Knock Please!!! (You Wake 'Em, You Take 'Em)

So I just love when you finally get your kiddo down, (can't call her a baby since she's almost 2 1/2.. so I've been told) and then someone comes and WHAMMS on the door or, better yet, rings the door bell 8 times.

Well this happened to me last week as I ordered some boxes for shipping CD's. The mailman came up to the door, "just to see if someone was home," and rang the door bell, I kid you not, 4 times repeatedly. When I answered the door, he said, "ok great. You're home. I'll be right back. I didn't want to carry the box if no one was here." !!!!!

So anyways, as a problem solver, ;), I decided to figure out a way to let people know that, in this house, we are nappers. I scoured the internet, as I love to do. Searching through Pinterest, Amazon.com, Etsy.com......

Finally! I found something that I thought was cute and direct. :) (I like to think that's how I am ;))

Anywho... So here's what I came up with!

 

So here we go!

 

This is what you need:

A piece of wood

One-sided laminated clear sheet

Printer

Computer

Sharpie

Paint (If wanted)

IMAGINATION!

First I painted my piece of wood, a cheap piece from hobby lobby, with some leftover spray paint from when I made the B for my wreath.

 

Once you have your wood ready and your laminating sheet, get on your computer and CREATE!

I saw a bunch of cute ideas for what to have the sign say, but I went with a simple

"No Soliciting  

Shh.. It's Nap Time

Please Knock Softly

If there is no answer we're not here"

 

 I dropped the last line when I finished it, mainly because my hand hurt ;)

 

 So print it out on regular paper. Then using your sharpie, trace it onto your laminating sheet. (for this step I used candles under a glass table to make a transparency table... see crafty;)

Once you've got that done, (This is the easy part) remove the backing to the laminating sheet and place onto your piece of wood. If you need to, smooth it out with a business card or credit card.

Now take a knife and trim around the edges. This part can be dangerous... use precautions please!

Voila!!

In other news..... I GOT A NEW LENSE!!!! I'm so excited! I am amazed at the clarity it gives! It's a 50mm f 1.4 from Cannon. LOVE IT!!!

 

NOW IT'S TIME FOR SNUGGLES WITH THE HUBS!

 

GNIGHT!

If I Would Have Known!!! St-Hubs Rocks!!!

I was born in Montreal, Quebec in Canada. I'm French Canadian and I LOVE food!!!

So you can imagine my utter excitement when I read an article that suggested that my all-time favorite "healthy" addiction was indeed good for me!!! :)

I read an article earlier that said that eating something vinegary before your meals, it helps you to loose/maintain weight.

!!!!! I know right!!!

It went on to say that eating something "such as St. Huberts traditionnelle Cole slaw" was a good idea since it contains vinegar and tons of veggies, including cabbage.

So I went on a search to find the perfect replica recipe. I have made this Cole slaw for years with my mom, but couldn't remember the exact measurements, mostly because my mom likes to "eye it."

So I played around, and here's what I found.

1 cup vinager
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste

You can make your own Cole slaw mix, or just buy a bag premade.

Heat the vinegar, sugar and oil in a sauce pan to a boil. Pour hot liquid over slaw.
Place in a refrigerator container, and refrigerate for 2 hours covered.

You can store it for 1-2 weeks in a sealed container.

Sometimes I Wonder Why!?

Well it's my birthday week! Usually I don't care to extend my birthday, but this year I wish it did extend.... I'm at a place where I just want some good news.

Why am I in a sour mind set? Well mainly because I take an hour, at minimum, to fall alseep, which means midnight, then I get woken up abruptly at 5:30 am. To top it off, my 2yr old was also woken up around the same time, which meant I was cooking by 6. Did I mention I have a 2 yr old that gets cranky easily???!

Anyways, enough complaining....

So Sunday, at church, the pastor did a sermon on mmiracles,wearegoing through the book of Acts. Lets just say it was awesome! Basically the whole church came down at the end to pray. I love sermons that really bring the church together and on its knees.

One thing that stuck out to mein particular, was Thayer need to "suffer well."

Did you see how I started the post???!!! This I have trouble with. I usually go through stages of "suffering grief", atleast that's what I call it.

