Dear motherhood...

Dear motherhood,

    I don't think I'm doing this right. According to standards I am supposed to not give my son extra sugar, or processed foods, or anything from china, or too much attention, or hugs, or kisses, or BAH! 

I am sorry if I treat my sons call through the baby monitor of "mommy hold you" like my own personal "bat call". I'll barrel roll off the bed, pop up with comfy sweats, shimmy to the door, throw my hair up (this mommy stuff- means business. Can't have no rogue hairs in my face), dodge any toy car or block that my son has left as a possible land mine in my living room and/or hallway, until I reach my sons room where I slowly open my sons door and scoop him up in my arms and settle his fears while reminding him that mommy is here for him. What I hear is my son asking to be held and gosh darn it I'm going to hold him as much as I humanly can before he resents me for being "lame" and "mean". Motherhood, it just so happens I don't like when my son is playing and another child shoves/pushes/hits my son for no reason and their parents do nothing- so pardon me while I:

1. Block a kick/hit or two going in my sons direction

2. Sternly tell some other kid "ABSOLUTELY NOT! It's not okay to hit"

3. Deflect the disapproving looks from said child's parent that magically now is paying attention to them. 

4. Retaliate the look with an equally nasty look of "if your kid touches my son again I will THROW DOWN and make a scene due to your blatant negligence".

Motherhood your tougher than I was warned. Let me explain. Being pee'd on and puked on, and woken up at all hours of the night (for what seems like no reason), messy diapers that smell like rotting vinegar with a hint of "oh my good lord!!", and the all the blood curling screams was something I hadn't planned for. I got through it though. 

However -on the other hand-your way more awesome than I was warned too. Snuggles, kisses, hugs, compliments from strangers of having the cutest baby ever and OH unconditional love- blessings. 
Is it standard to become super maternal? From nuzzling my son like a mama bear would nuzzle her cub, to falling asleep with my son so close to my side you almost cant see him. WhatEv's 

As for the standards that I appear to not be conforming to-You know where you can put those. Motherhood you and I are similar in some ways. You're one tough bitch... But I am tougher. 

I am doing this my way. 

Oh My Breakfast Bake

• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 6 strips of bacon cut into chunks (cooked)
• 1/2 lb sausage (I used ground but you could buy the already cooked kind in the links and just microwave it- if its raw you need to cook it before adding to breakfast bake
• Day old french bread 
• Shredded cheeses (any type you like- i used cheddar, and swiss because its what I had on hand)
• Salt and pepper
• 4 tablespoons butter

Since I used a 9x9 baking dish my amounts might be need to be doubled for a family larger than 4.
OPTIONAL Add-ins
red onion ( I added this )
garlic powder
mushrooms
spinach
peppers
frozen/thawed hashbrowns (I think these would be best if they were thawed and water drained from them)

The more items you add to the bake the longer it might take to bake in the morning. (you could manually adjust the baking time if you were to sautee the mushroom/peppers/onions before so they were already soft)
NOW this is what I do and my breakfast bake was nice and fluffy. PREPARE THE NIGHT BEFORE COOKING. Stick it in the fridge overnight with a cover like saran wrap or press n seal and allow the flavors to get real comfy and nice with one another.


SINCE THIS IS THE NIGHT BEFORE:
Spray or grease 9x9 baking dish
Cube (or tear up) french bread and cover the bottom if the 9x9 baking dish with it. You might not use an entire loaf if you are only making a 9x9 size bake.

Add the sausage and bacon to the top of the bread.

This is when i add the cheeses just CHEESE that sucker up.

whisk the eggs and milk together add salt and pepper to taste
Pour over the top of the bake

Then put butter on top of the bake just take either the spoonfuls or squares and place them on top of the it all, no need to spread it around.

Cover and place in the fridge overnight. Now if one of your kiddos wakes up at like 6 or 7 am it would be a good time to place the bake in the oven.
THIS GOODNESS takes 45 minutes to bake properly in the oven at 350.
after the bake comes out you will want it to rest on the counter for about 15 minutes.


Now the the additions that you may or may not have added all are depending on your preferences. If you don't like sausage and you would much rather load it up with bacon -by all means- GO FOR IT! If you wanted hashbrowns i am pretty sure you need to put those on the bottom of the pan though.
Or you would like a veggie version get creative and put your veggies in there. This isn't rocket science...its science for sure, but not rocket science. If ANYONE wants me to make something before they try it leave me a comment and i will let you know how it turns out with pictures. Or if you want to share what you tried and loved, or didnt love I would be happy to hear about it!

Homemade chocolate chip muffins

• CHOCOLATE CHIP muffins
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions: preheat: 400 degrees     makes 12 muffins

1. Combine first four ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, sugar) in a large mixing bowl. mix

2. Combine the next four ingredients (vanilla, egg, oil, milk) in another bowl. mix

3. Combine solids and liquid and mix well. 

4. Add chocolate chips and Fold into batter. 

5. Spray with grease/PAM or line muffin tin pan and fill each spot 3/4 full. 

6. Bake 16 minutes in a conventional oven at 400 Degrees.

7. After cooking time allow few minutes to cool. AND ENJOY!!!

I'm sorry but...

