A Good Read...

I literally just got home from a baby shower, and my heart is full of excitement for this new mom! In fact, I have several friends who have either just had their first baby or are pregnant with their first. Naturally I am super stoked for each of them, and talking to them causes me to relive my own experience in becoming a new mom. My baby will be 19 months in just a few short days (not a baby anymore).

Of course, parenting is something that never stops. Each new stage brings on new challenges and questions. There are days when I feel like I am superwoman, tackling every mom challenge that may come my way; then, there are days I call my husband crying because I feel like a total and complete failure as a mom.

What's a mom to do? The only thing I can do if I want to be successful as a mom is to turn to Scripture and the guidelines that God has set in place for me as a parent. In my own personal time with the Lord each day, I just started studying verses and passages of Scripture that deal with parenting. Sure, I've claimed several verses and models of godly parenting to follow since little man was born, but I really want to know God's mind when it comes to being not a good mom, but a godly mom.

Sticking to Scripture is the only perfect advice that you will get. Therefore as a mom, I must use the Bible as my chief source of knowledge and wisdom. But there are also some great books from experienced, godly parents to help expound on biblical principles. I just finished reading Don't Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman, and it shed some major light on my discipline procedures (Thanks for the recommendation, Christine). So, I'd like to share a few of my favorite titles with you. 

Don't Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman

Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp

A Mom After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George

Passionate Parenting by Cary Schmidt

Six Ways to Keep the "Good" in Your Boy by Dannah Gresh

Six Ways to Keep the "Little" in Your Girl by Dannah Gresh

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Dare to Discipline by Dr. James Dobson

These are just some titles that are good to read. Of course, I don't agree with all that is in them, but only God's Word is perfect. Read with discretion and filter it with the Word of God. Take each day a step at a time and do what is right each day. I find out more and more that parenting is difficult, but you reap what you sow. 

Happy Reading! 

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Proverbs 22:6

I would love to hear book suggestions from you! Leave a comment!

High Five from The Big Apple

My husband and I spent the week in NYC with our high school seniors on their Senior Trip. Naturally, all of my five come from our trip here this week. I'll be posting more about the week later, but here are some highlights from each day!

1. Rickshaw tour of Central park.
2. Yankees game.
3. Statue of Liberty.
4. 9/11 Memorial.
5. WICKED!

Look for more to come! Have a great weekend!

Hi from NYC

Good Morning! I'm in NYC with our high school seniors so probably no new posts this week... But I'll definitely be giving you some highlights from the trip via twitter and Facebook! Have a great week! Look for a post later about the trip!

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

Last night we had a ladies' event at church featuring a tutorial on how to make strawberry freezer jam (a project that I am super excited about taking on within the next two weeks). When asked to bring a refreshment, I began to look for something uniquely strawberry. After all, it was a night all about strawberries. Not wanting to spend too much money and wanting to use what I had in the pantry already, I found a recipe for strawberry shortcake cookies.

The original recipe come from Martha Stewart (I think), and I found it on wearenotmartha.com. Making a small tweek here and there, here's the recipe for you! Strawberry season is most definitely kicking it up here in the South, and this recipe is a great way to incorporate fresh strawberries to fill that sweet spot for your summer menu!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. fresh strawberries sliced up into 1/4" chunks
• 1 teas. fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup + 1 Tblsp. of sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teas. baking powder
• 1/2 teas. salt
• 6 Tablespoons of cold butter, unsalted
• 2/3 cup of heavy whipping cream
• Sanding sugar (optional for garnishing the top of the cookie)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Slice strawberries into quarter inch pieces or smaller depending on your preference. 
3. Mix sliced strawberry chunks, lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons of the sugar in a separate bowl and allow to sit for at least 5 minutes. 
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Cut cold butter into small chunks. 
6. Add butter chunks to the flour mixture and knead in butter with hands until the mixture takes on a crumb-like appearance and you no longer feel clumps of butter. 
7. Add heavy cream to the mixture and knead or stir until dough forms. (Dough will seem very dry until strawberry mixture is added).
8. Add the strawberry mixture to the dough and work in well with hands.
9. Scoop dough mixture onto greased cookie sheet. 
10. Sprinkle sugar on top of unbaked cookies (sanding sugar or regular sugar).
11. Bake at 375 for 19 minutes. 
12. Let cookies cool for 10 minutes, and enjoy at will!

