Wordless Wednesday- New Winter Hats

I am so loving these new critter hats that are popping up everywhere! Aren't they the cutest?

The Muppets Review

We took the girls to see The Muppets today. I grew up watching them and was super excited to go see this movie. I think I let my excitement get the best of me because it was just not as great as I had hopes for. The story line is about a couple, Gary and Mary, going on an anniversary trip to California. They invite Gary’s “muppet” brother Walter to come along so he can visit his life long idols “The Muppets” studio. When they get there, the studio is run down and Walter over hears a mean oil tycoon telling his buddies that he is going to tear the place down. Walter does not want this to happen, so he goes on a quest to get all the Muppets back together to raise money to save the studio.

The movie had way too many cheesy song and dance numbers. Don’t get me wrong, I love musicals and cheesy movies, but this one was not cheesy in a good way. The songs were overly boring, there was pretty much no laugh out loud humor, and it just seemed to drag on. Jason said he found himself closing his eyes a few times, and I noticed Allison getting restless about midway through. The only saving grace in this movie was the sprinkling of celebrities they popped in here and there, but even those moments weren’t anything to write home about. I think the only celebrities my girls knew, other than Amy Adams, were  Selena Gomez and Jack Black. If it weren’t for them being in the show, they probably would have told me they did not like the movie other than the “It was OK” response I got after the show was over.

Bottom line, not one of us was thrilled leaving the theater. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’d wait for the dvd to come out. Save money and rent it.

No Christmas Perfection This Year!

I am trying something new this year and am going to take a back seat to all the holiday planning. From the week before Thanksgiving up until the New Year's Day, I am super busy. To the point of stressing myself out and end up hating the holiday's. If this time of year isn't stressful enough, Jason, Allison, and my birthdays all fall within a week of Christmas.

I am a crazy person when it comes to planning and organizing. A bit of a perfectionist. I don't know why, but I feel that if I am not there to supervise and instruct, nothing will get done right. This year though, I am letting go of that control and letting the chips fall where they may.

In years past I felt all the decorations had to be up the day after Thanksgiving. This year I am spreading it out a little at a time. Here is is 2 days later and all the lights are still not up and I still need to put up 1/3 of the indoor stuff. Funny thing is, I'm ok with that.

As for the tree, I handed the reigns over to the kids. If the balls aren't perfectly spaced and a bunch of similar decorations are clustered together, that's ok too. They actually did pretty good on the tree and only managed to break 2 ornaments. I am going to sit back and enjoy the season for the first time this year. I am so very excited!

Today I am thankful for handwritten cards

I love getting handwritten notes and cards from my kids. My favorites though are the ones with horrible handwriting and misspelling. The first note we ever got from Allison said "I like you, you get me fied tieken." Fied tieken is "fried chicken." Here is my newest one. Though the spelling is improving, the handwriting is still all over the place. I'll sure miss it when these turn into store bought Hallmark cards.

Wordless Wednesday- Thankful Through My Kids Eyes

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I asked Mariah and Allison to snap 4 photos each of what they were really thankful for this year.

Allison:

Mariah:

Green Beans With Bacon

When I was little, about 5 or 6, we would spend summers at my Grandma Mary Anne’s farm in Tennessee. I have the most wonderful memories of collecting eggs from the hen house, laughing hysterically over the head butting baby goats, and just running wild on all that farm land. It was a time of innocence and fun and just learning about independence. Grandma would give me and my older sister a few dollars each week for helping on the farm. We would take those dollars and cross the street to the country store where we would blow our entire weeks pay on penny candy and Garbage Pail Kids stickers. Out of all the fun I had on that farm, my favorite memory is picking green beans with Grandma and then sitting on her porch swing and snapping the ends off. We would do this for hours, and yet, I was never bored. Grandma Mary Anne has since passed on, but every time I make green beans I remember her with the fondest of memories.

Green Beans with Bacon

Ingredients:

2 lbs fresh green beans, trimmed

6-8 slices of bacon

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1/4 tsp salt and pepper

Directions:

- In large pot, bring green beans and enough water to cover to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, or until crisp tender. Drain.

- Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp; drain on paper towel. Remove all but 2 tbsp bacon fat from skillet.

