Treat

Last week, we got a new front door. It was an exciting day because we've really needed a new front door for a long time. Our house is over 100 years old and sometimes it felt like our door was as old as the house. It really is a neat door, but it let in a lot of air and the insulation was horrible. We've already felt a huge difference in how warm our house is so hooray for that! 

One of the best parts of our old door was that we had a mail slot. Griffin loved poking his hand through it and watching things happen outside. It also was a race to the slot everyday when we would hear our mail carrier drop the mail through. Griffin liked to go and pick up the mail and I liked to see what was waiting for me. Nine out of ten times, it's always boring stuff like bills or advertisements. It was so much worse during political season-- for months, we would get anywhere from 8-12 mailers PER DAY. It seemed like such a waste of paper to me, but I called them Griffin's mail and he would play with them. Free toys, thank you very much.

We have a really cute new mailbox to go along with our door, but I've already been missing that telltale clank of the slot that alerted me that our mail was being delivered each day (even though it scared the heck out of me most days and usually made me think someone was breaking into our house). Checking the mail always is like looking for a little surprise. The art of sending mail isn't as common as it once was, but I love getting a little happy in the mail whether it's a note, thank you card, catalog, or letter. 

Treat is Shutterfly's new greeting card brand that makes it easy for people to create and send unique greeting cards. Who wouldn't love getting a beautiful card in the mail for any occasion? Treat cards are perfect for holidays, birthdays, congrats, thank yous and every occasion in between. It's so easy to make your own card for someone you love!

Today and tomorrow (November 19 and 20), you can create and send a Treat greeting card for free! Whether it's a thank you note for Thanksgiving or sharing holiday cheer with a "just because" card, Treat will let you create a one-of-a-kind card.

After you make your card, just enter the code TREATBLOGR to get it for free. I'm excited to send my card! Who knows, it could be coming to your mailbox soon! 

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! 

Although I was compensated for this post, the opinions are 100% my own. 

It all started with a tube of toothpaste

Before I was a mom, even before I got pregnant, I had an exhaustive list of things that I said I would never, ever do as a mother. I should share that list sometime just so we can all have a good laugh. One of those things was that I would NEVER give my baby the POISON that was formula. That's supposed to be sarcastic, if you can't tell. We all know how that turned out.

What I'm saying is that I was a self-righteous fool and I've learned to never say never. God will usually snap those opportunities up and use them to humble me something fierce. And those humbling seasons, although helpful and refining, aren't the most fun.

In case you're wondering, what I'm about to share with you is not one of those humbling seasons, but rather a humbling moment. I am going to stop rambling and get to the point.

Before I was pregnant, during my pregnancy, and even after Griffin was born, I was adamant that I would never allow him to wear any clothing with characters. I'm talking Winnie the Pooh, Disney animals, Mickey, etc. I don't know why I got this in my head, but I did and I was sticking to my guns, dang it. It was a pride issue. I have lots of those, apparently.

One day, the time came for me to buy Griffin a toothbrush and toothpaste. I bought the baby kind at Target that came with a tiny toothbrush and small tube of toothpaste that had Elmo on the front. It sits in a little basket on Griffin's dresser.

Shortly after buying the teeth accessories, Griffin decided that he hated having his diaper changed. In order to avoid having a WWE sized wrestling match during every change, I would ask him, "Do you want to hold Elmo?" which was my peace offering of his toothbrush and toothpaste. It always pacified him long enough to do a quick change that didn't end with me sweating like a man.

One day, he randomly started crying for EMMO, EMMO. It took me awhile to realize that he was crying for the furry red monster on his toothpaste. It took me awhile to figure it out because he had never seen anything with Elmo on TV. I wish my child was crying because he wanted his teeth to be clean all the time, but he was just crying for Elmo, not his actual toothpaste. I could've had a future dentist on my hands!

Toothpaste Elmo became an obsession. He wanted his toothpaste (and toothbrush) ALL THE TIME. We would be in stores and he would find every tiny thing with Elmo on it and cry for it until I let him hold it. Once, he carried a box of frozen waffles with Elmo's picture on it around Kroger because he would scream when I took it away. That box of waffles came home with us.

I stuck to my guns and although he still loved Elmo, I wouldn't buy him any clothes with Elmo. Then one day, I pulled down some hand-me-downs from a friend's little boy. Lo and behold, there was a pair of Elmo pajamas in the bin. I showed them to G and he actually squealed. He hugged and kissed them-- jammies! It was so sweet.

Then I realized something. I was letting my pride get in the way of something that brought my child joy. It wasn't something that would hurt him or affect him negatively. He loves Elmo and Elmo is a pretty sweet little monster. I felt pretty ashamed when I realized what I'd been doing. I washed those jammies and he wore them that night. When we put the shirt on him, his face just lit up and he rubbed his belly saying, "Emmo! Emmo!"

