Happy Thanksgiving 2011

"What's up, Mom?! No pics of Thanksgiving??


Ok, so Thanksgiving was at my house this year, and I got a little distracted and failed to capture it on film. It was super yummy though and not nearly as chaotic as I would have thought. We had the Reese family join us and partake in turkey! stuffing! ham! carrot souffle! cheesy mashed potatoes! cranberry sauce! basil green beans! parker house rolls! gingerbread! chocolate krinkle cookies! molasses spice cookies! bourbon pecan pie!

None of my kids had naps and held up surprisingly well (thankful for this). I think they were coasting on chocolate krinkle cookies of which my son may or may not have eaten "quite a few." When I say "quite a few" I mean something like more than three less than fifteen.

No clue how many Shelby ate. Her stealth skills are far superior to her brother's at this point. I know she had plenty based on the healthy coating of powdered sugar on the front of her shirt.

I also read the Thanksgiving book by Barbara Rainey (highly recommended) which gave me such admiration for those Pilgrims who risked it all to worship the Lord. Would I do the same? I asked myself as I read of their near starvation for two years in a row.

As my husband so aptly put it:

As Americans we are beneficiaries of the Pilgrim's sacrifice and as Christians we are beneficiaries of Jesus' sacrifice.

So much to be thankful for this year as our health and abundance overflows! May we use it to serve the God who has given it to us for His glory!

Chocolate Krinkle Cookies


8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups light-brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
1 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for rolling

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Chop bittersweet chocolate into small bits, and melt over medium heat in a heat-proof bowl or the top of a double boiler set over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

2. In the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and light-brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add melted chocolate. With mixer on low speed, alternate adding dry ingredients and milk until just combined. Divide the dough into quarters, wrap with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours.

3.Roll 1" balls in granulated sugar and then in confectioner's sugar to coat. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on a Silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes.

4. Transfer from oven to a wire rack to let cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.


Molasses Spice Cookies


2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling cookies
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsulphered molasses

Method

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice together in a bowl and set aside.

2 Use an electric mixer and beat the butter for 2 minutes. Add the brown sugar, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes with mixer set at medium speed. Add egg, vanilla extract, and molasses. Beat until combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.

3 Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.

4 Place remaining 1/3 cup of granulated sugar in a shallow bowl. Working with 2 Tbsp of dough each time, roll dough into 1 3/4 inch balls. Roll balls in sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheets, spacing them 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart.

5 Bake until the outer edges of the cookies begin to set and centers are soft and puffy, about 11 to 13 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes before transferring them to cooling racks .

Note: do not overcook. The centers of the cookies should be somewhat soft and spongy when you take them out of the oven, otherwise they will end up hard and dry.

Optional Glaze

When cookies have cooled, lay out over a sheet of wax paper. Sift 1 1/4 cups of confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar) and then whisk with 2 Tbsp rum until smooth. Dip spoon into glaze and dribble over cookies.

Who will you be?

Uh oh! Showing some attitude...




Just kidding Mom!

Allll byyyyy myseeeeelf

*channel Celine Dion but less melancholy.


Seth recently went on a men's retreat and I went solo w/ the three kiddos. Below is photographic evidence that we survived (but missed Daddy) AND made it to church on time!

Look! We are wearing clean clothes that match!


Look! Mommy has her morning smoothie!


Just glad I don't have to do it by myself every Sunday!

First stage of letting go

At first glance it appears that Wyatt is casually sipping on his milk from Chick-fil-a.

This is a correct observation.

However, there is an element that can easily be overlooked in this seemingly innocuous scene.

The milk is chocolate.



You ask: Why does this matter? What possible point could this contain? How many waffle fries did you steal?

First, I must say that I am offended, truly offended, that you assume I would steal fries from my children's bags and somehow justify it in my mind that I was really helping them as if my consumption of their waffle fries was like me jumping in front of a bullet (a greasy, artery-clogging bullet). I won't even dignify your question with a response!

I will, however, point out what is going on here with the milk.

As young, first-time mom's, we tend to still hold on to the illusion of control. After all, if we wanted to sleep in, or go on a date w our spouse, etc. we could... BC (before children).

Then, we have our first child.

Unbeknownst to us, we are desperately clinging to our rapidly diminishing capacity to logically predict and plan how the day/night/week will go.

We begin by freaking out over all non-organic baby food (or shall we say poison puree?). I knew a girl once who (not exaggerating) FLIPPED OUT when her daughter was given a non-organic lollipop. Really you say? It's the same reason we disinfect our entire house weekly or play classical music or make the kids eat apples instead of fries or shun all TV in their presence lest their minds turn to mush before 2.

We are doing all these things because all the stuffing is coming out of our box, and we are bouncing on the top while somehow trying to strap the flaps with clear tape to permanently close what refuses to be contained.

We are in denial that we cannot control future cancer (organic food), intelligence (classical music), social acceptance (insistence on matching outfits), heartbreak (borderline smothering of child until they begin to shove us away at approximately 2), etc.

Then, we have our second child.

For most, this is the point at which you go flying across the room as your box explodes. Denial over!

You can't give the second organic food because the first is hoovering all the food in front of him/her, and you can no longer afford it. Not to mention that your second child managed to eat multiple bugs in one week and drank from the dogs water. Organic seems a leeeetle pointless at that moment.

