or beyond) our limits everyday?

I was the recipient of two friends "leaving margin" this week.  My very closest friend here in Winston is an incredible fifth grade teacher who has two small children and a husband to take care of when she arrives home everyday from molding the hearts and minds of her school kiddos.  Well, guess what, even she leaves margin...the other night, she left enough margin to make a meal special enough for an anniversary, birthday, etc just because she wanted to do something kind for me.  She had dinner prepared, the wine poured, the table set, and was dressed to the nines when I arrived at her house for what I thought was a late afternoon play date.  Seriously?  Another friend took the time during her day of racing three kiddos all over (along with all of the other kiddos she helps other mamas out with everyday) to drop by my house, in the rain, with some cookies we had been talking about.  What?  How in the world do these women find the time or the energy?  They leave margin, that's how.

When Glennon was talking about being your authentic self, she said that basically on the surface we are all so different, but if we go "12 layers deep," (Glennon's phrase) we are all more similar than we think in terms of our hopes, our fears, and our dreams.  This got me thinking about a challenge I recently read about "telling your story," your true story, and having it posted on the Momastery blog.  (See link below if you're interested.)

http://momastery.com/carry-on-warrior

Well, here's the thing, my story doesn't involve anything that is totally outrageous and that would become a New York Times bestseller because of crazy, unpredictable plot twists, and there are lots of people I love involved in my story whose permission I would have to get before throwing everything out there into the great unknown.  With that said, mine is a story of great love, joy, heartache, loss, hope, and redemption much like, I am sure, a lot of yours are.  So, here's my thought...rather than posting my story out on the web for all the world to read, (okay, maybe the handful of strangers that would read it) I am going to start writing my story for just me, and I'm going to ask a few of my close friends here if they'll do the same.  Then, my hope is that we will share our stories with each other...or at least parts of our stories...the whole story, our story today, our year's story, our hope for the future story, whatever they're comfortable with today.  Now, I haven't approached them with this yet, but we did have a meeting the other night recapping the weekend where we all opened up about SOMETHING, (struggles with children, struggles with balance, struggles with loneliness, deep thoughts about starfish) and it was powerful.

I have an amazing group of girls that already knows my story.  We all met in college and continue to have a reunion at least once a year and continually catch up on each other's lives via our email banter that we constantly have going.  I can tell them ANYTHING, and when we get together we talk about EVERYTHING.  And when I say everything, I really mean EVERYTHING.  These are the deepest, most authentic relationships I have because we let ourselves be vulnerable with one another...and this is my story with all of my best girlfriends...from Augusta, from Nashville, from Scottsdale, from Winston and beyond. They are the ones that have let me into their hearts and have allowed me to do the same.  These people are so important because they can see things in you that sometimes you, yourself can't see. They look into your soul and know when you're elated, when you're thriving, when you're floundering, and when you're drowning...no matter how you may appear on the outside...believe me, I've tried to hide behind a smile, and it's exhausting, and I've gotten caught in my own headspace, and it backfires...terribly.  It is so much easier to live with your true self out in the open than to hide behind insecurities, anger, fear, rejection, shame, drama. This is what leads to "real" friendships.  Authentic friendship is the only friendship I really know how to do.  The other stuff makes me nervous and makes my closet-introvert self very uncomfortable because I don't really know how to do small talk over long periods of time. (Right, Star?)

We all have a story to share.  We all have hopes, fears, dreams, disappointments, things that overwhelm us, things we'd rather hide, and things we have found to make us stronger.  We all have something others can relate to.  We all have gifts to give through our words.  We all have reasons behind the way that we behave and relate to other people.  We all have blessings to give by opening up and being vulnerable.  And this is why I want to keep the chain going.  Now, I'm not saying to start complaining and to just air your dirty laundry all over the place, but I am saying to find someone you trust, whether you've known them for a while or whether they're a newer acquaintance that could use a friend.  Share your story and ask them theirs. I am going to continue sharing my crazy self with friends both old and new knowing that this is the way to truly live life..."12 layers deep."

Happy Cooking!
 

It's My Party, and I'll Cry if I Want To...Or Maybe Not?

Well, I don't really know where to begin.  This week has certainly NOT been what I expected...

Last Thursday, my husband's parents arrived into town bearing lots of gifts for my son's 6th birthday party planned for Monday and ready to help my husband with the kids for the weekend as I was flying to NYC to surprise my sister for her 30th birthday.  We had a grown up dinner that night of Green Jacket Salad,  Eggplant Gratin, and leftover lasagna made by my neighbor...it was absolutely delicious, and I am hoping that she'll share the recipe with me!  The evening was lovely , and we all headed to bed early and ready for action the next morning.

After getting all of the kiddos off to school, I was on my way!  When I arrived at the airport, there was a slight delay but nothing unexpected.  I was in contact with my brother-in-law all morning trying to plan our surprise attack down to the minute.  He met me downstairs under the guise that he had to run to the ATM really quickly and then asked my sister to grab something out in the hall.  You know what, we ACTUALLY pulled it off!!!  She was shocked that I was there, and she literally picked me up off of the ground.  We had an awesome weekend...I got LOTS of baby snuggles with my 5 week old niece, I think that I may have imparted some baby knowledge to the new parents...just maybe ;), and my brother-in-law threw together a fun brunch menu for my sister including Zucker's Bagels, Eggs with Goat Cheese & Basil, Fresh Fruit, and some cocktails.  I had planned on making Julia's Oven Crispy Chicken for dinner that night, but their oven was on the fritz, so we went for plan B...take out of Fried Chicken, Asparagus, and Lemon Chicken with a yummy salad from The Kitchenette.  SO DELISH!!

View from my sis and blaw's rooftop in NYC

The next day, the surprise was on me.  I got a phone call that my flight was cancelled.  Um, no, that is not acceptable.  That change would be a real pain on any other Sunday afternoon, but I could've managed, especially with my in-laws staying until Monday anyway.  BUT, Monday was my first born's 6th birthday, I was doing the St. Patty's Day party at his school, and his birthday party was planned at the Soccerplex that afternoon.  SO, rather than having the afternoon to peruse around NYC with my sis et al on what was her actual birthday, I hopped in a cab and booked it to the airport.  Thankfully, all was fine, and my plane landed six hours earlier than my original flight, which honestly ended up being a blessing because it gave me time to make birthday cupcakes, get the supplies for the party at school, and see my hubby and kiddos before they went to bed.

Well, the leprechaun must've been upset that we tried to trap him with our stellar leprechaun trap, because SURPRISE! school let out an hour and a half early AND the Soccerplex closed due to the ice storm. What???  My lovely Pinterest/friend inspired fruit rainbow was sitting there ready to take to school for my St. Patty's Day baby's afternoon party at school, I had 48 cupcakes here iced and ready to go to the Soccerplex for his party, and I REALLY didn't want to break it to my son that his party was not going to happen and that we were just going to have a nice afternoon at home with just our family.