Since then, we've added some more Elmo things to our collection of toys. We've rented some Elmo DVD's from the library and they've given this momma a few minutes of peace. I've gotten over my Elmo road block for the most part. He outgrew the jammies a few weeks ago, but we've been able to get by with our books and toothpaste since then.

That is, until yesterday. We were at the store and he started yelling for EMMO, EMMO. I saw what he was looking at and I couldn't resist...

Never say never, my friends. Unless it comes to Sponge Bob. Then I can actually say never. I despise that disrespectful little sponge.

And yes... that is the toothpaste and toothbrush that started it all. God bless dental hygiene and Elmo.

 

The Proof is in the Pin

One of my favorite friends, Sarah, has been hosting a blog linkup called "The Proof is in the Pin". Basically, it's a way to be accountable for trying your pins! This is something I really need. I love me some Pinterest and always have every intention of doing my pins, but life gets in the way. I have three pins today that I completed and SURPRISE OF ALL SUPRISES, they are food pins. Try to pick your jaw up off the floor.

Pin #1-- Feta Dip

image via

This dip is insanely good. It couldn't be easier to throw together before a party and it's always a crowd pleaser. I made it several times last winter for different parties, but forgot about it until a few days ago. We were visiting my family this weekend, and I made it for a football gathering on Saturday night and a mini-Thanksgiving meal on Sunday night. It was a huge hit both nights! I think we're going to grill some Greek marinated chicken breasts and serve this on top of them for supper soon-- kind of a Greek bruschetta chicken. The only thing I do differently is I don't crumble the entire block of feta into the dip-- only about 3/4 of the block. Yum!

Pin #2-- Buffalo Chicken Meatball Sandwiches

image via

These sandwiches are from my very favorite food blog. I really like Crist and Tina as people and dang, can they cook and bake. When I'm meal planning, I usually check their blog archives first. This recipe was no exception. These meatballs are easy and perfect! I used mild buffalo sauce and left the sauce out of the meatball mixture so Griffin could have some before I tossed them in the hot sauce. He liked them a lot! We ate them on a bake yourself Kroger multigrain baguette (per Tina's instructions) and we couldn't get enough of them. I usually hate leftovers, but I devoured these the next day. Make the blue cheese dressing yourself-- it's easy and delicious. I served these with sweet potato fries. Well done, ladies!

Pin #3-- Oven Baked Hardboiled Eggs

image via

I make these exactly how she suggests and I don't think I'll ever boil eggs on my stove again (unless I'm in a pinch). Sure, baking them takes a little longer, but I've found it's much more foolproof. I've never had an egg crack in my oven and I do this a lot. Watch, I'll have one break today. We really love hardboiled eggs here as snacks, in egg salad, on our green salads, etc., so this is an easy way to have a bunch on hand at once! Eggs are a great source of protein and I usually will eat one in some form before I go exercise!

Thanks for the fun linkup, Sarah! Happy Tuesday, friends!

 

Veteran's Day

It's no surprise to anyone that we just finished an election where emotions ran high. I watched social media over the last few months and was both encouraged and astonished to see both facts and rumors swirl as people defended their candidate. It was disheartening to see people lose friendships over their political differences. It was a highly charged time in our country.

I, for one, am glad that it's over. Even though there are still plenty of angry people, I think there are a lot of proud people, too. I'm one of them, even though the candidate I prefer didn't win. I'm proud to live in a country where we can vote on a President every four years. I'm especially proud to live in a country where men and women have fought to defend my freedom over hundreds of years. Two of my best friends have had loved ones serve overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq, and I was able to see firsthand some of the sacrifices these brave men and women make for our country.

Tomorrow, Sunday, November 11, is Veteran's Day. Shutterfly is running a great campaign on Facebook to send a card to the troops to thank them. When you click here, you can choose from one of four great cards to send to one of our soldiers. It literally took me two minutes and I'm thankful I could do something small and simple to thank one of them.

If you can, take a few minutes today to say thank you. I promise that it will be worth your time! If you have a family member in the service, please know how grateful my family is to your soldier and your family. We do not take them or their great service for granted!


**Although Shutterfly did compensate me for this post, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. 

Chicken Pot Pie & Warm Cinnamon Apples

Well, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that I fell off the 31 Days bandwagon. I did try, but we are in an interesting season of life right now that doesn't always leave a lot of room for a blog post at the end of the day. Since this blog is for me and my family, I don't want to feel pressure to post everyday if I can't make it happen. But I really do love blogging and am glad that I was able to complete some of the 31 days because it made me remember how much I do enjoy chronicling our day to day life.

