Good 'ol "anonymous"

There are several blogs that I read on an almost daily basis. I read some for the recipes, some for inspiration, some for ideas around my home, some because they are hilarious, and some because they are just honest reflections of day to day life, and I like that. So many different blogs, and so many truly incredible women out there behind them (I only read one blog written by a man, stuffchristianslike.blogspot.com, and I have say it is one of my favorites in the "make me laugh" category!). The thing that is so neat to me is to see the common threads that run between us all. It doesn't matter that we are from entirely different parts of the country (and world). Behind every blog I follow, there is a person that desires laughter, beauty, creativity, and inspiration in the daily-ness of life. In fact, there are so many extraordinary blogs out there that I struggle to maintain my very ordinary blog!

Anyhow...

My question in all this is, WHAT IS WITH THE ANONYMOUS COMMENTERS????? You know who I'm talking about here. The commenter that leaves vicious, ugly remarks about you (they don't even know you), your beliefs (again, they don't even know you), your taste in clothing, etc., all under the cowardly name "anonymous". Seriously people, I have read "anonymous" comments on other blogs that criticized the size of the bows on the blogger's baby, the blogger's hairstyle, and the fact that she had on make-up while her baby was in the NICU. Another blogger I read has actually had an entire blogspot developed as an "anti-blog" against her site. Her crime? They are "over her". The thing that is so sad here is that the blog world is a primarily female world, so this is a lot of "girl on girl crime" going on (quote from "Mean Girls", if you haven't seen it!).

I have no real point in writing this. I am just so irritated by it that I felt the need to vent, and I came here to do it. "Anonymous", you are a coward who feels empowered by cutting the legs out from under another.

There. Now I feel better.

"Nor MY Child" Monday

Most of you are familiar with "Not Me Monday". Well here is my first "not MY child" Monday! Hop over to www.mycharmingkids.net to read more stories about the crazy things other people's children did NOT do!

I really have just one, and it just happened and I thought this was a great forum to share it.

My first born did not stick her head (very unexpectedly) between my husband's legs while he was going to the bathroom to "see daddy's tinkle", and consequently she did not get her head tinkled on!!!! She did not say, "Molly's hair is all wet!" and then proceed to wipe her head off with toilet paper.

Nope, not my child.

(she is not in the bathtub right now having her head scrubbed either)

Coming in for a landing

I wish the title of this post suggested I had flown somewhere exciting and had just come in for a landing back home, but that is not so! I feel like the past few weeks have been a crazy ride, and we are finally coming in for a landing back into "normal" life!

Last you heard from me, it was the day before Jack's big day.....his 1st birthday! Everything turned out great, and it was a really fun time! It was a family party, with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and even 3 great-grandparents! Here are a few pics from our "Old MacDonald" birthday party:

First, the cake. I think I still have carpel-tunnel syndrome from icing this thing! But it did turn out pretty cute!

Next, the cupcakes. I found these cute cupcake picks online for cheap!

Then, there are the cake pops that I slaved over (seriously, slaved over!). You can't see the cute brown gingham ribbon that I tied the bags with here, but you get the picture.

How about that cutie pie of a birthday boy? His cute little outfit is compliments of his Meme (who works at the Mart!). This sweet thing was 28 pounds, 35 inches tall at his 1 year appt. Good grief. No wonder I need a chiropractor!

Meme also brought him this cute birthday hat. This is about all the contact he would have with it.

Here is the only picture I got of the kids together. Sad, isn't it?

Sweet birthday boy was exhausted when it was time to eat cake!

I was sick the whole week before the party and couldn't WAIT until Sunday to finally get some rest! But good ol Murphy's Law set in, and 48 hours after the party was over my sweet hubby was having his appendix taken out (after 36 hours of 103 fever, nausea, passing out on the floor, and then shaking so badly I had to call an ambulance). So it's Monday, August 17, exactly 2 weeks since Jack's party/appendix removal, and I am FINALLY going to go take a nap!

And he really doesn't even know the difference!