So, what does a mama do when her son asks her if he can have a few friends over?  Well, she does just that.  We moved some furniture, whipped up some decorations (luckily his birthday is St. Patty's Day every year, so we're pretty covered in that department...plus, my sweet father-in-law went out that morning and grabbed some additional gear for the original party), and had an impromptu party at our house.  Now, it was much smaller in scale than was originally planned, but I think that our little guy had a blast.  He was in his element with a NCAA inspired basketball tournament going
on in the basement on the double arcade bball game with his grandparents, his daddy, his brother, and his buddies.  After all was said and done, the craziness had subsided, and the gifts were opened, I asked him what he thought of his party.  He replied, "It was the best day.  I got out of school early.  I got to play basketball at MY house with my friends, AND we got to watch a show while we played!!"  WOW.  Through the eyes of my child, I saw how simple it was to find joy when the "leprechaun" turns your day upside down.

I was so upset when I first found out that his party had been cancelled.  I was honestly working myself into a bit of a tizzy worrying about it.  I was worried about my child being upset, I was worried that he would (understandably) sulk about not going to the Soccerplex, I was worried that his birthday would be ruined.  When I saw my child's face and heard his voice, though, I saw through his eyes that it was not a big deal and that he was fine.  He responded exactly how I should respond when life throws me for a loop...he rolled with the punches, had a positive attitude, and decided he was going to have an amazing day.

Isn't it true that attitude is everything?  We're all going to hit bumps in the road, we're all going to have set backs, run into road blocks, and life is going to turn everything on its head at some point.  The lovely truth is that no matter what life throws at us, WE get to choose how we respond.  We can allow things or people to ruin our day, our month, our year.  We can throw temper tantrums and get angry.  OR, we can choose a different approach.  We can choose love over anger, we can choose kindness over pride, we can choose to take control of our lives rather than letting life take control of us.  We can take a deep breath, take a step back, make a plan, and decide that everything is going to be okay.  And you know what?  Everything IS going to be okay.

So, I sit here now, with three sick kiddos at home, counting the minutes until someone needs a tissue, a snack, a fight broken up, a drink, a snuggle, a hug, and I am grateful that I had this gentle reminder about attitude earlier in the week...and that by some miracle I am sitting here writing at this moment :)

Happy Cooking!

Teacher Appreciation Week to Week to Week

So, this morning, I was delivering those Spaghetti Pies that I posted about earlier in the week.  It is teacher appreciation week at my son's elementary school, and it has been really fun to get involved with spoiling our teachers.  As I walked into school carrying my stack o' casseroles in one arm and my one year old on the other, several people commented, let me help you, you're carrying quite a load.  All I could help but think was, this is NOTHING compared to the load these teachers carry every single day with our precious kiddos.

Teaching is a role that I am in awe of.  I would seriously have a panic attack if you told me that I had to sub for even one day.  Standing in front of a class with little (or big) people relying on me to say something meaningful, to teach them something profound...dealing with parents who are either helicoptering their children or who just don't care and are relying on the teachers solely to teach their kids not only intellectual knowledge but emotional knowledge as well...the beaurocrazy (I was going to correct the spelling of that, but it seems about right) that dictates what they can and cannot teach, the testing, the snow make up days, the overworked and underpaid aspect of it all, (that could be a whole week's worth of posts all together) the pure emotional and physical exhaustion of being on their feet all day and shaping hearts and minds.  I need a nap even thinking about all that they endure and are passionate about enduring every.single.day. 

Glennon Melton (who will be here in Winston in just over a week on March 21-22...buy your tickets HERE) wrote about a teacher on her blog Momastery that has gone viral.  It is the perfect example of how these amazing men and women are not only shaping our children's minds but also their hearts.  The blog post is called, "SHARE THIS WITH ALL THE SCHOOLS PLEASE," and can be found HERE. (More to come on Glennon's visit next week!!)

There is nothing that I can do to truly show my gratitude for what each and every one of these teachers is doing for my children...especially not during one week...but we can do some things:

We can pray for our teachers...our children's teachers, our friends who are teachers, those who are career teachers and those who are life teachers.

Get to know our teachers.  Don't take everything at face value or at the word of our children.  Chances are, our teachers have been doing what they're doing for quite a few years and probably, in fact, know exactly what they're doing.

Thank our teachers...don't just make one week about thanking teachers...taking time to say a simple "Thank you!" can go a long way...a note, a gift card, a dinner (some easy recipes are linked below) just take it a step further.

These teachers are on the front lines of helping to form our children into their future selves...let's support them wholeheartedly in any way that we can.  Special love to NSF, MKO, LWT, AEL, CLS, SJL and JMC who are some of my family and best friends who are doing all that they can do embrace our children (young and old) and show them that there's more to learning than striving for straight A's.

Happy Cooking!

LINKS TO RECIPES:

Chicken & Wild Rice

Chicken Enchiladas

Jambalaya

Poppyseed Chicken or Chicken, Broccoli, & Rice Casserole

Stetson Salad if you want something really special

A New Beginning and a Look Back

"Every good and perfect gift is from above..."  - James 1:17

How sweet it is to have new little fingers and toes in the family.  Last weekend, I got to go to NYC to meet my sister & brother-in-law's (blaw's) new baby...my first niece.  I worked to butter up my husband the week before with some yummy meals, Crispy Oven Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Creamed Spinach, some Shrimp & Corn Chowder, and a Sausage & Cheese Grits Casserole for him to enjoy with the kids for breakfast while I was away.

I mean, I know that I am biased, but Baby C is just precious.  Having three children of my own, I thought that I'd know what being an aunt would feel like. And, while the feelings are similar, the experience is completely different.  I'm fairly certain (and my husband is 100% certain) that our little family is complete, so these newborn snuggles were all the more special...plus it's my sister's first baby!!!  What could be more amazing???  I was making a deliberate effort to breathe in every moment of being with that little angel.  I loved getting to hold baby C, relax during the quiet moments while she slept in my arms (and watch 2 movies on a Saturday!,) and just enjoy the slowness of life that comes from having a new baby at home.  I didn't change one diaper, I didn't feed her one time, and she doesn't really cry, so there honestly wasn't much in the way of rocking her to sleep...I'm telling you, this aunt gig is amazing!!  I did attempt to help her parents out with cooking...they are annoyingly self sufficient (I say that in the most loving way possible, Star & Blaw; I was a basketcase and a nightmare with my newborns, and it's just unfathomable to me that they are so calm and so good at this new parent business!!) so it took all the convincing I had to get them to let me grocery shop and cook dinners for them during my short stay.  I made Chipotle Beef Tostadas one night (a hit with all of us but not so much with the baby...whoops!) and my sister's favorite, Macaroni & Cheese with Marinated Chicken Breasts, using the marinade that I usually use for Marinated Pork Tenderloin, and asparagus the next.  It was awesome to see my sis and blaw in their new roles as parents...all of the nervousness and questions that I had being a first time mom came flooding back, and I just had to grin.  Oh, how I wish I could go back and convince myself to just slow down and enjoy the ride rather than worrying about the baby, about my social life, about what to do about work, about getting my body back, about missing out.  Isn't that how it is with most life changing events, though?  Hindsight is always 20/20.

