Country Cooking is Our Featured Blog

Today is our last day at Country Cooking with Janille on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. The Mom-Stuff Team has really enjoyed visiting Jamille’s great blog. She is a great resource for all moms. We love her large collection of recipes. We have picked this recipe to share with you today because it is one of my personal favorites. Pumpkin Cheesecake, yum!
Janille is very practical with recipes for daily use. She also has many recipes for sauces and dressings to make from scratch to stretch your budget. Add her site Country Cooking with Janille to your favorites so you can access it every time you need a recipe. Check her site first. Thanks to Janille for welcoming us into her kitchen this week. We are so glad we came. She has extended to us her warm and tasteful hospitality. Visit her often, follow her and please let her know that you have enjoyed her blog on the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. We still have a few spots left on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour if you want us to highlight your blog let us know. dianne@mom-stuff.com

Pumpkin Cheesecake
Crust:
1−1/2 cups graham crumbs
5 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 Tbsp. sugar
Filling:
3 − 8oz. pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
Whipped Cream
Mix crust ingredients together, just till coated and crumbly. Press onto thebottom and 2/3 up the sides of an 8″ springform pan. Bake for 5 mins. at350. Set aside. Combine cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl, mix untilsmooth with an electric mixer. add pumpkin eggs,and spices, beat till smoothand creamy. Pour into the crust. Bake for 60−70 mins.or till the top turns abit darker. Remove from oven and allow to come to room temperature, then refrigerate. After it has thoroughly chilled, remove the pan sides and cut.Serve with whipped cream.

I hope you are having as much fun following Mom-Stuff Blog Tour as we are. Next week we will be visiting Robin at lolidots. She is a wonderfully flawed Mommy of two, married to her best friend, child of divorce, former “party girl” good listener, super sarcastic, soul searching, chili-cheese fries loving, non baking, and tattoo wearing, Mom that makes me laugh. Make sure you follow the mom-Stuff Blog Tour to get to know her.

Make your own Valentines. The valentine patterns for your kids classmates you have been waiting for are finally finished. They are definitely worth the wait. They are really cute and fun to make! Make these fun Valentines with your kids and they will be the talk of the school. Go to Mom-stuff and get your patterns and instructions.
See you next week and have a great weekend.
Dianne@mom-Stuff.com

Featured Blog-Country Cooking

The Mom-Stuff featured blog this week is Country Cooking with Janille. If you have not visited her site yet you are missing out on one of the best collection of recipes. Today it is freezing cold across most of the US so I want to share a hot soup recipe to warm you up. This Broccoli-Cheese Soup is perfect filling for a bread bowl. Hot Broccoli-Cheese soup and the warm aroma of the bread bowls sounds like the perfect comfort food for this cold weather. ENJOY!



Broccoli−Cheese Soup
1 1/2 pounds broccoli, fresh
2 cups water
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cornstarch, mixed with 1 cup cold water
1 pint half and half
1 pound Velveeta
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Steam or boil broccoli until tender.
Place half−and−half and 2 cups water in top of double boiler.
Add cheese, salt and pepper. Heat until cheese is melted.
Add broccoli. Mix cornstarch and water in small bowl.
Stir into cheese mixture in double boiler and heat over
simmering water until soup thickens.

Bread Bowls
2 1/2 cups warm water (105−115 degrees Fahrenheit)
2 packages active dry yeast
1 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. oil
6 1/2 − 7 1/2 cups bread flour
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp. milk
Measure warm water into large bowl. Sprinkle in yeast; stir until dissolved.
Add salt, sugar, oil and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth. Add enough additional flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out onto lightly floured board;
knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 to 12 minutes. Place dough in bowl
that has been lightly coated with nonstick spray, turning to grease top.
Cover; let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Grease outside of 12, 10−ounce custard cups or oven−proof bowls of similar
size.
Punch dough down; divide into 12 pieces. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.
Spread each piece into a circle about 6 inches in diameter. Place over
outside of bowl, working dough with hands until it fits. Set bowls, dough
side up, on baking sheet that has been coated with nonstick spray. Cover
with plastic wrap; let rise in warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.
Combine egg and milk; gently brush mixture on dough. Bake at 400 degrees
Fahrenheit for 15 minutes until golden brown. Using potholders, carefully
remove the bowls. Set bread bowls open side up on baking pan; bake 5
minutes. Makes 12 servings.
For larger bowls, use oven−proof bowls that are approximately 6 inches in
diameter. Divide dough into 6 portions. Frozen bread dough also can be used.
A 1−pound loaf will make 2 large or 4 small bowls.

Thanks to everyone following our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. Visit Janille, try some of her recipes and tell her thanks for sharing in a comment. Make comments, make tweets, invite friends, tell your friends about how much fun we are having. If you have a blog and want us to visit, let me know at dianne@mom-stuff.com

See you tomorrow, Dianne

P.S. Visit Mom-Stuff for Valentine ideas.

Blog of the Week-Country Cooking

Thanks for visiting the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour sponsored by www.mom-stuff.com. We are so excited by your response to our tour and we have just gotten started. We are having so much fun and making so many new friends. We still have some open weeks if you would like us to tour your blog. This week as you probably know, our Featured Blog is one of our favorite cooking blogs, Country Cooking with Janille. Janille has been such fun to work with.

The post we have chosen to share with you today, is a recipe for making your own cereal. Yes, breakfast cold cereal. I tell you this mom is creative.

Bran Flakes
2 Cup Bran
2 Cup Whole wheat flour
1/2 Cup Nonfat dry milk powder
3 Tablespoon Brewer’s yeast (optional)
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Cup Oil
1 Tablespoon Molasses
1 Cup Water

Combine dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and add oil,molasses and
water. Mix well. Divide into three parts and roll out as thin as possible on
greased cookie sheets. bake in 350 F oven 15−20 minutes, or until lightly
browned and crisp. If dough is not completely dry, turn oven off and let it
remain longer. Break into small pieces. Store in airtight container. Makes 1
lb of cereal.

