Curbing Cravings

So I have hit a streak of cravings that has set me off on a little bit of a baking frenzy, but man, they taste amazing.  Here they are in no particular order:

1. Waffles with Strawberry Freezer Jam and Whipped Cream.  Tastes so amazing!

2. Pumpkin Pie.  I love pumpkin pie and since I stocked up on filling mix in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I can make a bunch of it.

3. Cinnamon Rolls.  So good even though they take a while to make.

4. Butterfinger Ice Cream.  Oh yes.  A family favorite growing up.  Mixing butterfinger chunks into vanilla ice cream for my own personal blizzard.

5. Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins.  Also good, are Applesauce Cake Muffins.  I think they are on the rotation next to make.

6. Chocolate Chip Candy Cane Cookies.  Definitely a personal favorite of mine in the cookie world.  I stocked up on candy canes too.

7. Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.  Yeah, they are next to be made.  I like having something to grab and munch on throughout the day.

8. Carvel Cake.  I found a coupon in the Sunday paper and I totally want to dig into an ice cream cake full of crunchy goodness.  That will be a splurge possibly funded by leftover Christmas gift money.  They did our Wedding cake because I hate thick, strong, sugar frostings.

Storing Food

I nearly forgot to express my gratitude towards my amazing husband.  Christmas this year was fun for me.  I'm always made fun of because I ask for things having to do with Cooking and other household uses instead of really thinking of what I truly want.  This year, my husband bought me a big present of which I love.  I finally got a Shelf Reliance Rotation Rack to help me with my food storage.  

Our pantry was getting so full with all of my different cans here and there and silly me, I thought I'd have a ton more room in my pantry after getting one of these babies, but apparently, I stock up on things pretty good.  

See what I mean

Oh well, thank you honey!  I truly do love my nifty new gadget.  You are amazing!  Love you!

Hadley's First Haircut

We finally did it!  After a long time of growing, her hair became too unmanageable so we cut it to around shoulder length.  Now, it's not as easy to get all ratty and messy in the back.  

We decided to give both kids haircuts last week.  I started by cutting Hayden's and while he took his bath, I started on Hadley's hair.  I apparently was taking too long so Jared took over and cut the majority of it and I like how it turned out.  It's way cute on her.  Props to Jared for cutting her hair.  I only assisted by holding a movie up for her to watch.

Here are the remnants I kept for the scrapbook.

Ode to Seika

I've been meaning to do this for a little while now and just haven't found the time.  I just wanted to take a second to make an ode to our dog, Seika.  Due to unfortunate circumstances, we had to make a few sacrifices starting in December and Seika ended up being a part of them.  A week before Christmas, we ended up having to bring our dog in to surrender to the shelter.

Seika was a good girl.  She learned well and I loved going on walks with her and the kids.  I invested a lot of time, love and care into her and found it rewarding.  Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do to keep her as originally planned and she deserved another chance to be loved and raised.

I dropped the kids off at grandma's and drove down to the shelter.  I tried to get her to go to the bathroom before we got in the car, but she just didn't feel like it.  She ended up pooping in her crate during the ride which got me pretty angry with her since she hadn't done it ever before.  I pulled over to take her out and clean her paws as well as clean out her crate from her little bathroom session.  Needless to say, sadly, it made it easier for me to hand her over after that episode, but as I arrived at the shelter, I felt bad again for having to surrender her when it wasn't her fault.  I felt like a bad mother having to hand her over.

There were a couple other people there doing the same.  One man acted as if he didn't care as he handed his dog over.  Another woman there, was scolding her dog saying, "See...This is why you have to go.  This is why I can't take care of you anymore."  She was referring to the dog not listening to her commands.   I also found out that she had back surgery and couldn't control the dog with her own weight or give it the attention needed while recovering.

Another man had a little dog in a crate that he was carrying and a irish setter, I believe, that he was pulling along on a leash behind him.  He was yelling at his dog on the leash to cut it out and cooperate.  There were a couple others there too, but I genuinely believed that I was the only owner in that room that didn't want to give up their dog and loved their dog, which upset me even more.  I took my time filling out the paperwork, said my good byes and got back in line.  

As I took her leash off and let her go with one of the workers, I teared up inside knowing I had failed her and felt really bad, but felt good that we were able to give her 6 great months full of love and understanding and attention.  I will never know what has become of her, but I wanted to record this for my own sake to remember her properly.

I bawled on the way back to pick up the kids and every time the kids ask where the dog is, I tell them that it was time for her to be loved by another family and to be happy we were able to love her while we could.  Lots of people want to spend time with dogs and so we need to let other people take a turn getting to know and love her as well.  

The Never-Ending Battle of Food

So my kids like to take turns deciding when they will and will not eat food that they have eating lots before.  Tonight, Hadley decided it was her turn to rebel.  I made Jambalaya for dinner and she usually has no problem scarfing it down like nobody's business.  Tonight, however, she utterly refused to touch it.  Lucky for me, Hayden had wised up and ate all of his food in order to get dessert which was chocolate cake.  I had him even eat dessert there at the table right in front of her and she still refused.  I told her if she ate her food, she could have cake too.  SHe would get all excited about cake, but still not eat.  I left her at the table for about a half an hour seeing if she would budge at all and she still wouldn't.  We then told her she had to make a choice to either eat her food and get cake or go straight to bed.  

After waiting a bit longer, Jared went to talk to her.  Apparently, the talk worked because it was Daddy or something, because when he offered her chocolate cake and left it sitting across the table for her, she dove right in and began to eat.  She finally finished and she thoroughly enjoyed her reward.  Go figure.

Daddy's Little Girl

Hadley absolutely loves her Daddy.  She loves his cuddles and tickles and doing things around him.  Tonight, she thought it would be fun to work on a computer just like Daddy does.  It was pretty cute.  Every time she sees Daddy, she runs up to him for hugs and attention and repeats his name over and over again.

Frozen Fun At the Park

The Judd Family got together at the park the other day and although it was a bit cold with the wind blowing, the kids had a great time playing.  The playground equipment was 3 levels high which was pretty cool.  

When Hadley got to the top and walked the grated bridge part, she looked down and screamed, "Ahhhh!"  It was funny.  She quickly got over it and they both kept running and playing.  

We had croquet and bocce ball to play with as we took turns chasing the kids through the park.  I think I have more pictures of Hadley because I followed her most of the time.  

We ended with a picnic lunch which tasted good to our tummies and then loaded back into the car for a warm ride home, just in time for quiet time.

The only other thing I would do different would be to put gloves on both kids so that their hands could've stayed warmer during the three hours we were there.

Merry Christmas

Well, Christmas was interesting to say the least. We kind of ran into some fun discipline and parenting issues during the two days. Children pick the best times to challenge you sometimes. Anyways, besides that, we had a great time with the Judd side of the family. We ate a little bit of lots of different things, O'Henry bars and fudge were present and lots of presents.

Grandma Judd did the Nativity story with wooden figures and it was entertaining to watch 2 four year olds and a 2 year old duke it out because they wanted to hold and play with them.  What can I say, Hadley is a fighter.  Pretty good for a laugh.

Developing Domestic Skills

For Christmas, I decided to get a little domestic and try to make a couple gifts this year.  This wall hanging probably took me the longest.  I made one for my mom last year and this year I made another one for my mother-in-law.  I didn't take a picture of the last one I made, so I made sure I got one this time.  I also made a tutu for Hadley and didn't finish jammies for the kids, but that can be done anytime.  I have pictures of the tutu in the Christmas pictures.  All in all, it was fun and enjoyed the end results.