A Mom’s Life Made Simple

Whose going to throw a party for the new year? I’m not much of a party person, I really can’t say I’ve ever even been to a New Year’s party.  Sad huh? Maybe when the kids are older my darling fiance will surprise me with a beautiful gown and swoop me away to some magical city with fireworks that light the sky for hours while we dine and dance. Wow how nice would that be?

I figure though there are moms out there that do find themselves rushing around this time of year planning a party while caring for their kids and daily duties. I hope for those moms sake that everything turns out perfect.

It’s hard to do any kind of planning when you have children, especially small children, but you can’t allow being a mom to stop you from doing the things you love. I admire the moms that are able to care for their kids, house, chores, husband, have date night, have friends over for a weekend party, or even just have five minutes to themselves. I am not one of those moms. I’m working hard on becoming one but as of now I am not supermom!

To help make your new year party planning a little easier I’ve found a few good recipes and remember your good luck foods like:

noodles- long noodles for a long life

black eyed peas, cabbage, collards- luck and fortune

fish- means moving forward in the new year

~COCKTAILS~

MARGRINA

• 1 shot Midori
• Ice
• 2-3 shots vodka
• A splash of orange juice

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake for a few seconds and strain into a martini glass.

(ALLRECIPES.COM)

CHAMPAGNE PEACH PUNCH

• 3 (11.5 ounce) cans peach nectar
• 1 (6 ounce) can frozen orange juice concentrate
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup peach brandy
• 1/4 cup grenadine syrup
• 1 (32 fluid ounce) bottle carbonated water
• 3 (750 milliliter) bottles champagne

DIRECTIONS

1. Chill all ingredients. In a large punch bowl combine peach nectar, concentrated orange juice, lemon juice, brandy and grenadine. Mix well and pour in the carbonated water and champagne.

~APPETIZERS~

ULTIMATE PARTY MEATBALLS

• 1 (16 ounce) can Ocean Spray® Jellied Cranberry Sauce
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle Heinz® Chili Sauce
• 1 (2 pound) bag frozen, pre-cooked, cocktail-size meatballs

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine sauces in a large saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until smooth. Add meatballs. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until meatballs are heated through, stirring occasionally.

COCONUT SHRIMP

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup beer
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups flaked coconut
• 24 shrimp
• 3 cups oil for frying

DIRECTIONS

1. In medium bowl, combine egg, 1/2 cup flour, beer and baking powder. Place 1/4 cup flour and coconut in two separate bowls.
2. Hold shrimp by tail, and dredge in flour, shaking off excess flour. Dip in egg/beer batter; allow excess to drip off. Roll shrimp in coconut, and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) in a deep-fryer.
3. Fry shrimp in batches: cook, turning once, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Using tongs, remove shrimp to paper towels to drain. Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce.

 MINI CRESCENT DOGS (for the kids)

• 2 (8 ounce) cans Pillsbury® Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
• 48 cocktail-sized smoked link sausages or hot dogs

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Unroll both cans of the dough; separate into 16 triangles. Cut each triangle lengthwise into 3 narrow triangles.
2. Place sausage on shortest side of each triangle. Roll up each, starting at shortest side of triangle and rolling to opposite point; place point side down on 2 ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown, switching position of cookie sheets halfway through baking. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm

Well it’s Monday which means back to work for many folks after a wonderful vacation. Of course I’m already working and have been since 1am eastern time. I feel like calling it quits because my eyes are fighting hard to stay open and my mind is telling me that when I get off work and lay down to sleep my daughters will wake up five minutes later and I’m going to be too tired to do anything!

I really think it would be great if jobs would just give us the whole time from Christmas eve until the new year off with pay. Wouldn’t that be the greatest! Of course there are jobs out there that do that or at least allow you to use up vacation days with pay but not everyone is that special. I work from home so I can schedule my own hours but I don’t get paid if I don’t work and I have to work crazy hours in order to get any work done while my youngest two are sleeping.

I guess I should just be thankful for a job right now and please don’t get me wrong I am very thankful that I not only have a job but make a pretty decent living working from home but man some sleep with pay would be great right now!

So for those of you that have a long day of work ahead of you here are a few relaxing spa recipes from www.SpaIndex.Com to help calm you and your tired body when you get home.

~ROMAN BATH SOAK~
 

1 cup of fine grade oil (consider sesame, olive, apricot, or avocado oil)
1 cup of mild shampoo or liquid castile soap
1/2 tsp. of  fragrance oil or essential oil of your choiceThis is easy but indulgent soak which is ideal for winter dry skin. Combine all of your ingredients in a clean bottle or jar.  Shake vigorously before each use, and dispense one to two tablespoons into your rapidly running bath water.  You’ll find the addition of mild shampoo helps to both emulsify and disburse the oil liberally throughout the bath water, for even distribution and coverage on your skin — instead of the tub.