Looking back always offers a more big picture view than the tunnel vision you experience when going through tough times or just making a change.  I couldn't understand at the time why my sweet husband took 7 years to propose, (okay, we met when we were 18, so it really wasn't that much of a stretch) but looking back I see that he always had a plan and that our relationship and marriage is stronger because of it.  I didn't want to move from Charleston to Nashville, leave all of my friends, leave the beach, start a new job, move further away from my family, but looking back, I never would've met some of the most important people in my life nor would I have "grown up" in my marriage and in my role as a mama in quite the same way.  And even worse was moving to Scottsdale (I know that you are all probably rolling your eyes at me...Charleston, Nashville, Scottsdale...rough life!) not knowing a soul, having a 10 month old and a 2 year old, knowing that my husband would be away more than he'd be at home, moving literally across the country from my entire support system...but if we hadn't have done that, I can assure you that our little family's foundation would not be nearly as strong as it is today, my faith would not have been renewed and challenged, and I wouldn't have met and been blessed by amazing friends, especially during hard moments there.  The Lord was working hard in my life during those two years to get me where I am today.  Our move back east came with tears and also with excitement...a new baby on the way, a new job on the horizon, friends that we knew in Winston already, and a drive that was doable for visiting our families on the weekends.  It has all come full circle for us...we met here in Winston at Wake and now we're here making a life for ourselves and our family right back in the same spot.  Had you asked my 18 year old self where I saw myself in 15 (okay 17) years, I would have never guessed that I'd end up right where I was, but there's a reason for everything, and I thank the dear Lord everyday that He has a plan for my life that I could/can never even dream for myself.

All of that to say that when you find yourself in the midst of something wonderful, something new, something scary, something hard, something painful, something that requires more of you than you think you can handle, take a deep breath and remind yourself that you are strong and that you'll make it through and look back one day with fresh eyes.  Through it all, remember this: "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" - Jeremiah 29:11

Happy Cooking!

Heart and Sole

photo courtesy of Heart & Sole website

Becoming an aunt nearly three weeks ago has been one of the greatest joys of my life.  My new little niece is just perfect, and her parents are truly amazing...more to come on my visit to NYC to meet her coming soon...

BUT, for now, I wanted to share with you a story of one the first of my friends to become an aunt, Stacey Haskins Garner.  It was eight years ago, and I have never seen someone so thrilled for her sister to have a sweet baby girl.  Sadly, baby Bowen only graced us on this earth for a few short days before returning to her Heavenly home, but her presence has been felt here ever since.  Stacey used this tragedy and turned it into something amazing:  Heart and Sole.  I encourage you to go to the website to find out the full story behind Heart and Sole and the absolutely incredible things that it has accomplished for the Children's Hospital of Georgia in Augusta.  

If you haven't already done so, click HERE to register for the 5K that is THIS SATURDAY along with the Evening Celebration which is always fabulous!!  Below is Stacey's story from this year:

Happy Cooking!

A Whole NEW Perspective ~ 2014

(original post found HERE.) 

Written by Stacey Haskins Garner Wednesday, February 19 2014

A Whole New Perspective ~ Looking at 2014 a little different.....

Happy February Everyone!
I like to think of this month as a time for LOVE, Valentines Day and Heart Awareness BUT also it is a very BIG time for Heart and Sole Inc ~ The KICKOFF for the Annual 5k and Evening Celebration.
Every year, I try my VERY best to explain to EVERYONE possible – “What is Heart and Sole?”  I started Heart and Sole in 2006, after losing my niece Margaret "Bowen" McElreath. For 8 years I have viewed the Children's Hospital of Georgia & HS from the view of being an aunt to a very special little girl. This year it is a little different for me than any other year, as I am expecting my first child, a baby girl, in June.  I now know the anxious feelings that come along with expecting a child and wondering the BIG “what ifs”.  As I try to cast away all of my fears, there are several factors that keep the “what ifs” at bay.

1. Faith in Him keeps me grounded…. Trusting Him at all times and knowing that He puts the right people along our path to care for the “what ifs” BUT you still have the "what ifs" at times. Without Him...  I would be a mess worrying.
2. I have an incredible doctor, Dr. McDonough. (If you know me… I am a little OCD and he tries his best to understand me BUT most important he calms me when I have concerns. I am in GREAT hands.)
3. I have a wonderful family and supportive friends. (No one said pregnancy is perfect or easy.)
4. LASTLY, I have the Children’s Hospital of Georgia. And this is what helps me sleep at night!

I am so excited about looking forward to this years Heart and Sole event in March with a whole new perspective…. As a future mother!! So whether you are a mother, aunt, grandmother, father, uncle, grandfather or a cousin….  Cast your fears away and support the ONE facility that is ALWAYS open and ready for the “what ifs”.
It can happen to you… in the middle of the night or a bright sunny day ~ You might face the “what ifs,” BUT know that the Children’s Hospital of Georgia is right here for ALL of us.
Join us for the 5K, Evening Event or both for a guaranteed GREAT time and Help make a difference!
For more information on where the 2013 funds were directed once donated to the Children’s Hospital of Georgia, PLEASE read below! If you joined us in 2013, you are part of the reason that these services and items helped make a difference and we thank YOU!
See you on March 1^st!!!
Stacey Haskins Garner
We are GROWING at Heart and Sole....
A BIG congrats to ALL of the new Heart & Sole babies that we welcomed and will welcome to HS Board Members this Spring!
James Gardiner "Bo" Weigle ~ Proud parents are Elizabeth and Reed Weigle (Dec. 2013)
Blakely Elizabeth Cowart ~  Proud parents are Lauren and Jason Cowart (Jan. 2014)
Baby Girl Walker ~ Expecting Parents are Whitney and Blake Walker ( Arriving in March '14)
Baby McElreath ~ Expecting Parents are Cameron and Sam McElreath ( Arriving in April '14)
Bennett Lane Dallas ~ Expecting Parents are Lauren and Al Dallas  (Arriving in May '14)
Baby Girl Garner ~ Expecting Parents are Stacey and Reed Garner (Arriving in June '14)