Stop by Country Cooking and tell Janille thanks for sharing her blog with us. The mom-team will be giving away gifts to the people who make the most comments. You can make comments here, on Janille’s Blog, Tweeter, Facebook or other social sites. Thanks for being a part of www.mom-stuff.com your moms resource site.

See you again tomorrow.

dianne@mom-stuff.com

Blog Tour Visits Counrty Cooking

The Mom-Stuff Blog Tour is visiting Country Cooking with Janille this week. Janille is a small town country girl who loves to cook. Her blog is full of her family favorites, along with some recipes she has picked up along the way. ENJOY! We know you will enjoy her blog as much as we have. Every recipe we have tried has become a family favorite. Today we want to share her recipe for green sauce. I love this on breakfast burritos and Mexican chicken dishes.

Green Sauce

1 lb. fresh tomatillos
3 large jalapeno peppers, seeded
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
6 sprigs of cilantro, stems removed
2 cups chicken broth
1 Tbl. vegetable oil
Husk tomatillos and cut in half. Stem and half peppers. Boil tomatillos
and peppers in chicken broth for 10 minutes. Strain, reserving broth.
Combine tomatillos, peppers and remaining ingredients, except for the
oil, in a blender and mix until almost smooth. Heat oil in frying pan
until very hot. Add the tomatillo mixture and cook for 4−5 minutes,
stirring constantly until dark and thick. Add reserved broth to mixture
and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until thickened,
about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

We want to thank Janille, for sharing her recipes with other moms. We love learning from each other. Follow along with us on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. You will find great information and make some new friends. Make sure to leave comments. Remember mom-Stuff will be giving away gifts to our followers that make the most comments. So welcome to the party. Let the moms know what you think by commenting and tweeting about their blog.Visit http://www.mom-stuff.com/ for ideas for Valentine’s Day.

See you tomorrow, dianne@mom-stuff

Mom-Stuff Blog Tour 01/25/10

Today we want to introduce you to Janille.

One of Janille’s Passions is cooking.

She has one of our favorite cooking blogs.

Country Cooking with Janille

We love her recipes.

Each one we have tried has been a real success.

We know you will enjoy them too.

Today I want to share with you an article Janille posted at Christmas time. This is not only a great idea it shows how she is passing on her love of cooking to her children. Her and some good friend transformed an old entertainment center into a FIRST CLASS KITCHEN.

We had an old entertainment center that we no longer needed. (Sorry, not a good picture. But you get the idea)

I wanted to transform it into a kitchen for my girls. My friends David and Kathy offered to help. Once David started, I couldn’t believe all that he did. Each day I would get more and more excited to hear about the progress. David managed to FIND an old bar sink, a rack for the oven, knobs and actual burners for the stove. He cut glass for the oven door. He cut a mirror and framed it for the window. He put the hooks on the pot rack. I used a cute shelf that my sister had made for me a few years ago. It worked out perfect. I JUST LOVE IT!

The Progress
sink in

Mirror/Window and stove in

Start painting (this is the ONE thing I could do)

Pot Rack in

Delivered on Christmas Eve. Sleigh and ALL!

With Curtains (I made these too!)

Stove

Oven

Sink

HAPPY GIRLS! They LOVE it. They haven't stopped playing with it.

Thank you again David and Kathy! We couldn’t have made it without you!! Janille.

I bet the girls love this. Visit Country Cooking with Janille. Tell her thanks for sharing her blog and her favorite recipes. Thanks for following the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. We hope you are enjoying it as much as we are. Visit us at Mom-Stuff.com for lots of Valentine ideas.

Featured Blog-SOLO dot MOM

Today is our last day at SOLO dot MOM on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. The Mom-Stuff Team has really enjoyed visiting Kathrine’s great blog. She is a great resource for all moms, not just single moms. We love her articles on dating, parenting and self improvement. We have picked this article to share with you because we want to show you the spirit of Katherine’s blog. She is very practical and every mom can learn from her daily living dating attitude. She also has started a webazine titled Single Parenting 101 providing inspiration, encouragement as well as practical tips on parenting. She would like to invite other single parents to jump on board with her. Swing by both of her sites.

the joys of dating
JOYS OF DATING
We are dating. (Mr. M. and I)

We both have tight budgets.

We both have two kiddos.

So our dates end up being “outings” with all the kids as we do stuff together or the few and far between time we might have for just the two of us – we end up watching a video or heading over to Target. Woohoo!

LOSING THE ROMANCE
Are we losing the romantic edge by not being as creative with our dating? Is the relationship in danger because we don’t get much time for just the two of us with four kiddos between us?

People like Jon and Kate lately in the news and other couples in my own personal world that are falling apart make me wonder with the “extra” responsibility kiddos bring to a relationship and when you throw in the fact it is a “new” relationship…how do we keep it intact? Can couples attempting to blend families (and Jon and Kate aren’t even blending… they chose to have multiples) survive the “dating” process? I need some regained faith in the line of love and commitment. Doesn’t anyone stay together anymore?

DAILY LIVING DATING
Things really won’t change when it comes to our responsibilities with our children… not for a long time. And our budgets won’t get any looser within the near future…. so our dating has been and will probably continue to be “daily living dating”. So now the challenge remains… to become and continue to be creative with our dating life.

Single moms out there – dating and tending to children… what are some creative ways you liven up your dating life on a tight budget and when kiddos are involved?

In the past Mr. M. and I have done this:

1. took a walk at a park neither of us had been to in the area.

2. rented a video for the “whole crew” to watch a new family oriented movie.

3. went to the zoo.

