How do your children see you? Role Model, Leadership, comforting,nurturing?

The bible is the most powerful tool that a person has when going through daily life. I found this verse in the bible that goes perfectly with leading by example.

Proverbs 31:26 ESV / 141 helpful votes

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

Our local church has a sermon series coming up titled :Clean Slate – Parenting

That got me thinking about my children and how they see me.

Yesterday, I had the question on my mind of does my daughter look up to me?  I am just not sure about that. 

What if she doesn’t?  How would that make me feel?

I think the reason I question so much, is today in society there are so many people out there, advertisements, commercials, so much out there to get young people’s attention.  Where should the role modeling start?  How do I want my daughter to walk out that door in the morning when she goes off to school?  Are you looking for people to tell you who you are and what you should do or are you presenting yourself as one approved, confident of who you are? 

The example starts with me.  My daughter is about to be a teenager and she is being influenced every which way you turn.  When I tell her I really do not want her to do something, than I shouldn’t, plain and simple (Unless it’s justifiable).

I was recently diagnosed with a thyroid issue, which does give me a slight handicap as far as weight loss, energy.  Energy, let me emphasize that..ha! I think to myself, how does Susan see me?  As a mom who sits around and is unmotivating? 

My daughters main topic of conversation lately is about her girlfriends at school and there many trials and tribulations throughout the day at school.  I tend to tune out when she goes on and on and I think she may see that as, mom is not interested.  But I am!  I have to make sure that she knows I am here to listen and offer advice to her.  I don’t ever want her to feel like I am not.  Because that is when they start looking elsewhere for that approval or that acknowledgement of yes, Susan I can hear you. 

Here is a picture of me and my daughter.  I want so much more for her.  I want her to go to college, get a nice career and marry a man that truly cares about her.  The storybook life.  I need to plant seeds today so that down the road I can begin to see them take root and turn into a confident, determined, woman of God.

As I raise my children, I hope that they first and foremost let God and the holy spirit direct them but also that they would make wise decisions.

Love my kids more than anything in this world and they have to be prepared to go out there and stand up amongst all the worldy things going on and especially peer pressure.  

If the confidence and reassurance starts at home than when they go out those doors, nothing can stop them!  The sky is the limit.  And I truly want to be that example for them.  Both my son and my daughter.  

Beauty Concerns, A sign of aging ungracefully…ha!

Being a stay at home mom certainly has it’s perks on the rainy days like yesterday!  Oh my goodness, it was cold, wet and gloomy out all day and I was nice and warm inside.  Nothing is better to me on cold days than being inside a nice, cozy, warm home! 

Hoping to start venturing outside of the house next week.  Finally appears that I am getting into a groove and can not wait to start going to bible studies and maybe get in touch with some other stay at home moms too and have lunch, maybe shop.  We’ll see. 

Okay, starting to think about getting my kiddos valentines cards and crafts done.  Need to make sure I have cards for the class.   This year I got some gift bags with pencils and will buy some candies to place in each bag for James to take in.  Since he is still in Elementary school, they still do the whole card exchange thing.  Hopefully he will like the bags too. 

Of course you know boys, they just care about the candy, he could care less about the cards or the pencil. Ha!

Beauty Concern:

One of the things that I tend to worry about all the time is the size of the pores on my face.  I never had a problem with the pores until I got older.  Now they have multiplied!  So I searched a few websites online to find the best ones out there.  According to Good Housekeeping,  the following is a very good product. 

 Clinique Pore Refining Solutions Instant Perfector ($18, amazon.com)

So I will have to purchase this product soon to test it’s effectiveness.  Here’s a current picture of my pores.  Hoping to take a picture everyday and post on another site so I can see the difference.

Do any other ladies out there use something that really works?  Something that may be a little less inexpensive?  Money is of the essence nowadays.

I tend to use the standard mary kay products but don't see a huge difference.  Let me say this though so as not to tarnish Mary Kay's image.  I don't have a standard regimen everyday that I follow so could be why my face tends to be dry.  Will post a month after I use everyday (morning and night).  Starting today.  A little Beauty experiment.  ha!  

What's for Dinner tonight:

Chicken, Cheese and Broccoli.

 I have mentioned this but those meals in a box are so good and so cost efficient.  My kids love them and my hubby too!  So everyone wins with this.

In lieu of Valentines Day, here a is a pic of my little guy.  Fast asleep….XOXO

Have a Happy Day!  J

SOME VALENTINE IDEAS TODAY, AND FOR SOME REASON MY COMPUTER IS WRITING IN ALL CAPS.  NOT SURE WHY.  THOUGHT I'D POST TO GET SOME GOOD IDEAS TO DO FOR THE KIDDOS DURING VALENTINES WEEK. ENJOY!  