Heart and Sole 2013 Donations
CAMP STRONGHEARTS
Heart and Sole is the SOLE sponsor of Camp Strong Hearts each Summer. This is a camp that allows heart children the opportunity to be a kid and leaving the parents at ease that they are in the BEST hands. This commitment each year is a minimum donation of $15,000.
PICU
In 2013, Heart and Sole helped replace the Rocking chairs in the PICU. These chairs are used for the families that have young children that need the tender care of their families during the difficult time of being a patient in the hospital. Special chairs are needed to meet hospital code and these chairs are different, as they need to be cared for after each use.
General Surgery/OR Services
In 2013, Heart and Sole purchased a special Pediatric Crib that is needed to help the critical care infants and toddlers. This bed is in addition to many others on the PICU/NICU floors, yet with the limited type of this bed…. This gave the hospital space to care for one more child of this critical level.
ChildLife Specialists
In 2013, Heart and Sole gave funding for 50 game mounts for the game systems throughout the facility. This is extremely important, as many of these systems have been acquired through donor dollars and fundraising. These mounts make sure that these systems stay in each room and are properly cared for. A VERY big need in a children’s hospital is a way to distract these sweet children from the pains and ailments that they are experiencing.


Thanks for reading about this awesome organization... I hope you'll decide to participate if you're closeby...and even if you're not :)  Again, registration can be found HERE.

Happy Cooking!

Unused Gifts

So, my plan this week was to eat out of the pantry/fridge/freezer and just got to the store for the staple items...you know, bread, milk, fresh fruit, wine :)  The idea was to spend as little as possible on food this week and see where we ended up.  We weren't overflowing with food, but we had PLENTY to get us through the week, so I thought this would be a fun challenge.  Plan?  Challenge?  Budgeting?  Be still my heart...three things that I LOVE...I had set myself up for a great week!  Well, I ran into a few problems...

(1) Because we really had no leftovers and no lunch staples, I ate lunch out with friends three days last week.  I rarely EVER go out to lunch, and it was fun, and I definitely wouldn't change it, but it certainly did not jive with my money saving strategy.  Oops!  (2) I was not excited AT ALL to cook dinner last week.  We ended up eating leftover Seven Layer Dip from the Super Bowl, two soups that were homemade (Creamy Sweet Potato and Rosemary Soup from the freezer and Brunswick Stew courtesy of Julia's Takeaway Gourmet,) Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets with Roasted Rosemary Potatoes and Lima beans, leftover Bean, Spinach, and Quinoa Burritos (frozen), and pizza.  Don't get me wrong, heating up leftovers and making dinners easy is a wonderful, beautiful thing...I just doesn't really suit me...and here's why:

(1) I really do LOVE to cook.  I love to make things from scratch.  I love to cook with my boys.  I love to make something yummy for my husband to enjoy when he gets home from work.  I love the preciseness of a recipe along with the freedom to change any ingredient to suit my tastes.  I love that I have an activity late in the day that I enjoy and that leaves my house smelling delicious.  I love everything about cooking dinner.  It truly brings me great joy.  (2) When I am bored, I snack more...lots of afternoon snacks were eaten by both me and the kids this past week because I wasn't busy preparing dinners.  (3) I really didn't spend any more "quality" time with my family by not cooking.  Usually the boys are with me in the kitchen or at least right in the next room and the baby is playing with the tupperware.  (4) I certainly didn't save any money :)

The moral of this story is that I will be back on track this week with a menu that I am excited about...
Creamy Tomato and Sausage Pasta
Rainbow Chicken Salad with Almond Honey Mustard Dressing
Pork Verde Tacos with Angel Hair Cole Slaw
Roasted Salmon with Miso Sauce
Lemony Shrimp & Risotto

We all have our different gifts and passions, and although I am lacking in many areas, I can say that cooking is one of my gifts.  I missed it this past week.  Have any of you out there put your gifts on the back burner because of a job, family, stage of life, time contraints, whatever?  If so, I encourage you to dust off those gifts and put them back into use.  I think you'll be surprised at what you've been missing!

Happy Cooking!!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Again, the lyrics to the song referenced in the title of this post have very little to do with me, my blog, or anything remotely close to what's going on in my life, but there it is ;)

Ahhhh, the week after Christmas break.  Thankfully, we were able to sort of ease back into the swing of things as we had two "snow" delay days.  Now, when I say snow, what that really means is that it was 7 degrees and sunny, but I will take it any way I can get it!  I know that some people were not as excited about the delayed start as I was, but it was SO nice to let the boys sleep in to their regular 8:30 post-holiday wake up time rather than waking the oldest up at 6:45, fighting with my middle child who just goes through life on a different plane from the rest of us sometimes, and waking the baby, dressing her, and feeding her before racing out the door!

In anticipation of this being our first week "back to life, back to reality" and our routine, I decided to go really simple on the meals.  I also decided to try a couple of new cooking light recipes as I'm really working to even things out from the holidays where I splurged each and every day for 14 (or more!) days :)

Monday nights are basketball nights which means feeding the kids early and then racing to bball practice, getting home, bathed, and getting some sort of additional food into their little bodies before heading off to bed at least an hour after their usual bedtime (I still think my children should go to bed at 7:30 even though this hasn't been working for at least 6 months now ;))  Because of this being my first day back "on," I thought I would keep it super simple** and opted for a new tortellini soup recipe that I found on pinterest.  It was so creamy and yummy, and it was perfect for leftover lunches.

**side note...I am still working on figuring out my "limits" with my time, with my energy, and with my patience, so manageable meals on crazy nights is something that I can control pretty easily ;)  Also, joining the Y so that my 1 year old can go to childcare during my older kids basketball practices/games is something that I have found adds to my overall "calm,"  not to mention that it was a good selling point for our family joining the gym again after a LONG hiatus!

In that same vein, I decided that it was time for an oldie but goodie this week and opted for the chicken enchilada recipe that a dear friend from Scottsdale shared with me during our time out there.  This recipe is always a hit with my family and it is always GONE after one sitting...again, trying to manage patience the week that school started back was an intentional effort this week!!

Speaking of patience, I definitely lost my cool after the first two days of actually being back on our regular schedule.  We just could not get it together over here, people.  Getting our kindergartener off to school was fine because, well, he has to be at school on time or he (actually I) gets the dreaded pink slip.  It is SO embarrassing to walk down the hall holding my child's hand with nothing to hide that bright pink little piece of paper that screams, "yep, this mama can't get her act together."  It's even better if my other kids are in their pjs with no coats, and it's freezing outside!!  But, I digress..we made it to preschool (which starts over an hour later) 20 minutes late, and then I basically raced around like a crazy woman all day.  I thought that I was again keeping it simple with another crockpot recipe.  It really wasn't hard, and if I had been on my game, it would've been actually an easy meal to throw together...BUT, I didn't have my act together, so I ended up chopping meat, chopping veggies, and throwing everything in the crockpot in a mad dash so that it would MAYBE be done in time for dinner...which it wasn't (I mean, we do eat SUPER early around here, so this would not be a problem for most of you, I'm sure.)  My kids didn't want to eat it...look at the picture on the previous blog post...it really wasn't something that screamed deliciousness just from its looks...again, from last week, though, looks can be deceiving, and it was really good, hearty, healthy, and the kids ate it up once they actually tasted it (lots of bribing, closing eyes, maybe a few threatening words occurred before that actually happened.)