You should try reading these next statements with "I'm sorry but..." before you start each number.

1. Your kid will fall off the bed- listen I don't mean to sound brash but it happens. Whether it be the couch or the bed they are going to fall off at some point. Also ties into your kid will get hurt. Cuts/scrapes/ other boo boos are going to happen. Your job is to be prepared for them and try your best to prevent them. But sometimes no matter how careful you are  -let me just say it- shit happens. 
2. No blood no bandaid. A lot of people freak out when their child falls and just simply lands on their butt. Let me give you a hint- they won't freak out if YOU don't freak out. I normally stop and like freeze in my tracks and look at my son and wait for his unguided expression of pain or being scared. I have quickly learned my son is pretty freaking durable. I look in his eyes when I help him back up and sweetly say "you are okay" and smile. I guess it is going to come in handy later in life metaphorically speaking . When he falls down I will be there to encourage/ help him Stan back up and remind him he is okay.
3. You will lie to your kids. I never wanted to lie to my son. Like EVER. But I found that I was catching my self in little white lies to keep my sanity in tact. Like when your child has a favorite toy that is especially noisy and only has one freaking setting-loud as heck- and after a while the noise induces your body to produce twitching like actions. Yeah at that point you need to do something. Suggestion: with ninja like actions sneak into said child's room and smuggle the toy out of there like a columbian drug lord, and if anyone asks "Its Broken...Uh oh?"
4. Your going to think other kids are ugly compared to your beautiful creation. 
5. You aren't in the parent club until someone asks you if your kid clad in all blue and a baseball cap (or in all pinks and a tutu) is a boy or girl. SMH. 

Can I get a witness.

Sensory bags

Alrighty - sensory bags here we go.

 What you would need

There are ao many possibilities but I have

• shaving cream
• Hot glue gun
• Aloe vera lotion (you can also use hair gel)
• Glitter
• Food coloring
• PompomS
• Clear glass rocks/beads
• Tiny little gems
• Fuzzy yarn/ string
• Plastic bags (I have different sizes- and mine are freezer bags)

Now you don't require all of these things but I make two different types I bags and I used a little bit of everything. I have all these things on hand usually contained within my craft box.

You can put pretty much anything you want inside your sensory bags. 

Now here are your basic steps to make one EASY!! 

1. Take one size of plastic bag that you would like to use (each sensory bag uses two bags)

2. Fill with your choice base substance-  I chose aloe Vera. You only need about 1/3-2/3 cup depending on the size of the bag you chose. You don't need much.

3. For this one I am making : it's going to be "all things shiny" so I sprinkled a fair amount of glitter on top of the aloe Vera.

4. Then I added the little gems and glass beads. 

5. To seal it properly i squeezed all the air out the best i could and I used my hot glue gun along the top in between the two sides of the zip.

6. Place inside a second bag either the same size or the next size up. And repeat hot glue step. 

I also made one that I call "all things fuzzy" 

My son enjoys squishing them both.
In case you didn't check it out before, See what else you can do with shaving cream!
Thanks for checking this out! Have fun!

Wondrous Quesadillas

Wondrous quesadillas!

Toddler approved! 

Ingredients:

Flour tortillas (I only used three being that there is only three in my family)

Ground beef 1 lb

Frozen grilled chicken chunks 

Butter

Shredded mild, sharp, and medium cheddar cheese (I found all three mixed in a bag) 

Steps!

1. Brown ground beef

2. Heat up chunked grilled chicken 

3. On one side only butter one side of the tortilla.

--On medium heat -- heat a large pan to fit a tortilla (folded in half)

[now here is a part where you kida have to work quickly: especially if your pan is already heated]

4. Place tortilla butter side down in pan and on half place a handful of shredded cheese (of all three) in only half of the tortilla. (you might hear a bit of a sizzle when the tortilla touches the pan depending on how hot it is --it's okay) 

Spoon ground beef over half of the tortilla (over the shredded cheese) 

5. place chunked chicken on top of the ground beef 

6.Then quickly fold empty half of the tortilla over the full half. 

Using a spatula press the tortilla down a little so everything sticks together and the cheese spreads-- NICE AND GOOEY!--

Check the bottom side often until golden brown and flip. Continue cooking on the other side until golden brown. I like to use a pizza cutter to cut into triangles and then serve. 

I like to serve them with queso cheese, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream!

  

Go to creative everything.

You see this giant pad? 

Yeah that one.

Well I have to just share thing simple thing with anyone who wants to take the time to read this. 

This is a giant newsprint paper pad. The sheets are huge and personally I think the more coloring room you have the better. 

My son knows now that when mommy takes out the giant pad of paper it's time to be creative. Usually he suggests a medium he wants to work with- yesterday it was play dough- the day before it was water colors... Now let me explain. 

