Friday, May 4, 2012

Thankful Thursday


My list of things I'm thankful for this week:

1.  My Grandma - I don't have a picture for her because she is so incredibly camera shy.  But this woman is phenomenal.  She is such an inspiration and a huge help to me.  She herself rose above a difficult divorce years ago.  She always keeps a positive outlook and doesn't ever seek revenge.  She has such a sweet spirit.  She has helped me with my kids so much and saved my sanity.  She is amazing.  There is no one I have ever met that is quite like her and I love her with all my heart.  I don't know what I'm going to do or how I'm going to function when the Lord calls her up.  She has been my rock through so many of life's trials.  

2.  Friends - They make life wonderful.  Chrissy has been there for me through a lot and always has my back.  I know that she will be there at the end of the day helping me through anything, getting my back no matter what.  Erin C. is always up for hanging out and taking the kids to play.  She loves to escape everything we me whenever its possible.  She is one of the few who has always kept contact with me regardless of what was going on.  There are others worth mentioning.  But that will be another post on another day.  
Chrissy and I at the Miranda Lambert Concert!
(Circa April 2012)

Erin and I 
(Circa June 2007)

3.  Razors - For without them, my legs would never be smooth.  LOL!  Ok seriously, I am very thankful for my razor.  I know, it's extremely random.  But I really don't know how I'd survive without one.  It is one of my best friends, hands down.  C'mon, everyone likes to be clean.  

4.  Disney on Ice!!! - Chrissy won tickets from Cool 104.7 radio station this morning to the show tonight at Verizon Arena in Little Rock!  So we took Rainbow and her daughter, Riley to go see it.  The girls had a blast!  And they were totally worn out by time we got home from the massive amount of excitement!  












5.  God has a plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future:  this is my final thing I'm thankful for this week.  I have been through a lot in my 24 years of life.  I learned what it meant to love with all my heart, and to have that same heart shattered.  I've experienced the love that comes with being a mother.  I've learned that the easy way usually isn't the best.  I've learned that you'll sacrifice and wait if something is worth having.  I've learned that life usually isn't fair and that maturity comes at the price of your innocence.  I'm not perfect and I've never claimed to be.  I've made mistakes in my life and done things I'm not proud of.  I've gone against the grain and ignored warnings from those who love me.  And now here I am.  I realize that everything happens for a reason and God never closes one door without opening another.  A couple of months ago, I was waking up and just trying to survive till my head hit the pillow.  A couple of weeks ago, I was ignoring everything and I was numb.  A few weeks ago, I let my wall down and exposed myself to everything I ignored so I could deal with it.  A few days ago, I finally let go of all the bitterness.  I let go.  Completely.  No more hopes and dreams and wishes from the past at all.  Nothing.  And here I am today feeling alive.  Very much alive.  I realize now how true this one saying is - "You can't embrace the future if you won't let go of the past."  Well I did.  And I'm ready to embrace the future.  And I refuse to feel guilty or accept guilt that anyone tries to push on me because I am.  Everyday I have a little more hope that my future will be much more wonderful than my past.  Especially today.  Today I am so incredibly happy and there is no way to put it into words.  I haven't felt like I do right now since I can even remember.  There is so much possibility.  I do not fear tomorrow.  I know I will love again.  I just know it.  And I've got a feeling that I'll be ready when it comes, too.  

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

What I Love Wednesday


1.   Chuck E Cheese's:  We took Rainbow today and she had a blast!!!  I'm thinking it will be perfect for a small 4th birthday party next year!  

2. Carter's:  I bought Ladybug a few clothes from there today in Little Rock.  They had a HUGE sale!  And everything is so cute with all of the super bright colors.  Oh I love it!

3.  Naps:  I can't seem to get through the day without one lately...mostly due to the excessive night-time visits with Ladybug.

4.  Flip-Flops:  They are so comfy and I love 'em!  And they show my pedi from last week off fabulously!

5.  Sunshine:  It's been gorgeous outside.  Given, it is getting hotter.  But I just love all the sunshine and how bright it is!








Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes!