After that night, I decided I needed a couple nights off (again, managing expectations of myself in full effect here!)  So, we had dinner in with friends, dinner out with friends, and take out the rest of the week...that is why there were no notes accompanying the last menu item from last week.  I did make it last night, so more on that to come later ;)

So, to all of you who are also "back to life, back to reality," here is my hope:  I hope that everyone can take a deep breath, realize what's important, search for what to hold on to and what to let go, and just make life a little easier for yourself.  I'll leave you with a quote that is up on my chalkboard downstairs in the playroom, "Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."  - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Cooking!

Looks Can Be Deceiving

Last week was a little out of the ordinary for us in terms of meals.  I tried some healthy new recipes that ended up being delicious but too complicated for this mama of three 5 and under.  Part of this was due to the fact that I had some extra hands with my husband around on New Year's Day and for lunches a couple of days.  Here's how the week began: we arrived back home from Augusta on Sunday afternoon and went straight to a New Year's Eve Eve Eve party for the kids.  A magician, ice cream bar, balloon animals, face painting, and a 7:00 balloon drop made for the perfect family New Year's event.  This was in contrast to my actual New Year's Eve when George was on call...fast forward two days.

So, they say looks can be deceiving, right?  This was definitely the case last week...exhibit A:  our New Year's Eve meal.  To the untrained eye, this may look like a perfect setting for two, which it was.  I sent this picture to a friend of mine showing her what we were having for dinner that night...date night in as we have learned from too many New Year's plans gone awry when George is on call.  This picture was taken around 3pm, and the salad, dressing, champagne, and wine were quickly whisked back into the refrigerator until George got home...and about 5 minutes later, he got a call from the hospital that he was needed back there to help with a hand injury that was no doubt incurred by someone already enjoying New Year's Eve a little too much.  Hey, at least it wasn't me or anyone in my family heading to the ER...I'll take it!  Dinner was rushed and chaotic (but that's the norm around here with the kids,) and then George was off.  The kids and I watched a mock ball drop on YouTube (luckily they aren't quite old enough to realize that it said 2010 at the end of the drop,) then it was off to bed for them, and a night with NBC and my wine for me.  Honestly, this has been my NYE story since 2006, the year after George started residency, so there is really no disappointment in it at all.  Happy New Year!

We did finally get to celebrate a few nights later with yet another salad (yep, it's the week after Christmas,) and that champagne!!  I attempted a Gwyneth Paltrow duck recipe, which was amazing...who knew that Hoisin sauce was so easy to make?  The only problem is that the ingredients are not so easy to find.  Red Miso paste?  Preserved Lemons?  Harissa paste? Five Spice Powder? Duck breasts?  George made a trip to an Asian market here in town and found several ingredients that my regular grocery store doesn't carry due to my stepping outside the box and being adventurous...also, I found out that Lowe's Foods carries frozen whole organic ducks...the only problem was that I had to butcher it so that I could then grill the duck breasts (I decided to do the legs and thighs too after all the effort.)  Good thing my mom grew up on a farm and I had seen her break down a chicken (and I have watched Ina do it a time or too also, I believe ;).)  Thus, exhibit B...beautiful dinner that looks relatively easy to make (this was not the case, my friends!)

The rest of the meals last week were equally as complicated and will not be repeated until my children are old enough to drive around to different grocery stores and purchase all of my ingredients for me!!!

This actually has nothing to do with food at all, but this is what I was doing one night when George was, once again, back at the hospital for the evening.  My sister and I were texting about her baby that is due in February.  After many lines of back and forth comments, pictures, etc, I decided to tell her what labor was like through emoticons:

Exhibit C: one may think from this that I actually have some knowledge of emoticons, that my labors were a breeze, or that I have WAY too much time on my hands ;)  None of those statements are true, but it made for a funny FB post by my sister.

So, yes, my friends, looks can be deceiving.  I never want anyone to think that everything is always peaches and roses over here in Laws On Dinner land.  Don't get me wrong, it's a great place to be, but I worry that people sometime take things from social media at face value when there is a lot more to people's stories than what they put on FB.  So, in this new year, I hope that we can all find contentment and joy in our "everyday" no matter what those days may look like to other people!

This week is back to the grind with school starting back, schedules filling up, and my meal planning revolving around my philosophy...one grocery store, once a week when at all possible.  On the menu are some comfort foods for this cold weather: Creamy Tortellini Soup, Cooking Light's Beef Daube Provenal (basically a beef stew over noodles,) Chicken Enchiladas, and Broiled Tilapia with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce.

Happy Cooking!

Out of the Mouths of Babes...Our Christmas Wrap Up

This past week was filled with great time with family and friends, baby showers, meeting babies, and lots of yummy food.  It was truly wonderful and truly exhausting as all of our successful family get-togethers tend to be.  Our family connected at my parents' house in Augusta.  My brother flew in from Telluride, CO which always ends up having its share of complications and showed up about 4 hours late (a success in our books.)  My sister and brother-in-law made the 12 hour car trek from NYC...by the way, she's 8 months pregnant...that is family love if I've ever seen it!  My husband drove one of the kids, and I drove with the two others, one of which screamed for literally a third of the trip, and all I could think was that I was so thankful to be in the car with a screaming baby on a 3.5 hour car trip rather than flying across country with two toddlers by myself for Christmas (which is what I did for 2 Christmases while we were in Scottsdale, AZ.)  Piece of cake!

While trying to come up with how to convey our Christmas week to you, I decided that there is no way to wrap up this week in one blog post and do it any justice.  So, I will share details of the baby showers and our menus at another time...but for now, I thought the best way to give you a glimpse into our week was "out of the mouths of babes."  Here are some sweet, funny, and truly embarrassing quotes from my 5 and 4 year old...

The first morning we were there, Henry (4,) my brother, and I were sitting at the breakfast bar, and my dad came down the stairs.  Henry turned around and greeted my dad with a deadpan, "Hi, Bill." and resumed his breakfast.

Me: "Henry, I need a hug and a kiss from you this morning."
Henry: Dramatic pause, followed by a kiss on a the hand, then, "Yes, Your Majesty."  Again, deadpan.

