Mother's Day Perfection

Ahh, a perfect Mother's Day: waking up to the sound of my little ones' pitter-pattering as they bring me breakfast in bed; opening handmade gifts from the kids as I stare out at my freshly cleaned house; donning my new earrings from the in-laws; arriving at church early and gaining much wisdom from the sermon; a leisurely lunch and book-reading/crafting at home while my cherubs nap peacefully.

(Insert record-skip sound effect)

The imperfect:  My 3 year old is screaming because how dare his dad try and put paint on his hand to create a cherished memento; my house is mostly clean because of the six hours we spent yesterday....though there's a mountain of unfolded laundry that I'm ignoring; my new earrings were given to me early, and vacuumed up in our cleaning escapade the previous day; just before departing for church my dear husband is digging through the discarded vacuum bag to reclaim my gift; we arrive at church in the knick of time and hear most of it; lunch is chips and salsa for me, cheese sandwiches for the kids; nap-time is as stated above.

Today, instead of yearning for perfection or treating myself to a day at the mall, I am just feeling blessed to be a mother.  I work my butt off (not literally, but I wish) to raise compassionate, responsible and intelligent kids.  It's frustrating and overwhelming at times and most days I lack the personal hygiene or free time I once considered important, but I am fortunate.  There are many people out there who don't like being moms, or desperately are seeking to become one, or who have lost children, or have other heart-breaking situations.  I am thinking of those women today, and sending love to them.

I'm okay with the slobber stain on my shoulder and a tantrum about seat-belt-wearing.  These years are chaotic and beautiful and I intend to cherish every minute.  If the worst part of my Mother's Day is losing a couple earrings, then great.  I didn't have to dig them out of the trash--the best present yet!

Too busy to blog?

Man, I am a poor excuse of a blogger lately.  I love stopping by my fave blogs every few days and seeing the awesome content that they're posting.  I think "I should blog".  Then I move on to something else.

What have I been up to, besides avoiding the "draft blog post" like it has influenza?  Glad you asked.  Between glamorous diaper changes, dishwasher unloading, teaching, and the occasional shower, my bits of spare time are being spent:

Trying my hand at my own "Happiness Project."  Have you read the book?  It's awesome.  You can buy it here.  I would lend you my copy but I need it for reference.  Constant reference, it's that good.  I will share all about it soon--  what I am doing in my happiness project and what steps to take if you want to try it out.

Being obsessed with all things photography.  Taking a class, snapping shots of anything and everything, spending too much time watching videos and reading articles.  I love it.  And I think I'm getting better.  You can be the judge, when I post some pictures.

Playing with my kids.  Really playing--like pushing toy cars on the carpet and sitting on chair pretending it's a train.  Also, birthday celebrations for both boys are going down.  Pictures and details to come.

Watching Downton Abbey.  I hopped on board with that train.  Don't regret it.  I can't get enough.  My advice:  start from season one.

Getting healthy.  Like, the kind where you eat healthy and exercise.

Okay, so I've given you a picture-free, promise (of posts to come) filled, glimpse of me right now.   Because it's nearing midnight and I have to work in the morning.  Also because I am too lazy to fetch my portable hard drive and do not wish to upload any of the old pictures from my laptop because my skills were not nearly as polished and how dare you see that I am not a professional.

Sending you sweet cyber hugs.  

DIY: Kindness

I am approaching 30, and quick.  My birthday is coming up in just a few days, and I have been thinking about a way to celebrate.  Of course there will be cake (err, tiramisu) and possibly some singing, but I want to do something to celebrate how blessed I am and to share some love with the people around me.  And so is born "DIY: Kindness".  It fits the genre of the blog and gets me thinking about opportunities beyond my home and family, though both of those are definitely included.  I am going to attempt to complete thirty acts of kindness in the weeks surrounding my birthday.  "DIY: Kindness" is in full swing--that's one advantage to having a birthday near Christmas, lots of chances to help out.  

Source for quote

Here's the progress on DIY: Kindness so far:

1.  Paid for the car behind me in a drive thru.  

2.  Bought a book of stamps, left with postal worker to give to the next person.  

3.  Bought a Christmas present for a senior citizen 

4.  Bought a Christmas present for a child

5.  Sent a pillow and pillowcase to a family who needs it.

6.  Left a little something for the mail carrier--bottle of water, some chocolate, and hand lotion

7.  Left a card and cookie mix on the neighbor's doorstep

I have a ways to go.  It's sort of like when I decided to give my husband thirty gifts on his 30th birthday a couple months ago.  It seemed like such an awesome idea (and it was!) but when I was putting it together, I wasn't sure.  

Please feel free to join and get to doing some DIY Kindness.  It can be big or small.  Sometimes just holding a door or sharing a compliment can make someone's day.  If you choose to join, I'll add it to my list of 30, and you may just see some kindness coming your way as well. 

Pretzel Crusted Chicken

If you learn how to cook one meal, this is the one. It would be great for company or a quick meal at home. It doesn't require much time and tastes amazing.  Serve it up  with some salad and you're good to go. Plus, you get to pound the chicken.  You'll feel like a ninja when you're done.  And then you still get to eat.