4. turned off the television and just talked when we had quiet time after the kiddos are in bed.

5. took the kiddos fishing and hiking.

Don’t you think as single moms we turn the whole dating thing into a realm open to new definitions?
Let me know what you think… single moms and single dads.

Find yourself… keeping it real.

Katherine at SOLO dot MOM

Thanks to Katherine for welcoming us in her doors this week. We are so glad we came. She has extended to us her warm hospitality. Visit her often, follow her and please let her know that you have enjoyed her blog on the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. We still have a few spots left on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour if you want us to highlight your blog let us know. dianne@mom-stuff.com

SOLO dot MOM-Featured Blog of the Week

Our Featured Blog this week is SOLO dot Mom. Kathrine is a single mom with great articles on parenting, dating and personal development. Kathrine has started a webazine titled Single Parenting 101 providing inspiration, encouragement as well as practical tips on parenting. She would like to invite other single parents to jump on board with her. We have really enjoyed getting to know Katherine better this week. Visit her blog and tell her thanks for sharing with our mom-stuff community. We want to share a post with you from her blog. Make sure you click on the links for part1 and part 2.
Well the list continues from my previous posts on what I wish I had been told before I got married. I hope you are gleaning from these tips. Please feel free to comment and add your own, or provide feedback about these ideas. I would love to hear from you!

5. BECOME PLAYMATES:

(Remember the blog post about Boys and their Toys?) A book was written about this very idea titled, Boys and Their Toys: Understanding Men by Understanding Their Relationship with Gadgets by Bill Adler. It is intended to help women understand men by understanding their need for toys and gadgets.

I have skimmed this book, but plan to read it because it has some great parallels that can open your eyes to understanding personality traits of your man based on what ‘toys’ or gadgets intrigue him and why. Since they need this outlet of “playtime,” playing with your guy can nurture your relationship.

Try taking time out and getting involved with your guy’s favorite toys. Does he like to play video games, for example? Take some time to play the games with him – then he may be more responsive to compromise by giving you some time to communicate with each other.

6. KEEP YOUR IDENTITY:

Even though you are a couple you should continually work on becoming a whole person. It’s true you aren’t single anymore – but you need to keep your identity and continue the process of becoming the person you want to be with.

Don’t say “I have arrived: I am in a relationship so I don’t need to work on knowing who I am as a person anymore,” nor fall into thinking “I have this issue, but my spouse offsets it – he or she completes me.” You should continue to improve upon the person you have become. Continue learning about who you are.

We all have stuff to deal with – owning it (acknowledging it exists) and working through it are still our jobs as individuals. Besides, if you don’t keep your own personal identity in tact – you may be prone to extreme co-dependency which can cause problems for your marriage.

Don’t take that to mean I am advocating self-centeredness or selfish acts. Quite contrary to that notion, I am simply warning you against becoming so dependent upon your spouse that you cannot even go shopping or to do an outing by yourself because your self-worth relies upon that spouse, outside of your control.

In my own experience I was in a marriage with a man who had become not only possessive of me but also obsessed with me. He would not let me go anywhere by myself or have activities with friends on my own; in turn, I became less and less confident that I could do anything alone or have friends. It was a vicious cycle and it took effort to break that cycle in order to be released from it’s grasp.

Please check out the other posts in this series of things I wish I had known when I got married:

List for Newlyweds, Part 1

List for Newlyweds, Part 2

Find yourself… keeping it real.

Katherine at SOLO dot MOM

Photo Credit: http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/2184797/relationship-main_Full.jpg

love, love, love these post. Follow SOLO dot Mom to get the rest of the relationship scoop. Watch for post 4 and 5 in this series. Thanks to everyone following our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. Make comments, make tweets, invite friends, tell your friends about how much fun we are having. So far the blogs we have visited on our tour have doubled their traffic. Not bad? If you have a blog and want us to visit, let me know at dianne@mom-stuff.com

Blog of the Week-SOLO dot MOM

Thanks for visiting the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour sponsored by http://www.mom-stuff.com/. We are so excited by your response to our tour and we have just gotten started. We are having so much fun and making so many new friends. We still have some open weeks if you would like us to tour your blog. This week as you probably know, our Featured Blog is one of our favorite single mom blogs, Solo dot mom. Katherine has been such fun to work with.

The post we have chosen to share with you today, is on a very popular subject these days. Katherine has some really good advise for all of us. In today’s recession we can all use some help tighten our budget.

Setting A BUDGET – Part One
Budgets: They aren’t fun, but they are a necessity. As a single mom on a mediocre income and little child support, I have found there are two choices:
1.To sit around in self-pity and moan and groan about what you don’t have, wishing away life and running up credit card debt; or
2.To embrace your current financial status and work toward appreciating what you already have attained at this stage of life and create a strategy that works for you when it comes to “how” you are going to use that income and “how” you plan to get out of debt.
My hope is that you will choose the latter.

Embrace where you are.
– Examine your current income, and be grateful that you have a job. (If you are unemployed continue working towards the goal of getting a job. Be willing to accept something – even if it is not your dream job right at first. Getting a job somewhere will be better than no job and no income). Always be grateful for where you are and what you have in life. Focus on the positive aspects of your current circumstances and remember the glass is half full. Count your blessings which include more than just your income.

Appreciate what you own and enjoy those things for the here and now.
– You have a roof over your head. You have food to eat and provide for your family. Pull out the things you already own; put them to use and enjoy them. These might include books, music, instruments, games, etc. that are collecting dust in your closet. Make use of the things you already own instead of mulling over a wish list of the ‘other’ things you want.

Don’t compare yourself or your possessions with others.
– A writer once said of her younger growing up years that she didn’t know how poor she was till she befriended a rich girl. If we stop comparing ourselves to others and what they have, we might find we don’t even miss those extra things. Things are not as fulfilling as the media makes them out to be. If you own “this must have item” it still won’t bring you true happiness.

