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Join me in my daily walk through the joys and struggles of parenthood. Share a word of encouragement or be encouraged. Cry a little, laugh a lot, but know it is all in divine order.

Monday, February 27, 2017

Muffins with Mom – 5 Ways to celebrate your birthday


Do you celebrate your birthday in the same manner every year? Time to do something differently. First let me tell you how my boys helped celebrate my recent birthday.


It was the end of my day of birth. I had spent the evening with friends at a local theater watching a play. As I arrived home, I pulled into the driveway and noticed the lights on in each of my son’s bedrooms. By the time I entered the house, everything was quiet and still, no lights on.

As I dragged myself up the stairs to my bedroom, my boys jumped out of the dark and yelled, “Happy birthday.” They threw things in the air at me. It wasn’t confetti, nor was it rice. There were hand towels sailing toward my head. I said, “Thanks…I think.”

Did I say my boys are 17 and 20 years old? Yeah, they didn’t think that surprise plan through. I think one son just grabbed nearby items to use as…confetti? Hence the clean flying laundry.

When I finally made it to my room there was a card, an original poem written by my son, and one of my favorite candies – SweetTarts. It was a sweet end to the day of my birth and the beginning of my week long celebration.

Have you made plans for your upcoming birthday? Below are five ways you can celebrate.
·         Be a grown up kid – is there something you loved to do as a kid, or something you haven’t done in a long time? Do it now. I grabbed my boys and said, “Let’s play a round of Laser Tag.”

·         Eat your favorite food – this may mean relaxing your high nutritional standards and indulging in a sweet treat, pasta, or bread (oh wait, maybe this just applies to me).

·         Learn something new – take an art class, go zip lining, do something out of the ordinary for you.

·         Spend the day doing something you love or hang out with the people you love.




·         Pamper yourself – treat yourself to a spa day or make it an outing with friends.



It has been said that adventure is the spice of life. Be spontaneous for your upcoming birthday, make it a celebration to remember.

What would you add to the list of ways to celebrate a birthday?


Monday, February 13, 2017

The 2nd Annual Valentiny Writing Contest!

Sponsored by Susanna Leonard Hill
For the contest, this children’s story must be 214 words or less and include a character who is confused. Thanks Susanna for this opportunity.

Valentine Porchetta
213 words

Pork Chop was a plump pig who loved picnics.

Mr. Fox invited her to a Porchetta for Valentine’s Day. It was the biggest pig roast celebration of the year.

Pork Chop snorted her snout and squealed with delight. Only two days to decide what to cook.

“What should I bring to the picnic?” Pork Chop asked Mr. Fox.

Mr. Fox was a sly rascal. He smacked his lips at the thought of a juicy chop.

“Bring something yummy.”

Pork Chop trotted home to prepare her favorite picnic foods.

The next day she met Mr. Fox under the sycamore tree with a plate of piping hot pigs in a blanket.

Mr. Fox stuck his claw into one of the wieners, “Mmmmmm, delightful, but how about something bigger?”

Back in her kitchen, Pork Chop, stirred, mixed and baked. She met Mr. Fox at the Porchetta. The grill was sizzling.

 “We’ll I’ll be hog tied,” said Pork Chop. “You invited me to your pig roast to make me the main course.”

Mr. Fox inched closer to Pork Chop, but she put her hoofs in the air.

“I have the swine flu, you can’t eat me. Try this.”

Pork Chop shoved a giant, gooey heart shaped cookie into Mr. Fox’s paws.”
It was love at first bite.

Friday, February 3, 2017

Fun Friday – 7 Ways to have a kid friendly Super Bowl party

photo credit: Pinterest

The other day I stayed late at work. My teen son sent me a text that read, “Don’t forget to come home, I’m hungry.” He sent this plea to encourage me to go straight home and not stop to run errands. My son has consistently ignored my plea to take the initiative on preparing an occasional meal.

One solution we agreed upon to help my son with his cooking sessions is to have him prepare a meal for Super bowl Sunday. We also decided to include his meal as part of a Super bowl party. Here are a couple of his ideas are:

·         Make a football shaped pizza – we found a sample on the internet where pepperoni was placed in a football shape in the center of the pizza.

·         Make football shaped cookies – roll out some cookie dough and use football shaped cookie cutters.
If you’re thinking of having a Super Bowl party, make it kid friendly and add some of the activities below.

 Pre-Game

·         Face paint – let your child paint his face in the colors of her team.

·         Origami flick football – make a paper origami football.

·         Football necklace – use construction, cardstock or foam board to make football shaped necklaces. You’ll need yarn and a hole-punch to necklaces.

Half-time

·         Crab football – use a cushy football, carry/toss it using your neck, knees or armpit. Walk like a crab to get the ball into your opponent’s end zone.

·         Sunday Sundaes – create an ice cream sundae bar with your favorite ice cream flavor and toppings.

Post-Game

Do a celebration dance if your team wins.
What are your suggestions for hosting a kid friendly super bowl party?