- Remove from heat; stir in vinegar. Add green beans, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat. Crumble bacon over top.

I’m guilty of lazy cooking and usually open some canned green beans, but some days, fresh are just so much better and worth that little extra effort. Enjoy!

I am thankful to all you teachers this year!

It’s that time of year again where we start thinking of all we are thankful for. So I sat here this past week trying to think of something other than the normal- health, family, friends, ect. Now, I am very thankful for those things, but as I sat here last week trying to help Allison with her homework, I thought of something I completely overlook as being thankful for- her teacher! Mariah has always gotten straight A’s. I guess I figured stuff would come as easily to Allison as it does her, but I was so wrong! It is a daily struggle for me to help her with her homework without losing my mind. Here is a sample of what we go through on a daily basis:

Homework- Jack has 5 beans. Jill has 3 beans. How many more beans does Jack have than Jill?

Allison has 8.

Me- “Allison, this is not right. Why do you have 8?”

Allison- “Oh yeah, sorry, it’s 11.”

Me- “Huh? How’d you get that?”

Allison- “Just kidding. I know. It’s 4".

Me- “Can you tell me why you think it’s 4.”

Allison- “Because it is.”

Me- “Can you show me why?”

Allison- “No, it just is what it is.”

Me- “Well, I think you should take another look.”

Allison- “I don’t know. 9.”

Me- Thinking she is now just saying numbers hoping she gets it right, am getting frustrated. “Please show me how you got 9.”

Allison- “Oh, I get it now. It’s 2.”

Me- Finally thinks the light bulb has finally flicked on. “Yeah, good job. Let’s do it for the next one you got wrong too.”

Allison- “I don’t get it. That one’s right.” (It’s not.)

Me- Now I’m to the point where I want to ball up her homework, throw her bag out into the snow, grit my teeth and tell her have her dad explain it to her.

If you are a teacher, you have my utmost gratitude for dealing with 20+ students a day. I have a difficult enough time with my one. I don’t know how you do it day in and day out and keep your sanity, but Thank You!

Living With A Bully, A Tattletale, and A Thief

Once I became a mother, one of my main goals was to raise caring, respectful children. According to my kids teachers and other adults who come in contact with them, I've gotten the impression that I have accomplished that goal. I've become smug about it. I relish in the thought that I do know a thing or two about parenting. Imagine my surprise when I found out I have been raising a bully, a tattletale, and a thief. That's right. In the past 3 months I've had that smug grin wiped right off my face. The culprits aren't my human kids though. They are my fur children. We decided it was time to add to our family and adopted our boxer pups. They are 6 months old now and their personalities are really coming through. Our female Adrian has decided that any bones or chew toys are hers and hers alone. Our male Rocky can't touch anything. Here she is chewing on her rawhide while sitting on top of his. If he comes close she will snap at him so he sits on the stairs and whines until someone comes and helps him out.

Then there is Wrigley, our pug. Wrigley is a rescue dog. She spent her whole life in a cage for puppy mill purposes. It took her forever just to figure out what a dog treat was, and trying to teach her play has become useless. After 3 years of trying to get her to play with toys we've given up. This, however, does not stop her from stealing the toys from the other 2. She doesn't know what a toy is, but by golly if she sees Rocky and Adrian with one you can bet she is going to find a way to take it from them. Of course she doesn't know what to do with it once she gets it, but it obviously must do something great if the other two want it so bad.

So now I am thinking it's time to start looking into dog obedience training. If anyone has some good sites to recommend, I'm all ears. I'm hoping we can get a little harmony amongst the dogs before the new year sets in. Wishful thinking? These dogs are destroying all of my parenting credibility! On a brighter note, Allison did just get an award at school for citizenship, so if all else fails, I will revert back to this photo and remember the days when I did do something right.