Keep life simple so you can save – every penny counts.
– Even the smallest of luxuries can be cut back and give way for you to use that money for getting out of debt or saving for a rainy day. Small luxuries include specialized coffee drinks, soft drinks with lunch ( get ice water), or vending machine items for snacks. Making even the smallest sacrifices, will allow you to put money left over after needs are met – toward reducing your debt.

Once you can embrace your current financial position, appreciating what you have and being content with the here and now; it will be easier to stick to a budget and make it work. And staying on a budget will eliminate additional credit card debt, because you won’t need to use them.

Find yourself… keeping it real.

Katherine

Stop by Solo dot mom and tell Kathy thanks for sharing her blog with us. The mom-team will be giving away gifts to the person who makes the most comments. You can make comments here, on the Katherine’s Blog, Tweeter, Facebook or other social sites. Thanks for being a part of http://www.mom-stuff.com/ your moms resource site.

See you again tomorrow.

dianne@mom-stuff.com

Blog Tour Visits Solodotmom

Solo Dot Mom The Mom-Stuff Blog Tour is visiting Solo Dot Mom this week. Katherine’s blog is filled with great stories about her life as a single mom, dating, loving life, and taking care of her kiddos who mean the world to her and who she truly consider to be her treasures… Her intent is to keep it real, through the good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly. On her site you will find true stories of dating experiences over the past couple years, her current relationship with a man known as Mr M, as well as moments of frustration as a single parent trying to do it all on my own… (with help from above, of course). And yes, there are also some blog posts about her joys and successes… plus she has even started doing some GIVEAWAYS. She loves photography and her site is filled with her beautiful photos. Mom-Stuff knows you will enjoy getting to know her as much as we have..

Solodotmom can be found at: http://kitkat4real.blogspot.com/2009/06/to-all-ones-who-never-been-before.html

Dealing with Disappointments

Posted on Jul 30 at Solo Dot Mom

If you have went through the big D (and I don’t mean Dallas), then you know how it can be a real court battle of fight after fight. This is especially true when it comes to how much time you get to spend with the children. Mr. M. had another custody hearing recently and the verdict was in favor of the mother, even though the children’s law guardian encouraged extra days with their father.

When things don’t go your way and you were hoping so hard and praying with all your might, you do – at times – feel like – giving up. Giving up on the battle and giving up on your faith.

Why doesn’t God look down and just straighten all this out?
He can, but many times I’ve witnessed He doesn’t do it the way we want or in the timing we want. It’s not that God doesn’t care or that we are just a bunch of ants running around and He is up there watching us in our own frivolous nature. It’s just that this is par for the course when it comes to divorce. It can get ugly and it is full of disappointments. Unless the mother is a drug dealing addict drunk on the street corner every night, most judges are not going to pull kids away from time with their moms even if their dads are upright citizens and great mentors. I’m not saying this is right – I’m just saying what I have witnessed with other friends dealing with custody battles and again here with Mr. M.

It goes without saying, there will be many times we will feel major disappointment. We will feel like God let us down. But remember, God isn’t doing this to us. The situation of divorce, in this case, is the culprit… and the other parties (who have a free will) that are being difficult, not God. In fact, God is the One who brings us peace and serenity, if we let Him. I’ve felt it before, have you?

Let me just say I have witnessed personally some divine miracles. So I know he can intervene…. from healing family situations to healing a disease. My aunt’s marriage was healed and one of my best friends growing up was healed of Muscular Dystrophy; so I believe in miracles. But not every request is answered the same way.

So how do we deal?
How do we keep our faith intact when we seem to get knocked down or knocked out for the fight… when we don’t want to bother getting back up? We have to keep our faith.

It’s not easy; and sometimes we take one step at a time or just one moment at a time: knowing God is still there, even if we are mad at Him at the moment as a result of the situation. You will feel the emotions that result from consequences. Emotions don’t mean we are no longer Christians – far from it. We have to be realistic in our expectations when it comes to our faith. Remember, we are still human and we do have feelings. What we do with those feelings is our choice. And that’s where making the right choices come in. How we choose to go from here in reaction to our disappointment and our emotion of anger… that will be where we steer the course for our faith. Will we keep praying and believing? Or will we turn our back on what we have known to be a stronghold, our help in troubling situations?

During these times, it would be nice to see the higher view of this bigger picture of life that is being painted, the one we just cannot see. Then we might understand why things don’t quite work out the way we hoped, or the way we planned.

Bad things happen to good people. There’s no rhyme or reason behind it. God doesn’t just “let” it happen. It’s a part of living in an imperfect world and the consequences of such imperfection. This is not to suggest that prayer isn’t powerful, or that we shouldn’t pray. But when things don’t go completely our way, I hope we can refrain, even in the moments of anger and other emotions that run wild, from having bitterness set in and taking over.

God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good.

Find yourself…keeping it real.

Katherine at solodotmom

We want to thank Katherine, for sharing your thoughts with other moms. We love learning from each other.

Follow along with us on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. You will find great information and make some new friends. Make sure to leave comments. Remember mom-Stuff will be giving away gifts to our followers that make the most comments. So welcome to the party. Let the moms know what you think by commenting and tweeting about their blog.

Visit www.mom-stuff.com for ideas for Valentine’s Day.