~Insomnia Milk Bath~
Lavender is well known for its calming properties, however, every facet of this recipe is designed with rest in mind.

1 tbsp Almond oil
4 drops Lavender essential oil
3 drops Marjoram essential oil
2 drops Benzoin essential oil
1 cup of powdered milkPour oils into a small bowl, mix thoroughly. Stir in 1 cup of powdered milk. Add mixture to bath water.

~OH, MY ACHING FEET ~

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tsp. of Aloe Vera
1 teaspoon wheat germ oil
20 drops of peppermint Essential Oil
20 drops of eucalyptus Essential Oil

Santa has come and gone leaving behind tons of toys, stacks of empty boxes, piles of wrapping paper and little kids running around on a Christmas high. I have loved every minute of Christmas but I really hate cleaning up afterwards. I have been putting it off for two days now doing little bits here and there but reality is I have to get it all done.

The tree will come down after old Christmas as usual unless I find that time is opening up easier for me to do it earlier then I may skip my usual tradition and take it down a little early this year. I have to get a few storage totes to put my stuff in this year so things don’t get broken going up into the attic like they did last year. I have promised myself that I will slowly and patiently take the lights off of the tree this year instead of just letting them fall off into a huge light ball waiting for me to untangle next year.

The toys are already in the kids’s rooms in seperate totes so that they don’t lose their new toys at least for another week. New clothes have been hung up in the closets and dishes have been washed. I’m so backed up on washing clothes it’ll take a month just to see the laundry room floor. I really think next year I’m asking that Santa brings me a maid!

nana and pops house

Angelika knocked out after Christmas breakfast

Christmas Eve is here and almost gone! If your kids are running around crazy like mine then it’s time to have them wind down a little. Remind them that Santa will not come if they are not in bed sound asleep. I have baked cookies for Santa and the kids keep checking his location on http://www.noradsanta.org/ they see that he’s getting close which means it’s time for bed! I’m not real sure how long it will take for them to fall asleep but I’m guessing it’ll be a long night and early morning. I have to say I’m as excited as they are. I love to see their happy faces when they wake up and see all the gifts from Santa. This year Santa is leaving a gift for the dog and cat too!

The pets are patiently waiting for Santa to come! Merry Christmas to all!!

Tell me you’ve tried this… seriously it’s the cutest thing since my kids were born (smile). Go to http://www.elfyourself.com/ and load the pictures of people or animals you want, pick the dance and watch them dance. This is the second year I’ve elffed myself and I love it!

Today we spent time making homemade gifts. I’ll take pictures and post more after I give them away so it doesn’t spoil the surprise for some family member who read this. However, the kids had a great time making them and now we’re waiting on dear ole dad to call so he can pick up ingredients for cookies and candies we’ll be making tonight or tomorrow depending on how long it is before he calls.

I have to admit this Christmas I have really allowed myself to eat way to many sweets. We’ve made cake after cake and bought so many different wonderful holiday treats that I know it’ll take me until next Christmas to lose the pounds I put on this month alone! My favorite treats this year have to be the candy cane oreos and the mint oreos. Oh my goodness they are my weakness! If you haven’t tried them I suggest going to the store right this moment and getting a pack… no you’d better make that a couple of packs each!

Time is running fast and it’s almost up… Christmas is almost here! Are you ready? Have you finished up the shopping? I of course have not! I mean we are almost finished but we are waiting on my fiance’s paycheck to get a few more items. Isn’t this the fun part though? The rushing, the racing against time to get everything done and make everything perfect! WooHoo how exciting! 

Since we only have two and a half days before Santa drops off the toys I figure I’d better finish up everything just in case an emergancy comes up. You never know what might happen so it’s best to spend today getting what last minute gifts you can get. Go ahead and wrap all the gifts so it’s out of the way. I can’t stress how many times I’ve found myself actually wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve because time got away from me.

We don’t have gifts under our tree until Santa brings them on Christmas Eve. I know it looks so festive to have gifts under the tree but I like for my kids to think that all gifts are dropped off on Christmas Eve by Santa and that their gifts are the ones under the tree. Of course my kids wouldn’t care either way as long as they had some gifts under there!

Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves.”
~ Eric Sevareid (1912-1992), American newscaster.

Read that quote again… it’s okay take your time I’ll wait… Now why is it that Christmas is the one time of the year that we think about others?

Why is it that Christmas is the time of the year people find it in their hearts to remember the kids and families that have nothing? Not that I’m bashing this movement at all because I am just as bad as the rest of you, all year long there are children missing presents on birthdays and food on the table yet Christmas brings everyone together to help these families.

What is it that makes Christmas so special? What warms people’s hearts so much this time of year? I would really love to know because I would certainly like to bottle it all up and spread it around all year long! I love the giving spirit of Christmas, the love that you feel as you pass a complete stranger in the store. It just shows that this world can be a safe and loving place if we all just took the time to care. So what do you do at Christmas to show you care?

