Mother's Day

I got this in an e-mail last week and thought I would pass it on.  
Happy Mothers day to all of you with your own children, those praying for a child to hold their arms and those who are involved in any child's life.  You are amazing!


Before I was a Mom, 
I never tripped over toys 
or forgot words to a lullaby. 
I didn't worry whether or not 
my plants were poisonous. 
I never thought about immunizations.


Before I was a Mom, 
I had never been puked on. 
Pooped on. 
Chewed on. 
Peed on. 
I had complete control of my mind 
and my thoughts. I slept all night.


Before I was a Mom, 
I never held down a screaming child 
so doctors could do tests. 
Or give shots. 
I never looked into teary eyes and cried. 
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. 
I never sat up late hours at night 
watching a baby sleep.


Before I was a Mom, 
I never held a sleeping baby just because 
I didn't want to put her down. 
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces 
when I couldn't stop the hurt. 
I never knew that something so small 
could affect my life so much. 
I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom. 


Before I was a Mom, 
I didn't know the feeling of 
having my heart outside my body.. 
I didn't know how special it could feel 
to feed a hungry baby. 
I didn't know that bond 
between a mother and her child. 
I didn't know that something so small 
could make me feel so important and happy. 

 
Before I was a Mom, 
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night 
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. 
I had never known the warmth, 
the joy, 
the love, 
the heartache, 
the wonderment 
or the satisfaction of being a Mom. 
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom

Embrace the Camera

Smiley and I spent a good hour at the library.

We read lots and lots of books.

And had fun playing with the mirrors and other things on the wall (matching games mazes and stuff)

It was a fun and relaxing morning on a very chilly, blustery, spring (but feels like winter) day.

AND.....

If you came by last week wanted to make yourself some Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies after seeing Smiley and I mixing them up...

WELL, 

Click here and the recipe will be yours (it's like magic ☺)

And make sure you remember to step out from behind the camera and get in front of it!

Jewelry Holder

Well... I finally did it.

I jumped on the framed jewelry holder bandwagon.

I started out with:
foam core board
a roll of cork (it was really thin and I already had it)
burlap
a frame I picked up at Michael's in their clearance section for $5.
Mod Podge
Spray Adhesive
Pearl stick pins (purchased at JoAnn's)

I measured and cut my foam core board to size.

Attached my cork to the foam core using spray adhesive.

Once that was dry, I glued my burlap on top of the cork ~ and took ZERO pictures of this step :).

Stuck it all into my frame (I couldn't decide if I wanted to paint it or not.  In the end I just left it the way it was, but you never know.... I could always change my mind!)

Then I added my stick pins and my fabulous jewels 

(no reason to come over and break in to thieve it... none of it is expensive ☺)

Have you jumped on this bandwagon yet?  

If you have, leave me a link (in the comments section), I'd love to see it!

Here's where the parties are at:

Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies

My "Embrace the Camera"  picture for this week was a picture of Smiley helping me mix up some cookie dough.  Sure I received some very nice comments regarding the actual picture, but so many of you wanted the recipe so..... here it is, in a mostly picture-less recipe post (see what happens when I don't plan these things out ☺).

Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies 

(I think I got this recipe from my Mom and where she got it, who knows)

2 ½ cups flour
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 stick margarine (I used unsalted butter)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup mashed banana (about 2 ripe bananas)
1 tsp vinegar
1 ½ cups chocolate chips
½ cup chopped nuts (we like walnuts around here)

Preheat your oven to 350°

Mix all of the dry ingredients together.

In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, margarine (or butter) egg and vinegar.  Then add in banana.

Once mixed slowly add in dry ingredients.

Once thoroughly combined, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.

Bake around 10 minutes.

AND, whatever you do, don't forget to add the baking soda :)

OOPS!

But do make sure you lick the beaters 

(I know, I know salmonella.....

and if you do lick the beaters and you end up with salmonella, 

don't blame me, you've been warned!)

FYI...

These cookies are so yummy, that you may just strap your booster seat to your bottom so that when they finally come out of the oven all you have to do is sit down!

Find some more yummy recipes at the Mangia Monday's party!

Embrace the Camera

Unplanned baking with Smiley (mmmm.....chocolate chip banana cookies)

AND...

Just so you know, If you make cookies and they call for baking soda, don't forget to put it in.  Or your cookies will look like the one on the left when they should look like the ones on the right (luckily I realized after baking only 1 batch)

(sorry for the bad night, kitchen lighting shots)

AND enjoy every moment!

Forgetful

I couldn't believe it.

I reached in to my huge bottomless pit of a purse.  I reached straight down to the very bottom and slowly pulled my arm back up feeling for it all the way to the top.  Nothing.  I reached down to the right corner.  Nope.  Down to the left corner.  Not there either.  I started to sweat.

My camera.
Not in my purse.

It is always within reach whether in my purse, in my hand, or on top of our refrigerator at home.

And that's where it was today.  I had left it sitting upon the top of the fridge, at home.... in another state.

We had just arrived at my parents home 4 hours away from ours.   I ran to my purse to get my camera to snap a picture and it wasn't there.  How could I have forgotten it on a weekend away.  And not just any weekend, Easter weekend.   You know the weekend of colorful eggs, candies, baskets, excited children and dressed up families.

We colored eggs at my parent's house and I borrowed his camera from on top of the fridge (hmm.... wonder where I get it )

But then our trip continued on.

We went to my hubby's parent's house.

Once again, no camera.  Bummer there was golfing, hot tub time, dressing up, Easter eggs and basket hunting, kite flying and lots of family.

Sure I forgot.  And the moments will be memories captured in our minds instead of on my blog, on paper and potentially in frames.  And as annoyed as I was (and honestly still am ~ although I know I shouldn't be) those "things" do not even begin to compare with what the true meaning of Easter is for my family.  The death and resurrection of our Lord.  And while there are no actual photographs of this blessed event, we remember in our hearts and minds, and we celebrate.  We celebrated with prayer, singing, praise and family.  

I am not perfect.  I forget things.  Not just my camera, but a shirt that my daughter wanted washed so she could wear it to school, a lunch my son wanted to take to school, rolls that needed to be taken out of the freezer for breakfast in the morning and so the list continues.......

But in the end, even though it can be frustrating and feelings can be momentarily hurt, it isn't the "things" that really matter.  And I hope that is something I can teach my children.  For there is SO MUCH MORE.

source

  

76.  The excitement of a little competition
77.  Carnival games
78.  Laughing with my sister
79.  A lazy rainy day
80.  A tip

Embrace the Camera

What started off as looking up song lyrics and singing a new favorite song,

(I know, we're rock stars ☺)

Soon turned into Photo Booth fun

And pretty soon, we were laughing so hard we were crying

Enjoying every minute!