I saw a suggestion to try them warm with vanilla ice cream! Sounds amazing! 

Linked up with How-To-Tuesday!

High Five for Friday

This week... Yeah it's been a doozy! But I try to remember it's a blessing to be busy!

1. We concluded Ladies Morning Edition Bible study and our teen Bible study this Monday. The teens celebrated at IHOP for dinner! Love these ladies!

2. Saved some major dough with Harris Teeter triple coupons this past week. I aid a total of $28 for $130 worth of groceries! Yay for saving $$$$$!


3. Little man had a double ear infection this week... Poor thing! But he is feeling better now!

4. Target.com has a $2 Essie coupon! Woot woot! I haven't decided on a color yet though...

5. My Faithful Friend ( secret sis) gave me this wonderful array of coffee for my keurig! Made my day Thursday!

Happy Friday everyone!

High Five For Friday!

Hey, hey! It's Friday (night by this time) haha and I am headed to an all-night lock in with our teens! I must be losing my mind, right? It should be a blast though! This week has been fun and busy!

1. Tuesday night we went to see the Canes play...and they won in a shootout! Definitely exciting, and hockey is so much better from a suite's perspective!

2. This week was Administrative Professionals Week, so our bosses treated us to lunch and prizes! Love these people!

3. I played the role of teacher on Thursday!
4. My husband allowed me some much needed time alone in which I indulged in some Target Therapy! My husband's words, "How can you walk around Target for two hours and enjoy it?" Haha...just my thing!
5. Today I was catering with Stephen's Catering...the best chef I know! StephensCatering

Have a great weekend everyone!

Tuesday Tune-Up: Cleaning Routine

How does your typical cleaning week go? Do you get frustrated and panicked when company is on the way and your house is not exactly company-ready? Do you get overwhelmed by trying to everything in the house at the same time? If you are answering, "Yes!" then let me share with you a few things to change in your cleaning schedule that will help you take off the stress.

I love to keep a clean house. Now, I understand that when you add kids to the mix, this job becomes much more difficult. During the day while little man plays, there are toys scattered all over the living room and kitchen, but there are definitely ways to manage how many toys escape from the toy box and how to keep the house from looking like a war zone.

Here's how I manage to keep my house clean (relatively) on a day-to-day basis.

1. Plan of Attack:

Establishing a routine cleaning schedule saved my life after little man was born. Instead of trying to clean everything in one day during nap time (and becoming unnecessarily frustrated because you can't finish in time) just pick one or two things that you know you will be able to tackle and finish. 

I've shown this before, but it's been a while so let me share it again. I love this cleaning schedule that I found at moneysavingmom.com. To download it for yourself, click HERE! This list covers what you will do daily and when you will do it during the day. Not a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom)? The customize it to fit your schedule! Of course all of our schedules will be different, but you must find out what works for you and stick with it!

Here are some more that I love to use: 

Home Management Sheets

2. Be Consistent:

Be as on schedule and as consistent as you possibly can be with your cleaning schedule. You will quickly get into the habit of your routine, and accomplishing your daily cleaning tasks will become faster and more efficient as you go along. If you know that you are going to miss a day's cleaning, schedule it in to other days of the week, but plan it out so that it gets done. 

3. Quick Pick-Up:

I have a few times during the day that I do a "quick pick-up." The first time is naptime. I LOVE NAPTIME! It gives me just enough time to accomplish much needed tasks around the house. At the beginning of naptime, I make sure all of little man's toys are picked up and put away (yes, we are starting to train him to clean up, but it would take an hour for him to do it all right now). This means that when it's time to play again, he has to start over with destroying the house instead of adding to the chaos he created earlier (slight exaggeration there). Actually, you can greatly minimize toy pick up by training your child to play with one toy at a time instead of free reign in the toy box. If you have older kids, have them participate in the quick clean up before lunch or nap. (We won't get into chore charts right now). 

My next quick pick-up is right before hubby gets home. I want him to come home to a house that at least seems to be in order. This means cleaning up the toys, straightening up, and vacuuming if needed. It's nice if you can remember to light a few candles and make everything smell good too! 

My final pick up is right before little man's bedtime. We get everything put back in its place before we sit to enjoy a little quiet to relax. And trust me, relaxing is so much better when the house is clean.