See you tomorrow, dianne@mom-stuff

Mom-Stuff Blog Tour 01-18-10

We are having lots of fun on our Blog Tour. This week we want to introduce you to Katherine at Solo Dot Mom. She has a different set of challenges. She is a single mom with a great sense of honor. I have followed her for some time now and I love to see how she meets her challenges. She juggles her life with grace and laughter. Here is her story in her own words as posted on her site at Solo Dot Mom

That day, 6 years ago, I left the bondage of which I found myself a victim. I left the man whose love had turned into violent jealousy and possessiveness as I became his obsession. That day I became a single mom; even before the papers were signed for the final big D, I stepped out and took that leap… into singlemomhood. Ready or not, there I was.
Taking one step at a time during my journey that day I proceeded toward the magistrate to get my protective order. Going through the motions, but doing what I knew I finally had to do. Those steps turned into the journey that with each passing step, each passing day, led to my freedom. A freedom I know today, that makes me thank Jesus every time I remember what He released me from, and the peace He gave me as I struggled with the decision to leave a bad relationship, a bad marriage.

I consider myself to be a product of all my trials and tribulations as well as my successes. Stronger for the battles I have faced; patient for the times I waited on the Lord and endured; and wiser for the decisions I made, because some were not so wise. There were many times when life lessons came along that path, some I learned quickly, and others I am still learning over and over again, trying to understand. Realizing a simple life is a good life as we all should get back to basics and live within our means. Sacrificing to make that a reality, I sought to be debt free (other than a mortgage) and count that another success that wasn’t easy to achieve but doable with some determination and discipline.

My children are indeed my joy, my treasures, my reason I will never regret marrying their father. They do give me purpose and I want them to be faithful, driven, inspired individuals that remember their heritage but strive to change the world in their future.

Each passing day I try to take time to stop, look, and listen. To stop and realize the moment passing and the joy that can be found in it. To look and see how much my children especially are changing right in front of my eyes; and to listen to the laughter, the voices, the heartbeat of those around me…. so I don’t miss it. Holding them all in my heart so that I may someday pull those memories back out…caressing them as I relive them when I am older and my children are off in their newly created worlds, living life, and changing the world.
As a single mom… looking back from where I was… to where I am today… I am grateful for the blessings and grateful for the peace. Jesus helped me take those necessary steps that day, and continued to walk with me as I took one step at a time marking my new life… as a single mom. And this single mom is happy, enjoying life while raising two children, working a full-time job for a non-profit organization, dating again, and maintaining a house – making it a home. Sometimes it takes sacrifice… but it’s so worth it
***

Visit Katherine at Solo Dot Mom and leave her your comments. Let her know how much you appreciate her sharing her blog with you.

We are busy putting up ideas to make your Valentine Day easier and more fun. Visit us at Mom-Stuff.com

Love Bug Suckers

Today is our last day at Ashley's Craft Blog on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. The Mom-Stuff Team has really enjoyed visiting Ashley's great blog. She is a great resource for moms with young kids who like crafts. We still have a few spots left on our mom-stuff blog tour if you want us to highlight your blog let us know. dianne@mom-stuff.com






Materials:
Heart Suckers
Google Eyes
Red Ribbon
White and Pink craft foam
Red glitter craft foam
Small white pompoms
Red and White glider pompoms
White, red, and pink pipe cleaners
low heat glue and glue gun
scissors


Instructions:
The first thing that I did was cut hearts out of the craft foam. Cut 2 bigger hearts out of the white or pink. Use your suckers as a pattern to cut the hearts. Cut out 2 smaller hearts that will be glued onto the bigger hearts. I traced the hearts onto the craft foam and I let my son cut out all the hearts. If your kids are old enough they love to help with this part.

Then I had my son glue the smaller heart to the bigger hearts. We glued the hearts to the suckers, one on both sides of the sucker. To make the face I glued on the google eyes and a small pompom as the nose. I had my son twist the pipe cleaners for the antennas and I glued the pipe cleaner on the back of the sucker. For the final touch I glued glittery pompoms to the top of each antenna.

This craft is really pretty and can even be used as a decoration while waiting to give out on Valentine's Day. Put them in a vase on your kitchen table.

We are so grateful to Ashley for sharing her blog with us. Visit Ashley's craft room often and leave her your comments. She has visitors who have make special requests and has done her best to help them. Visit Mom-Stuff for your best resource site for moms. WE are busy right now posting Valentines ideas. Come and visit us. If you have a great Valentine ideas please share with us. We love to hear from you. Email us at contact@mom-stuff.com

Blog of the week-Ashley’s Craft Room

It is almost the last day at the Ashley's Craft Blog on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. The mom-stuff team has really enjoyed visiting Ashley's great blog. She is a great resource for moms with young kids who like crafts. WE still have a few spots left on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour if you want us to highlight your blog let us know. dianne@mom-stuff.com


Scrapbooking
You Warm My Heart


Instructions:
-The first thing I do when designing a scrapbook page is choose the pictures I want to use.
-The next step is to choose the background paper and contrasting colors that match the pictures. -The next step is the most important step in making a scrap book page. What is the theme you want for your page? What do you want your page to express?
-For this page I wanted to make a Valentine page for the mom-stuff web site. I wanted it to use some hearts and borders from the mom-stuff, kids craft project, Valentines Made From Hearts in the Family Fun Section.

The pictures I wanted to use did not have many colors in them so red and white became the dominate colors, with yellow and green as the accent colors. I was lucky enough to find some red paper with white dots. This paper was a close match to the fabric of the dress.

I bordered the pictures in white, using about the same width as the ribbon on the dress.
The next step is to design the page (or pages).
First decide on the title. I look first at my Cricut Cartridge’s for ideas. I love to use my Cricut because then the colors will match perfectly, because I can make my title out of the same paper I am using on the pages. For this page I used Cricut, Beyond Birthdays. I cut “you warm my heart” on the 2 inch setting.

(Note: when I am designing a page I use some construction paper to cut out my designs from first. This lets me experiment with the size without using my scrapbook paper. I also use the construction paper pieces to design my layout. I place them in different places on my page until I am happy with the placement. I identify the construction paper with the cartridge name and size of the cut to reference for cutting. After you have designed your page you are ready to cut out your pieces.