WW Enjoying A Banana Split

Allison is not old enough to spend the night at her friends, so when Mariah gets to, we usually treat Allison to something fun and text pictures back to Mariah. (Don't worry, she knows it's all in good fun and is a good sport about it!) Here is our latest:

Quick, Easy, Delicious Nacho's Platter

This is a recipe for nacho's that we've been making for years. My kids are very picky eaters, but this is a meal where there are never any leftovers. My daughter actually requests that we make this when her friends are over because they all love it so much. It is also quick and easy, perfect for those days when you don't feel like standing over a stove for a long time.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 Ortega Taco Seasoning Mix Packet
2 Medium tomatoes, diced
1 small (about 4oz) can sliced black olives
4 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 bag Tostitos Scoops Chips (you can use the flat ones, but the scoops are awesome at holding the filling in!)

*You can get creative with the ingredients here. Anything you like to put on a taco would work.*

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Brown ground beef, drain. Mix in taco seasoning and 3/4 c of water. Cook an additional 3 or 4 minutes until season is mixed through and no water remains. Line a cookie sheet (I use a 9x13) with Tostitos Scoops. Using a spatula, sprinkle ground beef mixture over chips. Repeat with the black olives and tomatoes. Last, sprinkle shredded cheddar over all the chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes until all cheese is melted through.
 

We usually top with sour cream.
Enjoy!

Me? A Facebook Stalker?

It took me forever to sign up with Facebook. I finally had to cave when my daughter started requesting an account. There was no way I was going to let her sign up without "friending" me so I could see who she was "friending" and sharing information with. I had heard stories from friends about them visiting exes pages, spying on certain family members, people they went to school with, ect. I though they were crazy! Who has the time to stalk people that you don't know or even like? I barely can keep up with the people I do want to know about.

Recently Mariah got her first boyfriend. I knew it would be coming soon since she's at that age where all that matters are boys. I'm embarrassed to admit, since she's told me, I've turned into a Facebook stalker. I can't get enough of this kids page. I click on it 2 or 3 times a day. Browse through the photos, shuffle through his updates. I'm going as far as to stalk his parents and siblings pages. I find myself clicking on his mom's page and getting "this user only shares some information" Darn it! It's frustrating. I don't even know what I'm looking for! Who would have known that my daughter getting her first boyfriend would turn me into a crazy person? What did parents do before Facebook? I think mine did the old fashioned snoop in my room and eavesdrop on my conversations. All I can say is Thank God we didn't have internet growing up!

I always thought I was the cool mom who could handle it. Apparently not. I find myself hoping this "romance" will fizzle as quickly as it started so I can stop this madness! Someone please tell me I'm not the only one who does this to their kids and it will get better as boyfriends come and go!

Aerie Stores Holiday Collection

This week I was invited to come to  Aerie and preview their new holiday collection. They were even generous enough to supply me with a $50 gift card to help with my purchase. I brought along Mariah and we had so much fun going through all the new items. The sales staff was super friendly and helpful, even bringing out items from the back that hadn't been put on display yet. I think Mariah is more of Aerie's target demographic so I let her do most of the shopping. Here were a few of our favorite picks that should be showing up in your stores soon:

These are the Paige Cotton Push Up Bra that retails for about $20 with their current 40% off bra sale and matching panties that run around $7.50 each.

Me with the Fair Isle Scuffs slippers, retail $19.50 (super soft!) and a pair of their really cute holiday boxers, retail $15.50 each.

Mariah was really wanting these new matching pj's

but shhhh, I'm going back for them this weekend for her Christmas present! These retail for a little over $50 for the set (not including bra) and $30 for the pants.

Since we usually update our lingerie wardrobe right around the start of the school year we didn't purchase any this time, but did end up getting these beautiful items:
Peekaboo Cardi

Perfect V Neck Cardi

Happy Apothecary Tapping Tips Nail Color in Storm Cloud

And a gorgeous pair of hoop earrings.

Also when we were checking out, we recieved a suprise coupon to get a FREE GIFT 11/29/11-12/19/11. When you bring the coupon in you either get a free panty ($7.50 value), $25, $50, $100, or $500 off your next purchase. You just need to bring it back in between those dates and have them scan to see what your suprise is!

There were a lot more great items to be seen in the store. If you have a teen daughter who you are stumped on what to get for Christmas you should really check them out. They carry a lot of beautiful items any girl would be pleased to have. Thanks Aerie! We had a blast shopping with you!

Love my yard, hate the leaves!