RASPBERRY FOOL

January 27, 2014 By MARTHA 6 COMMENTS

Raspberry Fool

Prep Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Yield: 4-6 servings

Note: Fresh raspberries may also be used in this recipe but you will likely need more than what is called for in this recipe. Additional sugar may be needed.

Also note: We did not strain the raspberry seeds out of the purée – but if you don’t like the texture of the small seeds, feel free to strain the purée through a sieve before stirring into the whipped cream.

Ingredients

• 1 cup frozen raspberries, thawed
• 3/8 cup granulated sugar, divided
• 1½ cups heavy cream
• Fresh raspberries for garnish (optional)

Mexico Avocados Make Dessert More Delicious

Instructions

1. Place the thawed berries into a small bowl along with 1/8 cup of the sugar. Using the back of a large spoon, mash the berries against the side of the bowl until you have a purée and stir to mix well with the sugar. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, pour in the heavy cream and remaining ¼ cup of sugar. Whip on high until stiff peaks form.
3. Fold the raspberry purée into the whipped cream in spoonfuls, stirring just until you see ribbons of raspberry throughout the whipped cream. (If you want, you can hold back stirring in some of the raspberry purée to get the ribbon effect you desire, and use any leftovers as a topping.)
4. Spoon into individual serving glasses and chill 1 hour before serving.

Chocolate Chip Roll-Out Cookies

1 cup (unsalted) butter

1/3 cup (granulated) sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/3 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/3 cups mini chocolate chips

Directions-

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter until smooth.  Add sugars and cream together.  Add egg yolk, then vanilla.  Beat until fully incorporated, and light and fluffy (30 seconds).  Add salt, then add flour, one cup at a time.  Add chocolate chips, and mix until just combined.

Pre-heat your oven to 350*F.

Form dough into two large balls.  Put one ball of dough in a bag in the fridge, while you roll out and cut the other dough as desired.  Use remaining dough from fridge once you have used the first ball of dough.

Bake cookies in a pre-heated oven on parchment or Silpat lined baking sheets for 10-12 minutes.

Recipe source-  Sugarbaker’s Cookie Cutter Cookbook

If you’d like to make the cookies into cookie pops (as shown) follow the directions below…

Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, cut with desired shape (a small heart in this case).  Turn the cookie over and press a lollipop stick (these are 6″sticks), into the dough slightly.  Use a bit of extra dough to cover the stick.  Press the dough around the stick as best you can.  Turn cookies back over, press down onto baking sheet slightly, and bake as directed (10-12 min at 350*F).  The baked cookies will be nice and flat on the back, and should show no signs of the added dough.  Cool completely before decorating.

Decorating your cookies…

These cookie pops actually look quite cute plain, and I was tempted to leave them as is… but it seems to me most anything is extra cute with pink frosting and sprinkles!  These cookies could certainly be decorated with Royal Icing, but I wanted something extra simple, so I used my Simple Butter Frosting Recipe tinted pink, and spread it on the cookies with an off-set spatula.  Top with cuteValentine’s sprinkles and you have an adorable and delicious treat!  The butter frosting does not dry as hard as royal icing, but will dry enough to be packaged in cellophane bags.

Note: Buy paper straws online on Amazon and specialty baking and crafting stores. Also try Bakeitpretty.com.

1. First cut a small slit in the top of the marshmallows to allow you to insert your straw. If you skip this step you just might mash your marshmallows!

2. Insert the straws or popsicle sticks and put them in the freezer for about 5-10 minutes. They do not take long to freeze and by doing this, the marshmallow is adhered more securely to the straw.

3. Meanwhile, melt the white chocolate in the microwave on medium heat and stir every 30 seconds. White chocolate seems to burn a lot easier than regular chocolate so watch it closely! Add your food coloring if desired.

4. Next up is the fun part: decorating! Dip the frozen marshmallows in the white chocolate. You will want to tap the excess white chocolate off. The frozen marshmallow will make the chocolate harden quickly so don’t wait too long before dipping them into the sprinkles.

My kids loved helping with this project. They are still pretty young, so I was in charge of the dipping and they rolled the chocolate covered marshmallows in their topping of choice!

These would make lovely Valentine’s Day gifts or treats all wrapped up in clear plastic and a pretty ribbon!

FLUFFY FRENCH TOAST
check recipe here: http://www.fithealthystyle.com/fluffy-french-toast/
Enjoy it :)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 pinch salt
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 12 thick slices bread

DIRECTIONS:

1. Measure flour into a large mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in the milk. Whisk in the salt, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla extract and sugar until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium heat.
3. Soak bread slices in mixture until saturated. Cook bread on each side until golden brown. Serve hot.

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 20 mins

Ready in: 30 mins.