Cut with Cricut Cartridges
Cut in white:
Beyond Birthdays-you warm my heart-2 inch-cut one.
George-daisies -cut four 2 ½ inch, cut two 2 inch and two 1 inch, Heart-cut one 2 inch and two 1 inch.
(heart)You-cut one 2 inch
Cut in red with white dots:
Locker Talk-flowers and ribbon-4 inches
Cut in green:
Stretch Your Imagination-Flower stem- cut one 3 inch and three 4 inch. Cut off the flowers. I used the flowers to crate more color by cutting the loops into a “C” shape and placed them by the flowers.
Cut in Yellow: Twelve ¼ inch heart punch.
Boarders-I used the scrapes from the Valentine heart project but to make boarders-cut in white-George-nine 1 inch hearts, cut with paper cutter, leaving 1/16 inch edge. Repeat step. Glue on to red dot paper leaving a 1/8 boarder on both top and bottom.
Place everything on to your twelve by twelve card stock and make sure you are pleased with your layout. When satisfied with placement, glue in place using scrap book glue.

Options:

Shading:
I love to shade some of my cutouts for affect. On this page I shaded the daisies with yellow, the letters, hearts and ribbons in red. The most common way to shade is to use chalks, but I like to use water color pencils. I color around the edge of the paper about 1/16 wide. I can color all of the pieces in the same color. I take a wet Q-tip and blend the color. This is fast, easy, and controllable.

Line work:
I use sharpie markers to add accents. On this page I used two sizes of pens extra fine and extra, extra fine. I used black to line everything on this page. I lined between the letters and added accent lines to the centers of the flowers. I made stitch lines on both sides of the boarders, and around the ribbon and around the outside edge of the hearts. I also added some detail lines to the flower stems.

Don’t be afraid to try these options. They are easy and fun. They give your cutouts a special look.

We are so grateful to Ashley for sharing her blog with us. Visit Ashley’s Craft Room often and leave her your comments. She has visitors who have made special requests and she has done her best to help them.

Visit Mom-Stuff for your best resource site for moms. We are busy right now posting Valentine ideas. Come and visit us. If you have a great Valentine ideas share it with us. We love to hear from you. email us at contact@mom-stuff.com

Blog Tour: Valentine Flower Ball

Thanks for visiting the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour sponsored by http://www.mom-stuff.com/ We are so excited by your response to our tour and we have just gotten started. We are having so much fun and making so many new friends. We still have some open weeks if you would like us to tour your blog. This week as you probably know, our Featured Blog is one of our favorite craft blogs, http://ashleys-craftroom.blogspot.com/ Ashley has been such fun to work with. Thank you Ashley, for sharing your talents with us.

Today’s post: Valentine Flower Ball

Materials:
Silk flowers
Styrofoam craft ball
Low heat glue and low heat glue gun
Scissors
Fun ribbon in different widths (Valentines colors)
Craft beads

Instructions:
First I would plugged in the glue gun to preheat before you begin.
Cut the flower stems off close to the flowers.
I put a spot of glue on the Styrofoam ball then my son would place a flower where I put the glue. We did this half way around the ball.
Then we glued 8 inch piece of satin ridden to the top of the ball folding it in half forming the loop for the hanger.
We glued the flowers around the ribbon loop and covered the rest of the ball.
We now made small 3-inch loops with the fun valentines ribbon and craft beads.
These we place in-between the Flowers to hide the foam ball.
This are great girl friend valentine gifts.

Stop by Ashleys Craft Room and tell her thanks for sharing with us. The mom-team will be giving away gifts to the person who makes the most comments. You can make comments here, on the Ashley’s Blog, Tweeter, Facebook or other social sites. Thanks for being a part of www.mom-stuff.com your moms resource site.

Blog Tour-Ashley's Craft Room

The mom-stuff team is having so much fun with the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. We want to thank Ashley for sharing her blog with us. Today’s post is Valentine Candy Ball. This craft is as pretty as it is sweet. Visit Ashley at http://ashleys-craftroom.blogspot.com for this great ideas and more. She has some of the funniest ideas for moms to craft with their kids.

Valentine Candy Ball

Materials:
Candy Kisses
Styrofoam craft ball
Low heat glue
Low heat glue gun
Scissors
Fun ribbon in different widths (Valentines colors)
Craft beads


Instructions:
The first thing that I did was get my 4 year old son to come help me. I plugged in the glue gun. I had him pull all of the Hershey tags out of the kisses. I put a spot of glue on the Styrofoam ball then he would place a kiss where I put the glue. We did this half way around the ball.Then we glued 8 inch piece of satin ribbon to the top of the ball folding it in half forming the loop for the hanger.We glued the kisses around the ribbon loop and finished covering the foam ball with kisses.We now made a small 3-inch loops with the fun valentines ribbon and craft beads.These are placed in-between the Hershey Kisses to hide the foam ball.
Have a very happy Valentine’s Day crafting with your kids.

Thanks again to Ashley. Come and join the party by visiting the blogs on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. Make sure to make comments. Tell them thanks for sharing their blog and if you like their content tell them. Mom-Stuff will be giving gifts to the people who contribute the most comments and tweets each week.