We've also been throwing around the possibility of taking my blog private, which would mean that you would have to sign in with your email address to read. Again, I blog for our family and it makes me feel a little unsettled that anyone with Internet access can read and see pictures of our life. Nothing happened to make me feel this way, but it's something we've been throwing around.

Now, onto the real reason for this post-- food! Was there ever any doubt? On Monday, I made one of our very favorite winter meals-- chicken pot pie and warm cinnamon apples. This meal is comfort food at it's finest! The winter I was pregnant, my friend Emily gave me this recipe for pot pie and it's been a staple in our winter menus ever since. It's so easy and we usually eat the leftovers in a day or so. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Chicken Pot Pie

serves 6-8

12 oz bag frozen mixed veggies

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

14 oz. can chicken broth

2/3 cup milk

3 cups cooked and shredded chicken (I always use a rotisserie chicken for flavor)

2 pie crusts

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan on medium high heat and saute onion for 2-3 minutes. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper until bubbly. That will happen quickly. Whisk in the milk, then the broth until smooth. Bring to a boil and let it boil untouched for 1 minute. Stir in the cooked chicken and veggies. 

Put one crust on the bottom of your pie plate. Pour filling into the pie plate and put second crust on top. Cut to vent. Cover edges with foil so the crust won't burn. Bake for 35 minutes or until the crust is golden.

**I have never actually made this pot pie in a standard glass pie plate. This makes a lot of filling, so before I made it for the first time, I went to Target and bought a deep dish pie plate. This pie plate has straight sides, so it's deeper than your average pie plate. I'm pretty sure that mine is the same one in the link and I've gotten my money's worth! I would recommend it for this pot pie. If you don't have one, then I would suggest using a 9x9 square glass baking dish before using a regular pie plate. 

Warm Cinnamon Apples 

via My Recipes

serves 6

4 McIntosh apples (I used Gala because that's what I had-- they were great)

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

2 tbsp water

1 tbsp butter 

Toss together first four ingredients in a Ziploc bag. Toss to coat the apples well.

Cook apple mixture, water, and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cover, but stir occasionally for 8-10 minutes or until the apples are soft.

Bon appetit, friends! 

You Better Watch Out!

The giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Karen Bosch, my third grade teacher!! It's weird for me type her first name; I think I will stick to Ms. Bosch! ;) One of my very favorite elementary school memories is Friday afternoons in third grade when Ms. Bosch would play her guitar and our class would sing songs together. She's a great teacher and I'm thankful for her influence in my life! Congratulations on winning! Shutterfly will be contacting you with your code. :)

Christmas is, hands down, my favorite time of year. I know there are a lot of people who share that opinion with me! There's something about the weather, the food, the family and friends, and just the ambiance of the season that makes me so nostalgic and happy. I think Christmas will just keep getting better and better as Griffin gets older. I'm so excited to be able to start experiencing it through the eyes of a child! This will be our second Christmas with him; hopefully he likes Santa a little better this year...

2011 was not a great year for Griffin and Santa. Hopefully 2012 will be better, although somehow I doubt it. And yes, that Santa on the left is pretty creepy. We won't be going back there this year.

I have loved sending out Christmas cards over the past few years. We didn't send any the first year we were married, but we have every year since. I was so excited to have Griffin on our card last year! He was the star of the show.

In my mind, it's never too early to start thinking about your Christmas card and Shutterfly has some amazing photo Christmas card options this year! I've used Shutterfly for our Christmas cards before, as well as using them for some other photo projects, and I've never been disappointed! They have so many different options and their prices are always so reasonable. They've gotten my products shipped quickly and are always running some sort of special offer! Here are a few cards that I've got my eye on this year.

I can't wait to pick out our card this year! I love saving our cards from years past, framing them, and displaying them during the Christmas season. I know I'll find something I love this year thanks to Shutterfly!

What's even better is that Shutterfly is offering one of my blog readers a $50 credit off your total order this season (does not include shipping & cannot be combined with any other promos)! All you have to do is leave a comment with your email address on this blog post by 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, October 24 to enter! That's it! Best of luck friends and Merry Christmas!

**I was compensated with a discount code from Shutterfly for this post, but the opinions were 100% mine. I have always been more than impressed with Shutterfly's product quality and customer service.

 

A Day of Silence

My blog will be silent today in honor of a great man, Matt Turner.

Matt's funeral is today. Please pray for his precious wife, Julee, and his beautiful baby, Preslee.

Julee is a strong woman of God with a deep faith. Never have I seen God so glorified in one person. I know God will continue to use her in mighty ways.

Please pray for the Turner and Bell families today and in the coming weeks and months.

For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

Lamentations 3:31-32