Here's how I usually suffer:
-angry at the situation
-angry at myself
-angry at anyone in the situation with me
-bitter at the world
-bitter at God
-extremely hopeful for change
-deep depression
-loss of hope... But trying with all I have to find some
-steady depression that makes me seem to be "in a funk" constantly


Yeah. You're absolutely right. That's NOT the right way to go about it at all! But unfortunately, this is what I've noticed. And this is obviously for severe things, but I know that the small things mainly stick with the first two.

Something our pastor once said, was "its ok to be angry, but so not sin."

In looking at how I've been dealing with difficulties, I can assure you I've needed to spend lots of time of my knees repenting.

I apparently don't suffer well. I usually put on a front to pretend like I'm ok, like I truly believe at all times God is with me and will get me out.. but many times I am completely lying. Many times, though I may be smiling and hugging on the outside, I'm in the pits on the inside. And if I do cry on the outside, that's usually when I'm mad at God or have completely lost hope.

So why am I saying all of this? Because! Dont be like me! Suffer gracefully! I'm still in the midst of trials, which all feel like I'm just standing still with no control, but maybe I need to learn how to trust fully BECAUSE I have no control.

I'm a work in progress... But hopefully someone can learn from my mistakes so that they can save themselves a lot of grief.

Love Languages and Disapointments?

Well Yes! The two often go together... isn't that sad?!

If you haven't heard of "Love Languages" before, let me introduce you to them. (Even if you have heard of them, it's always nice to review and re-evaluate)

-Words of Affirmation: this love language if for those who need to be reassured that they are valuable, beautiful, nice, successful..... Basically they need people to tell them nice things.

-Acts of Service: if this is your love language, your husband doing the dishes and putting away the laundry is what does it for you. You feel the most loved when people are physically doing something for you.

-Gifts: These are the people that are the most often disapointed. This love language means that you feel most loved when you recieve something tangible. The issue is, most people whose love language is "Gifts," are disapointed if the gifts they receive have no thought put into them, aka gift cards and  checks.

-Quality Time: This type of person feels like you love them when you spend your time with them. They crave the attention of intellectual intimacy.

-Physical Touch: With this love language, you want that physical connection. It's not just sex. ;) it's also a hug, a kiss, a back rub, a stroke... any physical connection. Many people who associate with this love language don't feel a connection with someone unless they physically touch them and are touched back.


What I love most about love languages is that most people are not just one. I, for example, am a combination of all to a certain extent. And that's normal!

To find out what your MAIN love language is, you have to think about which would make you feel most loved, compared to which, when done, makes you feel nice, but isn't necessary.

So for me, this is how they rank:
1. Affirmation- I need to hear that I'm doing a good job, that my husband likes how I look, how I cook, my mothering......
2. Gifts- Getting a gift that is truly thoughtful is very special to me. It doesn't happen often, but when a gift is given without me hinting, or being asked and telling, that's when it's the most special.
3. Physical Touch- I can tell if I haven't hugged my husband or kissed him in a while, because when a stranger touches my arm while speaking with me, it almost feels strange. But when I am touched, I am more content in my everyday life.
4. Quality Time- To me, if you are willing to give up your time to be with me, not as a chore or something to take up time, that tells me that you want to be around me and enjoy my company.
5. Acts of Service- I love when my husband helps around the house. (And depending on the way my week has gone and how the house looks, this might move up the list)

So what about disappointment? Well, each love language makes us vulnerable. It makes us realize what we need and what we want. The thing is that once you realize that, that's the moment you because vulnerable to being disappointed when your needs aren't met.

For example, if you are in need of affirmations, but you rarely hear an uplifting word from those who you cherish most, you are very likely to find yourself unhappy. I mentioned above an example of gifts.

The important thing to remember is that you are the only one who is truly able to know your love languages, and their order. In order to have your needs met, you MUST communicate them with the people you cherish and want to feel cherished by.

I'm as guilty as anyone in not letting others know what "does it for me."

So go out there and tell them so you can be taken care of!

Hold On Tight.. Or Should I?

I'm sitting here watching my dogs as I get ready for bed. One is sleeping on his bone and the other is sleeping on a pillow. Both dogs are sleeping on something they are wanting to keep for themselves. The funny thing to me is that the one who sleeps on the bone doesnt want the pillow and vis versa. So even if they weren't sleeping on it, it would be safe.