Classical music sends your oldest child into fits of whiny boredom. And, let's be honest, you too.

Matching outfits? Just throw on a headband b/c we need to "hurry" into the store for milk, bread, and eggs to survive the next two days.

And TV...

Well, I'll just say that after the birth of the second (and third) child things tend to loosen up a little bit.

None of the ideals mentioned earlier are wrong, but they tend to be rooted in the wrong idea. That somehow every minute decision somehow shifts the ever-changing path of our child's destiny is a ton of pressure for a mother.

The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps. Prov 16:9

We cannot control the future. We can make plans and be good stewards of the kiddos that God has blessed us with but, ultimately, God directs our steps. This is not a call to eat pizza and nuggets every night w/ MTV on in the other room but, rather, a call to relax that ball of tension inside where your kids are concerned-the one that co-mingles heavily with Mom Guilt.

How freeing is this verse?

Yes, make your plans!

Have the occasional chocolate milk with a healthy diet!

Don't beat yourself up if you arrive at your destination to realize your child is not buckled into his/her carseat!(purely hypothetical)

Know the future does not rest solely on your shoulders. We make choices but our good God is bigger than our box.


In light of all of this new understanding, I say...



...CHEERS to a little chocolate milk with our nuggets!








***For those who are curious, I recently observed the aforementioned mother's third child eating Starburst at a party...with the wrappers still on. This child is still alive and appears very healthy and normal.

Pushing our kids

We all do it at some time or another. Sometimes it's healthy and sometimes it's ammo for the psychotherapy session later. Delicate balance people. Delicate balance.

Anyhow, in my defense his neck is really strong...

and he gets tired of laying around...

and he is my third so in my head he's practically crawling/graduating from high school and not just two months old...

and I needed to make dinner...

and I genuinely thought he would like the Bumbo.




He didn't.

I must be fair!

So, I showed pictures of Shelby's cutest M&M costume EVER! Yet, I failed to show Wyatt in all his glory.

My little lamb...



I'm sorry, but did I just hear a virtual request for more lambkins?

Who am I to deny the cries for more cuteness in the world?




Looks like Pappy had a drive-by "stickering."

At least it's not a happy face sticker...

discovered in an awkward place...

thirty minutes into grocery shopping.

Purely hypothetical of course.

Shelby strikes again!

Poor Walker! He never had a chance with Shelby as an older sister.







Flashback to Wyatt and you will see a pattern of behavior developing here.







Good thing the boys have each other. They'll need to harness all their man-power to combat their lip gloss-wielding sister.

Pumpkin Patch & Carve-off 2011

"The Superman shirt will give me power to lift my nemesis, Large Pumpkin!"



"Ok. Take two. New hold."





Wyatt gives up on Large Pumpkin and instead decides to terrorize all the small pumpkins.


My perfect little pumpkin!


Not one to be left out, Walker makes his choice as well.


Landry vs. Landry
Carve-off 2011


Seth opts for an intricate pattern of a haunted mansion with all the fancy utensils.


I chose to go old school and free-formed it.



Good bonding time w/ the spouse (even though he totally manipulated our daughter into favoring his pumpkin by telling her it was a castle. I choose not to hold this against him.)

2011 Halloween..err...Reformation Day?

So there was one point in our marriage, before we had kids, when we pondered if we would participate in dressing them up for Halloween. The holiday, if you look around, is super creepy. (Imagine you just came from another country and showed up in America on Halloween. Weird, right? What's with the skeletons in the trees and the tombstones?) Anyway, that discussion lasted up until our first born's first October 31st.

Then I thought, "How can I, as her loving mother, pass up this rare opportunity to dress her up in any humiliating costume I choose?"

Those years are limited, yes?

Therefore, I give you the costume that started it all...

Pink M&M!


"Thanks, Mom. I'm super comfortable. No. Really. Please, can I wear it everyday from now on?"

"Think of it as quality rehearsal dinner footage honey!"



Fast forward to 2011...

Shelby clearly guided this year's outfit selection.

She wanted to be...

wait for it...

sit down if you shock easy...

a princess.

Therefore, Wyatt was going to be a knight or a dragon. Since weather in Houston is a little unpredictable, he could very easily have passed out from a combination of a sugar high and heat stroke in a dragon costume. (Plus I got the knight costume on super sale three days before Halloween).

Henceforth I give thee...

My Lady Shelby



and Sir Wyatt!


As you can see Wyatt has already begun his pre-game sugar high. (It's important to start slow or the following sugar rush can be dangerous.)



May my bucket be like the loaves and the fishes...





Shelby clearly admiring her mother's mighty skills with the iron-on letters.




One more of the whole gang. I had to include the foam sword that Shelby was bopped and whacked with while we waited for dusk.


What they were thinking:
Shelby: I hope my beads are shiny and straight. These shoes are pinching my toes, but beauty is pain, right? Glad I found my matching tiara.

Wyatt: CANDY!SWORD!CANDY!SWORD!



A trip to our favorite Mema in the whole world!!!


***************


Where is Walker you ask?





"Boohoo! Mom doesn't love me enough to embarrass me too!"


Actually Walker went to bed or, at least, that was the plan. The constant doorbell meant I had to go upstairs and rock down a VERY stimulated baby. That kid's eyes were darting around the room like he was on some sort of sympathy sugar high.

***************

I'm sorry did you not get enough pink M&M?

Completely understandable.