(Bath NC parade)

I feel like this is me this year. My shopping cart is bigger than my wallet! I picture filling the cart up with gifts to make everyone happy, shopping until I can’t shop a single second longer but reality is my wallet will only allow me enough funds to fill up one of those toy plastic carts. I would love to say that next year will be different that I am going to put money aside for a Christmas fund, I’m going to make a list of everything I want to get people and get stuff all year long instead of waiting until the last minute. HMMM how nice that all sounds too bad it won’t happen!

I feel at this moment like I have just ran a marathon while jumping in mud puddles along the way. Thankfully that isn’t the case, I did however tackle my girls bedroom! I went through all of their toys making piles of keepers, sale items, and charity items. I can’t believe how many toys they have… or rather they had. I mean half of them were broken or from when they were babies. I even found a teether! It’s not like I haven’t done this a million times before… okay I’ve done it at least three times before, but sometimes getting rid of things is just too hard to do. The memories held in each item makes it way to special to throw away or donate. Today was different, today I was tired of walking over toys just to tuck them into bed or searching through boxes of toys just to find that special stuffed animal they just can’t sleep without even though they haven’t seen it in days! Today I pictured all of the toys Santa will bring them in a few days and all those special memories were not enough to keep the toys! The memories will forever be in my mind but those toys… well they have to go! 

It has taken me all afternoon to conquer this tiny room which isn’t going to be a great excuse when my fiance comes home to find me so tired and nothing in the house done. He’ll never notice how much cleaner and empty the girls room is, instead he’ll just assume I did nothing all day. Boy I wish my life worked that way I mean seriously I don’t think I’ve had a do nothing all day day since I was in high-school!

So while I’m going through all of these toys I’m happily explaining to my very nosey four year old that they have outgrown their toys and we are giving them to little boys and girls that need toys.

“Don’t sale my dolls”  

“I’m not going to sale your dolls honey, we are giving away the toys you don’t play with any more”

“Don’t sale my computer”

“Brianna please go into the living room”

She runs down the hall crying to her sister “Sister… Mama is selling all of our toys!”

At this point I have two crying little girls, toys and trash up to my ears and the bad thing is there was no turning back at that point even though I desperately wanted to!

While me and my fiance were Christmas shopping last weekend we ended up getting lost which took an hour away from shopping but it gave us an hour together with nothing to do but ride and talk. It’s rare that we have even five minutes to talk to eachother without one of the three rugrats interrupting so we took advantage of it. Watching all the houses go by all lit up with Christmas decorations, listening to songs of the holiday coming over the radio while I sat in the car with my fiance who still after 14 years holds my hand while he drives down the road and humors me by answering all of my off the wall questions with a smile on his face I took that moment to ask him if he was living the life he always pictured.   

His answer… “Yes except maybe financially” “I always pictured myself with you, with kids, living around here maybe not exactly like we are but yes.”

Do I believe him? To a point… I mean no one is living the life they dreamed because as humans we are never happy (smile) but I know he was being honest and of course then it was my turn. He asked me and I sat silent for a moment…

“uh oh there’s the silence” he said with concern.

Finally I was able to tell him in  the nicest way possible that my life is nothing like I dreamed of. I never pictured myself getting pregnant at 16 having our son at 17! I had my life planned out, I was going to New York and living in a studio apartment while attending college to become a social worker. I would marry and have children and raise them somewhere far from the town we now live in, which we both grew up in. We would have a white house on a huge piece of land with a weeping willow tree in the corner of the yard. I pictured myself with two kids not three and a dog that grew old with me.

So my dream life is nothing like my reality but does that make me any less happy? Well maybe just a little. I love all three of my kids, I wouldn’t want to have it any other way! I had my dog that was growing old with me but he got run over and now I have my bull mix which is a dog I never thought I’d have in my home but I’ve come to love her more then I thought possible. I live in a house that is nothing but a constant headache with all the problems it has but it’s in the country far away from the dangers of people fighting across the street and having a stray bullet come thru my yard or worrying about the kids going walking or playing in the neighborhood and being taken since there is no neighborhood! I have pictured myself growing old with my fiance since the day we met but so much has happened with us that vision seems so blurry at times yet I love the way his eyes still light up the minute he sees me or how even after I’ve cleaned all day and smell like a dead mule he tells me I’m beautiful. I will be starting college again this spring to finish up my degree even though it’s not in NY it’ll still be my degree.

So sure my life isn’t what I expected, dreams have come and gone but God has opened many doors in my life and blessed me in ways I never imagined. There’s nothing I would change because everything has made me who I am today. If you’re struggling with the fact that your life isn’t what you thought it would be just stop and look around at what you do have. I’m sure there are so many people that would love to have the life you are wishing were different.