Don't we do that too? Don't we so often hold on to things so tight because we're scared to loose them, even though if we actually take a step back, we realize God is keeping "it" and us under his protection?

The issue, at least for me, is that so often we think, "God doesn't care about___" or "God lets bad things happen to good people so I should keep ___ under MY control." We think that because God's plan may be different that our plan that we aren't safe. We think that our plan is it and any deviation is going to be a failure.

The truth is that God's plan is perfect. His plan is the right plan. Keeping our things, people we love, cares and even worries so close to us isn't going to "save" them. On the contrary, it shows God that we care mote about ______ than we do about him. And that is where our God shows his love to us, sometimes by taking those things away.

What? God shows his love to us through the things we cherish? By taking them away? By causing us pain?

Well as I have had to learn, especially recently, yes and no. Yes God can take things away from us and let us go through tough times. But no, because the reason we feel pain in the way we do is because we put more care and weight into things, a lot of times, and even people, than we do with God.

Think about it this way, if someone took away your dog, you would be really upset, right? You might call the police. You might cry a few days. You might even have people help you find him.

Imagine, if you will, if someone told you you couldn't pray, go to church, read your bible or talk with other believers. Would you be sad? Would you care? Would you try as hard as you could, risking your life, to be able to still pray?

This is just a thought. Just something that I challenge myself with. What do you care most about? Will those things last? Are they eternal? Are they even good for you?

To put it in more practical terms, if there is something you ate praying about/for, if God's answer is "No", will that effect your faith? Will you stop praying? Will you continue, thinking you might change his mind?

I know it's hard to know sometimes when God tells us "No", as opposed to "Wait." But sometimes you can tell. Sometimes its very clear.

I challenge us to open our spiritual ears, to listen closely. Don't focus on you and your wants. Focus on God's plan for you. Pray for his will, not yours.

It may not be what you would "hold in your sleep," but I promise it will be better in the end.

My prayer tonight:
God, please take my cares and my worries. I know your plan is best and your will always happens. Please help me to cherish what I have, but know that it's all yours. Guide me in what you would have me do. Please let all that I do and am be glorifying to you.

Amen.

Dogs Can Teach??

I never thought my dogs could teach me anything, much less something about my relationship with God. Well today, they taught me something that seemed so obvious. Sure I could have learned this from looking at adults, or children, or really any living thing, but today I learned it from my dogs.

They are so competitive, yet the older one is more dominant. The younger dog is bigger, but lets the older dog boss him around for the most part.

So what's this lesson??

I walked outside and pet the younger one, he heard the older dog coming up behind him, still several feet away, and left my side to go push her away. If he would have stayed by me, I would have kept petting him, but instead he was so worried about her getting in on the petting that he left on his own to make sure she couldn't get any.

Don't we do this with God? I know I do! God is wanting to teach us something, to love us, to care for us and to bless us, but we are so busy looking at what other people have, how other people are living, and how other people are being blessed that we forget to just stay by God's side!

If we would just stay focused on him, then maybe we wouldn't be so focused on what we don't have or what others do have.

So today I don't have a recipe or a cute craft, just this epiphany, if you will.

Just a simple lesson that I learned from these two cheeseballs!

Hospital Survival Kits

*I decided to sell these on Etsy. If you don't have the time, or just prefer to buy something already made, Check It Out! https://www.etsy.com/listing/150094249/hospital-survival-kit*

So it seems like everyone around me is pregnant. I mean everyone!!
Luckily, all the ladies I am going to see in the next few months are having boys. That's right.... this seems to be the season of boys. (I just hope there are some girls being born too so that the poor teachers when these kids get to school don't only have boys!)

Anyways, so I decided that I didn't want to do the typical flower and cards this time around. I scoured the Internet for ideas and found a few I liked. As usual, I combined and improvised! :)

I have to say I am SUPER proud of myself on this one! I mean seriously you have no idea! :)

So at first I thought I was going to do something a little more girly, but then I realized that most hospitals aren't to fond of strong smelling candles and most new moms don't wear lots of smelly lotion, mainly to help with bonding.

