Cooking 101

Is it too early? Never too early. I am trying to plant seeds in to Makenna to be a good homemaker. She loves to cook so why not facilitate what she likes while she likes it instead of trying to teach her when she is older and not interested.

I was making a lasagna tonight and she begged to help. I told her to pull up a chair. She climbed up in the chair wearing the latest cooking attire, complements of Chloe her cousin, and was ready to offer a hand. I let her spread the meat in the bottom of the pan, though at first more landed on me and the wall than the pan. After a few refining techniques she succeeded in covering the bottom of the pan.

Makenna was also being a teacher as well. Can you see Maggie (Little People) watching her as she spread the meat mixture. Makenna gave her the play by play as she completed this delicate task. Maggie was a very good listener but we all agreed she was too young to help.

Next was the noodles but I did that part independently. Makenna tried but the noodles kept ripping them and eating them. So for fear that I would have to fix more I took over. She finished with the cheese. She was an expert cheese spreader. I was so proud of her attention to detail to make sure all the lasagna was covered evenly.

I hope I can teach her a love to cook, from scratch, for her family. But until then, for us now with help and on her own when she is older. I know it would be easier to do it on my own but then she will never learn and her poor husband may starve. Plus I love spending time with her and enjoying her company while completing tasks that have to be done. Here is to planting another seed.

"...that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed." Titus2:4-5 (emphasis added)

I love being a mommy

Well I turned a whopping 34 on Sunday and enjoyed every minute of it. Spent the day with family. You know those people you would have never been friends with had you not been genetically tied to them. Just Joking. I could not have asked God to give me a better family. I am so blessed to have a sister that I am extremely close with and that we are "like minded" with our parenting. So I give her the go ahead to treat mine like hers and vice versa. It is all good.

The best part of my birthday was being with my loving husband and kids. I told Chris that I would like to be in more pics with the kids so that when they look at their scrapbooks they do not wonder where I was. (Behind the camera) So needless to say Chris went Crazy taking pics when we ate lunch at Macaroni Grill (YUMMY).

I will spare you the one of my hilarious brother-in-law trying to sing happy Birthday to me in Italian like the waitress did. He and I go way back on acting like fools in restaurants. If you ever see my sister ask her about Red Lobster.

Sorry for the tangent, back to my kids. I love being a mom. I see my kids faces light up when they see me in the morning and that just makes my day. I am experiencing so many new things with Maddax that I missed with Makenna since I worked so much when she was a baby. I cherish all these silly moments that some may take for granted. I thank the Lord for providing a way for me to stay at home with my kids. I know that they and I benefit from this new position I have taken in the home. I try to capture some special moments that my kids stumble upon to have for years to come. I hope that they will always love each other this much.

I caught Maddax red-handed playing with Makennas princesses.

Maddax never seems to amaze me with the places he will end up in when I turn my head for a minute. He is such a little investigator in our home.

I feel so much less stress being home more and working less. Chris said he actually likes me better now. Silly boy. I like me better now too. Maybe God will bless us with more kiddos. Maybe a quiver full (that is 10). I could be a mini Dugger Family. HEE HEE.

Happy Birthday Maddax

Well I new this day would come. It is so bittersweet. My little man, Maddax Christopher, is 1 year old. SOB SOB SOB.

I decided to do something special for him. Make his birthday cake from scratch. Yes. You heard it right, from scratch. Googled cake recipes from scratch and found one I liked which required no oil. Oil=Bad. Then proceeded to google icing without Crisco which was...HOPELESS. So against my organic will I succumbed to Crisco icing. AGHHHH.

I woke up Kenna early from her nap to help me make the cake. As you may already know from previous blogs, she loves to help cook. First step was to cream the sugar with the room temperature butter. Okay, this room temperature butter was not soft despite sitting out for 3 hours. So Kenna and I put our heads together and placed in front of the space heater to soften the rest of the way. Eureka, it worked. We followed the rest of the directions and after a little flour on the floor and some egg on the counter it was put to rest in the oven.

I decided to wait till the kids had gone to bed to icing the cake because I knew I alone would make a huge mess so their help would have been "icing on the cake." And of course I did, but it was well worth it.

Daddy was off work yesterday so we decided to have his get together last night so daddy could join us. Aunt Sherrie, Uncle Jamie, Granny, Chase, Callie, Chloe and Mr. Uncle Flynn came to celebrate. I hesitate to call it a party because I do not want my kids getting wrapped up in a party for "stuff". I think birthdays are more about family getting together to celebrate your life. Anyway. We got Graters Black Raspberry Chip Ice Cream (on a side note it is the only ice cream I know of that the only thing artificial is the green dye in the mint chip), Pizza, and CAKE!!!!

Maddax opened up his gifts. My nieces and nephew love his Incrediblock more than he did. And my sister, God love her, bought Maddax the new version of the ball popper. You know the one that sound like popcorn when you push it. This one does that and makes the sound of a lawn mower. Maddax loves it. I told Sherrie it will be traveling to her house now every Friday. Hee Hee.

Everyone gobbled up the pizza, except Mr. Uncle Flynn or should I say Mr. P90X. Then cake and ice cream followed. We sag Happy Birthday and dived into the yummy's. Maddax liked the cake but was not at all fond of the icing. Kind of reminded me of my brother. Jeff cannot stand lotion which is how Maddax looked when his hand were covered with icing. I truly did not mind him not chowing down on the partially hydrogenated oil. I just wanted it to look good for the camera. (future scrapbook page)

Little man had a long day and and bed time was much overdue. I gave him his lovey and pacy and rocked him awhile. I wanted to recite the words to the book about the boy whose momma climbed in the window to rock him at night even after he was married but only could recall, "I will love you for always...As long as I'm living my baby you will be." He looked at me and smiled around his pacy. Thank you Lord for this most precious gift you have given me. I was the last one to kiss his little face as an infant.