Me:  "George (5,) is Clara asleep in the back seat?"
George: "Yes."
Me: "She is?"
George: "Oh wait, no.  No, she's not asleep.  BRAIN, START WORKING!"

Me: "Henry, how did you like that party?"
Henry: Sigh, "It was so loud and so much music that I just couldn't hear myself."

George to Henry, "Henry, I love you, but you are wearing me out!"

George: "Mom, I have a secret to tell you.  I love you so much.  Being with you is the BEST day."
(kid knows how to work it at bedtime.)

Henry: (at the same bedtime) "Mom, I think my bottom is trying to tell me I need to go poo poo!"
Henry: (five minutes later) "Mama, I can't get this big poo poo out.  I think it's really STRONG!"

George:  (forty minutes into the same bedtime) "Mom, do you know what the best Christmas present is?  Our family!"

Henry: "I love baby (what he calls Clara,) and the best Christmas present is going to bed."

AND THE KICKER AT CHRISTMAS EVE CHURCH:
Let me set the scene for you...all was going swimmingly...we dressed for church an hour early and had plenty of time for some lovely photos, got to church in plenty of time to drop Clara in the nursery (she didn't even cry!) and had great seats in church that allowed the boys to actually see and hear what was going on.  About 45 minutes into the service, Henry was really squirmy so I started whispering to him explaining to him what the music and the lessons were all about.  He was listening pretty well then all of a sudden turns to me at full volume during one of the prayers and announces: "MOM!  Your breath stinks!"  SERIOUSLY?  That's what you're going to announce to the entire First Baptist Church???  I mean, my throat hurt all week, and yes, maybe, but REALLY??? it couldn't have been THAT bad!  Well, what can you do but keep your head down and continue praying, right?  Right...except for if you're my sister, who swung around with her mouth agape, hysterically laughing and who continued to do the silent laugh with her shoulders bouncing up and down for the remainder of the service.  All I have to say is that it's a good thing we weren't sitting next to each other or we would've never pulled it together.  Well, there went the reverence of Christmas Eve.  Oh, Henry, you always keep us on our toes!!!

So, with that, I'll leave you with Happy Happy New Year!  I hope it is filled with lots of laughter, love and unexpected surprises :)

"Write it on your heart that everyday is the best day of the year."  -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Cooking!

The Calm Before the Storm

Here we are the week before Christmas, and I am feeling incredibly calm.  This week has been no less hectic that the past few, but my attitude has somehow changed.  I think that a big part of it is that I have made list upon list upon list, and I LOVE checking things off of a list.  Last week I was living by my "head calendar," as one of my friends pointed out, and I was dropping the ball left and right.

It all started Monday night at basketball practice for the boys.  I was off my game because my husband got called into an emergency at work and couldn't make it to practice (problem because he's the coach.)  We raced around as usual before practice to try and cram some food into the children...my choice of the night was lamb burgers.  One of the boys LOVED it, the other wouldn't touch it, (although he ate it and loved it the next day...hmmm) and the baby ate a few bites and then proceeded to throw the rest on the floor, which, by the way, is her new favorite game.  Once we got to practice, I know I looked like a bug whose eyes are about to pop out of its head because I was running around chasing my one year old, who only wants to be where the action is and is constantly trying to get herself nailed with a basketball, and trying to make sure the boys were where they needed to be, participating, etc.  The five year old was fine, and the parents were awesome to pick up the slack with no coach present...the four year old was a different story.  My four year old lives with his head in the clouds and has the greatest imagination.  He doesn't actually "play" basketball, but he "pretends to play" basketball.  He has his own role plays going on in his head with coaches, refs, other players, etc, and it usually doesn't really match up with what his coach is actually trying to get him to do.  It is really funny to watch, actually, but I am trying to find the balance in letting his imagination run wild and in getting him to follow the "rules."  He's four, I think we're fine...right?

Tuesday, I needed a do-over.  I forgot to drop off a friend's stroller for her new baby.  I forgot my child's diaper bag when I dropped her off in the nursery before Bible study.  I forgot to do prayer requests at Bible study (how can you forget that?!?!?)  I forgot that I had signed up to be the mystery guest reader in my four-year old's class.  Luckily his brilliant teacher emailed me that morning and I happened to check it as I was leaving Bible study.  I made it 2 minutes late...with no book...and no entertainment for the one year old.  It was a special special day to say the least.  This is the day that my friend used the term "head calendar," and that spoke directly to how I was living last week.  I quickly added a 2014 planner to my Christmas wish list.  That night, I made a delicious and beautiful meal, gnocchi with spinach cream sauce.  It was so so yummy, but dinner was not so delightful.  The kids didn't like the pasta (I think it was the green,) and everyone was in melt down mode.  I posted a picture of our table with the baby screaming, one child standing in his chair, and the other child drinking his milk which he proceeded to dump on the floor right after I took the picture.  All we could do was hysterically laugh because it was just such an appropriate ending to the day. 

Wednesday, I decided I needed to get it together and make a plan...and when I say make a plan, I mean plan a cookie decorating party for 20ish kids.  We'll return to that in a bit.  Wednesday nights are always a bit of a disaster around here.  My mom used to say that she would "lose her religion on the way to church."  Well, that's what Wednesdays sometimes feel like for us.  The boys have choir and chimes, and we eat dinner at church.  My kids LOVE eating with their friends, and I love that they are excited about going to church.  BUT, it is always a late night, and everyone is usually crying on the way home, which makes bedtime pretty painful.  This is why we have decided to make Wednesday nights our date night in...we need it after the whirlwind of our evening.  I have talked about date nights in before, but I would highly recommend them once again.  It makes an ordinary night a little special, which is what each of us needs every once in a while.

Thursday was a breeze...I got my haircut, I visited a friend and her new baby, I made a kid-friendly dinner of chicken cordon bleu, and my best friend and her kiddos came over for a playdate and stayed for an impromptu dinner.  It was lovely.  ALL five children ate all of their food, and my friend and I got to enjoy each other's company while our hubbies worked late.  I must've needed some calm before the storm on Friday...which leads us to the oh so crazy and oh so fabulous Christmas Cookie Decorating Party...