So decided to think about what you might forget and be really glad to receive. I went with these:
Kleenex- tear of joy, sleepiness and (hopefully not) pain
Simple and Sensitive Blistex- I thought the name was sweet and your lips are usually chapped in hospitals...
Wet Ones- Because you don't want grubby hands touching your precious new baby
Make-up Remover wipes- with all those tears of joy, mascara is sure to be flowing as well...
Deoderant- Lady trust me, you don't want to smell like BO when people come to visit ;)
Scope- Fresh breath!!!
Wisp tooth brushes- I just think these are so cool and ^^
Granola bars- Babies just don't seem to know about restaurant schedules when they decide it's time to come out ;)

OMG.... Mini Cannolis!!!

For years cannolis have been one of my favorite, if not my favorite, desserts. They are so delicous and creamy and wonderful.
 Can you tell I'm a little obsessed?!

Well I found a recipe for mini cannolis, and though... Why not??!

In my usual style, I barely followed the recipe, and improvised a lot.

It's pretty easy, just mix, cut, dust, cook, fill, enjoy!!! (Recipe at the bottom)

Here's what I came up with:

Crust:
2 Pillsbury Premade Pie Crust
Cinnamon and Confectioners sugar (to dust)
Pam Butter spray

Filling:
15 oz of whole milk Ricotta Cheese
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
2 Tblspn white sugar
11/2 tspn vanilla extract
1/2 bag of mini chocolate chips (or more if you like more)

Non food prep
Turn oven on to 450 F. Get out a medium bowl, a mini muffin pan (or two if you have it), a rolling pin, a wine glass, and several spoons.

In your bowl, mix the filling together. Once it has a creamy consistency, put plastic wrap over it and refrigerate.

Roll out your pie crusts. Liberally sprinkle cinnamon and confectioners sugar on pie crust. Using clean hands, spread around. Once you have a nice, even coat, take your rolling pin and roll the mixture into your pie crust.

Take your wine glass and use the top circle to cut your crust. Take each piece of crust and place them in the mini cupcake holes, one in each hole. Gently press down the center of the circles to form cups. Now gently spray ONE, QUICK spray with your Pam Butter spray in each cup.
Place in the oven and cook for 8-10 minutes.

Once they are cooked, remove them from the oven and place them on a cooling surface.

Once cooled completely, take out your filling mix. You may need to stir the mix a little. Now spoon one spoonful into each cup. Sprinkle with cinnamon and extra choclate chips.

Serve immediately.

Refrigerate any left overs.

Just Let it Happen!

Sometimes in life we just have to let kids be kids and let problem work themselves out. This was my mood and epiphany yesterday.
After a hectic morning, I decided that after naptime my daughter would get to just be herself. I set up her painting station outside, filled her paint containers, set out paint brushes, and let her at it! I didn't even get my camera out quick enough to take before pictures before she got started!

 

I think today we will do it again because she had so much fun! I'm convinced that since I'm staying at home, and she's not in daycare, it's up to me to make sure that she keeps up with the other kids.

Luckily, my church, which is where I work out, has child-care. This way she is able to have some kind of structure, other than what I provide, 3 days a week for about 1 1/2 hrs per day.

I figure the other days we can focus on getting out, going to the zoo, gardens, and even downtown for the toddler events!

 

I strongly suggest that everyone check out their local venues. I'm sure it's not just Houston! Although, in Houston, there is Discovery Green that has events for people of all ages almost every day! They have toddler tuesdays, yoga, Zumba, movies, art shows, flea markets, and so much more....

 

Oh, before I forget... When I thought we were winding down yesterday, I turned around to take pictures of the scenery and when I turned around, this is what I saw:

LOL!!!!!!

On a side note, back to what I said earlier about letting things just happen. I can to this when realizing that since everything happens for a reason, that if we step back and let ourselves look past right now, we can start to see how things might change depending on what happens.

In my case, we've been having an extremely hard time getting pregnant. I was getting so frustrated because it seemed as thought everyone around me is getting pregnant, whether they were trying or not.

I realized yesterday that though it sucks right now, I would be going crazy trying to get thee house ready to sell with a newborn. And if we do end up moving soon, we have to buy a new truck in December for the hubby, so it would be a stretch to do all of that with baby bills.

So right now, I'm at peace with it. It still sucks, and I still don't really want to be around other pregnant people if I don't have to because it reminds me of not being pregnant. But I don't want to start a pity party. I need to keep my head up. I need to remember that life goes on and things happen for a reason.

Anyways, Let's keep our heads up!

Happy Hump Day! My the rest of the week only get better!