Looks like I am a weirdo mom. I know; me saying my son experiements in different "mediums" sounds like I'm crazy and some sort of a hipster. But only having a single form of expression gets pretty boring. A medium is basically different creative forms- clay, painting, pastels, linear work, there are so many different ways to use different styles of creativity and expression. I bet you wouldn't consider snow a medium. Letting your kid go outside accompanied by yourself and just letting them build something. Building and playing with Legos is also another medium and does help build creativity. But I digress. 

Back to the giant pad: 

My son chose playdough yesterday and naturally I grabbed the big pad and flipped it open to a clean page- and this is why-

Playing with play dough on carpet or a counter scares me a little. 1. Playdough gets into carpet (and stays fairly easy) 2. Counters tend to be up high and you just plain have to be more careful. I feel like you don't get as wide of a range of motion if you wanted to go edge to edge.    

Now I'm speaking in terms of a toddler- if you have a 12 year old it might be easier to work on a counter. It's all based on how you feel your child will do. Or some families are lucky enough to have a "craft" table which [i am so jealous]. 

This is what our playing with play dough on the pad looked like

We also have painted 

And colored 

All within a giant pad of paper. 

By far my favorite purchase ever and if you can find something similar go for it!! The bigger the better! 

When you lovely folks find your giant pad to do works on ---what did you use it for?! 

Crazy awesome craft box

I have this magical box.

Well it's a giant storage container filled with tons of craft stuff! Magical right?! My little man loves it. It has all different types of paper, fuzzy things, shiny jewels, crayons, markers, felt, pipe cleaners, Pom poms. ALL SORTS OF STUFF. 

When this big box emerges in my house my son gets all excited. He gets to explore and feel and experiment. 

Now this box does contain mommy's craft supplies so -this box is for supervised fun. 

I do have a "let mommy do the dishes" bag that I can take down for my son that contains supplies similar to the ones my son chooses out of the big box. 

 This bag contains 

• foam sheets
• Small containers of play dough
• mini colored pencils (watch for another post about how to create these yourself!)
• big crayons
• little crayons
• color wonder markers
• color wonder color pages.

The play dough requires some supervision - but my son will sit on the kitchen floor and play.

This is just one of my little tricks to have a minute. Thanks for checking it out! 

What would you put in your crafty bin? or your "let mommy do the dishes" bag. 

Mini bag courtesy of my sister in law, she is a 31 consultant. You can get a bag just like it here!

Easy Window art

Window art is something my son quickly got excited over! We live in a home with a sliding glass back door. When I see it I think it's beautiful outside and WHAT A UNIQUE CANVAS.

All you need is a sliding glass door or a window and some crayola markers. They make window ones specifically but crayola markers are all washable all it takes is a wet rag to wipe the canvas clean.

Take a peek!

Things You Need to Know.

1. PLEASE AND THANK YOU. Those words. One thing i will always remember as a kid is a lot of my friends parents told me that i was very polite. I addressed them by Mr.& Mrs and always said PLEASE AND THANK YOU. I mean even as a teenager. Imagine a new friend of your kids coming over your house (as a teenager) and if you offered them something to drink and they say "Yes please" and then a "Thank you" my standings with them would be positive from that moment forward. Manners to me are important. And I think they are more appreciated than folks realize.

2. Be nice to EVERYONE. I do not care where you are from, how you talk, how you dress I wont be mean to someone. I want my son to give everyone a chance. Not every kid will like him. He wont get along with everyone either, but i certainly want him to give it his best shot at trying. The bullying thing is huge with me, i will not tolerate any bullies or bullying. Being nice to everyone- I hope will avoid at least HIM being the bully. 

3. STRANGER DANGER. Now being nice to everyone does have its limits. Stranger danger is always on my mind. I want my son to be respectful of adults but i do not want him to think he has to listen to a joe schmo on the street for no reason. Stranger Danger is being taught in schools and pre schools for that matter, PROPS!

4. It's okay to be SILLY. Be silly, be yourself. have fun doing it. Who cares what anyone thinks of you. If you want to dance and wiggle around because you have a song stuck in your head then by all means...SHAKE YOUR MONEY MAKER. But dont let anyone get you down or tell you its not okay or appropriate to wiggle in the soup aisle at wal-mart to some "in-your head- jams". 

5. BE YOURSELF. easy enough. 

6. Emotions are natural. I know emotions are scary. And to a boy is sometimes something strange and only for girls to experience. Crying when you're frustrated or sad is perfectly fine and healthy. If you are angry- its okay people get angry...Its important not to dwell in anger as well though. Understanding is another valuable trait. Being excited its an awesome feeling, and gets your blood pumping. Enjoy that. 

7. MOM will always worry about you. Yes believe it or not- no matter how old you get Mom is always going to worry about you. She took care of you, kissed boo-boo's and fought away scary monsters. She is going to always want to know that you are safe, happy, and OKAY. It will never change no matter what. 

8. LOVE unconditionally. With all your heart. There is a lot of hate out there. Don't be apart of that.

9. STAND UP. Stand up for whats right, for what you believe in your heart to be true. People will try to knock you down but stand up and hold your head high.

10. _________________ (you fill in the blank) What would you add.