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward."

Psalm 127:3

First (THIRD) Haircut

Well my little man will soon be turning one and it is about time for his first haircut, or so I thought. Come to find out Chris had trimmed his hair on two prior occasions without my consent or camera. Needless to say a got a good sound lashing but since I never really noticed a change in his hair I figured he was a good barber. Chris cuts his hair once a week and besides the neck trim, which I complete, he is pretty competent.

Camera, check. Kid trapped in Bumbo seat, check. Bib on backwards to double as a hair catcher, check. So Chris began to snip while I began to snap (the camera).

Mister Maddax was not as compliant, per Chris, as he had been for the 2 prior hair cuts. Needess to say this was not the look I was going for. Either Chris was cutting with one eye closed or he was standing with only one shoe on.

Take II.

I told Chris to get the clippers. You would have thought I was the expert hair cutter. It was all bad. I guess Chris was used to trimming his hair by looking in a mirror not from standing behind the head itself. I took over and worked my magic. After a refresher course, Chris was returned the clippers to finish so that could take more pics.

When it was all said and done my little man was now an adorable prince ready for BOOT CAMP. I guess we will stick with the high and tight, for now.

Turn your hearts to your CHILD

"And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers..." Malachi 4:6

This translates to," If you turn your heart to your child, then the child's heart will be turned to you." If we want to win Makenna's heart we need to put time into activities that mirror her love language "QUALITY TIME."

With the vast amount of snow that was dropped from the heavens this morning we knew God was saying, "go out and play with Makenna." Chris and I reluctantly put on our cold weather gear, if you could call it gear, and faced the elements with a joyful 4 year old. We played outside for about an hour doing all the fun things a child would love to do in the snow. Chris shoveled the driveway into a large pile that Makenna and I packed down. Then we began the meticulous job of carving out the inside to her igloo. She helped pull out the snow and even crawled inside a few times before it was finished to monitor its progress. It was finally finished and it fit not only her and daddy but also a rotten Maddax, who got introduced to his first experience with snow. She loved it and enjoyed every minute spending time with Monnie and daddy. By the way we loved it too.

We spent the evening trudging around town near and far in hope of finding an adult sled for Chris and I so we could conquer the slopes here in town. Not a one to be found. Wal Mart, Dicks, Target, TSC, Meijers and a second Wal Mart all left us empty handed. Time had ran out and darkness was upon us as well as the beginnings of the second wave of snowfall. We decide to call it quits and attempt it tomorrow after breakfast.

The evening concluded with the first of many, I hope, family movie nights. Makenna and I popped popcorn (microwave popcorn can cause cancer FYI) in a popper I got on clearance at Kroger. She loves to help cook. Then daddy, myself, and Makenna piled into our bed(which Makenna loves) and watched the movie "Cars". She was so excited. Like a kid in a candy store. We made it just like the real movies. Big bowl of popcorn, lights out, Sprite (rarely ever gets soda), and Zero candy bar (also rarely ever gets and my favorite). The three of us snuggled up on the bed and enjoyed every minute. Not of the movie but of being with each other uninterrupted and completely devoted to the moment. When the movie ended we decide to let her sleep in our bed (her most favorite thing to do). She smiled at me and I smiled back. I so love that little girl.

Snowberry Princess

It all started about a year ago when Makennas cousin Chloe had a princess doll that was dressed in a long white gown. Makenna was enamored by her beauty. Chloe said her name was Snow Fairy Princess. Makenna who tends to change words around renamed her Snowberry Princess. She played with that princess most of the time she was visiting Aunt Sherrie that day and for the next couple of weeks till the newness wore off. The story then picks up again when I took her to see The Nutcracker Ballet around Christmas time in 2009. When the snow fairy princesses came out she said, "Monnie look that is a snowberry princess. That is me." This was in turn followed by a friends wedding in December. We were in the church waiting for the bride to walk down the isle. The huge door flew open and there stood Ms. Ashley. YOu could hear Makenna gasp whe she saw her. She said, "Monnie she is a snowberry princess. I want to get married." Hold the phone little girl. The only men in your life till your at least 80 (LOL) is your daddy and God. Needless to say she has been perseverating on snowberry princess ever since Ms. Ashley's wedding and is about to drive us all nuts until.....

My gracious mother, whose heart is 10 times the size of her head, graciously offered to make Makenna a snowberry princess dress. I was overjoyed. She called about a week ago and said the dress was finished and that she would be sending in the mail. Makenna's anticipation was growing like a big green monster. Finally, it arrived today.

She opened the box from Nana and out poured "OOOO, AHHHH, Monnie it is beautiful." She immediately put on the dress and asked me to fix her hair so she could be a snowberry princess. She was beautiful, but reminded me of an Arabian Night horse rider with the way I fixed her hair. She pranced around the house happy as a lark, spinning and twirling. I had originally told her she may sleep in the dress but for the simple fact that I do not iron (only wrinkle free material is of God), I finally talked her into waiting till morning to put it back on.

Thank you mom for all you do. Even though you are miles away you are still so close to Makenna's heart. You touch our lives in such a special way that we could never repay no matter how hard we try. We love you soooooo much. Thank you Lord for a selfless Mom and Nana. And by the way Chris thinks you are the BEES KNEES!!