This is what you will need:
Cake mix
Eggs, water, and oil (however much the cake mix calls for)
ice cream cones
frosting
sprinkles
aluminum foil
muffin pan



This is the easiest way to frost them, it looks like ice cream!



Line your muffin pan with foil and poke holes in where each muffin hole is.  This is where your cones will go.

My Rainbow, doing what she does best - being silly.



This is what it should look like when they are in.

 Fill your cones 3/4 full with cake mix batter.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Poke holes in the bottom of the cones with a fork immediately after they come out of the oven to let the moisture out so the cones don't get soggy.

Frost them, sprinkle them - and Viola!  



Thank you to those of you who stayed with me this far.  I will share a little bit of insight with you.  It will be cryptic and you probably will have no idea what I'm talking about, but it will make me feel a little better without giving it all away.  What to say?  Hmmmm....
Well my last post, I briefly mentioned my desire to spill the beans and let Ol' Glory erupt.  Well the good news is that since that post, what was driving me nuts has since been made better.  But the bad news is that because of that, it has gotten worse.  Yes my friends, I am one complicated lady.  I think I drive myself crazy.  Haha!  But in spite of the information, I'm about to go to bed with a smile on my face.  Ah...why are we so afraid of speaking the obvious?  Maybe its just me.  I think its me.  And now I believe I've said too much.  Until next time, my friends...


Monday, April 30, 2012

I Was Placed on House Arrest...

...that's right!  I was home-bound and stuck.  My lil miss Rainbow was sick as a dog today!  We couldn't go anywhere!  (I really had ya'll worried now, didn't I?)  
Poor Rainbow woke up throwing her guts up this morning and running fever!  She was on a strict diet of Pedialyte (the off brand) and Pedialyte Freezer Pops (also the off brand).  Off brands work just as well with most things.  Most is a key word here.  There are some things that definitely do not work near as well when they are not name brand.  But returning to the subject...we missed church this morning, and again this evening.  Rainbow got tons of rest though, and her energy and spunk returned right about 7:30pm.  Just in time to get ready for bed...NOT!  She was a live wire and I didn't get her down till past midnight.  But I'm just glad she's feeling better.  

On a random note:  Do you ever wish you could tell someone something so bad, but you just can't?  Everything in you wants to come out and spills the beans, let Ol' Glory explode - and let the chips fall where they may.  But there is so much at risk by doing that.  Things could turn out to be amazing if there was a positive response, and they could go super sour in a heartbeat and ruin so much if it was negative.  But alas, no one needs to know right now...


Well here are pictures from today that I know ya'll are waiting for!






Saturday, April 28, 2012

White Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Rods with Sprinkles

*These were delicious*
Yesterday we made our white chocolate dipped pretzel rods with the hot pink sprinkles Rainbow picked out.  We called them our "Royal Princess Wands" because this is National Princess Week!  


What you need:
1 bag of Pretzel rods
1 box of white chocolate squares
*or*
1 bag of white chocolate chips
sprinkles
Recipe yields about 24 covered pretzel rods


I will be honest with ya'll.  I burnt the chocolate because I got distracted with Rainbow.  Imagine that!  So my batch only yielded about 12 pretzels!  But that's ok because they were amazing!!

You need to melt your chocolate.  Mine called for 2 minutes in the microwave.  Well my chocolate burned at 1:20 so please, watch your chocolate closely!  

Lay out some wax or parchment paper on a cookie sheet and out on the table.  The cookie sheet will be where you place your pretzels to dry, and the paper out on the table will be to sprinkle the sprinkles over.  I was out of wax and parchment paper so I substituted with aluminum foil.  

Cover 3/4 of the pretzel rod with chocolate and allow the excess to drip off.  Then sprinkle with your sprinkles.  




Lay them on the tray, spaced apart, to dry.

The end result!!!

Rainbow LOVED them!



On another note, the kids and I enjoyed a good, lazy, cartoon-filled, Saturday morning.  This is how Rainbow insisted on eating her oatmeal!

Play time for Ladybug...

...Cartoon time for Rainbow...  

...And relax time for Mommie.  :)