Swing by mom-stuff.com and visit. We are posting our Valentine ideas for you. We still have a few spots open for us to highlight your blog. If you have a blog that is of interest to moms contact me.
dianne@mom-stuff.com

Blog of the Week 10/11/10

January 12th, 2010
On the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour our blog of the week is Ashley’s Craft Room. Ashley’s blog gives pics and instructions for some really fun kids crafts to do with your kids. Her visitors are moms who like to do crafts with their kids and need some ideas.need This post is one I really loved, and thought this blog would help make your Valentines Day lots of fun. Ashley’s Craft Roon can be found at:
http://ashleys-craftroom.blogspot.com/

Valentine Animal Hearts

Materials:Card stock-different colors- I used four different colors.GlueColored pens or crayons.Paper to glue animals onto to make a picture or a cardInstructions:Cut hearts from several colors of card stock.I cut hearts ranging in size from 1\4 to 3 inches.I used the Cricut, Plantin SchoolBook Cartridge.Let the kids crate animals. Have a sheet of paper folded in half so children can make a Valentine for someone they want to give it to.Glue on small goggle eyes.
Make your own Valentines.Follow the same steps.I bought some cards and envelopes from the local craft store. I bought some in pink and white.I also used the scrapes from the hearts to trim the cards (and to boarded the Valentine scrapbook pages.)I used some other cut outs from my Cricut Cartridge.I love to shade some of my cutouts for affect. The most common way to shade is to use chalks, but I like to use water color pencils. I color around the edge of the paper about 1/16 wide. I then take a wet Q-tip and blend the color. This is fast, easy, and controllable. I use extra fine sharpie markers to add accents and text.

Thanks Ashley, for sharing your talents with other moms. We love learning from each other.

Follow along with us on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. You will find great information and make some new friends. Make sure to leave comments. Remember mom-Stuff will be giving away gifts to our followers that make the most comments. So welcome to the party. Let the moms know what you think by commenting and tweeting about their blog.

See you tomorrow, dianne@mom-stuff

Mom-Stuff Blog Tour

The Mom-Stuff Team is having lots of fun on the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. This week we will be highlighting one of our favorite Craft Blogs- Ashley’s Craft Room

Meet Ashley. Ashley is the mother of two young boys and the favorite Aunt to two young girls. She is always making crafts with them. Ashley is one of the Mom-Team Experts. She posts for kid crafts on Mom-Stuff to share with other moms. We want to thanks her for sharing her talents. Visit her site and tell her “thanks.” We will be sharing some of our favorite posts from her site. We will give a gift to the person who makes the most comments and tweets so come follow our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. Join the fun.

Valentine Suckers

Materials:

Suckers

Pipe Cleaners

Art Foam

Pompoms

google eyes

Instructions:
Bunny Valentine- Some BUNNY loves you

Wrap the sucker with a white pipe cleaner. Uses a pink pompom, for the tail. Use four white pompoms for the feet. Use four pompoms for the head. Use a pink and white pipe cleaner for the ears. Use a white pompom for the nose. Glue on two goggle eyes.

Bug Valentine- Be my love BUG

Take two pipe cleaners and wrap them around the base of the sucker. Form the four ends into legs. Use a pompom for the nose. Glue on two goggle eyes. Use a small piece of pipe cleaner to make antennas’. Cut out the wings from art foam. Pattern page follows instructions. Punch holes from foam and glue them to wings. Glue wings on top of the sucker.

Lion Valentine- I am not LION, I want you to be mine.

Cover the sucker and one inch of the stick with a yellow pipe cleaner. Twist a yellow and orange pipe cleaner together for legs. Cut mane out of orange art foam. Pattern page follows instructions. Glue three yellow pompoms on to the mane for the head Use a yellow pompom for the nose and two pipe ½ inch cleaners folded in half for the ears.

Dinosaur Valentine- You are my friendasaurus

Cover the sucker and one inch of the stick with a green pipe cleaner. Twist a yellow and green pipe cleaner together for the legs. Fold a three inch pipe cleaner in half and twist it for the tail. Glue two green pompoms to each side of a yellow foam triangle for the head. Pattern page follow instructions. Use a yellow pompom for the nose. Glue on two goggle eyes. Glue three triangles on the back. Punch some yellow foam with a hole punch and glue on to the back.

Snake Valentine- Don’t be a SNAKE in the grass, Be mine

Cover the sucker and the stick with a green pipe cleaner. Fold a six inch green pipe cleaner in half. Twist it together and add to the stick to make the tail. Cut a red pipe cleaner at 2 inches. Fold in half to make the tongue. Cut some orange stripes and add to the back. Glue on two goggle eyes.

Butterfly Valentine- Come FLY with me

Cover sucker and ½ inch of stick with pink and purple pipe cleaners. Glue on two purple pompoms for the head. Use one pink pompom for the nose. Glue on goggle eyes. Cut wings from pink and purple art foam. Pattern Page follows instructions.

Valentine dino- Don’t Brachiosaurus my heart, Be my Valentine

Cover the sicker and stick with a dark blue pipe cleaner. Cut 4 inch pipe cleaner in both dark and light blue. Twist together to make arms. Cut 6 inch dark blue pipe cleaner for other leg. Fold in half and twist together add to body. Repeat last step and add to body for tail. Wrap legs, tails and body with light blue. Make belly from white pipe cleaner by folding at one inch and winding the pipe cleaner around the one inch piece. Add triangles to head, back and tail. Pattern page follows instructions. Add a white pompom for nose. Glue on two goggle eyes.

If you have a Cricut, there are several cartridges that come with a heart. I used the George Cartridge, with the 2 1/2 inch size. I used a ¼ hole punch to punch two holes through the tag. I threaded it on the sucker stick when possible or I tied it on with curly ribbon. Patterns http://www.mom-stuff.com/public/132.cfm

The Wright Hair-This Weeks Blog

Today is our last day at the Wright Hair blog on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. The Mom-StuffTeam has really enjoyed visiting Amber’s great blog. She is a great resource for moms with young girls. We still have a few spots left on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour if you want us to highlight your blog let us know. dianne@mom-stuff.com


Inspired by Barbie

My daughter is getting old enough now that sometimes she has a hair idea she wants to try. This is one of those hairstyles. She got a new barbie for Christmas that had a similar hairstyle.
First make your side part. Then pull a small amount of hair across the top of her head and secure just above her ear with an elastic.