My four year old had been begging me to decorate cookies, and I had put him off all week.  So, I decided it would be fun to have a few friends over to join us.  I was already planning on helping a friend make gingerbread houses for our kindergarteners' class, so I figured my kitchen would already be in disarray.  Well, the cookie idea just snowballed, and I ended up with three banquet tables full of kids making beautiful Christmas cookies.  I kept it simple with break and bake cookies and made buttercream frosting (recipe here...I added a little extra milk so that the consistency was a little more runny.)  I covered the tables with craft paper and bought condiment bottles from Michaels to put the frosting in.  We laid out 3 colors of frosting and several bottles of sprinkles on each table and let the kids go nuts.  It was WILD, and the kids had a blast.  We still have no rugs in our house, so I figured now was a great time to do this party and not stress out about having sugar in all forms all over my floors.  I learned a few things in the process...sprinkles are pretty but kind of a bad idea (I am still finding and stepping on them.)  Next time, I will use bigger candies and bigger cookies.  I will give the girls 2 cookies and the boys 5, and it will take them the same amount of time to decorate them ;)  The girls really were amazing with their exquisitely decorated cookies, and the boys pretty much dumped a bunch of icing and at least half a bottle of sprinkles on their cookies and called it a
day.  Luckily the weather was nice so that they could go burn off some energy after the sugar high!!  That night, we ordered pizza.

Saturday night was a holiday block party and an impromptu date night out...gasp, I know!

I want to share a link to one of my favorite blogs about slowing down during the holidays.  http://www.breadandhoneyblog.net/room-inn/  I read this Monday morning, and I think it has a lot to do with why I'm feeling more calm and at peace this week.  Have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS WEEK!!

Happy Cooking!  

On this week's menu are butternut squash ravioli with brown butter sauce, pizza casserole, kid-friendly turkey chili, some holiday treats, and a couple of breakfast casseroles for next week.

It's the MOST Wonderful Time of the Year...and a GREAT time to save time and money!

Okay, so after last week's crazy, this week has been much more manageable.  I have loved slowing down a little bit and enjoying the holidays.  As suspected, the decorations are up, most of the Christmas shopping is done, my Christmas cards are addressed and ready to be mailed tomorrow, and the laundry is done...for today.

I have decided to share a few little nuggets that I have found helpful when trying to maximize time and money...especially during this busy time of year.

Lowe's Foods To Go Express:
I have long been a fan of Harris Teeter's Online Shopping, and this week I tried out Lowe's Foods To Go.  They are essentially the same process; however, Lowe's has an express service that allows you to purchase 15 items or less, and they will be ready in under an hour!  The cost of this service is only $2...you can usually make that up in coupons!!  It was a big help this week when I ran out of baby wipes, milk, and baby food pouches at the same time, and it was POURING down rain and freezing outside.  LOVE this service and would highly recommend it for those of you in Winston.  For those not in Winston, any grocery delivery or pick up service is so worth the money and your time!!

Meringue Icing
Growing up, my brother, sister, and I would all make gingerbread houses with our mama every year.  Back in those days, we were allowed to bring them in to share with our classes during the Christmas season, and we all got to eat the candy on the last day of school before the holidays.  Any of you EDS or Forest Hills people remember this???  I have the most wonderful memories of this tradition.  The memory that sticks out in my mind the most is the year that the icing exploded all over the kitchen.  If any of you have ever worked with Royal Icing, you know that it is essentially like glue, and it literally STUCK all over our kitchen.  My mom just started dying laughing as did we!  Well, two other moms and I have been charged with putting together gingerbread houses for our kindergarteners' class this year.  The suggestion was to use super glue to glue graham crackers onto milk cartons.  We decided to use icing, and when I asked my mom for the Royal Icing recipe, she turned me onto Meringue Powder.  This stuff is amazing!  SO much easier than beating all of those eggs...3 ingredients and you're done!  I ordered it from Amazon while waiting in line for my dry cleaning two days ago, and today it is here...which brings me to my next favorite thing...

Amazon Prime
This is one of my favorite processes!  You can literally order almost anything you could ever possibly need, and it arrives at your house within two days.  There is a cost involved, but it is quickly recovered by not paying for shipping.  If you haven't tried it, do it!  I buy everything from diapers to meringue powder to Christmas presents to ski gear on this site.  The only problem is that it makes making purchases WAY too easy ;)

Walmart.com
So, this is a new thing that I have discovered...you can order items from Walmart.com, and if you spend $49, they will deliver everything right to your door for FREE!  No more fighting the parking lot and the people and the madness that is involved with a trip to Walmart...I mean, really, who doesn't spend $49 every single time you visit Walmart or Target????  I have started purchasing all of my bulk paper items, baby items, etc. from this site, and it has changed my life!!

Homemade Laundry Detergent
This is just about the easiest thing to make in the world.  All you need is a bar of soap (I use Ivory,) a cup of Borax, and a cup of Arm and Hammer Washing Soap.  You can either grate the soap and mix the ingredients together or chop it together in your food processor.  I can make about 6 batches of laundry detergent for approximately $20!!  Seriously!  It works well, and it is safe for top and front end loaders.  Here is one method you can use from wellnessmama.com:  Homemade Laundry Detergent

RetailMeNot
Okay, seriously, do not EVER purchase anything online without searching for a coupon code.  Most websites will offer deals on their home page and mention promo codes to use at checkout.  I have searched many sites over the years always looking for the best bargains. (Ask my sister...it's sort of a game that I have going with myself.)  The best site that I have found is RetailMeNot.com.  It is easy to navigate, easy to search, and there's an app you can use as well.  I should have kept track of how much I have saved over the years by using this website.  Amazing!

I would love to hear any tips that you all may have to pass along as well ;)

Up this week are lamb burgers, gnocchi with spinach and goat cheese cream sauce, butternut squash ravioli, flank steak with roquefort butter sauce, and chicken cordon bleu.

Happy Cooking!

Taming Hurricane Amy

Ahhhh, the week after Thanksgiving...I am CRAZY this week...and I think most everyone I know has been too.  Is it because there are only 3 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year?  Is it because we live in a new house?  Is it because I have a one year old and not a newborn this year?  I have done zero Christmas shopping, my house is half decorated, my Christmas cards JUST got ordered yesterday, and I still haven't finished all of my laundry that piled up last weekend!

I have been running around like Hurricane Amy this week, and driving everyone around me (including myself) nuts.  TRUTH...ask my friends, my husband and my mom!  Today I decided to take a break from my life and go get my nails done and have lunch with a friend.  Does it really take so little to change my attitude and get me back on course remembering what this season is all about?  Truly a little time for myself has made me calmer, more reflective, and more thankful than I have been all week.

There are so many blessings right in front of me that I often overlook in the midst of the chaos of my every day.  I'll just mention a few as I reflect on last week.  I had all of my immediate family here for Thanksgiving...the ages spanned from 1 to 87...blessing.  Actually there's one younger than 1 that's scheduled to arrive in February...blessing.  My sister (7 months pregnant) and brother-in-law drove over 9 hours to come visit us for just a couple of days...and my brother flew across the country encountering way too many delays to see us for the same amount of time...blessing.  They could've easily decided to go their own ways for Thanksgiving as, as mentioned before, Christmas is only 3 weeks away...blessing.  Thanksgiving evening was spent with my husband, my kids, my mom and dad, and my grandmother all together in the kitchen having a pizza party and a dance party while the pizzas baked...blessing.  The weather on Saturday (when we actually celebrated Thanksgiving all together) was gorgeous and perfect for a 10ish mile run with my brother and for frying our turkey...blessing.  No one got burned or injured during the cooking festivities despite my middle child trying to jump over the hook up from the turkey fryer to the gas...BLESSING!