Thanks to bakerella, I decided that for my son's first birthday party tomorrow, I am making cake pops as party favors. Not just cake pops, but farm animal cake pops, since his birthday party invitation says,

"Jack MacDonald is turning one

E-I-E-I-O!

Come and join us for some fun

E-I-E-I-O!"

I had decided I would do cows, pigs, and chicks with chocolate cake, but I couldn't find pink candy melts and then I got a fever and felt horrible, so it's just cows and chicks. Although "cows" might be a loose term here, since I asked my husband what he thought they were and he said, "Pigs. Definitely pigs."I asked Molly what she thought they were and she says, "Piggy!" This is after slaving away over these things for about 2 hours. So you know what? A pig it is! Except for this one, which according to Molly is a "doggy":

How come when Bakerella did it they looked just like cows? Is it the ear placement? Is it the fact that I couldn't find pink M&M's for the nose, so I cut chewy Sweet Tarts in half?

At least the chicks turned out better:

I think they are clearly identifiable!

The funny thing is that I literally spent about 4 hours baking, melting, dipping, cooling, decorating, bagging, and ribbon tying, and the birthday boy doesn't really even know the difference!

Happy Birthday buddy! You are 1 tomorrow!!!

A Cooking Kind of Weekend

I got to spend a lot of time yesterday baking and cooking, and I loved it! I told my husband yesterday morning that I had lots of recipes I wanted to try out, but I felt like it was so hard to cook with little ones under my feet all the time. Have you ever noticed that the second your feet hit the kitchen, your children are all of a sudden right underneath them? Anyhow, sweet hubby offered to entertain the kiddos so I could grocery shop in peace and do some cooking and baking, and I loved it! Here are the next few recipes you need to try:

1- Hummus

I absolutely love hummus! Hummus with carrots. I am a plain variety kind of gal. I don't much care for the fancy kinds with all the different flavors, but I love Costco's big tub of plain hummus. I decided to try my hand at making some, and where better to go for earthy/healthy/granola type food, than to MckMama! I followed her recipe for hummus with a few adjustments. Her recipe says 1 can of beans, but it should be 2, and the second one should have the liquid drained out. I also added more garlic, and next time I will add even more garlic and definitely more salt. It is very smooth and creamy, and is a great basic hummus. It would be fun to experiment and throw in some other things, like roasted red pepper and feta maybe.....mmmmm!

2- Banana Blueberry Quick Bread

I had a banana that was headed south and a lot of blueberries, so I looked up this recipe on allrecipes.com. Oh my. I love it! A really nice, summery take on banana bread. A few readers had good tips that I followed, so I'll pass them on. First of all, definitely double the blueberries. I used a full cup, and I'm so glad I did. I also almost always add cinnamon to breads and muffins, and I added about a 1/2 tsp. to this. I substituted applesauce for the shortening (I'm always in favor of less fat) and loved it. A few readers suggested doing half brown sugar and half white, and next time I will. This is really BETTER after it has sat overnight, and DELICIOUS toasted with a little butter for breakfast!

3- Southwest Shredded Chicken 3 Bean Chili with Cornbread Muffins

Have you checked on the Picky Palate blog yet? I saw this girl on a Food Network Challenge, and then somehow through blogland found her blog site! I will warn you, you will gain weight just reading her site. Seriously. She reminds me of Giada de Laurentis in that she makes this amazing, fattening food, and is teeny tiny. I kind of hate her a little (just kidding! just envious!). I thought this recipe looked delish, so I tried it. First of all, the muffins? OH MY! I could have eaten every last one hot out of the oven! Moist and sweet and cheesy....YUM! She mentioned a gel in the recipe, but I made without (since I don't know what it is) and they were AMAZING! I really liked the chili, but I think it's more of a really hearty soup than a chili. And it's spicy. Cut way back on the Tabasco if spicy ain't your thang. I had some leftover rice from something else, and I poured the chili over that and it was PERFECT for me! A definite fall dinner! My hubby liked it just like it was, with a dollop of sour cream. (I'm laughing out loud that I just wrote "dollop", and I don't know why!)

4- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies with Chocolate Ganache

Bakerella. I'm almost at a loss for words. I think she may have changed my baking life. I'll let you know for sure as I attempt some of her cake pops for my baby boy's 1st birthday next weekend! But anyone who does this is just genius. Pure, baking genius. Anyhow, this recipe is actually cooling off on my counter right now, waiting to be topped with chocolate ganache. I can almost hardly stand the wait!

So there you have it. This is what I've been up to this weekend. It's my creative outlet right now! Too bad this brand of creativity tends to collect around my middle! Oh well. Y'all enjoy, and let me know if you try any of these!

Goodwill

We had a little excursion to Goodwill this past week, and we landed some great stuff!

I found a cute metal planter ($2.00) and added a little flower pot I already had,

a shelf with pegs for my laundry room ($5.00) that I spraypainted black, a beautiful picture with a matte but no frame ($1.19) which I framed with a frame I wasn't using,and a perfect green raw silk pillow for my guest bedroom ($2.60)

We also found these:

Molly's "Doggy", wearing a new hat ($1.10)

"Sheep" wearing another new hat ($1.10)

The Queen Bee herself, sporting another new hat ($1.10) and a new purse ($1.00)
On a totally different note, I have another recipe from Pioneer Woman that you need to try! She calls them Individual Raspberry Cobblers. When they are fresh out of the oven, they are crispy/chewy on the outside and dense cake-like on the inside. When they sit overnight in a Tupperware, they are all soft, like the most decadent muffin you've ever eaten. I made mine with blueberries, and easily halved the recipe. Yuuuuummmm! Serve as dessert with ice cream, or eat for breakfast! She has also started something called Tasty Kitchen. Real recipes from readers, all organized for you. Real recipes submitted by readers.....take a peak when you have an hour or two!

I leave you with this:

Have a great weekend!

Happy 4th of July!

I am always thankful on Independance Day.

I'm thankful for our freedom. It's just so easy to take it for granted. Seeing fireworks and everyone decked out in red, white, and blue just breathes life into my sense of patriotic pride. I'm thankful for every person that has ever served in our armed forces, and especially for those who have served in wartime. I'm thankful that we are still (for now at least) a nation of capitalism and democracy. I'm thankful that even though there are many things about our country that make me sad/angry/fearful, I still think it's the most wonderful place I could ever ask to live. I was reaffirmed of this this morning at church, when they introduced us to a recent graduate of West Point. When asked if he had any fear about entering into military life and possible war, this 22 year old confidently and calmly said, "I have peace because I know that God knows the number of my days, and he knows if I will have a full military career and retire or if He will call me to die for my country." Gulp....sniff, sniff. If this 22 year old is any indication, there is HOPE for our future generations.

My very dear friend Misti and her husband and son came over Saturday morning to help us celebrate the 4th. We ate a FEAST of a breakfast, including a fabulous smoked turkey quiche that Misti made and these cinnamon rolls that I made. The recipe is from Pioneer Woman (and if you don't read her yet, you need to start!). Yuuuuuummmmmmmmmm!!!! Our neighborhood had a bike parade, so Misti and I decided to take her son and Molly and the hubby's decided to stay here and watch macho man tv while Jack slept. Molly has never been to a parade, and yet when I asked her if she wanted to go see the parade she started running around in circles yelling, "Go see the paraaaaade! Go see that paraaaaaade!" I guess a parade just sounds fun, even to a 2 year old!

And fun it was!!!!

My parents came over later that afternoon and we all went to the pool. Unfortunately (well, after that huge breakfast, it's actually fortunate!) there are no pics. I made this Olive Artichoke Dip from Pioneer Woman, and you must make it....soon!!! We had steaks with blue cheese butter, corn on the cob, broccoli slaw, and fresh fruit for dinner, and then my favorite Strawberry Shortcake for dessert (the shortcakes are buttery and sweet, and the fresh whipped cream...well, just don't get me started!)! Again, no pics, because quite frankly, we were just too busy stuffing our faces to stop!

I hope that everyone had a very Happy 4th! God Bless America!