This is the side of her head with the elastic above her hair.
Pull up the remaining side expect the small ponytail you maid with the elastic. Secure with an elastic.

Take the small ponytail from the side of her head and pull it up under her ponytail and pull across as shown below then continue to wrap it around the ponytail.

We then used the blow dryer and back combed the top to give more volume.

Amber has 2 beautiful girls. One who has the most gorgeous hair that is easy to style. The other one has the most unmanageable hair. It is very thin, flat, and short. I figured if I had problems with hairstyle so does everyone else. I wanted to share my hair thoughts and ideas with others as I enjoy help with this too.

We are so grateful to Amber for sharing her blog with us. Visit the Wright Hair often and leave her your comments. She has visitors who have made special requests and she has done her best to help them.

Visit Mom-Stuff for your best resource site for moms. We are busy right now posting Valentine ideas. Come and visit us. If you have a great Valentine ideas share it with us. We love to hear from you. email us at contact@mom-stuff.com

Featured Blog at Mom-Stuff Blog Tour

Thanks for visiting the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour sponsored by http://www.mom-stuff.com/ We are so excited by your response to our tour and we have just gotten started. We are having so much fun and making so many new friends. We still have some open weeks if you would like us to tour your blog. This week as you probably know, our Featured Blog is one of our favorite hair blogs. Amber has been such fun to work with. Thanks Amber for sharing your talents with us. Today’s post:

French Braid to Side Pony


Make a small french braid across the front top of her head. Make sure the braid goes all the way down. This is similar to a previous post but instead of a regular ponytail do a far side ponytail.

I had another blogger tell me about wrapping the braid around the ponytail so I have done that to her side ponytail. (thank you to this blogger for the idea)

We love flowers and right now she always wants the same flower so we added this flower for fun.

Stop by her blog and tell her thanks for sharing with us. The mom-team will be giving away gifts to the person who makes the most comments. You can make comments here, on the Wright Hair Blog, Tweeter, Facebook or other social sites. Thanks for being a part of www. mom-stuff.com your moms resource site.

Blog Tour-The Wright Hair

The mom-stuff team is having so much fun with the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. We want to thank Amber for sharing her blog with us. Today’s post is titled Toddler Hair. Visit Amber at http://thewrighthair.blogspot.com for this great ideas and more. She has some of the cutest ideas I have ever seen for a toddler with fine, thin hair.

Toddler Hair
As most of you know who have toddlers, it is very difficult to come up with new ideas especially when they have thin straight hair. So here we go with another idea.
Since she is only 2 it is sometimes hard to get pictures so these are all taken after the hair has been done so I will do my best to describe what was done.
Around the front of her face I made 3 ponytails.

Once the ponytails are in place I took the middle ponytail and separated into 3 pieces. Take one piece and pull it towards the far side ponytail and take half of that ponytail and secure with an elastic.

Do the same thing on the other side. This gives you a total of five elastics.
These create a head band around the face keeping the hair in place, at least until nap time.

Thanks again to Amber. Come and join the party by visiting the blogs on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. Make sure to make comments. Tell them thanks for sharing their blog and if you like their content tell them. Mom-Stuff will be giving gifts to the people who contribute the most comments and tweets each week.

Swing by mom-stuff.com and visit. We are posting our Valentine ideas for you. We still have a few spots open for us to highlight your blog. If you have a blog that is of interest to moms contact me. dianne@mom-stuff.com

Blog of the Week

On the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour our blog of the week is The Wright Hair. Amber’s blog gives pics and instructions for some really fun hair styles for young girls. Her visitors are moms who need some style ideas for their young girls hair. This post is one I really loved. The Wright Hair can be found at:

http://thewrighthair.blogspot.com/

I first started by making ringlets all over her heads. I purchased a really neat curling iron a while ago that had groves in it that makes perfect ringlets for little girls hair.

Next make a small french braid across the front of her head.

Take half of her hair and pull up into a ponytail. I then used a small elastic to make somewhat of a messy bun. I pulled out some of the ringlets and used bobby pins to keep the ringlets perfect.Then I took a red ribbon and attached a safety pin to the end. I then went in and out of her ringlets to give the swirl look.

For complete instructions and more pictures swing by the Wright Hair. There are pics of the back of this style on her blog.

Thanks Amber for sharing your talents with other moms. We love learning from each other.

Follow along with us on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. You will find great information and make some new friends. Make sure to leave comments. Remember mom-Stuff will be giving away gifts to our followers that make the most comments. So welcome to the party. Let the moms know what you think by commenting and tweeting about their blog.

See you tomorrow, dianne@mom-stuff

Mom-Stuff Blog Tour

Today is the beginning of The Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. We will highlight one mom blog each week for 15 weeks. We will introduce you to a different mom who loves to blog each week. We think you will really enjoy this. We are highlighting blogs that we feel are a great resource to our moms. We believe in supporting, helping, and educating each other in all avenues that are of interest to moms. We are excited about our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour and hope all of you will enjoy it.

Our blog of the week is “The Wright Hair”

address http://thewrighthair.blogspot.com/

Meet Amber

Amber, one of our Mom-Team Experts has a hair blog. She has 2 beautiful girls. One who has long, thick, gorgeous hair that is easy to style. The other one has fine, thin, unmanageable hair. It is very thin, flat, and short. Amber figured if she had problems with hairstyle other moms might too. She wanted to share her hair thoughts and ideas with others.

Web Post: Toddler Fun Hair

First make a small ponytail across the front of her head and pull it through itself to make the twist. Then make 2 small ponytails on each side and pull them through themselves.

Pull the side pony’s and make one more small ponytail using all the other small ponytails. Then pull it through itself.