I could go on and on, and I often get so caught up in the details of the day that I forget to enjoy all of the amazing moments that occur.  I am involved with a Bible study right now called The Christ Centered Woman that has been such a good reminder of where my focus should remain.  The premise is that if we make our decisions based on Christ being the center of our lives that our lives will be more balanced.  Why is it that the time leading up to Christmas is usually when most of us lose sight of this?  Logic tells us that if we're celebrating Christmas that our focus should naturally be on Christ, but it is so often not the case.  There is so much talk of Santa and the Elf on the Shelf and good behavior and threats to not get presents, etc, etc, etc.

I am trying to make the effort to be more intentional about talking about baby Jesus and the story of Christmas with my children not only for their little ears but for mine too.  I have decorated my mantle not with my normal candles, stocking holders, and ornaments; I have instead decorated with three homemade nativities by my children, one that was my grandmothers, one that we got as a wedding shower gift, and one that was given to my children by their grandparents.  This is the focal point of the room, and I am hopeful that this will help my focus remain where it needs to be and keep Hurricane Amy at bay.  (We can only hope!!)  The shopping will get done (it always does, and there are always way too many gifts under the tree,) the house will get decorated, my Christmas cards will get mailed, and my laundry will get finished...well, that never really actually happens, but you catch my drift.  So I'm going to take a deep breath, make time for myself, and remember the Reason for the Season!

On the menu this week:
Tortellini Soup with Spinach
White Chicken Lasagna
Lamb Burgers with Pickled Feta Sauce
Spaghetti with Homemade Meatballs (gotta carb up for the big 1/2 marathon on Saturday!!)

Happy Cooking!!

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This...

I do realize that the song referenced in the title of this blog post has NOTHING to do with food, raising children, or anything that I normally do on a daily basis, but that was the chorus that was swimming through my mind almost all last week...

Unfortunately, I don't have much to share in terms of dinner successes this week...that's not to say that we didn't have some delicious meals, but the week started and ended with a bang, and we were just in survival mode over here...you are fairly warned before you start reading :)

My husband left for Phoenix on Monday morning.  THAT was the morning that the mural incident (see last week's blog post...BIG mom fail!) happened.  I was preparing my husband's grandmother's lasagna to freeze and surprise him with when he returned from Phoenix the following Sunday.  George was upstairs trying to cram some last minute studying in before he left, and I was ALL over the place...maybe I was trying to do too much you may say?  Me?  Never!  ;)  Definitely not the send off I wanted George to leave with.  George's eyes were huge as he kissed us all goodbye wondering if we would be okay while he was gone...so, that's how my week began!

Luckily, my mom swooped in to help, and I am SO grateful because all three of my children ended up being sick.  The bad news about sick kids is that they are pitiful, make you sad, and can be SUPER whiny, getting on each others' nerves, and just plain mean.  The good news is that they all went to bed before 7:00 every single night giving me and my mama some great quality time together and a much needed reprieve.  The other bad news is that when you're the only parent home with three sick children, you are up AT LEAST three times at night every.single.night.

Before I realized all were going to end up sick, we had some sweet friends over for a last minute playdate and dinner.  I LOVE spontaneous dinners with friends, and when those happen, I usually have fall backs on hand for kids who may not love what we are having for dinner that night.  Those nights are meant to be filled with fun, laughter, and hopefully some adult conversation, so making sure the kids eat and are happy is key!!  The adults enjoyed some potato soup and some vino while the kids ate quesadillas, and my boys ate a little of the soup.  I highly encourage these spontaneous meals.  Just like wine always tastes better out of crystal (according to my mama,) meals always seem to taste better when we share them with friends!!

Since the kids were kind of a mess,  and we knew they would be in bed early, mom and I made the conscious decision one day to feed the kiddos PB&J and to wait until after they went to bed to start cooking our dinner.  I can't remember the last time that the two of us cooked together, by ourselves.  We had the best time drinking wine, laughing at ourselves, and eating every last morsel of our eggplant gratin.  It was a fun, rare night with my mama that I will not soon forget.

My dad came in on Thursday night, and the kids were seemingly turning a corner.  All the kids were back in school, my mom and I spent the morning in High Point furniture shopping, we prepared our dinner and were very organized well in advance of the start of the witching hour.  We ate Sherry's Aussie Chicken aka copycat Alice Springs Chicken.  I thought that surely this meal would be super yummy and an easy kid pleaser.  Well, evidently they were not feeling as well as I thought that they should be...the baby actually went to bed at 5:15! and slept until 7:30 the next morning, and the boys were a mess at dinner, so I put them to bed, and they were ASLEEP by 6:30.  The upside was that after the kids were out of the picture, my parents and I continued to enjoy a lovely dinner and wine...have I mentioned wine every day of this post so far???

So on Friday, my mom was diagnosed with strep throat...seriously???  And my dad didn't sleep the night before...so here we all were, tired, grumpy, and ready for the week to end.  Luckily, dad brought home Mexican, and we all ate well.  Put the kids to bed at 6:30, my mom to bed at 7:00, and my dad to bed by 7:30.  My parents are awesome, but, with the kids being sick, it was hard for them to even help because really all they wanted was their mama or daddy...well, unfortunately, there's only one of me and three of them, so by Friday, I was BEAT.   As sad as I was to be sitting in my living room by myself at 7:30 with five people in my house, I savored the moments of quiet, trashy television, and texting with my brother and sister...Mama Said They'll Be Days Like This!!!

Despite a little bit of a rocky start, Saturday was a 180 degree difference.  I ran my 10 miles, we watched football, we bought a new chaise lounge, and we enjoyed some delicious comfort food for dinner...poppyseed chicken can usually set the world right!  And Sunday was quiet, and daddy came home late that night in time to enjoy that lasagna I made earlier in the week...and it was worth it...the craziness of it all is always worth it when he walks in with his huge, genuine smile on his face, and I know that everything is going to be alright.  Gah, we missed you, George!!

We are the family of nothing major but always something!  I suppose the moral of all of this is to roll with the punches, find the blessings in the hard moments, and know that no matter how painful things get, we will be okay!

This week is off to a MUCH easier start, and our meals will include the Lasagna, Tortellini Soup, Jambalaya, Pecan Crusted Tilapia, and maybe some of Nana's Meatballs with marinara left over from the lasagna.

Happy Cooking!!!