It was spring when we started house hunting a few years ago. The world was coming alive with colorful flowers and full trees. Beautiful landscapes were catching our eyes. When we found our house we were thrilled with all of the trees and shade in our yard. Everything looked so fresh and new. If I could go back now and slap myself, I would. I wasn't thinking those beautiful big trees would be shedding their leaves come fall. Or the amount of work that comes with cleaning up those leaves. I hate yard work. I have successfully managed to find a way out of helping Jason with it the past 2 years. This year I was not so lucky. My daughter Allison sure loved it though:

5 full hours of raking, scooping, and bagging is enough to make me want to pack it up and move to the dessert. I sat here yesterday rubbing lotion into the now dead skin on my hands and thinking of soaking again in another hot bath to dull the still lingering pain. Then, I started panicking about the fact that only half the leaves were down last week. How am I going to get out of doing it again this weekend? I know I am a diy girl. I roll my eyes every time the neighbors on either side of us hire a lawn service to come do their yard work (which is pretty much every week) but maybe I should give in and tell Jason that's what I want for my birthday. Lawn Service. As I sat peering out the window, cursing all the leaves that made last weeks work look like nothing and now brooding over another upcoming birthday making me a year older, I got my birthday wish early. A few big gusts of wind blew by taking half my leaves with them over to the neighbors. Is it wrong that I now have a big smile plastered to my face?

Soft Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love having visitors in my home. I always try and make them feel as welcome as possible, and I find that supplying guests with good food and drink always makes them want to come back for more. If you were to come to my home I'd have a batch of these chocolate chip cookies ready and waiting for you. Unfortunately, since this is the internet and not my real home, I can do the second best thing and give you the recipe. Hands down, these are the best soft batch chocolate chip cookies I have ever had and get compliments and requests for them at every gathering or holiday function. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter *real butter, not a spread*
1/2 cup Crisco Butter Flavor Shortening

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1- 12oz package semisweet chocolate chips

2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine soften butter with shortening, sugar and brown sugar and vanilla. Beat until creamy. Beat in egg. Gradually add flour mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Scoop a little more than a tablespoon into the palm of your hand and roll into a nice tight ball about an inch and a half in diameter. (I don't drop them onto a cookie sheet by the spoonful. They bake much better when rolled into a ball.)
3. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 min. Note: I take them out of the oven before they start to turn dark! (I usually pull them out right at 9 minutes. They don't look done, but they will finish baking on the cookie sheet once it's removed from the oven.) Do not double this recipe, or they will not bake soft. You can also make this recipe for bars too. Spread dough into greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake them at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15-20 minutes.

Tip: I don't use a cookie scoop. My sister in law did and her cookies turned out flat. I like to scoop out about a tablespoons worth of the dough, then roll it into a tight ball into the palms of my hands and then bake, like so:

Breaking Out of My Shell

Hello all! Let me introduce myself! My name is Theresa. I've been married to my husband for 8 years, and together we have two girls, ages 12 and 7. My husband works for an internet company that sells truck accessories and I am fortunate enough to be able to stay home with my girls, though at times I find that to be more challenging than any of the full time jobs I've held in years past. Don't get me wrong though, I wouldn't trade being able to stay home with my girls for anything in the world!

I've been waffling about starting a blog for awhile now. I guess what's been holding me back is that little voice in my head putting doubts in my mind about whether or not what I have to say is important enough for anyone to read about. "Will they like me?" "What if I say something stupid?" "Is my grammar and spelling correct?" I've been living in this comfort zone bubble for as long as I can remember, so as an early New Year's resolution, I'm breaking out of my comfort zone and am putting myself out there. I've thought about the answers to those questions and have come to the conclusion that it's ok if not everyone likes me. If I say something stupid, oh well. Live and learn. As for the spelling and grammar, as Reese Witherspoon once said "I'm from Tennessee. I probably say everything wrong." While I'm a Midwest girl, I've lived in various southern states throughout my whole life- Texas, S. Carolina, and Tennessee. I think this qualifies me to apply Reese's quote to what flies out of my mouth also.

I like to read, I like to write, and I like to learn. I'm hoping to connect with other like minded parents out there and maybe learn from you all as well. I'm glad you stopped by and hope you enjoy your stay. I look forward to getting to know you all, so please come again!