The recipe is originally from Taste of Home's magazine.  Many kudos to contibutor Kerri Balliet for giving me my new favorite meal.

Pretzel-Crusted Chicken with Mixed Greens 

Ingredients
-2 cups sourdough pretzels
-1/2 cup flour
-eggs
-1/4 cup buttermilk ( I used half &half)
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-1/8 tsp. pepper (more if you dare)
-5 Tbsp olive oil, divided
-4 chicken breasts
-2/3 cup mayo
-2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
-2 tsp. cider vinegar
-1/8 tsp. salt
-1/8 tsp. pepper
-1 pkg salad greens

Directions:
1. Crush pretzels in a food processor or baggie with a mallet.  Place pretzels and flour in separate shallow bowls.  In another shallow bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, garlic and pepper.  Pound chicken to 1/4 inch thickness.  Dip both sides of chicken in flour, egg mixture, and then pretzel crumbs.
2. In a large skillet, heat 3 Tbsp. oil over medium heat.  Add chicken; cook for 4-6 minutes on each side or until no longer pink.
3. Meanwhile, in a small bow, mix mayo and mustard.  Remove 2 Tbsp. to another bowl for dressing.  Whisk in remaining oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
4. Drizzle saald greens with dressing.  Serve remaining mayonnaise mixture over chicken.

Thankful for Coloring

I am so thankful for you checking my blog today.  I have so much information and numerous projects to tell you about, but no high-quality, edited photos to illustrate how crafty I truly am.  Instead, here is a peek of some of my daily life.  I am so grateful to be living it.  

 "You wanna color by me mama?"  All other tasks on my list are out the window.  I cherish these minutes!

 Today I hosted a family "Crafty Crap" day.  The goal was to bring a project you've started and want to finish.  I finished nothing.  Just started more, like this pile of old-sweaters that want to become mittens.

 Thank you, Target, for these sparkly ornaments placed strategically in the dollar section.  It's way too early for Christmas deco, but I couldn't pass them up.

 I tried these pumpkin spice drinks.  Originally from a blog, pinned by a friend.  They're nasty.  Don't do it.  It may be tempting, but even the whipped cream cannot mask the badness of these.

 Speaking of nasty, is this not the most festive pile of garbage ever?  I sweep at least once per day (I swear!) and this is my pile from today.  It looks like an "I Spy", right?

Knit much?  Yeah, obviously not.  I have two kids, that's my excuse.  Oh and that whole not finishing thing. 

Thank you for stopping by my little space today.  

Much love,
Robin

Ham and Cheese Twists

These beauties are perfect for parties, laid-back weekends, or an after-school snack.

I dreamt about these one night.  Really.  It was so lucid that I woke up thinking I had actually made them. Two days and three ingredients later, they were just as good.  We had to pick up just one ingredient for these tasty bites, and they were quick, simple, and delicious.

Ham & Cheese Swirls (or Twists, I can't decide)

Ingredients:

• 1 package canned breadsticks 
• 12 slices ham deli meat
• 3 mozzarella cheese sticks  

Instructions:

1. Cut the cheese sticks into fourths, roll with ham.

2.  Stretch the breadstick pieces into a long, thin piece and wrap around ham, securing the ends.

3.  Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes

*While baking, I brushed  a little butter on the top of each twist for added flavor and that golden look.

Experiment with different combinations of lunch meat and cheese.  I might try ham and swiss or turkey and american.  

Starstruck

This is not a craft post.  This is not surprising, because on this here "craft blog"  there have not been too many of those lately.  What gives?  Mostly my inability to photograph projects and recipes though photography is one thing I've really been working on.  Mostly I've just been doing my best to love every free second with my little boys and trying to keep my house from appearing on "Hoarders."

I did have a little time to do something for myself last month and wanted to share it here with you.  I met my all-time favorite singer/songwriter!!!  My husband and I took a little trip sans kids to Nashville to see Lori Mckenna play.  As a bonus, we stayed with a couple close friends.   It turned out to be a beautiful night, and I enjoyed every minute of the concert.  Afterward, I got a minute to meet Lori and stammer out a few words of admiration and snap a picture. Did I mention she gave me a hug?  Maybe it was because she felt bad that I had traveled all the way from South Dakota.  Or that I appeared unable to form sentence.  Or maybe she is just that sweet.   I fell in love with her music in 2005 when I heard one of her songs on college radio in Massachusetts, and have been obsessed with her music since.  You can check her site through my link above, and even score a free tune from there.  

This is not the most flattering picture of her, but you get the idea...Lori Mckenna mid-song

 I've been a fan for like, um, ever, and you are amazing and humble and err..I'm from South Dakota (why did I need to say that?) and I loved the concert...Oh did I mention I called myself "Lori Mckenna Superfan"???

 We hugged it out.  

 This cheese-tastic expression on my face pretty much sums up the entire experience. 

There you have it.  Now I'll go craft.