From old to new

Six years ago I bought these really cheap, shatterproof ornaments from Garden Ridge. They have truly served me well over the years. This year I decided they needed a little freshening up. So I painted them with black chalk board pant. (That's all I had and we are on a budget) And then I had a white Bistro Chalk Marker that I used to write words onto my ornaments.

And this is how they turned out. I thought they were a little to dark to put on the tree but I love them in my trifle bowl with the gold ornaments. My penmanship isn't the greatest but you get the idea.

S'mores Cookies

I love making Chocolate Chip Cookies. And, I have finally found a recipe that I love. So this time I decided to add some marshmallows to the batch and call them, "S'more Cookies". They were so good. They only lasted MAYBE 48 hours. :)

3/4 cup/170 g butter, unsalted and softened

3/4 cup/160 g light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup/50 g granulated sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups/260 g all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons corn starch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

6 oz./150 g semi-sweet chocolate chips

plus I added a handful of marshmallows

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cream butter, brown sugar, and sugar together until creamy.
3. Add egg and vanilla and stir.
4. Add dry ingredients and chocolate chips.

 

I cook mine for about 9 mins. And BOOM! cookies!

 

 

Elf on the Shelf + Jesus

We have our very own elf friend in our house this season! It's all so very exciting.
 
We don't really do the whole 'Santa' thing in our house. For one it scares Brother Bear so much. And two I don't want the emphasis of Christmas to be on Santa and gifts. I want the season to center around Jesus's birth and His love for us. But, I still wanted to have a little "Magic" for the kids.
 
So I found the idea of combining Elf on the Shelf with Jesus here.

When I told Brother Bear that an elf friend was going to come to our house for the month of December he was so excited. I still needed to order one so I had him look at the pictures of them and tell me which one he wanted. He decided he wanted "the brown one". So our tan elf, Jingle, arrived from the North Pole.

I typed up a letter from Jingle to Brother Bear and Sister Bear, and I put it in the box with the elf.

Dear Brother Bear and Sister Bear.

My name is Jingle. I am an elf and I came all the way from the North Pole to help you celebrate Christmas and Jesus’s birthday.

I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving. As we transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas I want to help you guys to continue to remember to be thankful for ALL your blessings.

During this time of year it’s so easy to get focused on the “I want, I want, I want” and forget about what Christmas is REALLY about. It’s ok to want things, but I’ve seen people get very selfish with all the things they want.

I don’t want you to forget about Jesus as you and your family prepare for Christmas. I want you to enjoy all the fun this season brings, like, hot cocoa, singing Christmas songs, candy, and presents; but I don’t want you to forget about the most important present of all! JESUS…God’s only son.  I want to help you to remember that it’s still important to love others…to be nice to other people…to help other people (even mommy)…to show other people how wonderful Jesus is.

 

I’m going to hang out at your house for the whole month of December to help you remember to:

·         Love each other

·         Speak nicely to one another

·         Help each other. Even your neighbors and friends

·         Give to others that don’t have all the stuff you have

·         God loves you so much. Even more than Mommy and Daddy love you

 

I look forward to helping you learn all about the Christmas story and God’s love for you.

I will add all the photos of all the things our sweet Jingle does each night. So far Brother Bear jut loves to cuddle with him.

Child Like Faith

 

Brother Bear has been asking when it's going to snow. I kept telling that I didn't know. Today we were in the kitchen and he said, "Mommy, I just can't wait for it to snow!" So, I told him that he could say a prayer and ask God to help it to snow. At first he was a little resistant. He wanted me to pray. I told him that if it was something that he wanted he needed to do it. So, I hear him whisper a prayer. I think he expected it to happen right away. So I had to explain to him that prayer didn't always work that way; that we needed to be patient and wait for God's response. Two hours later we looked outside and, sure enough, it was snowing! Then I had to explain to Brother that when God answered our prayers we needed to thank Him. Joyfully my sweet 3 year old said, "Thank you Jesus for the SNOW!"

Most of the time I feel like a complete failure as a mom. But it's little moments like this that I feel God's hand on my shoulder and sense that, with His help, I'm doing something right.

Lead Me

  Last night was the most challenging nights I've had as a mom in a while. And then today wasn't any better. Sister Bear was up crying until 1:30am (teething) and, Brother Bear woke up at 5:50am. (Just normal for him) So needless to say, I was one tired mamma today.
  I really struggled with being patient, kind, and loving to my kids today. I hate to admit it, but there's my confession. All day long I just wanted to leave and go somewhere quiet and calm and just relax. All the whining and crying and complaining just grated on my nerves WAY more than it usually does.
  I think all day long I had to remind myself to call out to God for help. Brother Bear was having a particularly difficult day. (I think he sensed my 'out of body-ness') I don't know how many times I had to scoop him up and apologize to him for being short and lacking patients with him.
  Finally bed time came!!!!! Thank you Lord!!! However, Sister Bear was NOT having it. So I spent an hour getting her to go to sleep. When she finally went to sleep I decided to spend a little time on Pinterest. (my zone out time) I came across this picture and it hit home.

  My heart was overwhelmed today. I literally felt like I was drowning several times today. God is my rock and when I cry out to Him for help He will lead me to higher ground.

Enchiladas with home made Tortillas

I've always wanted to try to make my own tortillas, but I've always been to scared. For one I always thought you had to use Crisco, and I HATE Crisco. And two, it just seems more difficult than it really is. So, here is where I got he tortilla recipe.

 

Even Sister Bear liked the tortillas.

 



 

I kind of had a hard time getting mine super round but they still rolled up really nicely.
So for the enchilada part this is what you'll need.

I combined  Cream of Mushroom soup, half chopped onion, 1cup of cheese, 2cups of chicken, and 1/2 cup of sour cream in a bowl. Then I  dip my tortilla in the bowl so that some of the mixture gets on both sides of the tortilla. Then I spooned some of the mixture into the tortilla and rolled it up. Then I place it into my cooking dish. It should make 10. Then I sprinkle 1 cup of cheese over the top and cook at 350. I just cook until the cheese is melted, and I'm sure the inside is nice and hot.

 

I like to put sour cream and salsa on the top of mine. SOOO good.

I'm a homeschooling Mamma

This is my first post! EEK. Kind of exciting.
  I'm in the process of homeschooling Brother bear. He's only 3 so I'm trying to create a routine more than anything. He seems to enjoy it; and is doing VERY well.
In our kitchen we have a little nook that I have set up as our make shift classroom.

Having the alphabet up on the wall has helped Brother Bear see the letters and the objects that are associated with them. We use Abcmouse.com every morning to start our "school" out. We do 2 lessons so far. And then usually Brother likes to play extra games after he's done with his lessons. Brother Bear really likes to look outside and see what the weather is. We also have a few Preschool books that we do too. We don't do them every day as Brother doesn't always have the attention span for it. haha

 



 In the plastic bin is play dough, coloring utensils, and coloring books and paper. On top is the "Quiet basket".  Sometimes I need Brother Bear to just do something quietly so I can string one thought together. :)

I also have an easel in our "classroom". I like to display the letter of the day for Brother Bear to see, and we usually end of talking about it throughout the day.

Last but not least we have a verse of the week. Brother is still getting the hang of this, but I try to say the verse  to him a few times during the day and then I have him try to repeat after me.