The Happiest and Most Golden Years

"Parents, remember that now is your opportunity.

You may feel yourself harassed as you stuggle

through the days with children,

but you are living the happiest

and the most golden years of your life.

As you tuck them into their beds at night,

please be kind to them.

Let them hear a kind voice amid all the

angry vile voices that they will hear throughout their life.

Let there be an anchor to which these little ones

can turn when all else fails.

The Lord help you so to do..."

Harold B. Lee

Simple and Sweet

Love these framed quotes! Check them out at 320 Sycamore.

Learning to Be Content

Ever since Shane and I got married, we have both wanted a cute house in the country with a little bit of land. By little bit I mean 1/2 acre or an acre. Just a big yard for the kids to play in, a place to plant a big garden, and most of all space. We love where we are now, but we feel a little crowded. So...this last year we really thought things were on track for us to build a house on a sweet piece of land. I even picked out a beautiful house plan.

But things have not worked out; and we realize that we had better stay put for now. The other day I was lamenting to my sister Katy about our situation. And I was feeling guilty because I know I should be grateful for what we do have. She e-mailed me a link to this article called Learning to Be Content from the Ensign. It was exactly what I needed. This line impressed me the most: "I realized then, as I do now, that if we cannot be contented with our current lives and possessions, then we are feeding an appetite that no amount of money will ever satiate." So glad Katy shared this with me. I am 'Learning to Be Content' every day. :)

Learning to Be Content
By Breanna Sampson

Satan is not to be underestimated. He can make a rich man miserable and a poor man proud. Money and material possessions should have little bearing on our happiness and attitudes, yet Satan can often convince us otherwise. I realized this was a problem for me after my husband and I purchased our first home.

A short time after we moved in, my initial excitement faded as I began to see the flaws of our home and feel discontented. Many of my friends had much larger homes decorated in such appealing styles as to make our home seem small, plain, and wanting. I found myself making comparisons and feeling that I came up short.

During one of my more intense periods of disgruntlement, a couple in our ward invited us to join them for family home evening. When we arrived at their home I felt the anticipated pang of jealousy at the sight of their large, new home in which little had been forgone. What I had not anticipated was the conversation I had with the wife that evening. She mentioned their unhappiness with their home and their desire to find something a little bigger to better suit their needs. I was astounded! How could someone who had so much not realize how lucky she was? I would give anything to live in this gorgeous home—and she was unhappy! How could she not appreciate what she had?

As I later reflected on her comments and my reaction in turn, the Spirit gave me a very profound insight: I was no different from my friend whom I so strongly envied. We had been blessed to purchase a beautiful house that many, many people would be overjoyed to live in. The problem was not with the house—it was with me.

Instead of focusing on what I had, I could only see what I lacked. Instead of gratitude for blessings, I chose jealousy and greed. From the moment that I realized whose influence had been tainting my perspective, I made the choice to never let Satan sway me in such a worldly direction again. I realized then, as I do now, that if we cannot be contented with our current lives and possessions, then we are feeding an appetite that no amount of money will ever satiate. Jacob addressed this desire for wealth in his day by counseling us to seek first the kingdom of God and a hope in Christ; then if we are blessed with riches we will use them to “do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted” (Jacob 2:18–19). I know that as we keep our hearts full of gratitude and our desires turned to God, we will be blessed with a sense of peace and contentment unknown to those of the world.

And that is something money can never buy.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

You know the brownie mixes that always go on sale for $1? I always buy a bunch because they are so cheap, and you never know when you need a quick dessert. However, my complaint with the cheap brownie mixes is this: they turn out greasy, thin, and they flake apart. At least when I make them! Though they taste pretty good (it is chocolate!) they just don't look pretty. And I like pretty things. So in order to use the 20 boxes of brownie mix in my storage room, I have been trying different recipes for brownie mix cookies. I found this recipe on http://www.cooks.com/, and it turned out lovely. I made a few changes (added peanut butter, and swapped chocolate chips for oats) and the result was heavenly. Chocolate and peanut butter were just meant to go together. And I love the addition of oats - they make the cookie a little chewy. So if you are in the mood for a chocolate peanut butter concoction, grab a cheap brownie mix and give this recipe a try.



Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies



1 package (21.5 oz) Brownie Mix (milk chocolate or fudge)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup oil
3 Tbsp water
2 eggs
1 cup oats
1/2 cup peanut butter


Mix. Bake at 350 for 9 - 11 minutes.

Yogurt Fruit Salad

Yogurt Fruit Salad

fruit
yogurt

Chop up your fruit. Mix with some yogurt.

We eat this fruit salad a couple times every week. It's such a great way to get your fruit at dinner time. I just use whatever we have on hand. Apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries, pears, plums, blue berries, peaches, raspberries, grapes...anything will do. We just use what yogurt we happen to have. My favorite is probably vanilla. Two thumbs up for quick and easy!


This yogurt fruit salad has 1 pear, about 1 cup green grapes, 1 banana and 2 individual serving sizes of Yoplait Yogurt.

Better than Play Doh!

My kids love playing with play doh - it can seriously entertain them for hours. And while I love to see all the ages happily creating together - the mess drives me nuts. It's like a trade-off: 2 hours of the kids being busy with no TV, but tiny play doh pieces all over the floor, stuck on socks, and tracked onto the carpet.

While at our Border's closing out clearance sale, I saw this box of Bendable Sticks. I love stuff that keeps my kids busy and away from the TV; but also activities that aren't high maintance for mom. These sticks totally meet those requirements. They are bendable (ha ha I know you were wondering!) and a little sticky - and the kids can make pictures, or build three dimensional objects. These would be really cool for preschoolers to use to make letters and shapes with, or for a home schooler to use while learning about geometry. But mostly they are just awesome to play with. Check it out - my 2 year old, 5 year old, and 7 year old playing together. And no one is crying or bleeding!

These sticks are reusable, you can just store them in a zip lock bag! My sister's little girl plays with Wiki Stix, they are pretty much the same thing. Here's to happy busy kids! :)

The Help

I just finished reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I know tons of people have read this, but if you haven't read it yet I highly recommend it. You will LOVE the women in this book. This fictional book takes place in Jackson Mississippi in the 1960's, a time when African Americans were treated like second class citizens, and having a certain opinion about equal rights was dangerous. Kathryn writes about two African American maids - Aibileen and Minny. These women cooked the meals, cleaned the house, and raised the children -- all the while being paid next to nothing and treated like nothing. You will love these ladies for their strength, love, and cleverness. :) Also a main character in the story is rich white girl Skeeter - a woman whose life becomes intertwined with Aibileen and Minny's. This book made me laugh and cry - and made me appreciate how far we have come as a country.

Here's what the critics have said:

An early review in The New York Times notes Stockett's "affection and intimacy buried beneath even the most seemingly impersonal household connections" and says it is a "button-pushing, soon to be wildly popular novel".[2] The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said of the book, "This heartbreaking story is a stunning debut from a gifted talent".[3]


But of all the coolness they are making this book into a movie!!! It's scheduled to come out in August 2011, and I can't wait to see it.

Mom's Carrot Cake

My mom turned 67 this last week. She seems so much younger than that - and I feel too young to have a mother that old! Anyway I wanted to make her something special, and I know she likes carrot cake. So I made my first carrot cake! The cake was easy to make, and it tasted delicious. It was moist and flavorful - better than any store bought carrot cake I've eaten. I'm not trying to brag on myself - it was just a great recipe. I was kind of surprised...because it's still carrot cake, right? I mean, theres like 3 cups of grated carrots in it! I got the recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Family Dinner Cookbook by Debbie G. Harman.

Mom's Carrot Cake

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

4 eggs well beaten

3 cups carrots, finely shredded

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (opt.)

1 cup raisins (opt.)

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, carrots, and oil. Add to flour mixture and stir until well blended. Stir in nuts and raisins if desired. Pour into greased 9 x 13 cake pan and bake at 350 for 35 - 40 minutes or until knife inserted at center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 4 oz pkg. cream cheese

4 Tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add softened butter and vanilla and mix until well blended. Gradually mix in powdered sugar until frosting reaches a nice consistency. Makes 2 cups frosting.